The clock hit four in the morning, but Branch wasn't in the mood to go for a morning swim. It seemed to be a routine now. He'd have nightmares with the tattooed version of his girlfriend. She'd dare him to speak out the whole truth about the multiverse travel, then she'd tie him up with her hair and he would wake up screaming.
A few nights before he slept on Poppy's lap while she brushed his hair. He didn't remember what he dreamed about, but he woke the next morning, curled against her, feeling happy and at home. He even dared to run his hands up and down her arms, not feeling as free as he did once, but still daring enough to slip an arm around her waist and bring her closer.
Once she woke and smiled, with that irresistible messy hair that was displayed only for him, the crushing guilt for having held her in his arms while he was being haunted by not-so-innocent dreams, made him lock himself into the safety of his bunker again.
To keep his mind off her, and her rock version, Branch decided to spend the day reading the books he found in the library. Psychology books made his brain hurt just by the simple act of opening them, but he needed to understand what he was going through. He was going to get better. For Poppy.
His notebook was full of lines of keywords that he should look up later when his stomach growled. It was nearly lunchtime and he had nothing to cook. He hadn't harvested anything since the nightmares had started. His garden had grown full of weeds and the entrance of his bunker was full of fallen leaves.
The book about Cloudmas caught his attention and Branch immediately smiled. If there was something that could take the heaviness out of the day it was Cloud Guy. It was ridiculous that he actually wanted a visit from the annoying friend to take his mind off his own problems.
Oh… Apparently Cloudmas was about pies, too.
Good. Branch needed to spend the day baking. It would certainly distract him enough and… who knew, a solution for his problem could pop out of nowhere while he was busy with something else.
"I'm worried, girls." Holly said, twisting her hair with her hands. "Cloud Guy has been in there with Branch for hours."
"Meh," Val, shrugged while sipping on the milkshake with dark-dark-dark chocolate that they had brought to spy on the bunker's trapdoor. "We should just barge in and check on them;"
"No!" Poppy immediately stood up, standing between her best friends and the bunker's entrance. "We shouldn't go inside without being invited. Branch values his privacy."
"Yeah…" Holly looked straight at Val, who seemed as puzzled as the centaur girl. "So, why don't we knock?"
"Besides, Branch wouldn't be annoyed if the one walking in was his girlfriend." Val replied, but both girls stopped their sly smiles when they noticed Poppy was still looking nervous. "What? You have a free pass inside the bunker, right?"
"Branch sort of asked… me… to stay out as well."
The dramatic silence that followed Poppy's revelation made the crickets stop their noises and the birds to stop chirping. With their mouths hanging open, Holly immediately nodded to Val. The girls grabbed Poppy with their hair and ran out of Branch's surveillance cameras' hearing range.
The queen barely had time to protest. Holly was one fast girl, and when she blinked, Poppy was being put down at Country Corral with tea, cookies and tissues ready to be used.
"Are you doing well?"
Of course, with the revelation that had to stay away from the bunker it was only natural that the other girls would think she and Branch wouldn't be on their best moment.
"It's perfectly normal to have its ups and downs in a relationship, right, Val?"
"Yeah… surprisingly mushy as you both are, I believe even you would need some time apart."
Holly cringed at Val's lack of sensitivity and returned to Poppy, who looked completely lost.
"We're fine." The queen tried to dismiss her friends' worry by waving her hands in front of her, which only made their suspicion increase. "I mean, he has a big project he's working on in secret and I could spoil it if I walk inside and…"
But as Poppy spoke what she desperately wanted to believe in, the real feelings bubbled to the surface, making her sniff and try to block a few tears that were coming out of nowhere.
"Oh, sugar…" Holly approached, offering a shoulder for Poppy to cry on.
"I really want to support him," Poppy sobbed, "but he's pushing me away again."
"You know…" Val inched closer to pat the queen on her back, "... from what people say Branch isn't the usual troll. He may have his isolation habits getting stronger from time to time."
When Val said that, Poppy lifted her head in alert. She used her hands to dry her cheeks while frowning, in an uncharacteristic way. The rock and country girls exchanged a worried look. They had never seen the queen angry.
"Who said Branch is unusual, Val?"
"Honestly, Poppy…" It was Holly who smiled gravely at her friend, looking guilty for being the one to reveal it to her. "Everybody talks about it. Branch is like an urban legend, y'all. The gray grumpy troll that scares kids at night."
"What? Branch isn't scary!" Poppy stood up, not believing her ears. The words seemed foreign. People were speaking badly of her boyfriend, just when he had made so much progress to be a full-fledged troll. It was unspeakably cruel to bring to the surface a side he had been fighting to overcome for many years.
His heart would break, his ears would drop and his beautiful cerulean hair would fade to black once he heard a whisper of that conversation.
Her protective instinct kicked in. Poppy would never allow the love of her life to have his feelings hurt. By his own tribe, for Hair-sake! Only Pop Trolls knew about his past, meaning one of her subjects - she refused to call whoever started the rumors, a friend - was behind it.
"Nobody is saying he's scary now…"
"... although, stopping games to go take care of the bunker is still pretty weird."
"Which is totally comprehensible now that I've seen how much maintenance the bunker needs, y'all." Holly pointlessly tried to soften the rumors about Branch, noticing that Poppy was growing even madder at each word they said.
"Girls," the queen stood up, stretching her back and looking down at them with a freezing stare. They could swear her eyes had gone a shade darker. Both Holly and Val clenched their jaws, seeing for the first time her friend shining under her royal light. "I'll ask again. Who is spreading these rumors about Branch?"
"No one specific, y-all…"
"... is it an elder?"
Branch laughed so hard he almost forgot he was having a good time with no one other than the annoying cloud that pestered him for years.
The lounge room was full of pies and ice buckets that were supposed to be inside one's trousers, but even though it was a mess, the survivalist felt lighter than he did in days. Laugh, as trolls said, was the best medicine for any kind of problem.
"I gotta admit, buddy," Branch approached his rival, who was standing with his back turned to him, "it was fun and I needed that."
"Hm… needed fun, uh?" Cloud Guy turned around with a knowing toothy grin and showed Branch the picture he took from Poppy's bedroom. "Trouble in paradise?"
"Hey, be careful with that." Surprisingly, he was able to take the picture without an effort. His first reaction was to put the framed portrait on top of the fireplace. Poppy looked precious in that pink dress during Palentine Day and they had a fun night of games and giggles, both slightly drunk but too proud to admit it to their partner.
Where did that easiness go?
"You know… Poppy is struggling to keep away." Cloud Guy took the socks that were hanging by the fire, getting ready to leave. Branch blinked at him in confusion. "Hanging decorations, diving into birthday parties, learning how to pilot Funk Trolls Spaceship. She's filling up her agenda to keep her distance."
"Yeah," Branch laughed at that, rolling his eyes. "Poppy, keeping her distance, right."
"The best part of being made of vapor is that I can be anywhere…" Cloud Guy's smile grew as Branch understood what he meant, "even inside a certain Queen's pod while she cried about her boyfriend asking her to keep out of the bunker…"
"Yeah, nice try." Branch rolled his eyes, "I told her I'm working on a project and she even got excited about the secrecy."
"Branch… Branch… Branch…" Wrapping a thin blue arm around his favorite troll, Cloud Guy lowered his tone like he was speaking to a child. "You have so much to learn."
"I have much to learn!?" Chucking to pretend he was fine, Branch took a step back, going straight to the kitchen to get something to busy himself with. "Don't forget that I gave you romance lessons a while back."
"Oh yeah, you're great with the theory of wooing a lady," The annoying grin followed the teal troll who was already wondering if the floating nuisance would stay until morning. "But when it comes to practice… you suck. Well, at least, with your Poppy, you suck."
A glass of lemonade fell on the floor. A chill ran down his back and Branch felt his spine going stiff. His breath caught in his throat and he had actually to remember to breathe, before turning to face Cloud Guy, with a horrified expression.
"Oh, c'mon. I was changing your toothpaste with mayonnaise when I heard you say something about Rock Poppy." Picking on his nose, Cloud Guy masterly stepped aside before Branch could catch him in fury.
"You speak of that to NO ONE." Branch said through gritted teeth.
"I wouldn't dream about spilling your secret, buddy." Cloud Guy teased. Branch clenched his hands into fists. "If I had to guess, I would say keeping Poppy away is making things worse."
"I'm protecting her!" Branch protested. Cloud Guy still seemed unaffected by his angry attitude.
"Ah yes," slowly dissipating in the air, the goofy cloud's voice echoed through the walls. "Keeping Poppy away from your heart is the most noble thing to do."
"I'm keeping her away from the bunker!"
"Oh c'mon" one thin line of white vapor came out of Branch's ear. "You still haven't realized."
The survivalist was left alone, staring at his neatly carved walls, with a hollow feeling in his chest.