Barnald

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

Poppy was aware that her skin was turning red, but she still had the sensation that the smell of Barnald's breath (and worse, his sticky nose booger) was still all over her. She had washed her hair about six times already, but she gagged each time she thought about her hands grabbing all the nose hairs.

They escaped. They were alive. But - cupcakes - it was a very disgusting plan.

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

"Poppy, darling, are you nearly done?" Holly's voice came from the open bathroom's window for the second time in less than half an hour.

Maybe she was exaggerating a bit? The queen did her best to look past the gross memories and focus on how she was at the moment. Under the shower, covered in soap, smelling clean. Perhaps she had overdone a little bit.

"Just finishing up!" Poppy called back and proceeded to remove all the glittery soap from her exfoliated skin.

"Anyway, Val. What was your favorite part?" Poppy heard Holly asking Val and smiled.

Both girls were sitting just outside her pod, waiting for her to get the best shower of her life. They were anxious to talk about the Bergens and Poppy knew they deserved an explanation for everything they had seen that day.

"Hanging from the nose hairs! Obviously!"

"Hey, Val; hey, Holly." Branch's voice came from outside.

Poppy gasped, breathing in a bit of water accidentally and having a fit of coughs. It was the worst possible timing ever for her boyfriend to show up. He couldn't know about the Bergen. It was a subject completely off limits.

"Hey Branch!" Val replied excitedly. Poppy immediately got out of the shower, panicking. Where - the Hair - were her clothes?! "Your girlfriend surprised us today."

"She's so courageous. It's no wonder you're head over heels with her, y'all."

No, no, no! Poppy gave up finding her clothes. She quickly grabbed a towel and threw it over her front, barely being able to properly wrap herself before getting out of the bathroom with a loud noise. The door slammed against the wall, startling the three trolls who peeked inside.

They immediately blushed, but Poppy had no time to be self conscious. With water dripping down her legs, a hair so wet it wouldn't stay up and holding the towel to cover the essential parts, the Queen held herself up against the door frame. She opened her mouth and realized she didn't know what to say not to incriminate herself even further.

Her eyes fell on Branch's hand. He was holding a cupcake and he stared back in a mix of embarrassment and curiosity.

Oh dear… it was another wish from the well. And at the worst timing ever. She had made him promise they would fulfill the wishes together, but… she desperately needed to have a conversation with Holly and Val first.

"Should I…" His eyes wouldn't leave the towel that threatened to fall any moment. "... return another time?"

"Yes! I mean, no!" Poppy shook her head, realizing she was way too confused to answer him. "Would you take care of this," she indicated the cupcake up with her head, "by yourself this time? Thanks! Bye!"

And saying that, Poppy made an enormous effort to grab both Holly and Val with her soaked hair and pull them inside. All doors and windows were immediately closed.

Branch looked down at the cupcake and raised his shoulders in confusion. He took a bite and returned from where he had come from.

Poppy closed the small gap on the discreetly opened window and sighed in relief when he left. At last, she could breathe.

"Uh… Poppy. You do realize you're naked right?"

"Gah!" No, she hadn't realized it until Val decided to point it out.

With her face on flames, Poppy quickly grabbed her pajamas (which she had forgotten on the bed) and locked herself in the bathroom to get dressed.

At least the commotion had been useful to make her forget the reason why she had showered so well.

Still embarrassed, Poppy returned to the bedroom - fully clothed - and allowed herself to relax all her muscles, falling down halfway on the bed.

"Not that I want to pressure you, but I'm very confused right now." Holly pointed out.

"Oh well, I will pressure you. Spill!" Val crossed her arms and sat down on the white fluffy chair. She wasn't moving a muscle until Poppy's behavior made sense.

"Okay," the queen took the courage and sat up straight. "But I beg you. Do not breathe a word of it to Branch."

"Jeez… girl. You know you can count on us."

"All right."

It wasn't her story to tell. Poppy felt like she was intruding and feared to fill the gaps with her own interpretation of the facts, but a Bergen like Barnald was a serious subject and she had to do her best to show her friends how serious.

"Do you remember how upset I was when trolls were speaking badly of Branch?" Holly and Val inched closer and nodded. "The rumors had a truthful foundation. Branch was paranoid and overly concerned about our safety years ago… and he had no colors."

Gasping, both Val and Holly quickly covered their mouths to keep as silent as possible. A pod wasn't the best sound proof place, after all.

"My goodness, Poppy… so he was…"

"He was very sad, Holly." Poppy licked her lips to get time to put her thoughts in chronological order. "His grandmother was the only relative he had. Unfortunately she was one of the many victims of the Bergens."

"My Hair, Poppy. How old was he?" Val showed real empathy. Being in Trollstopia for such a long time made her put herself in Branch's place.

"Very young. I can't be precise about it." Poppy didn't know how young he was. She had never asked and, at the time, her father was so concerned with everyone that an orphan kid faded in the background. His scrapbooks never mentioned Branch. "And when we escaped the Bergens and found this place Branch was so scared we would be found he built up the bunker and was always warning us when we weren't careful enough. Of course, his behavior infuriated the party hosts."

"I understand both sides, I guess." Holly wondered, "I mean, Branch was traumatized, but at the same time, if I worked really hard on a perfect party and someone ruined it I would be furious, y'all.."

"Yes…" Poppy was ashamed at everyone's behavior back then, even herself. Nobody really bothered to understand Branch's side of the story. "Which is why he isolated himself underground for ten years."

"Ten years?!" Holly and Vall asked in unison.

"Sometimes he talks about the isolation, but I never thought he… by all that is troll-y!" Holly's surprise suddenly turned into amusement. "It's no wonder he bakes so well. He had ten years to study the wonders of pie-baking!"

"Seriously?" Val raised an annoyed eyebrow at her friend.

"Sorry. I guess I can't get over that pie."

In the end, Branch was the one who knew most about the Bergens. He was the one who saved her naive pink butt several times and he would feel like it was his duty to protect their city if he so much heard a whisper about one isolated Bergen who still ate trolls.

His mind would turn the paranoid gears. If he had occasional nightmares then they would return at full speed - if he could grab a wink of sleep at all. He would think about traps and probably would even suggest they moved further away from the Barnald's cottage. Branch would be so focused on surviving he would forget to sing, the games would be missed and his beautiful colors…

"Branch worked really hard to overcome his fears." Poppy whispered more to herself than to her friends. "I won't allow him to fall back into a dark place. I will be one to protect him this time."

"But… Poppy-" Val tried to say, but Holly interrupted her, completing her sentence.

"If Branch is a Bergen expert and he doesn't hear about Barnald, then… don't you think he might be offended?"

"Which is why I will befriend Barnald and change his mind before Branch hears about him." Reeling with determination, Poppy stood up and marched straight to the kitchen. Her body was in desperate need for a sugar rush to wash away any negativity that might influence her plans.

She was the queen of positivity. She could do it!

"Funny… he doesn't seem affected by that big lady we met the other day… Jeez, her name slipped my mind." Holly wondered out loud.

"Oh, you mean Bridget." Poppy got a cupcake and ate it whole, before placing three of them on a tray and returning to offer to the girls.

"And there was another one…" Val tried to recollect the situation in which she saw a familiar creature. "The toenail guy."

"That's King Gristle." Poppy giggled. "He's actually a friend of Branch's."

"So, they were all like Barnald, but they changed their minds about eating trolls." Val pointed out, which made Holly nood in comprehension. "You mentioned a song…?"

"Yes."

Poppy still felt the tingly feeling each time she remembered hearing Branch's voice for the first time. He gave her hope, he saved everyone. He fought his fears, he was nearly eaten, he came out of his isolation to save her. They were all alive because of him. He would solely disagree if he heard her saying it, but he was the hero of their tribe.

And she would protect him, no matter the cost.