Bubbled In

The periscope went up from the ground when the bubble storm approached. The eye behind it blinked in relief when Poppy managed to get to her pod with R&B just in time. With one quick look around, it seemed everyone in the area was able to remember their training and sheltered successfully.

Branch put the periscope away and leaned against his armchair in relief. He was proud they had found a way to teach trolls how to save themselves during an emergency and he was even prouder that Poppy had agreed to conduct the safety lessons by his side. Trollstopia was, after all, nearly six months old and the amount of trolls living together required a safety plan that followed a multi-cultural logistic.

With everyone safe, everything Branch could do was to wait as well. The storm was probably going to take a couple of hours to clear up. It was one of those rare opportunities when he knew he wouldn't be interrupted or called to a party anytime soon.

He might as well enjoy the nostalgic feeling of being alone in his bunker and nothing felt more nostalgic than flipping Poppy's invitations and organizing them by date.

He knew exactly when the invitations started pouring down the trapdoor. It was when… well… when he installed the trapdoor. It took him many months excavating, without the tools he had these days, digging a single room took nearly a year of effort.

Branch started with a single hole on the ground, where these days was the compartment between the elevator and the trapdoor. The entrance room, or small lobby - as Poppy had called it when she had a sudden inspiration for a glittery decoration - had once been the only place he had to lay down and sleep after a day full of hard work.

At night, he used to lay down and watch the moon shine through the small cracks of his poorly carved trapdoor. He was nearly eight by then, he wasn't sure. Branch stopped counting the years once his grandma was eaten and he threw away his hug watch.

He slept curled in a leaf those days. He had a canteen with fresh water from the lagoon and he stored food in a backpack that he had carried with him during the Escape of the Bergens.

Those were the only items he owned, so it came as a surprise when he woke up one morning and found a yellow invitation so full of glitter that it stuck all over his camouflaged clothes.

Branch remembered cursing the glitter would give his location away.

He still had the invitation. Branch sighed and his heart fluttered when he opened curtain on the wall, revealing the shelf where he kept all Poppy's scrapbooked invites and letters. It was funny that, even now when he was a totally different troll and had a steady relationship with her, simply seeing the colorful papers still made him melt.

The yellow invitation was the first one he had ever gotten. The glitter had almost completely vanished (thank Hair!). Poppy still didn't know how to write then, but she glued a pink ball with eyes and a heart next to a gray ball with angry eyes. He assumed she wanted to be friends and even if the gesture was somewhat appreciated, he pushed those feelings away.

Bergens ate trolls. Trolls lived in the community. They were loud when they were together and Bergens would find them. The best he could do to survive was to keep away.

The invitation was kept, but Branch never answered it.

There was a point when Poppy became so insistent, she started getting on his nerves (Hair, she got on his nerves a lot). One day, when he had managed to dig a tunnel so deep, he finally felt he had reached the level where he would feel safe, Branch decided to celebrate by eating some fresh trollsberry.

He waited until it was dark and every pod had their lights turned off. Safely, he peeked outside the trapdoor. In every direction he could see no movement at all; not a troll and not a predator. Good.

Branch had only missed a spot on top of the trapdoor, where the pink princess was asleep. Once he opened the door wide to step out, she rolled out on the floor, completely awake.

"Branch"

"Oh Hair, not you."

"Ha-ha," either she was trying to be polite, or she was sillier than he had thought. "Yes, me. I thought that since you never join the parties, we should get to know each other another way."

"I don't want to know you." Branch answered and tried to get back inside, but she was successfully blocking his way by standing on top of the trapdoor. "Move, please."

"Only if you share candy with me." She replied, putting her hands on her sides and puffing up like the spoiled princess she was.

"I won't have candy with you. Now move."

"Nope," she popped her lips defiantly.

His stomach rumbled. The last time he had anything sweet to eat was when he came across of what was left of a party and the troll in charge of cleaning it up had slept while holding the broom. He managed to steal some cupcakes before hurrying back to his hole on the ground.

"I have strawberry and cherry flavored lollipops. Pick one." Poppy, with her lack of coordination - after all she was a small child - raised her arms to show him two mouth-watering lollipops, hitting his nose by accident.

"Frankly, princess." Branch was forced to take a step back to spare his face from the intruding candies. It made him very upset and, as much as he wished for a taste, he wouldn't let her feel victorious. "Strawberry nonetheless!" He pretended to be disgusted, which caused Poppy to look at the colorful wrapped lollipop in her hands in confusion.

"Everyone loves strawberries." She replied in a small voice.

"YOU smell like strawberries, as if being around your sickening scent isn't enough." Branch crossed his arms in front of his chest. Proud of his ruthless answer, he was mentally cheering his victory when he noticed a sniff.

Oh Hair. He made the princess cry.

Poppy was looking down with her eyes damming a river of tears that would burst down any moment.

She sniffed again and Branch tried to silence his thundering heart. What were the consequences of making the future queen cry?

To his surprise, she sniffed again and put the strawberry lollipop in her hair. An instant later, she drew a purple lollipop that had no fruity scent.

"I had this one made for you." She replied, putting the candy in his hand.

Branch could read on the plain wrapping: unflavored.

His mad heart suddenly stopped and for a few seconds he stared at her big magenta eyes, still looking hurt, but with a glimpse of hope.

She had won.

"All right. But then you go back to your pod. Hair knows how many predators you will attract." Branch quickly put the tasteless lollipop in his mouth.

Poppy smiled widely and sat down. She put the cherry flavored candy in her mouth and tapped the grass by her side, invitingly.

Branch mentally groaned and sat down beside her.

They ate in silence, with the moon as the only source of light.

"That's it." Branch threw the stick away once he was done and stood up, dusting off his clothes.

"I really liked sharing candy with you, Branch." Poppy stood up as well. Her tears and sad mood had completely changed. She was sparkling her happiest smile at him. With her mouth all pink and sticky from all the sugar.

"Yeah, same." He replied and quickly opened the trapdoor, leaving Poppy standing alone in the middle of the clearing.

Through a small crack, he watched her. She quietly squealed and bent down to pick the stick he had thrown away.

"I will cherish this moment forever." Poppy said to herself before turning around and hopping back to her pod.

In a way, Branch had done the same the following years. He kept all her invitations, no matter how insensitive he wanted to look, he would do the same as she had done that night.

He would wait when everyone was gone and returned to pick up the pieces of every scrapbook she made and he ruined.

Branch still hadn't stopped that habit, having the gift swap card being the latest item added to his collection.

The shelf was completely full. Maybe he needed to add a storage room to keep all the invitations. He could even add a safe door so no one would ever find his treasure.

Hair, that was a lot of invitations…

… did he have a hoarding problem?