A glimpse into the future

Notes: So... this is an edited version of Naughty Tales so everyone can catch up with the story without missing important details. :) Have fun.

Chapter Text

The clock ticked on the wall. Magenta eyes blinked away from the wormhole used as a screen. She had been there a long time.

As lovely as the multiverse was, Poppy couldn't allow herself to be distracted anymore. Oh, Hair, the grayness had crawled up to her elbows and she didn't have any more cotton candy left. Even if what she had been watching was exciting, she had a meaningless-happiness sensation. The contrast between the realities and her own bittersweet situation and the pressing matter of understanding what Branch had told her made the grayness even stronger

What was it that Branch had mentioned? A universe where they were married and had twins? One where he was her bodyguard? And… Lownote had mentioned something about a search history that maybe she could look into?

The tablet with the search engine was very intuitive. Poppy took a deep breath and looked down at it. There was a small button with three points in a corner that reminded her of an ellipsis. She pressed her gray finger above them and the history opened with several numbers of universes and the date and time they had been looked into.

It wasn't hard to find one day when several universes were accessed in a row. It had to be Branch's trip.

So, hoping to be right, Poppy started visiting them as well.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Branch was bothered. The flashlights made him feel ridiculously exposed and Poppy didn't seem to mind. Well, usually it wouldn't bother him, not when he was working as her bodyguard and his job was to protect her as she took all the attention to herself.

But now he was the object of gossip as well. As he had seen in the tabloids after the first time they went on a date, Branch was now the handsome boyfriend of the most famous singer in the world.

"We'll have privacy inside." Poppy squeezed his hands, taking his attention back to herself.

She was stunning that evening. For their second date, Poppy chose a simple white dress with sparkling high heels that made her taller than him. Her diamond earrings would be spotted a mile away and Branch wished she had chosen something cheaper to stand in the waiting area of the fanciest restaurant in town.

"How's your grandma?" Poppy's question made him melt down with a smile.

"She's doing great." For a moment, Branch almost leaned forward to give her a kiss. It was her generosity that saved Grandma Rosiepuff. "I saw her playing cards with her friends the last time I visited."

"I wish to meet her one day." Poppy flashed him a smile that took his breath away.

Her phone beeped and Poppy rolled her eyes. Branch knew who it was. Her agent was probably asking for something to get more publicity contracts. Out of curiosity, he looked over her shoulders to snoop on the text message.

"A kiss would be great. Let them get a picture and you're in for the sneakers TV ad."

"No. I won't expose him. Branch values his privacy. Stop asking." Poppy typed back.

He quickly looked away before Poppy could notice what he was doing. He wondered how he was able to stand by her side for so long without bending his will and keep his job as her bodyguard. She wasn't a selfish girl like he had thought.

Before he knew what he was doing, his hand softly pressed on her lower back, pulling her towards him. His other palm cupped her cheeks and he sweetly kissed her lips tasting the cherry lipstick she was wearing.

It took her a moment of surprise before she responded. A wall of flashes blinded them and finally, Branch didn't care.

00000000000000000000

Poppy shivered and looked away from the wormhole that she had been using as a screen. What a journey it was! Not even in the wildest romantic scrapbooks, she had seen anything beyond hot kisses. Not that she didn't know the mechanics of it, but she had never seen … and… to see herself with her boyfriend nonetheless.

Sugar. Branch had had that knowledge for months! And he was able to behave, proving that he had great willpower.

Her trip was over, Poppy decided. She looked down at the panel to turn the wormhole off and blinked a couple of times. There was a small camera icon next to the search button that caught her attention. Wouldn't it be fun to PrintScreen one of the universes to add it to her journal?

With a toothy grin, Poppy pressed the camera, and a surveillance screen opened in front of her. Noticing her mistake, Poppy tried to shut out the screen, only to notice what was happening there.

Branch was walking towards the wormhole with the portal shifter in his hands. He stopped to see Rock Poppy kissing another version of himself, through the wormhole. Then he inched closer, probably to take a better look, and lost his footing. He fell inside just like he had described after his horrendous nightmare.

Little by little, Poppy's eyes widened. The absurdity that was unveiled in front of her caused her lips to part and her breathing to become short.

They were kissing!

"Last chance to kiss me back, pop troll." Rock Poppy said before diving in once more. Her hands went down to touch him. Branch whimpered helplessly and tried to move away, which only caused Rock Poppy to chuckle. "Too bad." She said just before tying his mouth shut, completely stopping him from talking.

"What?" Poppy giggled, sitting back on her heels and amusedly staring at him. "I'm not releasing you. Don't even try it, sweetheart."

"Return the favor, now, will you."

"Poppy, stop! I'm not…!"

"Sweetheart, keep talking and I'll have to do this by myself."

For a moment, Poppy thought she was dreaming. The strength left her body and she dropped to the ground. Her head was spinning and her stomach immediately protested. The bile raised to her throat, burning and choking her.

That's what Branch had meant.

Thick tears quickly watered her sight before she could even think about wiping them. It was useless anyway. A river was overflowing from her eyes and it was impossible to stop it.

She screamed, not really knowing why. Confusion, hurt, sadness. Betrayal. Her hair fell down, curtaining her face with gray strands.

No. It wasn't what Branch had meant…

Her uneven breath slowly calmed the sobs. Poppy stared at the ground. It was wet with countless teardrops.

The portal shifter fell from her hands.

Poppy gave a blood-chilling scream that echoed through the entire spaceship.

To the Hair with the grayness. She was sad. She was so deeply sad she couldn't picture a way out of it. She would scream and cry as much as it was needed.

The portal flicked in front of her from dimension to dimension until it stopped in one red and dusty field.

A hot breeze softly caressed her skin, as if trying to soothe her bleeding heart. Poppy slowly lifted her eyes, daring to stare at the portal that had shown Branch's sins.

The scene didn't surprise her. The opposite, it felt like it was coming. A small glimpse into the future.

Through the wormhole, the rotten daisy field displayed a glittery tombstone had her name written on it