Lownote Jones smiled at the natural feeling of a universe where everything was peaceful and he had nothing to worry about.

Aside from Pushy Poppy dropping by eventually (how she managed to sneak in when he wasn't looking still bewildered him), there was nothing wrong. No potentially dangerous object orbiting around the globe or villains trying to hug a Snug a Lug. It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Perhaps, keeping a close eye on Branch and Poppy would do him some good. It was possible that they could have some flashes from the re-written life and… well, yeah. Lownote was feeling guilty for causing them to go through all that. There was no need to come up with fake excuses to justify his sudden will to make up for the pop trolls.

So it was with gladness that he received the invitation to participate in another survey and use his cool voice to help Poppy make Trollstopia even more fun.

Not before having to stop Poppy from coming up with YET another plan to bend time and space. Would they ever learn?

"Did you see how cute Branch was when he was there in the dark supporting Poppy's idea even though he didn't agree with her?" Holly said once they had time to grab a quick cappuccino and coco to gogo "That narration thing is quite fun! It's a pity they didn't like it in the middle of the night, but I guess it would be fun to grow a mood on pretty much everything."

"Ah, yes. Having long vocal cords is quite useful." Lownote laughed with Holly joining him.

"You could build up any mood with that talent of yours." Holly raised her eyebrows, slowly playing with the straw on her drink.

"I don't understand." Lownote frowned at the sudden turn on the country girl's face.

"I mean, Poppy and Branch are taking too long to come out as a couple." Holly's smirk grew. "Holding hands? Honestly. Shelliot will grow old before they get a small public peck."

"Oh… you want me to build a romantic mood for them." Wouldn't that be perfect? The best opportunity to redeem himself with his unsuspecting friends. "Wait, why would you do that?"

"I don't know…" Holly squealed just before allowing some evil mastermind to peek out from her innocent facade. "Maybe I made a bet with Val that they would kiss before the end of the month and the deadline is drawing near and I'm no way close to winning."

Lownote opened a wide smile at that. Yes. Helping Poppy and Branch get back to the point where they were before would be a great way to make it up for the big - and forgotten - mess he made.

"I'm in, baby!"

"I'm going to get Dante."

0000000000000000000000

"Guys," Poppy and Branch spoke in unison.

"Oh, yes, Apologies!" Dante quickly replied and raised his shoulders at Lownote Jones.

They sighed and returned to their peace and quiet time, although, at that moment, they had a bit of trouble concentrating.

"So… do you enjoy peace and quiet, now?" Branch whispered, doing his best to keep the mood undisturbed.

"Not all the time," Poppy inched closer, leaning on his shoulder, but keeping her eyes on the landscape before her. "But I enjoy it with you."

Branch looked back to see that their friends had gone away. Since nobody was around it would be fine if he… slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, right?

Poppy made an approving sound and got comfortable in his arms. Survey forgotten, all she could think of was how glad she was that Branch was there for her. He was incredibly supportive and he helped her even when he didn't know he was doing it.

Like the day, months ago, when he showed up distressed at her pod. He said he was going away to search for things that would improve their safety. He didn't tell her what was going on and left for a couple of days.

She had been so distressed she could barely lead the activities outdoors. Talking to Smidge didn't help, because Poppy was worried Branch would always return to his isolation habits when under stress. The queen feared he would shut her out if a problem became too great.

She was on the way to her isolation spot when Poppy saw him, walking towards her, back to the sun and completely out of breath. She was blinded for a moment, not knowing if she had ever seen him looking so fierce.

"I'm sorry," he had hugged her as he had never hugged her before. It was strong and urgent. Poppy was completely stunned. "I shouldn't have gone away without telling you what happened."

The queen stiffened but returned the hug as if needing that touch to stand strong for him.

"The rumors are back and I panicked." His face was buried in her shoulder. He wasn't crying, but she had felt his frown lines on her skin.

"What rumors?" Poppy asked urgently, slowly giving room to the articulate queen to make an appearance. "Is someone saying bad things about you?" It wasn't going to be tolerated.

"I'm not going to let it take me down." Branch took a step back, seriously staring her in the face. He knew she loved him no matter what.

"Still… I cannot let the troll get away with it." Poppy replied, "you deserve love and respect."

A small smile tugged the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you for it." For a moment, it looked like he was going to lean down and kiss her right there in the middle of an open field where everyone would see them. But he held back. "I didn't see who it was."

Poppy slowly felt her body relaxing and snuggled into her boyfriend. Branch never told her who it was that had gotten him so distressed, but she eventually found out about Bernadette and put the old lady back in her place.

It was no wonder Branch liked peace and quiet so much. When she allowed herself to pay attention to her surrounding, she had this marvelous feeling of her boyfriend's presence. His chest felt warm and his scent was minty and made her tingle with excitement.

He seemed to surround her with love.

Poppy turned to face him and Branch looked down to silently inspect her. She was smiling warmly at him and the survivalist quickly looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. He knew what was coming.

The queen turned, nearly climbing into his lap. He forgot how to breathe, watching as she bit her lower lip and focused on his mouth. She was going to kiss him right there and it made his heart thunder with want and fear of having their intimacy exposed.

Her warm hands carefully touched his cheeks, sliding up to his hair, digging her fingers in his strands as she completely sat on him each leg to each side. Branch internally debated if he should put his hands on her back, on her waist, or her thighs. Or if she should touch her at all.

And then, the love in her eyes suddenly turned to curiosity. She moved her hand drawing back from his hair a small piece of paper.

Branch froze.

"Oooh…" she smiled evilly. "You're not keeping score, uh?"

"That's mine!" Branch tried to reach it, but Poppy was fast. She ended up falling on her back in a fit of giggles.

"I'm totally winning!" She laughed so hard she didn't even protest when he got the note back and snuck it into his hair again.

"But I'm catching up." The survivalist pointed out.

"That's what we'll see." She teased before getting interrupted by their friends walking by, chatting animated since their half an hour of silence was over.

Poppy stood up, offering Branch a hand.

"Now… about the survey…"

In the nearest bush, Holly angrily put the camera back in her hair, silently cursing that she had been so close to winning the bet.