Birds chirping, trolls are happily chanting good mornings, a bit of singing numbers could also be heard from afar and Branch-
Huh weird...
Poppy focuses her hearing one more time in hope to hear her boyfriend.
Still silent...very weird
While they don't live together it's been a habit for Branch to come in and be around her pod in the morning. He'd sometimes bring or make her breakfast, sing some songs with his beautiful voice or even cuddle her during waking hours, he's such a perfect boyfriend.
Poppy stirred and slowly sit up while rubbing her sleepy eyes and yawned, she blinked and look around her pod but Branch is really not there. Maybe he got to be somewhere? So the young queen quickly clean and dress herself up before launching her hair outside and greet everyone she met. Her first instinct is to look for him in grandma's old pod. That's where his four brothers have their current sleep over to catch up some missing moments in the past, Branch spends a lot of his time around there or if he's not anywhere near it, his brothers would know. Right?
"Nope haven't seen him" John Dory said sipping his coffee while shaving cream could still be seen around his face.
"Thought he was at yours?" Bruce questioned while shoving John aside harshly making them both fall
Clay look up from his accounting book and yell "WHATS A BRAJCH...heheh sorry, old habits it's all in the past now" and went back to his work.
"Excuse my brothers' poor mannerisms" Floyd snapped at his three older siblings. "But they're telling the truth, we haven't seen him"
"Alright then" Poppy quickly hugged each one of them before excusing herself out "Bye guys!!"
While it is most unlikely for Branch to still be in his bunker this late she decided to look for him there, where else could he be! She thought.
She thought right...the place around his bunker entrance is still scattered with a bunch of fallen leaves, Branch would sweep them all up if he had been out somewhere. "Hmm, let me clean this place up for a bit" Poppy mumbled to herself, she knows her boyfriend would like that.
The young queen grabbed a nearby broom and started swiping the leaves- collecting them onto a more shady and covered part near the corner, and as she finished she just let herself into Branch's bunker. At this point of their relationship he wouldn't mind his own girlfriend entering the bunker anytime.
And so the built-in elevator slowly lowered her down and before it reached the ground the now worried girl rushed to one of the room entrance. She knows there's something wrong when she doesn't smell a single trace of freshly brewed coffee.
"Braaanch? Are you there??" She knocked.
"Yeaaa i'm inside, come in"
Poppy breathe a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding before turning the knob-opening the door.
And there he is...her beloved..
On the bed...in the weirdest pose of laying down possible??
"Did you break your hip or something??"
"Or something" Branch awkwardly smiled "You know when i literally got slapped by Velvet trying to save Floyd back there?"
"Uh huh"
"Yeaaa now the adrenaline is gone i could finally feel the pain" the former BroZone member groaned.
"Aww sweetie, you should've told me earlier so i could come and help faster!"
"I would, if i could walk out and summon the calling bug" he shrugged.
Poppy sighed, she blamed herself for not looking directly into the bunker first place, she hates seeing her boyfriend in pain.
"I'll bring your brothers so they could take a look at you"
"You know me so well" Branch softly smiled. He's glad that his caring girlfriend understands that he'd prefer to be taken care of by trolls he knows personally, he trusts his brothers over the doctor anytime. Heck, last time he saw a doctor he tried to teach her how to do the proper CPR.
So the former princess rushed out of the bunker to call in for Branch's brothers.
•——————————————•
"HE WHAT?!" The four blue skinned trolls exclaimed simultaneously.
"I'll get some ointment from Rhonda, you guys wait for me there! Clay and Floyd go with Poppy first to check on Branch then you guys can tell me his condition" John being called as the leader is for a reason, the rest of the bros would agree for once that sometimes his leadership is needed in desperate times. As the oldest he's used to act and think quick so everything went well.
"How about you?" Floyd asked. As an empath the second youngest would always think of the others.
"Me and Bruce will catch up after, let's go bros! Our baby brother needs us!!"
The four brothers split into two and rushed to their assigned places. If there's one thing they'll always gladly do is to help each others out...no matter what.
"Lead the way Queen Poppy!" The green haired troll shouted.
•——————————————•
"Branch, i'm here with Clay and Floyd" Poppy called in front of Branch's room door.
"Come in" Branch weakly welcomed.
"Heeey buddy, you're okay there?" Clay confusedly look at the ridiculous pose Branch was in.
"Here let me help-" Floyd start and try to help Branch fix his pose but as soon as he touches his little brother's skin.. "Branch! You're burning!"
"Am i?"
"Poppy can you help me find some wet towel to cool him down?" The pink haired brother asked before the young queen quickly nodded and rushed out to find some wet towel.
"Move Floyd, let me do it" Clay crack his knuckles and grin.
"Do wha- OW! CLAY ACKK" Branch screamed while Clay fix on Branch's back and hip "No worries lil bro, i'm also a licensed chiropractor"
"AAAAAA STOP IT I- huh...i actually feel better" The sick troll sits downs slowly while his girlfriend put on a wet towel over his forehead.
Branch tells how he's grateful for her first while holding her hand before thanking his brother "Thanks Clay! But ugh my hip..i'm getting old"
"Old???" Clay and Floyd look at each other. "That's lowkey offensive" joked Floyd. "Yeah, you should've seen Bruce and John...they're OLD" The older troll added. "I did some chiropractic to John and kinda cracked him from head to toe-"
"Ew" Floyd disgusted "Anyway, while we're talking about those two old folks..where are they??"
Ground rumbling...
"Oh no" Branch gulped, he knows what's coming after.
Rrruuuuwwrggg a slight critter sound could be heard from around the walls of the bunker.
THUMP THUMP THUMP more noises coming closer and louder.
Branch, Poppy, Floyd and Clay stare at each other with the same thing in mind.
Rhon-
Seconds later they hear the sound of ground breaking from outside of Branch's room.
"Aww sugar! We just decorated the bunker last week" Poppy (cursed?) while Branch just smirked at her.
"Alright i'm going out to che- AUGHHH" Branch moaned in pain falling back on his bed before even got the chance to fully stand. "MY BACK"
"Yeah chiropractic won't exactly heal you like that bro, and my hand says you have a high degree but instead of a diploma it's your body temperature" Clay pointed out.
"WASSUP GUYS, DID YA MISS ME" a random square troll who's apparently an ex boyband member and Branch's brother burst into the room. "HIT IT BRUCE" He said to Bruce who's apparently inside Rhonda, they could be seen through the hole on the wall that John just created by bursting in.
Bruce click on a button near the driver's seat and an actual siren sound could be heard from Rhonda's opened mouth.
WEEEE WOOOO WEEEEE WOOOO!!!
Everyone just immediately covered their ears. And Branch's bunker being inside the ground with closed wall doesn't make it any better. They shouted "TURN IT OFF!!" in unison.
Bruce just stare at them blankly and since Rhonda turn on the noise cancellation he cant hear them. "WHAT" He yelled but the siren noise was too loud.
"Braaanch" Poppy squealed, Branch nods and throw his pillow into Rhonda's mouth. It seems to have worked, the noises had calm down with just a slight muffled siren sound left. "TURN IT OFF BRUCE" Branch shouted, this time louder.
"Oh, okay" The purple haired troll said nonchalantly and press the siren button one more time, turning it off then comes out of Rhonda bringing a box of John's medical kit. He puts on a stethoscope "Alright let's do this!"
John face palm "The ointment Bruce! We don't need to check his heart! He got a girlfriend already!!"
"Oookay, quit the shenanigans...our baby brother needs us remember??" Clay interrupted-clapping his hand for attention. "Do you think you have some medicine for some bruises on his body? His temperature is higher than usual too" he continued giving John the information he needed.
John grabs the medical kit from Bruce before digging in looking for a small glass jar. "I got this from my journey to Waterfall Falls" he said while rubbing the grassy colored ointment on Branch's bruises over the hip and back. "Can you turn a bit" he continued "I gave an old grandpa with his stuff a ride to his hut near the forest around there and i stayed with him for a couple months, he taught me a lot of things..including how to collect herbals for medicine and healthcare"
"Interesting..." Clay tapped his index finger on his chin.
"It is, do you know that we can collect snail trail to make a slide, or just a path to help us move big stuff around"
"Wow" Floyd amazed. He always love hearing his brothers tells about their stories.
"All's done, here Branch..you can keep the ointment and i'll get the ingredients list later in case you need to make more. You should feel better in a few minutes" John handed Branch the ointment container.
"Yeah, i do feel better" Branch replied.
"No sudden movement!" Floyd warned his little brother. "Bunker cleaning, cooking or any band activities are strictly prohibited" he sternly continued.
"How about boyfriend girlfriend activities?" Branch teased while Poppy just giggled at him.
"Branch!!" Floyd's ears turned red in embarrassment.
"Oh get a room you two!" Bruce added.
"We're technically in his room" Clay replied out of nowhere "Also bro can i get that ointment too?"
John nodded showing a huge grin with two thumbs up before handing Poppy a package of medicine pills "Get lover boy to drink this later okay, this will help him cool down and reduce the bruises' pain" she nodded-understand.
"Come on guys, we gotta let him rest for now" Floyd ushered his older brothers out.
"No hug?" Branch asked.
His older siblings smiled "Aww, of course we have to hug!" Floyd turned back with the other brothers, they're all circling Branch's bed to hug.
"I wanna join the hug too!!" Poppy run to the family hug.
"I love you guys i feel like my tears are coming out!" Floyd cried.
"I love you too!" Clay chimed in
"AAAA YOU GUYS ARE TOO CUTE" Bruce giggled tightening the hug "Love y'all too"
"Come on John...you can say it" Branch teased. " Yeah, spit it out you square head!" Bruce grinned.
"I...love you?" The others cheered.
"I love you all too..." Branch whispered back.
"Alright! Too much hug!!" Clay wriggled loosening the hug while the other brothers let go at the same time.
"Guess 'no hugs' runs in the family!" Poppy laughed.
The five brothers stare at each other before bursting into laughter.