-O-

Picturebook Romance

A Trolls fanfic

By Dreamsinger

Chapter Seven

Beadfest

I let myself get lost in the depths of my girl's eyes, allowing my face to relax into the type of tender, loving expression I'd never dared show her before. My spirits were soaring. I hadn't felt this good since I'd first gotten my colors back.

For the first time, Poppy had been the disconcerted one, the one who acted all shy and flustered. Flustered because of me, and my words. Flustered because of how strongly she felt about me. When I'd shared one of the poems I'd written, she'd looked entranced. Her eyes had gone big and warm and soft, her head tilted, a goofy smile on her lips. It was the first real sign I'd had that she might be just as in love with me as I was with her.

I waited for her to say something, but she seemed to be content merely to stand there, holding my hands and gazing dreamily into my eyes. It was nice, but a little unsettling. I wasn't used to such open adoration.

Finally I cleared my throat. "Uh, Poppy?" I waved a cautious hand in front of her face. "Not that I don't appreciate the admiration – because I do – but we do have commitments today."

"Hm? You want us to commit? Okay…"

"What?" I gave her a startled look. Did I hear her right?

She jumped, her eyes wide. "Oh, uh, I mean, okay, you're right. We have to get going to the – to the-"

"The Beadfest?"

"Right, right."

Now both of us were flustered.

Poppy began to head for the door, then stopped, snapping her fingers. "What did I need to remember to do?"

"Do?"

"Before we left. There was something…"

As she turned to look around her pod, I put my hands on my hips and shook my head in amusement. Wow. She's completely off her game. I've got to remember this the next time I try to talk her out of something.

"Maybe you need to brush your teeth? Or use the bathroom?" I suggested helpfully. "You know, 'go before you go'?"

"No, I already… Oh, I've got it. Your flashbugs. Since we won't be needing them until this evening, we'd better give them some food and water now."

"No, they have enough," I replied. It had been an easy problem to solve, with a little mechanical tinkering.

"But won't they have eaten it all by now?"

"No, I installed an automatic feeder that works like the Hug Time bracelets. Every hour it releases a small quantity of food and water, to mimic conditions in the forest."

Poppy beamed at me. "Clever and thoughtful; that's my guy."

Would I ever get used to so much praise? I hope not.

I rubbed my elbow and gave my girl what was probably a bashful smile, and the wattage of her smile increased by at least a factor of six. There's a reason I call her Sunshine.

"By the way, do you have a spare toothbrush?" I asked her. "I somehow neglected to bring one on this totally unexpected but completely welcome detour to my usual routine." I grinned at her to share my good humor.

"Sure, I always keep a few extras. I have-"

"-a lot of sleepovers.'" I said with her, and we both laughed.

-O-

While I was in the bathroom, I welcomed the time to think.

I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised at her comment about commitment. After all, I'm not the only one who likes to plan for the future. Maybe I even got her thinking along those lines with that last scrapbook page, the one with the trollings.

Besides, when Poppy commits to something, she gives it her all. While that often leads to a lot of headaches for me, it's also one of the things I love most about her. Although in this case it means that if our relationship fails, it'll probably be my fault.

I shook my head and glared at myself in the mirror, lightly slapping my cheeks. Focus on the positives, Branch.

Well, so far things were going great, much better than I'd ever imagined. I was obviously doing something right. I just had to keep it up. What had my relationship book said? 'Make eye contact, be a good listener, and don't try to solve all her problems.'

Huh. I'm not too sure about that last one. After all, I'm an excellent problem-solver, and Poppy's always asking me for help. Unless she's purposely engineering problems for me to solve to help boost my morale or something. I wouldn't put it past her.

I grinned wryly. All right. Time to head out. You can do this, Branch.

I stopped to pick up the card Poppy had given me and the discarded pile of clothes I'd left on the floor after I'd joined Poppy in her bed last night and tucked them into my hair. I'd give them a good washing later. As I joined Poppy by the open door, a brisk, fresh breeze caused the dust motes in the sunbeam by the door to dance and sparkle. I heard the echo of a sweet, cheerful song in my head. 'Lookin' up at a sunny sky, so shiny and blue, and there's a butterfly…'

Uh-uh. Nope. Not gonna have that song in my head all day. Poppy gave me a curious look as I shook the perky tune out of my head, then looked back, scanning the room for any forgotten task. My eye fell on the scrapbooks we'd made and the page I'd done last night of the two of us kissing, our hair entwined, with several tiny trollings with our colors playing nearby in the grass. I needed to add it to the end of my scrapbook, but not yet. I liked the way it looked, sitting there like a promise for our future, waiting for us to return.

I met Poppy's eyes and saw that she felt the same reluctance to leave, to lose the closeness we'd shared. "Hey, Poppy."

"Yes?"

"Let's think of today as a sort of unofficial first date, okay?"

The sun's illumination paled in the brilliance of the smile she gave me then. She held out her hand, I took it, and we walked out into the sunlight together. I made sure to close the door behind us, to keep that page's promise safe.

-O-

As we stood on a thick branch high above the market square, the Beadfest lay spread out below us like a game board with brightly-colored booths and displays everywhere, in neat rows, or in clusters, or tucked into shady alcoves, with even more brightly-colored trolls skipping and sauntering among them.

"Hm. Look at how many trolls are up already. Or are we late?"

"I guess we are," Poppy agreed and squeezed my hand, beaming at me. "But I don't regret a minute of it."

I blushed, then took a quick look around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to us, so I returned the grin and gave her hand a playful squeeze back. Maybe no one would think anything was out of the ordinary about us being affectionate to one another – after all, we'd been friends for over six months now – but you never knew who was watching. I know Poppy said we aren't going to try to hide our relationship, but I guess old habits die hard. Keeping things private just comes naturally to me.

"If it's that late, I wonder where all our friends are?" I mused aloud.

Behind us I heard a muffled voice and a swish of wind but when I whipped my head around to look, no one was there. Must have jumped into one of the nearby slides to ride down to the ground. Maybe we should, too… I smiled to myself. I usually just use my hair to swing down, but on the slide I could put my arms around her…

"Hey, Branch, why don't we use the slide today?" Poppy suggested.

Surprised, I turned to look down at her. She squeezed my hand again, tilting her head and giving me a wink.

My eyebrows rose and the corner of my mouth dropped open. Huh. Who knew she was such a flirt?

"Good idea," I replied, deepening my tone to show I understood exactly what she was suggesting, and that I approved. Wholeheartedly. I gave her a sideways peek as we walked to the slide, loving this little game between us. A game only for two.

"You go first-" we both said at once.

"No, after you-" we said again, and laughed.

"We really are on the same page, aren't we?" she asked, and I suppressed a smile.

"I insist. You're the queen, so I should ride behind you so I can hold onto you and make sure nothing happens to you."

She gave me a long look, then sighed dramatically. "Oh, well, if you're going to insist, then I guess I should oblige you."

She rolled her eyes as if she was simply putting up with yet another of my safety-related habits (that she still seemed to find so unreasonable) and sat down at the top of the slide. I stifled a laugh as I sat behind her with my legs outside hers and wrapped my arms snugly around her, leaning forward to press my cheek against hers. She reached up and touched my outer cheek, pressing her face lovingly against mine while her other hand stroked my arms and hands for a long, sweet moment, long enough to send tingles through me before she sat up a little straighter and pushed us off the edge.

All during the ride down I enjoyed the feel of her body moving against mine as we careened to and fro, leaning into the curves in perfect sync with each other, our hair meeting and merging into a plum-colored kite tail in the glorious rush of wind. I had to keep holding back the urge to laugh out loud, not only because I was afraid of attracting attention but because my stomach was still sore from yesterday's laugh-fest and the ride was making it complain enough as it was. But like Poppy said, I don't regret a minute of it.

When we slid to a stop at the bottom, I looked around at the trolls wandering nearby and felt myself seize up. I wanted to stay close to Poppy but wasn't sure how I ought to act anymore. In her pod, I could let myself do whatever came naturally to me, but out here things were different.

Poppy stood up and held out a hand to help me to my feet. "Come on, Branch."

She smiled and I felt better immediately, using her firm grip to pull myself up. She began to head off into the crowd and I loosened my hold, but she didn't let go and so I walked beside her, content to follow wherever she led.

As we walked, I began to notice the way other couples treated each other, how they often touched each other in small, casual-yet-intimate gestures, and I wondered how Poppy and I looked to other trolls. Before yesterday I used to be perfectly comfortable touching her as her best friend, patting her arm or shoulder, holding her hand, and sharing warm hugs, but in light of our budding relationship those same gestures had taken on new significance. Even ordinary activities like hair-brushing.

My eyes lost focus as my mind kept going back to the surprisingly enjoyable experience of having Poppy brush my hair for me.I finally understood now why other trolls enjoyed doing something like that for each other when everyone was perfectly capable of brushing their own hair. It wasn't really about keeping hair neat - it was about closeness. Something I'd had very little experience with since Grandma died.

I kind of wish now that I'd accepted one of her slumber party invitations years ago.

It had been the most intimate experience I'd ever had, to feel so loved, so cared for. It had made me want to reach out to her, to everyone, to the world, welcoming everyone into my embrace. For the first time, I truly understood why Hug Time was so popular.

Is this how the other trolls feel all the time? So full of warm feelings that all they want to do is share them? If so, I could finally see why it would even occur to Poppy to try and befriend the bergens in the first place. I hadn't really understood then. I'd helped out partly because of how strongly I'd empathized with Bridget - both of us in love and unable to confess it - and partly because it made good sense from a strategic viewpoint to make as many allies as we could in such a hostile situation.

In any case, I was feeling good. As we passed through the village, the Beadfest decorations and displays seemed so bright and cheery, moreso than any other celebration I'd ever seen. Even the chorus of 'good mornings' from the trolls we passed seemed especially merry.

I didn't realize I was smiling broadly until we spotted Biggie and the twins and went to greet them, when Biggie said, "Good morning, Poppy. And Branch – why, you look positively radiant today!"

I let go of Poppy, innocently tucking my hands behind my back. Is it really that obvious? After all, she'd been beaming, too. I guess on me a smile that big is a dead giveaway.

Biggie cocked his head to the side. "Did you do something different with your hair?"

My eyes turned upward as everyone looked at me. It did feel different, now that I thought about it. A little looser maybe. Before I could really focus on it, Poppy put a hand on my arm, distracting me as she laughed with suspicious nervousness. "You know how Branch has been trying new things, right? Well, today he thought he'd try a new hairstyle for the festival. A little more free and easy. It looks good, doesn't it?"

"Well, it's not that different," Chenille replied.

"I like it," Satin said after a long, thoughtful look shared with her sister. "It's still 'Branch', but a little less…controlled. Did something happen?"

I couldn't help but share a guilty look with Poppy. Satin was the more sentimental twin, as I'd noted to Poppy earlier. Was the jig up already?

"Uh… Hey, Poppy, would you look at that!" I plastered a look of enthusiasm on my face. "They've got candy apples! The perfect blend of sweet and healthy."

"Oh, really? I am so there. See you later, guys!"

I threw a quick glance over my shoulder in time to see our friends all looking at one another with varying degrees of confusion before I grabbed Poppy's arm and dodged into a nearby unattended tent.

Poppy looked around. "Hey, I think this is Guy Diamond's tent."

Everything around us was encrusted with iridescent silver glitter. "Oh, really?" I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

She started to answer, then got a look at my face. "Oh, you and your sarcasm."

"You know you love it."

She rolled her eyes and I grinned. Who knew flirting was so much fun?

Just then I caught my reflection in a large glittery mirror that had been hung from one of the support posts. My hair was a little longer than normal, the topline a little more spread out, about halfway between my usual style and the way my hair had looked when I'd first gotten my colors back.

"Poppy, why didn't you tell me about my hair?" I complained accusingly, turning to glare at her. "Now I have to leave it like this for the rest of the day."

"Is that a bad thing?" Poppy put her hands behind her back and leaned toward me teasingly, making me reflexively lean backward before I realized what I was doing. Her voice took on an irresistibly cajoling lilt. "You knoow, you really doo look very handsome like that."

That's not the point. I opened my mouth to protest, but just then there was a muffled cry of excitement from somewhere really close by. I whipped my head around, scanning the interior of the tent and flicking my ears around to try to pinpoint the source. Giggles and glee, banter and happy shouts assaulted me from all sides, but I honestly couldn't detect anything unusual. Finally I turned back to Poppy, ready to continue arguing, but one look at her sweetly admiring smile and I felt my irritation drain from me almost against my will. I sighed.

"Thanks. And no, it's not bad; I just wasn't expecting something like this." I took a step closer to her, put a hand up to hide my mouth from the open end of the tent and whispered, "Do all trolls lose control of their hair when they're in love?"

She looked surprised. "Maybe. I don't know, really..."

I stared at her, my shoulders sagging. "Not helping."

"Sorry, Branch." Poppy started to put an arm around my shoulders, then seemed to reconsider and slipped it around my waist instead, drawing me in for a sideways hug. "Well, it's not like it's going to hurt you, right? So why don't you just relax and enjoy it? Come onn…" she said playfully, gently poking my belly a couple of times with her finger. I twitched as she hit a ticklish spot, my sore muscles contracting uncomfortably as an involuntary smile tugged at my lips.

Then she moved her hand up to twirl a strand of my hair around her finger. "You know you caann…"

"Poppy," I protested weakly, but the memory of her hands in my hair was more than enough to make me finally give her a sheepish grin.

"There it is. I knew you could do it." She beamed at me and started to pull me closer, but just then a horde of teenage trolls crowded into the tent and squashed us against the side wall.

I traded anguished looks with Poppy just as I heard Guy Diamond's unmistakable oscillating tone. "Hey, loOooOk, there goes this week's current teen iidoOol!"

As one, the crowd rushed out again, squealing and waving cameras, leaving me and Poppy staring after them before we looked at each other and grinned.

I expected to see Guy come sauntering in any moment, but even though we stood there for a while, no one else came in, not even potential customers. I looked at Poppy and shrugged. "Maybe silver glitter isn't 'in' right now." Faintly, I thought I heard an indignant trill in the background, but when we went outside and looked around, I didn't see any of our friends nearby.

In the interest of duty, Poppy and I decided to do a quick tour of the village before stopping at any of the displays which beckoned to us with bright colors and sparkling glitter, just to make sure there were no trolls who needed us.

My beautiful girlfriend wasn't kidding when she said she was worried the other trolls wouldn't let us alone to enjoy each other's company in peace. Even without knowing about our new relationship, for a while we were constantly being stopped for comments, questions or conversation, although at some point later on, it occurred to me that we hadn't been approached in a while. That struck me as a little odd.

Even so I was happy, wandering the Beadfest with the girl I loved at my side and thoroughly enjoying the idea of being secret sweethearts. Every so often I'd sneak a glance at her, admiring shining eyes, perfect lips, delicate glitter freckles and a petite shape enticingly filled with vivacious energy. Sometimes she would meet my gaze and break into a big, happy smile which charmed a matching smile of my own from my heart.

Queen Poppy truly was the center of Troll Village. I could practically see the network of invisible hair strands connecting her to each and every troll, from the eldest tottery ladytroll to the tiniest newborn trolling.

But I was the most important one to her. Poppy had said so. It was a little humbling to say the least, that she had chosen me out of all these happy trolls to fall in love with. I also couldn't help feeling a little smug – finally, I was getting a little recognition for all my hard work and dedication.

Speaking of dedication…

I had a hard time tearing my eyes away from my lady love, but I did manage to scan the displays and the crowd's bead-related activities as we passed them. There's no lack of creativity among the happy residents of our village, that's for sure!

There were literally dozens of booths and displays scattered around the village, a cornucopia of brilliant colors (and glitter). Jewelry, beaded clothing and handicrafts competed with bead-themed games and rides.

There were beads made of everything you could imagine, and even some you couldn't. Beads made from silver, from copper, from yellow, white and rose gold. There were beads made from the shed exoskeletons of some of our helper beetles, in brilliant metallic hues of ruby, emerald, cobalt and flame. There were furry beads, too, and beads that glowed; rubbed with bioluminescent oil from one of the many species with the power of self-illumination, including troll-hair oil.

There was even an entire section of edible beads, tiny delicacies threaded into bracelets or necklaces. I took note of the strings of tart berries, savory olives, and juicy vegetables like cherry tomatoes and crisp fresh peas. Cheese balls alternated with bready crackers, or maybe crackery bread. There were certainly enough tasty desserts to satisfy any troll's sweet tooth, in the form of dainty miniature cupcakes, muffins, donuts, and brownie bites. I even saw chocolate and caramel nuggets.

Probably not the greatest idea, considering how sunny it turned out to be. At least that booth has an awning and is situated in deep shade. Still, I was tempted. If I hadn't just had breakfast… I think I'll be visiting this booth shortly.

And of course there were beglittered beads in a rainbow of colors and styles everywhere…just everywhere.

Poppy kept asking me if I wanted to wear earrings or a necklace or three, as she was, but although all were pretty, none of the beads really appealed to me beyond momentary admiration of their beauty or uniqueness until we came upon a cluster of tents all offering beads made from wood. Some were smooth and glossy, others were delicately carved with spiraling filigree swirls, rich with subtle shines of reds and creams, browns and golds that appealed to the craftsman in me.

"Hey, Poppy, once our once-over is done, I'd like to swing by here." I nodded toward the wooden wares. Poppy gazed at them for a moment.

"Oh, nice. Different. Maybe not as bright or eye-catching as some, but very beautiful in their own way. And of course, carving them takes some impressive skill."

One display had beads made from smooth-washed river stones, in soft, muted tones. The next had shiny, highly polished gemstone beads – rainbow-flecked opal, fiery carnelian, sparkling light-green adventurine, crystalline amethyst and striped green-and purple fluorite, delicate rose quartz, shimmering tigereye, glowing moonstone, golden amber and brilliant sky-blue topaz.

I saw lots of fuzzy or hairy beads, too. Even some that looked like the caterbug had barfed up a few neon-pink hairballs. Yeaahh, moving on now.

Then we arrived at a large clearing boasting enormous soft bouncy 'beads' even taller than Biggie, made from boingo fruits, with giddy trolls gleefully bouncing on them in wild, jerky corkscrew circles as they clutched the ropes tied through the boingos' hollow centers.

Poppy's eyes lit up. "Hey, Branch, want to have a race on those later?"

She held her hand up and I gave her a high-five and grinned. "You bet!"

Boingos were a hoot to ride; a fun challenge since they were difficult to steer and had a tendency to bounce in unexpected directions. I did feel a vague sense of anxiety at the sight of trolls riding them without helmets on, though. I was still trying to get Poppy to mandate their use for certain activities but since no one had ever been seriously injured while riding boingos – since trolls instinctively catch themselves with their hair when they do fall – I'd had no luck.

I wish I could get everyone to take me more seriously. I mean, it's not like I don't understand that some of my safety measures can be a little…tedious. Even I have found myself tempted to forgo certain safety protocols lately, like not checking the tensile strength of a spring before using it as a launching pad, or, depending on what measures I use to regulate the launch, not estimating the precise spot where I'll land.

Even so, I was realistic enough to know that it was inevitable that the occasional bead would be swallowed in the natural state of merry chaos that characterized all troll festivities, but since none of them were made of anything toxic – I double-checked on that every year – the only potential hazards were slipping and falling, and choking. I'd addressed those issues a few days ago, distributing pamphlets and posting notices reminding trolls to watch where they stepped, to only smile with their teeth clenched when near any display with moving beads, and to keep an eye on all trollings.

As I did every year, I'd also asked for volunteers to learn a technique I'd read about in one of my family journals called the Heimlich maneuver – a nifty little move that was easy to learn and did a lot to give me some peace of mind. There were lots of volunteers this year. Not just my friends, but almost a dozen more. Maybe I am making progress. I felt my chest swell with pleasure and satisfaction, remembering that.

Of all the things I observed, the thing I noticed most was that more often than not when I looked at Poppy, she was looking back. Smiling at me.

-O-

Poppy was in a state of bliss, soaking up the happy vibes in the very air around her and enjoying this festival more than she could remember ever enjoying a festival before. Because Branch was right there, enjoying it with her, the days of his refusing invitations long past now. Because they had finally talked about their feelings and set things straight between them, and it turned out that Branch loved her, and she loved him back.

In retrospect, the young queen wondered just how long she'd been in love with him. Maybe if he hadn't been so adamantly avoidant when it came to anything the least bit romantic between them, she might have caught on to her own feelings sooner. It was a little frustrating, but she did understand that he'd been afraid to jeopardize his new friendship with her.

Oh, well. Something would have happened sooner or later to expose his feelings. It's not like life in this village is ever boring! She glanced sideways at her aquamarine boy, admiring way the sunlight highlighted the smoothly toned definition in his arms and shoulders and wishing that the borrowed yellow tank top didn't cover up so much of his chest. Speaking of exposure…

She fuzzed out for minute, remembering the tantalizing feel his soft, downy skin beneath her fingers after his bath and how surprised she'd been at how quickly he'd responded, as if that gentle touch had been the signal he'd been waiting for all along. Maybe I should have taken the lead a long time ago.

Except that she too had been getting to know him, the real Branch, the one whose hidden secrets had always drawn her to him. The sweet, sensitive Branch who had finally, finally let her in, with his beautiful blue eyes and angelic voice and charismatic smile and tempting physique...

She swallowed, suddenly wanting to reach out and run her hands over his body right there. I know I told Branch that we wouldn't try to hide our relationship, but there are still some things that even we trolls only do in private.

Trolls were a passionate, physical people; it was one of the reasons the Hug Time tradition had been created. It gave them a healthy, structured way to show physical affection to their fellow trolls, and right now, she wished it really was Hug Time all the time. The next Hug Time, I'm gonna hug you so good…

She bit her lip, standing so close to him she could smell his warm, sweet skin. Um. Maybe we could find someplace to hug in private around here somewhere? Hey, there's no one in this booth.

Poppy tugged Branch backward into a booth with a beautifully carved sign in fancy calligraphy proclaiming 'Whizbang's Wooden Wonders'.

"Whoa! Poppy, what the – Oh, my."

The pink troll watched her boyfriend's eyes get bigger and bigger, as if he'd just stumbled into a treasure trove. He turned slowly, gazing raptly around the large enclosed booth full of what looked like puzzles made from wood.

Each puzzle was beautifully made of gracefully carved wood in every shade – from palest birch and oak, through warm reddish cherry and mahogany, to dark walnut and ebony. Some were a blend of several contrasting or complementary colors, their pieces so beautifully joined with such precision that the seams were nearly invisible. All had been lovingly sanded and polished to a silky-smoothness that made her want to caress them for the pure pleasure of it.

"Look at these," Branch breathed. "They're works of art."

"They sure are," Poppy agreed. The Whizbang family is so talented. The best builders in the whole village. Well, except for my Branch. She closed her eyes as a thrill went through her, and repeated the thought as a wide, lazy smile spread across her lips. My Branch.

Branch reached for a puzzle with hungry fingers and she gave up on the idea of hugging him for now, in favor of playing with the Wonders. Some of the puzzles were simple to figure out, merely flat pieces that, when placed next to each other, created a simple picture of a heart or a hill with the sun rising behind it. Others were more challenging; brain teasers such as three-dimensional spheres or cubes or grids that could only be put together in the correct sequence of interlocking pieces.

The most frustratingly challenging, though, were a set of fascinatingly intricate puzzles shaped like squares, cubes, spheres, but made entirely out of thin wooden chutes that twisted in and out and around on themselves, like a Mobius strip gone crazy. The object was to move a small round wooden bead along the chutes through the entirety of the puzzle and back to the starting point.

The trick here was that many of the chutes had dead ends, requiring you to backtrack often. Also, the inner chutes were hard to see and could only be reached by using your hair, thus encouraging you to use your imagination to create a mental map of the puzzle's inner schema.

Poppy was good at putting things together, but for Branch, who loved drawing diagrams, puzzles like these were a dream come true. The pink troll could just see Branch peacefully passing time with them, his mind so pleasantly occupied there was no room for worry. She resolved to ask the Whizbangs to create some special puzzles just for him. They would make perfect gifts.

The two of them got distracted for a while, challenging each other to see who could solve each puzzle the fastest. For a while she was actually ahead, but then Branch began to consistently defeat her. He began standing at her elbow offering 'helpful' suggestions and smirking.

"Branch, please stop that." She gritted her teeth, suppressing a Branchlike growl. Like him, she hated to lose.

"I'm sorry." He started to chuckle, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. "I'm trying not to say anything snarky. I really am."

"How are you solving them so fast?" she demanded finally. There goes my gift idea!

"Repeating patterns," he said enigmatically.

"What?"

"I recognize some of the patterns."

"Are you sure? All of these puzzles seem unique to me."

"Not the puzzles. The patterns. For example, the puzzle you're holding is based on a fractal pattern."

"Oh." Like most artistically inclined trolls, she knew about the repeating patterns found in nature, with the same pattern repeated smaller and smaller until it was too small to see anymore. "How clever! And a bit sneaky."

Branch laughed again and she smiled, her mood brightening at the sheer delight in his tone. She wasn't the only one.

"So good to hear that my puzzles are the source of such happiness," a gruff, jolly voice said from outside.

Branch's ears perked up and he tilted his head like a puppy. "That voice…"

Her boyfriend's mirth faded as gazed at the two trolls entering the booth. The Whizbangs were a kindly middle-aged couple. Savvy, the wife, had sky blue skin and lemon yellow hair, and her husband Finetune had light, warm-pink skin and turquoise hair.

Branch and the Whizbangs stood and stared awkwardly at one another, while Poppy's topknot flicked back and forth as she sensed the strained atmosphere between them.

Just then three Hug Time bracelets flowered, their tiny chimes sounding exceptionally loud in the enclosed space. The older couple glanced uncertainly at Branch and then at each other.

Refusing to hug at Hug Time was big deal in Troll Village, causing a lot of hurt feelings, sometimes even anger. Gray and grumpy though he'd been, even Branch had usually complied with their most valued custom, passively allowing other trolls to hug him for as long as he could bear it before squirming away from the arms of his fellows.

But he wasn't gray anymore, so what was the problem?

Then Savvy smiled warmly at Branch, and Finetune said softly, "Hey-hey, Branchkin."

"'Branchkin'?" Poppy repeated, raising an eyebrow.

At the sound of what must have been an old greeting, something extraordinary happened. Branch broke out into a huge grin and opened his arms wide. "Tuney! Savvy!" he said affectionately.

Finetune and Savvy wore matching pleased smiles as they threw their arms around the aquamarine troll while Poppy stood nearby, her mouth hanging open, completely forgetting to join the hug herself.

"It's so good to see you, Branch!" Savvy sounded almost tearfully glad to see him. Finetune thumped Branch heartily on the back as if he hadn't seen the young troll in years.

Come to think of it, he probably hasn't.

"So, I'm guessing you all know each other?" Poppy asked as their flowers closed up, unable to keep silent any longer.

"Yeah," Branch said as they all stepped apart, still smiling so brightly he looked like a different troll. Or at least, a younger version of himself. "When I was a trolling I used to follow Savvy and Finetune around, learning how to build things. They're both amazing mechanical engineers. Really, really talented. I learned so much from them!"

The older trolls looked surprised. "Why, thank you, darling, what a nice compliment! Tell me, how have you been?" Savvy took his face in her hands, gently smooshing his cheeks in a motherly way as she looked him over, and Branch blushed.

"Fine," he said, his voice slurred.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Poppy clasped her hands together at the heartwarming sight.

Savvy cooed proudly, "Such a smart boy, this one! He always picked things up so fast; so curious, so inventive. He even came up with innovations we're still using to this day!"

"Uh, thanks, but could you…" Branch mumbled through adorably squashed lips.

"Oh, sorry, dear." Savvy let him go with a gentle chuckle which Finetune joined, both of them looking at the aquamarine troll in an oddly soft way. Almost as if he were their…

"I wish Laurel were here to see you," Finetune said, and he and Savvy traded meaningful glances as Branch's ears stiffened. Just like that, his good humor was gone.

Poppy frowned thoughtfully, searching among the 262 trolls in her memory for the face to match the name that had freaked him out.

Finetune sighed and continued, "She's doing an emergency repair on Alder's pod. Problem with the plumbing."

Branch relaxed. "Uh, well, tell her I'm sorry I missed her."

Something clicked in Poppy's head. "Oh, right; Laurel's your daughter," Poppy said, and turned to Branch. "I didn't know you knew her."

"Oh, yes, he and Laurel were good friends, before-" Finetune cut himself off, looking at Branch and then away.

No one wanted to say it. Before he went and hid in a hole in the ground for a decade.

Branch tried to conceal it, but he was practically squirming. Poppy was dying to ask him what was going on, but she didn't want to make things any more awkward for the Whizbangs.

But as queen, it was her job to help her people work out their differences so everyone could be happy. Even if it meant pushing things a little.

Maybe it's because I'm here. Well, that was easy to fix – and it would work nicely with her plan to attend to the other task she had set herself to complete today. She licked her lips and said into the thick silence, "Uh, listen, Branch, it sounds like you have a lot to catch up on. Why don't you stay here and have a nice chat while I head out to run an errand?"

He looked startled. "An errand? During Beadfest?"

"Not exactly…" She scrambled for an excuse. "I just thought I'd go get one of those candy apples you mentioned earlier. Would anyone else like one?"

Branch gaped at her as Savvy and Finetune politely accepted her offer. When she turned to him he gave her a puzzled look. "No, thanks. We - uh - I just had breakfast. I'm not hungry yet."

"Okay, be right back." She headed for the front of the booth, then paused at the entrance and said casually over her shoulder, "Oh, and I may need to drop by Mandy Sparkledust's place for a minute."

"Something the matter with your Hug Time bracelet?" Branch asked.

"Want me to take a look at it?" Inadvertently part of a choir, the aquamarine troll traded surprised looks with Finetune and Savvy, who had matched his offer word for word. They all laughed, which reassured the young queen.

Whatever it is that's bothering them can't be too bad.

She'd taken too long to answer. With Branch giving her a distinctly suspicious glare, she managed to find the right reply. "I appreciate the offer, but taking care of the Hug Time bracelets is Mandy's family's special craft, going back generations. It makes people feel good, to know they're needed."

In her peripheral vision she saw Finetune share a glance with Savvy. "Of course, Queen Poppy," he replied. "That's very thoughtful of you. We understand."

"Okay, bye!"

-O-

I looked after Poppy, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. I wonder what she's up to…

"She's got that look in her eye," I said aloud.

"What look?" Finetune asked.

"The look that says she's concocting another one of her elaborate, over-the-top plans that involves singing-dancing-hugging-glitter and lately, me having to wear some sort of embarrassing costume."

Both of them chuckled gently, and Savvy said, "It's wonderful that you know her so well, darling."

I guess I do. I blinked in surprise and they chuckled again, but for some reason their laughter made me feel better, so I merely sighed and resigned myself to accept my fate.

Author's Note:

I base the total number of trolls in the village on movie-Branch saying how his supplies will only last the villagers two weeks. Ten years x 365 days = 3650 total days that the supplies would last Branch alone. Divide that by 14 days, 3650/14 = 260, roughly. So I chose 262 for the number of trolls in Troll Village.

While I love hearing that certain lines of scenes made you laugh out loud, what I'd really like to know is whether you caught my more subtle humor, like puns, clever wordplay or hidden jokes and references to the TV series. For example, did you catch that Branch's remark about a detour is a reference to the episode 'Branch Bum'? The kind of humor that makes you go, "Aha, I see what you did there…"