When Branch returned, Clay was still locked in his room. John Dory immediately poured a fresh cup of tea for his brother, who took it like a shot before passing the cup back. Branch's colors flashed as he went to the couch and dropped down beside Floyd.
"Have you been having tea?" he asked.
"Probably should have another cup if you're asking," Floyd replied.
John Dory brought him a cup, and Floyd swallowed it like Branch had. His colors flashed, and he leaned over and rested his head on Branch's shoulder.
"Clay come out yet?" Branch asked.
"No. No, he hasn't," John Dory said. "What you said bothered him."
"Of course it did," Branch said. "But he needed to hear it. What he's doing is only hurting him, and it won't end well. Probably wouldn't end in a desaturation coma, but that doesn't mean it won't be detrimental."
"You sure are wise now," Bruce said.
"Experience does that to you," Branch said. "Pass me a piece of fruit. I need something on my stomach."
Bruce tossed him a starfruit then took one for himself and peered at it. "Never had this before."
"Funk Trolls grow them," Branch said through his mouthful. "Cooper can get us as much as we want."
"Cooper is?"
"A friend. He was raised here in the village, but he's actually a different race. He's a Funk Troll, but not just any Funk Troll. Turns out he's the missing prince. He has a twin brother, Prince D. They hang around here a lot. Prince D wants to know more about Pop Trolls and how Cooper grew up. They're cool to hang around. Probably the Trolls I'm closest to, besides Poppy." Branch looked at his lap. "They've been good to me. Patient. Kind. But they'll kick my butt if I need it. Good friends. Real good."
"You should introduce us," Floyd said. "I'd like to meet them."
"Sure. They're at some kind of Funk ceremony until tomorrow, but they should be back soon."
There was the soft click of a door opening, and Branch turned to see Clay coming into the hallway. He looked rough.
"Bowrain tea would be good," Branch said to John Dory.
John Dory obediently made Clay a cup of tea as he made his way over to sit down. He seemed very small, very tired, and he took the cup from John Dory without a word. He tapped the cup and stared at the reverse rainbow inside it. They sat there in a tense silence for a few minutes before Clay swallowed.
"Can we be serious?" he asked in a small voice.
"Of course," Branch said.
Clay shifted. "I don't know where to start."
"Take your time."
There was another long pause where Clay sipped his tea. Finally, he spoke. "Am I a joke to you guys?"
John Dory frowned and went to sit beside him. "Of course not. But I can't blame you for thinking like that. I really shoved you into that box. I guess I didn't notice when you started fighting me."
Clay leaned into his oldest brother. "Losing Mom and Dad was rough on me, JD. I helped you guys through it with laughs and jokes, but I never got over it myself. I missed them, and I couldn't cry. I had to be the fun one. And I started hating it."
John Dory pulled Clay close. "I'm sorry for ever making you feel like you have to be fun all the time. I didn't see what I was doing to you, Clay," John Dory said sincerely. "You don't have to forgive me. I know I messed up. I messed up so bad. But I really tried." He looked away.
Clay sniffed and swiped at his eyes, embracing John Dory. "I love you, man, but it's hard to be fun. It's hard to be serious. No matter what I do, it's never right."
"Stop trying so hard, Clay," Branch advised. "Just relax. If you feel like being fun, be fun. If you want to be serious, be serious. But be honest. That's the important part."
Clay nodded. "Yeah. And, um, thanks, Branch. I needed to hear that."
"Anytime, man," Branch said. "It won't be easy, but maybe you and the others could integrate with Pop Village. More Trolls are always good."
"I don't think Viva will ever want to leave," Clay said, a wry smile on his face. Branch snickered, and Clay looked over, his expression tightening. "What's so funny?"
"It's not you," Branch assured him. "I just realized that if Viva's moving in, that means I have to deal with two Poppys now." He paused then scoffed. "I'm never leaving my bunker again."
"Well, if Poppy's anything like Viva, she won't let you," Clay said, smiling a little.
"Oh, I'm aware. I could lock it down, but that's not fair," Branch said. "It's just a lot." His smile faded. "Like a lot lot. Two Poppys…"
"And that's enough thinking about the rainbow hellscape of glitter and candy our lives are about to become," Clay said delicately.
Branch burst out laughing. "True. True. So, are you and Viva dating?"
"She wants to. I've never said yes."
"Why not?" John Dory asked.
"Because she's too fun for him," Branch said when Clay squirmed.
"Yeah, okay, you're not wrong," Clay said. "But to be fair, she had stuff going on, too. With missing her dad and sister and losing her home all in one day."
"Once things settle with Viva, you should ask her on a date," Branch said. "Even if it's just a friendly date to talk about where you want to go."
"Man, do I have to?" Clay whined.
"Do you want to be serious with her?" Branch asked pointedly. "Because if you do, you'll have to face the hard conversations. Like what happened between me and Poppy."
Floyd grew excited. "Ooh, tell us more! JD and Bruce caught me up while you were gone."
"Oh, so you want to hear about the Rock Apocalypse and how we discovered there are other types of Trolls?" Branch asked. "I don't know. Awful boring story…"
They all complained while Branch pretended that he needed convinced before he gave in. "Okay, okay, where to begin…? I guess it started with the invitation to Barb's World Tour and Poppy, once again, refusing to listen to reason. Peppy told us the Pop history of how the strings and Trolls were separated, and instead of taking any advice from her dad, or me, or Biggie, or anybody, she decided to steal the string and head off to meet Barb. Fortunately, I caught her. Unfortunately, she convinced me to not tell anybody and come with her. And me, being an idiot, went along with it."
"Why?" Bruce asked.
"You try saying no to Poppy and see what happens," Branch said. "Anyway, I wanted to try and learn how to fly the balloon, and she was like 'don't need that,' and chucked the book away. Then she did the same thing with the weapons I made." Branch made a face and grumbled. "Took me hours to make them, but Miss Gumdrop thought fighting wouldn't happen, so weapons weren't necessary. Which she was totally wrong about, by the way."
"Considering how that ended, I'm not surprised," John Dory muttered.
"How did it end?" Clay asked.
"The rock concert," John Dory said. Blank looks. "None of you were there?"
Branch considered this. "Think about it, JD. Floyd was already captured, Clay and Viva lived far enough away from Pop Village that they weren't abducted by Barb, and Bruce was far away on Vacay Island. You and I were the only ones here who were there."
"Dude, start talking," Clay ordered.
"Well, we headed out and discovered that Biggie was sleeping in the balloon after way too much cotton candy, and he was like 'Fine, I guess I have to,' and we were trying to figure out what to do. Then we came across Symphonyville, or what used to be Symphonyville. We found out that Barb had invaded, destroyed their city, stolen their string, and even kidnapped the Trolls. Poppy finally realized that Barb was willing to deceive and harm to get her way, and that got through to her. So she decided, without consulting anyone, that we now had to warn the other Trolls and stop Barb. So we did. And it did not go well."
"In what way?" John Dory asked.
"Giving a Pop concert to the Country Trolls."
John Dory burst out laughing. Floyd bit his bottom lip, his eyes sparkling. "Oh, you didn't," he said.
"Is that bad?" Clay asked.
"Their emotional core is stubbornness, not happiness," Branch said. "They, ah, weren't fans."
"What happened?" John Dory asked.
"I got a rap sheet," Branch said.
"They threw you in jail?" Bruce asked, horrified.
"Yeah. For all of about five minutes. But they were productive minutes. Poppy got another lesson… which was almost immediately undercut by Hickory showing up and busting us out of jail, proclaiming allegiance to the cause."
"That's not suspicious at all," Clay said, rolling his eyes.
"Thank you, Clay!" Branch exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "FYI, totally not on our side. But he did help us get away from Delta Dawn. Then he helped us get away from Chaz."
"Whoa! You've experienced smooth jazz?" John Dory asked, sounding amazed and curious.
"Yeah. Pretty good high, but man, coming down sucks," Branch said.
John Dory looked thoughtful. "Not the worst thing to come down from, but I'm guessing your experience wasn't, shall we say, consensual? Considering this is Chaz we're talking about."
"Bingo," Branch said. "And like I said, despite me not trusting Hickory, he did save us from Chaz. So we kept sailing and eventually got intercepted by the Funk Trolls."
"I'm assuming that Cooper is the reason that they didn't kill you?" Floyd asked.
"Yep. Being friends with the long lost prince equals pretty good security against being murdered by angry Trolls. They're pretty friendly now, but that's a whole other story, and besides that, it's not mine to tell."
"Fair enough," Clay said. "What happened next?"
"I think we need to take a break," John Dory said.
Clay glanced at John Dory, who was gazing between Branch and Floyd. Clay looked at his two youngest brothers and noticed some small changes. Branch's colors were a bit dimmer than usual, and Floyd's skin shimmered like crystal. He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, dude, that's okay. Let's get some tea for them. Show me how to make it?"
"Me, too," Bruce said. "That way you're not the only one who could in an emergency."
John Dory practically glowed with delight at their desire to help. "Yeah, sure. You two need anything else?"
"No," Floyd said. Then he hesitated. "Maybe a blanket?"
"Yeah. A blanket. And put on some music," Branch said.
"What kind?"
"Argue amongst yourselves," Branch said. "I've got just about every genre imaginable."
"Where?" Bruce asked, glancing around.
A sly smile crossed Branch's face, and he got up and gestured for Floyd to follow. "You'll want to see this."
Instantly, they all stood up and followed Branch. What could he be showing them now? He walked over to the wall and pressed a hidden switch. A secret door opened, and Branch walked down a small flight of stairs.
"Come on."
His brothers obediently came down the stairs, and John Dory let out a disbelieving laugh. They were in a large round room divided into sections, and it was half full of all kinds of music. Sorted by genre then artist, he really did seem to have anything they could want.
"Poppy asked me to start a music library," Branch said. "This room used to be a lockdown room, but I changed it once the Bergens became our friends. We're still building our collection, but we've got lots of classics, and I don't just mean Classical."
"You're just full of surprises," Clay said, pulling him close.
Branch blushed and squirmed but grinned. "Yeah. I am. It's fun to surprise people."
"Oh yeah?" John Dory asked. Branch nodded tiredly, and his oldest brother softened. "Okay, let's get you two some tea and a couple blankets. You two pick something to listen to."
"What do you like?" Bruce asked.
John Dory stared in disbelief for a moment before shrugging. "It feels like a Country day, doesn't it?"
"Country, coming right up," Bruce said. "Come on, Clay. Let's pick something."
John Dory guided Floyd and Branch back up the few steps and into the living area. They were settled on the couch, and Bruce came up with a record.
"How about this?" Clay asked.
"Delta Dawn? Sure. That's the queen, by the way," Branch said. "She's good."
So Clay padded over and started the record then went to learn how to make tea. Bruce gave Branch and Floyd blankets and joined them. Branch and Floyd leaned against each other, listening as Delta Dawn's melancholy voice filled room. Branch looked around at his full house and smiled as a secret wish in his heart was finally satisfied after over twenty years. It was a good day.