Branch had thought that he was used to being locked up and isolated from all other trolls. There had been a handful of times where a bad storm would cause debris to block or lock the exits from his bunker, and it would take him days to figure out how to fix the problem and in that time he would be stuck in his bunker, with no way out and no way to ask for help.
It was always a frightening time, but mostly he saw it as an experience. It gave him the chance to put his skills into practice, and actually see how effective the different features in his bunker were.
When he had decided to stay in Bud's cell for a day he thought the experience would be a bit like that. Somehow it was so much worse. He didn't know if it was because he wasn't in his safe haven, so the threat seemed more real, or if the heat was getting to him. Maybe just knowing that there were bars keeping him from the rest of the world rather than a fallen tree branch made the situation that much different in his head.
Whatever the reason why, Branch couldn't relax or get used to this cell. The only thing he had to distract him and keep himself from spiraling was his notebook. He had thought about not having it on him, because he felt like it was cheating somehow. After all, Bud hadn't had anything like a notebook to express his thoughts.
But Branch was doing this for a reason. He was trying to figure out what was going through Bud's head so he could help him. If Branch didn't write an idea down as it came to him, especially in this cell where his mind was going all over the place and absolutely nowhere, then he would end up forgetting it before being able to make anything useful of it.
After what felt like a few hours Branch heard someone approach. After silence for so long, any sound seemed impossibly loud. He turned and saw the two guards, Jax and Harley. They were bringing food and a cup of what he assumed was water.
Branch stood up and crossed his arms. "Since you guys are here, at least I can assume you fed him." He had specifically not asked for special treatment. He was about to ask how many times a day they brought Bud water, because Branch was starting to feel absolutely parched, and a single cup of water wasn't going to quench that. Before he could say anything though Jax took the cup and threw it at him.
Branch yelped and stepped back as he was drenched in water. "Hey!" He growled and glared at the rock troll. "What was that for?"
"You said to treat you the same." Harley said. "Queen Barb didn't want the pop troll to talk to us. It didn't take him long to learn that lesson."
Branch clenched his fists painfully. "You threw his water at him if he talked to you." It wasn't a question. He knew he was right. "Did you get him more water, or did you just let him go thirsty?" He didn't know why he was asking. He knew the truth.
"He was fine." Jax said dismissively. "Trolls can go days without any water."
Branch hated rock trolls. He really did. "Rock trolls can go days without water." They were creatures of fire. Of course they didn't need water. "Did you ever consider that pop trolls might need more?"
Jax and Harley looked at each other in confusion. Branch wanted to growl and shout. These trolls were so oblivious. Every single one of them.
"Forget it." Branch snapped. "How often did you bring him water?"
"Morning and night." Harley said. Twice a day. It was better than just once. Obviously it had been enough for Bud to live off of, but it was a miracle that had been the case. They could have easily killed him by accident, and Branch didn't know if he could ever forgive them for that.
Branch turned his back on the guards, ignoring them and the food they brought. He really wasn't feeling hungry right now. He pulled out his notebook, scowling at the fact that a corner of it had gotten wet. The notebook as a whole would be fine, but it was annoying to deal with.
He wrote down what he had learned about water, making a note to himself that he would make water as available to Bud as he could. And he absolutely wouldn't splash him. Who knew what kind of reaction that would get?
Eventually Branch started to get a little tired. He didn't feel safe enough to sleep, and the heat was so uncomfortable that he couldn't truly relax. But as much as he didn't want to sleep, he knew how important that he was to do so. He needed to have a clear mind. He wanted to be as thorough and logical about Bud's situation as possible, which meant doing what he could to pull back his paranoia.
He didn't really get a deep and peaceful sleep. He would doze in and out of sleep, which made the night feel like it lasted forever. He ended up feeling more tired than before, but at least he didn't think that he was going to collapse out of exhaustion at any given moment. This was manageable.
Branch stopped trying to sleep when he heard footsteps again. He stood up, refusing to show weakness of any kind to the rock trolls. He saw Jax and Harley approach, but they weren't the only ones. Barb was right there with them.
"That's a day." Barb said. She opened the cell door and held it open, waiting for Branch to step out. He didn't move.
"It hasn't been twenty four hours." Branch said. He knew that much. His internal clock told him it was fairly early in the morning, and he didn't start this whole thing until near lunchtime.
"Close enough." Barb said. She gestured impatiently. "Come on."
He wanted to fight her about this. He'd made a plan. They'd had an agreement. He didn't want to shift plans and admit defeat. He could get through twenty four hours. He could see his plan through.
But this wasn't about him.
Branch reluctantly exited the cell and followed the rock trolls out of the dungeon and into the throne room. Barb sat on her throne. Branch stood before her, glaring at her.
"You get what you wanted?" Barb asked.
"Not as much as I wanted, but I've got something." Branch said. "Did you know he was only given water once a day?"
Barb shrugged. "Only if he tried to use that silver tongue of his." She said, as though it was Bud's fault that he could have died of thirst.
Branch crossed his arms. "If you really want to make alliances with the other clans you need to learn about their biology." If a techno or classical troll had been their prisoner they would have, without a doubt, died. Techno trolls needed so much more water than just a glass a day. Branch didn't know the water needs of classical trolls, but air was beyond vital for them, and the quality of air was really important. They wouldn't be able to last more than a few days in the dry, thick air of the volcano. A classical troll would have slowly and painfully suffocated, and the rock trolls would have gone on with their lives, not caring at all.
Barb raised an eyebrow at Branch. "Noted." She was quiet for a long minute before she sighed and slouched on her throne. "I know you're not going to believe me, but I really didn't mean for things to go so far. I-I'm sorry."
"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to." He said. "But…thanks."
"If there's something we can do to help, we're at your disposal." Barb said.
Branch had already thought about this. "If he traveled here he had belongings. Possessions. Something. I don't know if you kept that stuff after you took it from him, but-"
"We'll keep an eye out." Barb said. "And…look, maybe I'm out of line, but I'd appreciate it if you would keep me updated on him. If he gets better, if he gets worse, I wanna know."
Branch's mouth thinned. "Why?"
Barb tapped her fingers on her throne. Branch recognized that she was mimicking the finger positions of guitar chords. One of his brothers used to do it when they were younger. Branch realized that he couldn't actually remember which of his brothers had done it. The thought hurt. He may have tried so hard to forget that he even had brothers in the first place, but he hadn't thought that he would actually forget anything about them.
"You said he was broken." Barb said. Branch regretted that choice of words. "That he freaks out about things when it doesn't seem like there's anything to freak out about. And…I get it, you know? I get what it's like to see someone hurting so much, and all you want to do is save them, but you can't save them from their own head. It…it's scary. And it sucks. And it's hard."
Branch was surprised to hear the sincerity in her voice. She was speaking from experience. He didn't know who she knew in her life that was going through something like this. He didn't need to know. That was Barb's business. But Branch knew that she was empathizing. Her offer to help was sincere. She couldn't help the person that she really wanted to, so when she heard about someone who was similar enough, someone that she maybe could help, she felt the need to at least try.
Branch could understand that, and in a way he appreciated it. He didn't know if he could forgive her or the rock trolls for what had been done, but if they wanted to try to make amends, just as long as they didn't make things worse, fine.
"I'll think about it." Branch said. He should talk it through with Poppy, just to get a second opinion. He didn't think the rock trolls should have anything to do with Bud anymore, but at the same time he didn't really see the harm in giving the occasional update.
"At least let me know if there's anything else we can do." Barb said. She gave him a small smirk. "I know you're going to tell me everything I did wrong as you figure it out." She wasn't wrong about that.
Branch left shortly after that. Neither he nor Barb were ones for small talk. They'd talked about what they needed to. There was no reason to make pleasantries.
Though he left the palace he spent the rest of the day in Volcano Rock City. He went around to the general populace and asked around. It was a long-shot, but maybe somebody would remember a pop troll from twelve years ago.
He asked around all day, and Branch only found four trolls who knew who he was talking about. None of them remembered his name. They couldn't seem to agree on what he looked like. One of them said they would have mistaken him for a rock troll if it weren't for his soft-spoken nature. Another one of them said that he had looked like a flower or something. Delicate and colorful. The other two had argued about the color of his hair. One of them said it had been pink or red. The other said it had been blue.
What all four of them had agreed on was that the pop troll had been kind and patient, but also tougher than any of them expected. Branch wasn't surprised about that last part. Someone wouldn't have lasted here for twelve years if they weren't tough.
When Branch thought he had gotten as many answers as he could he decided to make his way back home. He didn't want to stay any longer than he had to. Queen Barb had loaned him a beetle bike to take him home.
It wasn't too long a journey, but not one that Branch could make in one night. He went as long as he could before he had to stop to sleep. He camped that night in some bare plains, though before sleeping he made sure to get a good shelter up and some basic defenses and traps set up around it.
He slept much better out here than he did in the cell. He actually slept in. After foraging for something for him and the beetle bike to eat he continued his journey home. He saw Pop Village shortly after dark, and it was a massive relief to be home. He was ready to return to the safety of his bunker.
Branch landed the beetle bike and let himself into the bunker. By the smell of it he could tell that Poppy was here and baking. It didn't matter that he didn't really have the kitchen for baking, let alone the ingredients, Poppy always figured things out.
Branch went into the kitchen. The room was a mess and Poppy was in a baking frenzy. She was visibly stressed. Branch hated to see her like this. He went to his girlfriend's side and took her hand. She stopped suddenly and turned towards him. Her eyes widened.
"Branch!" She threw her arms around him and embraced him. He wasn't normally a hugger, but there were always exceptions, and Poppy was usually a great example of that. "You're back!"
"So are you." Branch pulled back to look at her. "I thought you guys were going to be gone for a bit longer." Branch was supposed to be back before they were. Bud wasn't supposed to know that he was gone at all.
Poppy grimaced. "Things didn't really work out the way we wanted them to." She glanced towards the entrance to the kitchen and lowered her voice, clearly not wanting to be overheard. She told him about the golf course. She mentioned having a sister there, but she passed over it so quickly that he didn't have the chance to ask about it.
"Bud had a brother there." Poppy had started pacing at this point. "But he didn't know that Bud was his brother. I guess he didn't recognize him, and I didn't know how to tell him. I thought if he came here to visit and get to know Bud a bit better, then it would be easier to tell him, but he didn't want to come. He didn't want to leave his family, and Bud…he didn't really take it well. He freaked out, and he hurt himself, and-"
"Hang on, hang on." Branch gave Poppy's hands a squeeze. "Bud hurt himself? Is he okay?"
Poppy was quiet for a long moment, and every second of silence made Branch feel more and more nervous.
"I really don't think he's okay." Poppy said seriously. Her voice trembled slightly. "He seemed okay at first. I took him out shopping, and he seemed like he was having a good time, and then we got home and he just shut down, and he's just been getting worse."
Branch really didn't like the sound of this. "Where is he?"
"Your room." Poppy said. "I hope you don't mind. But he was missing you, and I thought it would help."
"It's fine." Branch said. "How has he gotten worse?" They made their way out of the kitchen.
"He seemed so excited about some things I got for him." Poppy said. "The first day he held onto them like he would die without them. After that he has kept them on the other side of the room, and he won't even look at them. I've tried to give him his blanket, or read him his book, and he won't let me. It's like he doesn't want them anymore, but he gets so upset if I try to take them out of the room."
Branch nodded to show that he heard her, but he didn't understand. He didn't have any more of an idea of what was going through Bud's mind than Poppy did.
"Anything else?" Branch asked.
"Um…kinda?" Poppy said. "Lately he's just been curled up and refusing to move, but before he got that far I was able to get him to color with me. I thought it would help him to express himself better. But all of his pictures look the same. They're weird. Just kinda gray, with a little red. And now he's surrounded himself with his pictures, and he screams at me if I move any of the pictures."
This was way more than what Branch felt like he could handle. Bud clearly needed so much help, and Branch didn't think that what he had to offer was going to be good enough. But Bud wasn't going to trust just anybody. If he trusted Branch, then it was his job to at least try to do what he could.
He went into his bedroom and immediately saw Bud. He was in the corner, laying back on the floor and just staring blankly up at the ceiling. His ears twitched when he heard them come in, but he didn't sit up or react. Branch swallowed thickly and twiddled his fingers slightly to try to ease his nerves. He felt like he was going to have to tread carefully.
"Poppy, can you get us some water?" Branch asked. "As much as you can?"
"Sure." Poppy said. She hesitated for a moment before kissing his cheek. "Good luck." She left and Branch took a deep breath before stepping closer to Bud.
"Hey." Branch said. He looked at the papers that were circled around Bud, surrounding him. Poppy was right, the pictures were odd. They were just scribbles of gray with occasional red lines cutting through them. There were a few exceptions. Three of the drawings, the ones closest to the door, had black stripes all across them.
Branch didn't realize what he was looking at until he saw one of the drawings had black marks all over it. Black tally marks that had been scribbled over. Once he recognized that the whole picture came together. Bud had drawn his cell. He had put himself back in there, and if Poppy was right then he didn't want to come out.
Branch had to swallow down a scream. Why was Bud doing this? Was the cell so familiar that he now saw it as a safe space of sorts? Did he think that he deserved to be back there? Was he completely delusional and didn't even realize that he wasn't back there anymore?
He wanted to brush aside all of the papers and rip them apart, but he didn't know if Bud would be able to handle that. He wanted Bud to open up to him, but it had to be on his terms. Branch knew all about boundaries, and he knew how scary it could be to let them down. They had to go slow or he would become even more closed off.
He thought about it for a minute before he came up with an idea. He took out his notebook and turned to an empty page. He drew a picture of a key. He turned the book towards Bud so he could see the sloppy picture.
"I have a key." Branch said. "Do you think it will unlock the cell?"
Bud didn't react for a long time, but then slowly he turned his head towards Branch and just stared at him. He slowly sat up and held out his hand. Branch handed him the notebook. Bud set it down on one of the pictures with the black stripes that Branch now knew represented bars.
"Click." Bud said quietly, almost inaudibly. Branch thought he might have stopped breathing. He hadn't thought this would work. And this was the first time he had heard Bud speak at all.
Branch knelt on the ground and put his hand on the paper with the book on it. Bud didn't move. Branch slowly pulled the paper away, opening the 'door' until there was a space to walk through. Bud didn't make any move to leave his makeshift cell, so Branch went in himself. He sat on the floor right next to Bud.
"Do you want me to close the door again?" Branch asked. He would rather not, but he'd put the paper back if that was what Bud was more comfortable with. To his relief Bud shook his head.
"You don't deserve to be trapped." Bud said quietly. Branch's heart hurt.
"Neither do you." He said. Bud shook his head.
"It's better here." Bud said. Branch hated that he didn't know if he meant 'here' as in in the bunker, away from the rock trolls, or if he meant 'here' as in back in the prison.
"Why is it better?" Branch asked. He hoped he could get more clarification about just what Bud meant.
Bud looked to the corner of the room where there was a pile of unfamiliar items, including a faux troll hair blanket. Those must be the things that Poppy had gotten for Bud. "I'm alone in here, but I'm alone not in here too. In here I can pretend that my brothers care. That they want me back, and just don't know where to find me." Tears were falling from Bud's eyes now. Branch didn't say a word about them.
Bud sniffled and buried his head in his knees. "I can pretend they don't hate me."
Branch was way out of his depth here. "Why would your brothers hate you?"
"I wasn't good enough for them." Bud let out a choked sound as he tightened his grip around his legs. "I left."
Those words made Branch feel all kinds of things that he didn't want to think about. He shouldn't be the one doing this. Literally anybody else would be better at this. But Branch was the one here. He was the one that Bud was opening himself up to. If Branch put up his own defenses Bud would just see it as another rejection, and he would lock himself even deeper into his mind.
"...I don't think your brothers would hate you for leaving." Branch said slowly. He chose his words carefully. He didn't lie, because he had never been very good at it. He told lies through sarcasm, and that wasn't what Bud needed right now. He needed reassurance, and he needed the truth. Branch could give him that. It would hurt, because it meant giving words to the things that he had been avoiding thinking about for twenty years because he didn't like the complicated feelings.
But Bud needed the comfort and hope more than Branch needed to be in denial.
Bud didn't say anything. Branch kept talking, hoping he didn't mess things up. "It can hurt a lot to be left behind, but…but if your brothers care about you they wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you. Even if they were mad and hurt that you left they still wouldn't hesitate to go to Volcano Rock City to save you if they knew you needed them."
There was a harsh sniffling sound before Bud lifted his head just enough to peek at Branch. His eyes were a vibrant purple. Branch felt like he was peering straight into his soul.
"Really?" Bud asked quietly. Desperately.
"Really." Branch said. "I mean, I know I would if it was one of my brothers." This might be the first time he had admitted to anybody that he had brothers.
Bud lifted his head and his expression was full of so much devastation that Branch was worried that he had gone too far. He was about to apologize, but Bud beat him to it. The smaller troll launched himself at Branch, wrapping his arms tightly around him and nuzzling against his chest. Branch held onto him and just let him cry.
"I'm sorry." Bud said. "I'm sorry, B-Branch. I'm so sorry." He just kept crying and apologizing. Bud seemed oblivious to the fact that he'd knocked Branch over and the two of them had brushed some of the papers away, ruining the cell. That seemed to be the last thing on his mind.
Branch sighed and stroked Bud's hair, initiating a form of comfort that was usually more intimate than what he would normally do. This shouldn't feel so natural to do with someone that he barely knew, but Branch didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable doing this. It felt right and familiar.
"It's okay." Branch said. "You're going to be okay."
