Winter had come and little droplets of snow continued to gradually fall from the sky, enveloping the entire Pop Village. The hundreds of forest trees were dolloped with the snow, helping create a rare, beautiful winter environment that would be foolish not to visit and appreciate. However, there were two who decided that they'd rather spend their free day together cuddled up in a thick blanket, sitting side by side in front of the fireplace, reading.

The world outside was beautiful, no doubt, but it was also quite cold. They might eventually decide to take a walk and enjoy the pretty sights that await them outside the village. But for now, at the very least, the couple just wanted to kick back and appreciate the warm and cozy comfort that the fire brought them both.

The pod's interior was cast in shadow. Neither of them had ignited any lights or lamps, and simply let the light from the flames next to them assist their evening reading session. Everything was quiet, with both them enjoying the comfortable silence as they continued to dig into their respective stories. They both wore precious smiles on their faces. Everything was perfect.

Branch, reading a short little novel that Poppy had recommended to him recently, stopped and paused in the middle of one of its pages. The protagonist was beginning to describe his passionate, pure love for his partner to the reader, and was gushing on how truly lovely they looked. The teal troll thought it was all very charming, but as he continued to read, his mind quickly drifted to thinking of his own love, who was pleasantly snuggled right next to his shoulder. Branch of looked up from his novel slowly, and took a quick glance at Poppy. Only half of her face was illuminated by the fireplace, but that was just enough to get Branch's heart racing. Her half-lidded eye, focused entirely on her book, shined stunningly; Branch almost found himself getting lost in it for a split second. Her lazy, shaggy hair looked elegant to the lovesick Branch. He'd seen her hair styled in many different, pristine ways over the year they spent together, and they all looked very delightful. But even her messy hairstyle found a way to stun his heart. And her lopsided, gentle smile? My gosh.

That 'quick' glance became anything but, all to the unawareness of an extremely blushed Branch. Poppy, however, began to take notice midway through, catching it all in the corner of her eye. This hadn't been the first time that the teal troll had gotten himself lost when looking at her, nor had it been the first time she caught him doing it. The Pop Queen didn't mind however. Quite the opposite actually. She found it adorable.

Taking this opportunity to catch her husband off guard, The Pop Queen gradually turned her head to him and asked innocently:

"Something up, Branch?"

Her soft voice snapped Branch back to reality, and he swiftly became a bundle of embarrassed, apologetic nerves.

"O-oh! No, n-no! S-sorry, it was n-nothing..." The teal troll squeaked out, turning his attention back to his novel as he began to blush even harder and brighter. Branch then mentally slapped himself in the face for letting this happen once again. He was afraid of overstepping and making Poppy uncomfortable. That, and their quiet reading sessions were considered precious by the both of them, he didn't want to interrupt and soil it by acting weird.

Hands lightly shaking and eyes darting, Branch spent the next few seconds trying all he could to refocus on his book. It wasn't working, quite frankly, but he was hoping that it would be enough to convince Poppy that she didn't have to worry about him staring at her. But then, out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Poppy staring at him herself. She was the one lovingly gazing at him now, through her half-lidded, sleepy eyes, and she was still wearing that same, gentle smile from earlier. It hadn't left.

Poppy was originally just going to continue reading her book, feeling warm and fuzzy after catching her partner gazing at her so lovingly (she also just enjoyed watching him get so cutely flustered over her). But after looking at him for the first time when illuminated by the fireplace like this, she found herself unable to turn away. The light reflected off of his thin, beady, strangely charming blue eyes in a rather alluring way. His smooth, teal skin looked so unique in the comforting light of the fire and his clumsy, flustered expression was just delightful. Unlike when Branch was staring at his partner, The Pop Queen was well aware of just how long she was staring at hers. Her face heated up but she paid it no mind. She freely let herself get lost as well.

By now, both of their books had been dropped into their laps, and they were both just looking into each other's eyes. The Pop Queen absentmindedly placed the blanket from her shoulder to the ground. Branch followed suit, never taking his sights off of Poppy. Turning herself to face him better, Poppy slowly lowered her face to his. Branch sat himself up, hoping to close the gap between them even further. Now eye level, they took one last moment to gaze at one another. Branch formed an affectionate smile, and Poppy's own widened. They turned their heads, closed their eyes, and finally closed the gap.

The kiss didn't last much longer than a few seconds, but it was sweet regardless. Their lips parted, only for a brief moment. They continued to kiss, now more much more passionately, and their hands began reaching to each other in different ways. Branch's hands found themselves behind Poppy's head, his fingers tangled in threads of the hair he fancied so very much. The Pop Queen placed her hands on his adorably soft, warm cheeks, cheeks she was most definitely looking forward to kissing after she had finished with his lips.

Branch, in the middle of climbing on top of Poppy in their hungry moment of passion, felt his foot settle on Poppy's book, which laid haphazardly on the floor in between the two of them. His eyes widened and Poppy took notice, quickly stopping herself from reaching for another kiss. The teal troll turned his head down and looked at the book.

"So I guess our reading sessions over, huh?" He giggled, with a small smile on his red face.

"Let's say we pick it up later, tomorrow..." Poppy offered, pulling the book up from under Branch's foot and setting it to the nearby counter. Her attempt to sound sultry fell apart quickly though, as her excitement and elation got to her sooner than she expected, making her begin to giggle.

The teal troll loved to hear her matching excitement and joyful voice. He couldn't help but join her giggling as he went back to his climb. Their thrilled, cheerful giggles continued to fill the air of the empty house, but only in between their hurried, eager kisses that were swiftly becoming bolder and longer.

Neither of them expected their night would go this way, but they made no complaints. How could they? They had each other, and were ready for anything, and that includes accepting a slight, unexpected change in their daily schedule, in return for a pleasant night they'd likely never forget.