"Poppy!?" Branch called out as he searched the village for the pink troll he loved so much. He had something very important he needed to ask her, but unfortunately hadn't seen the young queen since a few weeks ago. After all... she had been busy building Trollstopia... and all though he had tried to ask her his special question multiple times... she was just always too busy to talk... eventually seeming to just drop off the face of the earth all together... "Poppy!?" he called out again, hoping she would somehow hear him. "Where are you!?"
With a sigh, the light blue pop troll stopped for a moment, looking around in confusion as he reached into his hair, finally pulling out Gary.
"Where could she be, Gar?" he asked softly, pausing to listen to the remote control's answer.
Once the inanimate object finished it's statement, Branch glared down at him, seeming somewhat annoyed...
"Yes I check her pod, Gary," he sighed, rolling his eyes at his 'son'. "I'm not an idiot..."
Suddenly, the little troll gasped, looking back down at Gary in pure shock.
"You take that back right this instant, young man!" he yelled out before gasping sharply once again, his eyes widening at Gary's language. "Where on earth did you learn that word!? You've been hanging around with Mr. Dinkles again, haven't you? That worm is a bad influence on your innocent mind..."
He paused for a moment, 'listening' to Gary once more.
"Oh... oh really?" Branch said angrily, seeming incredibly offended. "Well then... if that's the way you feel..." He gasped again, almost fainting in shock at the sound of the word that had just come out of his young son's 'mouth'. "GARY!" he yelled out in stunned anger. "That's it... you're going to your room, mister!"
Quickly, he stuffed Gary back into his hair, crossing his arms as he sighed deeply in anger.
"Teenagers..." he grumbled softly in annoyance. "Why does being a parent have to be so difficult?"
—————
"Branch!?" Poppy called out, searching the village for the blue troll she loved so much. "Branch!? Where are you!?"
She was sadly aware of how little time she was spending with her boyfriend lately, fearing that he now thought she was avoiding him... It had taken him so long to finally work up the courage to admit his feelings for her... but ever since he said those three incredibly powerful words... she hadn't even given him the time of day... She felt awful... but with Trollstopia just starting to kick off... she didn't have that much time on her hands anymore...
"Bran..." she stated to call out again, but her words were cut off when she heard a familiar voice speaking softly just a few feet away from her...
"Would you care for some more tea, Mr. Dinkles?"
"Meep..."
Poppy looked over, smiling as she spotted one of her many friends, Biggie, and his pet worm, Mr. Dinkles.
"Hey, Biggie," Poppy greeted, walking over to the picnic blanket the two best friends were sitting on.
"Oh. Hello, Poppy," Biggie said, smiling wide at the queen of pop. "Would you care for some tea?" He held up the tea pot, ready to pour her a glass if her answer was 'yes'.
"Of course. I would love a spot of tea," Poppy said in a fancy British accident, bowing slightly. "But I'm actually looking for Branch. Have you seen him?"
"Actually... I saw him a few minutes ago," Biggie informed, his large smile remaining on his face. "He just walked by looking for you."
"Really?" Poppy questioned, seeming slightly saddened by her friend's words. "Was he alone?"
She knew the formally grey troll hadn't made many new friends yet. In fact... she was pretty sure she was the only real one he had... which only made her ignorance of him seem even worse...
Yes he talked to the snack pack sometimes... but he never really considered them friends... after all... they were pretty mean to him back in his bunker days. Even now there were some points where they weren't as nice to him as they should be...
"He had Gary with him," Biggie responded to the young queen's question. "But just between you and me..." He paused, looking around for a quick moment to make sure no one else was around. "I know Mr. Dinkles likes Gary and all..." he continued in a whisper. "But I'm not so sure he's the best influence on my precious little worm..."
"Meep," Mr. Dinkles suddenly blurted out, causing the large dark blue troll to gasp in shock at his pet worm's language. "You see what I mean?" he whispered to Poppy, gesturing at Mr. Dinkles.
"Uh... yeah... that is totally because of Gary," Poppy said sarcastically, looking away from the large troll. "Anyways..." she finally continued, getting back on topic. "Do you know where Branch is now?"
Biggie shook his head at the question, frowning a bit in shame for not knowing the answer...
"Not a clue," he said with a slight shrug. "But if it helps... I saw him go that way." He pointed off into the distance, towards the direction he had seen Branch heading...
"Thank you, Biggie," Poppy said, smiling thankfully at her friend. "I'm gonna need a rain check on that tea."
"No problem," Biggie assured with a slight hand wave, going right back to pouring a cup for Mr. Dinkles instead.
"Bye," Poppy said, waving to her friends as she ran off to find Branch.
—————
"Poppy!?" Branch called out, still looking for his new girlfriend.
—————
"Branch!?" Poppy called out as well, looking for her new boyfriend.
—————
Both trolls searched the village for each other, neither one of them spotting the other...
Slowly, they both turned around at the same time, continuing to walk backwards as they looked around for each other.
Suddenly, Poppy and Branch crashed right into one another, both of them fumbling right down to the ground with a thud...
"Ow..." they both groaned in unison, rubbing the back of their heads as they slowly rose back up to their feet.
Once the two trolls were once again standing, they turned, smiling wide when they finally saw each other.
"Branch/Poppy! I've been looking everywhere for you!" they both said simultaneously. "Oh... sorry. You go first. Ok. I..." They paused, realizing they were still over talking each other.
"Ok," Poppy chuckled, holding up her hands so Branch wouldn't speak. "You go first, Branch."
He took a deep breath as he nervously rubbed the back of his head, trying to work up the courage to ask the love of his life something extremely important...
"Well... I... I was just wondering..." he stuttered softly, nervously fiddling with his fingers as he tried desperately to avoid eye contact. "I was wondering if... if you..."
It was clear, the little blue pop troll was freaking out... extremely nervous to ask his question...
He knew Poppy had said that she loved him back... but what if she didn't actually mean it? What if she was just trying to be nice? She had been avoiding him lately... What if she actually hated him!?
No... he couldn't think that way... he had to tell her what was on his mind... no matter what the answer might be...
Taking a deep breath, Branch finally continued his question, still not looking up at his girlfriend, too terrified to look her in the eyes...
"Since we officially became a couple a few weeks ago..." he started. "Maybe... you and I... could... could maybe... go on our... our first date?" He paused, finally looking back up at her in slight panic. "That is... if... if you wanted..." he continued shyly, forcing a smile though his heart was currently pounding out of his chest...
"Of course, Branch!" Poppy answered immediately, smiling wide at the proposal. "That's actually what I wanted to ask you!"
At the sound of those words, Branch smiled for real, unable to hide his large grin as he gazed lovingly at the queen of pop, his heart overflowing with joy that she had said 'yes'.
"It... is is?" he asked with a quiet chuckle, his cheeks beginning to blush fiercely despite his attempts to hide it.
Poppy nodded, smiling wide as she blushed as well, feeling just as much joy as Branch was...
"Popsqueek!" Val suddenly yelled out, running quickly towards the queen of pop. "There's an emergency!"
"Emergency?" Poppy and Branch both asked in concern, once again speaking at the same time.
"Yes!" Val yelled out in a panic. "I lost my guitar pick and I have a jam session scheduled with demo in a few minutes! I need your help!"
Both Poppy and Branch's fear seemed to die down at the sound of the rock troll's words, Branch actually slapping his forehead in annoyance...
"Well... I'll... uh... be right with you Val," Poppy said, trying to sound sympathetic. "I just need to finish discussing some stuff with Branch."
"Whatever," Val said, still sounding extremely panicked. "Just hurry!"
Quickly, she turned, running off towards rock hollow...
"Ok... then..." Poppy said, turning back to Branch, ready to get back on topic. "How about tomorrow night? At 6?"
"At Che Dante?" Branch suggested with a smile.
"It's a date," Poppy said, placing a gentle kiss on her boyfriend's cheek before turning to walk away, quickly leaving his sight.
"Yes!" Branch suddenly yelled out loudly once he was sure Poppy was no longer around. "She said yes! Woo-hoo-hoo! Yeah!"
This action obviously attracted some unwanted attention from the other Trollstopians, some of them looking over at Branch in confusion.
"Oh... so any other troll can have disproportionate enthusiasm, but when I do it, it's weird!?" Branch yelled out, crossing his arms as he glared over at his unwelcome audience.
The trolls all looked at each other for a quick moment before shrugging, finally heading off to resume their normal activities.
Once they were all gone, Branch smiled once again, his heart soaring with an overwhelming joy that he hadn't felt in a long time. He was definitely the happiest troll alive in this moment... and nothing could take that away...
Finally, he reached up into his hair, pulling out Gary once again.
"I think I nailed that," he said, suddenly full of confidence as he smiled smugly off into the distance.
Quickly, his smile faded away, turning into a firm glare as he looked down angrily at his remote control son...
"Shut up, Gary," he grumbled, shoving the inanimate object back into his hair, before finally smiling one again, looking off in the direction Poppy had went...
He just couldn't stop thinking about how great his date was gonna be. He finally had the girl of his dreams... nothing could possibly go wrong... 😏