"Don't freak out... don't freak out..." Branch muttered softly to himself as he walked slowly through the forest, the gray troll headed towards the village, his palms sweaty and legs trembling... "Just relax..."
The village grump reached the edge of troll village, stopping for a moment to watch all the billions of trolls walking by, all of them going about their normal day...
What if he wolfed out in front of everyone? What if they all realized what he truly was? Did he really have to go into town today?
Yes... he needed to pick up some supplies from the market as well as a couple more books from the library...
"Just control it, Branch..." he told himself in a calming whisper. "Don't let it out... no one will know... make grandma proud..."
Taking a deep calming breath, Branch finally took his first steps into the village, everything seeming... normal...
"I can do this..." the survivalist assured himself in a confident tone, taking yet another step, his heart seeming to slowly relax as his nerves became dramatically less jumpy. He wasn't a monster... he could control it... for his grandma...
Finally reaching the village market, Branch immediately set off in search of a few necessary items. Like a sewing kit for instance... he was starting to run out of leaf vests with how many he managed to lose during his transformations...
"Hmmm... which one..." he muttered softly to himself, looking at the vast selection of seemingly complex sewing kits...
If only he still had his old one... the one he had used to make the rest of his outfits... That one had always been reliable, just a simple needle and thread... but unfortunately... it got lost when a tunnel the survivalist was working on building down in his bunker collapsed... Branch was lucky to even get out of there in one piece...
Fortunately... the little troll had gotten a lot better at building since then, even managing to complete his bunker in the process...
Finally, the little gray troll settled on the simplest sewing kit he could find, lifting it off the shelf to add to his cart.
"Figures you'd pick that one..." a voice suddenly said in a mocking tone, Branch turning around completely to see who was speaking to him with such an attitude...
The village grump instantly scowled at the trolls standing behind him, their hands rested gently on their hips in an angered manner...
"What is it that you want..." Branch growled, gently placing the sewing kit into his carriage before beginning to walk away towards the next item on his list...
"We just came to get more sewing supplies," the blue troll with long aqua and purple hair spoke with just a hint of sass, the young girl following the village grump down the isle. "We run out a lot," continued the pink troll who was attached to her twin sister. "You know... since we actually do our part to help out the village."
"Instead of hiding away in a filthy hole like some trolls..."
"Oh really?" Branch sassed right back, instinctually grabbing a bag of chocolates from the shelf as he walked past. "Help out the village how, exactly? By filling it with your hideous clothing designs..."
Both girls gasped at the gray troll's remark, a small smile coming to Branch's face at the pleasant sound of victory...
"It's called fashion, man!" the blue troll who went by the name of Chenille stated in pure uncontainable rage, her sentence immediately being continued by her sister, Satin. "But you wouldn't know that... because you have no style!"
"If 'style' is considered wearing a singular snake and nothing else as an outfit..." Branch started making sure to use over exaggerated air quotes. "Than I don't want to be 'stylish'..."
"Well then... don't come crying to us, when you need something good looking to wear!" Satin yelled after him, both girls stopping in their tracks as the village grump turned the corner.
"Don't worry!" Branch called back, not even turning to face the 'fashion' twins. "I won't!"