Chapter Text
About three days had passed, in which Veneer spent his days in the forest once again, going back to his usual routine. Floyd, Poppy, and even sometimes Branch, would try time and again to have them join the rest of the trolls to spend time with them again. Out of sheer embarrassment for the attention he’d get, though, Veneer adamantly denied.
Due to such, Floyd spent most of his days in the forest, as well. A decent amount of his time was still spent in the village socializing of course, but for the most part he stayed and kept Veneer company.
On the fourth early morning since the concert, Floyd opened his bleary eyes, the dim light of the rising sun peaking through the curtains of the shelter. To his right was Veneer, eyes shut and face serene as he slept. The rageon’s right hand was draped over Floyd gently, as if it were a blanket.
Really, it was quite lucky for the troll that Veneer didn’t move a lot in his sleep, lest he accidentally crush him.
Floyd smiled as he looked at him, hugging his thumb. A few minutes passed before Veneer slowly opened his eyes as well, yawning and stretching. Though he was at least aware enough as to not move the arm of the hand that Floyd was holding onto.
“Morning, Veneer!” Floyd cheerfully greeted.
Veneer groaned, on his back as he draped his left arm over his face. “If you try to convince me to go back to the troll village for the nth day in a row, I will squish you.”
Floyd blinked a few times in surprise at this, a bit taken aback. “Wh- You’ll squish me?”
“Yup,” Veneer stated plainly as he nodded, though the action was a bit awkward considering his head was still on the ground, “I will squish you.”
If he were any other troll, perhaps he’d be offended. Instead, Floyd simply scoffed out a laugh, wiggling himself out from Veneer’s hand and walking to stand next to his head.
“You’re ridiculous, do you know that?”
Lifting his arm to look at Floyd, Veneer squinted. “Deal with me, Floyd.”
Floyd laughed, raising his hands in surrender, “Woah there! Talk like that must run in the family I suppose?”
This got a little smile out of Veneer as he snorted a chuckle. There was silence for a little while, Floyd looking towards the light peaking through into the shelter, as Veneer subtly tried sneaking in a few extra minutes of sleep.
Eventually, Floyd looked back down at Veneer and kicked his shoulder. “Hey, time to get up! If you sleep in that late you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Veneer groaned, “Okay, grandpa.”
Floyd was unimpressed. “Get up, Veneer. We’re going to the village.”
“Nooo!” Veneer dramatically groaned, extending the word as he got up quite zombie-like. Floyd snickered.
“Come on, you need to socialize with someone besides me- you’ll become deprived at this rate.”
Veneer scoffed, “No way. For six years I spent every day only talking to Velvet- I think I’ll be fine.”
Floyd sighed. “Please, Veneer? For me? I really want us both to go see everyone, and it’s Bruce and Brandy’s last day before they have to head back to the island.”
This seemed to catch Veneer’s attention, as he suddenly seemed very awake. “It’s their last day here? Really?” Floyd nodded and Veneer sighed, “Well, let’s go then. I’d feel awful not saying goodbye.”
“Thank you, Veneer,” Floyd said with a smile.
In the village, the two approached the group forming around Bruce and Brandy, near the center of town. They were more or less being bombarded by trolls, all of which saying their goodbyes to the two.
As Veneer approached with Floyd in his hand, Brandy looked up at the two with a smile, waving them over.
“Well hello, you two! What a pleasant surprise seeing you out and about!”
Flushing, Veneer switched his gaze to the side, a bit embarrassed. “Yeah… I’m sorry about that.”
Brandy brushed him off with a wave of her hand. “Oh, no need for all that! It can be difficult getting used to.. all this!”
Veneer nodded with a small smile and a sigh. “Yeah. It can.”
Floyd smiled up at him, though his attention was taken away by the voice of his brother.
“Floyd!” Bruce shouted out, rushing towards the two with his arms outstretched. Taking the hint, Veneer lowered Floyd to the ground, smiling as he watched the two brothers embrace one another in a tight hug.
“Aw man, I’m gonna miss having you guys around to bother every day!” Bruce said with a chuckle.
“Hey, me too!” Floyd added on.
The two separated, and Bruce looked up at the rageon in front of him. His smile softened a bit as he did so.
“Hey,” he began with a gentle tone, “I really am sorry about the plate of food.. But I’m glad I’ve gotten to actually know you for who you are! I’m really happy Floyd found someone like you. You two deserve each other. Really.”
As Bruce finished speaking, Veneer’s face contorted as he held back the tears threatening to fill his eyes. Though he looked a bit silly, the troll could tell it was a positive reaction.
“Thank you,” Veneer muttered. “I really needed to hear that.”
Bruce nodded up at him with a smile. In return, Floyd gave him another hug, gentler this time.
“Thank you, Bruce.”
“Hey, no need to thank me!” The troll responded with a chuckle, “Brandy and I are just happy that you’re happy. That’s all there is to it.”
The two separated once more, looking up as Brandy approached Veneer, embracing him in a soft hug.
“You’ve clearly come a long way,” she said gently. “Keep going.”
Veneer hugged her back, nodding. “Of course.”
After Bruce and Brandy left, Floyd met up with his other brothers and co., of which were in the group that saw the two off. Veneer stood a bit behind him, looking out of place.
Poppy was the first to approach him, looking absolutely ecstatic.
“Veneer! Veneer, Veneer, you actually came back!”
Veneer shrugged. “Well, I had to at some point, right?” ‘It’s not like I have anywhere else to go’ was left unsaid. Leaning down, he let Poppy hop onto his hand, and he stood back up with her.
She sighed, “I’m really sorry that the last time you were here was so chaotic. I can imagine that must’ve really stressed you out.”
With a sigh of his own, Veneer nodded. “It really was stressful..”
“But.. Considering that, I’m glad you decided to come back! We missed you,” she said with a smile.
Veneer snorted, “You mean you missed me.”
“Hey! If it was only me who missed you, then how come Branch has put together a surprise for you, huh?”
“Wait, he.. what?”
A sigh came from the ground, the two looking down to see Branch approaching. “Poppy, it’s not a surprise if you tell him it’s a surprise.”
Poppy clapped her hands together excitedly. “Oh sure it is! Now come on, tell him! Tell him, tell him, tell him!”
Branch huffed, but a fond smile still made its way onto his face. “Yeah, okay.” He switched his gaze towards the giant. “Clay and I have been talking, and we felt bad that you’ve been spending so much time out in the forest with only a small space to sleep as your shelter. So-“
“So we decided that we’d help build you an actual place to stay! A real home!” Clay finished for him excitedly as he appeared suddenly.
Veneer blinked, silent for a moment. “…What?”
“Wait, what?” Floyd asked as well, appearing to have not known about this either. “Really?”
“Yeah, why not?” Branch replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “It’s not like he can stay with us, so why not make him a place he can feel comfortable?”
“We’d build it closer to the village though, of course,” Clay added on.
“That’s amazing!” Floyd exclaimed, looking back at Veneer. “What do you think? Would you like that?”
“You’d… really do that for me?” Veneer asked slowly in a bit of shock.
“Of course!” Poppy replied happily.
Veneer paused for a moment. “Can I think about it?” He asked, though quickly followed it up with, “Just for the day! I just.. wasn’t expecting this, is all.”
The trolls in front of him each smiled in understanding. “Of course, man!” Clay responded.
“Yeah, no worries there,” Branch assured, “We realize it’s a pretty big offer, so take all the time you need.”
“Thank you,” Veneer said with a smile.
He ended up thinking it over through the course of five days. Throughout these days, he slowly eased his way back into visiting the troll village. Though, he would quickly retreat the moment a curious troll would inquire about the newfound relationship between him and Floyd. While once upon a time he would’ve relished in the attention, he now found that he’d rather stick to the background.
Yet still.. he couldn’t help but notice that the way the trolls would ask him questions were not demeaning at all, nor were they filled with a gossipy tone like interviewers used to put on with him. Instead, they were just genuinely curious, wanting to know more. If anything, they seemed excited, happy for him.
So ultimately, he came to the conclusion that while having an entire village suddenly know an intimate detail about his life was exceptionally shocking, he at least wanted to make the effort to try and connect with them.
And so, after those five days, he approached Branch and Clay, and accepted their offer.
Since building an actual home for Veneer would take much larger supplies than what Branch and Clay were used to, they decided as a team to get the help of other volunteers as well. Though the idea freaked Veneer out a bit, Floyd assured him that he’d do his best to talk to the trolls beforehand to make sure they didn’t totally bombard the rageon.
Now, when Veneer was told there would be a few volunteers, that’s what he expected. A few. But once the agreed upon date they’d begin construction arrived, he was slackjawed upon realizing that the ‘few volunteers’ were, in fact, the entire troll village.
Every.
Single.
One.
Luckily though, and quite surprisingly, not a single one rushed him with questions, instead greeting him as if he was an old friend. In fact, the only questions he received were not about his relationship, but rather details on the building they were creating for him.
Said building wasn’t going to be big, not whatsoever. It was just going to be a homey, cozy space, big enough to provide only the necessities. The necessities for two people, that is; though Veneer hadn’t a way of knowing Velvet’s plans for when she was released from prison, he could at least hold out a little hope that she’d join him in staying with the trolls. So upon his request, they were to build the home big enough for at least two mount rageons to live in comfortably.
Construction took a much shorter time than Veneer had expected, honestly. Although the trolls were tiny, they were exceptionally hard and fast little workers. Determined, too.
Of course, Veneer helped out any way he could- though this mainly consisted of him carrying supplies or lifting up any heavier objects. Admittedly, he did feel bad for not being able to provide more help, but he was assured by the helpful little workers time and again that he really had no reason to worry, that they were happy to be doing this. That they wanted to do this.
And so, after about two weeks of hard, continuous work, a home was built. It was just past the treeline of the village, still visible though far enough away to provide a little privacy.
Once complete, Veneer could not stop thanking each and every troll profusely.
“Is there anything I can do for you, anything at all?” He asked upon the day of completion, desperate to somehow pay back the trolls which had shown him such kindness.
“Well…” Poppy said slyly, an idea forming in her mind. “You could start visiting us more often!” Murmurs and cheers of enthusiastic agreement followed this suggestion. Veneer chuckled.
“Fine, fine… it’s a deal.”
And he truly did intend to keep his word on that.
That night, Veneer laid in his new bed, lost in thought. After a large chunk of silence, Floyd patted his head to get his attention.
“Hey, you okay? You’ve been awfully quiet since the others left.”
Veneer hummed in thought. “Oh, I’m just.. thinking…”
“About..?”
Sitting up, Veneer sighed. “I just.. When I left, I promised Vel I’d visit as much as I could. And I’ve been gone for over two months now, and I still haven’t visited her! Does that.. make me a bad brother?”
Smiling softly, Floyd chuckled. “Come on now, look who you’re talking to!”
“Ah, right, right… The whole ‘20 years apart’ thing,” Veneer said sheepishly.
“Still though,” Floyd said more seriously now, “Just because the situations are different, that doesn’t make your experience any less valid.”
“So..?”
“So, the answer is no. You’re not a bad brother.”
Veneer huffed, “But I broke a promise!”
“It’s not your fault, Veneer! You’ve had.. a lot going on. There’s been a ton of life changes for you, all in such a short period of time. It’s understandable that you’d lose track of time with it all.” Floyd smiled, “Cut yourself some slack, alright? It’s okay.”
Smiling, Veneer nodded. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Another beat of silence passed before Veneer inhaled an audible deep breath.
“Floyd, I.. think I’m ready now.”
“To..?”
“To finally visit Velvet.”