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Mystery of my heart.
Creek had never been in love before now, sure the purple troll had experienced crushes in his life, but none of these previous experiences measured up to what he felt for this other male troll. The guru had experienced many trolls saying they were in love with him, but none of them had ever made the purple troll feel the way he felt now. Creek found it highly ironic that the troll who had come to fill his heart was Branch, the troll he had always tortured and teased due to his unusual behaviour. The spiritual troll knew that because of this past that the grey troll hated him with everything in him and this knowledge made the purple troll feel as though he had been the worst kind of idiot. The guru had hoped that given time these romantic feelings for the other male troll would fade away or be replaced with romantic feelings for another troll, but they didn’t instead the love he felt for Branch only grew stronger and more deep rooted inside him over time. Creek even tried dating Poppy and then Guy Diamond hoping to move on from his feelings for Branch, but this didn’t work either and in fact had the opposite effect of the one which he had intended and made the guru fall even more in love with the grey troll than before.
It was at this point that after three years of trying to stop loving the survivalist that Creek had stopped trying to fight his feelings towards Branch, it was clear to him that it didn’t matter what he did his heart would not stop loving the survivalist. He would often find himself dreaming of them coming together, building a life and having a family and the knowledge that none of this would never come to pass made the guru feel very sad inside. Creek did his best to act like nothing had changed when he was around his friends and the grey troll, but now fighting with Branch made him feel a horrible pain in his heart which he found hard to experience.
Since it would be valentine’s day in a few days Creek had decided he would express his feeling to Branch through a valentine, in hopes that confessing what he felt to the grey troll anonymously would help him to finally help himself to come to terms of these feelings he held for Branch. At first the purple troll had tried to find a valentine card in the shops in the troll village which felt right to send to the one he loved, but none of the cards he had seen for sale where right for Branch as far as Creek was concerned.
In the end the guru had brought all of the things he felt he needed to make a card for the one he loved from around the village, after this was done Creek spent a lot of time making the card and when he finished it the purple troll was pleased with it. The card was a scarlet red, on the front of which he had drawn a heart, then using the pencils in the shades of the rainbow to colour the heart and he had written on it in a silver calligraphy ink a special valentine for you. Creek opened up the card and wrote the message for the other male troll inside it, when this was done the purple troll gently slipped the card into its envelope.
Creek sat in the main room of his pod looking at the red envelope valentine’s card which he had made for the troll he loved, the spiritual troll knew that with this finished that he needed to start to think about how he could deliver this card to Branch without the other troll discovering he had been the one to send him the card. Eventually the spiritual troll decided that the best way to work out how to deliver the card without being observed by the other male troll was to watch the habits of the grey troll over the next few days for his opening.
So, it was that the purple troll spent the next few days watching the other male troll, Creek had to admit that that he was very much enjoying watching Branch, it showed him that the grey troll did more than just collect sticks, he gathered all sorts of useful things and would spend time out of his bunker in the clearing around his him fashioning many different things out of what he has found on his many trips into the forest. Watching Branch liked this helped to reinforced to Creek how handsome the grey troll was, how little he had really known of him, how much there was to admire in Branch and just how much he loved the other male troll quirks and all. There were times that Creek found himself wanting to sing about Branch and to him, or even go to the grey troll to hug and kiss him, but the guru was well aware of the fact that doing any of this would be a very bad thing to do due to their past. The spiritual troll soon discovered that the best time for him to deliver his valentine and this was during the time when Branch left his bunker early in the morning to go into the forest foraging for a few hours before returning to his home with his latest discoveries.
Creek had to admit he had some concerns about leaving the grey troll the valentine he had made for him, he was worried that Branch might destroy his card as he tended to those from Poppy, he would ignore it or the survivalist would work out he had sent the card and react negatively to this knowledge, however despite all of these concerns the guru felt he had come so far now that he had to finish what he had started.
When valentine’s day finally came Creek quietly made his way through the troll village being careful not to be spotted, when he had made it through the village the guru went into the forest heading to the bunker of the grey troll. When Creek reached the clearing around the bunker, he quickly checked that Branch wasn’t out in the clearing around his home, when he was happy that no troll was there Creek darted out into the clearing and he carefully placed his card down in front of the hatch so that it would be the first thing that Branch saw as he left his pod to go into the forest for the day. Once this was done the guru then quickly retreated to the under growth around the edge of the clearing and waited nervously in his hiding spot for Branch to come out of the bunker and discover his card.
A few hours after the purple troll had left the card for the survivalist the hatch to the bunker opened and the grey troll came out of it to start his day. As soon as Branch noticed the card in its envelope on the grass in front of the entrance to his home he stopped what he had been about to do and picked it up. Branch carefully considered the simple red envelope in his hands with his name neatly written on the front of it, he felt sure that this had to be a valentine, but it and the writing on the envelope didn’t look like any of the cards which Poppy sent him as her friend every year. The grey troll turned the envelope in his hands over, he opened it and carefully slipped out the red card inside the envelope out. Branch found himself admiring the fact that this was a handmade card with a hand drawn rainbow heart drawn on the front of the card, who ever had made this clearly had some crafting skills. Suddenly the survivalist found himself feeling slightly nervous about opening this card in case it was some kind of trick or prank by another troll.
As the fingers of the grey troll lingered on the card, Creek felt concern and nervousness race through him, and he was terrified that Branch would throw the card away without opening it. Then he noticed the way that the hands of the survivalist were shaking slightly, seeing this made the purple troll suddenly realised that Branch was extremely nervous about receiving this valentine and it made Creek feel horribly guilty that he as well as other trolls might be the cause of this reaction to having been given a valentine. The guru willed with all of his might that Branch would be brave enough to open the card and read what he had written inside it for him.
The grey troll closed his eyes tightly when he opened the card, when no glitter hit his face Branch let out a sigh of relief, then he slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the card. The words written on the inside of the red card, were written in a very neat writing and jumped off of the page and into Branch’s mind and heart as he read them out loud to himself. “Dearest Branch. I have spent years trying to deny my feelings for you, but they will not be denied no matter how hard I try. I love you, with all my heart, soul and being. You my love are my first thought in the morning, my last before I sleep and even then, you haunt my dreams. I wish I could say I love you to you in person, but I do not think you would ever accept my confession, but I still wished you to know how much I cared just this once. Happy valentines day my love, from your mysterious valentine.” Slowly Branch lowered the card, his eyes where lost in thought and he was filled with awe and joy at the same time. The grey troll had no idea until he received this card that another troll had romantic feelings for him and the card made him wonder which troll it was that loved him so very much.
Creek watched from his hiding spot as Branch gently ran his fingers over the words he had written, his eyes were soft and filled with a joy which took the breath of the spiritual troll away. Then just when Creek thought the grey troll couldn’t surprise him any further he smiled and seeing that smile instantly sent a wave of pure delight surging through him. Witnessing this rare sight just made the guru want to come out of hiding and tell Branch he was the one to send the valentine even more than before, but once more his concern about the likely reaction of the grey troll Creek ruthlessly smothered this urge. The purple troll was about to leave his hiding spot when Poppy bounced out of the forest into the clearing around the survivalist’s home, the moment she noticed that Branch had a valentine in his hands and yelled out in joy and surprise. “You have a valentine!”
Creek knew he couldn’t leave now Poppy was there because he wanted to see what was going to happen next, while at the same time he had to hold back a groan as his friend said these words so loudly. The guru watched as Branch duck his head shyly and then groused at the princess. “I didn’t need all the trolls knowing that Poppy!”
Poppy ignored his upset, she came over to him and asked excitedly. “Who is it from?”
“I don’t know.” Branch told her stashing the card into his hair before the pink troll could get hold of it and read the card for herself.
“I bet I know who you wish it was from.” The princess said to him with a teasing note in her voice and when the survivalist said nothing in answer to this she spoke to Branch again with a huge smile on her face. “I bet you wish this valentine was from Creek!”
The grey troll rolled his eyes at Poppy as he spoke to her. “I wish I’d never told you I was in love with him.”
“You should have sent him a valentine.” The pink troll told him not for the first time, while placing her hands on her hips as she spoke and pouting at the grey troll at the same time.
Branch shook his head at her, before saying to the princess in a sad voice. “You know that’s pointless, Creek would never look twice at anything I would send him as a valentine and beside that fact there is also the fact that he gets hundreds of valentines every valentine’s day so mine would probably go unnoticed amongst all of them anyway. On top of that is the fact that Creek hates me with all of his being most of the time, so I’m better off keeping my romantic feelings for him to myself.”
This time Poppy rolled her eyes and said to him in a firm voice. “I don’t think Creek hates you, personally I think the two of you just don’t know how to express how much you love each other so you fight instead.”
“Poppy stop trying to give me hope…It will just make it more painful for me when we next meet and he degrades me all over again.” Branch told her his voice sadder than before and full of pain.
The princess let out a deep sigh, she gently touched his arm and said to him in a soft compassionate voice. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it caused you so much pain.”
The grey troll took a deep breath, he used this time to bring his emotions under control and then let it out before saying to Poppy in a reassuring voice. “I’ll be alright Poppy.”
Wanting to get Branch’s mind off of the sad thoughts he was having the princess held a card out to the grey troll and said to him with a cheerful smile on her face. “Here I brought you a valentine day card.”
“Thank you Poppy and here is one for you.” Branch said putting Poppy’s card into his back pack, then bringing out her one from it and giving her one in return.
The pink troll was happily surprised that the survivalist had given her a card for the first time. “Thank you.”
As Poppy opened her card Creek felt a pang of envy go through him and he found himself wanting that card for himself. After hearing Branch confess how he felt for him the purple troll it had made him feel wonderful inside and Creek decided that he was now going to say something about his feelings for the other male troll at long last. Slowly and quietly Creek moved away from his hiding spot, he found some wild daisies in the area he was in and the guru felt these would make a lovely gift for Branch and he picked some of them to make the grey troll a bunch of flowers. Once the guru felt he had enough of them, he then made his way into the clearing of Branch’s home, causing both Poppy and the grey troll to turn to look at him. Creek gave the survivalist and the princess a friendly smile, before turning his full attention onto the grey troll and saying to him a gentle voice. “Hello Branch…Happy valentine’s day.” After he said this Creek held the bunch of flowers out to him and spoke to the other male troll again. “I know it’s not much of a gift but I wanted to show you I…I loved you and I didn’t think the card I left you was quiet enough.”
Branch was stunned by these words of Creek, he reached into his hair and brought out the valentine’s day card which he had found outside his bunker asking the other male troll as he did so. “This was from you?”
“It was.” Creek confessed feeling himself blushing slightly as he made this confession to the other male troll.
“You really love me?” The grey troll asked him surprised, Creek gave him a nod and seeing this Branch then asked him in a fearful voice. “Is this a joke?”
Quickly the guru shook his head violently at the grey troll and said to him in a vehement voice. “No, no Branch, this is not joke that I can promise you that. I want you to be my valentine and my love from here on out Branch.” After he said this Creek held the flowers out to him one more and looked at him with pleading eyes.
Finally believing the words from the other troll the grey troll carefully put the card back into his hair, then he accepted the flowers from the guru with hands that shook slightly and said in a soft voice. “Thank you, Creek these are very nice and thank you for the valentine. I…I love you too.”
“Would you come back to mine for dinner tonight?” Creek asked him blushing brightly as he did so.
“Are you asking me on a date?” Branch asked the spiritual troll in a voice full of awe and surprise.
The purple troll gave him a conformation nod and said to him. “Yes I am.”
“You do know the other trolls could see me coming to your pod and I won’t hesitate to tell them why I am going there if they ask me.” The survivalist told Creek wanting to be sure that the other troll understood he wouldn’t hide what was happening between them.
“Good, I want all of the trolls to know we are dating. I want you to know that I don’t want you to hide, and I don’t want to hide you.” The spiritual troll told him taking the hand of the grey troll which wasn’t holding the flowers into his and squeezed it. As he did this Creek had an idea which he hoped would help the other troll to know he mean these words, the guru smiled slowly at Branch and then said to him in a soft voice. “In fact, why don’t you come home with me now?”
“Are you sure about this?” Branch asked him with concern clear in his voice.
“Very sure.” Creek gave his hand a gentle tug bringing the grey troll closer to him, he slipped an arm around the waist of Branch and then together they set off back towards the troll tree. Poppy watched them walking away from her smiling to herself, she was glad to see the two male trolls together at long last.
As Creek and Branch walked through the village together, with the guru’s arm around the grey troll’s waist possessively they drew many startled and awed looks and caused a lot of whispering from all of the other trolls of their tribe. None of the other trolls dared to approach this couple, they felt it would be likely that Creek wouldn’t be happy with them doing so and they couldn’t help but also think that the grey troll would also become annoyed at them if they were to come over to them. The two male trolls ignored these looks and the whispering, instead they enjoyed simply being together after loving each other and saying nothing to each other for so long. They both knew they had a long way to go but Creek and Branch couldn’t help but feel that spending today together would be a good starting point for building a strong future relationship between them.
