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Branch and Poppy slept the whole night together on that couch, thankfully undisturbed by anything, or anytroll. About an hour after they fell asleep, Branch woke up and with careful tenderness slipped out from under Poppy’s head to clean up. The meal was quickly put away, and the dishes placed in the sink to wash in the morning. Then, he grabbed a blanket and returned to the couch. Poppy was truly exhausted, so Branch was able to slip back to his spot, and with Poppy wrapped in the blanket, went back to sleep. No 4am swim for him, he could skip at least once.
It was early the next morning when Branch woke up again, this time for good. Looking down, Branch found they hadn’t moved much during the night; other than Poppy somehow moving up to place her head on his chest. With a tired blink he managed to move enough to slip free again, and once he could stand he did a huge stretch. Feeling something pop in his back, he relaxed. Then with a pause, gave himself a sniff.
“Yikes, I need a shower .” he muttered while walking to the kitchen. He wasn’t gonna start his day without some coffee, so he started a pot for himself and a separate pot of decaf for Poppy. Then he rushed to get the smell of sweat, grass, ash and cabbage off of himself. Oddly enough, not the worst he’s smelled but that was a memory best left untouched.
Poppy slowly awoke to the faint sounds of water and Branch singing in the shower. As a morning person, even with the crazy emotional night before, Poppy was awake the moment she opened her eyes. She stayed quiet though, with a grin and perked up ears. From the few times she’d been in Branch’s bunker when he was shower-singing, she learned he would stop the moment he realized he had an active audience. When asked, he’d admitted he liked to try out new or hard songs in there as it felt safe from criticism. While Poppy understood his point of view, she wished that didn’t mean she was unable to sing along. Oh well, maybe in the future. At least she could get up so long as she stayed quiet.
After a few minutes she came to the realization that the song, while catchy from what she could hear and made something inside her soul want to dance, was definitely new as Branch didn’t really sing it. If anything he was harmonizing with random words in english though they fit very well. She didn’t have long to mull over this as Branch was a fast and efficient bather, so he stopped the tap not long after she woke up. Knowing it was safe to move now, Poppy gathered the blanket into her arms and folded it as she headed to the kitchen. Hanging the blanket off her arm, she walked to the pot with decaf coffee, absentmindedly pleased she wasn’t as sore as before. After getting her favorite Branch approved mug from the cabinet, she happily poured herself some. By the time Branch, hair dry but somewhat frizzy from the wash walked in, she had finished adding her perfect amount of sugar and cream to her mug and was sitting at the table.
“Morning Branch,” Poppy said cheerfully as Branch walked over and proceeded to make his own mug. “Thanks for the coffee and last night.”
“No problem, you’d do the same for me.” Branch spoke casually as he added a little creamer to his coffee then took a long sip. He noticed the sizable dent in the sugar jar and made a note to refill it. Once done, he leaned on the counter facing Poppy. “You can use the guest shower. You even left a dress here last time that you can change into. Do you want to get back to work or stay inside today?”
“Of course I want to work with everyone! I can’t just take a break when everyone else is doing so much.” Poppy said with a real, vibrant smile and a wink. “I will take up your offer to shower first though, thanks.”
Branch gave her a look over then shrugged, not seeing anything off now, and lifted his mug to his mouth. “If you're sure. Just don’t overdo it, ok? We all have had a weird couple of days.”
“Don’t worry Branch, I know my limits.” Poppy winked then quickly finished her coffee, placing the mug in the empty sink. “I’ll wash that after, thanks again. Today will be so much better than yesterday, nothing can be as stressful as nearly ending music.” Then after placing the blanket on the chair she had been sitting on, she headed off for her long overdue shower. She left with a chipper pep in her step, and was singing as she went up the elevator.
Just another per-fect kinda daaaay
Hey hey hey hey!
Gotta love that perfect kinda daaay
Yeah ye ye yeah! *
“There's glitter salt in the jar, should help with the back pain.” Branch called after her and got a happy Thank You sung back.
When Poppy was gone and Branch checked to make sure, he headed to a room he seldom used since he returned to society. Opening the door and flicking on the light, he looked around at his workout room. This place held his personal exercise gear, including barbells and even yoga mats--though he’d get shaved bald before letting Creek know about that. Looking around, he chose his hanging punching bag and quickly wrapped his hands before slowly working on the bag.
In the silence only changed by his punches and breathing, Branch allowed himself to think about the night before. He was furious underneath his blue-green skin and calm front. Also guilty. And even if only admitted to himself, scared, even if that was dying now the tour was over. He needed to get all that negative energy out before he went outside, so until Poppy returned, he handled his anger and fear with punches. By the time the pair left the bunker he was calm and would probably stay that way for a while. Until that party Poppy invited Barb to, anyway. Or whenever he got around to talking to Poppy about their fight, even if they silently had apologized and forgiven each other.
The aforementioned party was on Poppy’s mind as the pair met up with the Snack Pack for breakfast before getting to work. Her hair was perfect as always, and she was back in her favorite dress--although she kept on the new crown since she didn’t leave one at the bunker. They had dropped off her other clothes on a delivery bug to take to her house so they wouldn’t be late. Sitting at a large mushroom table, the Snack Pack enjoyed their meals; no one pointed out that they all were drinking coffee or in Fuzzberts’ case, just straight sugar water. Tiny Diamond was sipping hot chocolate and looked like he was still waking up on top of Guy Diamonds’ head.
“So Branch told me we should be ready for visitors pretty soon,” Poppy said as she reached for a third cinnamon roll--which she cut in half, giving one side to Branch. Otherwise, everyone had finished up their food and were nursing their drinks or last items.
“Yeah, and even more good news, DJ and the rest of the trolls should be back by this afternoon.” Satin said, handing over a letter to Poppy while her sister just finished talking with Smidge next to her.
“Great!”
“Smidge got word to them of what’s happened?” Branch asked and said troll gave a thumbs up. “Great, then I'll check that off the list.” He had the checklist on his lap and it was filled with tasks to do for the day. After he checked off "breakfast" and "inform the traveling trolls", he moved his pen down to the next task. “Oh, Poppy, Sky wanted to talk to you in the Fungeon, all of us really.”
“Alrighty then, lets go right now, if everyone is done?” With nods and various yes’s the Snack Pack headed towards the Fungeon. As they did, Poppy couldn’t help to notice the damage still left in this area. Several trees and plants had burn marks, though most in the main part of the village had bandages over them. Thankfully with a little TLC, Troll Love and Care, they would heal up almost like nothing happened. The holes from the shockwaves were filled in and while the critters were still avoiding the area, Farmer Rufus and Milton's critters were safely rounded up from the forest. The Fungeon itself took some damage too, as several Trolls tried to hide inside to no avail. The windows were shattered and the roof was blown clean off of one side. At the moment, though, some of the Builder trolls were working on repairing the roof with a tarp over the large hole. With waves to everyone, Poppy opened the door inside the Fungeon. Standing inside with his arms crossed behind his back, necktie perfectly pressed, was the troll they came to see.
“Queen Poppy, you got my message. That’s good. Now let's not waste any time, as I’m sure you are just as busy as myself at 5am.” he said, turning and walking briskly to a round table circled with stools. The Snack Pack took their seats with Poppy and Branch sitting on either side of Sky.
“Yeah, so what's this about, Sky? I would have thought you’d be staying in your factory and getting the party supplies ready,”
“That is
very
close to the reason for this meeting, Queen Poppy. So close that, I need to ask you something.”
Everyone looked at each other in puzzlement at Sky’s words. Sky leaned forward on the table behind his steepled fingers, and looked the queen in the eyes with such intensity that Poppy sat up straight in her seat. When a troll looked at her like that, it meant the next words out of their mouth would be serious.
“Queen Poppy, may I be... Frank... with you?”
Everyone other than Sky gasped out loud, Biggie even going as far as to cover Mr Dinkles' hidden ear holes in shock. Even Branch looked surprised with his eyes wide open. Tiny, though, just looked confused but stayed quiet. The Pack then looked to Poppy, whose mouth was hanging low until she blinked and, looking at everyone, squared her shoulders. This was a high level conversation, apparently, and given she’d never known Sky to be anyone less than professional, she nodded. Even if internally she was mildly freaking out at her first ‘frank’ meeting since being queen. ‘Being Frank’ with a troll meant that both sides needed to stay serious, no songs unless they helped get the point across to the other party, no surprises and no leaving unless an emergency or upcoming event. Her father had explained that the secret meeting of trolls 20+ years prior was extremely Frank, as the topic of the tunnel's completion meant they could escape.
“Yes, you may.”
“Queen Barb’s attack on the village has taken its toll on both troll and home alike.” Sky said as he stood up and walked around the table slowly, arms once again behind his back. Seemingly from out of nowhere his assistant troll appeared pushing a dry erase board where his seat was. On it were multi colored lines with different pictures for each on a time graph. “And while the average time of normalcy will be reached if the momentum so far stays consistent, we have several problems that must be discussed.”
“In no order of importance except from most to least,” this got an eye roll from Branch that was ignored. “Troll Village, future rebranding of ‘Pop Village’ patent pending, can’t or shouldn’t hold any parties with or for the other tribes anytime soon.”
The Snack Pack gasped at this, Legsly near fainting out of her seat and the twins pulling out hand fans at the very thought. Branch flipped his paper on his clipboard to a fresh page and started taking down notes, as this was definitely a first.
“What do you mean we can’t throw any parties? We’re Trolls! We can always throw any kind of party,” Biggie exclaimed, cuddling Mr Dinkles as if the little guy was about to disappear.
“Yeah! From a shindig to a fancy dress to a costume to even a clean up party at the moment's notice,” Satin added, with a wild wave of her fan near hitting Poppy in the head by mistake. “Even after a disaster hits,”
“So what’s different now?” Chenille finished, with a snap close of her fan as she tapped it onto her palm.
“What’s different is until 72 hours ago, we knew every living troll in existence.” Sky replied gravely and snapped his fingers. The assistant flipped the board around and on it showed a new graph, this one showing pictures of each tribe's string at the bottom and numbers on the side with different color bars going up. “As you can see, our tribe of trolls, Pop Trolls patent pending; are incredibly low on this graph. Now as I don’t have clearance to ask for the general census numbers nor had I the time, these are more a ‘guesstimate’ I and my Think Team came up with while in captivity.”
Poppy’s mouth went dry and her hands gripped her dress tightly under the table as she took in the graph. While she was a prisoner she learned how her people were captured with everytroll else; but she was still shocked to take in the sheer numbers once on stage. She knew, deep down, the other tribes probably outnumbered Pop by a ton. It was still a shock to see that proven inside the volcano, never mind just compared to Rock. Given Sky’s usual dedication to perfection she had no doubt the graph was extremely close to reality. The Pop trolls were small in comparison, and while the Classical looked only about double, their smaller size might have caused errors in the count from the distance. The Bergans really had decimated them. Made a troll wonder what Chef planned to do if the last Trollstice went according to plan.
“There is a chance that Queen Barb only hit the most important towns, cities and villages of each tribe as they were the most likely candidates for the Strings. Unlike our ancestors who only lived in the Tree and nearby forest, the rest had the opportunity to spread out. And given the whole of the tour took place over a week from start to finish, she most likely only took the trolls from those places.” Sky continued, now sliding onto the table a board from a board game that looked just like the old map of the troll known world. The assistant placed a game piece in every spot Barb hit. Then Sky pointed to the extra land all of the tribes had access to, including Pop. In random spots were little ? game pieces. “Meaning there are most likely tens of thousands of trolls around the world right now, and that’s not even discussing the unknown variables of the Sub-Genre trolls. There might even be Trolls' thought lost to time that went into hiding like we did.”
“Tens…” Chenille breathed out, eyes wide, then looked at her sister.
“Of Thousands…” Satin finished, looking faint but holding it together.
“We do not have the supplies of any kind to handle even 1/10th of the tribes at once. Not enough food, chairs, even space is questionable given we don’t know if the other tribes would want to stay in the forest long term. And that brings us to our next point.”
Sky nodded to the assistant who brought out a new visual aid, which at this point Branch was wondering if it was a bit much. This one was a scrapbook with pop-up action, and the straight faced assistant opened it to a new page as Sky talked and pointed. The troll tribes were shown as cutouts in front of the Troll Tree with Pop in the back and the others seeming to be moving away from the tree and trolls. Then rising up slowly behind the Tree was a silhouette of a Bergan.
“We have been separated from the other tribes for unknown generations but obviously BB, Before Bergens. And while there might be leftover records in the Troll Tree, there is no knowing of the changes since then. For example, how long can a Techno Troll stay above water and can they swim in any water or only the sea? Is it the same as before or have things changed? That’s just one of the ‘ology’ questions. What is considered a good time to us Pop trolls but to the others would lead to an insult? To any of the tribes for that matter. We don’t even know what is safe for a party with the other tribes; we know so little at this time that we could cause a complete undoing of the last days’ harmony.
My point, Queen Poppy, in summary and still under the Frank Accord, is that I can not in good troll conscience agree to a party unless certain steps are taken.”
There was a long pause as the trolls around the table took in Sky’s words. Especially Poppy, who was staring at the popup trolls with a sad look. Everything the Head Party Supply Troll said was true; they had no idea what they were doing anymore. The stakes had changed, a new game started; one they didn’t know everyone else was already playing, with rules they don’t know yet. Ever since Barb’s letter they had been living in a world much larger than they had ever known. All but one troll anyway.
Realizing she forgot to tell anytroll this the day before, Poppy straightened herself up then looked around the table as she spoke. “My dad already left with Crash for the Tree yesterday, to look for the archives inside. He’s hoping to find out our version of what happened and why he knew of the other tribes but not about much else. He left before I remembered to ask him why he hadn’t told me about the others yet, but I plan on finding out when he returns. He is hoping to be back in a week or less, and we would still have three weeks to prepare for the party. What’s important to remember is that I already invited the leaders to it. And while I agree that I’ll have to rethink how it’s done, I can’t take back the invite. So Sky, what are the steps needed to make sure we don’t have to use the RC Clause?”
The Snack Pack gasped at this again and even Branch looked shocked here. RC was the abbreviation of Rain Check, and while Pop trolls were pretty understanding if you needed to use it, there was no telling if the other tribes would see it as anything more or less than an insult. Looking at Poppy, the Snack Pack plus Branch could really see the huge responsibility now placed in her hands. This was no longer a problem handled by new clothes, silly antics, or a catchy butt shaking song. Even young Tiny was frowning with worry, holding his dad's offered finger with his small hand.
The assistant handed Sky a checklist and moved back as Sky returned to his seat. “First, we need to know the approximate number of guests coming to the party and set up a limit. Possibly only a Plus One with a Max of Three rule implemented as well. The royal families involved will be counted as one each of course. With those numbers I can see about setting up the general supplies once my factory is fully operational again, as while many of my staff managed to hide inside during the attack, I have sent them all home to rest and de-stress. I won't be in operation again for five more days.
“Second, we need information. Likes, dislikes, Faux-pas and Insults. What can one tribe tolerate and what does another love? What music is available and would they need to bring their own equipment and instruments. Means of travel needs to be considered as well, as some tribes might need to head here sooner than others, meaning we need to set up places for them to stay in. As well as learning if our DJ Trolls will have to change their song lists to avoid strain in relations.
“And third, who will want to be here and who should leave, given the very recent trauma across the tribes caused by one of the invitees. And tied to but not necessarily needed to be done, is how the tribe leaders will be informed of the Bergens. These, I believe, are the main problems and unknowns needing to be handled.”
Legsly raised her hand and Sky nodded to her, giving her the floor. Legsly stood up, hands fidgeting as she looked troubled but determined. “Um, about that last one... that’s something I wanted to talk to Poppy about too. I actually would like to opt-out of the party.”
“Legsly, are you sure?” Smidge asked, looking up at her from her seat as Legsly nodded.
“When the Rock Trolls attacked us, it was pretty scary on it's own as they were trolls just like us but they clearly strongly disliked us. It was like when the Party Crashers showed up, but different too. It was like they were angry under their smiles. Then when we were up on the stage and couldn’t do anything, even when Queen Barb changed Branch...I froze up. I couldn’t have moved if there was a new candy cart right behind her, I was so scared I just watched as she did the same over and over. Then when she seemed to get you, Poppy, I...” Legsly looked to said troll and her pigtails dropped even as she spoke. “...It was when I realized I haven't been so scared since the Chef attack.”
The room was silent as everyone took in Legsly’s words. Poppy felt like a rotten cupcake was sitting in her stomach as she thought back to that moment. She had to do it like that, it was her only chance to make sure things worked out, but it hadn’t occurred to her what her friends must have been feeling at the time. Everything during their adventure went so fast.
The pigtailed troll took a deep breath then squared her shoulders as she sat back down. “I might not dislike the Rock Trolls after they realized they were wrong, but I need time away from them before I can be comfortable with them here. So even though the party is in little less than a month, I wanted to tell you now.”
“Legsly, thank you for telling me. And I’m so sorry everyone, I didn’t even think about how scary everything must have been.” Poppy said, looking around the table with her hands over her heart. “It was the only thing I could do once I realized she could turn even Branch , who’s probably the mentally strongest Troll here. If he couldn’t stop the Strings’ power from changing him, I had to try to block the song. It was my only chance and...”
“And?” Branch repeated, ignoring his warm cheeks at Poppy’s complement.
“Don't tell everytroll, but it almost didn’t work. I know my eyes went red, and while I was able to take back control everything was fuzzy until I was aiming at my dad and the Funk twins.”
The Snack Pack gasped at this, but more quietly, as they absorbed this new information. Smidge had to exercise her self control to keep herself from dragging Poppy to the doctor to get her checked out, even after the Strings were destroyed, so most likely their magic did as well. Biggie felt horrible again for leaving, as while he was able to get the gang to the volcano, they ended up not being much help in the end. If only they hadn’t frozen like Legsly said, maybe Barb wouldn’t have almost won. They might as well have been captured with everyone else for the good they did in the end. Oh well, no use crying over something they couldn’t change. Even if the Snack Pack trolls looked at each other in secret and silently agreed to talk about that later. The empty chair left for Cooper was a reminder of another thing to discuss. But later, instead Poppy stood from her chair and talked, her hands moving too.
“Well, I know we all have work to get to so I will answer everyone's requests. Sky Toronto, I will make sure to get that information you need--or at least as much as the other tribes are willing to share. I plan on asking for volunteers to return to the Tree and look there as well.
I will implement a Plus Three Max on the invitations as well as an RSVP; as well as ask if they want a lift or would rather travel on their own, and will they stay here. I hope to have them stay for at least a weekend, so they might need to stay for a day or two more. And Legsly,” she turned to said troll once Sky nodded and his assistant finished writing his copy of notes. “I am more than ok with you opting out, and I was planning on offering the same to everytroll as well. And I don’t blame any of you for not acting, none of us were ready for Rock.”
“But we will next time,” Branch agreed, a little too excited, and Poppy side eyed him in amusement.
“There won’t be a next time, but I appreciate the energy.”
<(+.+)>
"...And so if you would rather opt-out of the first Official Leader Togetherness Party, please write your name on the lists Branch has lined up here. And please decide where you would like to stay during the other tribes' visit." Poppy walked to the first easel and held a hand to Harper's village painting on it. She was talking from the top of the mushroom stage in the village square and had explained things with few interruptions.
"You can definitely stay here in the village, and if you need to leave your home let a designated Mediator Troll know and they will help you out." Here Fuzzbert and several other trolls like him waved their hairs which showed off their official Mediator hats and visors on top. Some of the trolls in the crowd muttered to each other as Poppy moved to the next picture.
"If you would rather not be in the village at all, Cloud Guy has offered the critter transportation services to help. He can take trolls either to the Troll Tree," Poppy said with a hand on the easel painting of the tree covered in colorful pods. Then she placed her other hand into the third easel painting of sunflowers. "Or to the sunflower peoples village, and don't worry, I already got their permission to offer."
She walked to the edge of the mushroom stage and looked over her people crowded together to listen to her words. Poppy smiled down at them and clapped her hands onto her hips. "Now just to be clear, I'm not saying you have to stay at home if you don't want to be at the OLTP. The other lists are for anyone who'd rather not, for any reason, meet the other tribes' trolls yet. You don't have to share--although if you want to I'm more than happy to talk--just please don't force yourself to join in if you'd rather not. Ok, please decide by the end of next week to have enough time for travel and party prep. Any volunteers please reach out to me later, and if Bridget or Gristle show up I will explain everything."
Every troll cheered or clapped as Poppy moved down the mushroom, and while some moved to the lists beside each painting the rest dispersed. There was still a village in need of rebuilding after all. Waiting for her at the bottom was Branch and the Snack Pack plus DJ who had returned in time to get filled in. Overall she had thought the whole story was nutso and no one really disagreed, even Poppy.
"Now all that's left to do is write and send off the invitations and questionnaires and finish the rebuilding process." Poppy sighed, bouncing on the spot. The last hours had been stressful but thankfully she wasn't in danger of spiralling again. Whether it was because of Branch's help the night before, or the fact that if she freaked out in public she'd cause a panic, it was unclear. Either way, while she didn’t get the less stressful day like she’d hoped, things were looking up.
"Let's get to it, then." Branch said, arms folded but a small, encouraging smile on his face. "The work won't go away because we want it too,"
"Oh wow , could you imagine if such a thing was possible?" Guy said wistfully which Tiny mimicked which led to group giggles. They left for their jobs, and Sky watched, calmly drinking his coffee.
*POLLY- Perfect Kinda Day