Chapter Text
Everything, from the situation itself to the events that lead up to it, were the absolute worst. Of course on the day he had the most work to do to prepare for winter, Branch gets stuck with the princess from sun up to sun down, with no chance of escape except to wait for someone else to find them. Perfect.
It had started just after sunrise, Branch’s morning coffee drained and his list of that day’s events clutched in his hand as he slung his bag of supplies over his shoulder. Stock up on spider silk, pick extra berries, expand the west tunnel for storage, repair winter coat, and perimeter check for Bergens. It was a lot for a seventeen year old, but he would manage, hence why he’d woken up at sunrise. The early rise had the added bonus of not potentially running into any other trolls. Especially-
He couldn’t help but groan as soon as pink invaded his vision when he opened the hatch to his bunker, the princess of their tribe sat just outside with a big grin on her face and a package clutched in her hands. Judging from the wild look in her eyes and the way she seemed to vibrate out of existence every few seconds, he knew she hadn’t slept a wink the previous night, most likely camping outside of his bunker for hours, because of some random idea she’d gotten. And she intended to rope him into it.
“Good morning, Branch!” Poppy yelled, jumping up and into his personal space with the biggest grin the sixteen year old could muster, “Did you sleep well?”
He took a deep breath and pushed her face away with a finger to her nose. “I don’t have time for any of this today, Pop, I have a lot on my plate,” he grumbled, face twitching when she simply leaned into the digit on her face instead of leaning away.
“Well then I can help! I’ve got nothing planned today and I brought something for you!” She said cheerfully, holding up the expertly wrapped package.
“You’re just gonna get in my way, Poppy. And I don’t want, nor need the help,” he snapped, glaring at her from over the bright blue box, “And I especially don’t need whatever this is!”
She rolled her eyes and huffed, face scrunching as she shoved the box closer. “Just open it, please?” She asked, scowl morphing into those stupid puppy eyes she knew he couldn’t resist. One year after that realization, she used this secret weapon any chance she got whenever she wanted to give Branch something. She never used it to gain anything, though, which he found strange, but didn’t have the energy to question.
Branch’s face darkened slightly and he glanced away, taking a deep breath. “Poppy-”
“Please…?” She whispered, tilting her head a little bit, “I made it for you specifically,”
He dared a glance back at her and his resolve instantly crumbled, hand coming up to take the box with a resigned groan. “Fine! And then you’ll leave me alone?”
She instantly perked up and grinned, hands clasping behind her back as she leaned away cutely. “Maybe! I was serious about helping!”
He hoped she could understand the eye roll as his fingers tore through the bright blue wrapping paper. It had a weird smell about it, like blueberries and sugar. Had she used scented wrapping paper for this random gift she was giving him? He could’ve sworn she only used that on special occasions or for special people.
Once the box was open, his hand brushed against something soft and he paused, opening it all the way with a curious glance inside. Within the small box was a new winter coat, dark green with a black fur lining that he couldn’t quite place the texture of. Even just eyeballing it, he could tell it was in his exact measurements and had clearly been hand made, if the loose threads were anything to go by. It looked gorgeous and already took care of one of the items on his to-do list that day.
“Woah-” he whispered, dropping the box and holding the coat up in awe, “You made this?”
Poppy nodded and beamed at him, ears twitching in her excitement. “Yep! I remembered that your one from last year looked really old and had a ton of holes in it, so I thought I’d make you a new one so you didn’t freeze to death! And! And, I matched the colors to the leaves around here in case you had to hide from something while you were out! Pretty smart, huh?”
He just listened to her in shock, gaze falling from the coat to the teenage princess in front of him. How long ago had she thought of this idea that she’d be able to make an entire coat from scratch just for him? And she’d taken into consideration what he’d look for in a coat while designing it, the dark green and black perfectly matching the leaves and the shadows around them throughout the forest. He didn’t want to ask how the hell she had his measurements, preferring to put that thought on the back burner.
A small smile started to form before he stopped himself abruptly, glancing back at the jacket. It was practical, yes, but why was she giving him this? This was a gift someone would give to a really good friend, not a screw up like him who constantly put her down. Why in the world would she put in all this effort just for him? Was it some kind of joke? It had to be.
“Thanks, Pop,” he mumbled, pulling his backpack off to tug the coat on, “I, uh, I did need a new one,”
A little bit of her peppy energy dissipated and she frowned. “Do you not like it?” She asked quietly, “I spent a month on it…”
He bit his lip slightly, ignoring the pang in his chest from that statement while he picked his backpack back up. “I just don’t get why’d you make it for me is all,” he said simply, beginning to walk off towards the spider caves, “We aren’t friends,”
Poppy huffed from behind him and ran forward before falling into step beside him. Her eyes bore into the side of his skull and he had to seriously focus on the ground in front of him to not look over. Poppy could be pretty scary when she was angry, he’d seen first hand just how strong she was when someone she was talking to was pissing her off. He made a mental note to practice wrestling techniques in case it happened again.
“Yes we are,” she stated firmly, anger evident in her tone, “Why are you so against being friends? I want to care about you, Branch! That’s what makes us friends! Caring about each other! Is it so wrong to want to be your friend and sing and dance with you?”
He scowled and climbed into one of the webbed caves, hoping the darkness would deter her (it did not). “Yes! I don’t sing, dance, or hug! You should really just accept it and move on!”
“Well I’m not going to!” She snapped, planting her feet angrily to stand beside him when he began harvesting silk with the knife he’d brought.
“Why!?” He yelled, head snapping to the side to stare up at her, “Why are you so obsessed with me!? With being friends with me!?”
Poppy’s face turned a dark shade of pink as it pinched in anger, her mouth opening to most likely spew a bunch of random reasons that he could never wrap his hair around, like always. Even looking back on it, Branch’s not fully sure if he would’ve preferred that to what happened next.
Before Poppy could utter a single word, the spider that neither of them had seen woke up from its place in the corner in the small cave. It let out a piercing shriek and barred its sharp teeth at the two of them, eyeing the bright pink troll.
Branch acted without thinking and sprang up, shoving Poppy behind him and brandishing the knife as menacingly as he could without showing how terrified he was. Soft, shaking hands gripped the back of his new coat as Poppy screamed in terror, blowing out a little bit of his hearing, but he didn’t pay it any mind. He was more focused on the beast in front of them. Thankfully, the two of them were closer to the exit than it was, maybe if he moved quickly-
But the spider was quicker, darting towards them with intent to kill. Branch screamed almost as high as Poppy and thrust the knife out as quickly as he could, eyes squeezing shut so he at least didn’t have to watch himself and the princess get eaten. A loud wail mixed with his screams and the shadow looming above the two disappeared, the spider making a mad dash for the exit to try and escape the harvesting knife embedded into its side.
Relief washed over him for only a moment, but it was quickly wiped away when the rocks surrounding the cave began to wobble with the force of the spider’s running. A few smaller pebbles fell into the exit and it didn’t take a genius to see where this would end up.
Poppy saw it too, but wasn’t thinking quite as clearly, because she simply grabbed Branch’s hand without another word and made her way to the exit as fast as she could. Thankfully, Branch had seen the large boulder in their path and yanked her back just in time to keep her from getting crushed, dust flying through the air as the exit got covered up with more boulders and rocks than he could’ve ever predicted was around the small cave. The small cave that he was now realizing was barely big enough for this small spider and its web, the space suddenly feeling much smaller now that there was no light.
He quickly tugged his bag from his shoulder and rummaged around for his lantern, turning the key on the side to start the small fire within. It wasn’t much light, but it was enough to see the troll he was currently trapped with.
Poppy’s face seemed to have frozen in a state of wide-eyed panic, gaze fixed on the space in front of her where the largest boulder had landed. She was shaking like a leaf and her grip on Branch tightened ever so slightly when the lantern lit up, but she said nothing.
Branch frowned for a moment before letting out exasperated huff. “You-” he cleared his throat, “You’re welcome-”
“I would’ve gotten crushed,”
It was barely above a whisper and he wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t the only sound besides his own voice and the teeny tiny crackles of the fire in his hands, but it was there. The small, terrified whispers of a troll whose life had just flashed before her eyes.
He nodded and let out a sigh, looking around. “And on my busiest day- at least people will be looking for you, I dunno how long they’d take to find me if it was just me,” he mumbled, pulling away from Poppy for a moment to turn away and examine the back of the cave. Just an empty wall, no tunnels leading anywhere deeper. He scowled and turned to try and use both his hair and his hands to move some of the smaller rocks, but to no avail.
“And guess that’s our only hope of rescue, looks like there’s nowhere else to- Pop?” He had turned to look back at the pink troll, but she seemed to have just disappeared from where she’d been standing not even a full ten seconds ago.
For a moment, he wondered if he was truly going crazy and had been yelling at himself for the past 15 minutes, but a sniffle cut through his train of thought and he turned towards the source. Poppy had managed to drop into a sitting position at the very corner of the cave, knees pulled up to her chest and hair twitching slightly around her. Her hands were twisting in her lap and she was…crying. Branch had never seen her cry before.
“Poppy…?” He called carefully, taking the two steps towards her before he crouched down in front of her shaking form, “Poppy, what’s wrong? We’re fine-”
She whimpered and looked up at him with eyes filled to the brim with tears and terror. “I don’t- like small spa-spaces-” she managed to choke out through tears, gaze flitting around the small cave they’d found themselves in.
Shit.
Branch blinked, the information crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. So now, not only was he trapped in a cave with another troll where their only chance of survival was to be rescued by other trolls, but now the troll he was trapped with was claustrophobic and having what looked to be the worst panic attack of her life. The world really hated him.
He bit his lip nervously and looked around to try and find something to help, but the only things in there besides the two of them were his bag of supplies and the spider silk. There was absolutely nothing to help him through this unfamiliar situation.
“O-okay-” he said quickly, setting the lantern down so his hands would be free, “Okay- that’s okay- uh- distraction, distraction, come on, the one time I leave my fidgets at home to make room in my bag-”
Poppy made a small, strangled noise and his heart seemed to both stop and burst all at once, panicked gaze lifting from his bag and back to her. She had curled in on herself even more somehow, head tucked in between her knees and hands clawing at her hair in a pitiful attempt to ground herself. He had been in this position many times before and he knew how it felt. The helpless feeling of not being in control of your own body or rampant emotions, attempting to do something, anything at all to gain any semblance of control.
Without a second thought, he reached to help.
*
Everything hurt and she wanted it to stop. All she wanted to do was give Branch a gift and maybe hang out with him, but she somehow found herself trapped in a cave-in with him, their only source of light a small lantern that barely allowed her to see him. Not that she was truly allowed to see him, her vision had blurred when she began crying and had gotten into tunnel mode when the panic set in.
She hated small spaces! She lived in a tree in an expanding pod in a wide open forest for music’s sake! She never had to spend time in a tight space after the tunnels of escaping Bergen Town, and had vowed to never go through that again if she could help it. Despite only being a baby when the escape had happened, she still very clearly remembered the helpless, terrified feelings she’d felt running from those looming monsters through the small, damp tunnels her father had begun digging long before her egg had ever hatched. It was a feeling she never wanted to go through again.
And yet, here she was, trapped in a teeny tiny cave with the one troll who seemed to be unable to stand her existence.
She couldn’t fathom how he could possibly hate her so much. She was only ever nice to him, inviting him to every party or event in Troll Village to try and show him how much fun it was, making him custom clothes and blankets, and even just crafting random little cards specifically for him. But no matter what she did, he’d always either give the gifts back or go so far as to destroy them. The winter coat she’d given him had been the first one he’d accepted in years , she’d hoped it was a step in the right direction.
But no, he’d simply mumbled a small thank you and then started an argument about whether or not they were friends. An argument she distantly wondered if she had the energy to endure for longer. Nearly two decades of fighting him on friendship and breaking down endless walls was beginning to wear on her and the constant panic she was feeling definitely wasn’t helping.
Why couldn’t she have her dad? Or her snugglies? Hugging something would absolutely help her to calm down to at least stop tugging on her hair. It hurt so much, but it was the only thing she could properly control and maybe with enough time, it could ground her and get her to stop panicking about the fact that she was running out of air-
Surprisingly gentle hands grasped hers and lifted them away from her ponytail, the sudden contact momentarily shocking her out of her panic to allow her to look up at what was connected to the hands now holding hers.
Branch, brows furrowed and lips pursed, was holding her hands.
Like actual physical contact that she hadn’t initiated.
What?
She stared at him blankly for a moment before terror overtook her mind again and her vision began to tunnel. Distantly, she could feel more pain in her hair.
“Hey- don’t,” she heard him say, tone surprisingly more gentle than he usually was, “You’re hurting yourself,”
The hands in her hair moved away and were held in one, bigger hand while something moved around her ponytail. After a moment, her ponytail came undone and her hair, mimicking her emotional state, fell around her face and twitched slightly.
“Poppy, I’m gonna move around a little, okay?” Branch said softly, “I’m still gonna be right here, I promise,”
She managed to nod, but she still burst into more tears when the hand holding hers disappeared, the warmth and pressure she craved so desperately gone. Another spiraling panic began to set in and she numbly wondered if she tugged enough to cause her scalp to bleed when the warmth returned, but this time pressed against the side of her body.
Without thinking, she latched onto the body beside her and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. Branch tensed underneath her like he always did when she hugged him, but he didn’t push her away this time. Instead, a soft weight was laid along her shoulders that she distantly recognized as an arm, encompassing her in comfort. Was he hugging her back?
She didn’t have the cognitive ability to fully comprehend it and just how wonderful it was, instead curling up closer to him to try and get away from the racing of her mind. When it got even slightly uncomfortable, his other arm looped under her legs and suddenly she was being held in his lap, arms wrapped around her firmly and providing exactly what she needed in this crazy time. Finally…
The shaking and panic didn’t stop, but it did slow enough for her to pry her eyes open and glance around. It was still the same tiny cave, but it felt a little bigger when she was curled up in someone else’s arms. Branch himself was huddled underneath her, legs crossed and arms wrapped around her torso, his fingers hooked together to keep himself firmly in place. At some point, she must’ve burrowed into his jacket, because the soft inside lining of her craft was also wrapped around her sides, the fur tickling her nose a little bit. It felt safe and warm and, without meaning to, she wondered how much of that was actually the jacket.
“I’ve got you,” Branch mumbled after a minute, his own voice shaky, “It’s- it’ll be okay,”
Poppy sniffled and squeezed her eyes shut again, face finding its way into the crook of his neck again. “You’re…you’re hugging me-” she whispered, a shaky laugh bursting out of her when her pink hug time bracelet went off, “You’re holding me ,”
He chuckled nervously above her, his nose burrowing into her hair carefully. “I, um, I know how much you need it- it helps you calm down, right?”
She nodded and let out a small sigh, voice still wobbly. “Ye-yeah- but you don’t-”
“It’s different if you’re panicking,” he said firmly, “It’s a need…that’s different than a want,”
In the back of her crazy mind, she made plans to get herself into more scary situations with the troll whose lap she was occupying if it meant she got to be held like a trolling again. His arms felt way stronger around her than they ever did pinned underneath her own whenever she forced a hug time on him. Probably from all the digging, but her face still lit up a darker pink at the thought. Save that for later.
She sniffled and grabbed onto the arm in front of her, trying to keep her focus on him to ignore the constricting structure around them. “How long do you think it’ll take someone to find us?” She whispered, the arms around her disconnecting when she reached around to grab his hand and lace their fingers together. The weird choking sound he made was probably just him struggling to breathe, right?
Branch sighed and tucked her closer under his chin. “I dunno…but it won’t be a full day. People will realize you’re missing and search everywhere until they find you,”
“They’d- they’d wonder about you, too,” she said firmly, still not daring to open her eyes and see the too tight walls, “You’re important, too,”
He laughed sadly and took a deep breath. “You know that’s not true, princess,” he said, voice as quiet as the crackling lantern.
And she did know it, as sad as it made her. She knew that she seemed to be the only troll in the entire village to care about him and make an effort to help him connect. Everyone else had written him off as a lost cause long before either of them had turned ten years old, preferring to ignore him at best or mock him at worst. She seemed to be the only one who ever checked up on him and would’ve been the only one to notice that he was gone for longer than a day if he’d been in here alone. But still…
“Well- you’re important to me,” she stated as firmly as she could with her wobbly voice, “And that’s enough,”
*
He wondered if she knew how much those words meant to him as he hugged her to his chest. She seemed to fit perfectly in his arms and against his body, a detail that had him completely tense at the beginning of the comforting embrace. It was almost like she was made for him to hold like this. Or he was made to hold her like this. Probably the latter.
“Oh,” he whispered quietly, one of the walls around his heart crumbling to utter pieces with just a few words from the troll holding his hand to her chest like a lifeline. Like he’d disappear if she let go.
A part of him was struggling to stay put. To stay interlocked in an embrace that he wouldn’t have initiated if she hadn’t been hurting herself so badly. That part of him hated where he was and wanted him to shove her off and just give her his coat if that would help, parts of his skin crawling at how long the contact with her was going on. A part of him that hated that he was hugging someone.
The other part of him really really didn’t want to let go. That part of him wanted to hold her closer and longer, maybe even allowing her to do this more often if she got to slot into his lap exactly as she was then. The tingling could’ve been from how close the two were, something that always seemed to light matches under his skin even if he didn’t ask for it. This part of him absolutely loved what was going on.
The war raged on in his head for what felt like hours, but was probably not even a minute, when Poppy yawned.
He glanced down at her and noted the bloodshot look in her eyes and the bags surrounding them, her gaze, finally void of the worst panic, fixated on the boulders that had encased them in there. She looked absolutely awful, but standard for someone who’d just had a panic attack. It was time to recharge.
“Take a nap, okay? I’ll keep an ear out for anyone outside,” he whispered in her ear, noting the way she shivered a little more.
“Y’ sure…?” She mumbled, fatigue evident in her slurred speech.
He nodded and squeezed her hand, fingers still interlocked. “I’m sure. Get some rest and I’ll wake you up when help arrives,”
She nodded and her eyes slowly shifted away from the wall to his face, studying him for a moment before they closed and her head thumped lightly against his chest. The hand wrapped up in his own went slack as she fell asleep, tiny snores starting up within minutes. Guess a panic attack combined with a lack of sleep really knocks someone out.
Branch sighed and settled his back against the cave wall, mind wandering as he listened for signs of other trolls calling for Poppy.
Now that she was asleep, he could easily just let go of her and settle himself away to get his personal space back, but the very thought left a bad taste in his mouth. He tried to reason that she’d most likely wake up if he attempted to do so and he’d be right back to square one, but he knew that he was secretly enjoying himself, something he’d never admit to even in his diary. It didn’t help that the pressure of her curled in his lap was helping him stay grounded and keeping him from freaking out as well.
Maybe hugging wasn’t so bad…but only hers. If he imagined himself in this situation with any other troll in their tribe, he couldn’t stop himself from scowling. Why she was so special, he’d probably never figure out, but it was probably because she was the only person who was nice to him. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what everyone else thought about him, none of the other trolls had the proper volume control to truly whisper. It stopped really hurting when he turned thirteen, but there was always a part of him, the part that never grew up, that wanted to prove them wrong. That he could sing just as well as they could, that he had enjoyed performing for others at one point or another, but that voice always got shot down to the point that it rarely made an appearance.
Unless it was Poppy. The amount of times he had to squash down the excited voice telling him to join her and her friends for a party was beginning to get worrisome. Even with the voice’s encouragement that she was different from his brothers, or any other troll for that matter, he knew she’d see him for what he really was eventually. See him as the screw up who would only put an unwanted chaos into her life. Why else would no one else approach him the way she had? She was just the only one who couldn’t see it yet. She’d figure it out eventually.
At some point, the lantern began to dim and he frowned, sneaking a glance at it and reasoning that the kindling inside must’ve been close to running out. He compared it to the amount of times Poppy’s bracelet had gone off and reasoned that it had probably been about three hours since the rock slide if it was dimming to that amount. Definitely long enough for the rest of the trolls to realize that their precious princess was missing. How long it would take them to look in this particular neck of the woods was uncertain, but the longer they went without finding her, the more trolls would be looking and someone had to show up eventually. Hopefully.
He took a deep breath and hugged the girl tighter in his arms, feeling his heart rate speed up as hypotheticals set in. If she hadn’t been with him, who knows how long he would’ve been trapped in there before anyone had found him. He knew she’d be the first and probably only one to notice his absence, but she’d also be the only one looking. The forest around their tribe’s village was massive and it had taken him nearly two years to map it out, there was no telling how long it would’ve taken the lone princess to locate him. He probably would’ve been long gone by the time she was able to.
The tears started before he could stop them, little droplets of water carefully sliding down his face and into Poppy’s hair. It was just tears, thankfully, he’d learned a long time ago how to cry silently, but that seemed to be enough to wake her. She began to stir underneath him and he tensed, trying his best to blink away the broken dam that was his eyes, but it was no use. The harder he tried, the harder he seemed to cry.
“Branch…?” She mumbled, sitting up slightly to look him in the face. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was seeing and she quickly wiped his cheeks as best she could with shaking hands.
His head snapped to the side to try and avoid the contact, but she was persistent in helping him. He couldn’t get fully away without shoving her off of him and his grip tightened when he tried. Like his body was doing the opposite of what he wanted for some defiant reason. So he stayed put.
“Branch, what happened?” Poppy asked softly, trying to angle her head and catch his eye again, “Why’re you crying?”
He took a deep breath and cleared his throat to try and get rid of the mucus build up, hoping beyond hope that she’d stop asking. If he opened his mouth, he knew he wouldn’t be able to talk, it would simply be the final wall around the dam and he’d start sobbing. If he spoke, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And he wasn’t going to allow himself to do that.
So he simply shook his head instead, eyes fixing on the wall in front of him. The tears hadn’t stopped and he knew they wouldn’t, but at this point, all he could do was ignore them. He didn’t have another choice if he wanted to keep his dignity intact.
Poppy frowned and held his face as best she could in the position they were in, thumbs gently wiping away the onslaught of tears. “You know…talking about your feelings helps you process them,” she said quietly, “And I don’t mind listening. I won’t judge you for it,”
He found himself laughing a little bit at that, the sound coming out choked and heavy without meaning to. A strained whimper managed to squeeze through before he could shut his mouth and his ears got darker with embarrassment. Yeah, his body was definitely trying to betray him.
She blinked a little bit and sighed, hugging him around his middle and pressing her face into his neck again. “I’ve got you…just like you have me, okay?”
Branch took a shaky breath and hugged her tighter, tucking his face into her hair as more tears came at her words. He truly couldn’t understand why in the whole wide world she was insisting on helping him, it was pointless. If he wasn’t so vulnerable, he would’ve told her to knock it off, that he didn’t need her help, that he was just fine on his own, but he just couldn’t. Selfishly, he wanted to allow himself to be held like he was a trolling again. He wanted to let her hold him and care for him like she seemed to be so intent on doing, even if just for a moment. It sounded so good, why couldn’t he allow himself to do it just this once? No one was around to see them.
Just as he’d come to the decision, a voice carried through the rocks from outside. He gasped quietly and looked up, eyes falling to the rocks once again.
“Di- did y’u hear that?” He whispered, internally cursing his voice for being so wobbly and quiet.
Poppy glanced at him for a moment before her own ears perked up when the voice called out again. It was slightly clearer now, someone was calling her name. And it sounded like King Peppy.
“Dad?” She mumbled before sitting up slightly and almost screaming, “Dad! Dad, we’re in here!”
The king’s calling stopped for a moment before the sound got closer. “Poppy!? Where are you, darling!?” He shouted. He sounded so worried for her.
Branch carefully nudged her towards the rocks and crawled to them with her, listening as her high pitched voice carried through the rubble. His voice wouldn’t have carried as well, so he said nothing.
“DAD! Dad, we’re in here! Do you see the wall of rocks? We’re in the cave behind it!” She screamed, shoving at the rocks to try and get them to move and maybe catch his attention. Branch found himself helping, carefully shoving at some of them as well. The sound of rolling stones hit their ears and light footsteps could be heard outside.
“Poppy! Sit tight, okay!? We’ll get you out! Take deep breaths and try to remain calm!” The king called before he began shouting for other people. More footsteps, like a stampede.
She sobbed happily and pressed her forehead to the rubble, fingers twitching against it. “I’m alright, dad, I’m not alone in here,” she called, glancing at the troll beside her, “Branch is in here with me,”
There was no direct response to her statement, but Branch could distantly hear more trolls around them whispering about what the “beast” could be doing trapped with the princess. It made him scowl without meaning to and he just sighed.
“Come on,” he mumbled, crawling away from the now shifting wall and huddling up near the back of the cave, “In case it falls towards us,”
Poppy nodded in agreement and sat beside him, curling up against his side and reaching for his hand. As much as he didn’t want to, he knew she needed the support and allowed her to squeeze his fingers. She began to hum something under her breath and he bit his tongue to try and keep himself from asking her to stop. He didn’t want her to panic more than she already had that day.
It took 30 minutes for light to spill in from the outside, but it blinded them almost instantly. Poppy yelped and pressed her face into Branch’s shoulder to escape the sudden flash at the same time that he buried his face in her hair. It was surprisingly comfortable.
“I see her!” Someone yelled from outside, the light getting blocked once more as the troll Branch distantly recognized as Creek peeked in, “Poppy! Are you alright?”
“We’re fine!” she called, clinging to Branch as she looked up at Creek, “Both of us are okay!”
The other troll didn’t respond, simply walking away from the small hole as a few hands invaded it to try and break down the rocks. Once the hole was big enough for one of them to slip out, Branch carefully helped her stand and lifted her through into the arms of her people. A few relieved cheers erupted from the other side and he climbed through on his own, eyes squinting when he was finally in the light of the day. And judging by the amount of light, it was nearly sunset. A whole day wasted.
*
Poppy sobbed in relief as she collided with her father, Creek’s hand still gently placed on her back. “Dad! Oh my gosh, dad- thank you so much-” she whispered, flinching at the onslaught of natural light.
King Peppy gently pulled back and held her face in his hands, taking a deep breath when he didn’t see any injuries. “Are you alright?” He asked, turning her head every which way to check for anything serious, “Come, we should get you a check up to make sure everything’s alright,”
She nodded and pulled back to look around through the crowd of trolls that had helped free the two of them. “Good idea, just let me help-”
But Branch had already made his way out of the cave and was standing in the outskirts of the crowd. No one seemed to be paying him any mind as he shoved his now dark lantern into his bag, despite the fact that he’d been trapped as well. It hurt her heart.
“Branch!” She called, catching the gray troll’s attention. She waved her hand to beckon him over, much to the confusion of everyone else. “C’mere! We’re gonna go see the doctor, okay?”
He pursed his lips and shied away when everyone turned to look at him. “I’m fine-” he said quickly, gathering his things, “I’m just-”
She scowled and separated from her dad to make her way over to him, grabbing his hand firmly before he could continue speaking. “You were in there, too,” she said simply, “Just a small check up? To know that you’re okay?”
He frowned and glanced around at the crowd, eyes finding things that she was ignoring in favor of seeing him. “I’m fine, Pop-” he tried again, but went quiet at the look she gave him.
Without another word, she laced their fingers together and began to lead him towards the village. He gave no protest and simply followed her, glaring at anyone who looked at him wrong. She found herself smirking a little bit whenever he did.
Lying in her bed after the check up, a bill of perfect health given to her, Poppy found herself thinking about the other troll. He’d all but run out of the doctor’s pod once his check up was done, and she knew that he had gone home to his bunker. He never stayed in the village for longer than a few minutes and it had taken almost an hour for the doctor to see him, because he insisted she take a look at Poppy first. It was rather sweet.
A fuzzy feeling bloomed in the teenage princess’s chest that had her smiling despite the lingering anxiety from being trapped. Because, truly, if she had to have been trapped that day, she was glad that it was with Branch. She didn’t think she’d be quite as comfortable being held like that by anyone else.
*
Branch curled up in his bed, staring quietly at the coat hung up on the wall across from him. Even if he’d only had it for a few hours, it was already dirty from the day's events, but that wasn’t what he was thinking about. He was thinking about how much it now smelled like the princess that made it, the front of it covered in her scent that had him wearing it all the way home. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her and his heart felt like it would burst. It was a dangerous feeling that he’d allow himself to feel until morning.
The next time he saw her, he’d have less bite in his words than usual and the hug time she once again forced on him was met with just a little less resistance than it ever had. But only if it was her. It was only okay if it was her.