Chapter Text
“Anything exciting today?”
With a “Huh?” that’s only a little bit startled John Dory turns away from his post to find Queen Viva standing behind him, having climbed up the ladder with a sneakiness foreign to her usual manic energy. She smiles warmly at him as usual, an extra amused sparkle in her eye at having caught him off guard; not wanting to give her the satisfaction, he answers with a single flat, “Oh,” setting his binoculars down on the railing.
“Morning, Queen Viva.”
“You know you don’t have to call me that.” She giggles as she says it, scooting up closer so she can lean over the railing for herself, taking in the view of the sky and the trees and below that, the whole expanse of the village, already bustling with life despite the early hour. Trolls have never been the type to let mornings go to waste.
To answer her prior question, John clears his throat and begins, “Nothing more exciting than yesterday. Or the day before that.” A frown. “Or the day before that or the day before that or—”
Viva interrupts him with another giggle. “And guess who we have to thank for that?” The look she throws him is one that involves a mischievous grin and a lot of eyebrow waggling, and he has to turn to clear his throat again before she can see the blush starting to tint his cheeks.
Laughter accompanies the feeling of Viva patting him on the shoulder. “Hey, give yourself some credit here! The village was never this safe before you came around.” And maybe that’s true. Only a few years ago John Dory had come bursting out of the woods in Rhonda, heralding his return to Troll Village by nearly running their princess over in the middle of her big solo. Many apologies had been made that day. But Viva isn’t the type to hold grudges, and it hadn’t taken very long at all for him to climb back into her good graces, and not very long after that, she’d gone and appointed him the official head of village security. He’d had some ideas. Call it a product of his upbringing.
“It’s not me you should be thanking,” he answers under his breath, and he frowns again at the sudden cut of nostalgia that slices through his gut. Brief but biting. He shakes his head.
Viva’s talking again. Or maybe she never stopped. “Come on, it’s a beautiful morning! We can hit up the muffin bar together, whaddaya say?” Elbowing him in the side. “You can’t spend all day up in this”—she wraps her arms around herself for emphasis—”cold, lonely watchtower, can you? Brrrr, how can you stand to be up here?” Okay, that last bit sounded genuine.
John Dory huffs, hands planted on his hips in defiance. “I happen to like it up here, thank you very much.” But he says it playful, going along with Viva’s game. “Lots of fresh air, very spacious.” (It’s not that spacious.) “A-and anyway, weren’t you just telling me how great I am at keeping you all safe? Maybe we should circle back to that.”
“You are great.” She places her hand on his arm. That combined with the grateful look in her eyes sends his face blazing again, but she continues anyway, “But it’s okay to take a break once in a while, too.”
John recognizes what the ensuing smirk on Viva’s face means instantly. He knows her well enough by now. “Ooooh no, you are not dragging me into another—”
“I think I’ll go for a walk outside now~” Her voice starts out slow, low. Teasing. Her hand travels down his arm to his wrist. He doesn’t put up much of a fight pulling back, not really, despite the insistence in his voice.
“Viva, we talked about this!”
“The summer sun knows me by name!” Higher now. She twirls him by the arm when he’s least expecting it, successfully discombobulating him into a dip so low the back of his head nearly touches the ground. Her moss cape swishes dramatically around them.
“Whoah-ho, okay, slow down—”
“I gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get awaaaaay!” Pulling John Dory into the full momentum of her number, Viva takes him by the arm and leaps into the air—and right over the railing of the watchtower.
“Into the sunshine day!”
“WHOAAAH!”
John Dory grew up in an underground bunker. Despite the last few years, he still isn’t fully used to the spontaneous musical numbers the other trolls in the village are fond of putting on. But a stylized wipe transition finds him and Viva down on the ground, Viva marching triumphantly through the village as John Dory skitters to keep up with her, her enthusiasm nearly popping his arm out of its socket. He holds a hand to his visor to keep it from slipping down from the commotion.
Can’t you dig the sunshine?
Now it’s all but the same
Viva waves ecstatically at her trolls, who wave back with equal vigor as they go about their morning work, a few of them sparing the time to join in as her backing chorus.
Can’t you hear him calling your name?
On the last word she cranes her neck to throw John Dory a playful wink, and he can’t help himself: he smiles back.
Oh, I think I’ll take a walk every day now
The summer sun has shown the way to be happy now
Trolls dancing on the sidelines, letting themselves get swept away by the melody. “Happy now!”
I just can’t stay inside all day
I gotta get out, gimme some of those rays!
Once more she pulls John Dory into an impromptu twirl and this time he lets himself go along with it, linking his hands with hers and adding his own momentum so they spiral into a whole series of spins, the chorus growing louder with the mounting energy of the song.
(The irony of the lyrics, when applied to his life, isn’t lost on John Dory, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. About how once upon a time there was nothing he wanted more than to get a glimpse of the sun.)
Everybody’s smiling
(Sunshine day)
Everybody’s laughing
(Sunshine day)
Everybody seems so happy today!
John Dory and Viva come to stop atop a small hill all covered in brightly colored flowers, a ring of trolls jumping and dancing around below them as the song builds towards its climax. Hands still clasped to each other, Viva smiles wide as she looks down at her people, then back up at John, who smiles back less because he likes seeing the village happy but because he knows that the sight of a happy village makes Viva happy. Abuzz with emotion, Viva makes rapid little stomping motions in the grass before spontaneously throwing her arms around John Dory, lifting him off the ground with the force of the hug. He wheezes from the squeeze, but it doesn’t stop him from smiling wider as she goes on twirling him, flower petals fluttering around them.
Can’t you dig the sunshine?
Now it’s sounded the same!
Can’t you hear him calling your name?
Everybody’s smiling
(Sunshine day)
Everybody’s laughing
(Sunshine day)
At the very tail end of the note Viva raises John Dory up in the air above her head with practiced ease, and maybe the first few times she did this it caught him so by surprise that he yelled at her to put him down but now it’s almost second nature to him, and as the final notes of the chorus ring out around him John Dory throws out his arms and takes in a breath for the big finish:
It’s a sunshine d—
SMACK!
A chorus of “OOOH!” replaces the song as something crashes directly into John Dory’s face and sends him tumbling from Viva’s hands, down the hill, and all the way back to the ground, landing with a comical WHUMP! and a startled “AUGH!”
Viva instantly sets to running down the hill after him. “JOHN!”
It’s some kind of fuzzy, wriggling little creature that’s done it, now latching onto John Dory’s face with all of its legs like it launched itself at him for this express purpose. John’s hands come up to try to swat the thing off, angry muffled noises that sound vaguely like “GET IT OFF GET IT OOOOFF!” emanating from beneath its furry grasp. Viva leans down to latch her own hands around the animal, tug at it carefully but firmly.
“Okay, come on little guy, let him go—”
With a low POP! she manages to dislodge it from her fellow troll’s head, and John sits up immediately to simultaneously gasp in a breath and cough out the bits of bright fuzz that got caught in his mouth. “BLAGH! HAGCH!! WHAT THE DINK WAS THAT?!”
While he’s busy recovering, Viva cradles the squirmy little bug in her arms, cooing down at it gently the same way she does with Rhonda, all cutesy. “Theeeere there, it’s okay, I gotcha.” Tickling it under its chin so it practically melts into her touch, purring its satisfaction. The thing was holding something in its mouth and now it relaxes its grip around it, Viva taking the opportunity to grab whatever it is in her free hand and examine it.
It’s an envelope, one marked with a gold wax seal bearing the initials “VV.” How curious!
“What is that?” John’s voice comes out strained as he pulls himself back upright, hand pressed gingerly to his tailbone. His visor hangs askew over his brow.
“It looks like some kinda letter,” Viva answers, gently placing the bug down on the grass so that she can open the envelope. “Doesn’t say who it’s for….”
John Dory spares a moment to glare down at the animal that attacked him (currently busy rolling around in the grass) before sidling up to peek over Viva’s shoulder as she reads the mystery letter.
“It…. it’s addressed to someone called Branch….” But she needn’t have said it out loud: John’s eyes go wide when he reads the name on the letter.
“Branch?” Whispered as he reaches out to take the letter from Viva’s hands. She doesn’t try to protest—she can tell by the slack-jawed look on his face that he knows something she doesn’t.
Turning away from Viva, John Dory reads the letter for himself.
Dear Branch,
I’m being held against my will by superstars Velvet and Veneer. Come to Mount Rageous at once, and bring our brothers!
Sincerely,
Floyd
Two of those names stand out to John immediately.
“Th…. this is impossible….” He mouths it softly to himself, going over the letter again just to make sure he’s really reading what he’s reading.
“....John?” Viva hesitates as she steps up beside him. “Everything okay?”
Finally breaking away from the letter, John Dory turns to face Viva with a look she’s never seen on him before, something small and soft and scared. It makes her pulse stutter.
“....I…. it’s from—” He stops and starts, struggling like he doesn’t want to believe these are the words he’s saying. Unthinkingly he holds out the letter to her, paper rustling. “This is from my brother.”
Viva gasps. “You have a brother?”
“I—I did, I….” John winces, suddenly unsure if it’s a good idea to tell Viva this given her history. “I had four brothers, actually. A long time ago.” That same biting nostalgia from before, deeper this time, almost painful. “But I haven’t seen any of them since I was a baby. Except for….”
(Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since he left the bunker. Half of the time since the rest of them left.)
The ensuing silence is so thick Viva swears she can feel herself breathing it in. She exhales hard. “I…. assume Branch is also your….?”
Branch…. the letter was meant for him. Of course it makes sense that Floyd would send the letter here, to him. He would have no way of knowing.
Stoic, John nods.
Viva inhales sharp through her teeth. “....Wow. Okay.” She supposes she shouldn’t be all that surprised at the revelation. She knows John Dory doesn’t exactly like to open up about his life before his sudden arrival in the village.
She supposes she should know a thing or two about long-lost siblings, considering.
“But—” A new thought. Viva’s the queen of a small village. There isn’t a single troll around she’s not on a nickname basis with. “Wait. Branch isn’t here, though. Is he?”
“I need to get to Mount Rageous.”
He says it so abruptly that he’s already leaving by the time Viva realizes what he’s said. “Huh?” She swivels around to follow him. He’s clutching the letter so tightly it’s crumpled. “Wait, you don’t know where that place even is.”
“Then I’ll just have to find it.” Nevermind what the letter said. There’s no way John is going back to that bunker now. Not stopping, he brings a hand up to give a single shrill whistle. “RHONDA! Here, girl!”
It’s not just the names that stood out to him, it’s the whole of the letter. He may not remember much about Floyd besides the fact that it’s Floyd’s vest he’s wearing but he definitely doesn’t remember Floyd sounding like that. And why would his captors, this “Velvet and Veneer,” let him send such a fancy letter in the first place? He needs to go take a look for himself.
Besides, he doesn’t even know where any of his brothers are.
(Well. Except for one.)
“Well, you’re not going alone, are you?” Viva jogs to keep up with him, the flowers in her hair bobbing along with the movement.
“Yes, I am.” He calls back to her as he claps his hands together tersely, following it up with another whistle and a “RHONDAAAAA!”
“Okay, hold on, JD.” The concerned lilt to the nickname doesn’t go unnoticed. “We both agreed to never make plans while under emotional duress!” Her cape flutters behind her as she runs after John Dory. “If you’re going to rescue your brother, you’re going to need backup! We don’t know what’s out there!”
That last bit stops John Dory cold in his tracks with its familiarity. For what feels like the hundredth time today he feels that nagging twist in his gut. His hands clench together.
(Calm down, she’s just worried about you)
“....Viva, I appreciate the concern, I really do.” The smile he gives her is small and awkward but it’s as sincere as he can make it. Untangling his hands from each other, he reaches to take both of hers. A gesture he never would’ve imagined offering to a queen before meeting Viva.
“But I have to do this for myself.”
The corners of Viva’s mouth draw down worriedly. She’s not fond of letting anyone leave the village, but—call it selfish—the thought of John Dory going out there alone upsets her most of all.
He can see her apprehension. He can’t fault her her fear, but then again, he did leave that bunker for a reason. Gently, he tries, “Hey, I promise I’ll be careful, okay?”
Viva hangs back for just a second longer. Unconsciously she’s twining her fingers into John Dory’s.
“I—”
She’s interrupted by a deep, tremulous rumbling bubbling up from the ground beneath them. They both drop their heads downwards in unison, confusion stealing over for the briefest of seconds before they realize what’s about to happen. John looks back up alarmingly. “Uh oh!”
They break apart from each other right as the ground beneath them does the same—the grass bulging out and then splitting open in a spray of dirt and pebbles and flowers, knocking the two of them down on either side of it.
From out of the chasm springs a long white shape, one that leaps high into the air with a sound that’s somewhere between a coo and a roar, reverberating around the meadow with enough force to scare away the birds roosting in the trees above. John Dory barely gets a second to prepare himself before that shape comes barreling back down to the ground, aiming to land itself squarely over him.
“Aw no, come on—”
The THUMP of Rhonda landing above him rattles him like he’s never been rattled before, but he doesn’t even have time to recover before he’s next assaulted by a furious series of licks from Rhonda, her purring and cooing up a storm like they’ve been separated for days instead of just mere hours.
“Heh…. yeah, I missed you, too, girl.” A strained chuckle as he wipes the glitter from his face.
The next few minutes see John back on his feet and up the steps to Rhonda’s side door. Rhonda buzzes contentedly as Viva scratches her chin, but even though she’s smiling the concern is palpable in Viva’s eyes as she watches John bustling around inside Rhonda, getting things ready. Getting ready to leave.
Inside Rhonda, John pins the letter to the dashboard and steps back, eyes drifting over the name at the top. His mouth twists. In the very back of his mind he can hear a familiar voice saying
(If you leave there will be no one out there to look after you! No one!)
(Told you so)
John Dory closes his eyes against the onslaught of memories. Now’s not the time to get all sentimental. No, he has a mission to focus on.
“....Hey, JD?”
Viva’s peeking in from the other side of the door. “You’re really sure about this?”
John contemplates. Sure, maybe his brothers had all left him when he was barely old enough to remember them all, but on the other hand…. they’re still his brothers. Whether they want to be or not.
He nods once, resolute.
Viva takes in a short breath, finally resigning. “Okay.” She can’t fault him his urgency. What she wouldn’t give to know that her sister’s alive. To have had the chance to miss someone the way he misses his brothers.
Maybe he can sense her understanding. Once again she feels him taking her hands in his own and holding them there, gentle, reassuring as he can make it.
“I’ll be okay, Viva. Promise.”
It’s enough for a genuine smirk to cut across Viva’s solemn face, the morning sunlight winking off the glittered streaks on her cheeks. “You better be.” Half a joke and half a plea.
Before John can quip something back he’s interrupted by the familiar ding! of his hug time bracelet going off, the little green bud on his wrist unfurling into a glowing flower. Viva’s bracelet does the same, a pink twinkle on her arm.
Seeing what time it is, the two friends lock eyes for the briefest of moments, no words needed, and smile.
This time, the hug they share is just the slightest bit tighter, each of them holding on to the other for just a second too long.
Viva watches as Rhonda revs up, raring to go. Through the windshield she can make out John Dory sitting up front, visor pulled down in a way he thinks makes him look so cool. He honks the horn for her, a resounding farewell. “Be back soon!” She can’t make out his voice but she catches the sentiment nonetheless, and she raises an arm to wave back, frantic.
“Good luck!”
Rhonda peels off into the woods, leaves spraying. A few of them catch in Viva’s hair. She doesn’t mind.
Her smile falters, just a little bit.
“See you later….”