Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I peeked my head out from around the stage curtain and saw a sea of multicolored trolls cheering for BroZone to come out to the venue's stage. Wow, it's a big turnout for this show. I turned my head around to call out to the group who was warming up and preparing for the first show on their world tour.

“One minute to showtime!”

John Dory looked at me and widened his eyes before quickly turning back to his sheet stand and hurriedly going through a pile of music sheets to create the perfect set list.

“We’re gonna open with Girl Baby Baby, and close with Baby Baby Girl! Wait, no, that doesn’t sound right…” he tapped the tip of his pen against his bottom lip. I noticed his struggling and made a suggestion of my own.

“What if you opened with Baby Baby Girl and closed with Baby Baby Girl Woman”? John smiled at me and let out a laugh of satisfaction. “Yes! Thank you Ven! We are gonna make boy band history tonight.” He threw his pen across the room and put his hands on his hip, then proceeded to walk around and check in on the other brothers.

All of the brothers were doing their own thing to prepare themselves for the show. John had already figured out the music with my help, Spruce kept doing sit-ups to make sure his abs were perfect, Clay was practicing his dance moves and complaining to John about having to wear his Funderdrawers, Floyd was doing some relaxing, breathing exercises, and Branch was standing by the curtain.

Poor thing looked scared out of his mind for this show. Who can blame him though? Everyone agreed he was finally old enough to join the band, so this is his first show and of course it had to be in front of the biggest crowd I’ve seen for BroZone in the few years I’ve been their assistant.

I walked over to Floyd and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, you might wanna go talk to baby Branch. He looks really nervous”. Floyd looked in the direction of Branch and agreed with my statement.

“Okay, don’t worry, I got this covered” he assured me. He started walking towards his little brother and I watched them have one of the most adorable conversations ever! I knew Floyd and Branch are probably the closest with one another out of everyone here since I’ve seen them grow up together.

I’ve known Branch since a little after he was born and he’s taken a liking to Floyd the most out of all his brothers and honestly, same. These guys are the closest thing I have to a family and Floyd’s kinda like my best friend.

A member of the stage crew notified the brothers that they had 10 seconds until they had to be on stage. John was talking to them about hitting the perfect family harmony or something. I wasn’t really listening as I was filling up a few cups with water from the water cooler they had backstage. After all, they can’t be going on stage parched, now can they?

“Guys! Quick!” I handed them all their water cups and they took as many sips as they could before showtime. John chugged his water and let out an ‘ahh’ of refreshment. He handed me back the cup and shouted “Let’s bro!”

—————

I got into the sound booth of the venue and spoke into the microphone to start announcing the brothers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, here they are! The Heartthrob!” Spruce winked at the audience making most of the girls in the front rows faint.

♫ Da-da ♫

“The Fun Boy!” Clay bounced his way onto stage by using the mushrooms behind the stage. He certainly knows how to be creative with his entrance.

♫ Da, Da-da ♫

“The Sensitive One!” I quickly turned off the microphone so I could cheer and fanboy over him without being heard. I see Floyd literally every day, but that doesn’t change how excited I get for him. He made puppy dog eyes to really sell the sensitive look and it made me giggle. I turned the microphone back on.

♫ Da, da-da ♫

“The Leader!” John jumped with his arms out and he had the biggest smile on his face. Did he pick his own title? Yes. Do I blame him? Not really. He is the oldest, so it makes sense.

♫ Da-da ♫

“And The Baby!” Branch tried his hardest to strike a cool pose, but it ended up just being one of the cutest things I’ve seen. I couldn’t be more proud of him right now for getting on stage for the first time, and at such a young age. Hopefully he enjoys this and sticks with it unlike me.

♫ Da, da-da ♫

“Give it up for BroZone!” I dragged out the ‘O’ in ‘zone’ just to give it some more flare. I turned off the microphone again so I could watch their performance in awe. No matter how many times I see it, it’s almost like it gets better every time.

♫ Well, there she goes~ On the floor, let’s do this, no more talkin’ ♫

Though I was in the sound booth, I could hear girls screaming and even saw some of them faint. People really like Spruce, don’t they? Makes sense why he’s The Heartthrob. I couldn’t help but dance along with their choreo. It was so mesmerizing and I’ve seen enough shows to know every step to every song.

♫ Did anybody notice?~ ♫

Floyd walked to the front and the spotlight was on him. I couldn’t help but just stare at him as he moved and sang with such grace.

♫ The energy just shifted when we dropped in, ooh~ let it drop in~ ♫

People just grabbed their chests at his adorableness while I dramatically mocked those girls who were fangirling over Spruce by putting the back of my hand to my forehead and pretending to faint.

♫ I don’t flex, but I might, groove about to take flight! Cause the night is young and the music’s on, and we got love on sight ♫

I immediately interlocked my hands in front of my face and smiled as Branch started singing. I told him so many times before the show, but I seriously am proud of him. I started to tear up a little bit so I can only imagine how his older brothers feel right now.

♫ The sky was the limit, now the stars where we’re living, it’s the vibe when we’re in it, it’ll blow your mind~ ♫

Branch lifted his oversized glasses and it made me squeal at how freaking adorable he was. As the chorus started, a faint glow started pulsating around them to the beat of the song. Was this that family harmony thing John was going on about? It’s really pretty actually.

♫ It’s so perfect, perfect, perfect, a hundred percent! Put us together you know what you get ♫

I was dancing along in the booth when I suddenly realized John was diverting away from the rest of them. What is he doing? The rest of them kept singing but I watched some of their faces drop. Oh no, something is happening. Clay started saying something to Spruce but it was too faint for his microphone to pick up. This isn’t the right choreography, one of them is gonna mess up.

♫ You’ll never ever wanna let it go~ ♫

They all started stacking on top of each other and that glow around them began to fade away. Their voices were falling out of sync and they all started to lose their balance. Oh no, oh no, what’s happening?

I was panicking while watching them and after trying to hold it for a few seconds longer, they completely fell apart. Floyd tumbled and jumped onto a nearby vine to catch himself. He swung around the stage and knocked right into John. The end of the vine wrapped around Spruce’s ankle and started pulling him with it. In an attempt to stop themselves, Spruce grabbed onto another vine and it wrapped around Clay's entire body. All four of them were shouting as the vines started to tie the brothers into a huge knot on the lights above the stage.

All of them were now stuck and Spruce was dangling by his ankle. I darted out of the sound booth and headed towards the main stage. The whole audience had gone dead silent. I reached the stage and did the only thing I really could do.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please standby, we’re experiencing, uh…” I looked up at the four of them tied up and tried to find the words to describe what was happening but I was drawing a blank. “…Some stuff”? Branch just stood there looking at me with worry. John tried to reassure his little brothers “Heyyy, at least we didn’t fall!” A loud snap caught my ear and they plummeted to the ground. “We fell”.

Oh boy, this wasn’t going to be pretty..

Chapter Text

“Here, baby Branch. I’m sorry you had to see that”

I had brought Branch backstage and handed him some crayons so he could draw on the blank side of John's music sheets in an attempt to calm him down. While I awaited the storm that was about to come through the door for what felt like forever when in reality, it was only a few seconds, the door opened up gently. Are they… not mad? I’m confused.

It ended up being Floyd and a smile spread across my face as I ran over to him and latched myself on his side in an embrace and he reciprocated that same warmth. “Well hello to you too, Ven” he let out a laugh and his sparkly magenta eyes that were framed by a small amount of eyeliner happened to meet mine and we stared at each other for a few seconds.

Once I found myself heating up slightly, I detached myself from him and noticed a large cut on his leg. “Oh, you’re bleeding! Hold on, I’ll bandage you up”. I ran away looking for some bandages and a water bottle. It happened to catch the corner of my eye, but I saw Floyd kneel down and talk to Branch about his drawing. Those two are so adorable with each other, I swear.

When I went back to Floyd, I placed his leg on the table and started the bandaging process when the door slammed open making all three of us jump. It was John, Spruce, and Clay, all looking sour with one another.

“See what happens when you don't follow my lead!?” “Dude. That is exactly what happens when we follow your lead!”
“Oh, so it’s my fault? Is that what you’re saying?!”

I’ve been living with them for almost 6 years and I’ve never seen them fight like this, and I’ve seen my fair share. There was one fight between Spruce and Floyd because Floyd had drawn a smiley face on Branch's egg to make me laugh, and Spruce got mad at him for touching the egg.

“I know we can reach the perfect family harmony!”
“What if we don’t want to!?”
“Yeah dude, this used to be fun! Now it’s all about being perfect.”
“You know what? I’m done playing The Heartthrob! My exquisitely chiseled rock hard abs and I quit.”

Spruce ripped off his vest and tore it in half. My eyes widened in horror as I remembered the last time I saw Velvet. It ended something like this. It felt like I was reliving that moment. I looked at Floyd in hopes of him getting up to intervene. He typically had a way of getting through to his brothers but he was in just as much shock as I was at Spruces declaration.

“I quit too, and you can keep these! I’m more than just the fun one. I’m in a sad book club. Did you know that? A sad, book club! I’m gonna find Trolls who take me seriously”! Clay had thrown his Funderdrawers directly at John's face. Ew..

“Fine! I don’t need this! I’m out. I’m done. I’m sorry.” I saw Branch get up and walk over to the area behind Spruce and Clay, looking dejected. Why did this have to happen now of all times? His first show and three of his brothers quit. John Dory grabbed a grapple hook from his backpack and sent it shooting out the window.

“I’m gonna go hike the Neverglade Trail, by myself, bro-lone.” He kept striking dramatic poses and I helped Floyd get up from the sofa with his now slightly injured leg. He could’ve gotten up by himself but I won’t let him. We both looked over at John as he spoke the last words any of us would probably ever hear from him again.

“Yeah, that’s right. Bro bro going solo. Yolo. Goodbye forever!” He rappelled down to the ground slowly and worry rushed over me of being alone again. I really didn’t want my newfound family to leave me, especially Floyd and Branch.

“Fine, I’m out of here.” “Same here.” Clay and Spruce both threw up their arms leaving and both of them heading in separate ways.

“Guys please! Come on.” Floyd looked up to the ceiling and sighed. All that was left was me, Floyd, Branch, and their grandma. “It’s my fault. I ruined everything.” Branch looked terrified so me and Floyd got down to his level and tried to reassure him.

“No, no, Branch, this is not your fault” I told him. Floyd sighed and looked at Branch with a smile. “We’re not in sync. We’ve gone from boys to men and now there’s only one direction for us to go… the backstreets”.

When Floyd looked back at me, all he saw was a judgy, unimpressed face. “Really? That had to be said? The last thing you wanna say to your brother is a pun?” Floyd let out a breathy laugh and Branch looked worried at what I said.

“What do you mean the last thing? You’re not leaving too, are you”? I couldn’t help but feel sad for Branch. Me and Floyd are doing exactly what Velvet did to me, except we’re at least trying to make him feel like it’s not his fault. “Not forever. We’ll be back. I promise. But right now, I uh…” Floyd looked at me for a quick second. “…I have to follow my heart. It’s telling me that it's time to start a solo career.”
“But what am I gonna do?”
“Branch, you are gonna do the most important thing of all. You’re gonna…”

I leaned over and whispered ‘take care of grandma’ into Floyd’s ear and he quickly repeated my words to Branch loudly. He looked at me with a smile and mouthed “thank you”. I sighed and gave him a big grin.

“Oh, what would you do without me?” I put a hand to my chest and collapsed dramatically, and he let out a belly laugh at my antics. God, he’s so precious. Wait, what?

“Aww, come on Branch! Let’s play some rummy! But I won’t let you win, because I play for the money.” Their grandma was really serious about rummy for some reason even though I knew she wasn’t any good at it. She told me the rules one time and I played against her. I beat her by an absolute landslide. The score was 8-0.

Floyd spoke to Branch because he looked startled by his grandma's competitiveness. “You might have to let her win, occasionally.” Branch gently nodded his head and Floyd started taking off his green vest.

“When you miss me, you can wear this. It’ll be like I’m right here with you.” He put the vest on Branch and it was massive on him. What is it about kids wearing big clothes and it looks adorable?

“And when you come back, we’ll make our hideout.” I watched Branch pull out one of the music sheets I gave him from his pocket and uncrumple it to reveal a drawing with all his brothers names on it. Aww, I’m there too. Does he consider me his brother? Floyd looked at it and tears slowly started finding their way to his eyeline.

“Wow! Is that a ten story water slide?” “Yeah that’s how we shower!” Branch giggled softly. Floyd tucked the drawing back into Branch’s new vest. “Well, we better keep this in a safe place.” Floyd opened his arms and Branch walked closer to him giving him a big hug. Floyd looked at me and motioned for me to join in on the hug, so I wrapped my arms around the two of them as we sat there for a few seconds enjoying the last time either of us might see Branch for a while.

Floyd unwrapped himself from Branch and smiled softly at him. “See you soon baby Branch.” We both stood up and Floyd put out his hand waiting for me to hold it. A few months back, we agreed that if anything were to happen to BroZone, me and him would leave together. I guess that ‘anything’ was right now. Our plan was to build a massive treehouse in the middle of the forest and have picnics every day. Neither one of us knew how to cook, but we’d figure it out. We were gonna spend the rest of our lives together being best friends forever.

I grabbed Floyd’s hand and we went out the door. Floyd turned around to give Branch one last smile and Branch waved. “Bye… see you later…”

—————

It had only been about 5 minutes since we left and I had already started talking Floyd’s ear off about where we should go next and what the treehouse should look like. Floyd walked behind me the entire time because I refused to slow down. I was too excited to live with my best friend.

When I turned around to see if he was there, because he hadn’t answered a single one of the million questions I asked him, he was a little further back and just standing still. I paced back to him to make sure he was okay.

“Hey, are you good? We don’t have to paint the kitchen pink if you don’t want to. Or is it the roses in the garden thing? Or is it-“

“Nono, Veneer, it’s none of those it’s just… it’s nothing. Nevermind” he turned his head away from me.

“Hey,” I put my hand under his chin and lifted his head to look at me. “You don’t have to lie to me. If anything’s wrong, I’m right here.”

“Really, it’s fine.”

“Okay…”

My mood dropped by quite a bit as we kept walking. Knowing that something was wrong with Floyd but he wouldn’t tell me had me upset. I went from verbally asking a million questions to asking myself a million questions mentally. I heard a quiet whisper behind me but couldn’t hear it properly, so I turned around and my stomach dropped.

“Floyd…?”

He wasn’t there. Where the hell is he? Was I walking too fast and left him behind? Did something take him? Did he leave me? I started hyperventilating. Why isn’t he here? I felt tears running down my face and was reminded of the rain on that night when John found me alone. Alone. That’s what I was again. My vision started becoming foggy and I tuned out any sound that was around me.

Oh my god. Branch. This is exactly what we just did to Branch. I got up and started sprinting back in the direction we left from, running on nothing but adrenaline. Maybe Floyd was there. Maybe he just regretted leaving Branch and he went back. Yeah, that has to be it. I’ll go back and he’ll be there. Definitely. Why wouldn’t he be? As I approached the house, I opened the door. Branch had tears in his little eyes and when he saw me, his face shot into a large smile. “Veneer! You didn’t leave! Is Floyd with you?”

Upon hearing that, I broke down completely.

Chapter Text

“Ugghhh… shut up.”

I rolled my body over groggily and smushed my face into the silk pillow. My arm kept hitting the nightstand next to my bed in an effort to snooze the agitating alarm clock that was going off. Why’d I set an alarm again? I lifted my head and tried to blink away the sleepiness.

My dream from last night already had me in an off-putting mood. The last time I saw Floyd was 15 years ago, yet my brain occasionally finds ways to remind me about the day BroZone broke up. On my nightstand was a picture frame that had a photo of me holding Branch when he was just a baby.

I dragged my finger across the mini calendar that was next to it trying to find today's date and circled in big red letters was ‘Royal Wedding!!’ Oh shit. I rolled over and fell out of bed before hurriedly getting back up and going through my wardrobe.

“I knew I put it in here somewhere… there it is” I pulled out a black garment bag that said ‘S&C Designs’. I had become good friends with Satin and Chenille since being in Troll Village as I found out that I had a calling for fashion design.

Sometimes I go over to their studio and they’ll design random outfits for me. At least half of my closet is stuff designed specifically for me by them. They even went as far as making me an outfit for Bridget and Gristles wedding free of charge just because I helped them pick out the right color for a jumpsuit.

Whilst I was putting on the remaining parts of my outfit, I was met with a knock on the door of my pod. “Come in!” A troll whose complexion was light pink and had dark pink hair put up in a ponytail to compliment it, walked through my door.

“Hi Veneer!” she audibly gasped at my appearance and squealed. “You look amazing!”

“Girl, look who’s talking. I love your dress so much!” She grabbed the front of her dress, gave me a curtsy and spoke in a British accent. “Why thank you, kind sir” I giggled at her bizarre behavior, but she’s my friend so I’ve learned to get used to it.

My outfit consisted of a sparkly, dark green blazer that only buttoned up from the bottom to about the center of my stomach and a white dress shirt underneath. I wore black pants that had a flare at the bottom and heeled, black combat boots. Poppy grabbed a black bow tie off my dresser and put it around the collar of my dress shirt.

“Aaaand perfect! Now let’s go, we have to get Branchifer. Knowing him, he probably forgot about the whole wedding all together” I let out a belly laugh at Poppy making fun of her boyfriend. He’s always so organized but the guy constantly forgets about events. How Mr. Sarcastic himself managed to woo the Queen of Pop is still beyond me, but as long as he’s happy, I’m happy.

We slowly made our way over to Branch’s Grandma's old house. Because I was traveling with the queen, it was only natural that we got stopped a hundred times by trolls who had questions about what they should do to help out or where they should go. The hug time bracelets better not go off, I swear to-

Ding

Of course. Why wouldn’t they? We got surrounded by tens of trolls who all wanted to hug the queen of all hugs… literally. I had a few people hug me but honestly, I still wasn’t big on it. Sure a hug feels nice, but it’s awkward when it’s from someone who you hardly know.

After what felt like an eternity, we were met with the front door of the old home. Branch decided about two weeks ago that he was going to move out of his bunker and into his grandma's old house. He’s been there recently as he was moving a lot of furniture around and redecorating the place because apparently ‘some things just shouldn’t be macraméd’.

When I went over to help him one time, I noticed he had taken down all the old family photos that were framed on the walls and placed them in a cardboard box. We opened the door and were both about to say hi, but didn’t when we saw him listening to a vinyl I recognized pretty well. Afterall, I’m the one who designed that cover. Poppy noticed him with an unusual look on his face as he listened and watched the vinyl spin around, so she cleared her throat to try and get his attention.

“Branch?”

“Oh! Hey” He quickly turned the song off once he realized we were here.
“Are you alright? You’re smiling and crying at the same time. It kinda looks like it’s hurting your face.” I knew what was wrong with him but didn’t say anything to Poppy. Me and Branch made a deal a while back. He didn’t want me to let anyone know about how he was in BroZone because he said that all the other trolls probably wouldn’t shut up about it. In exchange, I got a cookie. A fair trade in my book.

“It does hurt my face. I guess I’m just missing my grandma. I was just listening to some of her old records.” I remember seeing his grandma rush to the record store every time a new album came out so that she could be the first one to have her grandson's album on vinyl. She had the whole collection, deluxe versions and all. As Branch carefully slipped the vinyl back into the protective sleeve, Poppy snatched it out of his hands.

“BroZone!? No way, I love BroZone!” Branch got excited and then tried to contain himself. I know for a fact that he just got a huge ego boost. “Really?! I mean, really?” “I didn’t know you liked them too.” I just stood there trying not to laugh. It might seem crazy what I’m about to say~ “I don’t, I’m actually hate listening. It’s a new thing.” Branch set the record down onto the ground and Poppy’s face filled with concern. “It kinda seems like there’s something you’re not telling me.” Dear god, this feels familiar… “Whaaat, psh, don’t be silly.”

I let them continue their conversation as I walked around the old home where I once lived. Once with all the brothers, and then a second time with just me, Branch, and his grandma. However, once his grandma got eaten, he lost his color and I tried to take care of him. After all, he was still just a kid when that happened.

He got angry with me one time and told me that he was too old to be taken care of anymore and that he wanted to be alone for good. That he didn’t want me around anymore. That’s when I left and found my own pod.

I’ll still always regret being out that day his grandma was eaten. I always feel like maybe I could’ve gotten them both out of there somehow. I’m glad he found Poppy though. Once he got his colors back and started talking to people again, he apologized for everything he said to me and we properly reconnected again. He even told me I was like a big brother to him which sent me into an ugly cry that day.

When I turned around to see if they were done with their conversation yet, both of their faces were flushed as they were making ‘bleh’ sounds at one another. What’d I miss? Poppy was first to leave the house and I leaned over to whisper to Branch sarcastically.

“Nice save with the hate listening. Real smooth.” He playfully shoved me and I giggled. “Oh, zip it” He ran after Poppy and they must’ve started singing a song together because I heard a “Ooh, yeah~” in the distance. They’re seriously so perfect for each other.

I looked down at the cardboard box next to the china cabinet that was full of old family photos. I sat down on the ground next to it and started going through them.

The first photo showed us all standing together with Spruce in the center holding a giant trophy for his team placing first in a baseball tournament. All of us had goofy smiles on our faces and it made me laugh.

The second photo was taken by me and it was all the brothers and their grandma on a picnic surrounded by sweets and pastries. You could see Clay and John wrestling in the background while Spruce was trying to break them up.

The third photo showed John Dory and Branch camping in the living room because it was raining outside, and I assume John said he’d take Branch camping that night.

The fourth photo was the kicker. I felt heavy tears brimming my eyes as it was me and Floyd making flower crowns in the old meadow behind the house. He made one for me that was way too big for my head, so it was lopsided. I’ve tried so hard to hate Floyd for leaving me all those years ago without any explanation but every time I think back, I’m only reminded of the good stuff. If I ever see him again, I don’t even know what I’d do. Would I slap him or hug him? I’ll never know because it probably won’t happen. I put the photos back into the box so I wouldn’t start crying. Afterall, my makeup was too good right now.

It was about 20 minutes until the ceremony started so I got up and left Branch’s technically new home. When I started to approach Bergen town, I was stopped by Guy Diamond. I had gotten to know him pretty well too because I kept dying to babysit Tiny Diamond until he finally let me. Now it’s become a regular occurrence. I think I just really like taking care of kids? I raised an eyebrow at his panicking

“What is it, Guy?” “Please come quick, I’m having a crisis with Tiny!” I followed Guy and he led me to where Tiny was. He was currently in the middle of a rap about how he was an adult and not a baby while he was wearing a flower costume. Aww~

I put my hand out to him to signal him to jump up onto it. “C’mon, I’m sure I can conjure up something for you” He crossed his arms with a smile and let out a ‘hmph’. So freaking cute! I placed Tiny Diamond in my hair and started running back to my pod. With how small he was, this should take no time at all. I opened the door to my pod and placed Tiny onto my dresser.

Going through my drawers, I found some black and white fabric along with sewing needles and thread. “I need something as distinguished as a man like me!” Tiny started flexing in my mirror and I giggled. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you a tux, little man.”

It only took about 5 minutes with how little fabric was needed… At least I thought it was only 5 minutes. When I looked at the clock on my nightstand, it showed I only had 5 minutes left to get back to the venue. If I miss it, that’s gonna suck. I’m one of the bridesmaids. Well, bridesman, but that doesn’t sound as good.

“We gotta hustle!” Tiny shouted at me and I placed him back into my hair and started running in the direction of Bergen town. Funny how life works now. It used to be the other way around. Once I finally got there, I could hear that song that Branch and Poppy started, coming to an end. Wow, it’s still going?

♫ Sing it to me ♫

I tapped Guy Diamond on the shoulder and handed him Tiny. His face lit up and he called his son adorable while Tiny was getting fussy with all the cute comments.

♫ Sing it to me ♫

I saw my bouquet in the basket where I was supposed to pick it up 10 minutes ago so I darted over and grabbed it.

♫ Sing it to me~ ♫

I took my spot next to Satin and Chenille who were also bridesmaids just in time for Bridget to hit the ground in her… balloon dress? Poppy was sitting on her shoulder and pulled out a needle to then pop the balloons, revealing a white jumpsuit with roller skates. Ah. Now it makes sense. As she was skating over to gristle, Poppy stood next to me as Bridget’s maid of honor. Branch was just kind of there too. I don’t think he knew where he was supposed to go to be honest. Right before Bridget and Gristle were about to say their vows, a booming voice came out from seemingly nowhere.

“Stop the wedding!” Gasps were heard and people looked up to see a troll sliding down on some ropes that were suspended in the air. “I’m sorry, is this bad timing?”
The troll lifted his goggles and smiled. Me and Branch both widened our eyes.

No fucking way.

Chapter Text

“I’m just trying to find a troll named-“

The troll we knew as John Dory threw his hands to his face and made a dramatized gasp. He ran over to where we were standing and jumped in front of us.

“Baby Branch!” “Uhh. You’re making a mistake, stranger that looks similar to me. There’s no Branch here”. This guy really sucks at lying. Sorry Branch, but that’s the truth. I just wanna lightly slap him across the face and tell him to pull himself together.

“Look at you, you got so big! You’re not a Branch anymore, you’re more like a trunk — junk in the trunk” John Dory laughed when he hit Branch on his rear and then picked up Branch before realizing he was too old to do so anymore. I think Poppy was either confused or seeing red, her tone was very demanding though.

“Hey! Stop right there. You put my boyfriend down and tell us who you are and what you want!” John Dory threw Branch off of him so I threw my arms out to catch Branch without a second to think. I’m noticing that my fight or flight really comes in when it involves Branch. John Dory fixed his goggles and put his hand out expecting a handshake.

“I’m Branch’s brother.” Shit. Absolutely everyone around us started gasping and Poppy couldn’t close her jaw. “Correction. Used to be my brother.”

John's eyes looked behind Poppy to see me and Branch standing together. “Woah! Veneer?! You’re here too!?”

“Hey John…” I felt awkward with his presence so I only let out an airy laugh. That was until I felt John run up and wrap his arms around me while laughing which put me in a state of confusion. I didn’t know how to act around him anymore.

“Oh, okay! This is uh- we’re doing this now?” He pulled himself away from me and did a quick up and down look.

“Wow! You really grew up too, kid! God, I’m old.” I let Poppy go off on Branch and introduce herself to John. The only thing going through my mind was ‘Why now?’ Why would John finally show up now after all these years?

“Wait, I know you. You’re the guy from BroZone! We were just listening to them!” Oh crap. She’s gonna figure it out.

“Okay, you’re not the Heartthrob”

Pfft-

“Well, that’s your opinion”

“The fun one? No, you’re kind of uptight”

Okay, go off

“Uptight?”

“Mmm, not the Sensitive One either..”

The Sensitive One. I never thought I’d hear Poppy mention him ever. I really hope John isn’t here to tell us something about him.

“Okay, lot of assumptions for someone you just met 30 seconds ago”

“Oh oh! I’ve got it! You’re John Dory!”
“The leader-”

“The old one!”

Damn I’m really watching John get humbled in front of my own very eyes.

“It feels a lot more offensive when someone else calls you old.”

“Wait. So if you’re Branch’s bro, then that means that all the other BroZone bros are Branch’s bros too!”

Yep, there it is. I knew it wouldn’t take her too long to piece it together

I felt bad for Branch right now. The BroZone days were something he wanted to push deep down inside him and never let anyone else know about. Yet, here stands his brother and his girlfriend publicly announcing it.

“Veneer, did you know about this?” I didn’t even realize I had zoned out until Poppy called out my name. “I uh…” Before I could figure out what to say, John answered for me,

“You bet he did! Veneer lived with all of us for about six years and he volunteered to be our assistant for three of those years. You should’ve seen him. He would not stop begging because he wanted to go on tours with us.” I flashed John an unimpressed look as my face flushed red from the embarrassment. He was practically telling my origin story in front of an audience.

“That wasn’t necessary” I grabbed my ears and pulled them down to the sides of my head. Branch spoke up again trying to explain to Poppy why neither of us told anyone about our relation to BroZone.

“They stopped being my brothers the day they walked out on me and never came back.” Okay, that seemed a bit harsh – even coming from Branch but I did kind of agree with it. Yeah, they all left us, but they had their reasons. They were all fed up with the stress and with each other. Maybe that's why Floyd left? I never thought about it like that. What if he was fed up with me constantly talking about our future?

“Woah woah woah, that’s not fair, Branch. I did come back but no one was there.” What? He came back? I wonder if the others thought about coming back too but had no idea where to start looking. Maybe Velvet did that too..? John took me out of my thoughts by continuing the explanation of his absence.

“It wasn't until I heard about you saving the world from the rock apocalypse that I realized you were even still alive” That whole thing happened about a month ago and I remember being persistent that I went with Poppy and Branch because I was worried about Branch getting hurt. He wouldn’t let me go with him so I stayed back in Troll Village ridden with anxiety for the few days he was gone.

“Oh that’s so sweet, he realized I was still alive, twenty years too late! I bet you’re only here because you need something.” John just remained silent and stared at Branch until he spoke again. “And there it is.” “Well hold on Branch, it’s about Floyd.”

What.

I felt myself getting dizzy. Oh hell, my nightmare was coming true. I swallowed the nonexistent lump in my throat before spitting out a few words with a slight stutter. “What do you mean?”

John looked at me with an amount of sadness behind his eyes. He knew that me and Floyd were really close but he was unaware that we hadn’t spoken in years.

“He’s in danger. I hadn’t heard from him since the band broke up, but I got a letter a few days ago. It said he was being held captive in Mount Rageous by superstar sensation Velvet, and that we needed to bring all the brothers to come save him” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Floyd was being held captive by some singer named Velvet. That can’t be a coincidence.

My legs felt weak and before I knew it, I had fallen and Poppy caught me. She helped me get back up and my hands were shaking vigorously. I didn’t know for sure if it was my Velvet, but I was pretty confident that it was. None of the brothers knew about Velvet because John found me a few days after me and her fought.

Branch looked worried for me and he turned around to John to tell him he’d go. Poppy also said she’d go because she and Branch do everything together. We felt a rumble moving the whole ground, as if my body shaking wasn’t enough, let's add this on top of it. A large lump started forming underneath the red carpet that was over the aisle. Suddenly, a large white armadillo bus ripped through and roared.

“Meet Rhonda, everyone! Isn’t she a beauty?” The creature, apparently named Rhonda, licked me and I wiped off some of the glitter it left on me.

“She’s uh… something I guess. Does she like me?”

“That, or she’s marking you as prey. You never really know with Rhonda” I heard Branch gasp so he stood in front of me with an arm out and leered at Rhonda. I put both my hands on my hips at his action

“Are you really trying to protect me? You know I’m older than you, right?”

“Yet, you still asked me to get rid of a spider in your pod yesterday”

“Hey! I can’t help it that I'm afraid of spiders!”

“But not massive armadillo buses that may or may not eat you?”

“Okay, okay, fair enough”

Bridget and Gristle finally got to be officially married after we spent a long portion of their ceremony trying to sort out family drama. John, Branch, and Poppy all hopped into Rhonda as they were about to embark on their quest.

“Bye, everybody! We’re getting the band back together!” I stood there and watched the door of Rhonda about to close. Wait, what am I doing?

“Hold on!” I screamed out. Poppy peeked her head out of the window and smirked. “I knew you’d give in, Ven. Get on board!” I laughed at her reading me so easily and I climbed through the door. John hit the gas pedal and Rhonda accelerated quickly. Branch came over to me and I asked him a question.

“So, are you ready to see your brothers again?” He just smirked at me and sarcastically said “Are ‘you’ ready to see my brothers again?”

Well, ready as I’ll ever be.

Chapter Text

It was so cold in this bottle. As every day passed by, it felt as if it was getting colder. Almost like she had been deliberately turning the AC up slightly more than the previous day. The walls of my confinement were made of pure diamond, so mixed with the frigid air, the walls were also freezing to the touch. If she didn’t kill me, hypothermia would certainly get to me first.

My lips parted from each other and I let out a shaky breath into the palms of my hands to make an effort at some kind of warmth. Nothing. It was just cold. Cold and alone is what I had been for the past 3 months of my captivity.

This Velvet character treated me like an object and not a living thing. Occasionally, she would open the cap of the perfume bottle and throw in a few oversized chunks of dark chocolate. She needed me alive to fulfill her greedy desires from what I understood.

Velvet had an assistant named Crimp who I learned fast would be no help at all. I don’t see why she hasn’t just set me free while Velvet wasn’t in her dressing room. Alas, Crimp reminded me of Veneer in a way. A dorky assistant who would follow their boss around like a puppy. At least Veneer made it look cute in some weird way. Crimp just looked like an idiot who was desperate for her next raise.

I kept Veneer and my brothers in my thoughts since I got captured. Thinking about them and how happy we all were back then kept me from losing my sanity in this claustrophobic space. All I wanted in these moments was for someone to hold me close. Leaving was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made…

“My voice sounds like garbage!” My lamenting was interrupted by an ear-piercing voice. Velvet was coming back and she was definitely going to take more of my talent before she departed again. After 3 months of daily torture by her, some of my limbs were becoming weak and transparent. I never found out what her deal was, to be honest. She was stealing my talent when she already had some of her own. The day I was taken, she threw me onto the passenger seat of her bumper car and sang while she drove. I’d be lying if I said her natural singing voice was god awful, but since she started using me, I’ve noticed it progressively change into something almost unrecognizable for anyone who may have known her before all of this.

“Shit. I need more troll. Crimp!” “Yes boss, here you go.” The orange, shriveled-up mess, used her tiny purple arms to pick up the diamond bottle I was kept in and handed it to her boss.

“Please, stop doing this… I barely have anything left to give!” I tried pleading with the green giant but to no avail, she just rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“Oh really? You don’t wanna? Okay, that’s fine. I’ll just go back to the slums with peace of mind, knowing I did the right thing!” Velvet flashed her pearly whites at me before scoffing and ruthlessly squeezing down on the perfume atomizer; draining me of my talent and my life.

“Uuuugh!” My body became suspended in the air as the essence left my figure. Tears were threatening to escape my eyes as the pain was agonizing. I fell to the ground harshly and heavy breaths were escaping my mouth.

“Ahh, that feels better.” Velvet sighed in relief as a green aura flashed around her for a quick second. I cocked an eyebrow and tilted my head out of confusion. What the hell was that about?

“I’ll finally have back everything that they took from me.“ How have I never heard her talk about this? I don’t exactly know what she’s referring to but it might explain why she’s doing this. I wonder if I can get her to say more so I can use it against her at some point.

“What was taken from you?” I asked her with the most innocent voice I could conjure up so as to not draw suspicion to myself. I could honestly care less about her past, I was mostly just bored. She looked at me with a scowl and then turned her head to the side.

“My fame, my friends, and my life… and it’s all thanks to my asshole brother's selfishness. That’s all you’re getting out of me.” Velvet slammed the perfume bottle down onto the vanity making me fall and stormed out of the room. Brother? She has a brother? There were photos all around her room with people, presumably other celebrities, but no sign of a brother or any other family for that matter. It’s like she had no one. There was a small tap on the outside of the bottle and when I looked over, it was Crimp with a saddened look.

“Look, I’m sorry this is happening to you. I want to let you go but I don’t want to see Velvet fall. She’s been through quite a lot herself and despite the bitterness, we’ve become decent friends.” I understand not wanting to disappoint your friends, but when your friend is insanely toxic, I feel like that’s someone you shouldn’t be associating yourself with.

“Crimp, have you not seen how poorly she treats you? What’s her deal anyways?!” Crimp frowned and waited for a moment, debating on whether or not she should tell me. Once she gave in, a sigh left her mouth and she plopped down next to the bottle.

“I don’t know much, but she doesn’t like to talk about it. From what I’ve heard I think I can piece parts of it together. She was famous when she was young and was forced to cut off most things in her life to focus on her fame. I think the company she signed with ended up dropping her after a few years because they said she was too old to work with them. Ever since then, she had been poor and lived off scraps. I still don’t know where her brother fits into this story though. I don’t even know his name.”

I sat on the cold floor of the bottle as I processed the story she just told me. There’s no way that’s all. Velvet said everything that happened was thanks to her ‘asshole brother’. My fingernails tapped the diamond floor making a tune because I had no idea what to say next. That was until Crimp opened her mouth again.

“There is one more thing I know…” I turned my body to face her and lifted a brow.

“…She used to be a Troll.”

Hold on, what? How does someone ‘used to be a troll’? She changed species? Why? How?

“Umm, do you know how she did it?” I wanted to know as much about this as I could. I mean, I’ve gone 3 months without any form of entertainment, so this was the most interesting thing that’s happened in a while.

“No, I don’t. She hired me after she became a Rageon. However…” Crimp hopped down from the vanity and left the dressing room. When she returned, she was holding a troll-sized black picture frame.

“There is this though.” Crimp pressed the front of the photo against the side of the perfume bottle. It was a photo of Velvet as a young troll and she was holding hands with someone while giving a toothy smile. However, the person whose hand she was holding, was completely scribbled out in red ink.

“I assume the person who was in this photo is her brother. This somewhat leads me to believe her brother is also a troll and never turned Rageon like her.” As I got a closer look at the photo, I noticed something insanely familiar. That background… that looks like the old meadow that was behind Grandma's house. Velvet was also wearing a flower crown and from the spots I could see through the ink, so was her brother. This photo bears a striking resemblance to that photo on grandma's living room wall of me and Veneer. She even had a similar appearance to Veneer. Lime green hair, white fur, and blue eyes.

Veneer never mentioned having a sister. Though come to think of it, no one knew anything about where he came from. John just brought him home one day and said ‘Look, guys!’ I have so many questions now. What if Veneer had a secret sister none of us knew about? But if that was the case, I feel like he would’ve at least told me of all people. Maybe if I didn’t run, I could’ve become closer with him. I could’ve held him while he told me stories. We could’ve done each other's hair while I told him how beautiful- what am I doing? I’m sitting in a diamond prison while fantasizing about my old best friend who I haven’t seen in 15 years, and he probably hates my guts.

“Woah, hey, are you okay?!” My head turned up slowly towards Crimp. What is she talking about? My hand found its way to my face and I felt tears running down my cheek. I was crying? I guess the thought of Veneer hating me is too much to even bear.

“It’s fine, Crimp. I’m fine. Just tired…” I wiped my tears away and lay on the floor in a curled-up position.

I miss you Ven.

Chapter Text

As I rested my chin against the palm of my hand, my eyes watched the different color trees move past the window. We had been driving for a few hours at this point and we planned to figure out where Spruce was living. John had brought up something about Spruce sending him a card.

“A postcard that says ‘wish you were here’? It’s not even signed.” Branch rolled his eyes and scoffed at his older brother which made me and Poppy break out into a small giggle. Why is he one of the sassiest people I’ve ever met? Poppy was sitting next to me trying to find shapes in the clouds while Branch continued to bicker with John.

“Wait. Guys who's driving?” I just realized no one was behind the wheel, but how were we keeping so steady? I was about to run over and place myself in the driver's seat until someone spoke up.

“Alright! Tiny, Branch, Poppy, Veneer, and this random dude, on another musical adventure filled with heart, hilarity, and happiness!” How did he sneak in with no one seeing him? RIght. He told me he snuck on stage for Barb’s concert with the Snack Pack. He’s probably good at hiding himself.

“Tiny! What are you doing here?” Poppy ran up and pushed herself right against me with a huge smile. I took a few steps backwards because she gave me almost no space at all. While Tiny was talking about being a man now, I went back to my place next to the window and sighed.

“Kid, you okay?” I cocked my head to the side and saw that John had spoken to me. He sat down on the spot where Poppy was sitting before she got up, and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“I guess I’m just scared and nervous.” There were so many things on my mind. So much has happened in the last 24 hours. John found us, the idea of Floyd was brought back into my life, he’s been held captive by someone who may or not be my twin sister. It was all so much to take in.

“About what?” Didn’t you just tell us your brother has been taken? What do you think I’m nervous about you dum-dum?! I kept my composure and told him as calmly as possible.

“About seeing Floyd again after such a long time, and hoping that he’s okay.” My eyes stared at the ground and I sniffled. It’s been so many years but I think I still care about him. Seeing him hurt would probably crush me.

“What?! I thought you two lived together. Didn’t you guys leave with each other the day the band broke up? I heard your plan one time about a tree house and picnics. Or did that never happen..?” My mind went back to the time I turned around and realized he was gone. Tears pricked my eyes and I fell into John's arms. He hugged me while I sobbed at full volume into his chest. This caught Branch and Poppy’s attention. They rushed over and kneeled down to my level and Branch placed his hand on my arm.

“Hey, what's wrong?!” I couldn’t stop the tears. What’s wrong with me? Why does the idea of Floyd hurt me so much?

“I think I know,” John responded to Branch with a look of sorrow. “He misses Floyd.”

I do. I do miss Floyd. I should’ve tried to find him. If I found him, maybe I could’ve asked him all the questions that used to keep me up at night. Why he left me, what he whispered before he left, did he reciprocate the feelings I used to have for him? I came to realize a few days after he left that I had a crush on him and never realized it. With how we acted with one another, it made me question if he liked me too.

“Oh… that’s definitely it. He told me what had happened a few years ago.” I sat up and wiped my tears and saw Poppy switching her confused expression between John and Branch. She was the only one who was unaware of my situation with the brothers. I sat up and sniffled a few times before the tears almost completely stopped.

“Okay. I’m okay now, I just needed a good cry.” They all looked at me with worry in their faces. Especially Branch. He had known me for most of my life now, so he was always the one who was most concerned about me.

“Let me know if you need anything. I need to see if I can get the baby out from behind the wheel.” John hopped off the seat and made his way to the front of Rhonda. Poppy and Branch sat on either side of me expecting an explanation of some kind. I think I’m gonna tell her.

“Branch, can you go see John? I’m going to tell Poppy about everything.” He smiled with a nod and walked over to John. I had already told Branch everything about Velvet a few years ago so I think it was Poppy's turn considering she was one of my close friends now. I turned to face her and she had curiosity littered across her face.

“Okay, I lived with the brothers for about six years. John Dory found me on a rainy night, wandering a meadow by myself when I was about nine. He asked me where my family was and I said I didn’t have any. That’s when he picked me up and brought me to his grandma’s house. All of the brothers were so kind to me and accepted me into their home so easily, it was nice. Floyd became my best friend quite fast and we did so much together. After about three years, their career really took off and I wanted to travel with them, so I begged John to let me be their assistant. He let me and I did that up until the day BroZone broke up.” I kicked my legs as a fidgeting method. This was definitely the shortened version of the story, I haven’t even told Branch about the crush I used to have on his older brother. Poppy looked so intrigued with my past which shocked me, so I kept going.

“Me and Floyd made plans to live together if anything happened to the band. When he and I left, he was acting weird so I asked him what was wrong and he played it off. A few minutes later, I turned around and realized he was gone. It broke my heart so I ran back to where we left Branch and I stayed with him and his grandma to help raise him.” Poppy raised an eyebrow and looked me dead in the eyes. Yeah, she knew there was more to this.

“Okayyy, I may have had a small crush on Floyd back then…” By small, I actually meant massive. She giggled and hit my arm playfully at my confession.

“I knew you were a fruitcake~” I never actually came out to Poppy but I guess it was quite obvious with the way I act and dress. The only people who knew were Branch, Satin, Chenille, and now Poppy.

“There’s more, and it’s about before John found me. Even he doesn’t know this, only Branch does.” She scooted closer and got comfortable, preparing to listen to my story. It made me happy to see someone else so interested and willing to hear about my past.

“I used to be famous when I was a child. I was a singer along with my twin sister. When we were about to-” Poppy cut me off and had her mouth agape.

“Twin sister?! Oh my gosh, I’ve always wanted a sister!” She whisper-shouted to keep my past a bit more private, considering that there were two other people on this bus who didn’t know my story.

“Maybe not my sister. Anyway, we were offered an acting job for a really famous show. It would've made us stars. She wanted to do it because she felt as if our current fame wasn’t good enough. She wanted to be on top while I only wanted to do this for fun. I explained to her that I didn’t want to do the job and suggested that maybe she could do it herself. She became angry with me and even threw a chair at me. That's when I went to our manager and told him I wanted to quit. When she found out, she became violent and told me she never wanted to see me again. So I ran and ran, crying, and then John found me. I never found out what happened to her after that.” I smiled at the remembrance of John finding me and tending to the wound on my head from Velvet. I wasn’t used to such care when I was with Velvet, so it was such a nice change of pace.

“Where were your parents during all of this? And what was her name?” I hesitated for a moment remembering how John said the one who has Floyd was named Velvet.

“Our parents were eaten by Bergens when I was 7 and it was slightly after they signed the contracts for our label. As for her name… it's Velvet.” I saw Poppy look upset at the fact that I too lost my parents at a young age. She knew that Branch lost his parents as well, so in a few ways, me and Branch are really similar. Her sadness quickly turned to shock when she processed the name of my sister.

“Wait, Velvet? The person who took Floyd is named Velvet. Do you think it’s her?” I looked to the side and opened my mouth with a sigh.

“I really hope it isn’t. I already know seeing Floyd again would be difficult, so seeing Velvet too would be a lot.” Poppy wrapped her arms around my midriff and shut her eyes. I looked down at her wide-eyed.

“It's gonna be okay, Ven. I’m sure Floyd would be ecstatic to see you.” I reciprocated her hug and we sat there for a few moments. I’m glad I have her as a friend. Branch groaned from the front of the bus which made us both look over.

“Guys. You’re gonna want to see this.” We both ran over to the window and saw an island that looked exactly like the postcard John Dory had. Well, that’s convenient.

“Spruce must be on that island!” John Dory grabbed Tiny and handed him to me so he could take the wheel.

“Don’t worry guys, Rhonda here is completely waterproof!” Rhonda then jumped off the cliff and started approaching the water rapidly. Me, Branch, and Poppy were all holding each other while screaming for our lives. Once we hit the water and washed up on the shore after a good four minutes, all of us were gasping for air.

“Completely waterproof, huh?” Branch questioned John while Poppy was spitting a bunch of water beads out of her mouth. I laid face down in the sand waiting for someone to hopefully just pick me up.

“Get up, you big baby.” Branch grabbed my arms and hoisted me up. While he was walking away, I got an evil idea. I charged behind him and jumped up onto him, making him give me a piggyback.

“Carry meeee!” I whined out. He rolled his eyes in defeat and just kept walking with me on his back.

“You’re so hopeless.” I laughed at his remark and realized where we were – Vacay Island. Branch’s grandma brought us here once for a few days.

I guess it’s time to find Spruce.

Chapter Text

The further we ventured through the trees, the more Poppy fangirled over BroZone. Branch watched her the entire time with hearts in his eyes. I can’t wait to show Poppy all of the old photo albums now that she knows about his brothers.

“Branch and Poppy sittin’ in tree~” I teasingly sang to Branch. Making fun of him was so easy considering he was so in love with his girlfriend, and that he wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me when I provoked him.

“If you finish that song, I will drop you.”

“You love her, you love her, you really really lo-“ Branch lifted his arms making me plummet to the ground.

“Owww-uh! Rude.”

“I warned you.” Branch put his hand out to help me get up and I grabbed it with a scowl. All of us kept walking and chatting until John backed into a weird, orange, rope-like wall. My eyebrow lifted and the wall turned around quickly to reveal it was actually a Vacaytioner. We were all startled and it made us jump up with a scream.

“Woah! What do we got here? Welcome to Vacay Island. Where every day is a vacay.” The yellow and orange Vacaytioner wiggled his arm to resemble waves. I peeked my head over the ledge to see a bunch of young Vacaytioner children rock climbing. As we descended the rock wall, everyone on the beach started singing.

♫ Hey, hey~ When you’re on a holiday~ ♫

We were passed by large Vacaytioners playing frisbee and volleyball whilst they sang their insanely catchy song. I felt a glass drop into my hand and looked up to see two beachball… bird… creatures? My lips touched the drink that was in the glass and I took a sip. I could feel my eyes widening at the flavor. It was a cool refreshing strawberry-flavored drink and strawberries are my all-time favorite fruit. There was no alcohol in it, so I’m presuming this is a mocktail. I kept taking sips of my new favorite drink and continued walking around with the rest of the group.

♫ You can’t find the words to say~ On an island in the sun~ ♫

Memories of coming here with Branch and his grandma started flooding back. That time I tried teaching Branch how to surf when I knew damn well that I couldn’t either. When he buried me in the sand while I was asleep because I knocked over his sand castle with my volleyball. I smiled recalling all of those good times and looked up to see Branch holding Poppy’s hand. Wow, he’s really grown up.

♫ We’ll be playing, having fun~ And it makes me feel so fine I can’t control my brain~ ♫

Those birds then came back to start rapping and they dropped another mocktail into my hands which made me light up. I definitely need to find out who has the recipe for this masterpiece because I will in fact be drinking this every day now. We were now stopped in front of the water and saw a troll surfing while singing his part of the song.

♫ Sailing, takes me away~ ♫

He had long thick purple hair, a black and white flower print shirt that was open to reveal his stomach, white shorts, and- holy shit, that's Spruce!? Poppy’s straw fell out of her mouth as she held up an old photo of him to compare the two. That was for sure him. Wow, he’s really changed too. Makes me wonder how Floyd looks now.

♫ To where I’ve always heard it could be~ ♫

My body swayed back and forth to the beat of his song. It was quite good but to be fair, Spruce was my personal preference when it came to vocals, other than Floyd of course. It’s making me happy to see him so relaxed and not doing a hardcore workout 24/7.

♫ Just a dream and the wind to carry me~ And soon I will be free~ ♫

Spruce hopped off his surfboard and onto the beach. He walked into a building that had a neon sign saying “Bruce and Sons & One Daughter Cantina”. John led our little group and we all chased after him in order to catch up with Spruce before he got away. When we made it into the building, Spruce was writing stuff down on a clipboard he had picked up. “Lenny, seaweed floats are almost out!” “Thanks, boss!”

Boss? Wouldn’t the boss be Bruce if that’s whose name is on the sign? I shook it off and called out his name. “Spruce! Hey! Spruce!” He threw a menu at us without turning around. “Specials are on the back! Don’t order the clams, don’t ask why!” Okay, that makes sense. He wouldn’t expect to see us again so he probably thinks we’re just customers. John Dory went ahead of me and tried again to get his brother's attention. “Spruce, wait!” “I knew this would happen one day. Listen, I know you recognize me from BroZone and I’m happy to give you an autograph or whatever, can you please just be discreet about it?” I snorted slightly at his annoyance at being recognized. He was so sassy about it too.

“No, Spruce, it’s me! It’s your brother!” Spruce’s ears perked up and he did a fast 180, throwing his clipboard. “Woah! Bitty B!” He ran right past John and straight to Branch, hugging him. John's smile dropped at the unacknowledgement. I giggled and walked over to wrap my arms around his body. “I won’t leave you hanging like that, don’t worry.” With a smile, he hugged me back and shouted to his brother who was currently giving Branch a wet willy. “See!? Someone here respects me!”

“The last time I saw you, you were in diapers!” Poppy tapped Spruce's shoulder and introduced herself. When she pointed to where Tiny Diamond should’ve been, and he wasn’t there, that made me panic immediately. I heard him yell out “killer nachos” and then jump into a bowl of them. A huge weight was just lifted off my chest at the realization that we didn’t lose him.

“Woah, Veneer! You’re here too!? Aww look at you! You grew up so much!” I felt my face turn pink from pure embarrassment and flattery. “Oh, stoppp.” Branch threw his hands out and looked so annoyed. “Me and him aren’t even that far apart in age and you called me a baby?!” I glanced at him with an evil smirk to which he made an angry pouty face.

John was the first to bring up the reason why we all showed up out of nowhere. “Spruce, we’re here because Floyd-” “No one’s called me Spruce in years, I go by Bruce now.” Bruce? Ohh, the sign outside makes so much more sense now. Wait, didn't it also say something else? “I wanted to put the whole boyband thing behind me now that I’m a father.” My face upturned into an open-mouthed smile and I gasped. “How old are they!? Please say they’re babies! I’ll gladly babysit whenever you want!” Spru- Bruce went wide-eyed and laughed at me. “Sorry, they’re not, but there's one on the way! I can’t wait for you guys to meet everyone.”

John was still puzzled at the fact Bruce was a father but Branch seemed to just accept it at face value. I, however, could not contain my excitement. “Ooh! Introduce me to your wife! I wanna meet who was finally good enough for Mr. Heartthrob.” Bruce led us to a large countertop and waved towards a Vacaytioner. “Hi, honey! This is my wife and business partner Brandy. She is my soulmate. My very tall soulmate, but we make it work.” I made the exact same expression as John was just a few moments ago. He spoke up and asked the same thing that was on all of our minds. “How..?”

“We don’t even really know how it works. I’m kidding. I’m not. I don't know.” I made a quick ‘hah’ sound at Brandy’s blushing. My arm lifted and I pointed directly at her “I like this one.” She put a hand over her mouth and laughed at me. I feel like I’m going to be getting along with her. She just gives off that vibe.

All of Bruce's kids kept coming to him and asking questions while he was trying to explain how becoming a dad was such a change for the better in his life. My eyes were filling with stars from the amount of kids I was counting. So far there are eight. They were all so adorable, and I can’t wait to babysit his newborn whenever it comes along.

“Spruce gotta cut to the chase. We’re here because Floyd’s being held captive in a diamond prison! We need to hit the perfect family harmony.” My heart ached at those words. Anytime someone brings up Floyds captivity, my stomach drops ever so slightly.

“How? We’ve never even come close to hitting it. You do remember our last show, don’t you?” I remembered seeing that aura around them while they were doing their final performance. They did come close, they just don’t know it. John looked around for a moment and I could almost see the lightbulb go off in his head. He jumped onto a stage and a spotlight turned on right above him. “If we practice, I know we can nail it!”

Bruce looked really nervous and he wouldn't make eye contact with anyone as he started to laugh. “At my age? I really don’t think that-” “See? I told you Dad wasn’t in a band?” Bruce's kids were snickering at him and he became serious really fast. “Oh, I was in a band. I was in the band. You ask your mother if I was in a band!” So many feelings were rushing through my body. I was excited, nervous, and happy all at once to see BroZone perform again. The last time this happened, things didn’t end so well and I lost my best friend.

Before I realized what was happening, Poppy pulled me out of my thoughts by yanking me to the side of the stage. Bruce and John were both up on the stage and Branch was still standing beside us. There was a nearby boombox with a BroZone cassette already loaded into it so I ran towards it and hit play as fast as I could. Me and Poppy were fully shaking each other from pure anticipation while we had goofy smiles on our faces.

Oh my god, I’m so excited!

Chapter Text

♫ My girl’s like candy, a candy treat~ She knocks me right up off my feet ♫

Bruce sang the opening of the song so effortlessly and perfectly. Poppy and I were already screaming like teenage girls meeting their celebrity crush for the first time. I looked over to see that Branch had jumped back from our excitement with a startled look on his face. My legs moved without hesitation and I scuttled over to him.

“Branch, please! Get up there and perform!” My hands were joined together in a prayer as I shut my eyes and cried out what I wanted to happen. Even if he says he’s not doing it, I’m still pushing him up onto that stage. 

A simple ‘no’ was all that left his mouth. Branch’s arms were crossed as he looked unimpressed with my begging. I dropped to my knees and pretended to cry at his feet, hoping he would just agree and perform for everyone here. When I looked up and fluttered my eyes open, I noticed that Poppy had also come over to us.

She whispered something into his ear which I couldn’t quite make out. When she pulled her face away from his ear, Branch’s face was completely beet red. He groaned out and started making his way towards the stage. I lifted my eyebrow and looked at Poppy who mouthed the words ‘don’t worry about it’. The realization just hit me. 

“Ewww…” Poppy giggled at me and patted my shoulder. “We’ll find you someone to do that with one day Ven.” She returned to our original position to start fangirling again. My head was filled with thoughts of Floyd. He’d be the only one I’d act like that with. Ughh, this whole mission has me thinking about him more than ever. Why won’t he just leave my head?

Bruce and John ran off the stage to grab Branch by the arm and yank him on with them. My eyes shot open at the realization he was about to sing with his brothers. I made my way over to Poppy and joined in on the fangirling. 

♫ You got the right stuff, baby~ ♫

Branch was dancing on stage unenthusiastically. As the song progressed, his smile and energy started rising. Me and Poppy were doing all of the choreography on our little area beside the stage. This was it, this was it, his part is coming up! My hands wrapped around Poppy and I began to shake her due to my excitement. I’ve waited so unbelievably long to see him perform again.

♫ You’re all I ever wanted, baby~ You’re all I ever needed, yeah~ ♫

“I can’t believe this is really happening!” Poppy pulled a camera from literally out of nowhere and snapped dozens of pictures. She’s so scrapbooking this entire mission and honestly, I’ll probably help her out. Branch looked like he was having so much fun and I kept screaming for the three of them. Seeing them performing made me want to join in so bad. After all, I’ve wanted to perform with them ever since the first time I saw them on stage.

Before I even realized it, Branch placed both of his hands out for me and Poppy to take. Not knowing where this was about to lead, I grabbed his hand and he pulled both of us on stage. My body froze up for a moment before I began doing the choreo and singing the lyrics. I must’ve looked like a deer in headlights for a second with how dumbfounded I was. 

♫ BroZone’s really back again~ ♫

As I danced along with them, a big goofy smile plastered on my face. This is one of my dreams actively coming true. When the song ended, we all took our final poses and all of the Vacaytioners were cheering for us. I saw Bruce and John cheering each other as they walked off stage with one another. 

“I can’t believe I remembered every word and every step!” 

“I told you, your band days aren’t behind you.”

Poppy purred at Branch which made me step back. Okay girl, damn. I looked around and realized I had no one to go to. I was left by myself on the stage which made my mood die down. Maybe I should take Poppy up on that offer and let her find me someone. Besides, I’ve never dated before so I wouldn’t even know how to start.

My legs dragged me off the stage to see John calling all of us back to Rhonda. Bruce was asking his wife if he could join us which she agreed to. The only condition was that he would have to cover for her when she went on a month long yoga retreat. Okay, I really like her, she’s funny. Bruce picked a good one. Him and I caught up with the rest of the group and we all hopped into Rhonda.

“Hey, Poppy..?” She turned around to look at me with curiosity littered across her face. 

“About the whole ‘finding someone for me’ thing.” Her entire body lit up as she gasped. She wrapped an arm around my torso and marched me over to one of the couches.

“Alright, whataya looking for?” A notepad was in her hand as she was awaiting my answers. Is she seriously taking notes? I tapped a finger against my lips while I looked at the floor. What would my ideal person be like? Okay, I have a few ideas.

“First of all, male. I just want someone who I can be me with. Someone who’s gentle and not exactly outgoing, more introverted. Someone who’s forgiving, stuff like that.” Poppy was taking notes of everything and trying to think of someone who she could set me up with.

“I can’t think of anyone at the moment, but I can look once this whole mission is done.” I was touched by the fact that she would actually help me find love when in reality, I knew who I wanted. My head turned and I looked out the window with a soft smile. This mission is making me realize how much fun I used to have with Floyd. 

– – – – – – – –

“Three, two, one, ready or not, here I come!” I shouted across the tall grass and uncovered my eyes. Alright, where is he? My arms waded through the grass and I stepped over all the random twigs and rocks until I got to the shorter grass.

A few minutes had passed and still no sign of Floyd. Why is he so good at this game? It’s literally an open field. Maybe I just suck. “Floyyyyyd, where are youuu?” I groaned and shouted out hoping he would just respond and make this easier for me. Just before I was about to give up and let him come out on his own, I got an idea. 

“Aww, there’s a baby puffalo!” I pointed to an empty area trying to trick Floyd that one of his favorite animals was near where I was. There was a small snap sound that came from behind me so when I went to turn around and see what it was, it was Floyd with a smile on his face.

“Where?!” I smirked at his appearance in front of me knowing that I'd won. He realized I had tricked him and looked so disappointed. He just stood there with furrowed brows, crossed arms, and an adorable pout. 

“I win.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“Okay, I don’t.”

We both heard Grandma Rosiepuff call us in for dinner so we made our way back to the house. I interlocked our hands and dragged him back with me. 

“Hey, where were you even hiding?” He looked at me before giving me a smirk filled with pride. Oh god, where did he almost die trying to get to? 

“Y’know that really tall willow tree back there? I was all the way at the top.” My eyes widened at the reveal of where his hiding spot was. 

“And you expected me to be able to find you? Do you know how dangerous that is?” He laughed at me and my worrying. That tree is like 45 feet, how on earth did he manage to get up to the top in my 20 second countdown?

“That’s the whole point of hide and seek you dumdum, you’re not supposed to find me.” His hands were placed on his hips and my face turned pink from embarrassment. Yeah, I completely forgot I wasn’t meant to be able to find him.

“Okay, but still, you have no idea-” I was cut off by a yelp that came from his mouth. When I looked down, I realized that he had a bad cut on his knee that was bleeding a decent amount. 

“Oh my god, are you okay!?” I helped him sit down onto the grass and kneeled down to his level. I was looking around for something to patch him up with until my eyes laid on a leaf that was large enough to wrap around his leg.

“Ven, I’m okay.”

“No. No, you’re not okay.” I ripped off a small piece of fabric from my sweater and placed it over his cut. I then used the leaf and wrapped it around the fabric piece before tying it off with a knot.

“Okay, can you stand?” He used my shoulders as leverage and wobbled while trying to stand up. My face was filled with concern until he spoke up to reassure me.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you.” Once we were both on our feet, he threw his arms around me in a warm embrace. My nose twitched at the smell of pomegranate berries and raspberries, it was so addicting. We stood there for a few moments enjoying each other's warmth before we were interrupted by Grandma Rosiepuff again. 

“Boys! What’s taking you so long?!” She shouted out at us until I asked her to send out John Dory to help bring Floyd in. Once he came outside, he placed Floyd on his back and I trailed behind the two of them while looking at the ground. I looked at Floyd and saw that he was staring at me the entire time, so he quickly looked away with a pink hue dusted on his cheeks. 

– – – – – – – –

I was pulled out of my memories by John Dory explaining what the next step in our mission was. 

“Next, we gotta find Clay. I have no idea how we're doing that though.”

Branch smashed open a glass compartment with Clay’s old Funderdrawers in it and it smelt absolutely rancid. He grabbed a random stick to place the Funderdrawers on and had Rhonda smell it. Ew. Rhonda started speeding up, and we were on our way to the next location. After Clay, Floyd is all that’s left.

Am I really ready to see him again?

Chapter Text

“Did that letter ever deliver?” Velvet was approaching the dressing room. Most likely on her way to suck the talent out of my body again. Every time she’s done it recently, I’ve noticed a green glow around her that’s becoming stronger and brighter. I sat up in the bottle to stretch before my daily torture. If I’m gonna be in pain, may as well make it hurt as little as I can. The only thing that hurts right now is my head from all the thinking about Veneer I’ve been doing. 

“Yes boss. The post office said it arrived to him a few days ago.” Who’s this ‘him’ they’re talking about? I guess I can just ask. There’s nothing better to do.

“What letter?” Velvet looked over at me with a blank face that turned into a sadistic grin. She strutted her way over to the perfume bottle and picked it up before telling me all about her ‘evil plan’. 

“I forged a letter begging for BroZone to come and save you.” She what!? No no no, this is bad, this is really really bad. I don’t want my brothers to get hurt. Knowing them, if they all reunite to try and rescue me, they’d look for Veneer and drag him along as well. 

“You leave my brothers alone!” I banged my fist against the diamond wall trying to look threatening, but it’s quite difficult when your captor is twenty times your size. My heart was racing from pure anger. I swear to god, if I ever get out of here, I’ll mess her up if she hurts any of my brothers. I can’t even imagine what I’d do if I saw her hurt Veneer. Crimp spoke up, completely taking Velvet's attention away from me. 

“Oh yeah, I finished that smoothie thing you asked me for.” Crimp hopped up onto a vanity and spun around a mannequin with some kind contraption on it. It looked like white and gold shoulder pads that had purple diamonds on the shoulders and a matching button in the center. Crimp demonstrated how it worked and Velvet hurriedly threw the top onto herself. She grabbed the bottle, making me stumble from the sudden movement. I was shoved into the shoulder compartment and felt my body become entirely suspended in the air while she took more of my talent.

“Velvet! You said this was for smoothies. Are you sure this is really the best idea?” From what I could see through my blurred vision and dizziness, Crimp looked insanely nervous and guilty about my current situation. 

“It’s the only idea. I grew up with nothing and was born into a shitty family.” Velvet took me out of her shoulder pad and placed my weak body back into the perfume bottle. I could feel my lungs growing weaker with all the heavy breathing I’ve had to do. Her and Crimp continued their conversation which was starting to get a bit heated.

“That’s not true! Yesterday you told me you and your brother were stars!” They both were? Crimp told me what she knew about Velvet's past, so all I knew was that Velvet used to be a star. Apparently her brother was one too. So far I know her brother is a Troll, he used to be a star, and they had a falling out at some point. 

“Exactly. ‘Were’. All he had to do was sign that contract and we could’ve had it all. But what did he do? He ran! He left me all alone to fend for myself. I had to feed off of scraps my whole life to survive until I found that Rageon drink.” Rageon drink? That’s probably how she turned from Troll to Rageon. Velvet was going off about her brother. I curled my legs up into my chest and wrapped my arms around myself. This sounds so similar to what I did to Ven. I left him all alone on that trail without even thinking it through properly. I’ll never forget hearing him call out for me while I walked away. Why did I do that to you Ven? I’m so sorry.

Velvet stormed out of the room muttering curses and kicking objects out of her way. However, my eyes widened at one of the sentences she spat out before turning the corner and leaving my line of sight.

“Screw you, Veneer.”

Holy fucking shit, I was right. Veneer is her brother. Why did he keep that from all of us in the years we knew him? I wonder what happened between them. When John came back with him that day he was found, John never exactly elaborated what happened when he found him. Crimp came to the side of the bottle to check on me. I quickly placed my hands on the wall to talk to Crimp.

“I know him! I know her brother.” Crimp's eyes widened at my claim. “Are you sure? How did you know him?” Just as she said that, all of my memories with Veneer came flooding back. All of those ups and downs, good times and bad. Every time he tended to some kind of wound I had with utmost care. All of the times we watched a scary movie and he had to sleep in my room afterwards. Whenever I made up a new food idea, he’d always be the first to try it and compliment it. God, I really had it good with him. Why was I such an idiot?

“Yes, I’m sure. I think sometime after they had their falling out, he started living with me and my brothers for a few years. He was my best friend.” Crimp had a soft smile growing on her face while I spoke with joy. She hopped down from the vanity and began picking up some of the objects Velvet kicked around. 

“So how much did you love him?” 

“Alot. Wait-” I felt my face heating up realizing what I had just said. I answered so quickly, oh my lord. Crimp snorted at my response probably knowing that she would’ve caught me off guard. I knew I had a crush on him but did I love him? It’s been so long, I wouldn’t even know anymore. Though, I’d give anything to look into his beautiful sparkling blue eyes again. 

“Well, that settles it. If he lived with your brothers for years, that would mean they probably brought him along to rescue you.” My entire body became queasy at the mention of that. I knew this rescue mission would be a dangerous one, so I’m praying that Veneer comes out of it unscathed. I think Crimp noticed my change in mood because she came back over to the bottle to try and comfort me. 

“Hey, It’s okay. How about you tell me all about him? That might calm you down.” I took a five second inhale and a seven second exhale to slow down my racing heart.

“Okay, where should I start?” I guess I can tell her about the time I realized I first had a crush on him. He was so adorable that day.

“I was about 14 when this happened…”

– – – – – – – –

“You mean you don’t have anything to wear?! Isn’t it tomorrow?” Veneer was scolding me for not having an outfit prepared for a BroZone photoshoot happening the next day. I didn’t know much about fashion, so I had to confront him asking for help on an outfit. 

“You always have the best outfits, so pleeease?” My whining seemed to be working on him because he finally gave in and agreed to help me. Our hands held each other as he brought me into his bedroom. I watched him go through all the boxes he had under his bed until he pulled out one with sewing needles, thread, fabric, and other things needed to sew an outfit.

“You’re gonna make it from scratch?” He looked at me completely ignoring what I said and just started mumbling different clothing pieces and colors. Veneer snapped his fingers and quickly sat down on his bed to start sketching. Wow, that was quick. Once he was done, he placed the sketch in front of me for my judgment. 

“So? What do you think?” It was a simplistic outfit that consisted of a dark gray crewneck with a magenta star on it, a white shirt underneath, and black baggy ripped jeans. He had written notes on the side with one of them saying ‘maybe wear headphones around neck’.

“Wow, I love it! Seriously, I’d wear this on the regular.” His eyes shot wide open and I watched his face turn into a pinkish color from my praise. He looks kind of cute, what the hell. 

“Uhh, thanks!” I watched him scurry to gather up all the materials he needed from the box. I started fidgeting with my fingers due to the thoughts in my head. I just called my best friend cute. Was I falling for him without realizing it or something? I guess I could see how this plays out.

Veneer signaled for me to stand on the stool that was on his floor. I sat up and strolled over to it from my position on the bed. Once I was completely upright on the stool, he started taking all of my measurements and writing them down next to his sketch. His persistence to make an entire outfit from scratch was honestly admirable. He had written down all of the notes he needed and told me to get down. 

“Now shoo shoo, I need time for trial and error. It’ll be done in a few hours.” I was now on the other side of Veneer’s bedroom door having to wait hours until I could see his gorgeous smile again. Shit, I think I really do like him. I just called him gorgeous. 

After what seemed like an eternity passed by, Veneer had shouted for me to come back. My legs moved as fast as they could take me and I burst through the door. My face flushed at the vision in front me. He stood in front of his mirror wearing the outfit he had made and it had brought out every single feature about him. The monochrome colors had complimented his sapphire eyes perfectly. I honestly wanted nothing more than to kiss him right now. 

“We have roughly the same measurements, so I thought I could just model it before you tried it on.” His eyes locked onto mine while I was still completely frozen up. Him. He’s the one I want to spend my life with.

– – – – – – – –

“Aww, that’s so sweet! What happened between you two then?” Crimp was completely invested in my story but her question let a sigh escape from my mouth. 

“After BroZone broke up, I left him like a damn fool. I was scared that I wasn’t good enough to be with him so I ran. Obviously looking back on it, it was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I never went back because I think he hates me after doing that.” Crimp remained silent clearly not knowing what to say next. In her defense, I did just reveal a lot of new information to her about someone she doesn’t even know. 

“When your brothers do come for you, I’ll help you escape.” Her claim baffled me. By the tone of her voice and the conversation we just had, I could tell she was being genuine. 

“Thank you, Crimp.” I smiled and laid myself down on the floor of the perfume bottle. 

Please be okay Veneer.

Chapter Text

“Are we sure this is where Clay lives?” The six of us slowly approached the massive abandoned looking golf course, all of us unsure of this even being the correct location.

“I think this is the place from every true crime podcast I’ve ever listened to.” What Bruce said easily caught my attention and my entire mood shifted from uneasiness to excitement.

“Ooo, have you seen Dexter?” Bruce stepped back from how close I got to him and he also lit up as bright as I was right now.

“Yeah, That’s one of my favorites! Do you watch Law and Order too?” Our conversation was cut short by Branch trying to remind us why we’re here,

“Guys! Is this really the time for that?” Bruce and I both shut up before he mouthed the words ‘we’ll talk later’. I threw him a thumbs up and we continued into the mini golf course. It was eerily quiet until a massive clown head started loudly shouting at us.

“Who goes there?!” Our entire group jumped back and screamed in unison. In the corner of my eye, I saw Tiny climb up Bruce’s face and into his hair to hide himself. Not gonna lie, I’m a little bit jealous he didn’t climb into my hair. Branch took a few steps forward before I called out to him,

“Branch, what are you doing?!” He turned around to look at me while still walking and threw his arms up into a shrug.

“Well, someone has to do it.” His attention turned back to the clown and he continued his original plan. “We don’t want any clown related trouble, okay? We’re just looking for our brother, Clay.”

The clown head stopped speaking for a moment and then sounded confused, “Wait a second. You’re… trolls?” Branch placed a hand on his hip and brought out that sassiness Poppy and I know and love,

“So what? You’re a clown.” The head then spat out a yellow golf ball with orange polka dots on it. It was going straight towards Branch so I was about to chase after him until I felt John grab my wrist to hold me back.

The golf ball then quickly unballed to reveal a troll with curly golden locks, hot pink skin insanely similar to Poppy’s, a white leotard with gold accents, and a green cape made out of fake grass.

“Oh, my gosh. Hello!” The mysterious troll let out an ear piercing shriek making me slightly grit my teeth. She was running around at an insane speed fuelled by nothing but excitement.

“My name is Viva! It is so fantastamazing to see other trolls-uh! Hi!” Fantasta- what? Before I even realized it, she was in front of my face greeting me. I blinked for a second and she had already gone and braided Poppy’s hair. Wow, this woman has a lot of energy.

Poppy leaned over to whisper to all of us, “Is this how people feel when they meet me?” Me and Branch both let out a quick ‘yes’ with absolutely no hesitation. This Viva girl called out for ‘putt putt trolls’ and told them to turn on the lights. Suddenly, the entire golf course was lit up with spotlights, neon, and fairy lights. It was quite pretty actually. Reminds me of the little birthday party I held for Branch outside when he was a kid.

“Oh my gosh. Are you guys hungry? Are you thirsty?” Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten in quite a while. Almost on queue, my stomach growled making Viva giggle.

“Fries? Fries! You guys want fries. I am seeing fries! Bring out the works!” A putt putt troll ran by and dropped off a massive cardboard tray of oversized fries. It didn’t take long for me, Bruce, and Tiny to all jump into the fries and start mowing down on them.

I looked up with fries stuffed in my cheeks like a chipmunk and saw Viva drink an entire milkshake double the size of her body in about 5 seconds.

“Woohoo! That’s better, I finally have some energy!” She sped up even more than before which I didn’t even know was possible. If this is her after a milkshake, I’d very much like to see her chug a coffee. Because coffee is meant for larger beings, the caffeine already has a stronger effect on us trolls for being so tiny. Bruce spoke up complimenting the fries which were undoubtedly the best fries I’ve ever had.

“Wow, these fries are amazing! They’d really go great with a burger.” My mouth started watering at the idea of more food but my mood was quickly switched to confusion when all the putt putt trolls screamed and started to run off and camouflage themselves.

“Yeah, burger just sounds a little too much like uh… bergen.” Okay? All the trolls are friends with the bergens now, what’s wrong with saying ‘bergen’? While I continued to munch on a fry, a masculine voice came from behind us,

“We call burgers… meat circles.” Clay!? I couldn’t speak from all the food I shoved in my mouth, but John and Spruce did the talking for me by shouting exactly what was in my mind.

Clay looked so happy to see everyone and he gave a fist bump to Bruce. When John tried going in for a hug, his face dropped into a blank stare which made me laugh. Bruce and Clay were catching up with each other until Clay noticed Branch standing in front of me asking for a fry.

“Woah! Baby Branch?” And there it is again. They keep calling him a baby which I can clearly tell is bugging him. Clay was mushing his face around making cutesy noises and looked up to where I was sitting in the fries.

“Dude! Good to see you again!” I swallowed the fry I was chewing on and gave Clay a hi-five.

“Heyyy. Nice hair.” That was all I could think of what to say. I remember hearing Clay complain as John was in the bathroom forcefully dying his hair yellow, so it’s good to see him with his natural color again. Though, there were still bits of yellow on the ends of his hair, so it isn’t fully gone yet.

Poppy started fangirling again asking Clay to do some of his old iconic dances while he looked really awkward. He explained to her that ‘Fun Boy Clay is dead’ which is fair. He and Bruce both tried to put BroZone behind them by changing a lot about themselves.

“Wait, where's Floyd?” I let out a small breath and grabbed another fry before sinking down into the tray, trying to block out their conversation. Tiny was still here eating some of the fries too, so he came up to me and stood on my knee.

“Hey man, you good?” I gave him a subtle smile for his concern and patted his head gently.

“I’m fine Tiny. It’s just, the closer we get to Mount Rageous, the more nervous I’m getting.” He looked intrigued at what I was saying and plopped himself down sitting in a criss-cross position. I giggled at his adorableness and tried to explain to him in terms he might understand. I have to remember I’m talking to a one month old here.

“You see, me and Floyd were really good friends and now I haven’t seen him in years. Now that I’m getting to see him again, I’m nervous, y’know? Like, what if he doesn’t really care about me anymore?” I could see Tiny trying to make sense of the situation.

“Well, my silver haired daddy told me that love is forever.” My face flushed at his remark and I waved my hands in dismissal.

“Nonono! I wouldn’t go as far as calling it love per se.” He stood up and raised an eyebrow,

“Then what would you call it?” He makes a good point. I don’t think we were ‘just friends’ but I also don’t think we were in love. I mean, we were just kids. So much has changed since then.

“I don’t know Tiny.” I couldn’t hear the group talking anymore so I let tiny walk onto the palm of my hand and I stood up so we could both see what was going on. Viva was spinning Poppy around yelling ‘you’re alive’.

“Poppy it’s me, Viva! I’m your sister!” What!? I gasped with a large smile upon hearing Viva’s statement. The two of them began rambling, laughing and just being downright excited. Poppy told me on the bus that she’s always wanted a sister, so I’m happy for her seeing her dream come true.

In good old troll fashion, the two of them started singing a song together leaving all the brothers, me, and Tiny by ourselves to come up with a plan.

— — — — — — —

“Okay guys, if we’re gonna save Floyd, we need to get going.” Poppy and Viva were god knows where so while we waited for them to come back, we figured out a more concrete solution on how to get to Mount Rageous. Just a few minutes ago, Clay sat us all down and told Viva's story. Apparently she managed to fight off bergens at a young age to protect her people which was really impressive. She must still be a really good fighter.

“I’ll go get Poppy.” Branch began walking away until Clay grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“There’s no way Viva is gonna let her go. She’s got some stuff going on man.” Just as I was about to speak up, Viva appeared in front of us trying to stop us from leaving and Poppy showed up behind us.

“Viva, what are you doing?” Poppy looked really concerned about her sister’s behavior until Viva explained her reason.

“You’re not leaving here, because it’s just not safe out there. You’re welcome.” I guess with Viva being in this golf course for most of her life, she’d become a bit paranoid. This sounds similar to Branch with his bunker.

While Branch and Poppy tried reasoning with Viva, I saw Clay climb up the wall and open the door for us.

“Clay?” Viva looked betrayed and it kind of hurt to see even though I don’t know her very well.

“I’m sorry Viva. I don’t wanna lose my brother either.” We all smiled at what he said and made a run for the door before Viva could stop us.

Once we crossed the line, Poppy stopped and asked her to come with us. I watched Viva’s face fill with fear as she looked out into the world she knew nothing about.

The door shut, separating Poppy and Viva for who knows how long. Me and Branch both walked up to Poppy with the same idea, and patted her shoulder to try and comfort her. Poppy placed her scrapbook outside of the door and the three of us made our way back to Rhonda. Poppy looked quite regretful, so I rubbed my hand against her back in a circular motion,

“It’s okay, Poppy. When you wanna see her again, we know where to find her.”

Chapter Text

Not even 20 minutes after we left, the brothers were already fighting after trying to sing a simple song. Poppy and I sat off to the side while we watched the event unfold. Branch looked terrified and had the same expression on his face as the day BroZone broke up.

“Why do you think I left?! So no one would treat me like you did!” I couldn’t defend nor could I attack John. I knew he treated his brothers poorly sometimes but he never once treated me horribly in any way shape or form.

“You know what, Spruce?”

“It’s Bruce!”

“Thank you, Clay!”

I twisted my head to the side so as to not watch them fight. This was almost as hard for me to watch as it was for Branch. The last time they fought like this was the last time I ever saw Floyd. Branch was quick to chirp into the fight by reminding them that we’re all here to save Floyd.

“Branch is right. Once this is done, we can all go our separate ways.” Clay and Bruce both nodded in agreement and I could feel my heart aching. I don’t want them to leave again, I’ve gotten used to having them around already. Both Branch and I simultaneously said the same thing,

“Wait, what?” John uncrossed his arms clearly realizing that the two of us didn’t want them to leave and explained how he didn’t think we’d all live together. There’s too much I wanted to show them when this was all over. I wanted to show them all the photos of Branch from the years they were absent, how much better I got at fashion, how much more independent I had gotten as I was able to make an honest living for me and Branch. They can’t leave, I’ve been wanting them back for so long.

“Tiny Diamond, pull over. Now.” Rhonda came to a complete stop making all of us stumble. Bruce scoffed as he watched Branch make his way to the door.

“Don’t be a baby, Branch.” Once his hand gripped the door knob, he turned his head and threw a dirty look towards his brothers.

“I stopped being a baby the day you guys walked out on me. This time, I'm walking out on you.” That one must’ve hurt. The way he said it sounded like that had been bottled up inside of him for years. He shut the door behind him and walked off leaving us all here.

Before he left, he threw a crumpled up piece of paper onto the floor, so I walked over to it and unballed it. It was the music sheet I gave him to draw on the day his brothers left. On one side were the notes, and on the other was a drawing of his bunker, covered in glitter and stickers spelling out his brother's names including mine. I recognized this drawing from him showing it to Floyd but I never realized this was the bunker. I threw the sheet into my pocket and felt that fight or flight instinct come back.

“What is wrong with you guys?! You’re all mad at John for treating you like shit when you treat Branch like he's nothing. Where were you when he needed you the most?! Did you even know that your grandma isn’t here anymore? No, you didn’t. Because you weren’t around. You left your baby brother to be taken care of by me! He told me once that I’m more of a brother to him than any of you were. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Poppy, come on.”

I finished my yelling at them and signaled Poppy to follow me. She scurried over to me and we both left Rhonda, leaving them behind. I could see Branch not too far ahead, so I grabbed Poppy’s arm and started running over to him. Once we reached him, we both jumped onto him giving him a hug. Based on his reaction, we definitely startled him but he hugged us both back. With a sigh of defeat, knowing we wouldn’t leave, he spoke out,

“Thank you guys.” There was a small bicycle ring from behind us and we saw Tiny cycling in our direction.

“Tiny! You’re coming too?”

“What can I say? I was motivated by Branch and Veneer's speech, now let’s roll!” We all somehow managed to fit onto the bike and made our way to Mount Rageous. That was until Branch processed what tiny said and looked at me.

“Wait, your speech?” I don’t really know what to say back to him. The way I lashed out at his brothers was purely fuelled by my instincts to protect Branch at all costs, so I didn’t even think about what I was saying.

“Yeah. Figured that I should let out some of my anger at them too. Besides, I love you Branch.” He smiled and hugged me gently and I hugged him back. It was interrupted by a quick flash from Poppy’s camera and we both shot our heads up.

“What? You two have such a cute brother relationship.” I giggled at Poppy and saw Tiny point ahead of us.

“Look everyone!” Mount Rageous was honestly beautiful. There wasn’t a dull color in sight or somewhere that wasn’t blasting music. Every surface was covered in glitter or diamonds and looked so cartoonish. They had gravity defying roads which we were about to drive down.

After about 10 minutes of trying to figure out how they work and feeling sick from turning upside down so much, we were able to find and park in front of the Rage Dome.

“The quickest way in will be through the roof” My eyes shot open seeing how high up the roof was and I gripped my stomach running a few feet away from them. My stomach released chunks of glitter up and out through my mouth making a small puddle of glitter vomit on the sidewalk.

“Eww…” Branch sounded appalled by what he was seeing but I wiped my mouth and turned around to see all of them.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Poppy grabbed gummy gloves out of her hair and threw each of us a pair. The wall we had to climb was about 1000 troll-feet tall but Branch and Poppy said they’d both climb on either side of me to make it a bit easier.

We finally made it to the top and I surprisingly didn’t feel like throwing up again. That was until I watched Branch jump down and fall towards a moving fan blade. He made it through thankfully and stopped it for us, so me, Poppy and Tiny all followed.

“Floyd should be in one of these rooms.” We kept peeking through all of the openings in the vents until we saw a large dressing room with a perfume bottle on the vanity. Poppy was the first to point it out.

“Look! There he is!” I could only see the overhead view, but in the bottle was clearly a troll with pink hair. My heart was beating out of my chest with how scared I was.

Fuck fuck fuck, it’s for sure him.

Chapter Text

“I don’t know if I can do this.” I took a few steps back from the vent and started sweating. Branch placed his hands on my shoulders and spoke to me in a soothing voice.

“Hey, you can do this. Remember that it’s not only you who has to face him again.” He makes a good point, he’s going through the same thing I am. I took a deep breath and marched the same few steps forward this time.

– – – – – – –

I heard people talking and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I stood up and eventually, my attention was directed to the golden vent cover when it flew open to reveal… sticky hands? I watched 3 trolls jump down and use the sticky hands as a rope to rappel themselves downwards. One troll was a bright pink color with her hair in a ponytail, one was more on the grayscale, and one was white with bright green hair.

As they got closer, I was able to make out one of them. Oh my god, It’s Branch! He looks so different. I didn’t know who the pink one was and the one with green hair wasn’t facing my direction, so I couldn’t get a good look.

The three of them landed on the vanity with Branch coming straight to the bottle. I placed my hands on the glass, “Branch? Is it really you?”

“Yeah, it’s really me.” He had a huge smile on his face and I felt so relieved. He appeared to be relatively okay physically, wow he’s grown.

“You’ve really grown into that vest, you’re a man now.” His face pressed against the bottle and he hugged the entire thing. He looked really silly, but I could care less.

“Finally! Somebody gets me!” I giggled and looked behind him to see that pink troll smiling at his actions, and that green haired troll still not facing me, hiding his identity.

Suddenly it clicked in my head. White fur, green hair, and he’s with Branch.

“…Veneer?” He slowly turned around and my heart was racing faster than a hungry puffalo. His eyes that were a gorgeous sapphire blue framed by dark lashes had me staring into them. I could feel a blush consuming my face from his presence.

– – – – – – –

“Uhh.. hey.” That was all I could think of. The way Floyd’s hair was styled was the only other thing on my brain and it had me feeling some type of way. Both of his hands were placed on the bottle so I walked over and placed my hands on the opposite side of the diamond wall.

“I didn’t think you’d come.” Honestly, neither did I. I didn’t think I’d ever be in a situation like this where I had to face my best friend 15 years later while he was being held captive. Yet, here I am, and it’s accompanied by my rapidly beating heart.

“I couldn’t let you die.” I smiled at him and he started to sniffle while rubbing his eyes. While he was occupied on trying to wipe the tears from his face, I glanced over and saw Poppy pull a piece of paper out from her dress pocket.

When she unfolded it, she pointed at the paper and then pointed at Floyd. I was so confused until she gave me a good look at the paper. It was the checklist she made after picking up Bruce and it was titled ‘Veneer’s Man’.

My jaw dropped and a fierce blush covered my face. No, there’s no way. Well, I guess what I told her is somewhat what’s happening now. I shook away the ‘Veneer’s Man’ thought and focused on Floyd.

“Thank you so much!” I tilted my head at what he spat out. Thank you? What?

“For what?” I was really curious. What did I even do in the span of 2 minutes?

“For not hating me. I was convinced you would hate my guts.” I grew worried at what he said but also relieved. At least that gives me some confirmation about my worry.

“Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t care about me either.” His eyes shot open and he placed his hands back onto the diamond.

“I could never! I’ve been apart from you longer than I’ve known you but I never once forgot a single moment with you.” He softly smiled at me which I returned but not without that blush returning. We remained silent for a few seconds until the door of the dressing room flew open.

It made me jump and Floyd panicked. “Get out of here, go!” Walking into the room was Mount Rageon with white vinyl skin and lime green hair that was in a high ponytail. The three of us quickly grabbed the sticky hands and flew back up to the vent.

Once we got back, I looked around and only saw Poppy and Tiny. Where’s Branch? There were 3 sticky hands we left attached to the vent, why is there only 2 now. I quickly looked through the vent and saw the third sticky hand on the vanity.

His detached from the vent.

I started heavily shaking and aggressively breathed in and out. Poppy wasn’t doing too good either. I watched in horror as I saw the Rageon scoop up Branch and throw him into a purple compartment on her outfit. Once I got a clearer view, I could see John, Clay and Bruce all in the opposite one. She removed Floyd from the perfume bottle and forced him into the same compartment as Branch.

“Shit!” I couldn’t watch anymore. I gripped my hair and started pulling while tears streamed down my face. My ears were ringing and my vision was blurry. I could see Poppy trying to calm me down but I couldn’t hear her.

Without even thinking, I started running in the direction we came from to make my way back to the exit. With my hearing coming back, I heard Poppy and Tiny’s footsteps not far behind me.

Once outside, I saw Rhonda parked in a spot that said ‘Reserved for BroZone’. Fucking hell these guys are idiots! I opened the door to Rhonda and waited for Poppy and Tiny to catch up. When they got in, I accelerated at max speed on the road to leave Mount Rageous.

“Veneer! What are you doing?!” Poppy had no idea what I was doing and frankly, I didn’t fully understand either. I just knew I had one plan. Through my rage and frustration, I managed to reply to her.

“We’re getting Viva to help us. I don’t care what it takes, she’s coming back with us.”

Chapter Text

My crying had stopped but my fury had grown. I could see the golf course not too far ahead of us and pressed down even harder on the gas pedal. Poppy was screaming behind me but I didn’t care. My only focus right now was to get Viva and make her come back to Mount Rageous with us. 

When Rhonda was in front of the gate, I slammed down on the brakes and got up as fast as I could to make a swift exit. Poppy and Tiny had to get back up from falling over and tried to catch up to me. As I approached the large gate, I banged my fist against it repeatedly knowing that someone was sure to hear me.

“VIVA!! You’re coming with us! You can hide in there or I can keep screaming out here!” There was no response but Poppy came up behind me and made her attempt to have the gate opened. 

“Viva! It’s me, it’s Poppy!” Not too long after she yelled that out, the gate lifted ever so slightly but just enough for us to fit under, and a set of pink arms grabbed us and dragged us into the golf course. 

“Poppy! You came back!” Viva pulled Poppy into a tight hug but I pulled the two off of each other and looked Viva right in the eyes with my widened anger filled ones. 

“You can fight, right? Perfect! Come along!” I had an iron grip around her wrist and started pulling her back towards Rhonda until she managed to escape my grasp and jump back.

“What’re you doing?! I can go out there.” I snapped my head back at her and swore I felt my eye twitch. I took a deep breath to hold back the lingering screams in my lungs and took a few steps towards her. 

“A Rageon took everyone. They took Branch, Bruce, John Dory, Clay, and Floyd.” I had no emotion behind my sentence. Although, her eyes widened upon hearing Clay's name. 

“Wait, they took Clay! Nonono, he’s my best friend!” Yes. Something that’ll make her come along.

“Best friend? I assumed you two were dating?” Poppy chimed in and Viva waved her hand passing the assumption. 

“I will admit, I had a small crush on him, but then he told me once that he was aroace, so I backed off.” That’s nice of her. That proves she’s a really respectful person I guess. Switching the topic back to the original one, Viva spoke up,

“If I do help you, what exactly is your plan here? Do you even know how to fight?” I’ve always been known as a docile one back in troll village, but I held some basic knowledge solely based on movies.

“I don’t have a plan. I just know I want to hurt her.” Viva rolled her eyes and threw off her cape. She started walking off and I was about to start yelling at her again. However, she used that speed of hers and charged back in my direction landing a kick on my leg. 

“Ow! What the fuck!?” 

♫ I see you’re driven by your detestation~ Your every step is stoked with animus ♫

Poppy grabbed Tiny and stepped far out of our way. My attention was on Poppy before I felt a sharp pain hit my back. When did Viva even get behind me? 

♫ You need a different type of motivation, or there’s no way that you can handle this~ ♫

I get it, she’s testing me. What does she even mean? Isn’t wanting to hurt that Rageon enough to fuel me?

♫ I know you’re thirstin’ for vengeance, Veneer, you’re out for blood~ ♫

I am. When I watched Branch get taken, I wanted nothing more than to see her blood spill. Whatever she makes the brothers feel, I want her to feel it as well. 

♫ But you’ll only stand a chance if you’re out for love ♫

Viva stilled and immediately charged back at me while continuing her song. With the way she was traveling, I couldn’t keep my eyes on her.

♫ Out for lo-o-ove~ love~ ♫ 

Out for love? I let my guard down which was practically the same as when I had my guard up, and she hit me right in the hip making me stumble to the ground. 

♫ Think of who you care about, protect em’ and be out for lo-o-ove~ love~ ♫

My mind went to Floyd panicking and shouting for us to run and I shot my eyes open before ducking, successfully avoiding Viva’s straight kick to the head.

♫ You’re gonna fight without gloves, long as you’re out for love ♫

Viva switched from repeated kicking to punches. I was able to dodge most of them except for one straight to the stomach. That one hurt like a bitch. Although, I was getting better at this. 

♫ Fuel yourself with the fear of losing that somebody who’s your reason to live~ ♫

I wasn’t about to lose Branch to someone after knowing him his entire life. That idea scared me, and I was able to successfully kick Viva on her left side. That felt really good actually. 

♫ Harness your heart, and you can’t help choosin’ to fight with all you can give~ ♫

She ran a few feet away from me and started slowly walking back toward my direction. I didn’t know what to do, what is she planning here?

♫ I know you’re thirstin’ for vengeance, Veneer, you’re out for blood ♫

I began walking towards her at the same pace to try and have the same intimidating effect it had on me. My focus was only on her as to get a clearer view at what she would do next.

♫ But you’ll only stand a chance if you’re out for love ♫

We both flung ourselves at each other in sync and she widened her eyes with a smile. She knew what she was doing was working.

♫ Out for lo-o-ove~ love~ Think of who you care about, protect em’ and be out for lo-o-ove, love~ ♫

We were beginning to land and dodge an equal amount of punches while the only thing on my mind was the brothers. Everyone I love was being held captive, and it was up to me, Poppy, and hopefully Viva to now rescue them. That was all I needed to drive me. 

♫ You’re gonna fight without gloves and when that push comes to shove ♫

Our little fight was coming to an end and I felt more confident in myself then ever. I’ve never been able to actually fight back against someone.

♫ Yeah you just might rise above, long as you’re out for love ~ ♫

Me and Viva both had each other slightly worn out and she was the first to speak up.

“We might actually just survive this.” I was gathering back my breath and gave her a fist bump.

“Hold on, we?” I didn’t process what she had said but when I did, a smile grew on my face.

“Yup! I’m coming with you. A friend of Poppy’s is a friend of mine.” My hand found its way to my chest and I let out a sigh of relief. Thank god she agreed, if she didn’t, I would’ve been screwed. 

“Alright guys, c’mon!” Poppy was enthusiastic to get back to Rhonda so we could make it back to Mount Rageous. The four of us ran back with Viva being a bit hesitant. Once we crossed the gate, Poppy put her hand out for Viva to take and she walked her across the gate. 

We made it back to Rhonda and let Tiny take the wheel because Poppy didn’t have her license and me and Viva were not in the best shape to be driving right now. Tiny hit the gas and we were back on the road.

Don’t worry guys, we’re gonna save you.

Chapter Text

“Ooo, what's this?” I was finishing up my stretches when Poppy caught my attention with her curiosity. She had found built in drawers underneath the couch and opened them to reveal that they were filled with stuff. I peeked over her shoulder as she was going through all of the random items and making a mess. John, please clean your house, no one needs this much stuff.

“Could we use any of this?” I picked up a sewing needle about the size of my body and pricked my finger on the point of it to test the sharpness. It certainly wasn't dull because with only a small amount of pressure, it managed to break through my skin causing a droplet of blood to come out. I wiped my finger off my pants and covered the needle tip with some gauze that was also in the drawer so I could place the needle in my hair like a hairpin and save it for later. I could definitely use this at some point and if John wants it back, I’ll part ways with it.

“We’re back!” Tiny announced to us and I piled all of the stuff back into the drawer and closed it so I could run up to the window and see Mount Rageous again. Unlike last time, there were no bumper cars on the road. It was also quieter than last time but there were blaring lights near the middle of the city. My eyes squinted so I could read the sign and realized that almost every Rageon was piled up outside the Rage Dome.

“Guys, we gotta make it over there fast! Her show is about to start.” Tiny stood up from out of his seat and marched his way over to a button that said ‘hustle’ over it.

“I think I know... just the solution.” He leaned against the button pressing it and my body felt like it was turning inside out. There was no way to explain it, it just felt strange. I blinked and my eyes reopened to see rainbows and a vast multitude of colors. My feet weren’t touching the ground and Viva and Poppy looked like they were straight out of a cartoon. My body collapsed onto the floor and everything was back to normal.

“What the shit..?” I wove my hand back and forth to see a rainbow trail following it for a few seconds but then realized we were right by the Rage Dome. What even happened? Nevermind, when you’re a Troll, there’s always a lack of logic. Viva was the first to open the door so we could all leave. Okay, I have to remember how we all got in in the first place.

“Poppy, do you still have the gummy gloves?” Both hands were placed into her hair and she rummaged for a while until pulling out all four pairs. We slipped them onto our hands and made our journey back up the wall for the second time now. At the top, I made direct eye contact with the golden fan blade that was up and running again. I let out a breath to calm me down and jumped down the pit towards the blade. Remember what Branch did. I threw one of my gloves at the fan and it stopped for Viva, Poppy, and Tiny to follow. We went through the vents again and I stopped at the one I remember running away from.

“Guys, over here!” The three of them peeked through the gaps and there were now a total of three diamond perfume bottles on the vanity. There was no sign of that Rageon though, so we used the sticky hands that we left behind and went back down to the vanity top.

“Veneer!” Clay was the first to acknowledge our presence followed by Bruce and John. I looked around for two more bottles but couldn’t find any. Where the fuck are they?! My question was answered by Bruce who alerted us of their whereabouts,

“Velvet has Branch and Floyd still!” Right, the Rageons name was Velvet. My foot stomped against the vanity in frustration but a large orange paper-like creature jumped up next to the diamond prisons, quickly turning that frustration into fear.

“Are you Veneer?” Why does it know my name? I’ve never met anything remotely close to looking like her, so there’s no way I told her.

“Yeah? Who are you?” She clapped her hands together and smiled before patting my head. Okayy, that felt nice, I’ll admit it. Her next words were not something I was expecting though.

“Aww, Floyd’s stories were right! You are a cutie!” A blush scattered across my face and at the tips of my ears at what she said. He actually said that?! Poppy snorted behind me, making me turn around and punch her arm while she giggled.

“Ow! Viva, what you taught him paid off.” When I turned back around to face the paper creature, I saw her taking off all the caps to the perfume bottles. Wait a second, is she helping us? She got the lid off of the bottle containing John and he fell out onto the vanity. Bruce and Clay were then set free afterwards and we all joined together in a group hug.

“My name is Crimp by the way.” She put out her hand and I detached myself from the hug to give her a handshake.

“Thank you, Crimp. Err… What else did Floyd say about me?” She let out a giggle and jumped down from the vanity.

“I think that’s for him to say~” She left the dressing room leaving me confused. There was definitely something more that he said. Our little rescue team had just gained three more members making this much easier. I tapped John on the shoulder and pointed to the exit door, letting everyone know we had to go back outside.

We sprinted through the door and found ourselves back outside the rage dome where Tiny parked Rhonda. John happily gasped seeing Rhonda which made me chuckle. Everyone got inside and suddenly the speakers started blaring music with an announcer talking over them.

“Everyone! Give it up for the Lifer Reward recipient, Velvet!”

A glamorous gold and white bumper car blasted past us making Rhonda lean to the side for a brief moment from the wind. The bumper car stopped in front of the red carpet and out came Velvet with her hair styled like a treble clef, and that same outfit she was wearing when she took Branch. My eyes locked onto the two purple diamonds embedded on her shoulder pads because I know Branch and Floyd are in there. Poppy was the first one to speak after Velvets appearance,

“We need to get over there!” Tiny was still the one driving when there was a car full of capable drivers, and he hit the gas making us land in the dead center of the red carpet and right in front of Velvet's pink heeled boots that I kind of wanted. The door opened and John and I were the two who walked out.

Chapter Text

“Velvet! Give me back my little brothers!” John furrowed his brows at the Rageon standing in front of him while I copied his expression. Just barely, I could see both Branch and Floyd in her shoulder pads which was making my heart ache.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about troll.” This lying bitch! She’s really willing to do anything for a smidgen more of fame. I bet you in an interview tomorrow, she’ll act all afraid like she was the victim of our current action. I wanted to scream at her so that’s exactly what I was going to do.

“You’re stealing trolls' talent because you have none of your own, you big… PHONY!” Star cameras circled around her and she immediately covered her shoulders. While she was looking around at all the Rageous who were muttering about her, her gaze turned back to me and she squinted.

“You!” Velvet spat out at me with what sounded like hatred and I tilted my head.

“Me?” Her face rested into a smirk and she ran back to that gorgeous car of hers before driving off onto the glittering red roads. Me and John quickly got back into Rhonda and chased after her.

“What’s up Mount Rageous! This show is going on the road!” Once she announced her new show location, the opening of a song started playing across the speakers in Mount Rageous. I stood next to Tiny and pointed at the back of Velvet's car while it drove down the steep road.

“Follow that luxury vehicle!” Bumper cars that were five times the size of Rhonda came upon our sides and blocked our path. I groaned and picked up Tiny, placing him right on Bruce’s palm, and sat myself into the driver's seat. I aggressively turned the wheel to land Rhonda onto a side road which was quite literally on its side. The way we were driving was defying gravity but other cars passed us on roads that were upside down so I didn’t bat an eye.

However, they shot open when I watched Velvet press a purple button on the center of her top, and out came a pink and blue glittery haze that was sucked right from Floyd and Branch. I let out a slight growl and pointed for John to start driving. He hurriedly took the wheel once I got up and I climbed out of the sunroof with Clay's assistance. Velvet’s song started so I had to listen while I waited for John to drive me into the right position.

♫ My name is Velvet Carmen, and I am a massive deal~ ♫

My heart sank into my chest and my hands were shaking. There’s no way…

♫ I will grind you to sand beneath my Louboutin heel~ ♫

I heard her right, right? She said Velvet Carmen? I’d know my sister if I saw her, my sister is a troll, this can’t be her.

♫ This is what I get for helping? helping someone lame fit in~ ♫

My doubt was quickly shut down when she sang the next line of her song.

♫ Veneer Carmen, enjoy your temporary win~ ♫

Velvet looked right into my soul with that one and I felt tears hitting my eyes again. I clasped a hand over my mouth and watched how the only thing behind her eyes was hatred towards me. Velvet, what happened to you?

♫ My name is Velvet Carmen~ Velvet is a Rageon now~ ♫

With the way she trapped me into her lyrics, I never even heard Viva trying to call me the whole time. I was too shaken to hear anything else but the Rageon who was my apparent sister.

“Veneer! How much closer do we need to get?” Right, I was supposed to follow through with my plan. I knelt down to respond to Viva but she lifted herself higher up and wiped my tears. I smiled at her and responded,

“I need to get as close as I can, I don’t wanna miss the jump.” She repeated my answer to John who threw back a thumbs up and Viva climbed onto the roof with me and our hair was blowing all over the place from the strong winds. My head turned back to Velvet who was getting lost in her song.

♫ Hey Veneer, how you like me now?~ ♫

“I’ll explain later.” Viva nodded at me and we were finally close enough to Velvet for us to jump down. She had her eyes shut to carry out the length of the last note and we took our leap off of the roof and onto her shoulder pads. I landed on the side with Floyd and Viva landed on the side with Branch. When he saw me, it’s like he gained back all the hope he had lost.

“Veneer! What are you doing!?” I grabbed that needle from a while ago out of my hair and tried to wedge it in the crack of her shoulder pad to get the diamond out.

“Saving your life!” Her note ended and she looked down directly at me. We made eye contact for a second until she stomped her foot against a purple button on the hood of her car. The car suddenly sped up immensely and left the rest of our team behind in a cloud of sparkly purple dust.

♫ I wanna watch the world burn, I got the gasoline ♫

“Crap!” Me and Viva both fell off of Velvet but landed in her car. I put the needle back in my hair and looked around for an idea of our next move.

♫ I wanna watch the world burn, and everyone get mean ♫

Velvet didn’t notice us on her seat thankfully but we were screwed if she did. Whatever I did next didn’t matter because Viva shouted her plan to me and I gripped the seat so I could hold on for dear life.

♫ I wanna watch the world burn, I got the gasoline ♫

Viva used her hair and wrapped it around the steering wheel then pulled with all her force. I squeezed my eyes shut and looked off to the side so I didn’t have to see the drop we were all about to do.

♫ I wanna watch the world burn, and everyone get mean~ ♫

The car did a hard right off of the road and Viva let go of the wheel to also grip onto the seat like I was doing. Velvet snapped her head at the wheel and instantly saw us. Her gaze struck fear in me and my body became weak. I accidentally lost my grip on the seat and started slipping out of the car. Viva reached her hand out and grabbed my arm so she was now holding myself and her up. Jesus Christ, she really is strong.

Velvet flipped off the hood of her car and grabbed one of those flying star cameras to lower herself onto a yacht. I think me and Viva both have the same idea because she nodded and me at the exact moment I looked at her. She let go of the seat and we both got a running start for the nearest star camera that was already on its way down to the yacht.

♫ Veneer, time to watch your back~ ♫

I didn’t even know Velvet could see me from where I was but she sang her song directly at me. I feel terrible that this is what happened to my sister. I always wondered what she did with her life but I never expected her to become a maniacal kidnapper.

♫ Veneer, time to turn and cough~ ♫

Before we both landed on the yacht, in the distance I could see Rhonda being carried by… Bridget and Gristle!? When did they get here!? They threw Rhonda over to the yacht and out jumped Poppy, Clay, John and Bruce. A wave of relief rushed over me watching them all make the jump.

♫ Because you took me down, but you didn’t finish me off~ ♫

Her song was becoming louder and we tried to run our way over to the rest of our group, but I was stopped by those pink boots of hers. The quake of her stomp made me stumble onto the floor and she lifted her boot again right above my body. I remembered what Viva taught me so I rolled to the side and took the needle out of my hair, jabbing it into the side of her ankle.

Velvet let out a yelp and fell to the floor. Everyone ran to her shoulders and tried pulling both brothers out, but we could only get one of them in time. The diamond containing Branch came out and I made sure to check if he was okay.

“Branch! Are you hurt?!” He shook his head and tried to warn me.

“I’m fine, but Floyd’s not doing too good!” I looked up at Velvet who was now pressing a button on her boots to turn them into rollerblades so she didn’t have to walk on her injured ankle. In her shoulder, I could see Floyd with almost no color and clutching his side. My heart was breaking at the sight but I had to push through.

♫ My name is Velvet Carmen, and in case you’re keeping score, Veneer may have won the battle but I will win the war~ ♫

Branch began rolling his diamond around and trying to get in Velvet’s path to trip her. Maybe if she hits the ground hard enough, Floyd’s diamond will just come out and shatter? What am I saying, diamond is the strongest there is. How do you break a diamond?! I can’t remember what John said would do it!

♫ I wanna watch the world burn~ I brought the gasoline~ I wanna make the world burn~ ♫

I felt useless where I was. Everyone was trying their hardest to get out Floyd’s diamond but I couldn’t think of what to do. Viva and Poppy were using sticky hands, Branch was trying to trip her, and the rest of the brothers were avoiding being run over by Velvet’s clunky rollerblades.

♫ And you can quote this, woah-oh~ ♫

She was skating straight over to my location with a finger pointed at me and Clay was yelling at me to move.

“Veneer! Get out of the way!” I darted to the side and watched Velvet skate onto the center of a golden circular platform that emerged from the yacht.

♫ I wanna watch the world burn! I got the gasoline! ♫

The platform was rising Velvet into the air and I got a better look at Floyd. Branch was right. His hair was completely white, his limbs were see through, and he was laying on his side looking weak.

“FLOYD!”

♫ I wanna watch the world burn and everyone turn mean! I wanna watch the world burn! ♫

Her song ended and every Rageon around the water was cheering for Velvet. If only they knew what she was doing. Velvet looked directly at all of us.

“You want an encore dear brother!?” John, Clay, Bruce, and Viva gasped at me because they were the only ones who didn’t know about my relationship with her. She pressed the button on her top one more time and I couldn’t hear Floyd make any kind of sound.

With her rollerblades still on, she was slowly moving towards the edge of the platform without knowing. She slipped. She plummeted to the ground but I didn’t see her hit the floor. The diamond fell out. Our group went over to the diamond as fast as we could to see Floyd and check if he was okay.

“Floyd?”

His body was limp and completely transparent.

Chapter Text

The brothers surrounded themselves around the diamond panicking. No one knew what to do.

“Oh gosh!” Out from behind the sound system came Crimp’s voice. She rushed over to the diamonds and took the cap off of Floyd and then Branch’s because Velvet wasn’t able to punish her now. John pulled Floyd out and supported his head with his hand. My heart was shattering at the sight of his lifeless body.

“I built the hideout Floyd. Except for the ten story water slide.” God please no. I dropped to my knees beside Floyd and buried my face into his neck while I cried heavy amounts of tears. Someone's hand was rubbing circles on my back while the only thing heard was my sobs. Why does this world hate me? Why did it have to take my best friend from me?

“But… how will we shower?”

“Floyd!” Cheers were heard and I shot my head back up to see Floyd’s eyes open and his body gaining its color back. My sad sobs turned into joyful tears as I threw myself back onto him with a hug.

“You can’t do that to me you asshole!” He tightly reciprocated my hug by sitting up and wrapping one arm around my torso and one behind my head.

“I’ll never leave you again, Veneer.” I heard Viva and Poppy ‘aww’ at us but I let myself untangle from Floyd so he could have some time with his brothers. I stood up and placed my hands out so he could use me as a crutch to support himself back up.

“Can you stand?” He looked at me with an adorable smile and giggled.

“Not even five minutes and you’re already taking care of me again.” Before I could say anything, his brothers all brought Floyd into a group hug and I took this as my opportunity to look for my sister. I saw her fall off the platform but I didn’t see her hit the ground or hear any kind of crash, where is she?

I walked up the stairs and saw a pile of clothing which consisted of all the same items Velvet was wearing. My hands dug through the pile until I saw something that made my eyes widen. It was my sister but she was back to being a Troll again. Her body was unconscious and she had an open wound on her ankle presumably from the needle I stabbed her with. Her hair was in a slicked back ponytail that curled on the end, and she wore nothing but a white bodysuit.

“Velvet, come on. Wake up.” I gently shook her body in hopes of her simply waking up. I know she’s alive because her chest is still rising up and down. Poppy appeared behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Velvet.

“So this is your sister?” Velvet wasn’t waking up and I’m giving up trying to wake her. She wasn’t going to budge but I can’t just leave her here. Besides, she’s a troll now, she can’t do anything to us.

“Poppy, could we possibly… bring her back with us?” Poppy opened her mouth to speak against me but closed it after agreeing.

“I guess she’s not much of a threat anymore. But, if anything happens, you have to take responsibility. Deal?” I shook her hand and placed Velvet on my back so the three of us could go back to the brothers. When we got closer, John was the first to point out the new troll that I was carrying.

“Who’s tha- WOAH?! Is that her!?” An awkward expression was on my face because to them, I was carrying their kidnapper but to me, it was my sister.

“Guy’s, Velvet his sister, don’t worry.” Floyd’s words shocked me. I'm sorry, he knew? What?

“Veneer, explain later. We need to get back home.” Bruce gave me some time to figure out a story when he said that, thank god. I don’t even know how to start explaining to them. Floyd walked over to me and whispered.

“I learned so much about you from her.” I raised an eyebrow at what he said because what else was there besides Velvet being my sister?

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Like when were you ever going to tell me that you were a Nepo baby?” He smirked and my face flushed. Shit, I almost forgot about that. I was only on stage for about a year or two of my life with Velvet and I hated almost every second of it except for the beginning. In order to make Floyd feel what I was feeling, I teasingly threw a comment back at him.

“And I learned something about you too through Crimp. Apparently, according to you, I’m a cutie~” I was now walking away from Floyd to let him resonate with the knowledge I now had so I didn’t get to see his reaction, I just know it was a good one.

Everyone got back into Rhonda with Floyd being the last one. I laid Velvet down on a couch and no one was daring to go near her. Understandable I guess. I sat on one of the other couches near the back and Floyd sat down right next to me. John, followed by everyone else, came over to me expecting an explanation. Poppy and Branch already knew the story but they still sat down in front of me. I feel like a daycare attendant about to read a book to a bunch of children. I cleared my throat and began

“As we all now know, Velvet is my twin sister. John, the night you found me, it was the day after I ran away from her.”

“Why’d you run away?” Clay tilt his head which made me giggle. Not only did it feel like I was talking to children, they all looked so intrigued like a curious child.

“Me and her had a fight because she found out I refused to go on a TV show with her that would’ve made us more famous than we already were. We were both child singers and it was fun at first, but about 2 months in, I began to hate every second of it. During the fight, she threw a chair at me and I got scared and ran.” A few gasps were heard upon hearing that my own flesh and blood would do something like that. She may have done that to me but because I was so young when it happened, I forgive her. I sort of got over all of this a long time ago. She definitely held onto that grudge though and told me through that song of hers.

I continued my story and told all of the brothers about some of Branch’s embarrassing moments while I watched him cover his face. I told them about the time I caught him making out with Poppy ‘in secret’ and the time when he turned into a rock zombie. Near the end of my stories, I felt a weight on my shoulder. Floyd had fallen asleep and was resting his head against me. I think everyone took this as their queue to leave because they all got up and went off to do their own thing.

I shift my body to get more comfortable and Floyd fell off my shoulder and face first into my lap. Okay then. There was a book on the seat next to me so I picked it up and started reading it while petting his head in order to kill time. We’re not too far from Troll Village so I’ll have to wake him back up soon.

About twenty minutes passed and Rhonda, who was still being driven by Tiny, came to a stop. I placed the book back down and watched everyone leave. I used a hand to shake Floyd awake but he just whined and nuzzled his nose into my stomach.

“Nooo…”

“Have you been awake this whole time?” I looked down to see his sleeping face slowly upturn into a smirk because he clearly couldn’t contain it.

“That’s it.” I stood up making him fall off the couch and release a yelp while he landed onto the floor. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and yawned with a stretch.

“Morning, sunshine.” He was making direct eye contact with me and had a smile spread across his face. My heart skipped a beat while I observed him. Almost all the color in his body came back despite a few white parts on his roots. I’m planning on taking Velvet to the hospital so I may as well drag him along with me and see if Doctor Moonbloom can run a few tests.

Velvet was still unconscious on the couch where I left her so I grabbed her and placed her on my back again. Floyd stood up and followed behind me as we made our entrance into Troll Village.

It’s just now occurring to me that I have my best friend back and he isn’t going anywhere.

Chapter Text

Me and Floyd were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital while I let Velvet rest on the chair to the right of me. She looks like that passed out drunk friend you have to double check on to say for sure if they’re alive. Floyd was on the chair to my left and he was entertaining a little girl by playing with those kids toys with her. It’s so damn adorable to watch so I got up and crouched down on the floor next to them to play as well.

“Velvet Carmen!” A purple skinned troll called out my sister's name about five minutes later so I stood up and placed her on my back again.

“Are you okay to stay back here?” I want to make sure Floyd is fine with me leaving him in the waiting room but he quickly turned it down.

“Oh, I’ll come with you. I don’t want you to be in there by yourself.” He smiled and gave the little girl a high-five before standing up and walking my way. It’s kinda sweet that he wants to come with me so I don’t have to be alone, even after all the awful things my sister did to him.

We followed the doctor and made our way into the room. I let Velvet lay on the bed and me and Floyd both sat on two plastic chairs in the corner. While I was watching the doctor draw blood from Velvet’s arm and hook her up to a heart rate monitor, I was bouncing my leg really fast with my arms crossed. I think Floyd noticed this because he leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“Hey, she’s gonna be okay.”

“But how can you know that? We don’t even know how she was able to become a Rageon.”

“I know, she told me how.”

“You do? Well then tell the doctor that!”

Apparently Floyd knows how my sister was able to switch her species and go from six inches to six feet. He cleared his throat and spoke to the doctor while I listened in because I was really intrigued on how she was able to do it.

“Doctor, she told me she drank something called a ‘Rageon Potion’ a few years ago which is what turned her.” A potion did this? I guess that makes sense. The doctor took the stethoscope off from around her neck and placed it on a desk.

“Based on that, I think I know exactly what happened. She was stealing your talent, right?” Floyd and I looked at each other for a second and then looked back at the doctor. I’m really curious to see how her species swap has to do with taking Floyd’s talent. The doctor took a deep breath and explained to us.

“Taking talent isn’t even a thing. You take troll essence instead of talent. The potion she had in her body was probably over run by the essence she took from you and reverted her back to her normal self. However, mixed with the sudden swap back and the obvious trauma to her head, she’ll be out for a few days at least. I’m going to keep her here until she wakes.” I placed a hand on my chest and let out a breath of relief upon hearing she’d wake eventually. Maybe when she wakes up, I’ll get her to apologize to everyone and see if I can reconvene with her. I did miss her a lot at some points of my life and maybe she felt the same sometimes. We are twins after all.

“Floyd, I can take you in the room across the hall for your tests.” The doctor walked out and I grabbed his hand to help him up. He’s probably fine on his own, but I just want to make sure. He practically died and came back to life so I can never be too safe. In the room, Floyd laid himself on the bed and I was doing the exact same thing I did in Velvet’s room – bounce my leg on the plastic chair. About four minutes of observation later, the doctor turned to me and spoke.

“He seems fine but should take it easy for a few days. I ask you to monitor him and make sure he doesn’t get up to anything too crazy. You and your boyfriend can go home now.” A red hue covered my body from head to toe and I waved my hands.

“No no no! We’re not- I’m not his-” The doctor chuckled and sent us off on our way and I noticed Floyd was just as red as me with his hands covering his face. Despite our blushing, so much weight was lifted off my shoulders now knowing that both Velvet and Floyd would be okay. I was going to grab his hand again to leave but after what the doctor just said, I can’t do it without freaking out.

We slowly went towards the exit without saying a word but that same little girl from before came up to us and hugged Floyd’s leg. She looked up at him with a smile and held something in her hand.

“My mommy said I can give this to you!” The little girl handed him a pink lollipop and Floyd had a silly crying expression on his face like his heart was exploding from how cute this moment was. He took the lollipop and crouched down to hug the girl. He might almost be better with kids than I am.

“Thank you so much!” Floyd was full on sobbing and now I have to peel him off of the girl to get him out of here.

“Floyyyyd, c’mon. We gotta go.” He let go of her and held onto me while waving goodbye. I feel like a monster having to drag him away from her but things must be done. I want to show Floyd around Pop Village and his brothers said to meet up later. When we got outside, Floyd took the lollipop out of the wrapper and placed it in his mouth. While we stood there, I asked the first question.

“So, what do you wanna do first?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m gonna show you around Pop Village before I take you back to your brothers.”

“If you guys have a zoo, do they have-”

“Yes, there's Puffalo’s at the zoo.” Floyd’s face filled with excitement and he began skipping away and calling for me to come along because he didn’t know where he was going.

This guy and his love for Puffalo’s is seriously going to be the death of me.

Chapter Text

I have to hold Floyd back as he’s practically falling over the bridge suspended above the Puffalo enclosure trying to get closer to them. His face was filled with admiration while he watched the things just eat grass.

“Remind me why you like these things so much?” He stood straight up and looked me dead in the eye. Floyd placed both hands on my shoulders making my body slightly heat up at the touch.

“Because they are adorable.” I snorted and covered my mouth. Floyd tilt his head and slightly pursed his lips at my reaction.

“Is that it? Seriously? They’re just adorable?” He leaned against the railing and went back to watching the Puffalo, so I copied his action. His eyes glanced in my direction for a brief second and he smirked before spitting out a comment that made me feel weak.

“Like you.” I feel like I’m retracting into my own body. I want to hide myself forever from everyone and never come back out from how embarrassing yet adorable that was. I threw my face into my palms and heard Floyd snicker at my redness. As much as I’ve always wanted this to happen, I have to shut it down.

“Look, Floyd. You have to realize that ‘us’ is something that would take a while to happen. I mean, you hurt me and I know you’re not gonna do it again, but we don’t know each other anymore. I like you, I really do, I just barely know you.” He let out a sigh of defeat and flashed a soft smile in my direction with a sense of tenderness behind it.

I can definitely tell he knew where I was coming from because it’s true. I’ve changed so much over the last 15 years, so who knows if he’d even like me after getting to know me again. His only impression of who I am is based on my past self.

“No, I get it… and I’m willing to wait forever if it means you might be by my side one day.” Relief washed over me upon hearing his reaction to me practically turning down his confession. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same way about him but I needed to take things slow. We just reconnected yesterday for god’s sake, I can’t start dating him after a day.

I wrapped my arms around him in a caring embrace and shut my eyes. Knowing Floyd would wait for me to be ready for something like this made me realize how important he still is to me. His arms wrapped around my waist as well and we shared a heartfelt moment together where we stood.

“And I’m willing to try and get there.” We pushed off of each other and a warm indigo hand caressed the side of my face which I leaned my head into. Gorgeous amaranthine eyes burned into my irises but our moment was broken by an energetic voice shouting out both of our names.

“Floyd! Veneer! I’ve been looking all over for you! You guys are late!” Poppy was waving her hands at both of us and then soon switched them to the area around her mouth to project her voice more as she continued yelling. I turned my head around to look at the post clock on the bridge and noticed the clock was showing 6:30 PM.

“Crap! I lost track of time. Your concert is at 8, so we have to leave for Vacay, like, now.” Our hands interlocked as I pulled Floyd in the direction of where Poppy was shouting from. While we were speed walking over to her, Floyd had fully processed what I said.

“Concert?” Fuck, that was meant to be a surprise. Branch is going to kill me for this one.

“Yeah, your brothers wanted to host a BroZone reunion concert for you on Vacay Island but I kind of just ruined the surprise. Please act shocked or it’s my ass on the line.” Floyd snorted and we finally got to where Poppy was standing.

“Ooo~ someone’s holding hands~” Poppy had a smug grin spread across her face from ear to ear and was openly teasing the two of us but I waved my free hand with an awkward smile and leaned in to whisper the explanation in her ear.

“Yes, but it’s just platonically. We both like each other but we’re not making it official, okay?” She threw me a solid thumbs up and the three of us made our way to the zoo’s exit which wasn’t too far from the dock that had all the boats to Vacay Island.

“Sooo, just friends for now?” Floyd’s question made me look over at him with a warm gaze. My head turned back to the ground in front of me while we walked and I responded gently,

“For now.” His grip around my hand grew tighter as we kept walking. One of my eyebrows lifted and I looked over at Floyd again, but this time with a concerned expression.

“You okay?” He was quick to respond and had a closed-mouthed smile as he stared into my eyes.

“I just don’t want to lose you again.” I slowly looked around myself and snickered.

“…at the zoo?” Floyd’s eyes rolled and he giggled. He took his free hand and booped my nose with his index finger which made me laugh too.

“You know what I mean. I just can’t stand the thought of having to put us through that again.” There was a brief moment of silence and Poppy was already up ahead at the dock. To let Floyd know nothing bad would happen, I placed a small and quick peck on his cheek. His eyes shot open and his hand covered the area that I kissed. An inky blush immediately consumed his entire face and it’s reminding me of all the times I would tease him as a kid.

“What I said earlier still stands, but I’m not going anywhere.” Floyd dumbly nodded and looked completely lovestruck. Poppy was now growing impatient and she called out for us multiple times.

“Come on! You can kiss later, we have to go!” We both finally made it over to the dock that had a tugboat covered in an orange and yellow floral pattern. Across the side of the boat, ‘Vacaytion Awaits~’ was written in cursive letters.

Poppy got onto the boat first followed by Floyd. He held his hand out for me to take and help me up on the boat. When I stepped up, I stumbled slightly, falling straight onto him. Quickly, I got myself back up and off of him and apologized repeatedly.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! Calm down, it’s not that big of a deal!” Floyd was trying his hardest to calm me down so I stopped my back to back sorrys. I could hear Poppy laughing at the two of us which got me to shut up real fast. I leaned against the side of the boat as it took off and watched as the waves passed by. Underneath those waves were a few techno trolls which is pretty cool to see. Floyd came up beside me and watched as well.

— — — — — —

Vacay Island is so pretty. I was just here a few days ago when we all needed to find Bruce, but feeling the warm sun and being surrounded by water is so relaxing and it’ll never get old. When the three of us got off the boat (this time I didn’t fall on top of Floyd), Bruce noticed us and waved.

“Guys, he’s here!” The rest of the brothers came rushing out from the restaurant and John got to Floyd first, lifting him up in the air while laughing loudly. I stepped back to get a full view of Floyd being embarrassed by his brothers before he was put down. The four of them looked over at me with a question.

“What’d the hospital say?” Oh right, I forgot about that already

“Dr. Moonbloom said he’s fine but just shouldn’t do anything too crazy for a while. She also told me I should monitor him.” Clay ruffled his hand though Floyd’s hair and the brothers all stood in front of Floyd. Simultaneously, they jumped with their arms out and announced their surprise all at once.

“Floyd, we’re having a reunion concert!” Floyd placed two hands on his cheeks and gasped loudly,

“Whaaaat!? That’s so cool!” An awkward and panicked smile plastered on my face and Branch shot me a glare as soon as he heard Floyd’s bad impression of being surprised.

“Veneer, you had one job.” Floyd and I both sighed out in defeat at Branch realizing he knew and Floyd shrugged his arms and looked at me.

“Well, I guess I tried?” While we went back towards Bruce’s restaurant, there was an empty stage surrounded by tons of trolls and a dressing room. Poppy grabbed my arm and pulled me into a different room and I saw Floyd quickly reach out to try and grab me, but like her sister, Poppy is insanly fast.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped at the absolute beauty of this room. The room was filled with racks of clothing, fabrics, and some of the original BroZone outfits. Along the wall were shelves containing enough shoes for probably every single troll in Pop Village. It was every designers dream, and speaking of designers;

“Hey, Veneer!” From behind the sea of clothing racks, out popped Satin and Chenille. I ran up to the two of them and hugged both sisters individually.

“What are you doing here!?” I looked over behind them and saw some fabrics underneath a sewing machine that were being sewn together to resemble a more modern version of Clay’s debut outfit. Satin was first to respond to me.

“Poppy asked us to make some clothes for the reunion concert, and we’d never turn down an opportunity to promote our brand, of course.” I nodded my head in acceptance of that answer but another question started to cross my mind.

“Poppy, how did you manage to set all of this up so fast? I mean it’s only been-“ I turned around to face Poppy and saw Viva standing next to her holding a cup of what appears to be coffee.

“-Y'know what, never mind.”

Poppy grabbed a blue and white jacket that had holographic stars littered on it, and a spray can that said ‘Spray on Glitter’ on the label. I followed Poppy out of this heaven and into the dressing room where I saw Floyd and everyone else stretching to prepare themselves.

Along with the brothers, there was another group that looked quite familiar. Poppy shook the can like spray paint and held up the jacket.

“Hey Branch, do you think that- WHAAAT!?” Oh wait, I remember these guys.

“Trickee, Ablaze, Hype, hey guys! Boom.” I pointed to every member of Kismet and my face dropped when saying Boom's name. They all waved back at me saying the same thing.

“Hi Veneer!” Poppy stood next to me, frozen and with her mouth wide open, and Clay spoke up first.

“Veneer, you know these guys?” I tilt my head in their direction and hit my fist against my palm quickly.

“Oh, right! When Branch was in their band, I worked as their assistant too. Couldn’t let all the experience go to waste, could I?” I placed both of my hands on my hips and Boom walked up to me before speaking out to the rest of the brothers as well.

“That’s right, and he was really good at it. Best assistant we ever hired!” His hand took mine from off my hip and he placed a small kiss against the backside of it. Internally, I cringed, and I could feel a furious energy radiating from beside me. When I turned my head, I jumped hard because Floyd was right there with a scowl on his face. When the hell did he even get over here?

Floyd placed an arm around my waist and held me close to him while quickly pulling my arm from Boom's grasp.

“Sorry, but this one’s reserved.” Floyd’s voice had dropped slightly and all the blood in my body was rushing to my face. Boom and Floyd glared at each other for a while before Poppy and Branch awkwardly laughed. Poppy took away Floyd and I and Branch took away Boom. If those two were there for a second longer, I’m pretty sure there would’ve been some bones broken.

Having the love of my life get me away from the only other man I’ve been with was not on my list for today.

Chapter Text

Floyd was refusing to let me go anymore than a foot away from him as long as Boom was in the area. Every time he left, Floyd would go back to stretching and let go of me. The second Boom came back, I was pulled back in so it got pretty easy to piece together.

Everyone was trying to prep for the concert and all I had to do was sweep and clean up the stage which was simple enough. Although, it gets pretty difficult when you have an overprotective pink and blue idiot trapping you in his arms every five minutes. The curtains were closed so none of the audience members could see that shitshow that was happening up here.

Boom walked across the stage again just to go from the right wing to the left wing and sure enough, Floyd grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into his grasp. I know exactly why he keeps doing it but acting oblivious shouldn’t hurt. I crooked my neck around to look at him as best as I could and turned my sapphires into puppy dog eyes.

“Floyd, are you okay?” It seems like that was all he needed to hear because in an instant, he responded sounding pissed off but it wasn’t directed at me.

“What’s his deal anyways? Thinking he can just kiss your hand like that when it was clearly making you uncomfortable.” He continued to grumble and mutter curses under his breath while staring at Boom just minding his business and talking to Clay. I mean, I guess I can tell him,

“Boom’s my ex.” At that, Floyds head slowly turned to face me and it revealed an expression made up of a dropped jaw and widened eyes. I opened my mouth to let out a breathy and awkward giggle because this man probably feels like I just dropped a bombshell on him.

“WHAT!?” We got a few looks from the others who were near the stage but they went back to whatever it was they were doing prior to Floyds screech.

“Can I tell you more at the after party instead of here? I don’t wanna ruin your whole mood for the show.” He seemed to calm down from that because of the calming tone I used. Floyd let out a sigh and removed his arm from around my torso.

“Wait, there’s an after party?” I clasped a hand over my mouth and just like before, I heard Branch call out from the right wing,

“Veneer! Shut your mouth and stop spoiling everything! Please!” There was almost a 20 foot gap between us but I returned his shout with one of my own.

“Oh, zip it mister Poppy-my-beloved!” Nothing else was heard other than Floyd giggling behind me at our bickering, so that meant Branch was probably done.

“You two got close?” Floyd tilted his head once he was done laughing. Riiight, he fell asleep on the way back to Pop Village so he probably didn’t catch some parts of the story.

“Oh yeah, as soon as BroZone disbanded, I started raising Branch along with your grandma.” His eyes seemed to fly wide open once I said that but it was clearly more out of curiosity than shock.

“Really? I always thought you would’ve gone off and started your own fashion brand.” I picked my broom back up and continued my little chat with Floyd while also sweeping.

“Well I couldn’t just leave him alone like that. Besides, I’m already working on getting my own brand. Maybe you could come by where I work one day and see some of the stuff I made.” He smiled and gazed at me before speaking again.

“I’d like that.” I grinned back at Floyd and out called Viva who was still, to no one’s surprise, running around at lightning speed.

“Five minutes, everyone! Five minutes!” I think I’m done sweeping so I looked around to check my work and then started walking off. Floyd was quick to follow behind me which made me scoff slightly at his antics. He’s honestly like a little bodyguard – a very very thirsty bodyguard.

As soon as we walked into the wing that would lead us backstage, we bumped into Boom and he snarked at us.

“Where are you going?” I rolled my eyes and felt the fabric of my shirt bunch up in the back from Floyd now holding it.

“Where do you think, conceited?” My voice dropped to a more bass tone as I crossed my arms. Floyd was gently tugging on my shirt as an inaudible ‘let’s go’, so I had him let go of my shirt but before walking off with him, I intertwined our fingers together and shot Boom a glare.

Once I looked back over at Floyd, I giggled because he had a little bit of skip in his step from me holding his hand. I definitely think I do actually love him but I still wanna see where this goes. With Boom back in the picture, who knows what could happen. I can’t wait for this show to be done and over with so the after party can come and I can tell Floyd everything. While I’m at it, I should ask him about what happened the day he left me.

Poppy approached us from that heaven sent room with all the clothes I could ever dream of, and handed Floyd a carbon copy of the outfit I made him all those years ago. Gray crewneck with a magenta star and baggy ripped black jeans. I immediately gasped and took the outfit from Floyd’s hands.

“How did you get this!?” Poppy tilted her head and looked confused at my sudden change of mood.

“Floyd gave me an old wrinkled piece of paper with a drawing of that on it. Said he wanted it made so Satin, Chenille, and I all did our best to try and replicate it.” I eyed Floyd and he noticed the admiration in my eyes. He honestly loved the outfit that much that he wanted it made sixteen years later? He did look really cute in it from what I can remember. I felt my face flush at the memory but it was more or less because of Floyd’s absolutely stunning smile towards me. I hurriedly handed the outfit back to Floyd and spoke quick and loudly,

“Okay okay, put it on!” Floyd took a few steps towards the dressing room but suddenly stilled. What is he-

He ran back in my direction and I felt warm plush lips press themselves against my cheek. My stomach felt like it was filled with tens of fluttering butterflies and my heart was going a mile a minute as he held his kiss for a total of three seconds. He took himself away from me and had a fierce inky blush from his cheeks to his ears.

“I’m sorry!” And then he ran off with his outfit, leaving Poppy as a fangirling best friend, and me a flustered mess.