Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Poppy sighed contentedly and rested her head on Branch’s shoulder. Below them, a mix of trolls from all kinds of backgrounds chattered and danced and sang.

“I’m really glad Trollstopia worked out, Poppy.” Branch said, leaning his head on hers. Poppy hummed happily. Her tail gently bumped against his, twining around it.

A moment passed in comfortable silence. Then: “...Hey, Branch?”

“Yeah?”

Poppy lifted her head from his shoulder and turned them both so they could see each other’s faces. She bit her lip, somewhat nervous.

“Uh… so, you remember how I said I loved you?” She asked.

Branch’s eyebrows creeped up his forehead, his eyes searching her face. “Yeah…?”

“No, no, don’t think- I mean, I still- I do! I love you, Branch. I mean that.” Poppy reassured, reaching out to hold his paws in hers. “I just…”

She exhaled hard, struggling to find the right words. Branch’s expression softened. He gently squeezed her paws. “Hey, Poppy, it’s okay. I won’t get mad, or anything. Promise.”

Poppy squeezed back. “Thanks.”

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. “I tend to… whenever I get crushes, I mean, I tend to get crushes on a lot of trolls, and usually all at once. As in, I’d wanna date all of them at once. And- I- I mean, it doesn’t mean I like any of them less than the others, it just means I love… more.”

She scanned Branch’s face, unable to read his expression. “...Does that make sense?”

Branch blinked, then nodded. “Yeah, my-”

Don’t think about Floyd.

“-I mean, uh, I knew someone like that once.” He finished, coughing awkwardly.

“O…kay,” Poppy said, electing to ignore his slip. “So, you’re not mad?”

“I said I wouldn’t be!” Branch reminded her, mock offended. “And don’t worry, I get it. No problems here.”

Poppy grinned brightly, abruptly pulling him into a tight hug. Branch did not yelp, wrapping his arms around her in return.

“So.” He said as they parted. “Who’s the lucky troll?”

Poppy pouted in the face of his shit-eating grin. “Braaaaanch!”

“C’mon, Poppy!” Branch said. He poked her cheek. “Poppy.”

Poppy giggled, batting his paw away. Branch just rerouted his poking to her stomach, making her squeal. The princess yelled playfully and pounced on the other troll, poking him everywhere she could. Branch yelled back, rolling them over and doubling his attacks.

Eventually, Poppy conceded the fight. “Okay! Okay, I’ll tell you!”

They rolled apart, matching smiles on their faces.

“I was gonna tell you anyways,” Poppy said, sitting up and offering Branch a paw. He took it, facing her and brushing off his vest.

“Well, who is it then?” He asked. Poppy puffed up her cheeks like a hamster.

“Weeeeeeeell… It’s Barb.”

“Barb?” Branch asked, incredulous. “As in, tried-to-take-over-the-entire-world-and-also-brainwashed-me-only-like-a-month-ago Barb?”

Poppy smiled nervously. “Um, yes?”

Branch put on his disappointed eyebrows. “You need to reconsider your bad taste in trolls.”

“Branch, we’re literally dating-”

“-yeah, really bad taste in trolls.”

Poppy rolled her eyes, huffing out a laugh. “Yeah, okay.”

Branch laughed, dropping his act. “Anyways, I approve.”

He gave her a double thumbs-up. Poppy delivered a light punch to his arm.

“Ow! Hey, I was trying to be nice!” The dim blue troll protested, rubbing the spot she’d hit him. Poppy stuck her tongue out at him.

“I think I’m gonna ask her out tomorrow.” She sighed, flopping onto her back. Branch flopped down beside her. He took a breath, hesitated, and shut his mouth, fiddling with his fingers.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Poppy asked, rolling onto her side to look at him. Branch did the same, meeting her eyes.

“Nothing, I just… if you want to… would you rather not be dating me? I know you can love lots of trolls, and that’s okay, trust me, I’m alright with that. I just, I don’t know, I know I can be-”

“Branch, Branch, stop.” Poppy interrupted, patting his nose. She giggled softly at his scrunched-up face. “Listen, Branch, I love you, okay? That’s not gonna change.”

Poppy scooted forwards and pressed their foreheads together, holding his face in her paws. Almost against his will, Branch relaxed, eyes slipping shut.

“I love you too, Poppy.”

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“Branch!” Poppy called out, waving excitedly. Branch turned at the sound of her voice, a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth as she ran over.

“Hey, Poppy. How’d it go?” He asked, tucking the to-do list he’d been holding into his hair.

Poppy just squealed happily, jumping up and down and shaking her arms excitedly. Branch’s tail began to wag, catching on to her infectious joy. “That good? Wow.”

“Yes!” The pink troll grabbed his paws and held them up to her chest. “We’re gonna hang out later today! Oh, oh, and-!”

She focused on him, leaning in close to his face. “I have something for you to do in the meantime!”

Branch cringed away slightly, hesitating. “Actually, I was doing-”

“You can do both at the same time! I had someone I wanted you to hang out with, he can help you do whatever you needed to do!” Poppy interrupted with just as much energy as she had before, though she did step away to give him space to breathe. He shifted his feet, ears twitching as he thought.

“I- I guess,” Branch conceded, “Depends who it is.”

Poppy’s tail wagged behind her. “Right, well, I thought, since I’m hanging out with one troll you don’t like-”

Branch opened his mouth to protest that statement, but the princess steamrolled on.

“-I could give you another troll you don’t like to hang out with at the same time!” She concluded, looking awfully proud of herself. Branch felt dread begin to pool in his stomach.

“Who-” He began asking, but the pink troll once again bulldozed over him.

“Behold!” Poppy said, stepping away with a flourish to reveal-

“Absolutely not.” Branch said, turning the fuck around. Poppy’s hair grabbed him around the waist to prevent him from leaving.

“C’mon, Branch! I’m tired of you two fighting all the time! He’s willing to try being friends, why can’t you?” The pink troll argued. Branch groaned, turning around.

“Pleeeeeease?” Poppy pleaded, casting Puppy Dog Eyes. It was most definitely not effective, and Branch gave in for mysterious and completely different reasons.

“Fine!”

“Woohoo!” Poppy cheered, letting him out of her hair’s grip. “Okay, you two have fun! I’m gonna go meet up with Barb!”

Branch watched her go, despair filling his chest. He’d been betrayed and abandoned by his own girlfriend, left alone and at the mercy of the worst possible troll that he ever could have been forced to hang out with. He squeezed his eyes shut and accepted his fate.

“So, Branch,” Said the traitor bastard himself. Branch opened his eyes, rearranged his face into the deadliest glare he could manage, and turned around.

Creek’s smug face met his gaze evenly, serene expression not even flinching under the other troll’s venomous stare. Instead, he tilted his head in greeting, hands clasped behind his back. Branch’s tail flicked sharply.

“Yeah, okay, you can leave now.”

Creek had the audacity to look surprised. “How do you mean?”

Branch rolled his eyes. “We both know neither of us want to be here.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Creek huffed, dropping his ‘peacemaking’ act. “But Poppy really, really wanted us to bond. You could at least try.”

Branch drew back, tail lashing angrily. “What do you mean, I could at least try?! You literally just said we felt the same way!”

Creek shrugged, smirking. The dim blue troll grit his teeth and yanked his to-do list out of his hair.

“Fine. You tag along while I do my chores, not talking, and then we can tell Poppy that we tried but it just didn’t work out and we never have to do this again.” He offered, wielding the list at the purple troll like a weapon. “Deal?”

Creek shrugged again. “Why not.”

Chapter Text

“How can you stand doing this for so long?” Creek asked, disdainful. He yawned loudly. Branch, who had been counting his rations, steadily ignored him. Creek had been complaining all day, and no constant reminding him of the ‘no talking’ rule could get him to stop. Branch kind of had to let the purple troll into his bunker if he wanted to complete his to-do list, and he was not going to let the guy’s stupid face stop him from checking off the last item as fast as possible.

Creek began to rummage through the pile of unsorted rations, pushing some of them dangerously close to the sorted pile. Branch quickly reached out and grabbed them, placing them a safe distance from the other pile, and smacked Creek’s arm away.

“Ow, hey!” The purple troll hissed, expression growing annoyed. Branch ignored him and returned to counting rations. Sulking, Creek sat down across the table from him, resting his head on the smooth surface. He watched the other troll carefully move everything from one pile into the other, one by one. The repetitive movements quickly morphed his boredom to drowsiness, and his eyelids began to drift shut.

Creek pulled his arms up to cushion his head, yawning loudly. Branch gritted his teeth and looked up from his counting, stopping short when he laid eyes on the sleepy troll across the table. He blinked.

The dim blue troll shifted in his seat, unsure of what to do. Well, at least he wouldn’t mess with the counting anymore?

Branch finished his counting not long afterwards, checking off the last item on his to-do list with a self-satisfied smile. Finally, he could get that annoying piece of shit out of his house! He turned to look at where Creek was still napping on his table, his smile widening into a smirk.

Creek yelped in shock, forcefully yanked from his peaceful nap by a splash of cold water. He spun around to face the culprit of such a crime, sopping wet hair falling into his face. Branch stood there, holding an empty bucket with the most smug shit-eating grin Creek had ever seen in his life. And Creek had a mirror!

The purple troll scowled, shaking his head and paws to get the water out. The surprised noise Branch made when some of that water hit him did not resemble an ‘eep’ at all, in any capacity.

“I’m done with my chores,” The dim blue troll said, wiping droplets off his face. “Just thought you’d wanna be awake so I could tell you.”

Creek narrowed his eyes, tail flicking. He smoothed out his still-damp hair and composed himself.

“Well,” He started, voice calm as usual. “This has been an experience I wish never to relive.”

He smiled smarmily at Branch, who just crossed his arms.

“Same here.”

The purple troll nodded, pressing his palms together and nodding in lieu of a bow. “Namaste.”

Branch scoffed. He watched as Creek stepped on to the elevator platform and cranked the lever, rising and disappearing into the ceiling. It was over, and he’d survived!

“Ugh,” Branch groaned, flopping face-down onto Poppy’s bed. The princess giggled from her spot at the table and cut into a piece of paper.

“Tired?” She asked. Branch rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes.

“Mm.”

Poppy nodded, as if he’d said something deep and profound, and began applying glue to the back of the little figure she’d just cut out.

“Branchifer, today was-!” She squealed, tail wagging excitedly. Branch curled up on his side so he could see her.

“Yeah?” He asked softly, running his paws over the soft sheets. Poppy nodded like a bobblehead, grin so wide that it looked painful.

“Yeah! We toured Rock Hollow for a bit, then got some stoutberry juice from Smidge, then climbed trees and she taught me some guitar riffs on top of the tree, and I just-” The pink troll made a garbled, high-pitched noise. Branch grinned along, nodding. This made complete sense.

“Anyways, that’s my date!” Poppy finished, pasting the final piece into her scrapbook and holding it up for Branch to see. Three troll cutouts were glued slightly off-center to the middle of the page, made to resemble Barb, Poppy, and Branch respectively. The Barb and Branch cutouts were on either side of the Poppy cutout, holding her paws. At the top of the page, in large rainbow letters, was the word ‘POPPYAMORY’.

Poppy pulled a tab on the side of the page. In typical Poppy Scrapbook fashion, glitter spouted from the eyes of all the troll cutouts as a high-pitched troll voice declared the same sentiment as was written at the top. Branch snorted a laugh.

“Nice. And, uh, mine was fine too.” He closed his eyes and stretched, suddenly exhausted. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt bad for being so nonchalant towards Poppy’s scrapbooking, but he knew she understood.

“Branch!” Poppy gasped, and Branch cracked his eyelids open, concerned. Was something-? “Today was a date?”

Branch blinked at her, eyebrows furrowed. Wasn’t that what she just said? “Um, yes?”

Poppy gaped at him. Branch was beginning to worry. Then, the princess jumped up and leapt onto the bed beside him, making him squeak in surprise.

“Ooh, this is better than I ever thought!” Poppy said, so close to his face that their noses were practically touching. “I mean, I hoped you two would at least get over yourselves and not hate each other more, but… I mean, wow! You’re, like, something else now, yeah?”

Branch stared at her for a moment, processing. “You mean me and Creek?”

Poppy nodded.

“Yeah, we’re definitely something, alright.” Branch scoffed. He imagined punching Creek hard enough to wipe that smug smile off his face, permanently.

Poppy, meanwhile, was imagining something entirely different that Branch could be doing to Creek’s mouth.

“Agh, I’m so happy for you guys!” She said, twining her tail around his. “I’m glad you found someone for yourself who’s like Barb for me. This is gonna be great! I need to add him to the scrapbook page…”

“Wait, what?” Branch demanded, bewildered. “Like Barb?”

Poppy met his confused expression with one of her own. “Yeah? You just said, you and Creek, today…

“That was a date, wasn’t it?”

Ah, shit.