Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After saving Floyd, Brozone decided to stay at the bunker for a few days to catch up. 20 years was a long time to be apart, too long. They wanted to make up for the lost time, hence why they were all congregated in Branch's living room, reminiscing.

“Now this brings back memories. Remember when we used to have sleepovers in the living room back at the tree?” Bruce kicks back on the couch with Floyd, who was still recovering from having his talent stolen.

“Wasn't much of a sleepover since we all lived together.” Clay was sitting on the floor in between JD and Branch.

“They were still fun, though! JD would always pull out these scary stories.” Floyd lit up at the memory. This was before they got more serious with the band. They stopped having living room sleepovers once the band started to be more stressful. It was one of the many things that he missed doing with his brothers.

“Oh yeah! And he would use the flashlight to make his face all scary, but it just made him look dumber than usual.”

“Hey!” John tackled Clay, trying to pin him to the ground and give him a wet william. Their brothers laughed as Clay kicked John off him.

“Man, it's good to finally be back together like this. I've really missed you guys.” Branch had a relaxed air to him, glad his brothers were finally home again.

“Tell me about it. My solo career was fun and all, but nothing beats being with you guys.” Floyd smiled as he looked at his brothers. Before he was captured by Velvet and Veneer a few weeks ago, he was fairly successful as a solo artist. Now, though, all of that seemed so worthless in comparison to being with his family.

“Yeah. I wouldn't change having Brandy and the kids for anything, but I always wanted to get in touch again. The kids would have loved to grow up knowing their uncles.” Branch looked at Bruce fondly. While he didn't have much time to meet Brandy and the kids since they had to save Floyd, they all seemed like a very sweet family. He was excited to get to know them some more. He still couldn't believe that he was an uncle.

“Me too. The neverglades were good for me, but there's only so long you can hike them before getting bored or lonely. I never should have left you guys.” JD looked around at his family. He knew it was a mistake to leave. But looking back, leaving was just what he needed to get back on his feet. After a while, it became clear that even if he did come back he wouldn't be as happy as he was out there. But sitting here now, surrounded by his brothers, he knew that he was as wrong as can be.

“I will admit, it is nice to let loose for once. The Putt Putt Trolls are a lot of responsibility. I'm just glad that I've had Viva to help out.”

“What about you, Branch? You've been real quiet over there. What have you been doing since we left?” Floyd looked at Branch, giving a disarming smile. Floyd always tried to include him even when he was little.

“Oh, nothing much. Just building the bunker, collecting supplies and rations, stuff like that. It wasn't until recently that I started to actually get out and do things. Poppy really helped me to become part of the community again.” Branch smiled awkwardly, fidgeting with his hands.

“What about your other band, Kismet? You guys sounded pretty good. Must be really popular with the way your girlfriend was screaming during the concert.” JD shoved him teasingly while commenting on his girlfriend. He still couldn't believe his little brother managed to get the queen to date him.

“The band broke up a while ago. It just wasn't working out, and at the time, I had put off singing entirely. We only started singing together again this past month.”

“What do you mean, ‘put off singing?’” Floyd gave Branch a concerned side eye.

“Oh, look at the time! I have to go put Gary to bed. I'll be right back.”

“Gary?”

“Yes, my son.”

“You have a son? Can we meet him?” His brothers’ eyes light up at the mention of Branch's son. Why didn't they know about him sooner?

“Um… sure! Why not?”

Branch left the living room to retrieve his son, Gary. Although he was a remote, he should still be treated like family and he expected his brothers to do so. As he walked back into the room, his brothers exchanged concerned looks.

“Guys, meet Gary.”

The brothers stared at Gary before breaking out into laughter.

“Nice one, Branch! You almost had me for a second!” JD slaps his knee, absolutely losing it.

“No, guys! I'm serious!”

“Wait, what?”

“Listen. In my defense, I spent like 20 years down here alone. Things got weird. But when I made Gary, we immediately had a connection. It was a lot less lonely down here with him. I swear I would've gone crazy a long time ago without him.”

“Oh, well it's nice to meet you, uh… Gary.” Floyd extends his hand out, but awkwardly pulls away after realizing Branch's son has no arms.

“Does he… talk or anything?” Bruce raised a brow at Branch. How could he form a relationship with a remote if it doesn't talk?

“Well, not exactly. He doesn't need to talk, I kind of just know what he wants to say.”

“Right…” Clay looked over at John and Bruce, who both looked equally disturbed.

“It's getting kind of late, Branch.” John glanced between his brothers, glad to see they were on the same page.

“Yeah, I'm pretty beat. I think I'm gonna go to bed for the night.” Clay was quick to catch on.

“Okay, goodnight, guys! I'll see you all in the morning!” Branch cheerfully waved them away as he turned to go to his own room.

His brothers got up to go to the guest bedroom where Branch had 2 bunk beds prepared for them. They would have stayed in the rooms Branch had built for them, but once he realized they weren't coming back, the rooms were repurposed for storage.

“Were any of you guys weirded out by that? Or is it just me?” Clay laid down in his bed. He would have called the top bunk, but he wasn't just the ‘fun’ guy anymore. Bottom bunks were for professional CPA's.

“Yeah. I mean, who has a remote control for a son?” Bruce was in the middle of his nightly routine to keep his hair and dad bod on fleek.

“And he actually believes that it has feelings! Like, what?” John was already under the covers as he spoke. He and Bruce had taken the top bunks since Floyd was still a little too weak to comfortably get up there.

“Guys, he's still our brother. Sure, he may be a little… out there, but we were the ones that left him alone. Any troll would go crazy after that.” Floyd picked at his sheets, feeling guilty for all they put their little brother through. If they had been there for him, then maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to create his own family members. Not that Floyd wanted Gary gone, but he wouldn't be against it.

“Floyd, did you not see what happened out there? He's literally insane.”

Floyd gave John an infuriated look. “That doesn't change the fact that he's our brother! Insane or not, we should still love him.”

“We love him, but I'm not sure if it's the best idea for us to be here right now. What if we hurt him again and make things worse? What if he makes an entire army of Garys?” Clay and Bruce burst out laughing. “He SO would! Come on, Floyd. You know it's true.”

“We barely even know Branch! And so what if he made an army of Garys? I'd still be here for him.”

“I don't know, man. What if he, like, replaces us with robots? What then? He'd make my robot do the Rusty Robot, and everyone would think it's me! I'd never be taken seriously again. I'll have to move away and live in the wilderness like Branch. Is that what you want, Floyd? For me to turn out like Branch?”

“What's wrong with being like Branch? You're saying that as if it's a bad thing!”

“He talks to remotes and lives underground.”

“Okay, but Branch is not crazy! Sure, he may have a remote for a son, but he's creative, smart, and not to mention resilient. You guys need to be more open minded and actually get to know him!”

“I guess, but we obviously haven't done him any favors. It might be best for us to leave him to Poppy and the rest of Troll Village. I need to get back to Brandy and the kids soon anyway.”

“No! Just give him a chance. We're the reason why he was alone for 20 years, we can't just leave him again. Think about how much that would hurt him!”

John shrugs, ignorant to Floyd's concerns. “He'll get over it. Like you said, he's resilient.”

“You know that's not what I meant, John Dory.” Floyd grits his teeth. JD didn't have a shred of sympathy for their little brother and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

“Fine, but if things get out of hand, we're gone.”

“Sounds good to me. Now can you guys stop talking? This very serious licensed CPA needs his beauty sleep.”

“Sorry, Clay.”

Chapter Text

Floyd woke up to the smell of pancakes. He looked around at the empty beds, the others must have gotten up before him. He got up and walked to the kitchen where Branch was making pancakes while JD set the table. Clay and Bruce were sitting at the table having an animated discussion.

“I'm telling you, Bruce! Sad book club is great! We read a sad book, get together, and have a good cry sesh.”

“That's so lame! Real men don't cry!”

“I know you're only saying it for the bit, but not cool bro.”

“No, it's true! It's a sign of weakness and has also been proven to attract predators.”

“I'm pretty sure that's blood.”

“It's tears.”

“Blood.”

“Tears!”

“Blood!”

“Stop arguing before I make you shed blood and tears!” Branch turned around with a hand on his hip, wielding a spatula.

“Sorry, mom.” Clay and Bruce laugh from the table.

Branch sets the last pancake on the plate as John sets down the rest of the silverware. He brings the food over before sitting next to Floyd.

“Thanks, Branch! This looks great. Didn't know little bro could cook!” Clay throws a few pancakes onto his plate and digs in.

“Yeah, Branch. This tastes great!” Bruce barely looked up from his plate.

“So, what are the plans for today?” Leave it to JD to be concerned about their plans. He was always the most organized.

“I was thinking a quick tour of the bunker and the village, since we didn't get the chance yesterday. I could introduce you to my friends, if you'd like.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They all finish eating their breakfast before Branch starts his tour.

“So you've already seen the living room and the guest room. Most of the other rooms are for storage. Over there is where I keep my berries, the area next to it has sticks and rocks, and the door at the end of the hall is where I store the water and sweat.”

“I'm sorry, sweat?”

“Yes. My sweat. I can show you if you want?”

“No, I think-”

Floyd interrupts Clay, forcing a smile. “We'd love to!”

Branch takes them down the hall and into the room where his sweat rations were.

“So, here's the treadmill! This is where I run to collect the sweat. It's very efficient. Wanna try?”

“Hard pass.” Bruce gave a disgusted look. The thought of his brother collecting his sweat made him want to gag.

“No problem. Over here is where I keep the jars of sweat! I've got some from Smidge, Poppy, Biggie-”

“Quick question. What exactly do you do with it?” John was scared to hear the answer, but he just had to know.

“I drink it. What else?”

“You, what?!” Even Floyd looked grossed out.

“I drink it.”

“Wow, how, um, efficient!” Clay gave a shaky thumbs up, looking a little sick at the thought of Branch drinking not only his own sweat, but the other trolls as well.

“What else do you collect? Spit?” JD rolled his eyes, already done with his brother's eccentricities.

“Ooh, I never thought of that! I gotta write that down.”

“Uh, Branch? Why don't we just move on with the rest of the tour. I'd love to see what else you've got around here.” Floyd gave them a quick out. He loved his brother, but this was getting a little bit too gross.

“Sure! Let's go to the pantry. Trust me, it’ll be the biggest pantry you've ever seen.”

His brothers reluctantly follow him through the kitchen and to the pantry. Do they really want to see any more of his bunker? They were almost scared of what they were gonna find.

“Is that a piece of grandma’s cake?”

“You still have a slice? Didn't she die like 20 years ago?”

“Well, yeah! I couldn't just throw it away! It was one of my best memories with her. It haunts me every time I come in here. It looks so good, but I can't bring myself to eat it. One day, I'll be strong enough. Unless one of you wants it?” Clay frantically shook his head.

“I think I'm good. I'm pretty sure there's mold on it…” John gave the cake a suspicious look while Floyd checked out the rest of the massive pantry.

“Eh, a little mold never hurt anybody.”

“Gross…” Bruce muttered under his breath to John, who nodded in agreement.

“Well, I think that's about it for my bunker. Wanna go see the village now?”

“Sure!” Floyd gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. Clay and Bruce also jumped at the chance to get out of Branch’s cursed bunker.

Branch and his brothers ascended to the first floor and exited out the floor trap. They have to admit, the elevator was pretty cool.

“So this is my yard.” Branch vaguely gestures to the surrounding forest. “And here's the path to the village. Poppy had me add it since trolls kept getting lost trying to find me. I think it defeats the purpose of a hidden bunker, but whatever the path attracts can always be taken care of with Gary.”

“Right. Gary.” Bruce gave a weird look to Branch’s ‘son’.

“Yeah, I love my little guy! Also, don't stray from the path. It's really easy to get lost if you're unfamiliar with the area. I also don't want you getting caught in a trap.” Branch kind of rambled to his brothers as he led them to the village. His brothers were paying rapt attention, wanting to know more about their brother's life. They were hoping that there was something normal about him. “The village should be just up here!”

Walking into the village, the others could see a few familiar faces from before they left. Aside from that, they didn't recognize most of the trolls. They did get a few strange looks. Or, more accurately, Branch got a few strange looks. JD couldn't blame them, his youngest brother was a weird little dude.

“So here's the bouncy mushrooms, over there we have a flying space. The plant is actually there because trolls kept crashing into each other. After Poppy and I defeated them there was one that was cool, so we let him hang around.” Every now and then Branch would go into a story, most of them were about Poppy. The brothers still felt a little bit lost, though. “On that branch is Biggie's pod, over there is Guy’s, and there's DJ Suki’s. They're some of my friends. Ooh! That's Poppy's pod! We should go say hi!” The brothers raced to keep up with Branch as he took off for Poppy's pod.

“Poppy!” Poppy whirled around to see Branch standing at the doorway with his brothers!

“Branch! And Brozone! How's my favorite group of brothers this morning? You missed the morning song.” Poppy gave a small frown, a little disappointed that she didn't get to see Branch earlier.

“Yeah, we thought we'd sleep in today.”

“Oh, okay! Do you guys have any fun plans for the day?”

“Just showing the bros around a little bit. We thought we'd drop by for a quick visit.”

“Oh, fun! Well, I'm just on my way to hang out with the rest of the Snack Pack. You're welcome to join us if you want!”

“I think we're good for now, maybe tomorrow?”

“Sounds good. Have fun with the tour!”

“We will!”

Branch and his brothers explored the village for a while longer before deciding to head back to the bunker. On the way, Branch paused.

“Oh no! I completely forgot to grab some more binkleberry jam from the market! Do you guys mind waiting here for a minute while I go to grab it?”

“Yeah bro, go do what you gotta do. We'll be waiting here!”

As Branch walks away, the brothers decide to explore a bit while they wait. They make it to a small clearing just outside the path.

“So, that wasn't as disastrous as the bunker tour.” Clay kicked at a rock as Floyd sat down in the clearing. He was glad to rest his fret for a little.

“Yeah, I'm glad it's just Branch that's crazy. I don't know what I'd do if the whole village was like that.” Bruce walked around the clearing as he talked with his brothers, examining some nearby berry bushes. He grabbed one to taste.

“Tell me about it.” John flopped down onto his stomach next to Floyd.

“Guys, you shouldn't talk about Branch like that. I'll admit, the sweat thing was really weird, but he's still our baby brother.”

“Sure, but he's also literally insane. Like, should I trust him around my kids?”

“Of course you should! He's a bit unique, but he would never hurt anyone. When you get to know him, he's really sweet! He was the one who kept you together long enough to save me, right? If it wasn't for him, we never would've achieved the perfect family harmony.”

“You talk as if you know him, but you've been here as long as we have! Don't forget that you left him too.”

“Well, at least I'm trying to get to know him better! You guys aren't even trying! You're still caught up thinking that he's too weird or different without even looking at it from his perspective. We left him alone for 20 years! I don't think I could ever forgive myself.” Floyd glared at his brothers as the conversation turned heated. He would throw down if they kept insulting Branch. Bruce started to raise his voice as he walked over to where they were.

“Whatever, Floyd. You just think that you're better-” With a thwip and a crack, the brothers were lifted into the trees with a net.

“Look what you did, Bruce! Now we're stuck until Branch gets back!”

“Oh, now this is my fault? How about the crazy troll that laid this trap in the first place!”

“We don't know that it was Branch, and even if it was, I doubt he meant for us to get stuck. He did say to stay on the trail.”

“Hey guys, I'm back-” Branch looked around, but his brothers were nowhere to be found. He peered up at the net holding his brothers and grimaced, seeing the angry looks directed his way.

“Branch! Did you do this?” John was seething where he was squished against Bruce.

“Well, I didn't mean to-”

“See, Floyd? I knew it was him! Who else would have some crazy trap set up?”

“Guys, it wasn't his fault! We were the ones that went off the path!”

“I'm sorry, guys. Let me get you down.” Branch takes out Gary and presses a button to release them. They unceremoniously fall onto the ground.

“You couldn't have released us some other way?” Bruce groaned from where he was laying on the ground. Clay and John were quick to get up and glare at Branch.

Branch looked at the ground, embarrassed that his traps got in the way again.

“I'm really sorry, guys. I didn't mean for you to get caught in one of my traps.”

“It still doesn't change the fact that we were left dangling from a tree. What if we got hurt?” Branch wrapped his arms around himself, feeling chastised.

“Guys, stop! Branch said he was sorry. Just let it go.” Floyd stood between his brothers and Branch.

The others huffed as they wiped the dust off their clothes. They walked back to Branch's bunker in silence. Occasionally, Branch would risk glancing at one of his brothers. Usually he was met with a glare or he was ignored. He knew that he messed up, he just hoped that his brothers would forgive him soon. He was excited to get to know them all better, he felt bad that this was how they started to get to know him again. Since they came back into his life, it's like a piece of himself that was missing has been returned. He didn't realize just how much he missed his brothers until they were back.

During his years alone, all he wanted was for his brothers to come back. And now they are! They're back, and now he won't be alone anymore. He just hopes that the whole incident with the trap doesn't put them off. He was so excited to start having fun with them again. He was excited to have a family again.

Before they knew it, they were back at the bunker. The brothers immediately resigned for the night, explaining to Branch that they were really tired from all the tours. Fair enough. Branch was tired too. He doesn't usually spend so much time talking with others. Hopefully in the morning they wouldn't be so mad at him. Seeing them disappear into the guest room, Branch went to his own room to put Gary and himself to bed.

Walking into the guest room, Clay flopped onto his designated bed. “Today was even worse than yesterday!”

“Yeah, and that's really saying something.” JD grumbled as he sat on his bed.

“Guys, I know today was a flop, but he's probably just overwhelmed by all the sudden company! You've gotta cut him some slack.”

“Floyd, we did it your way and gave him a chance, but I really think we should go. We're not doing anyone any favors by being here. I need to get back to my perfectly normal, lovely wife.” Bruce starts to pack up his things.

“Guys, please!”

“Sorry, bro. If I stay here any longer, I might end up crazy too. No offense.” Clay was next. He didn't bring much aside from his books, so he got those quickly and waited for Bruce and John to finish packing.

As they packed, Floyd pleaded with them to stay. He doesn't want Branch to be hurt again, but he doesn't know how to stop them from leaving.

“We've made up our minds, Floyd. Are you coming or what?”

“No! I've made that mistake once. I'm not doing it again.”

“Suit yourself.” John shrugged as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.

“You guys are actually leaving?”

“Yep.”

“Without even saying goodbye first or anything?”

“Eh, too complicated. See ya Floyd. Have fun with that freak.”

Floyd clenches his jaw at John’s remark. He waves as his brothers leave the bunker. Branch didn't deserve brothers like them! He deserved so much more. How was he going to break the news? If he woke Branch up to tell him, they probably won't be able to sleep. It'll just have to wait until morning.

Chapter Text

Branch woke up around 6:00 to get ready. He had a big day planned for him and his brothers. After breakfast, they were gonna join Poppy at the beach. He already had everyone's favorite sandwiches packed and they were supposed to have perfect weather conditions today! He's never been to the beach with his brothers, since they were stuck at the Troll Tree in Bergen Town the last time they were together. He was so excited for them to get to know Poppy better. Grabbing Gary and putting him in his side pouch, Branch made his way out of his room.

It was suspiciously quiet in the bunker. From what little he knew, JD and Clay should be up by now. Maybe they were just tired from the previous day? He knew that he was still pretty tired, but at this point, he was way too excited to go back to sleep. He figured that if they were going to sleep in, he could at least make them breakfast. That would certainly remove any remaining tensions from the trap incident yesterday.

Walking into the living room, Branch could see Floyd sitting on the couch. That was unusual. Floyd liked to sleep in and that was even more true after having his talent drained. Floyd looked up at him as he walked into the room. He looked oddly nervous, Branch hoped he didn't do anything to make him uncomfortable.

“Floyd? You're up already? Are the others awake too?”

“We need to talk, Branch.” Floyd looks down at the floor, trying to figure out the best way to break the news.

“Uh, okay?” Branch sits next to him. This definitely isn't how he saw the morning going. Whatever Floyd wanted to talk about seemed serious and it was making Branch nervous. “What's up?”

“The others left.” Floyd's face scrunches up. He had to rip off the bandaid. It was the best way to get this over with.

“What?” Branch blinks a few times, thinking he may have misheard.

“They're gone, Branch.” He rests his hand on his little brother's shoulder. “I'm sorry. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to me.”

Branch takes a minute to process. He almost couldn't believe it. Well, he could believe it, but he desperately didn't want to. He genuinely thought that they were here to stay this time. How could he be so stupid?

“What do you mean ‘they're gone?’ How can they just be gone?”

“They snuck out last night. They said,” Floyd pauses, realizing that what he was about to say would hurt. “Well, they said a lot of mean things, um, about you.”

Branch tries playing it off, as if it was some kind of prank. “Ha, classic BroZone. What did they say?”

Floyd's heart breaks again as he remembers the conversations from yesterday. He almost wanted to come up with a lie, but if Branch really wants to know, why would he withhold the truth from him? Branch wasn't a baby anymore, and Floyd didn't want to patronize him by lying to him.

“Are you sure you want to know? It's not pretty.”

“Mhm.”

“Okay, well, they weren't very fond of, um, your son. After they met him, they started saying that you were insane.” Floyd stops to look at Branch before continuing. He wanted to be sure that he could handle hearing more. “And then last night, they were completely put off by the traps. When we got home, they were convinced that they'd end up crazy if they stayed, so that's why they left. They called you a freak and Bruce even said that you shouldn't be trusted around his kids.”

“I, um. Oh.” Branch clenches his fists as he attempts to hold back tears. “Was that, was that all?”

“Well,” Floyd sees the hurt in his eyes and decides it was best not to mention all the other things that they said. “Yeah.”

He laughs. “What was I expecting? Everyone leaves at some point. It's just a part of life, right Floyd?” His laughter soon turned into sobbing as he covered his face. “What's wrong with me? Why can't I get anyone to stay?”

“No, nothing is wrong with you, Branch. Everything is wrong with them! You don't deserve this. And I know I left before, but I promise you that I'll never leave again. I'm so sorry I left the first time, Branch. And I'm so, so sorry that they left you again.”

“It's not your fault, Floyd, it's mine. If I hadn't been so weird around them, they would still be here! I just thought that nothing could get them to leave because, well, they're my brothers. But I guess no amount of love makes staying with me worth the effort.” Now Floyd and Branch were both crying. Branch should have known that Floyd would be hurt too. They were his brothers longer than they were Branch's. He felt so guilty for causing them to leave. “I'm sorry, Floyd.”

“Don't apologize for their mistakes!” Floyd took Branch’s hands and made him look him in the eyes. “Listen carefully, Branch. None of this is your fault. You deserve better! They never should have left you the first time, and they definitely shouldn't have left you now. You're our baby brother. We should be there for you no matter what.”

“Even if I'm a freak?”

“You're not a freak. You know what I think? I think your sweat collection is pretty cool. And don't even get me started on that treadmill! It was super efficient! You'd have to be really smart to make something like that. And if there was ever an emergency and we had no water, you would be the first troll I'd go to! You're super caring. I mean, you kept grandma's cake in almost pristine condition for 20 years. Not only that, but you care about our safety more than anything else. All of those traps are ingenious! I feel so much safer here knowing that you are protecting all of us. That doesn't make you a freak. That makes you my brother. My super prepared, intelligent, and occasionally crazy brother.”

Branch wipes away his tears. “You really mean that?”

“Yeah. I do. Now, come on! We don't want to keep Poppy waiting for us!”

“But we don't have the others!”

“Who needs them? I have all I need right here with you.” Branch gives Floyd a small smile. It still hurt that the others left, he didn't think it'd ever stop hurting. But now he knew that he had someone who would never leave him.

Chapter Text

“Poppy!” Branch waves at Poppy in the distance. He and Floyd were carrying their packs with their favorite sandwiches. Even if it was just the 3 of them, Branch was determined to give his brother a good time.

“Hey, Branch and Floyd!” She looks confused when she doesn't see the rest of his brothers. “Wait, where are the others?”

“Oh, uh, they left.” Branch fidgets with the hem of his vest, avoiding eye contact.

“Oh, well when will they be back?”

“They won't be. Apparently I'm too much of a freak for them.”

“They really said that?”

Branch grimaces. “Among other things.”

“I'm so sorry, Branch. That's terrible! Are you okay?” Poppy goes in to give Branch a hug. It takes a lot of effort on Branch's part to keep from crying again. He wanted the rest of the day to be better than this morning, even though he hurts from the absence of his brothers.

“Yeah. I'll get over it eventually.” He really hoped that was true. He was trying to stay in the moment and have fun, but his mind kept going back to how his brothers were supposed to be here. Hopefully it'll be easier to ignore once they get into the swing of things.

“Well, you still have us! Whether they're here or not, we can still have fun!” Poppy’s enthusiasm made him feel a lot better.

“Yeah, Branch. We'll be here with you no matter what.” Branch couldn't help the big smile that spread across his face.

“Thanks, guys. Now let's go set up our spot!”

They walk along the beach, looking for the perfect spot to set up. Finding it, the group put together the umbrella and laid down the blanket. Branch and Floyd made sure to keep the bags holding the food far away from the sand. Sandy sandwiches were the worst.

“I just realized, what are we gonna do with the extra sandwiches?”

“We could feed them to the seagulls? Or to Branch.”

“I vote to feed them to me. Birds don't deserve it. They're evil.” Floyd laughed at Branch's statement.

“How are birds evil?” Poppy groaned loudly as Branch geared up to tell his sad, sad tale.

“It all started when I was but a small trolling-”

“Guys! Our sandwiches are gonna get cold.”

“They're sandwiches. They’re supposed to be cold-”

“They're gonna get cold! So eat!”

Poppy shoves one of his brother's sandwiches into Branch's mouth. She would do anything not to hear that stupid bird story again. Branch glares at her as he chews. How rude.

Floyd grabs his sandwich, laughing at his brother's antics. It was nice to see his brother messing around with Poppy. For a moment, he was beginning to worry that all he did was work on the bunker and collect sweat. As proud as he was of Branch’s work ethic, he still needed to take care of himself and relax.

“I bet you guys didn't know this, but I'm a master at sandcastle building.” Branch puffed up as he boasted about his skills.

“Not better than me. I've been the reigning sandcastle champ for the past 6 years and counting.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Oh, you're on!”

Poppy and Branch station themselves on opposite sides of the blanket, preparing to build their sandcastles. Floyd was in the middle, waiting to dictate the winner.

It was the sandcastle competition of the century! Poppy and Branch are facing off to see who is the real “Sandcastle Champion.” Who will take home the title?

“You're going down, Poppy!”

“Please, Branch. You have no idea what you're in for.”

“Get ready! Get set! Go!”

And the competition has begun! Branch frantically sweeps a few mounds of sand together, while Poppy lays out the base of her castle. Poppy looks over to see that Branch just made 3 mounds of sand with sticks sticking out the top to resemble flags. She rolls her eyes, laughing to herself as she changes her plan and makes one pile of sand instead. For the finishing touch, she puts a singular seashell on top.

“I'm done! Prepare to taste losing! Because you're not winning. So instead of tasting victory you taste losing. Yeah. That makes sense.” Branch crosses his arms as he looks at Poppy's sand.

Floyd just looks disappointed. He raises a brow at their masterfully crafted piles of sand. With all of their talk, he expected a lot more gusto from their castles. He examined each one more closely. Branch's is definitely bigger than Poppy's and has 3 sticks on top. Poppy's was much smaller, but she put a seashell on hers instead. It wasn't a very hard choice.

“and the winner is… Branch!”

Branch jumps up at the announcement. “BOOM! In your face, Poppy! Sand master right here, I'm the best!”

“Sure, ‘Sand Master’. Clearly, my seashell should have won.”

“Well, my triple decker master sandcastle was the obvious choice.”

“Whatever you say. We all know I won in spirit.”

“Mhmm, sure. If that helps you sleep at night. Which it won’t.”

“Would you two stop bickering and come get in the water with me? I wanna try my hand at surfing.” Floyd gets up from the blanket, looking at them expectantly. Branch and Poppy give one last playful glare to each other before they both make a run for the water, Floyd quickly following.

“Ha! I got here first.” Poppy stuck her tongue out at Branch as they got a few feet into the water.

“What? No you didn't.”

“Did.”

“Did not!

“Did!

“Did not-”

Poppy splashes at Branch, who sputtered as he wiped the water from his face. Floyd gave a long sigh, seeing where this was going.

“Oh, it's on!”

Chaos reigned as Poppy and Branch splashed each other with water. After an unluckily timed splash, Floyd got caught in the crossfire. Poppy and Branch froze and they slowly turned to Floyd, who had a very unimpressed expression. Before either could react, he used his hair to completely soak them both with a wave.

“You think you can step up to me? I'm the oldest, so I'm the best.”

“Bring it, old man.” Floyd tackled Branch into the water as Poppy cheered him on.

“Kick his butt, Floyd! Woo! That's what you get for trying to step up to the Queen, Branch!”

Floyd and Branch wrestled in the water, both were careful not to accidentally drown the other. Floyd held Branch in a headlock as he tried, and failed, to escape.

“Do you yield?”

“I yield, I yield!”

“Who's the best?”

“You are! You're the best!” Floyd let him go, dropping him into the water. Branch got his footing and pouted at Floyd and Poppy. “You guys are mean. I'm gonna go hang out with Gary under the umbrella. At least he loves me!”

“Yeah you go do that, Branch. Us winners will just hang here in the water for a bit.” Floyd and Poppy laughed as Branch stomped over to where Gary was sunbathing on the blanket.

“It's so nice to see him having fun like this.” Floyd fondly smiled at where Branch was having a very animated discussion with Gary. Every now and then you could hear him laugh loudly at something Gary must have said. Or, more accurately, what Branch thought Gary said.

“Yeah. I was expecting him to be more out of it, but you really cheered him up just by being here, Floyd.”

“I did?”

“Yeah! I've never seen him have so much fun. He really looks up to you.” Poppy had her eyes trained on her boyfriend. He was such a goof, and she loved him so much. She was beyond thankful that Floyd was here to help him.

“You think so? I just didn't want to make the same mistake by leaving him again. I want to be there for him, even when things get tough.”

“I'm glad that Branch has someone like you around. He needs to connect with more trolls. I just wish that the rest of your brothers would've been more open to connect with him too.”

“To be honest, I don't want them to be close to Branch. The things they said about him were… pretty bad. I didn't even share half of it and Branch was really hurt.”

“I get it. I'm not sure if I want them around him, either. Branch has enough to deal with as it is. I don't like seeing him hurt, either.”

Poppy and Floyd pause their conversation as they see Branch approaching with his son held high above the water.

“Hey, guys! I think we should start heading back home. Gary is getting pretty tired.”

“Sounds good to me. Branch, do you mind if I stay the night? We could have a super fun sleepover! And I've had such a great time getting to know Floyd more. I don't really want to leave yet.”

“I don't see why not. I should have an available bed in the guest room if you're fine rooming with Floyd. Just be careful not to wake Gary. He gets cranky if he doesn't get to bed on time.”

“Okay.”

The three made it back to shore to pack up their stuff. Once they were back in the bunker, Poppy and Floyd made themselves comfortable as Branch went to grab some board games. Gary was sat next to Floyd as he and Poppy waited.

“So, Gary. How are you?” Floyd looked over at Gary, despite him being Branch’s son he hadn't had much chance to get to know him. “Oh, well I'm doing fine, Gary. Thanks for asking.” Floyd nodded along to something Gary said. Or at least, what Floyd thought he said. “You're very polite! Looks like your dad taught you well.” Floyd patted Gary’s head.

Poppy watched on from where she was sitting, trying and failing to smother an amused smile. She remembered when she was first introduced to Gary. She was a bit weirded out, but she quickly warmed up to Branch's son. Anyone else in the village that knows about him tends to stay away from Branch. There's been a lot of whispers speculating about whether or not he was… okay, and she knew that Branch heard them.

To be honest, she was pretty afraid when his brothers came back to stay with him. She knew that Branch had his quirks and she couldn't help but love him more for them, but she knew that not everyone saw it the same way as she did. This was one of the few times that she hated being right. She honestly couldn't be more grateful for Floyd. If he hadn't stayed, she's not sure how Branch would manage.

“Okay, so we have Yahtzee, Rummikub, Upwords, and Sorry.” Branch came back into the room with the games stacked in his arms. He set them in the middle before sitting down between Poppy and Floyd.

“Ooh! I say we do Yahtzee!”

“No, we should go with Sorry.”

“Shall we settle this over a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors?”

“Don't bring a fifth game into the mix. Since this is my bunker, I say we go with Rummikub.”

“Fair enough. Let's grab our 14 tiles.”

Branch crushed it at Rummikub, winning 3 rounds before they moved onto Upwords and then Sorry. Before long, they were struggling to keep their eyes open. Floyd and Poppy left to sleep in the guest room, while Branch took his son to bed.

Even though he had a lot of fun today, he still really missed his other brothers. This day was planned out for all of them to be a family again, but it seems like only Branch and Floyd wanted to be a family. Floyd said it wasn't his fault that they left, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was. He was the one who overwhelmed them with Gary and all the other weird things he does. He knew that he was a freak, he didn't need his brothers to tell him that. He just thought that they'd stick around anyways. Looking back, it was a stupid idea.

He sighs as he plugs Gary into his charger. He shouldn't think that way. He should think positively, like Poppy. If Floyd hasn't left by now, then nothing could get him to leave. He would also always have Poppy with him. And even without his brothers, today was a lot of fun.

Who knows? Maybe it would've been worse if his brothers stuck around. They obviously never cared about him in the first place. And as much as that thought hurt, it was also a bit freeing to know for sure what his brothers thought of him. Tucking himself under the covers, Branch flicks off the light. Even though he lost three of his brothers overnight, he was excited to hang out more with his favorite brother tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Poppy wakes up and notices Floyd sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor. He was probably still thinking about his brothers.

“Good morning, Floyd!”

“‘Morning, Poppy.”

He doesn't look up.

“Is everything alright? You seem a little down in the dumps.”

“I guess. I just can't stop thinking. I know it's been 20 years and all, but I can't believe that my brothers would just get up and leave again. Branch was always the favorite, we all loved him so much. And I know that I still love Branch, but do they?” Floyd shakes his head. “I don't know, Poppy. I just can't wrap my head around it.”

“You can't control your brothers, Floyd, but you can still control what you do. You chose to stay with Branch and it made a big difference! He'd be absolutely crushed if you had left too. Who knows, he might have even turned gray again.”

“Wait, what?”

Poppy covered her mouth. She completely forgot that he didn't know Branch was gray! Would Branch be okay with him knowing?

“Uhm, I meant that he was… ray! A ray of sunshine!” Floyd raised a brow.

“Poppy, I'm not stupid.”

She sighed, knowing Floyd couldn't be fooled. It was a sad attempt, anyways. “Fine. When your guys’ grandma died, he turned gray. It wasn't until last Trollstice that he regained his colors.”

“Oh my gosh… but that happened about 20 years ago! Poppy, please tell me he wasn't gray for 20 years!” Poppy is silent as she looks to the side. “This is my fault! I never should have left!” Floyd groans as he covers his face with his hands.

“Floyd, don't do that to yourself. Branch is really happy that you're here and that's what matters, right? You can't change the past.”

“That doesn't change the fact that I should've been there.”

“That's true, but sulking about it isn't helping anything. You're doing a lot for him just by being here. He really loves you, and it's plain to see that you really love him. That's what matters the most right now.” Poppy gives him a reassuring smile before suddenly turning serious. “But if you even think about leaving him, you'll have me to deal with. And trust me, I won't go easy on you. I'm the queen. If I wanted, I could get you in a lot of trouble.” Floyd gulps as Poppy gives him an intense look. He nods frantically.

“Yes, ma'am.”

They look up as Branch opens the door.

“Good morning, guys! Breakfast is ready!”

Poppy and Floyd leave for the kitchen and sit down at the table as Branch brings the food over to them.

“Thanks, Branch. This is really good!” Floyd spoke in between bites. Branch was a really good cook. Makes sense, since he was apparently alone and gray for 20 years.

“I'm glad you like it.” Branch smiles at the praise, but the feeling quickly goes away once he looks at all the empty chairs. It served as a painful reminder of his brothers’ absence.

“So, what are the plans for today?” Floyd distracted him from his less than happy thoughts.

“Well, I was gonna have the rest of the Snack Pack come over today, but maybe I should cancel.”

“What? Why would you cancel it?” Poppy and Floyd both gave Branch confused looks.

“Because the whole point of them coming over was to meet my brothers. It's kind of pointless without them here.”

“Floyd is here, and I'm sure he would love to meet them!” Floyd nodded to what Poppy said.

“Yeah, I still want to meet your friends, Branch.”

“Fine, I won't cancel. It's just kind of embarrassing that the others left. I told them they would all be here.” Branch glared at his plate, picking at the food with his fork.

“They'll understand, Branch. It's not your fault that your brothers left. The Snack Pack are your friends and they'll support you no matter what!”

“Thanks, Poppy.” Branch gave her a weak smile. While he was comforted by her words, he still felt ashamed that his brothers left. The Snack Pack knew that Branch was weird. What if they supported his brother's decision to abandon him again? He wouldn't put it past them, with the amount of times they've teased and mocked him over the years. What if they finally realized that they were better off without him?

“Are you going to finish eating?” Branch was pulled from his thoughts by Floyd. He looked up to see that they had already finished their food and were cleaning up the kitchen. He could have sworn that their plates were still full a moment ago.

“Oh, yeah, I'm not that hungry right now. Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for, bitty bro! Let me just grab your plate for you then so I can start on the dishes.”

“Don't worry about it, Floyd. I can do them.”

“Nonsense! You made breakfast, so I should clean up. I would feel really bad if I didn't do anything. Anyways, you can use this chance to have some alone time with your little girlfriend over there.” At the mention of Poppy, Branch gave in. Who was he to deny some Poppy time?

“Fine. Join us once you're done.”

“Will do.”

Branch joins Poppy in the living room, sitting next to her on his couch. He keeps his gaze fixed on the wall in front of him. It should be his brothers here with him and Poppy. They barely got to know her before they left. They barely got to know him.

“Branch?” He jolts, turning to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“Are you doing alright?” He can see the concern in her eyes. He hates worrying her.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Is there anything that you would like to talk about?”

“No, not really.”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I'm always here for you.” She takes his hand, softly rubbing the top of it with her thumb.

“I know.” Branch sighs before letting down his guard. He couldn't hide from Poppy, not that he wanted to anymore. He promised that he'd be more open with her. “I guess I'm just… sad. I really wanted things to go well with my brothers, but I messed everything up.”

“Branch, you didn't mess anything up! You were just being yourself. If they don't like you for you, then they aren't worth your time.” Poppy gestures with her free hand as she talks. He can tell that she's passionate about this. It makes him feel better to know that she truly believes that. Still, he can't shake the upset feeling that settled on him the moment he realized they were gone.

“I know, but I still want to have a relationship with them. They're my brothers. They've known me since I was a baby.”

“I'm sorry that it didn't work out the way you planned. You're right, they should be here. I wish there was something I could do to get them to stay.”

“Me too. I'm just so angry that they left. I was just a baby when they abandoned me. Both times they left, they barely even knew me. I can't help but be so infuriated that both times they decided I wasn't worth it.”

“I know, and you have a right to be angry. But holding a grudge isn't hurting them, it's hurting you.”

Branch looks away from Poppy. He didn't want to talk about the subject anymore. He knew he was holding a grudge. He’s been holding it for 20 years! He just wanted to forget about his brothers and move on. If only that wasn't so hard to do.

“I'm done!” Floyd walks into the room. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No, we were just talking.” Poppy shot Branch a look that read, ‘this isn't over.’ He ignored her for now. “The Snack Pack should be here soon.”

“Oh, good! Is there anything we should do before they come?”

“No, we're good. We can just sit here and relax for now.” Branch patted the seat next to him. There wasn't much more room on the couch, but he wasn't against squeezing in the middle to get Floyd in. He could go for some brother cuddles.

Floyd sat down, squishing Branch between him and Poppy. Poppy laughed as she threw an arm around Branch, pulling him into her side. He leaned against her, pulling his feet onto the couch and resting them on Floyd's lap.

“Your hair is so soft, Branch.” Poppy ran her fingers through his hair. “What do you use?”

“Oh, just mayonnaise. It really enhances the shine.”

“Wow. I've never heard of using mayo in your hair. Wouldn't that make it stink?” Floyd looked over at Branch and Poppy, leaning over to feel Branch's hair.

“That's why you gotta get the scented mayonnaise. It smells like daisies.”

“Really? I didn't know that they made scented mayonnaise.”

“Not to brag, but I make my own mayonnaise.”

“No way! What's it made out of?”

“Just some sweat, eggs, and a little bit of butter.”

Their very interesting conversation was cut short as they heard a knock on the floor door. Branch pressed a button on Gary to open the door. He didn't feel like getting up right now.

“Hey everyone!” Branch gave a small wave as Poppy greeted their friends.

“Hey guys! You guys look comfy.” The Snack Pack filtered into the room and sat down around the couch.

“Very.” Biggie discreetly took a picture of the scene.

“So, where are the rest of your brothers? I've been dying to meet them.” Chenille bats her eyelashes.

“Yeah, about that…” Branch winced as they expectantly turned to him.

“They left again.” Floyd jumps in to explain the situation, seeing that his brother was getting uncomfortable.

“What? Why would they leave?” Smidge and the Pack give Branch a concerned look as he avoids their eyes.

“Apparently, I freaked them out with all of my weirdness.” Poppy ran a comforting hand through his hair, pulling him closer into her.

“But your weirdness is one of your best qualities!” Smidge tried to cheer up her friend, but it only served to make him feel worse.

“Wow, thanks a lot, Smidge.” Branch rolled his eyes. He knew she meant no harm by it, but it still hurt that she thought he was weird.

“You're welcome.” Smidge smiled at Branch, oblivious to his sarcastic tone. Branch and Poppy looked at her fondly, if a little exasperated.

“Well, this one stayed!” Cooper wildly gestured to Floyd.

“Yeah. We can still meet one of your brothers. I'm not sure if I want to meet the rest of them anyway.” Suki scowls at the thought of Branch's other brothers.

“I guess.” Branch sighs. “Snack Pack, this is Floyd. Floyd, meet Smidge, Cooper, Guy Diamond, Satin, Chenille, DJ Suki, Biggie, and Mr. Dinkles.”

“Meep!”

“It's nice to finally meet all of you! Branch has told me a lot about you guys.”

“Well, he told us nothing about you.” Satin shoves Chenille for her rude comment. “What? It's true.”

“That's fair. I wasn't a good brother to him until recently.” Floyd looked away, ashamed.

The Snack Pack sits there in awkward silence. What do they even say?

“So, wanna play some games?”

“Yes! We thought you'd never ask. I'm so bored that even your grandma games sound fun right now.”

“They are not grandma games, they're strategic.”

“Where'd you get them?”

“No comment.”

Branch regrettably gets up to grab the games. After an intense game of rock paper scissors, they decided to play Mexican Train. Poppy won almost every round. However, it was rounded out later when they played Sorry and she lost almost every game.

“It's already 9 pm? It feels like we just started playing!”

“Oh no! It's past Gary's bed time!” Branch rushes to clean up the games so he can put his precious baby boy to bed. “He's gonna be so cranky in the morning.”

“We better get going so you can get him to bed. I need to get Mr. Dinkles to sleep too.”

“We had a spectacular time, Branch. It was great meeting you, Floyd. You're really cool.
You should totally come to one of my glitter parties sometime.” Guy gave Floyd a fist bump before joining the rest of the Snack Pack on the elevator.

“Bye guys! We should do this again!” Poppy waves as they leave the bunker. She turns to Branch and Floyd as they finish cleaning everything up. “That was a pretty successful visit. Everyone got along really well!”

“Yeah. I'm really glad that everyone had fun. It seems dumb now, but I was kinda nervous that they wouldn't like me.”

“They loved you, Floyd! Who wouldn't?” Poppy laughed as Floyd blushed, embarrassed.

“Yeah, Floyd, who wouldn't?” Branch joined in, throwing an arm around his brother before yawning. “Well, I better be getting to bed with Gary now.” He releases his brother to give Poppy a hug.

“Yeah, you do that. I love you, Branchifer. We'll see you in the morning.” Branch pulls away and smiles at Poppy, blushing a bit at the casual declaration of love from her.

“I love you too, Poppifer.”

“Love you, little bro and nephew! You two sleep well.” Branch grinned at Floyd, happy that he was acknowledging Gary. He could tell that Gary was happy.

“Love you, Floyd! See you two in the morning.” Branch walked away to put Gary to bed.

All in all, it was a very good day. He still wished his brothers were there to meet the Snack Pack, but at least he'd always have Floyd.

Chapter Text

Clay stepped through the gates of the golf course, excited to be back home with Viva and the Putt Putt Trolls. After the week he's had, he was ready to get back to work and forget he ever reunited with his brothers.

He greeted his fellow trolls as he walked to his and Viva’s home. Some of them seemed confused that he was home so early, but he didn't want to offer an explanation to them. He just wanted to see Viva.

“Clay!” Viva tackle hugged him as he walked through the door of their home. “I thought you weren't gonna be home for another week!”

“Yeah. Some things came up.”

“Oh, is everything okay?”

“Yeah! Everything's great!”

Viva looked at him, unconvinced. Something was off.

“Why do I not believe you?”

“I don't know.” Clay looked away, suddenly nervous.

“What happened, Clay.” He winced at the hard tone. Usually Viva was very bubbly, but when it came to secrets, she took it very seriously.

“It's just… I had to get out of there, Viva. Branch is literally crazy! He has a remote for a son and he collects sweat. Sweat! Who does that?”

“Wait, so you left because of Branch?”

“Well, yeah-”

“But he was so sweet when he was here! And don't pretend like you're the most normal guy, Clay. You wear sweater rompers and sleep in the admin building.”

“You don't understand! I would've gone crazy if I stayed any longer.”

“He's your brother! I couldn't imagine leaving my sister like that. What were you thinking?”

“That he's insane and I don't want to catch his crazies?” Viva gave him an incredulous look, as if he was being the ridiculous one.

“Clay, don't you have any idea what he must be feeling right now? You left him once 20 years ago and he was so happy when you all said you'd stay with him! He wanted to build a relationship with you and you just left him again!” It was weird seeing Viva all worked up. He doesn't think he's ever seen her this angry.

“I did the right thing, Viva! You didn't see all the things that I saw. He thinks that the remote talks to him! And also, he still has a slice of Grandma's fluffleberry cake! That thing is like 20 years old, and he's planning on eating it someday!”

“Aww, that's actually really sweet.”

“No! It's not sweet, it's weird! And gross!”

“Well, that's what you think. I think it's precious that he misses his grandma that much.”

“You just don't get it!” Clay raised his voice before storming off, wanting to avoid a yelling match. He was just so frustrated that Viva was taking Branch's side.

He stomped into the cafeteria, where they kept most of the rations for their small community. Counting rations always calmed him down when he was upset. It was straightforward and practical. It also served to remind him that the Putt Putt Trolls were well off and taken care of. This time, though, it only seemed to make him feel worse. Didn't Branch also have a lot of rations? His supply might even rival their's, and he only had it for himself. Clay had to admit, he was kind of impressed with his little brother's preparedness.

Maybe Viva had a point. He might have been too quick to judge Branch. The whole sweat thing was still pretty gross, though. But didn't that just show that Branch wanted to be prepared for anything? And it was a good way to recycle water in case of an emergency. There's no such thing as gross when it comes to survival.

And the fact that Branch kept Grandma Rosiepuff’s cake in almost perfect condition was really impressive. It was a little endearing that he still had it just to remember his time with their grandma. Even if it was moldy, it was probably one of the only things left of her. He must have loved her a lot…

What has he done? Branch was so happy to have them back. He could tell that Branch was overjoyed to have a family again. How could he take that away from him?

If Clay was honest with himself, he thinks that a part of him was scared to get close to Branch again. He already messed up so much just by leaving, how much more could he hurt Branch by staying? In hindsight, he was being stupid. Where was the logic in that? Wouldn't it just hurt more to get his hopes up then leave again? Clay felt tears well up in his eyes as his guilt and shame overwhelmed him. He let out a sob, thinking about how much he must have hurt baby Branch again. He had to make this right! Abandoning his task, he fled the cafeteria and ran back into his and Vivas home.

“Viva!”

“Clay? What's wrong?” Viva stopped her scrapbooking to look up at him. Her tone was still a little annoyed, not entirely over their argument.

“I made a huge mistake. I never should've left.” He rubs his face. “What do I do?”

“Go back and apologize.”

“Are you kidding? There's no way Branch would let me back in his bunker. Not after what I did to him.”

“Hm, well we were invited to the music festival in Troll Village next week. Branch will definitely be there.”

“I can't just show up like that!”

“It's worth a shot. What other options do you have?”

“I guess we can try. Just don't expect it to go well. It'll be a miracle if he lets me near him.” Clay gave Viva an uncertain look. He's not sure that he can do this. However, his doubts ease when Viva smiles at him.

“I'm sure you'll do fine. He's your brother. Isn't he worth the effort?”

“Yeah. He is.”

“Honey, I'm home!”

“Daddy! Daddy!” Bruce was quickly swept up into his children's arms, taking turns to hug each of them. He was relieved that their pinkeye had healed quickly. He wasn't sure where he would stay if they still had it.

“Welcome home, dear! You weren’t gone long. I thought you wouldn't be back until next week.”

“That was the plan, but I missed you guys so much that I cut my visit short.” He gave Brandy a smile as she picked him up to give him a kiss.

“Oh, really? You stopped visiting with your brother, who you haven't seen in 20 years, just because you missed us?” Brandy raised a brow. “As flattered as I am, I doubt that's the whole story.”

“But it's true!”

“Kids, go play outside for a bit while mommy and daddy have a talk.” Brandy waved the children away, most of them tripping over each other on the way out the door. She waits for their yelling to get further away before questioning her husband. “Be honest, Bruce, what happened? Was it John Dory?”

“Well, no. It was Branch. He wasn't at all what I was expecting. He's completely lost it! He has a son-”

“He does? That's amazing!” Brandy lights up before Bruce interrupts her.

“No, not a real son! He's a remote control named Gary! He thinks it can talk!” She gives him a bewildered look.

“I'll admit, that's a bit weird.” It kind of reminds her of all the imaginary friends her children like to make.

“Yeah! And then he has all these jars full of sweat, and not just his sweat, but his friends’ sweat too! He drinks it, Brandy. He drinks his friends' sweat! And they're okay with it!” They both look a little disgusted at the mention of drinking sweat.

“Sounds like you've had an exciting few days.”

“Exciting is one way to put it.”

“So what did he do to get you to leave?” Even with all his weird eccentricities, she doesn't really see them as enough reason to abandon him again. The way she sees it, Branch sounded like he really needs a support system. All of these behaviors really concerned her.

“That is what he did. He was just too weird! His bunker was really freaky...”

“His bunker?”

“Yeah, he lives underground.”

“Sounds lonely. Did he have anyone else with him?”

“As far as I know, he was alone for a pretty long time. He just recently started getting out more.”

“Sounds to me like he could really use some love and support right now. If I was alone for what's sounding like a concerning amount of time, I'd probably start talking to things too. It sounds like he was desperate for a friend.”

“Yeah, well, that's what he has Poppy there for. And now he has Floyd too.”

“I don't know, Bruce. He seemed pretty excited to be singing with you and John Dory earlier. And from what you've described, it sounds like he's really scared. Why else would he resort to drinking sweat and isolating himself underground?”

“I guess…I don't know Brandy. If I get close to him, is he someone I want around the kids?”

“I think that he'd be good around the kids. They took quite a liking to him earlier. They wouldn't stop talking about how cool he was after you left.”

“Really? But what if he's a bad influence on them? What if they start collecting each other's sweat?!”

“Is that any worse than what they already do? Just last night, little Sally was trying to collect Jackie's tears to make a mud pie.” Brandy smiled at Bruce, hoping that her point was getting across to him. She knew that if he didn't make amends, he would regret it. “No matter how weird Branch may be, you should still be there for him. Try putting yourself in his shoes. What might he be feeling right now?”

“Um, I guess sad? Maybe even angry? I mean, we did leave him again after promising to stay.” Bruce pauses to think about what he just said. It kind of reminded him of what John did to him. JD used to be his best friend. He promised to always be there, but then John started getting stressed out about the band, until he eventually left them. “Oh no… what have I done? He's all alone again because of me! I'm just like JD. How could I do this to my baby brother?”

“You still have time to make things right.”

“But how? Floyd probably won't even let me near him after all the things I said.”

“Is there an event or something that you can meet him at? It might be best to stay away from where he lives to give Branch a safe space.”

“Well, I did get an invitation to some music festival in Troll Village. Everyone in BroZone was invited, so he should be there.”

“That's a great idea! I can hold down the fort a little longer while you're away. And when you do apologize, bring him over. The kids have been dying to properly meet their Uncle Branch. They think he's a famous music star.” She laughed a bit at her kids. She loved all of them, and they were all overjoyed by the sudden additions to the family.

“Okay, but I can’t guarantee that he'll come back here. I don't think he'll want anything to do with me.”

“You might be surprised.” Brandy gave a knowing smile. She had a good feeling about this.

John was relaxing in the grass next to Rhonda, who was listening to him ramble about his visit.

“And I was thinking, there's no way I can stay here! I might actually catch Branch’s weird brand of crazy.” He looked over at Rhonda, listening to what she had to say about the situation, or at least what he thought she said.

“Yeah, I guess I was kinda mean, but could you blame me? Everything about him was a red flag. I had to get out of there!” JD gave Rhonda an incredulous look.

“You don't get it. He collected jars upon jars of sweat! And he drinks It! And don't even get me started on Gary. He's Branch's son, who isn't even alive! He's just a remote! And he thinks it talks to him! He's actually insane.”

John stares at Rhonda for a few minutes before gasping– “Oh my realization… you're my Gary!” He looks down at his hands. “Does this mean I'm like Branch? Or Branch is like me?” John sat there for a moment in shock. The weapons, the over preparedness, Gary. Everything that he made fun of him for, he does as well. How could he be so mean to Branch's son? What was he thinking, leaving Bitty B again? He was the baby of the family. He's supposed to be the most protected and loved out of all his brothers, and he left him alone again.

“I've made a terrible mistake! I have to make things right. But how, Rhonda? How?” He stops to listen to Rhonda before throwing his hands in frustration. “Gah! I'm doing it again!”

“Wait, I know! The music festival is next week, there's no way he won't be there! I can catch him and Gary there and apologize and then everything will be okay again.” John Dory jumps up and sprints inside of Rhonda, quickly revving her up to make the journey back home. “I'm coming for you, Bitty B! And I'm never leaving you or your unique son again!”

Chapter Text

“Did you get the lights for me, Branch?” Poppy stood on a ladder, setting up decorations for the music festival.

“Yeah, they're right here. You wanted the blue and purple ones, right?” Branch held the lights up to her.

“Yep! Thanks, Branch.” Poppy grabbed the lights, stringing them around the lampposts.

“Have you guys seen the tablecloths? I thought I put them on the stage, but somebody moved them!” Floyd threw his hands up, frustrated. He's been looking for them everywhere.

“No, I haven't seen them anywhere. Did you check the supply closet? Maybe someone put them away.” Branch kept a close eye on Poppy as she leaned over the ladder.

“No. I'll be right back!” Floyd rushes for the supply closet, leaving his friends to decorate.

“Isn't this gonna be great?”

“Yeah. I'm really excited! I can't believe that you convinced H.U.G.G to play.”

“Yeah, me too! It's gonna be awesome! Kismet also agreed to a set, right?”

“Yeah, we have a little something prepared for tonight.”

Floyd runs back to his friends, gasping for air. “They're not in the closet.” His hands start shaking. “They could be anywhere! We can't have a good festival without the tablecloths! How are people supposed to eat? On the gross, bare tables???”

“Woah, Floyd, I think you're taking this a bit too far. Don't worry, man! Relax.” Branch patted Floyd's head.

“But without the tablecloths, this festival is gonna be a flop! And it will be all my fault! Is that what you want, Branch?” Branch and Poppy shared a look of concern.

“Maybe you should go and relax. We don't need the cloths.” Branch set a hand on Floyd's shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

“No! I won't stop until the tablecloths are found and properly placed on the tables!” Before Poppy and Branch could get a word in, he was gone. He'll be fine. Probably.

“Wow, I see where you get it from, Branch.”

“What? I don't act like that! I am calm, cool, and collected at all times. Unless Gary goes missing. Then we're in deep waters.” Gary beeped at the mention of his name. Branch gave him a couple of head pats from where he was sitting in his holder.

“Speaking of Gary, are you ready to turn these lights on?” Gary's buttons flash. He was excited to turn on the lights and see the festival light up.

“What was that, Gary? You're ready to turn on the lights?” Branch grabbed Gary from his belt, finger hovering over the button. He waited a moment as his son grew impatient. He'll just have to push the button himself!

“Gary! You did it all by yourself! Oh, daddy’s so proud!” Branch looked at Gary with lights in his eyes, giving Gary all of the headpats. Poppy looked on, slightly freaked out, but happy for her boys. How long has Gary actually been sentient? She could've sworn he was just a remote yesterday.

“Guys! Guys!” They look over to see Floyd hanging upside down from a nearby pod.
“I still can't find the tablecloths!”

“Floyd! How did you get up there? Better question, why are you up there?” Poppy was kind of impressed. And slightly concerned.

“With the power of determination, Poppy! I always find a way!”

“Do you have a way down?”

“The power of determination!”

“Want any help?”

“Determination!”

“Okay then.”

And the festivities have begun! Poppy and Branch walked around, admiring the venue. The lights were much more beautiful in the evening. Trolls were milling around, enjoying the various booths and games. Branch looked around for Floyd, seeing him talking to Thistle at his glitter cakes booth. Branch grabbed Poppy’s hand as they made their way to them.

“Did you take my tablecloths??” Floyd slams his hand on the table, squinting at a suspiciously unconcerned Thistle.

“No, friend. It looks like you could use a glitter cake to calm your mind.” Thistle gestured to his display of various flavors.

“Gah!” Floyd grunts, slapping a cupcake out of Biggie’s hand.

“My cupcake! Hold me, Mr. Dinkles!”

“Meep.”

“Floyd, calm down. They're just tablecloths.”

“Just tablecloths?” Floyd laughs hysterically. This is starting to kind of scare Poppy. “Just tablecloths? Are you hearing this, Branch? They're not just tablecloths! Think of the poor, hungry troll who just wants to sit and enjoy his dinner. Without a tablecloth, he has to eat on the disgusting, dreadful ground! Either that, or face the overwhelming guilt of dirtying someone's precious table! And who can provide those tablecloths? Me, that's who. And that's what I intend to do, no matter how hard it is. Even if I have to sow my own tablecloths, I will get that poor troll a tablecloth! For the trolls!” Floyd catches sight of Satin and Chenille, running to them.

“I'm starting to think this is getting out of hand.”

Branch watches Floyd run away before shrugging. “Tell me about it. He always gets like this when he fails at doing a task. It's like he's a completely different troll! I remember this one time he completely ruined Clay's birthday party by freaking out and throwing the cake at Grandma." He laughed at the memory. "She was so mad.”

"Remind me not to plan any parties with him." She laughed before looking to where the stage was. “So, the music is about to start. Wanna find a seat before it gets too crowded?”

“Sure. Lead the way, your highness.”

Poppy grabs Branch’s hand, leading him through the crowded field. She stops in her tracks as she spots a certain group of trolls. Oh no. She turns Branch around before he could see them, quickly walking him over to where Kismet was sitting.

“On second thought, it might be nice for you to spend some time with your band before the show! You were just telling me the other day that you wanted to hang out with them more.”

“Yeah, that is true-”

“Great, awesome, I gotta go do something real quick! Be back soon!” Branch stared, bewildered at Poppy's sudden change in attitude and subsequent disappearance.

“Hey dude! Are you hanging with us today?”

“I guess so.” Branch shrugged it off for later as he sat with his band.

Poppy rushed back to where she last saw them, only to find them gone. She ran back to the main venue area where all of the food was, frantically searching for them. They could not be allowed near Branch! Most of the trolls were in the field, so it was easy to spot the group talking at one of the back tables. Before she could confront them, Floyd spotted them and ran over. She was quick to catch up, not wanting to miss anything.

“Clay? Bruce? JOHN DORY?? I knew it! You guys stole my tablecloths! You sabotaged me! Oh, you're in for it now!” Floyd puts his fists up, ready to throw hands for his cloths. He will save this festival!

“What are you talking about?” JD gave Floyd a concerned look. “We just came to apologize to B–”

“Tell it to my fists!” Floyd tackles John, punching him in the gut.

“Woo! Go Floyd!!” Poppy jumps up and down. This is the beat down she's been waiting for!

“JD!” Bruce jumps into the fight, trying to get the feral Floyd off his brother.

“Oh, no you don't!” Poppy intervenes by kicking Bruce in the shins.

“My shins!”

Clay tries to slip away before he is stopped by an ankle biting Floyd. Soon, they were a mess of limbs as the fight descended into an all out brawl. Floyd was still hanging tight to Clay by the teeth as he kicked at JD. Bruce was trying to pull Floyd away from the others, but anytime he got near he was interrupted by a well aimed punch or kick from Poppy. Everyone was shouting as JD squared up.

“Oh, you wanna go?” John finally got over his shock and grabbed Floyd, throwing him off of Clay. Bruce quickly pulled Clay out of the fray as Floyd punched JD, biting him and drawing blood. It was hard to tell what was going on as they wrestled on the ground.

“Go Floyd! Get ‘em. Get ‘em!” Bruce and Clay looked at the scene, scared. They started to slowly back away.

“Bruce! Clay! Get this ankle biter off me!”

“You're on your own. I'm too young to die!”

“And I'm not?!”

“I'm surprised you haven't died in your sleep yet, old man.”

Bruce and Clay laugh at their brother's misery before screaming as Poppy lunged at them.

“Okay, okay! We surrender!”

Poppy didn't listen, instead punching Bruce and shoving Clay to the ground. “For my boyfriend!!”

She kicked Bruce before tackling Clay as he tried to crawl away. Clay shoved her off of him, lifting a hand to defend himself before he was stopped by Bruce.

“Clay! You can't hit a lady!” Poppy laughed maniacally as she lunged at them again.

“What is going on here!?” Everything stopped as Branch yelled at them, covering Gary's eyes. The rest of Kismet was behind him with puzzled looks on their faces.

“So, are we still grabbing a bite or??” Boom awkwardly looked at his group as they gave him incredulous looks.

“Oh, um, hey Branch!” Poppy smiles at him as she gets up, unsuspiciously backing away from his brothers. “We were just having a harmless tickle fight!”

“JD? Clay? Bruce? What are you guys doing here?!” Branch looked hurt for a moment before he schooled his expression, crossing his arms. Trickee pulled out a bag of popcorn from his hair.

“They came to sabotage the festival! They stole my tablecloths!” Floyd fell to the ground, ruined.

“Dude, what's with you and tablecloths?”

“Quiet, thief!”

“Stop! I want to hear it from John. Why are you here?” Branch glared at his brother.

“Look. We felt really bad about what happened, so we came to apologize.”

“Oh. You did?” Branch felt his anger melt away as he looked hopefully at his brothers.

“Yeah. What we did was terrible. We should've taken the time to actually get to know you, but instead, we left. Again. I'm sorry, Branch.”

“Really? You're actually sorry?” Branch couldn't help the way his eyes lit up at the apology. He desperately wanted a connection to his brothers.

“Yeah, dude! We were being jerks. We never should have left you, bro!” Clay spoke up from where he and Bruce were still on the ground, too scared to get up and risk triggering Poppy.

“And we're so sorry that Gary had to see all of this!” John pats Gary’s head, guilty for mocking him before. Branch immediately teared up, smiling widely at his brother. Gary let out a beep of forgiveness, not that anyone heard him over the talking. Branch got him, though.

Poppy and Floyd looked on, unconvinced. Branch was way too naive. They had to stop this before things went any further and Branch was hurt more than before. It was up to them to protect Branch and save the tables, respectively.

“Please, John. You think we actually believe you?”

“Listen, I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I promise. I want to be there for Bitty B and Groovy G!”

Branch couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face. He gave Gary a band name!! John was the perfect uncle for his little Gare-Bear!

Kismet was sitting at the nearest table, eating popcorn as they watched the show.

“Should we join them?” Hype shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

“Nah.” Ablaze turned his focus back to the scene.

“No. No! You aren't coming back into Branch's life just to leave again! I won't let you.”

Branch gasped. “Poppy! Think of the children! Gary always wanted a cool uncle!” Gary beeped in agreement.

Floyd huffed, offended. “He doesn't need John! He has me! I'm a cool uncle!” Branch raised a brow.

“How do you know what Gary needs?! He told me that he wants to have his uncles around!”

Floyd looked at Poppy. “I'm cool, right?”

“Sure. Maybe. What does it mean to be cool, anyways?” Floyd looked at her, offended, before turning back to Branch and Gary.

“Well, I was there for Gary when his other uncles left! Do you really want him to have uncles that abandon him when things get tough? Is that what you want for your son, Branch? For him to be abandoned?” Branch gave Floyd a hard look. He didn't appreciate the insinuation that he wanted Gary to be abandoned.

“I think it's about time that we leave, Gary. Bruce, Clay, John, you guys can come if you want.”

“Branch, no!” Poppy grabs his arm. He can't go with his brothers! What if they hurt him again?

“It's fine, Poppy. They apologized! We can still be a family. Don't you want me to be happy?”

“Of course I do! But what if they leave again? I can't stand to see you hurt again. Aren't you afraid?” Poppy had tears in her eyes as she spoke to Branch. She can't let him get hurt again. She just can't. There's only so much she can take.

“Of course I am!” He turned to look at her fully. “I'm really scared, Poppy. But what if they're actually here to stay? I have to take that chance.” Branch took her hands. “You're the one who taught me it's okay to hope. I'll be honest, I don't know if they're here to stay. But I hope they are, and that's enough.” Kismet awed in the background. “Now are you coming or what? We missed the first couple songs, and H.U.G.G should be on soon.”

“Oh! I love H.U.G.G!”

“Of course you do, John. You're old.” John shoved Clay as Bruce laughed at them in the background.

Poppy stepped away from Branch. “You're right. I think we need a bit, though. We’ll catch up with you in a bit.” Branch nodded before walking off with Kismet and his brothers, leaving Poppy and Floyd alone.

“I can't believe he actually believed them!”

“I know! They're tablecloth stealing jerks! They must be punished!”

“I'm not mad about the tablecloths, I'm mad about Branch!”

“Ohh, yeah that too.”

“What are we gonna do? I don't think Branch can handle them leaving him again.”

“I don't think there's anything we can do, Poppy. We just have to be there for Branch whe things inevitably go wrong.”

“Yeah, you're right. I just wish that none of this happened.”

“Me too.” Floyd sighed before turning to look towards the festival. “We should get going. Kismet should be on soon, and I don't wanna miss my brother perform.”

Poppy and Floyd walk back to the field, going to sit down with the Snack Pack. They were just in time to see Kismet perform.

“Oh, hey Poppy and Floyd! We thought you were gonna miss Branch's band!” Poppy gasps in offense.

“Miss Kismet? We would never!”

“Yeah, we would never!”

“Oh, they're coming out!” The cheering was impossible to hear over as Kismet came on stage. Boom stepped up to the mic, causing the cheering to somehow reach new levels of loud.

“Hey, uh, before we start, there's some tablecloths on the stage. Is somebody gonna clean that up or?”

“WHAT!?”

Chapter Text

Branch was sitting in the living room of the guest pod. He was surrounded by his brothers, with Poppy and Floyd on either side of him. They had insisted on sitting next to him. He could tell that they were still on edge from everything that happened, but Branch was willing to give his brothers a third chance.

“So how old is Gary?” John looked expectantly at Branch.

“He'll be 12 this next November!” Branch brandished Gary proudly. He was his little guy, and he was glad his brothers were interested in getting to know him.

“Oh, he's a lot older than I thought!”

“Yeah, he has more of a baby face.”

“Awww, my nephew is a cute little guy.” Branch couldn't tell if John was kidding. He was very against Gary just last week, he really hoped that JD wasn't just playing along to make him happy. He knew Gare-Bear was hard to get used to, and he'd rather they not pretend to like him to get on Branch's good side.

“So, Branch. What are some things you do in your free time?” Clay finally spoke up after watching JD trying and failing to establish himself as the favorite uncle.

“I like to hang out with the Snack Pack. I also do puzzles and board games with Gary. It's really nice to just kick back with a nice cup of sweat cocoa.” Poppy gagged at the reminder. She had never tasted anything worse.

“Sweat cocoa?”

“Yeah! Do you want a cup?”

“Uh, I think I'm good. That actually sounds really gross, baby bro.” Branch shrugged.

“Don't get too gross on us, bro. We might be tempted to leave again.” Branch winced as Clay laughed at his poor attempt at a joke. Was that what leaving was to him? A joke?

“Watch it, Clay.” Floyd was tense beside him, quick to defend him. Poppy leveled a glare at Clay.

“Do you guys care at all about how much it hurt me when you left? Or is it all just one big joke to you?”

“Woah, I'm sure Clay didn't mean anything about it. That was just a very poorly executed joke.” Bruce jumped in to defend Clay and hopefully avoid an argument.

“No, bros. Branch is right, that's really uncool to joke about.” Branch was surprised to see JD defending him, but he'd gladly welcome it.

“Yeah, I think the weirdness of the past week gives me some leeway to joke about stuff.”

“Weirdness?”

“Well, yeah. You know.”

“No, I don't know.”

“Well, the whole sweat thing and the underground bunker, not to mention all of the traps. You aren't the most normal troll around Branch. But don't worry! We still love you despite all of that.”

“Great! So you love me because I'm your brother, not because you actually love me.”

“What? Of course not! Why would you think that?”

“Because you just said it! You love me even though I'm me. You've made it pretty clear that you don't actually love who I am.”

“But I do! We do love you, bro!”

“Then where were you when I needed you?” That shut them up. “Where were you when I was scared and alone? When I needed you more than anything? You all just moved on without a second thought. You all just forgot about me. Did I ever matter to you? To any of you?”

“Of course you mattered! You're our baby brother, you'll always be important to us.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“We all had our reasons. We needed to leave, Branch.”

“Just because we couldn't hit the perfect family harmony? That doesn't seem like a very good reason to me.”

“It wasn't just that! I mean, JD always treated us pretty badly, and the pressure of the fans was too much. I needed to get out.”

“And away from me.”

“Away from everyone.”

“So, what, you all just ran away? It got too hard for you and you gave up on your family? Couldn't you have talked it out?”

“No. None of us would’ve listened.”

“You could've at least tried!”

“It wouldn't have been enough! I needed to do something more with myself, alone.” Branch shrunk into himself. What was he expecting? They don't actually regret leaving him. They didn't actually care about him, not in any way that mattered.

“I just don't understand. Why aren't I enough for you guys? Why wasn't I good enough for you to stay?” Why wasn't he ever good enough for anyone? “I know I'm weird, I got that. But I've tried to change, and I can't. All of this is a part of me now. I can't give up Gary, or my bunker or my sweat collection. Am I really that hard to love?” John crossed the room, sitting in front of Branch. He took his hands, causing Branch to look up at him.

“Branch, I don't want you to change. I love you just the way you are, and I'm sorry for the way I acted. I'm sorry for ever making you feel like you were in any way hard to love. I wasn't a very loving brother.” John released his hands to cup Branch’s face. “The truth is, you are more than enough for us. We are the ones who screwed up, we were wrong to leave. I was wrong to leave.”

“JD is right. For once.” John rolled his eyes at Bruce. “We weren't there for you at all, even when we were staying at your bunker. From now on, I want to be there for you. The real you.”

“Yeah, Branch. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made that joke. And I shouldn't have left you. It was never your fault that we left. I'm so sorry we made you feel that way.” Floyd put a hand on Branch’s shoulder.

“I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you.”

“You don't need to apologize, Bitty! You're right to be mad at us. We've been pretty terrible brothers to you.” John pulled Branch into a hug. “I promise I'll be better for you, baby bro.”

“Not a baby.” Branch hugged him back, relaxing into his hold. “But thanks.”

The rest of his brothers and Poppy were quick to join in on the group hug. For the first time in a while, Branch felt at peace. He had his brothers, and they wanted to do better by him. He could tell that Gary was happy with this development as well. He just hoped it stayed like this, even after his brothers went back home. He still had his doubts, and he knew that a lot of changes needed to be made before he could know for sure that they were here to stay. But for now, this was enough.