Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Brozone had one single rule while touring: No matter where you go, no matter what or who you do, always be back before Branch wakes up.

Well, that was not entirely true; Brozone had a million and one rules for touring but that one was the most important one; the golden rule, put in place to preserve Branch's innocence as much as they could.

It was the one rule that had never caused disagreements between his brothers, the one they actually lived by...

And Floyd had broken it.

He stared at the dazed silver eyes of the Troll he had woken up with as he processed what this meant... oh he was in so much trouble.

"I need to go" Both Trolls said at the same time as they simultaneously jumped out of the bed and reached for their scattered underwear.

"Oh, you too?" Floyd knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn't help but to find this slightly funny.

"Yeah, my sister is gonna murder me to death" The Troll on the other side of the bed chuckled as he tried to detangle the two pairs of skinny jeans that he had picked up from the floor.

"Ditto" Floyd walked around the bed to help undo the mess once it became obvious that the other Troll was having problems with the knot that kept their pants tied together. “I will be surprised if my brothers don't turn me into a rug after this."

Together they finally got their jeans untangled.

"Floyd... right?" The taller Troll offered him his white jeans and a sheepish smile that had been part of the reason they ended up in this mess.

"Yeah, and if I remember correctly, you are Riff" Floyd tried to put on his very tight jeans without looking away from his companion; he was able to get one leg in but the other got stuck and would have made Floyd kiss the floor if it hadn't been for Riff stabilizing him.

"Heh, yeah, that is me" Riff, who had already put on his jeans, reached down and handed Floyd the top that he had been wearing at the party where they had met.

"Thanks" The other Troll nodded and walked towards a chair in the corner of the room, where his own shirt had landed after Floyd had practically teared it off his chest last night.

Floyd took a second to admire his latest bedfellow because: sweet Pop String, he really did know how to choose them; Riff was just his type: tall, lean, strong arms, messy hair, darker but not duller colors and a smile that was just a tad bit clueless.

It also didn't hurt that he was a Rock Troll; Floyd was self-aware enough to recognize that he might have a little weakness for bad boys and rebels; especially the ones with a potentially soft heart.

He sighed; he needed to focus.

Floyd finished getting dressed and turned to the only mirror in the small room, trying to fix his hair; even if he really needed to return to his own hotel room as soon as possible he didn’t want to risk someone recognizing him while he looked like this, the tabloids would probably blow it out of proportion which would only give his brothers more problems to deal with.

"Come on!" His fringe had been easy enough to tame, but the rest of his hair seemed to be acting up.

"Here, why don't you try using this?" The Pop singer hadn't even realized that Riff was watching him, so it took him a few seconds to process what was happening let alone react to it.

"Uh... thanks..." Floyd took the bandana that the other Troll was offering him and stared at it a little, not sure what he needed to do with it.

"Here let me" Riff looked at Floyd for permission and when the Pop star nodded, he took back the bandana, folded it until he got a strip of fabric that he proceeded to use as a headband for Floyd, tying it on the top of his head with a pretty bow. "There you go" The pink haired Troll tried to thank him but the words got stuck in his throat so instead he just stared at the other Troll trying so hard not to swoon at the drummer’s tender actions "I mean that is what my mother used to do when her hair was acting up... it's okay if you don't like it" Riff blushed deeply which was very endearing to Floyd for some reason.

"No, it's a very cute hairstyle actually " Floyd touched the bandana on his hair "It's just that this is your bandana, and I am not sure..." If I will even, see you again.

The incomplete sentence hung between them; they had a marvelous time together but that didn't change the fact that they were strangers that had met by pure luck at a party; there was no expectations between them.

Riff just shrugged as he hid his own messy hair under a knitted hat.

"Consider it something to remember me by.”

Floyd giggled; he really liked that answer, it was the perfect blend between sentimentality and nonchalance.

The Pop star stepped closer to the taller Troll telegraphing his movements, giving Riff time and space to back out if he wanted to but the Rock Troll stood still, giving him wordless permission to continue:

First Floyd reached to adjust the beanie over the drummer’s head, his paws light and tender as he made sure that the hat wasn’t stuck in any of Riff’s earnings before standing on his tiptoes and kissing the Rock Troll.

Riff hummed, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss, one arm circling Floyd's waist to get him closer, while his other paw found a place on the singer's cheek.

The kiss ended too soon for Floyd's liking; Riff was a very good kisser for someone that looked so clueless.

In a spur of the moment impulse Floyd decided to transfer his favorite black and pink braided bracelet from his wrist to Riff's.

"Something to remember me by" And with that and a wink he was out of the room and running towards the hotel where his brothers were waiting for him.

What he didn't know back then was that he was taking home more than one souvenir from that night.

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

"Are you okay?" That was the first thing Clay said to him when the doors of the elevator closed behind them; his older brother had been waiting for him in their hotel's lobby; his face and posture severe and emotionless as he had wordlessly guided Floyd towards the elevators.

Floyd knew that his brother was mad at him, but he wasn't going to say anything in public; they were Brozone: the biggest boyband in the history of their genre; they were not allowed to make a spectacle of themselves.

"Yes, I'm sorry for making you guys worry" Floyd didn't add any excuses; when they asked why, because of course they were going to ask why; he would be honest and tell them what had happened but until then he would just ask for their forgiveness.

The elevator hummed as it started its way up; Brozone was staying on the top floor, which meant that Floyd had at least a minute to help his older brother to sort through some of the feelings Clay was trying to suppress.

"You should save your apologies for John and Branch, they are frenetic" That was probably the reason why Clay had been waiting in the lobby; he was obviously trying to keep as much space between him and John Dory's manic energy without leaving the hotel and worrying Spruce and Branch even more. "Spruce had to talk them down from calling the police."

"You know there is no rule that limits how many times I can apologize about something; so there is not a real reason why I should save it for someone else; I owe you an apology as much as I owe one to the rest of our brothers" Floyd smiled tiredly at his older brother "Your feelings are as valid as theirs" Clay wasn't looking at him but Floyd could see that the middle child was trembling lightly; he probably had guessed right and Clay had been trying to dismiss his own feelings in favor to keeping the peace in front of baby Branch. "So yeah, I'm really sorry Clay, it was not my intention to make you worry or hurt you in any way."

That broke the ice barrier that Clay had put between the two and soon enough Floyd was enveloped in his brother's arms.

"It's just that you are always so conscious about the rules..." Clay was holding him so tightly that he had trapped Floyd's arms on his sides which meant that the closer thing he could do to return the hug was lean his head against his brother's hair, as the older Troll buried his face on Floyd's neck. "I thought that something had happened to you..."

"It's okay now, I am here, I am not hurt, I am just really dumb" Floyd whispered in a soothing tone.

"You smell like sweat, alcohol and bad decisions" Clay said in a disgusted tone as he kept his little brother close.

"Yeah, that sounds about right" He didn't really regret Riff, like he usually didn't regret most of his one-night stands, but he did regret failing to show up before curfew.

The elevator arrived at the top floor with the clear sound of a bell; before the doors opened Clay let Floyd go and quickly cleaned his face from any traces of tears.

Spruce was waiting for them just outside the elevator; munching nervously on something, he was probably stress eating but he dropped his granola bar to the floor as soon as he saw them.

"Flo! Are you okay?" Spruce loudly whispered, as if he had wanted to shout but at the last minute had decided it was not a good idea.

He worriedly reached for Floyd's hair as if he knew what mess the younger’s new bandana hid and wanted to examine it; normally Floyd would have allowed the fretting but today for some reason he instinctively avoided the contact.

Spruce seemed as baffled by his actions as Floyd himself felt and tried to reach out again, but he was stopped by Clay who stepped in between them.

"He is fine, Pru" Clay whispered back, his eyes cautiously eyeing the doorway at the end of the luxurious foyer of their hotel rooms; in the quietness of the space Floyd could almost hear their eldest brother pacing. "Has he...?"

"He is still furious." Which explained why they were all whispering; they were probably trying to avoid catching John's attention and misplaced anger.

"Let's get this over then..." Floyd knew that letting John Dory stew in his anger and worry would only make everyone more miserable than they needed to be.

Floyd had already hurt his brothers enough for one day.

"No, no, no, no, no" Spruce quickly blocked his path "If you go in there right now Branch is going to see you and there is no way in Pop’s sweet tunes that you are getting in our baby brother's vicinity smelling like a bar and..." Spruce smelt the air around Floyd "Rock Troll" This made Floyd chuckle and Clay give and indignant huff.

Of course his older brothers knew what Floyd did on the days he was not taking care of Branch; they also knew that he preferred the company of certain kind of male Trolls but while Spruce had decided to embrace this fact about his brother and tease him about it whenever he had the chance, Clay and John Dory had chosen to go the complete opposite direction and try to ignore it as much as possible, it was as if they feared that acknowledging the fact that Floyd was an adult with a very active night life would hurt them.

"Wait you left Branch with him?" Clay seemed baffled by that; usually they would have removed their little brother from the eldest’s care as soon as he started to get frustrated with something; Branch had always been very sensitive to anger and shouting and as his older brothers it was their duty to get in between the baby and whatever could upset the tiny Troll.

Spruce gave Clay an exasperated look, as if he couldn't believe their brother had asked that.

That was probably because as much as John could scare Branch, he was also the one Branch looked for safety the way he looked for Bruce for strength, Clay for guidance and Floyd for comfort.

They all played a special role in Baby Branch's life that couldn't be filled in by the others and right now what the youngest one needed was to feel safe while his comfort was missing; that and also John Dory would probably limit his frenzy to stomping and growling as long as no one tried to remove the youngest Brozone member from his immediate sight.

"I will try and calm the beast, you go take a shower... or two and fix that rat nest in your hair" Spruce began to push Floyd and Clay towards the doors that lead to the bedrooms, keeping an eye on the entrance of the living room to make sure they hadn't been spotted.

"Okay, thanks Spruce" Floyd took one of his older brother’s paws and squeezed it briefly, trying to give some comfort to the other Troll; he knew that Spruce would have gone for a long hug to reassure himself of his little brother's wellbeing if he hadn't been so worried about getting Floyd out of sight before certain blue haired Trolling saw him "I'm sorry for making you worry" Spruce smiled softly at him then reached out to caress Floyd's cheek.

“I'm just glad to have you back safe and sound Flo" He gave the younger Troll a push towards Clay who guided Floyd to their shared bathroom.

"Just get in there, I will bring you a towel and clean clothes" His taller brother instructed, not waiting for an answer before exiting the bathroom.

Floyd sighed, his day had just started, and he was already dead tired in a way that had nothing to do with the amount of sleep he got last night; it was going to be a long day.

He quickly cleaned his face with the makeup wipes he found on the counter, then he undressed carelessly; dropping all his clothes on the floor and was about to jump in the shower when he remembered that he was still wearing something else.

The bandana stood out and not only because the pink tones of his hair made the black fabric pop; it was just very different from his usual hair accessories and not in a bad way, as a matter of fact, Floyd really liked the way it looked on him.

Maybe he should start wearing more black? … At least when he was not performing or in public; Brozone had a signature look and it did not include black.

The still fresh memory of Riff standing in front him, of the Rock Troll’s paws, light and careful on his hair made him shudder as he undid the bow on the top of his head; Floyd then folded the bandana carefully and laid it on the counter before jumping in the shower; he was going to be revisiting his night and morning with Riff for a long time… it had been one of the best nights he had in a while.

"Special delivery!" Floyd could see his brother's silhouette through the shower curtain as the taller Troll left a pile of clothes and a towel in the counter and then leaned down to pick up his little brother's dirty laundry from the floor. "I should burn these pants" Clay said with a disgusted huff.

"But they are my lucky pants!" Floyd responded while aggressively scrubbing his body to wash away the smell of the night out from his skin.

"And by that I think you mean they are the pants you use to get lucky" The younger one didn't refute that, there was nothing wrong with having a pair of pants that made you look and feel as good as those pants did for him.

"You are just jealous because you could never pull them off."

"Or on, considering how tiny these things are" They both chuckled "I'm going to have to find a bag to put this in, there is no time to wash them; we are supposed to check out by one p.m. as they apparently have to give the penthouse a deep clean before a very important Rock band checks in after their show tonight."

"Oooooh did they say who?" Floyd squeezed the bottle of complementary vanilla shampoo; his own toiletries had probably already been packed by Clay or Spruce.

His head felt a little tender, so he tried to wash his hair really carefully but still there seemed to be a spot on the center of his head in which his scalp and hair felt both more sensitive and coarser than the rest.

Maybe he should wash it twice like Spruce said, just to make sure his hair was clean and free of whatever had caused this reaction which normally wouldn’t be a problem except that he was going to need to be super, extra gentle as his head had begun to throb after the first scrub.

"I am not indulging you and your thirst for gossip" His older brother deadpanned, and Floyd thought that would be the end of their conversation until Clay spoke again "Is that new?" There was nothing in his tone, body language or words that sounded even remotely threatening but for some reason Floyd froze, popping his head quickly from behind the shower curtain.

"Don't touch that!" He admonished loudly, stopping Clay as the Troll was reaching for the bandana Floyd had left, folded on the counter.

"Chill bro" He seemed annoyed about Floyd's tone at first but something in his little brother's face made his expression soften... Floyd probably looked panicked, he felt really panicked. "Are you sure you are, okay?"

"Yeah... yeah" The pink haired Troll slowly retracted behind the shower curtain a little embarrassed and feeling like he overreacted "I'm sorry, I think I am just tired."

"That's okay, I get it..." Clay sighed deeply reminding Floyd of the deep bags under his eyes that Spruce and Floyd had to cover with heavy make-up for every show; it really had been a very long, exhausting tour "I will go back to packing, shout if you need anything" Clay told him before walking out of the bathroom.

The Pop singer continued with his shower, carefully massaging his scalp with a second helping of the vanilla scented shampoo; the second wash did nothing to the section of his hair that he had noticed before, it was still coarse and sensitive; maybe he should ask Spruce about it, his brother might have a product to help with an irritated scalp and would probably know if it was something they should get checked by a professional or if it was nothing to worry about.

The door to the bathroom suddenly opened and closed again; at first, he thought that it might be one of his older brothers checking on him but one look in the direction of the door told him otherwise; the silhouette behind the shower curtain was way too small for it to be one of the older ones.

"Do our brothers know you are here?" Floyd kept on showering, applying conditioner to his hair; the vanilla sent was growing on him.

"Considering you are the one who we have spent half of the morning looking for, I don't think you get to ask me that" Branch sat down on the lid of the toilet with a huff "...Sorry."

"No, you are probably right" As much as Floyd wished it had been phrased in a different way (as it reflected how much his little brother was developing the family's unfortunate temper) it was the truth. "I am sorry I worried you."

Floyd turned off the shower and reached for the towel that Clay had left for him.

"Where were you last night?" He wondered what his brothers had told Branch; because he doubted, they had told him the truth.

He thought about it for a second as he quickly dried off the excess of water on his body before wrapping the towel under his armpits and stepping out of the shower.

Branch scanned him up and down just like all their brothers had done; even if the towel covered most of his body, from below his shoulders to just above his knees; Branch seemed to be comforted by the fact that there wasn't any sign of visible injury on him.

"Not where I should have been" He reached to tussle Branch's hair which the younger one allowed with a huff "At a party" His little brother deserved the truth and besides it's not like he had been doing something forbidden or anything.

Floyd turned to the mirror, wiped a bit of the steam off it to try checking his scalp for the irritation that was giving him a headache.

"Why are you always going to parties? You don't seem to like the ones we are always invited to" Branch was a very bright child, very perceptive, but there were things that Floyd was very happy that his little brother didn't understand yet, and one of those things were the parties Brozone was forced to attend daily, sometimes to perform and sometimes just to be gawked at.

For the ten-year-old those were just boring evenings where he had to sit silently in uncomfortable clothes and eat fancy, bland food; for the rest of Brozone those parties were just an unending nightmare filled with PR approved smiles, painful jokes, fake flirting and laughter.

"These are a different type of parties" Very different and that is why Floyd liked them so much.

Floyd suppressed a wince when he found the source of the ache in his head, there didn't seem to be an irritated scalp but a clump of knotted hair; that was weird, he could swear that it wasn't there before.

"And I can't go with you?" This made Floyd stop what he was doing and focus completely on his little brother; the more Branch grew the more his brothers realized that he really didn't like crowds that much, it wasn't childish shyness, it was simply that Branch wasn't much of a social creature.

"Maybe when you are older" Even if Floyd doubted that Branch would ever grow to appreciate a party like the ones his brother attended, he didn't want to dismiss the idea completely which made his little brother smile "Branch? What is this really all about?" The boy smiled sheepishly at him probably debating if he should tell the truth or not.

Floyd just waited patiently; this was why he made an effort to be as open and honest as he could with Branch, so the younger would be inclined to do the same for him.

"I had a nightmare" This worried Floyd; this was the fifth nightmare Branch had this week "I woke up to check on everyone and..." Floyd wasn't where he was supposed to be.

Floyd sighed, Branch had never told any of them what exactly happened in his nightmares, but he usually got very clingy, sometimes with a specific brother, sometimes with all of them; but regardless of who he chose to cling to, the Trolling liked to check on all of them.

He can't imagine what kind of reaction Branch must have had after finding Floyd's bed empty in the middle of the night.

No wonder why everyone was so on edge.

"You know that you can tell the others when you have a nightmare, B" It’s not that their brothers were completely unaware that the nightmares were happening, it was just that Branch liked avoiding waking all of them if wasn't necessary so usually he just woke up Floyd and whoever he wanted to cuddle up with; Floyd wondered if there were nightmares that not even him was made aware of because Branch thought his pink-haired brother had been too tired to wake him up.

"I did..." Branch played with his fingers on his lap, not looking up at Floyd; he was wearing Floyd's favorite green leaf vest that someone must have fished out from the dirty laundry pile to try and comfort their baby brother. "I woke J.D and he said that if I went to sleep you would be back by the time I woke up..." Ugh Floyd didn't like where this was heading "But when I woke up, you were still not here, and they were fighting"

"I am sorry B" There really wasn't anything more to say than that; Floyd couldn't go back in time and undo the damage; he could just try to fix whatever he could now.

By Branch's posture he knew that right now a hug or any kind of contact would not be accepted as his little brother seemed to be in the process of untangling his feelings now that Floyd had returned to them.

Floyd turned back to the mirror; it was obvious that Branch just needed a moment, he began to lightly hum as he fixed his hair, paying special attention to avoid touching the tender parts of it, he unconsciously reached for Riff's bandana and proceeded to put it back on his hair; it took him a few tries to get the bow right; it didn't look half as good as Riff's but it looked cute enough for him.

Once he was done with his hair, his eyes found Branch's in the mirror; his little brother was looking at Floyd with a frown on his face as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Branch?" That was all the invitation his brother apparently needed to throw himself into his older brother, hugging him around the middle. "Do we want to talk about something?" Branch shook his head which was buried in Floyd's side. "Okay, I got you Baby Branch, I got you" The older Troll wrapped one arm around his little brother and with the other one he combed through the Trolling's hair.

"You smell weird" Declared the child, his words muffled by the towel that Floyd was wearing.

"Oh yeah, our brothers already packed my things, so I had to use the hotel's hair products and soap" Branch shook his head and turned to look up at his brother with a strange gleam in his eyes.

"It's not that"

Floyd was about to ask for clarifications when the door to the bathroom opened and Clay came in.

"Why aren't you dressed?" Floyd looked pointedly down to Branch who at the entrance of his other brother had tighten his hold on the second youngest Brozone member "Oh c'mon Bitsy, Spruce prepared a light snack for us to eat before we leave" Clay extended his paw towards Branch who hesitated "Floyd is going to join us as soon as he finishes up with his business meeting with J.D." Branch turned to Floyd for confirmation and when he received it he slowly and reluctantly let his older brother's waist go and took Clay's paw "John is waiting for you in the living room; we did what we could" And with that he dragged their little brother away closing the door behind them.

Well, that wasn't reassuring but Floyd proceeded to get dressed in the simple pants and sweatshirt that Clay had chosen for him, taking care not to undo the work he had done on his hair and went to meet his apparent doom or like he usually called him: his oldest brother, John Dory.

Said Troll was waiting in the living room like Clay said; hunched over the coffee table that was covered in books, papers and photos; Floyd took a second to really look at his oldest brother; John Dory had lost a lot of weight during the tour, his hair looked messy, probably because he had been running his paws through it all morning and he had this aura of resigned exhaustion.

"Hey John" Floyd greeted, moving slowly to stand in front of him, waiting obediently for his dress down.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up" John Dory didn't even look up to him, he just continued to mark things on the papers in front of him; it looked like he was making corrections to next week's schedule, choosing the pictures for their next fan sign event and perfecting the set list for tomorrow night’s concert as well as sorting through all of the documents their management had recently sent. "I was about to call the police and ask them to drain the river... or something" His tone was not angry; it was bitter which made things even worse.

"I am really sorry John Dory I didn't mean to ..."

"Look Floyd, I know you didn't mean to cause any problems, and you know how I know that?” The younger Troll stayed quiet; it was obvious his brother was not really looking for an answer from him “Because this?" He gestured to Floyd "This is not like you" John Dory finally looked up to him, his eyes alight with all the frustration he was keeping inside. "This is the type of things Clay or Spruce do, not you! You are supposed to have my back, Floyd!"

"I do have your back John! I'm really sorry that I let you down. It won't happen again" Floyd really wanted to defend himself, to explain the situation but at the same time he knew that it would be fruitless, John Dory was beyond the point of reasoning; all those feelings of helplessness and fear that his oldest brother had been feeling all morning had festered into burning hot anger and the only thing that would help his brother right now was unleash it.

"Then why Floyd?! This is not like you!" The younger Brozone member wished that the other Troll would lower his voice; his brothers, especially Branch, didn't need to hear the verbal lashing that Floyd was getting, they deserved to enjoy their snack in peace after all the stress of this morning.

"I fell asleep" That was the truth, pure and simple, not an excuse or a deflection of blame.

"You fell asleep" John Dory sounded baffled by the concept.

"Yes...I fell asleep without setting an alarm" As a matter of fact he even forgot to take his wristwatch with him when he had left the hotel last night, but he wasn't going to add that, it would only make everything worse.

"You shouldn't even be spending the night anywhere but in our hotel room Floyd!" J.D. threw the papers he had been looking through on the table and stood up making his way towards the younger Troll and looming over him "It's not only carless but also potentially bad for you and the band's image"

Something seem to snap inside Floyd’s head at his brother's words; perhaps it was the lack of sleep or the fact that his night activities were the only thing that Floyd could claim for his own; music had become his job and he didn't have time for other hobbies or even friends with whom to hang out; which meant that the only time he felt nineteen was when he was exploring the night life of whatever city they were in, dancing with other creatures, trying new drinks and food and of course what his brother seem to be especially against... falling in and out of love with strangers in the span of only one night.

"Not everyone is happy being married to their job like you are John" There was a little bite to his words but none of the heat that would ignite a shouting match.

"You are grounded until the end of the tour" John Dory ignored his words and began to walk back to his work "Understood?"

If Floyd had been younger this would have been the end of it; he would have accepted the punishment, said he was sorry one more time and backed out of the room with his tail between his legs all in the name of keeping the peace, but lately he had noticed that there was no peace in their home; the problems were just shelved instead of solved and it was destroying all of them from inside out.

"I know I messed up, but you know, maybe I wouldn't have fallen asleep if I wasn't so fluffing exhausted all the time from this endless tour"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?"

"I never said that" But it was really interesting that J.D. would immediately jump to that conclusion "I understand that this tour is important but..."

"Do you really understand? We are the ambassadors of Pop music to the world! Everything that we do or don't reflect in our tribe, and I am not going to let you guys sabotage that just because you want to do whatever you please"

"I didn't realize that asking for the so-called ambassadors to have a day off was too much to ask!" Floyd walked closer to his brother; before he had kept his distance out of respect for the leader of his boyband but now he was pleading to his older brother, not his bandmate "John, I know you can see it; you can see what this is doing to us, Clay has been developing nervous rashes, Spruce hasn't been able to keep down most solid food for weeks and Branch's nightmares are becoming more and more recurrent; we need a break"

The band had left home almost a year ago for a small tour that became a bigger tour and then an even bigger tour; it felt like every time they felt close to the finish line someone moved the goal post even further, adding new dates, more stops and an infinite amount of fan signs, parties and multiple public events for them to attend in between concerts; which left little to no time for the members of Brozone to do anything but sleep a few hours.

John faltered, the anger in his eyes dying out, leaving a very tired Troll.

"I... I guess I could tackle some of the interviews on my own and cut our practice time..." Floyd knew that John Dory really cared about them even if he wasn't always the best at showing it, but the younger Troll also knew that there was a limit to what their oldest brother could take on before he collapsed.

"John Dory when I said we needed a break I meant all of us" The oldest paled when his little brother called him out "When was the last time you ate a full meal? Or slept more than four hours?" Floyd grabbed his brother's shoulders; they were broad and strong but even then, they couldn’t be expected to carry the weight of the world "We did it John! We are the biggest Boyband ever...can we go home now?" Floyd injected all the vulnerability he felt in his words; all the hurt and despair he had seen in his brothers’ moments of weakness when they all put down their facades and revealed the young Trolls that they were still inside.

John fought with himself for a second, his eyes jumping from the papers and work that he had abandoned on the table to his younger brother, they even jumped briefly in the direction of the kitchen where their brothers were probably trying to listen in their conversation while they had their snack.

His blue eyes finally filled with resolve, dismissing all the uncertainty that had accumulated there during their talk and Floyd waited for his hopes to get dashed.

"Yeah, okay let's go home Floyd" John Dory must have read the incredulity in Floyd's face because he snorted and then brought his brother forward to his chest and enveloped him in the biggest hug that the younger had received from his brother in a while "You are still grounded tho"

"That is fine... I am all partied out anyways"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

Their brothers didn't believe them at first when John Dory broke the news that they were going home.

“So, you added more tour dates in the Troll kingdom?" Clay didn’t even look up from the book he was reading, it was the same book that he had been carrying around for three months, not impressed with the announcement "Yay"

"No, we are heading home, home" John Dory repeated himself; it had taken a week of back and forth with their management group to secure an extensive leave for the brothers, only achieving it after hinting at the need for free time to write and compose new songs.

Floyd had been right by his oldest brother’s side supporting him, helping him to come up with better, more convincing arguments and on occasion reminding him of their brothers’ plights, when John appeared to be about to cave under the pressure of expectation.

"Sooooooo are we planning a fan event in Pop Village? Did our band-nniversary creep on me again?" Spruce was not looking at their older brother either, he was laying down on the couch with his eyes and forehead covered by a cold compress to help with the headache that had been hounding him constantly these days.

It was getting worrisome how unwell their brother had been feeling for the last month and Floyd knew that he was not the only one who was feeling anxious over Spruce's health; John stopped harassing their brother about any kind of exercise regime besides their rehearsals, Clay had been consulting whatever medical books he could get his paws on and Baby Branch, who had been significantly more clingy with the Heartthrob than usual only left his side to drag Floyd to cuddle with him and Spruce, probably as a way to try and provide comfort for the purple haired Troll.

"Ugh no Spruce, our band-nniversary is not till mid-spring...!" Floyd sent a quick glare to the oldest for that, trying to keep him on track, John Dory responded by cutting his sentence short and giving the younger one an apologetic smile.

"Can we see grandma while we are there? I miss her a lot" Their youngest piped up from where he was cuddling into Floyd's side; his eyes focused on Spruce, as if he is trying to determine if the older one is well enough to accept him in his arms.

"Yes Bitty, we can see grandma because we are going to stay with her" John Dory explained patiently.

They had decided that it would be better if John Dory made the announcement, otherwise their brothers would probably think that this was something that Floyd had made him do and not something he really wanted to do for all of them and their health.

"Like a vacation?" The oldest sighed at the innocent question by the baby of the band and turned to Floyd for help.

"The tour is over" Floyd announced clearly which made Spruce, Clay and Branch look at him surprised; he had not told them anything about what he and their oldest brother had talked about the day he had broken Brozone's Golden Rule and they had probably assumed that the reason why John and Floyd had been joined by the hip this last week was because the oldest was keeping their party animal on a short leash after the incident.

"Well, no, not over, we still have three concerts planned and sold out in Mount Rageous but after that..." J.D. interjected, which made Floyd glare at him again "Yes, it's over at least for a while..." The leader corrected, getting the hint about what Floyd was trying to do.

"Are you for real?" Clay asked in a whisper, his incredulous eyes darted from J.D to Floyd "There is not a surprise second leg of the tour or more sponsored special concerts that 'technically don't count as part of the tour' or some trash like that?" J.D winced, probably knowing that he had won this distrust.

"There is nothing like that" Floyd assured his brothers "Believe me, I saw the schedule"

"The official thing? The revised by management official schedule?" Asked Spruce as he sat up on the couch and took the cold compress off his eyes to focus his complete attention on the second youngest brother.

Floyd didn't falter and assured them:

"After the shows on Mount Rageous, Brozone is scheduled by management to take an indefinite hiatus" He extended his paw to John who immediately handed him the official band schedule, signed and stamped by their management and extended it to Clay who immediately reached for it and scanned through it quickly before showing it to the second oldest brother.

"We are going home?" Branch asked, his voice small as he walked towards Spruce who received him with open arms.

"Yeah, Bits, it seems like it" Spruce ran a hand through the youngest's hair while the boy slowly read through the official document.

"Well..." They all turned to John Dory, their humor plummeting to the ground "I thought we could make a small detour and spend some time in Vacay Island first"

"Are you serious?!" Bruce stood up quickly, Branch in his arms as he let the cold compress in his face drop to the floor, his smile more radiant than it had been in a while. "You are letting me see Brandy?"

To be honest John had not discussed this part with Floyd, the second youngest Brozone member was as shocked as everyone else at the announcement but it made sense that their leader had kept this part to himself; Floyd would have ruined the surprise as soon as he had seen the miserable expression Spruce wore every day before bed as he stared at the picture of his long-distance 'secret' girlfriend.

"Yeah bro, she is really good for you..." As soon as those words left J. D’s mouth, he was enveloped by Spruce in a giant hug that trapped Branch in the middle of the two oldest brothers.

"Thank you. thank you, thank you"

Floyd began to tear up a little; he knew they had a long way ahead of them as they were still not great at communicating with each other, but this felt like the start of a new chapter for them.

"Aww Floyd" Spruce kept one arm wrapped around Branch and J.D. but offered the other one to the second youngest, a teary smile on his face.

"Floyd, Floyd, Floyd... there is no love for the middle child" Clay mocked dramatically.

"Oh, don't be jealous, you menace" John Dory teased as he reached for Clay to pull him into the hug.

Clay laughed as he squeezed and pushed Branch to the center of their group hug making the youngest squeak and giggle.

"I know that it's been a hard year for all of us but... let's give our best in these last concerts, okay?" John, ever the leader, instructed them without breaking their family hug.

They all nodded.

"Mount Rageous here we come!"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

They never made it to Mount Rageous.

Halfway there they received an urgent message from Pop Village: during one of the recent storms the river overflowed and washed away a lot of houses, their grandma's home among them; she had been rescued from the flow but there was water still in her lungs and it was all touch and go for her.

They definitely abused the use of wormholes and after a very psychedelic 24hr they arrived at her bedside to be with her in what they would soon realize were her last hours.

"My beautiful boys" She said as soon as she saw them; smiling tenderly at the brothers as they all took turns to hug her frail form.

Then they had taken turns to tell her the highlights of the tour; conversing and laughing like they hadn't in years; they kept talking until one by one they fell asleep, lulled by the calm and comfort of their family... when they woke up their grandma was gone, a sweet smile still on her face.

It had been devastating for all of them.

The grief was all consuming and overwhelming, not even John Dory had known what to do with it, so they had just pushed it aside in favor of dealing with everything else. Well at least the four older siblings did that.

Branch just went Gray.

The doctors told them it was completely normal considering how much stress the Trolling had been under before the shock of the sudden loss; they said that Branch just needed time to heal and accept his new reality.

Time heals all wounds and all that.

Floyd thought it was just a bunch of crap they were saying to cover their own butts in case someone tried to blame them for the youngest member of the most popular boyband ever going Gray.

He knew that they would never heal from this completely or at all giving the current state of his family; everyday they seemed to discover a new method of emotional avoidance previously unknow to Troll kind; Floyd would be impressed by the way his brothers dodged their own grief if he wasn't so scared what would happen once the funeral was over and all the Brozone related media circus died down.

Being the most emotionally mature of the bunch was no fun sometimes.

And to make things worse not only did Spruce's sickness had been getting worse through the week but also whatever it was Floyd seemed to have caught it too.

It began with this head splitting headaches that at first he thought were caused by tugging on his hair too hard during his morning styling; his hair had been acting up a lot lately so he might have gone a little bit harder on the brushing than he should have but they didn't go away after he had given up in brushing his hair completely; if anything they got worse.

"Everything okay there Floyd?" John Dory asked cautiously after Floyd almost bit his paw off for trying to touch his messy pink hair.

"I don't know! Why am I like this?!" Floyd just wished for his hair to be normal, manageable and for his head to stop pounding but nothing that he tried was working and now he was being horrible to his brothers.

"What did you do?!" Branch ran into the room and positioned himself between their oldest brother and Floyd.

"What?! I was just trying to help him fix his hair and he just...!" Floyd sobbed harder at the reminder that his hair was a mess and that he couldn't even look nice anymore, their grandma’s funeral was scheduled for the next day, so his hair was only another problem to deal with and crying just made his nausea worse but for some reason he couldn’t stop.

"His hair looks just fine!" Branch interrupted John, his gray fur puffed and raised as if he was trying to intimidate the older Troll.

"What is going on in this house?" Spruce walked into the room with a paw on his head and a displaced frown on his face "No. You know what? Whatever is it, can you keep it down? I have a headache"

"I just wanted to help Floyd with his hair, since he seems to be struggling with it" John tried to defend himself but Spruce just gave him an unimpressed look.

"No one is expecting him to look perfect, John Dory" Spruce walked towards Branch and picked him up by the scruff "And you have to stop hissing at your brother every time he does something moderately annoying" The youngest one huffed in displeasure.

Floyd looked from Branch and Spruce to John Dory; they all looked very displeased, like they were about to start fighting, he cannot bear the thought that he caused this; they had all been incredibly stressed about the funeral and their future but they had all kept a lid on it because no one wanted to start any arguments when they had just lost grandma; it was not perfect but It was working for now.

At least it was until Floyd and his stupid hair had to ruin it.

Even Baby Branch was now taking part in the fights; the realization hit him so hard that the only thing he could do was bury his head in his paws and let out a big, loud wail that silenced his brothers.

There was a flurry of movement around him; the second youngest could hear his brothers’ alarmed voices raising to a pitch that made his head pound, which of course made him cry harder; he just wanted them to go away or hug him or do anything but continue fighting...

"Floyd?" Spruce called him softly as his paws circled the younger Troll's wrists, he didn't pull on them, but it was obvious that he wanted Floyd to uncover his face which the younger did slowly, feeling a little embarrassed about his overflowing emotions. "Are you okay Flo?"

"Yes, I am sorry, I am just a little sensitive..."

"You don't have to apologize for your emotions" Spruce released his brother's wrists and cupped his face instead "Are you sure you are, okay? I have the feeling that it was more than just sensitivity" The older Troll got a handkerchief from one of his pockets and began to tenderly clean the tears off Floyd's cheeks.

"I just have a bit of a headache..." Floyd knew that Spruce also had a headache and that his headache was probably worse than Floyd’s, so he didn't really want to burden his brother with his problems "Where are Branch and John?" He asked, noticing that the oldest and youngest were no longer on sight.

"I sent them to go and dig another room in the hideout" Spruce finished cleaning his face but kept cradling it as if he was looking for whatever was bothering the younger one "John Dory has spent the whole day passing like a caged animal so I thought that a little physical labor would help him burn some of that nervous energy and Baby Branch loves the hideout so much that he won't fight anyone about spending time there, the kid just needs to just play around in the mud for a little while" Floyd sighed, he should have thought of that; Spruce probably had to interrupt his time with Brandy to fix the mess the second youngest created "Now are you going to tell me the real reason why you are crying?"

"It’s just a headache, really " Spruce raised an eyebrow looking unconvinced "...also I may be a little bit overwhelmed" He admitted, maybe now Spruce would go back to his own life and stop worrying about Floyd and his rollercoaster emotions.

"That is okay Flo" Spruce let his face go "Would it help if I massaged your head or combed your hair?" The older asked softly.

"Does it look that bad?" Floyd reached towards his hair; it felt a little frizzy and dry but there was little Floyd could do when lately he seemed to have developed a distaste for his usual conditioner and other hair products and hadn't been able to find something to replace them with.

"Not at all, but it helps with my headaches" Spruce guided him to sit on the couch where his hair care products and tools where already waiting for them "As a matter of fact I was going to ask Brandy to help me right now" Floyd was about to tell him to not bother helping him and go to spend some time with his girlfriend when Spruce began to tenderly run his fingers through Floyd's bangs "But that can wait until I take care of you..."

"You don't have to” Floyd insisted even as he melted into the sweet, tender touch.

"I want to" Spruce began to carefully brush his hair, starting at the tips which made the younger Troll stop resisting; Spruce even managed to avoid the really sensitive parts of his scalp without Floyd telling him about them "So how long have these headaches been going on?"

"Umm a week or so?" They had started the day after he had his big ‘talk’ with John Dory, so at first, they had been easy to lump with the emotional exhaustion but as the days went by and the pain just got worse he realized that they had to be caused by something else "They are fine, really" Floyd assured his brother when Spruce made a sound of displeasure at the information "They are easier to deal with than the nausea..." The moment that admission left his mouth Floyd knew he had messed up; he hadn't told anyone about anything but the headaches.

"Nausea?" Spruce stopped brushing and reached to touch the younger Troll's cheeks and forehead looking for signs of fever.

"I'm okay, don't worry too much Pru" He tried to calm his brother who was looking at Floyd as if he was trying to find some kind of sign on the other Troll's body that pointed to what was wrong with him "I just might have caught whatever virus you got and..."

"What?!" Floyd winced at his brother's raised voice "Oh... yeah migraine sorry" Spruce lowered his voice frowning sympathetically. "Does your neck hurt too?" The older Troll took a step back after he finished brushing Floyd’s hair; he had been right; the intensity of the pounding on his head had lessened significantly to just a constant throb behind his eyes.

"Just a little by the end of the day" Floyd got Riff's black bandana out of his pocket and began to tie it around his head the same way that the Rock Troll did that morning after their night together; it had become his preferred hairstyle since then even if he could never get the bow to look like the one Riff had done "Right now it's fine"

"... I... where did you get that bandana?" Floyd turned to look at Spruce, confused by the sudden change of topic "Oh sorry... it's just that you seem very attached to it, and I don't remember where you got it "

"Oh ummm... it was a gift from a friend I met on tour" The pink-haired Troll could feel his cheeks glowing red with embarrassment; thinking of Riff made his heart flutter with longing; it was kind of obvious for him that he might have developed a bit of a crush in his latest bedfellow despite the fact that he was probably never going to see him again.

"Wouldn't that friend be the Rock Troll with whom you spent the night that time you got in trouble...?" Spruce smiled, waggling his eyebrows teasingly.

"What if he was?" Floyd should be used to being teased by now, after all he had three older brothers and a lot of practice, but right now with his emotions all over the place he couldn’t help but feeling a little shy about his romantic endeavors "Anyways, any clue what it might be?" Floyd decided that he really didn't want to talk about his night activities and rather go back to the mysterious illness that seem to be plaguing two out of five brothers.

"What might be what?" Spruce was still giving him that silly smile, but his eyes looked as if he was thinking about something really hard.

"The illness?"

"Oh! Yeah, actually I have my suspicions" Spruce cleared his throat looking Floyd up and down, all the silliness erased from his stance "Brandy is going to accompany me to the doctor to check it out as soon as we can" His eyes were suddenly stuck in the bandana Floyd was wearing "Maybe you should come too..."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose..." Brandy had been really nice and Floyd really liked her but seeing her and his brother together made Floyd feel extra single and lonely especially since he seemed to have lost any control over his emotions "Besides if we both go together it might make Branch think that there is something wrong and panic."

Since they had lost their grandma Branch had become somewhat paranoid over his brothers’ health and general wellbeing; the doctors had recommended taking him to group therapy with other Trollings but they had yet to convince Branch to give it a go, so for now the brothers were just being extra cautions while mentioning illness, doctors and hospitals around the baby of the family.

"I still think you should get checked"

"I will I promise, but unless you find out it’s something really worrisome, I rather just not make Branch panic" Floyd smiled up at his brother softly trying to reassure him even if he felt terrible. "I am sure it's nothing..."

Spruce looked unconvinced, probably because if Floyd had caught whatever the older Troll had then he knew exactly what his little brother was dismissing as 'nothing'.

"Pruuuuuuuuuuuu!" Both Trolls winced at Clay's raised voice. "Brandy is looking for you, she says..." The middle child walked into the living room, but he stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw his two brothers "Migraine?" The other Trolls nodded "Sorry"

"You really need to be more mindful, Clay" Spruce sighed, then he turned to Floyd "Branch and John are going to be out for at least another couple of hours, you should lay down, Clay, can you get Flo a cold compress?" The tallest brother gave the older Troll a salute and went to find the requested item "Put it over your eyes and take a nap, believe me it helps wonders, I will go and see what Brandy needs"

"Tell her I said hi" Spruce helped Floyd to lay down on the couch, making sure he had a pillow under his head and even a blanket to cover himself.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell her" Spruce brushed his little brother’s bangs, his eyes lingering thoughtfully in the bandana on Floyd's hair.

"Does it look bad or something?" Floyd's voice sounded tiny and insecure, it hadn’t sounded like that since he had stopped needing a night light.

"What? No! You look great bro" Spruce didn't look like he was lying but there was something in his voice that Floyd could not understand "A little Rock suits you..."

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

The funeral had been brutal.

It had felt wrong for it to be such a quiet day but none of the brothers had been well enough to even whistle a note; most of the day had been a blur for Floyd and his brothers didn’t seemed to handle it any better than him but once it was done it was almost like a physical burden had been lifted from their home.

Somehow after the funeral the wound felt less raw, their lives might never be the same but at least it felt like they could start to move on and little by little begin to heal; or at least most of the Brozone members seemed to do so:

John Dory started going to the studio every day, he had yet to announce Brozone’s new album, but they all knew that it was just a matter of time before he began hinting at it.

Spruce spent most of his time with Brandy; they had been so lucky that the other Pop Trolls had taken one look at the Vacationer and decided that her size just made he a greater friend which meant that Brandy was welcome everywhere as long as there was space for her to sit in; meanwhile Clay daily disappeared into the village to ‘hang with some friends’, which friends no one knew but at least whatever he was doing it was getting him out of the house and keeping him in a good mood.

 Baby Branch might still be Gray, but he had finally begun to attend the grief therapy group for Trollings and started making friends in said group; it had been good for the Gray, little Troll in more ways than one.

 Who would have thought that practically been born into boyband would be so bad for someone's social skills?

And then there was Floyd: who for some reason seemed to be stuck in a loop, unable to reintegrate into the flow of the Pop Village around them and uninspired to even consider carving a path for himself.

At first, he decided to give himself time to sort out his feelings and make a game plan but as one week turned into two, he began to get restless. There was something he was supposed to be doing, and he didn’t know what, but he had to figure it out fast, otherwise his brothers would get involved.

Right now, they might be too distracted by their own lives but sooner rather than later they would notice, and they would try to do something about it which would be sweet except for the fact that it was his brothers, and they all had a very different opinion of how they were supposed to help.

If he could avoid it, he rather not be subjected to their poor attempts to get him: a new hobby (Branch), a boyfriend (Spruce), a job (Clay) or some ‘Fresh air and exercise’ (John Dory); as that usually resulted in a big mess he had to clean up or injury to himself and/or others.

Floyd would rather not go through that right now.

So, he did the only thing he could think to do: pretend there was nothing wrong with him, smile and nod while his brothers shared all the exiting things they had done in their day and when asked directly about himself, shift the focus to someone else.

No one needed to know he had spent the whole morning while his brothers were out and about in bed nursing a headache and an existential crisis.

"Oh, hey Spruce! How did it go with Brandy?" John Dory smiled to the second oldest brother when he walked into the Livingroom startling a half-asleep Floyd from his third nap of the day.

"Oh good, good, she sends her love to everyone" He seemed calm but somewhat distracted, his eyes scanned the room until he found the second youngest resting on the couch "Floyd can I talk to you for a second?" Before Floyd could say anything, Spruce took a hold of the younger’s arm and practically dragged him to the purple haired Troll’s room and closed the door behind them "Are you sure that you have the same symptoms that I do?" He asked, eyes frenetic as he looked up and down his little brother.

"Yeah, pretty much... why?" Floyd’s pulse began to race as he grabbed his brother's arms “Is it really that bad?"

"No, it's not bad at all but I just wanted to make sure before I suggested something..." The older Troll hesitated before reaching into his purple hair and presenting Floyd with a vial of a glossy viscous liquid.

"A strand test? Very funny Pru..." The younger one pushed the vial back to his brother; he looked towards the door waiting for the rest of his brothers to burst into the room and confirm this was just a prank, but the door remained closed, and Spruce kept pushing the vial into his paws until he accepted it.

"I am not kidding Floyd" Spruce looked from the vial to his little brother's eyes.

"Wait are you...?" Even saying it out loud sounded too crazy for Floyd to comprehend so he just let the word float in the air unsaid; Spruce nodded parting his hair to reveal a small egg; Spruce’s hair was still too wrapped around them to really see the colors of the shell but Floyd could already make out a small strand of yarn like hair sprouting from the top; it was purple, like Spruce’s "Then what I got must be a different thing, maybe just stress? I will go to the doctor’s office first thing tomorrow to..." His throat felt too dry to talk but he forced himself to do it.

"Branch has been saying that you smell different" Spruce cut him off, his voice firm.

"Branch can't possibly..." Even if that was true it wouldn’t be their first time their little brother said something weird to his older brothers; that was just the way Branch was sometimes.

"He said the same thing about me" His older brother interrupted him again, this time in a gentler tone as he grabbed Floyd by the shoulders "The doctors confirmed that some Trollings are so attuned with their caretaker's scent that they can detect early signs of pregnancy" The younger Troll began to shake his head, there was no way he was... nope he was not having a baby not now and maybe never, he was too young and too miserably single for that to happen; his body was probably just reacting to Spruce's... situation; sympathy symptoms or something like that "Please Flo... just do it, if it's negative then we can forget all about this"

"And if it's positive?" Floyd croaked; he was sure he wasn't carrying an egg but now that Spruce had presented the terrifying possibility, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Then I guess we are going to have an interesting conversation with our brothers." The joke fell flat as neither of the Trolls felt in a joking mood.

Floyd tried to pass saliva, but his throat felt so dry it almost hurt; he reached for his fringe and pulled out some hair from there, his paw trembled so badly that Spruce had to hold it steady so he could drop the hair inside the vial.

As soon as the hair made contact with the liquid it fizzed up.

"Is that...?!" Floyd almost dropped the vial, but Spruce saved it, took it off his paws and left it on the dresser.

"Totally normal, don't worry" The older Troll held the younger one's paws tracing soothing circles on the back, his voice calm and reassuring.

"How long does it take?" Floyd's eyes followed the strands of his hair as they slowly drifted to the bottom of the bottle leaving behind a trail of bubbles.

"Just about a minute"

"I ...this is ridiculous... it's going to be negative I can't be... I just mean last time I..." The last one was Riff and don't get him wrong, the drummer had been amazing, but they were not in love they... "We barely knew each other"

"It could be an asexual egg you know" Spruce continued to rub circles in the back of his paws trying to calm the frenetic energy of his little brother.

"Out of the question man... I could never... not alone... not after Branch"

What had happened to their parents was something that the oldest four brothers would carry with them forever, it had been a dark time for the family, the only good thing that had come out of that awful situation had been their perfect baby brother but even then it had left Floyd with no desire to care for a baby on his own.

“That was different, and you know it” Spruce stopped with the rubbing motions, his face sad as he looked down on Floyd “Besides you are not alone; you will always have your bros whatever the outcome"

It was not what Floyd meant even if he really appreciated the sentiment.

He had always dreamed of the life he would build with his partner; a partner he would love and who would adore him in return and if an egg or two came out of that love they had for each other that would be fine but also it wouldn't break him to live a life of childless marriage bliss.

But he was not married, he was not even in a relationship, the idea of solo parenting terrified him greatly, especially when the memory of their father wasting away in longing for their mother and the fragile egg that created had left prevalent scars in his young mind that had never fully healed.

The liquid made an odd 'pop' sound as the fizzle stopped, and the viscous liquid took a pastel green tinge; Floyd turned to Spruce for guidance only to be enveloped in a big hug.

"It's going to be okay Floyd" Spruce was quick to reassure him.

Spruce didn’t have to say anything, his tone confirmed what Floyd feared.

"I am .... pregnant?"

Chapter Text

Tonight, had been a mistake.

Right now he could have been neck deep in a luxurious bath in his hotel room, drinking fresh fruit smoothies and listening to his secret stash of rock music cassettes instead of sitting alone at this bar, sipping a mediocre drink and watching  the reason he had forced himself to even come to this boring party tell terrible jokes to a bunch of Country Trolls while hanging like an expensive purse on his wife's arm.

That is what he got for letting himself be seduced by a pair of pretty, green eyes without pausing to check for a wedding ring.

He really should have stayed in his hotel room with his brothers; they might be miserable, tired and moody right now, but his brothers at least didn't smell like old sweat and cheap alcohol like half of the Trolls at this party.

Floyd was in the middle of deciding if he should leave now or after he finished the terrible drink he had been served when something hit him, almost shoving him off his seat.

"Sorry, excuse me" An unknown Rock Troll exclaimed as he climbed onto the bar and proceeded to rummage for something underneath it.

"What is happening?" Floyd looked around but it didn't seem like any of the other party attendees were paying any attention to the strange shenanigans that were occurring in front of him.

"Gotcha!" The Rock Troll finally found what he was looking for and he jumped off the bar holding a small plastic jar full of... small cocktail umbrellas? 

The unknown Troll held the jar to his eye level, examining his prize, a goofy smile on his face that Floyd couldn't help but to find charming.

Now that he had a decent view of this new Troll, Floyd could feel a renewed interest in this party sparkling in his mind.

It seems he might still get lucky tonight...

Floyd fixed his bangs, adjusted his shirt so it hung as low as it could go on his shoulders and leaned on the bar playfully.

He was about to drop one of those one liners that Spruce doesn't know his little brother learned from him but before he can say anything the Rock Troll in front clumsily tried to open his prize, he seriously overestimated the tightness of the lid or perhaps underestimated his own strength which caused the lid of the jar to jump out of his paws and directly into Floyd's face.

The cold metal hit the Pop star right between the eyes startling him out of whatever persona he was in the middle of putting on; his glance followed the lid as it fell to his lap, he stared at it for a few seconds before looking up to the shocked face of the attractive Rock Troll that stood in front of him.

The giggles that bubbled out of him weren't part of his repertoire of well-rehearsed, charming laughs that made him sound like a proper golden idol, instead it was the same pitchy sound that normally only his brothers could get out of him.

"Is this yours?" He asked between chuckles, offering the Rock Troll the lid; all pretenses of seduction forgotten in the ridiculousness of the situation.

The Rock Troll stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds, as if he was slowly processing the Pop Troll’s words and then to Floyd's absolute delight, his body language began to shift and move in a way that was very familiar to Floyd...

It seemed like the Pop star's attraction was not at all unrequired.

His new companion ignored the jar lid as he smiled shily and offered Floyd one of the tiny cocktail umbrellas from his jar, like he was presenting the other Troll with a small, delicate flower.

"Umm... Umbrella?"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

"I'm pregnant"

The whole table erupted in happy shouts, questions and congratulations; in the chaos and the noise no one noticed Floyd, smiling but suspiciously quiet.

He couldn't help but feeling a little jealous of his brother at that moment; Spruce was so confident and strong, as if the uncertainty of the future didn't keep him up at night.

There were multiple hugs and smiles shared between the group that Floyd performed in autopilot; acting outwardly calm as a storm raged inside his head.

Because it was his turn; he was supposed to follow his brother's example and reveal the secret he had been carrying around for two months, now while everyone was celebrating one baby…

"I…" His throat felt tight and his words kept sticking to the roof of his mouth.

No one noticed him struggling, too focused on the happiness they were sharing to notice how their second youngest brother faded in the background of the celebration.

"Can we see the egg?" Branch asked standing on his chair to get closer to Spruce's hair.

The second oldest nodded parting his hair to reveal a big egg covered in swirls of purple, yellow and orange; Spruce had previously confided to Floyd that the design reminded him of the way the sunset looked when it was reflected in a peaceful ocean.

He felt the egg in his scalp shift a little at the sight of their cousin as if they were reminding their parent that they were missing their queue to be introduced to the family.

Everyone cooed, staring at the sunset-colored egg adoringly completely oblivious to the struggle Floyd was fighting against. Well, all but one…

Spruce's eyes found Floyd's; his eyebrows raised as if he was asking 'so?' to which the younger Troll responded with a slight shake of his head, he couldn't do it, he was not ready.

'I am sorry' he mentally told the little baby hidden in his hair, they fluttered once more before falling still as if they were saying: 'that is okay, another time then'; his brother on the other paw was not as forgiving; the Heartthrob nose twitched, an obvious sign he was annoyed.

None of the brothers seem to notice the exchange, too focused on the cute egg in their second oldest scalp.

"I would offer you Branch's baby stuff as I'm sure most of it is still in Grandma's closet, but I am not sure it will fit this baby" John Dory joked with Brandy.

"I- wait… how does that even work…?" Clay's eyes jumped from Brandy to Spruce, his expression told everyone that he regretted asking but was too curious to take it back.

"We don't really know, I mean guess we do but…" Brandy dissolved into playful giggles.

"My love, not in front of Branch" Spruce admonished both his girlfriend and the middle child even if Baby Branch was too occupied observing the egg to pay attention to what they were talking about "Floyd, something on your mind bro…?" Spruce looked at him sharply as if he was trying to mentally push him into confessing.

"Not at all" The pink-haired Troll gave him a placid smile, one that would not raise any alarm in his brothers "Congratulations to you both, you will make tremendous parents" Brandy, ever the kind soul, smiled down at him and nodded slightly, silently accepting his weakness and letting him off the hook.

"Thanks, you too" If only her boyfriend was so merciful.

"Thank you bro I guess …" Floyd faked a laugh; it was obvious that Spruce was not going to let this slide, he would keep pushing until he either got what he wanted or Floyd made his escape; which left the younger Pop star with only one option "We should probably roll out before John Dory brings out the baby albums" He loudly whispered to Clay and Branch.

"Flo you had to say it…" Clay groaned as their oldest brother's eyes began to sparkle.

"Ups…” Normally he wouldn't inflict this cruelty on anyone because if there was something J.D. liked more than showing off his collection of Brozone merch was showing off his collection of embarrassing pictures of his brothers, but Spruce had left him with no other choice.  

"Baby albums?" Either Brandy had never been subjected to John Dory's collection, or she was helping him escape the judgement of his older brother.

"Oh, Brandy you are in for a treat! Your boyfriend had the most adorable little-"

"No one needs to see that!" Spruce fixed his hair and walked towards their older brother who was already reaching inside his hair for the mini photo album he carried everywhere with him.

"But honey I do want to see that!" She gave him a smile that made the Heartthrob melt into a puddle.

"I mean we could see a photo or two…"

"Run" His brothers didn't need to be told twice; Clay and Branch took off running in the direction of the Hideout, Floyd looked at them go for a few seconds before taking off in the complete opposite direction.

Floyd was not planning to return to the family Pod or hang out with his brothers in the Hideout; the sun was setting in the horizon which meant that soon enough the only bar near Pop village would open its doors and he had to be there…

He had a date

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

"I heard you were looking for me"

The tall Rock Troll in front of him pushed his black hair out of his eyes with a carless moved that looked rehearsed.

"Let me guess… Riff?"

"Yep! But judging by your face not the Riff you were hoping for"

"Sorry" Floyd tried to give the other Troll the sincerest smile he could but truth be told he was tired; this was like the fifth time someone had told him they knew a Troll that matched  the description the Pop Troll gave, which always got his hopes up no matter how much he tried to keep them down only to have them completely smashed to smithereens the moment it turned out it was not the Riff he was looking for.

Today he felt even worse after his pregnancy announcement failure.

"Hey no foul! I would be more surprised if it turn out I was the one you were looking for" Riff-but-not-Riff sat down in the empty stool beside Floyd, apparently deciding that not being immediately and directly dismissed meant that he was invited for a chat "One doesn't forget a pretty face like yours" He winked making the Pop Troll roll his eyes "Look, I'm going to be honest with you because this seems to be really important to you: Riff is actually not an uncommon name for a Rock Troll; even one of the King's children is called Riff"

"Are all Riffs also tall, black headed drummers?" Floyd took a disinterested swing of his sparkling lemonade; so far this drink had been the best part of his night: the sour and sweet flavors balanced each other deliciously and the only reason Floyd was not calling it perfect was because it didn't include a tiny cocktail umbrella for his growing collection.

"No one is above pretending if it gets them a second look from someone like you" The Troll winked again as if Floyd hadn't understood his intentions the first time "Like I said, you are really cute for a Pop Troll" This is not new information for him; he had been informed about this fact by several Rock Trolls.

"Thanks for the honesty" Floyd jumped off the bar stool; done not only with the conversation but the entire night; he was going home.

"Hey! If you made half the impression he made on you, odds are he is also looking for you!" That actually made Floyd smile genuinely, it was a nice thought “And if it doesn't work with your drummer I will be around!" Riff-but-not-Riff gave him a sharp, flirty smile.

The Pop star sighed as he made his way out of the bar.

Well, he can't blame the other Troll for trying; if Floyd had met him two months ago, he would probably have given this Riff a chance; the Rock Troll was not ugly or rude, he just wasn't a sweet, clumsy drummer with steely gray eyes and a cute clueless smile.

Floyd looked down to his wristwatch hoping that maybe he had time to make a stop in the candy shop for some mood-lifting snacks before he had to make his way home.

The clock read half past nine.

"Oh sugar " He cursed under his breath.

There was no time for snacks, he was late… again.

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

It’s never a good sign when conversations are abruptly cut short the moment you walk through the door.

"Hey guys" He tried to act casual and not at all creeped out by the stares Branch and Clay were giving him; he was only mildly successful in hiding his discomfort, but his voice at least seemed to shake them out from the trance.

"Are you okay?" Lately that is how Clay had been greeting him every time he saw him; gone were the finger guns and hellos, now there are only concerned glances and soft words.

It makes the younger wonder what his brother is seeing when he looks at Floyd.

"Yes" He said confidently even if he is sure his eyes scream 'It depends on your definition of okay'.

"Floyd!" The youngest almost tackles him to the ground with a hug "You smell like air freshener" Yeah, that might be because he used half a can of it to cover the smell of alcohol and pyrotechnics that followed him from the bar.

"That I do" He taps Branch's nose lightly; he might be slightly fearing the day Branch realizes where half of the smells from Floyd's skin come from because then he will have a lot explaining to do,  luckily for him that day is not today so he can keep enjoying his brother's innocent ignorance "Are you ready for bed?"

There have been a lot of changes in Brozone's home in the last two months; Grandma's death had left a huge hole in their lives that they had all been scrambling to cover, so many spaces that they were not aware Rosiepuff occupied that were now left vacant.

Concessions had to be made by all the brothers just to keep the family afloat and somewhat functional.

One of those concessions had been the understanding that Branch couldn't and wouldn't go to sleep unless all of his brothers were accounted for, safe and sound inside the family home.

This was no problem for most of the brothers since unless they had specific parties or work events the older three were normally home before nine PM.

Floyd on the other paw had a difficult time adjusting to this early curfew, especially since Rock Trolls tended to be nocturnal creatures, which meant that his search for Riff was mostly limited to a few hours every night.

Not that his brothers knew that; they probably thought he was out trying to dance or drink his grief away. Sometimes he half expected to come home to an intervention or something like that.

"Ummm" Branch and Clay exchanged looks then they turned to the Livingroom entrance behind them.

"What is it?" Floyd peeked inside of the room to see what had his brothers acting so weirdly; inside he only found their oldest brother furiously muttering to himself while scribbling on a notepad, he was about to call out a greeting when John Dory suddenly stopped, teared out the page balled it in his fist angrily before throwing it away to join the pile of paper balls around him.

"He was apparently kicked out of the recording studio earlier today" Clay whispered "Don't ask me why he wouldn't tell"

"Mhm, so that is why you guys are standing here, staring at our brother as if he was about to suddenly combust into flames?"

"Well Pru said I had to wait until he is done to use his mess to try my new paper waste recycling proposal" The middle child crossed his arms probably to hide how antsy he had been feeling about putting to the test this new, apparently revolutionary way he had devised to reduce the Pop Tribe's paper waste; all of the brothers had heard all about it because that was all that Clay had been able to talk about in the last few weeks.

Spruce believed that it was his way to stay productive throughout his grief and Floyd was inclined to agree; if the first month after grandma's death had been all about emotional avoidance, the second month was turning out to be all about showing everybody how good they were coping.

Spruce had become a regular volunteer on Branch’s therapy group, cooking elaborate lunches and snacks for fifteen Trollings every week.

Branch had installed a sink, an oven and three toilets in the Hideout on his own.

Clay was practically single handedly reforming the whole waste disposal system in the village.

John Dory was creating -by his own account- twelve smash hits for their next album.

And Floyd? He had learned how to hide and control most of his pregnancy symptoms… Yay!

"I need more data for my chart!" Branch added reaching into his hair for a notebook that then he shoved in the pink-haired Troll's face "J.D. has been acting weird, irritable and tired" Floyd took a step back to actually see what his brother was trying to show him which turned out to be detailed, dated notes all centered around the leader of Brozone; there were mood and food consumption trackers as well as a list of probable symptoms, some of which had a star sticker besides them "And he has been losing hair …a lot of it" Branch turned the pages in his notebook to show his older brother the page that had a plastic baggie full of teal hair.

Floyd wondered for a second if he should be more worried about his oldest brother who was losing all this hair or his youngest brother who was apparently following their brother and collecting it.

"It could just be stress Branch" The second youngest knew that it was wrong of him to dismiss what might as well be very real concerns his little brother had about John Dory's health but they had been clearly instructed by the Trolling's therapist not to feed into his paranoia "You know how he gets about the band" That was at least true, after all this was not the first time J.D. had gotten so wrapped around his work that his health began to decline.

Floyd looked back into the room where John Dory scribbled away in his notepad, oblivious to the fact that he was being examined by his little brothers.

The second youngest felt a seed of doubt bloom in his mind… Could it be possible that he had been so focused on his own drama that he had missed all the signs of their oldest brother's silent decline?

"It's not just that Floyd!" Branch huffed clearly upset "I think he might be-"

"You don't have any conclusive information to support a diagnosis! All of what you showed me is clearly circumstantial" Clay intervened, it was clear that Branch had already discussed this with the middle child who just like Floyd had tried, following the instructions of the therapist, to reason with Branch's fears "Don't you have teeth to brush?" That sounded like a dismissal, one that Branch obeyed after an exchange of glares between them "You should talk to him" Clay told Floyd once their little brother was safely out of earshot.

"Branch?" The pink-haired Troll looked in the direction their little brother had disappeared; it was a little worrying how he had been basically studying J.D., looking for signs of sickness but at the same time Floyd thought this was something that they should bring up with Branch's therapist for her to deal with, mostly because there was a real possibility that Branch had been keeping tabs not only on John Dory but all of them and one wrong move could lead to a spiral "I'll bring it up the doctor before his next session but to be honest I have been expecting something like this for quite some time"

The fact that Branch was paranoid about their health and safety was not new information, they had known about it even before the therapist had sat them down and explained how the sudden departure of Rosiepuff had convinced Branch that any of them could be ripped away from him at any given moment.

"I was talking about John Dory" Clay even tilted his head towards the Livingroom to emphasize his point "He has been acting weird for a while now, but I think he has gotten worse in these last hours since Pru announced his pregnancy"

"And I should be the one to do it why? Because you don't want to?" It was obvious that sooner or later someone was going to have to intervene, but Floyd didn't think he was the right Troll for the job.

This is because, first of all, John Dory is under the belief that Floyd has been spending his evenings partying and living a carefree life while the older has been working nonstop; subsequently, there are also pregnancy hormones to consider, his were all over the place, which makes him the worst candidate for emotionally challenged conversations of any kind.

Especially if they consider how hardheaded John Dory can be.

"I mean yes" Floyd rolled his eyes; typical Clay running away from the emotional labor "But also because he listens to you" The younger one couldn't help but to snort at that "No I am serious! You think that you were the first one to confront him about the eternal tour he had us doing? Grandma tried, Pru tried, even I spoke to him about it, but he didn't listen until you said something"

Floyd raised his eyebrows; he had known Spruce and Clay had tried to say something about it, after all he had been the one who intervened when the fight had gotten so loud that it had almost woken up Branch from his slumber; but the fact that Grandma had also tried to reason with their oldest brother was really surprising, especially because grandma had always tried to stay away from the boyband business, only voicing her opinions when asked directly.

"That was more because he was ready to listen than anything else"

"Or maybe it's because he listens to you" Clay looked directly into the younger Troll’s eyes as if trying to make sure his little brother truly understood "Just try it okay?" The middle child turned to look at their oldest brother one last time before he started walking away "Also you really should stop going to bars"

"You have your vices, and I have mine" Floyd shrugged; he didn't really care what his brothers thought of his outings, he knew why he was doing it and felt it would be worth it once he found what he is after.

"Yeah, but mine don't make baby Branch nervous and-" Clay stopped walking and turned towards Floyd "Look man, I know you are dealing with everything your way but…" He suddenly looked down, a disbelieving smile on his lips, as if he was amazed at what he was about to say "We are about to become uncles, which means that we need you here, now more than ever"

"Clay…" I'm pregnant. C'mon Floyd, just say it "You are right"

"Of course I am right, I'm the smart one" Floyd let his brother walk away, accepting that once more he had failed sharing the news that sooner or later his brothers would have to hear "Bitty B I can't hear that brushing!"

"I am brushing!"

"Well brush harder!"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

Floyd woke up suddenly; not violently, not painfully.

He just knew there was some place he needed to be and something or more like someone he had to take care of.

It was as if he was asleep one second and he was wide awake the next one, already climbing out of bed and to his feet.

One look to the small bed to his right confirmed what he had already known: Branch was awake and patrolling their home, a new habit that he had developed to cope with nightmares since their grandma had passed away.

Trauma was funny that way.

Gone was the kid who wanted to cuddle after a nightmare, the kid left in his place rather check on everything and everyone in the home.

The pink-haired Troll exited the room the three youngest brothers shared and briefly peeked in the next room through the ajar door; Spruce was sleeping soundly in his bed, John Dory's bed was empty which these days was not uncommon as he probably fell asleep while working; Branch was not in the room so Floyd moved on towards the Livingroom where he found J.D. snoring on the couch covered by the knitted blanket the brothers usually kept on a basket by the armchair, this meant Branch had already made his rounds through here.

Floyd peeked briefly into the kitchen and the pantry just to be sure his little brother had not suddenly changed his routine and then continued down the corridor.

He found his little brother in the same place he always did; outside Grandma Rosiepuff's closed door.

"Branch?" Floyd called as softly as he could, trying not to startle the Trolling.

For a few seconds the smaller Troll didn't move or respond, he kept still, guarding the space of someone who would never come back; Floyd waited patiently, knowing this routine by heart.

"Floyd" Branch finally whispered, extending his arms towards his big brother who didn't hesitate in picking him up.

"You are getting too tall for me to carry Branch" And too heavy, especially since Floyd was currently carrying an egg on his scalp "Soon enough you will be as tall as me."

"That is not very tall" Branch huffed sleepily as he buried his head in his older brother's neck.

"I can still drop you" That was an empty threat, but Branch still locked his ankles around the older Troll's back "Do you want to check on the others before we go to bed?" The Trolling nodded.

"And the locks" The youngest added.

"And the locks" Floyd agreed.

The brothers had been a little befuddled when they began to find their youngest asleep by the door of their pod; something that not even Branch could explain; at first they thought it might be somnambulism but that theory went out of the window as soon as Clay had woken up in the middle of the night and on his way to the bathroom he found the Trolling standing in their older brother's room, staring at them while they slept, very tired but completely awake.

When confronted with this fact Branch admitted that he had been having nightmares but instead of waking any of them for a cuddle or even a late-night snack he had felt the need to check they all were where they were supposed to be (His eyes firmly were on Floyd when he said this) and breathing.

He also liked checking on windows and doors for some reason.

Floyd walked towards the front door and let Branch play around with the handle as much as he wanted to reassure himself the lock was on before walking towards the Livingroom to check on windows and their oldest brother.

No one really knew what to do with Branch and his newfound quirk; especially because the boy was surprisingly silent which meant that most of the time no one even noticed when he got up from bed or moved around through their home.

That's why Floyd had taken to wake up randomly through the night to check on Branch and make sure to carry him to bed if he found him out and about; it was not a perfect system; sometimes they still woke up to Branch sleeping by the front door even if Floyd had checked on him twice that night, but it was all they could do without setting up a Baby Branch guard rotation (It had been proposed but Branch had been vehemently against it).

Floyd and Branch went around checking each of the windows before pausing in front of the couch; staring down at their oldest while the Troll snored loudly, unaware he was being watched.

John Dory looked tired, there were huge, dark bags under his eyes and a frown on his face even as he slept; he was also wearing the same clothes he had been wearing all day which told Floyd he had fallen asleep unintentionally.

Branch, who was staring at their brother from where his head was resting on Floyd's shoulder moved his head towards the dining room windows, signaling to his big brother he was ready to move on with the inspection.

"Floyd?" The Trolling began but then hesitated.

"What is it?"

"Are you happy about the baby?" Floyd almost dropped Branch in surprise.

"Spruce and Brandy's baby?" He asked his voice slightly higher and louder than usual; the Gray Troll didn't seem to notice, he just nodded.

Of course he meant their brother's baby; his little brother might smell something different in him, but he still hadn’t figured it out.

"Yes Branch, I am happy about the baby. I can't wait for them to hatch” That was all true, there had not been a point where he had not been happy about his brother's pregnancy.

"But you were in such a hurry to leave after the announcement" The small Troll pointed towards the next window making Floyd move towards it "and you were acting weird"

The pink-haired Troll was literally operating on fumes and brotherly protectiveness right now; he could not deal with this type of emotional bomb defusing, so he had two options: confess to have mixed feelings about the announcement due to his own pregnancy and inability to reveal said pregnancy or admit to a half-truth and find a way to deflect the focus of the conversation back to his baby brother as fast as possible.

"I suppose I was very surprised by the news" He obviously took the second choice "I had a lot on my mind at the moment and a very important meeting to get to. I was afraid if I didn't leave fast enough, I wouldn't be able to" Because Spruce looked a breath and a half away from sitting on him and force him to confess "But don’t worry I am planning to find a way to celebrate our little nibling soon" Floyd's arms were getting tired but he continued on without complain "What about you? Are you excited about the baby?"

"Babies are cute I guess " Branch shrugged "Sometimes Tricky has to babysit his little cousin and his aunt is really strict about the things the baby is allowed to do so it's also kind of boring to play with him…" The Gray Trolling's words were slurring, and he had abandoned any pretenses of checking on the locks which meant that he was on the brink of sleep "Do you think Spruce and Brandy will let me teach their baby how to make mud cakes?"

"I think it would be hypocritical if they didn’t, considering that Spruce was the one who taught you how to make mud cakes" The older Troll began to move towards their room "As long as no one eats the cakes everything will be fine"

"I could teach them how to whittle…" Branch didn't seem to be paying attention to Floyd's answer he just kept mumbling "and take them to catch glowflies"

That was such a Branch answer to give, sweet, a little weird and completely honest.

It made Floyd think about what had ignited this whole conversation: Was Floyd happy about the baby?

He was happy about Spruce and Brandy's baby but was he happy about his own?

The answer came to him immediately and without much thought: Yes, the pregnancy had been unplanned, yes, it was terribly inconvenient and troublesome, yes, it kept him up at night thinking about all the things that could go wrong for him and his family but…

The baby was the reason Floyd even got out of bed in the morning; they gave him purpose and a reason to look forward to things.

Before meeting Riff and ending up pregnant Floyd had been a little lost.

All his brothers had stuff besides the band and their music; things like friends, relationships, hobbies, passions and aspirations and then there was Floyd, barely nineteen and already set for life: all his dreams achieved, all his goals check marked and his ambition dead.

He had been so bored before and now there was so much excitement in his life that he felt paralyzed by it.

Long story short: Yes, he was happy about the baby growing up on his scalp and he was tired enough to admit it.

"I am pregnant Branch" He confessed in a sigh.

As answer his brother gave the softest of snores; Floyd's confession totally lost to him.

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

Floyd stared at the brochure in his paws: 'Eggcellent news! The journey of solo parenting'.

The drawing of a dead-eyed Troll smiled up at him; their lips stretched so wide across their face that they looked more threatening than friendly; they were balancing a ton of books, some flowers, vegetables, hair care products and of course on top of it all: a colorful egg.

"Yeah no, not doing this" Floyd crumpled the pamphlet into a colorful ball that he then dropped unceremoniously in the trash bin before he walked towards the cupboard to look for something that would satisfy certain craving he had.

The brochure had been Spruce's latest attempt to 'start important conversations', which was a passive aggressive way to say: 'Stop ignoring me or come clean, you coward' and honestly Floyd was not really in the mood to deal with it.

He knew that Spruce was just trying to help and to a certain extent Floyd thought he was right; after all the younger Troll needed someone to talk to and if he refused to tell anyone else about his situation then Spruce (And Brandy because of course Brandy knew) was the only one to whom he could really talk to but at the same time he was certain the older one would not understand what he was going through.

How could he?

Spruce and Brandy, having a child was one thing; Brozone fans would fawn over their beautiful love story and incredible chemistry; how could they not? They were obviously meant for each other. They were not the problem.

The problem was Floyd.

Floyd, who was carrying the egg of a Troll he knew three things about: He was extremely handsome, he was a drummer of some, or another Rock Band and his name was Riff.

The Pop star could already see the media circus this was going to bring; his poor brothers were going to get dragged through the mud and Floyd could not even begin to think about what it could mean for the baby he was carrying.

It's not that Floyd refused to acknowledge that there was a problem here like his brother thought, it’s just that he refused to make it his brothers' problem when they have already been dealing with so much this past months; especially because he already went through all his options and realized there is only one answer: He had to find Riff.

Which sounded easier than it was turning out to be; even if his efforts weren't limited to going to bars to ask around and search through whatever Rock music magazine he could get his paws on for any clue that lead to find Riff or at least the band he was touring with when Floyd had met him, the lack of information he had on the Troll he was looking for would have been a major problem.

Floyd huffed, frustrated that there was nothing like what he was craving; he really wanted some crispy bark right now... 

He eyed the cinnamon sticks on the counter for a second; they looked like they were about the right texture and if he put some lemon on it, that would combine the somewhat spicy taste and the sourness he had been craving.

He was reaching for the jar of cinnamon sticks when a sudden thought made him freeze halfway…

Grandma always told them that Floyd had been a premature baby because their dad had refused most sweet foods while he had been carrying the second youngest's egg, preferring spicy and sour foods and according to grandma Rosiepuff, if babies don't get the sugar they crave from their parents they hatch early to get it themselves or at least that was what she always told them.

That had to be an old Troll's tale, right? His body was telling him what he needed via cravings, there was no way he was harming the baby by...

But grandma had been so adamant about it; every time she came in contact with a pregnant Troll she recounted Floyd's premature birth and the consequent months of health struggles he had as consequence of that; other Trolls would nod along, pushing different kinds of homemade sweets unto to the expectant parent's paws and once the baby hatched, perfectly healthy they would praise the parent for their sugar intake.

Floyd looked at the sugary treats they had in stock, sugary treats that Spruce had been craving.

"Oh, for the love of...!" Floyd marched right back to the trash bin and pulled out the paper ball that he had thrown in there, spreading the paper out on the kitchen counter; there should be something about cravings around somewhere. "Hair care... Neck exercises... Stages of development... Cravings!" He mouthed the words as he read "...Despite the prevalent belief that ties the consumption of sugar with the general health of the baby there is no real connection between the two; expectant parents are advised to follow their cravings as they can be an indication of what nutrients their body is lac... ha! I knew it!" Floyd exclaimed his paw already reaching for the cinnamon sticks.

As he prepared his snack with extra lemon juice just because he could, humming along happily; he considered the brochure he had previously discarded, maybe it would be a good idea to keep it around just for the time being, just in case he had other questions later on.

The young Troll examined the contents of the colorful paper while munching on his treat; it was pretty standard stuff, but it addressed some common misconceptions about pregnancy; Floyd could read it entirely in 30 minutes and throw it away without his brothers ever finding out this thing ever existed in their home.

It was harmless or at least it seemed like it until Floyd made it to the ‘development tracker’.

Two months had passed since the fateful encounter he had with a certain attractive rocker which according to this piece of paper meant the egg should be at least as big as his fist with ‘a distinguishable fluff of soft hair’.

The pamphlet also stated that at this stage the expectant parent should be visiting the doctor at least twice a month and testing their hair daily for split ends or hair breakage which were typical signs of complications with the pregnancy.

None of that was true for Floyd.

As a matter of fact, he would be surprised if the egg in his head was bigger than the scone he had eaten for breakfast this morning.

Did that mean that there was something wrong with the baby? They had wiggled around quite a lot lately, which Floyd had assumed was normal but now was second guessing himself.

 Had Floyd already failed the child even before they had the opportunity to hatch?

The idea made his head pound.

"What are you glaring at Flo?" He had been so focused on his food and the pamphlet that he had completely missed when John Dory had entered the kitchen.

"Nothing important!" He quickly dismissed, his paw crumpled the paper back to a ball he then shoved inside his vest "Do you need something John?"

John Dory looked at him weirdly, as if he was not completely sure he believed Floyd, but he didn't question it instead he walked past the pink-haired Troll for the pitcher of fruit water they kept on the counter and a glass.

"Not really bro" The oldest smiled, making Floyd notice the pen marks in the corner of his mouth which were normally an indication that he had been writing or more specifically had been chewing on the pen he normally used for writing "Just recharging the creative juices!" He shook the now full glass of watermelon water before taking a long sip "Oh that is the good stuff! Anyways, back to the grind!" He took his beverage and began to walk away but as he passed Floyd a paper ball dropped from his pocket.

"Wait John Dory your-!" Floyd picked the paper up and tried to hand it to his brother but said Troll just waved him off.

"That is nothing important, you can just throw it in the trash" His brother didn't even turn to look at whatever he had dropped he just continued on his way, which didn't sit right with Floyd, who decided to see why the oldest would dismiss the paper when John Dory had always been known for keeping even his unused, discarded drafts in case he could revamp them later.

"Oh, girly girl, you are so woman that I want to..." The rest of the page was crossed out but if it was something like what Floyd had just read, he really didn't want to see more of that.

"I told you it was just trash" John Dory tried to snatch the paper from the younger’s paw but Floyd side stepped him, keeping the paper ball behind his back, he didn’t really want to save it; those lyrics were terrible and belonged in the trash but it was something that would keep his older brother here while Floyd got answers from him "It’s just some dumb ideas I had to get out of the way before I wrote the good stuff" The way John Dory said it with total confidence would make anyone believe in the Brozone leader but Floyd could look through all the masks his older brother always put on and could notice the indicators of terrible stress like the too wide smile and the minuscule tick on his brother’s left eye.

"John, maybe you should take a break from writing" He had been at it since the day after grandma's funeral, sometimes leaving for the recording studio in the early hours of the morning and not returning until right before curfew.

The younger Troll took a closer look at his brother remembering Branch's detailed notes and Clay's cautious words; he might had not been able to see what they had been so worried before but now in the soft glow of their kitchen he could finally understand why his brothers had been so alarmed, this was not ordinary John Dory stress induced frenzy; their brother looked like he was a hair and a sigh away from a complete meltdown.

Floyd felt the sudden and violent urge to growl that he suppressed with a sigh; it had only been a couple of months since they had talked about this exact thing and here he was: his big dummy of a brother already speed running towards burnout… again.

"No time for that bro, greatness awaits us!" The fake enthusiasm was somewhat nauseating to the pregnant Troll, so he decided to call his brother on it.

"John Dory, I can’t believe I have to say this because it's so obvious that I bet even you are already aware of it: you are struggling so maybe… leave it?” He could feel a headache forming behind his eyes; he had thought John Dory had been doing better with the whole separate band and family life but here they were, and nothing appeared to have changed except for the location of their conversation “At least for a few days”

"Nonsense brother! I am really close to our next big hit!" The oldest made a wide gesture with his arms as if grandiose expressions could distract his brother from noticing the frayed edges of his smile and the sag on his shoulders.

The worst was that deep inside John Dory wholly-heartedly believed that: he truly believed that if he kept going through it, he would pull out to the other side victorious like he always did.

"John Dory that might work on our management, but I have been here from day one; I know  when you have a hit song and this is not how it looks... or smells like" Once his brother had raised his arms the smell had hit the smaller Troll like a Caterbus  "You are sweating a lot maybe you should take another shower?" He knew that his brother took daily showers, but he also knew that his brother sweated a lot when he was nervous.

"The album...!”

"Can wait, it’s not like we have a deadline" His older brother bit his lip and looked away; Floyd’s blood turned cold, that was John Dory’s guilty expression the one that he used to have whenever he broke something for kicking his ball inside the house when grandma had asked him to do it outside "John we are on a break!"

"Well, I mean nothing is solid but management..." The oldest kept avoiding the younger’s gaze, his paws playing nervously with the hem of his vest.

"I don't care what they said, we are on an indefinite, management approved hiatus, they signed on it" Floyd advanced slowly towards his brother.

"But I mean that was before we cancelled those three sold out concerts in Mount-" the younger stopped just in front of his brother forcing the older to look at him; his words dying in his throat when he was confronted by Floyd’s thunderous expression.

"Our grandma died! We didn't do it just for the fun of it"

"I know that!” John Dory moved his paws around as an aborted calming gesture “And they know that"

"Yes but do they understand it?! Branch is still Grey, and we are still mourning" Floyd was angry not at his brother but at this faceless entity that was their management; it’s true that he and John Dory might have hinted at a new album but who did they think they were giving his brother a deadline on a project that had never been agreed on?!

"They might not Flo, but I do” The oldest Brozone member suddenly stood straight and firm, changing his stance to instill confidence in the younger Troll “And I promise you have nothing to worry about because I will take care of everything” His paws were placed firmly on Floyd’s shoulders in what his brother probably thought was a very comforting gesture “I will do this for you, for our brothers and… for the fans" John Dory’s voice didn’t falter but there was a little flicker of something insecure and vulnerable behind his eyes that told Floyd his older brother was putting a front.

Floyd was so frustrated that he could cry; it was always the same story with his brother: he promised he was going to take a break and care for his health until someone mentioned the fans and like magic, he forgot all about his promises.

With eyes that burned with tears he wouldn’t let fall, Floyd glared at his brother, then shrugged the paws that rested on his shoulders.

'I'm pregnant!' His mind screamed but the thing that came out of his mouth instead was:

“This is hurting you and I just hope that you realize that before it hurts the rest of us” The pink haired Troll pushed the paper ball he had been keeping behind his back into his brother chest.

John stricken face followed the young Troll as he walked away.

This was exactly what he feared would happen when Clay asked him to talk to their oldest brother, but what's done it's done and now he can only hope that the message sticks this time around.

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

"This one is really cute, isn't he?" Floyd took one cursor look at the Troll Brandy was pointing at and went back to his own magazine.

"That is not Riff" The Troll didn't even look like the drummer Floyd had described to his sister-in-law.

"I never said he was, I just said he was cute" Brandy's tone was calm and still amused even when Floyd refused to really indulge her and the little game she had created where she would point at every single cute Troll she found while looking through the stack of magazines Floyd had.

"You are literally having a child with my brother" The pink-haired Troll deadpanned, unamused by the game he had never agreed to play; they were supposed to be looking for clues to find Riff, not fawn over attractive guys neither of them were really interested in.

"That doesn't make him less cute" She showed him the picture again and yes Floyd could agree the Troll depicted was really cute; totally Floyd's type: tall, dark and handsome but he was not the good-natured drummer who had made his pulse race.

To be fair to Brandy she had nothing to do with Floyd’s foul mood, no, that was the result of her boyfriend’s passive aggressive attempts at communication and the brewing guilt he had over the conversation with John Dory this morning.

Spruce had been trying to push him into opening up to their brothers about his pregnancy by leaving onesies that were obviously too small for a half Vactioner baby and paternity pamphlets where he knew only Floyd would find them.

Honestly Floyd was just trying to ignore him.

And then there was John Dory…

He didn’t mean to shout at his brother but he also couldn’t immediately apologize because if he did John Dory would just forgive him and dismiss the entire conversation as a normal fight between brothers; experience had shown the second youngest Brozone member that he had to wait at least a day so his brother would really think about what the fight had been about.

Which meant that he was now waiting for his brother to process the fact that he was falling for the same crap their management had pulled time and time again before Floyd could apologize for the tone he had used, not for the things he had said.

"I guess" Brandy looked at him expectantly, probably wanting him to continue but Floyd had no intention to "I just want to focus on finding Riff" He looked down to his magazine, searching for any clue of where his last bedfellow could be right now.

"Was Riff cuter then?" Brandy interrupted his search once again, her voice still amused.

"It's not about that!" Floyd blushed violently at his own disproportionated reaction "It’s not about that" He repeated with more composure "Riff could be total opposite of cute" His mind flashed back to that fateful party replaying in full detail how Riff had leaned down and tucked the small cocktail umbrella behind Floyd's ear as if it was a delicate flower; they had been so close that Floyd was able to remember every little detail about the drummer's presence: from his earthy smell to the coarse texture of the small hairs that had rubbed against Floyd's cheek as the other Troll leaned onto him... it made the pink-haired Troll's heart flutter in his chest "Which for the record, he is not! And he would still be the father of m- the baby" Floyd's paw twitched as he suppressed the urge to touch the hair knot in his head under which the egg was growing.

"I see" The smile she gave to the small Troll made him feel as if she knew something he didn’t “Floyd everything will be fine"

"It's easy for you to say it..." The Troll threw the magazine in the 'done' pile and let himself fall on his back. "You and my brother make the perfect couple and are probably going to be the perfect parents to a perfect baby" The egg in Spruce's hair had doubled its size in the last month and Spruce's purple hair had grown long to accommodate it and if anything that had made him more popular with… well everyone regardless if they knew the reason for the change or not "Meanwhile I can't even make sure that m- the baby has two parents"

"I think you will be a great parent, regardless of whether we find this Riff you are so obsessed with or not" Brandy put down the magnifying glass she was using to look through the magazines and gave her brother-in-law all her attention.

"I am not obsessed with him" The drummer just consumed his every waking thought and sometimes even his dreams, but Floyd wouldn't call it obsession but anxiety. "I just... let's say there will be less problems if the baby has two parents"

"Are you worried about what the other Trolls are going to think?" Brandy carefully laid by his side, making sure she could see his face.

"Somewhat" The Vacationer made a sound that encouraged him to elaborate "This will not only affect me but my brothers, our careers and the baby" Maybe even the whole Pop Tribe if what John Dory said about them being ambassadors was true and not something management had made up to pressure him into behaving "Eggs are created because of an emotional connection more than any physical action" Probably Spruce had already explained this to her but Brandy didn't interrupt him, she just continued looking at him with patient, kind eyes "We are raised on the belief that having an egg, even an unplanned one means the couple were meant to be" He didn't even remember most of that night, it was all a little foggy from the drinks, the lights and the loud noises of the party; the morning after was a little bit better but still nothing that shouted ‘soulmates’ "What kind of Troll creates an egg with a complete stranger?" Floyd caught himself before he could reach for his own hair.

"I think you are being too hard on yourself" Brandy said carefully, offering Floyd her hand which the Troll hugged, accepting the comfort that the Vacationer freely offered "Not everyone has the same love story"

"This doesn't feel like a love story this feels like a cruel joke.”

“Can I ask you something Floyd?” His sister-in-law said after a few seconds of silence between them.

“Sure” Anything to distract him from the tears already forming in his eyes.

“Would you be mad if Spruce left the band?” The Troll slowly pushed himself away from the hand that he was holding to look up towards his brother’s girlfriend who looked eerily calm.

“Spruce is going to leave Brozone?”  Floyd couldn’t even begin to imagine Brozone without their heartthrob; he was such an integral part of the group.

Bitty B might have the potential to be a lead vocalist in the band, but his voice was still too young for that, and Floyd could not be expected to take the lead in every song; their harmonies worked because they had Floyd and Spruce…

“He might have entertained the idea recently” Brandy looked away; her head pointing -perhaps subconsciously- towards the southwest, towards Vacay Island, the home she had left months ago to support them through the loss of their grandma.

She must be missing her home, but she had never made them feel like there was anywhere else that she rather be than with them.

“Well…”  He thought about it, really thought about it beyond how it would affect the band; he thought about his brother and the smile he gave Brandy when the Vacationer massaged his scalp, her fingers softly caressing the fragile shell of their child’s egg “I would be sad to see him go but he is my brother and I could never deny him anything that would make him as happy as you make him” Spruce had never said anything but Floyd could see it in the way his eyes would sparkle when the subject of weddings and marriage came up; their heartthrob wanted to settle down and refusing him that would hurt Floyd almost as much as it would hurt his brother.

“Do you think that any of your brothers would feel differently?”

“No, not really” The answer was so obvious that he didn’t even have to think about it.

“The why do you think your brothers would react different to you doing the exact same thing?”

“I am not planning to leave Brozone!” He couldn’t, Brozone was the tether that kept him connected to his brothers, to Pop as a whole; if he cut It who knows where he would end up.

“I didn’t say that” Brandy turned to look at him with the same tender glance that Spruce used to give him when he assured him there was no monsters under the bed “I am just saying that your brothers won’t deny you whatever path you think it’s better for you and your baby even if that path is not the same they are taking” She let those words sink in “Now the question is: What is it that you want to do now?”

Floyd’s paw instinctively went up to his hair and this time he didn’t stop, he allowed himself to feel the solid knot in the center of his head that sheltered the still growing baby.

He wanted someone who would talk names with him while massaging his scalp.

He wanted to gush about their colors mixing together: Icy blue melting on lilac, black and pink braiding together, purple blending with grey …

He wanted what Brandy and Spruce had. He didn't want to do this alone.

The baby in his scalp wiggled a little under his paw as if they were saying 'I'm here'.

"I want to buy some chocolate eggs"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

"I hate when you do this"

When he woke up from his nap and found his bandana missing from his head, he just knew that this was where he would probably find it:

In the dining room table under Spruce's paw.

Or more specifically when he had been woken up from his nap because the nineteen-year-old had been startled awake from his deep slumber by a consistent tug in his scalp, he had soon discovered was the baby wiggling frenetically in his hair because their favorite accessory was not where it was supposed to be.

The only one who loved that bandana more than Floyd was the child growing on his head.

"And yet it's the only way I can get your attention somedays" Spruce took a sip of his tea, the egg in his head gloriously visible through his hair as if taunting their cousin still in hiding.

"I could walk away right now" The egg kept wiggling in his hair like a little child reaching for their favorite blanket that was just out of their reach.

"You could but both of us know that you won't" His posture was relaxed but Spruce’s eyes were completely focused on any movement the younger Troll made "You have never been able to walk away when I have what you want"

His brothers had been doing stuff like this since Floyd can remember; any time they wanted Floyd's attention regardless if the smaller Troll had been ignoring them intentionally or unintentionally they would simply take Floyd's favorite thing: a toy, a book, (Branch at some point), a record or currently the only solid memory he and the baby had of Riff and held it hostage, forcing the pink-haired Troll to talk to them.

"How did you convince Branch to do your dirty work?" The only brother who would have been stealthy enough to steal the bandana right from Floyd's head would have been Branch.

"I promised him and his little friend I would supervise their excavation" Branch was not allowed to dig in the Hideout unless one of his brothers was there to keep an eye out for him.

"He has been taking his friends to the Hideout?" 

There was reason why the Hideout was called the Hideout, and it was because Branch had created it as a place that only the brothers would know about, a place where his brothers could hide from the mob of fans, the throbs of paparazzi and the pressure of management.

A place for Brozone to be a family again.

As such only family was allowed inside or so Branch had claimed when Clay had tried to hire someone to check the water pipes the oldest and the youngest had installed.

"Well at least one of them; yesterday Branch told me he was 'swearing Ablaze into secrecy', whatever that means"  Spruce laughed, at least until he saw the sour expression on Floyd's face "Don't worry, I made sure that Branch understood that blood pacts, blood oaths and death threats were not socially acceptable or allowed in this circumstances" The smaller Troll felt a little better knowing  that he was probably not going to have to suck up to protective parent after another of Branch’s mishaps; his pride would never recover after what he had to do to convince Creek's mother that Branch was just joking and didn't really knew 'six ways to disembowel someone like fish' (It was technically true; John Dory made sure all of them knew eight ways to do it but that was not the point) "I think he even listened to me this time! This morning I heard Branch talking to Clay about notarized contracts, but I am choosing to ignore that in favor of mental peace and I think you should too"

Floyd sighed half in relief, half in defeat; it wasn’t an ideal solution but at least it was a non-violent one.

He was not kidding when he lamented the damage Brozone had caused to their little brother’s social awareness.

"Well, I hope their little playdate is worth all of this" It had only been a week since the whole failed pregnancy reveal fiasco which showed how desperate Spruce had to be; normally he would have waited at least a month before using underhanded tactics; probably because he knew Floyd usually couldn’t ignore his brothers for more than two weeks.

"You have been avoiding me Floyd"

"I don't know what gave you that impression" Floyd stayed in the dinning room’s threshold even when it was obvious that the chair in front of his brother was meant for him; his eyes nailed to the bandana on the table.

"Maybe the fact that you have been avoiding me" Spruce sighed, probably trying to calm himself "But there is no place to run now, so let’s talk…" The younger Troll stayed quiet refusing to participate "You were supposed to tell them a week ago"

Neither of them needed to specify what they were talking about.

"Maybe I decided to let you, and Brandy have the spotlight" That was a kind way to look at it; it made him feel selfless instead of a coward.

"We had a deal, Floyd; we would tell our brothers together" Spruce was not having it.

"You had I deal; I had a deadline" How else was Floyd supposed to see it when his older brother had come to him a day before the reveal with the information that his half Vacationer egg was expected to grow three times their size by the next month?

"You need to tell them about…this" Spruce looked around them and then gestured to his pink hair.

This told Floyd, their other brothers might not be here, but they were around, which meant they both had to be cautious not to raise their voices or be overly explicit about what their conversation was about.

"I will do it when I am ready" He crossed his arms trying to squash the need to reach for his hair to settle the egg that kept occasionally quivering, probably reacting to their parent's angry tones and the lack of their favorite accessory.

The baby would have to wait until their uncle was done with whatever this was as Floyd didn't want to make Spruce aware of what was happening between the egg and him.

"And when is that going to be? When you finally get bored of looking for your Rock Troll or when the baby can tell them themselves?" Spruce stood up and began walking towards him only to stop when Floyd glared at him "Whatever comes first?"

"You could not hide it anymore, I get that, but why am I forced to follow your timeline instead of my own?" He should probably tell his brother about what he had spoken with Brandy and the things he had planned since, but he was perhaps feeling a little combative after having his precious object stolen, his nap interrupted and his heart taunted "Why does it matter so much if I tell them today, tomorrow or in a month?"

He still had time. Time to find Riff, time to get used to the idea of parenthood, time to enjoy his pregnancy before anyone else got involved.

"Because you need support now; not tomorrow, not in a week, right now" The smaller Troll wanted to rage and shout and make his brother regret ever taking his special bandana but something in Spruce's eyes had shifted; his brother was obviously bothered by something deeper than Floyd's past cowardice and present temper tantrum.

"I have you and Brandy which right now is enough for me" Floyd took a deep breath trying to calm himself "Unless this is your way of telling me something…"

Spruce looked at him with sad vulnerable eyes, it made the younger Troll's adrenaline spike; he was probably not going to like whatever his brother was about to say …

"This is my way to tell you I am leaving" The purple haired Troll confessed after a long, tired sigh "I am planning to leave, and I don't want to abandon you to carry alone a secret that is heavier than you realize"

"So, Brandy was telling the truth you are quitting Brozone…" Spruce didn't look surprised that Brandy had told him, nor did he looked angry at his girlfriend for divulging such information.

"It's not like that" Spruce made a placating gesture with his paws as if trying to soften the blow he had just dealt to the younger Troll "Vacationer eggs have to be buried in the sand, were it's warm and cozy… and at the end of the month, when the egg finally detaches from my scalp that is what I aim to do…" He made a pause to caress the egg resting in his purple hair "Brandy and I are travelling back to Vacay Island before the end of the month. I'm not quitting the band"

A sudden wave of nausea hit Floyd so hard that his ears ringed and his knees gave out, forcing him to lower himself to the ground.

"Not yet"

"Floyd!" Spruce rushed to his side, but the younger could barely hear him over the high-pitched sound in his head.

He had told Brandy that he would never stop Spruce from finding happiness and that was still true but that didn’t mean that he was fully prepared for the reality of what it entailed.

Honestly Floyd should have seen something like this coming, but he had been so focused on how the baby in his scalp would change things for his brothers that he had not considered that having two parents didn't make his nibling less of a game changer.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Have you destroyed someone else's illusion or was he the one with the privilege of being the first fool?

"I was going to bring it up today after lunch" Yes of course because everything in Floyd's life had to happen today after lunch "Flo I am not leaving Brozone, I am just… pausing it for a while" That was not as comforting as Spruce seemed to think it was "To be honest I am not really sure I could walk away from it… I mean it's everything we have known since we were children…"

"That doesn't mean that it has to consume everything moving forward" Floyd let out a broken laugh "I was just basically telling that to John Dory just a few days ago."

John Dory, who had been avoiding Floyd as much as Floyd had been avoiding Spruce. Oh, they were such a disaster.

"I think you should come with us" The younger Troll raised his eyebrows, just because he was having feelings about his brother departure didn't mean he wanted to follow him into his tropical island "Think about it Floyd: sunny beaches, calm waters, far away from expectations and gossip magazines" Spruce had just been scolding him about running away from his problems and now he was offering him a literal escape route? "It's also way closer to Volcano Rock City"

Volcano Rock City.

It would be a dream come true even before the pregnancy; Brozone had just been allowed in the outskirts of it during their tours and now even when it didn’t mean the solution to all of his problems it represented an exciting prospect.

"Can I have my bandana back?" Floyd was done with this conversation.

"…Yeah" Spruce handed him the prized accessory, his eyes searching for something "Floyd just think about it, please?"

Floyd stood up; he really didn’t want to think about this anymore, he wanted to go back to bed and hide there until his emotions didn’t feel like violent waves trying to tear him apart.

"Can you wait another day to tell our brothers about this? I wanted to tell them about the baby today after lunch" That at least had been the plan before his peace got shaken.

"Floyd I'm sorry I should not be pressuring you to do something you are not comfortable-" Spruce climbed to his feet too and examined Floyd closely like he was looking for any sign of weakness or pain.

"I was going to do it anyway, I have a whole thing planned…" He shook his head trying to clear his head "Please Pru?"

"Yes, of course I will wait…" His brother looked relieved, perhaps because Floyd was taking care of his main concern or because he didn’t find any lingering frailty in Floyd’s stance "Do you want some help to…?" He gestured to his brother’s pink hair and the black bandana that he was carrying.

"No, I can do it by myself, don't worry" Since his pregnancy was revealed Floyd could count with one paw the times, he had let others help with his hair.

"I'm your older brother of course I worry" They exchanged tired smiles before parting ways, both of them obviously needing time to untangle the mess of emotions this conversation had created.

While Spruce would probably go to Brandy to relay this interaction word by word, Floyd decided to lock himself in smaller bathroom at the back of their home.

No one stopped him on his way there which was lucky because he wasn't sure how much composure he could keep right now after that… couldn't his older brothers spread their drama a little more?

It felt unfair that the younger Troll had to deal with Spruce’s confession even before he got to apologize and talk things over with John Dory, who by the way had turned up the weird behavior in a completely different way that he had been doing previously; disappearing into the woods and coming back late with scratches in his arms, leaves in his hair and refusing to talk to anyone about it.

Sweet Pop tunes now he was half expecting Clay to break through the door to announce he was now part of a cult, and would be moving out to live on an abandoned golf course or something equally ridiculous like that.

He was just so done with this day, and he still had to do the thing he told Spruce he was going to do.

The young Troll looked in the mirror, expecting to find himself looking like a mess, which he did but also there was something different about him that he couldn’t put his finger on.

He dismissed the thought immediately, not really wanting to waste any energy on anything more than fixing his hair. His paws tied the bandana around his head quickly, practiced movements that had become a second nature to him.

"Give me a second" he told the egg that wiggled as he adjusted the bow.

As a final touch he finger brushed the hair around the accessory trying to get it in some semblance of order, only to stop when one of his fingers got stuck on a knot; Floyd checked in the mirror, not wanting to be overly aggressive with his hair that close to the egg, he tried to pull his paw away but the knot stubbornly kept his finger in its grasp; changing tactics he decided to manipulate  his hair into letting go only to realize that he had no control over this specific strand of hair…

As a matter of fact, that was not his hair, and it was definitely not a knot…

His hair uncoiled slowly from around the egg, little by little reveling the stripped shell; there was a pattern of soft gray, darker gray, softer gray, black and right in the middle a sparkly, bright pink line that cut through the somber colors, then the pattern repeated all over again and on top a charming curl of pink hair, a little darker than Floyd's own curled around the Pop star's finger.

This was his first time really seeing his egg and the sight alone uncoiled something in his chest as if a part of him was holding his breath expecting the egg to just be a big knot in his head and the whole pregnancy to be a fraud.

This was his and Riff's egg, their baby.

"Hi" Floyd carefully caressed the pink strand, it was soft and thin but there was already a frizzy texture to it that reminded him of Riff "My baby"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

"Does anyone want dess-?"

"Bros we need to talk"

Floyd had been gathering his courage to go on with his plan only for John Dory to interrupt his script; the oldest sounded serious and was already on his feet and reaching for what looks like a prepared checklist of announcements before Floyd could even finish his question.

He stopped only to give the second youngest a commanding stare, one that said: 'I'm speaking now so sit down and pay attention', which Floyd did, maybe today is just not the day.

"Sit down John Dory" The glare that Spruce gave the older one read 'You are not doing this now' then he turned to the pink-haired brother to whom he gave an encouraging smile "Dessert sounds lovely Flo"

Floyd smiled back nervously and jumped to his feet immediately, not really wanting to lose courage or give their oldest brother time to intervene and with the help of Brandy distributed the treat he had previously prepared for his brothers and sister-in-law.

"Chocolate eggs?" John Dory still seemed a little put out by Spruce's attitude towards him, staring somewhat dumfounded at the desert he had been served.

"Seemed appropriate to celebrate recent events" Floyd smiled sweetly at Branch who squealed with childish joy when Floyd placed the chocolate treat that was almost as big as his head in front of him.

"It is, thank you bro!" Clay looked nearly as enthusiastic as their baby brother as he took apart the chocolate egg.

"This is great thank you Floyd " At some point Spruce had left his seat and climbed into Brandy's knee and now they were feeding each other chocolate.

"My pleasure" Floyd looked around, taking in the smiles on his brother’s faces and the simple happiness they shared as a family in this moment.

His quiet enjoyment was interrupted when his little brother shoved a big piece of chocolate in his face.

"You can have some of mine"

"It's okay Branch, just enjoy your desert" Floyd might have stress eaten more than his fair share of chocolate eggs leading to this moment which combined with the fact that his stomach was threatening to flip on itself meant that he could literally not stand to take even a bite of the offered treat.

"Bro, you didn't get one for yourself?" There was a comically horrified expression on Clay’s face.

"Flo you should have said something! I could have shared with Brandy" The expectant parents were looking down at him with identical faces of paternal disapproval, once again proving to everyone how ready they were to welcome their child into the world.

“Guys it's okay I actually-"

"I can run to the store for some-" Even John Dory who had been reluctant about desert looked worried about the second youngest’s lack of treat.

" GUYS! Seriously don't worry I have my egg right here" He parted his hair to reveal the stripped, glittery egg that rested there to his brother’s shocked faces.

"Bro don't play with me, is that real?" Clay quickly reached for a napkin to clean his paws before reaching to cup Floyd’s face in between them.

Floyd nodded prompting the table to erupt in noise as both John and Branch pushed themselves up.

"Two babies " The eldest brother’s face was a mix between shock and joy "How did this happen?"

"The usual way" The second youngest shrugged accepting a side hug from the middle child.

"But you are single"

"John!" Spruce jumped down from Brandy’s knee to place himself between the oldest and the rest of the brothers.

"Seriously J.D.?” Clay face palmed and Branch shouted: ’Don't be mean!’.

"Ouch Johnny you don't pull back punches, do you?" Floyd thought that the reminder that there was still a vacant space by his side would hurt more than it did "Let's say I am working on it…" John Dory looked about to question what exactly he meant by that when they were interrupted by their youngest literally jumping into the pink-haired Troll’s arms "Oooof! Hey Baby Branch"

"Be careful Bitsy!" The three older brothers shouted in unison, but Branch ignored them, choosing to instead bury his face in Floyd’s middle and mumble something.

"Sorry I didn't catch that” Floyd told the child, smiling to the rest of the party to assure them he was okay “Would you mind repeating that? This time without my sweater in your mouth?"

"I said: I'm no longer Baby Branch now that we have two new babies to fill the title"

"I guess you are right … you are Big Branch now" Branch let a sound of indignance as Clay messed his hair.

"What about just Branch?" The youngest angrily rebutted trying to swat his older brother’s paws.

"Ummm I can do you one better…" Branch turned to look up at Floyd who gently tapped his nose trying to erase the scowl on the younger’s face "Uncle Branch" The Trolling just hugged him tighter which Floyd took as a signal that he liked that title.

"Johnny, are you feeling good bro?" Their oldest had been strangely quiet during the whole interaction, wistfully staring at their family.

"Umm yeah I just wanted to talk to all of you for a second-"

"If you tell us, you are pregnant, I'm out" The middle child threw himself on a chair clearly joking but no one laughed, too unsettled by J.D.’s uncharacteristic hesitancy.

"What no I-" The oldest took a deep breath and pulled out the same crumpled paper that he had been trying to read before Floyd’s announcement "Bros… and Brandy" He cleared his throat visibly nervous "I want you to know that each of you are a fundamental part-" The rest of the brothers exchanged of confused glances, but no one seemed to have a clue what this was all about  "Oh sorry wrong side! Let me start again…" He turned the paper around and began to read the correct side this time "Brothers! … and Brandy after careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that perhaps-"

"John, what is going on?" Spruce interrupted him again this time by grabbing his wrist and forcing him to lo look up to the Heartthrob’s eyes.

Brozone’s leader let out a deep and long sigh before announcing:

"I think we should vote on whenever or not to disband Brozone…"

-:- -:- Ӫ -:- Ӫ -:- -:-

Meanwhile somewhere in Mount Rageous …

"Laundry!" 

Everyone grumbled as they ran to their bunks to bring their sacks of dirty clothes to empty on the communal laundry basket.

"Are you sure that is all that you want to get washed, Riff?" Stone, their bassist, shouted after him once he had begun to walk back to his corner.

Riff stopped in his tracks, pulled the shirt that he was wearing up to his nose and gave it a long whiff. It didn't smell terrible, but he certainly had cleaner clothes than this one, so he took it off and threw it into the basket.

"I don't think she was talking about that dude" Barb called, her eyes jumped from his confused face towards the top of his head then back to his stunned expression; it took him a few seconds to realize what she was talking about.

"Oh! ummm" He reached for his beanie, he hadn't washed it in a while or changed it really, he had been wearing it for three months straight, which is really not normal for him, he usually changed it frequently, if not every few days, every week at least; he has drawer full of them for that same exact reason but ever since... that day the simple idea of replacing this beanie for another one of his collection filled him with sadness.

Because this was the beanie… from that night.

The memory of laughing purple eyes looking up at him as gentle, blue paws helped him fix the hat on his head filled him with so much fondness.

Floyd had been anything but fleeting fling and if Riff could find a way to meet the other Troll again that didn't make him look like a creep or a stalker, he would do it in less than a heartbeat.

Sometimes he thought that he would go for it even if it did made him look like a stalker or a creep, especially on the days that his memory got hazy and he found himself forgetting small details that normally wouldn't bother him but that felt like a huge deal when one took in account how little he already had left of certain pink-haired Pop Troll.

Maybe he would wake up one day and find Floyd had disappeared completely from his mind…

"Come on dude I can almost smell it from here" Barb joked making their band laugh.

They had been there that night but none of them remembered enough to understand and the drummer was not sure how to explain it to them because even in his mind it sounded a little… crazy and not in the good way.

He felt somewhat stuck on the Pop Troll: he knew enough about him to be hooked on Floyd’s personality and beauty, but he didn’t know enough to claim he had feelings beside a very intense crush.

Maybe the right thing to do would be to move on…

The memory of that night and the brief interaction the day after would have to be enough for now; he took the thing off and threw it into the basket, ready to go back to bed; he seriously needed a nap.

If he was lucky, maybe this time he would remember what his dreams were about instead of waking up with the vague feeling that someone was missing from his side.

He looked up to find everyone was staring at him, their faces pale and shocked.

"What?" The drummer asked nervously, he didn't like being the center of attention, especially when he didn't have his beanie on.

"Eee...eeee" Val pointed to the top of his head with a trembling paw.

Riff reached to his head but instead of feeling the coarse texture of his own hair he felt something smooth and hard, he grabbed the object and brought it towards his eyes.

The drummer stared at the glittery, pink shell for a few seconds not really registering what he was seeing, then he noticed the silky looking black hair that sprouted from the top and made this thing look like an… Oh.

"Oh" He looked at the egg in his paw, feeling the movement underneath the shell. There was an egg in his hair.

He fell on his back, the egg firmly on his paw. 

"Riff!" The band was quick to surround him, all of their arms extended to catch the baby, in case Riff dropped it, panicked expressions in their faces.

"I guess that is why my head felt heavier than usual" The creature inside the egg moved around at the sound of his voice making Riff feel weirdly warm inside.

Well from this discovery the Rock Troll could conclude two things:

One: he apparently had a hell of a crush on Floyd.

Two: he doesn't have to worry about forgetting the night he spent with Floyd anytime soon because as life would have it, the Troll left quite a lasting impression on his life.