Trolls Band Together (OC Insert)

Christmas Special (1/3)

(Hello, fellow readers!!! I decided to write a small Christmas-themed chapter. With how much everyone has loved my story so far, I wanted to include how Val and Floyd confess their love to each other. This Christmas special will have three chapters, so I hope you all enjoy it!!!)

(Val's POV)

Today is finally that time of the year. Now that we're in the season of giving, Poppy declared to have a second annual holiday gift swap. That's when trolls receive invitations with random names. Whatever name you get is who you are going to give your gift to.

It's pretty simple. We did this gift swap last time and Poppy and Branch coincidentally got each other gifts. It was really nice to do something new every once in a while.

After I get ready for the day, I leave my room and walk over to the platform that takes me out of the bunker. But before I can pull the lever, a familiar voice catches my attention.

"Hey, Val," Floyd says with a soft smile.

Yeah, Floyd lives in the bunker with me and Branch. It's been a few weeks, almost a month, since we've saved him in Mount Rageous. And we gave him a place to stay since he didn't really have a home outside of Pop Village.

We still see Branch's other brothers every once in a while. John Dory lives with Rhonda near Pop Village, Bruce is back at Vacay Island, and Clay is living at the mini golf course with Viva and the Putt-Putt trolls.

With a small wave, I greet Floyd back. "Hey, Floyd. You ready for today?"

Floyd nods as he steps onto the platform with me. "Yeah. I've never done a gift swap, or any other holiday activity before."

I pull the lever, and it takes us up to the exit. "Oh, you're gonna love it. We are given the invitations today, and in three days, we have to give our gifts to whoever we get."

Now out in the open, I walk to Pop Village with Floyd.

"Hey, you two!" Poppy shouts from next to us, and beside her is Branch.

The sudden outburst startles us, with me jumping back a bit and Floyd clinging onto my arm. "Gosh, Poppy. Don't do that," I say with a relieved sigh.

Poppy seems more excited than usual. I don't know if it's because of today, or something else. "But it's so difficult not to! Today's the day we give out invitations for the gift swap!"

I laugh at her excitement and say, "Yeah, I know. You and Branch are going to fly over to each troll tribe and throw down the invitations to everyone."

"Actually, it's just going to be me and you, Val," Poppy says.

Her words catch me by surprise and I give her a confused expression. "Really? Then what is Branch going to be doing?"

Branch now stands next to Floyd and puts his arm on his shoulder. "I'm going to be showing Floyd what Pop Village has to offer."

Floyd tilts his head as he looks at Branch. "But didn't you show me around already?"

Not even listening to Floyd's question, Branch stares casually at Poppy and me. "We'll be off now. You two have fun giving out invitations." And with that, he takes Floyd somewhere else."

Floyd and I glance at each other and shrug.

At that moment, a hot air balloon floats down to me and Poppy. "All right! Let's do this!" Poppy says before pulling me onto the hot air balloon with her.

I look down at the forest as the balloon rises high up above the trees. We go to each tribe with baskets of invitations. We also go to give invitations to John Dory, Bruce, and Clay. Everything is normal until we arrive back at Pop Village.

"This is the last stop," Poppy says before using her hair to throw the last of the baskets into the air. The invitations fall out and slowly glide down to the pop trolls below us. And from the falling invitations, Poppy grabs one for herself.

I go to grab one, but before I do, an invitation dangles in front of my face. Looking up, a hook of a fishing rod holds the paper. I turn to look at Poppy with a lifted eyebrow, who is holding the fishing rod with a huge smile on her face. "Poppy, what's this?" I ask.

Poppy shrugs. "Oh, nothing. Just waiting for you to grab an invitation." Despite her saying this so genuinely, she still dangles the hooked invitation in front of me.

I don't believe her that much. She's definitely up to something. "Any invitation?"

"Yup! Any invitation. No specific one," she responds.

"Like, any invitation that is falling around us?" I ask.

"Mhm! Any...invitation..." Poppy says excitingly.

I give her a look that reads, "Really?" as she keeps waving the invitation with the fishing rod. "If I choose this one will you kindly leave me alone?"

Poppy only nods.

I sigh before grabbing the invitation. And the moment I do so, the hot air balloon is already on the ground.

I hop off and start to leave, but Poppy grabs my arm and says, "Wait. Open your invitation first."

"Okay, fine," I say before opening the card. Of course, it's covered in glitter and stickers. On the right side of the card is a small pocket with a piece of paper in it. I pull out the paper and read the name I got.

.

.

.

.

.

Floyd

My eyes widen and I look to where Poppy is, only to find out that she's not there anymore. "Darn it, Poppy!" I say, finally realizing she set this up for me.

I look back at the card, and the thought of getting something for Floyd is a little nerve-racking. But why do I feel this way? He's my friend, of course. And I shouldn't be nervous to give a friend a gift.

Well, yeah, I do think he's cute and friendly...and adorable...and kind...and sweet...and cute...Wait, I just thought that already.

I close the card and sigh as I use one hand to cover my face. "I think I like him," I mutter to myself.