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Aftermaths And A Letter

Peppy walked with a smiling Poppy in his hair, a relieved but concerned Branch in his arms, and an angry/tired Floyd who was over his shoulder trying to wiggle out of his grip, slowing down from exhaustion as they got closer to the tent. 

He felt bad for holding Floyd like this, but the kid was tired, and tried to carry Branch all the way back to the tent on wobbly feet. So he had to quickly stop the teen before he collapsed.

Sapphire did a similar thing with the twins, when they gathered their bearings, trying to attack Guy. Who was hiding behind his father. After a few minutes of struggling, they went back to their tent. Probably getting scolded, Sapphire was pretty tired.

“Why is Floy so grumpy?” Poppy said curiously, as she watched the teen struggle.

“I don't know?” Felicia said teasing him, oh right he forgot about her, “He must be very tired.”

Poppy just giggled, “Silly Floy! You need a nap!”

Floyd had stopped moving at this point, exhausted from struggling, but he apparently had enough strength to lift his head from his shoulder to glare at them. Offended by their comments. But it only lasted for a second, his head back on his shoulder, eyes closed. This caused Branch to look over at his brother with deeper concern.

Poppy just laughed thinking he's being silly, then yawned. “Tired?” He asked, teasing her, Poppy shook her head. “No no, not tired.” she said with another yawn escaping her. He just laughed. Wishing he could reach up and ruffle her hair. “Of course not.” 

_____

Dear Bridget,

I hoep hope you are doing good! Dad has been very unhappy. I tried cheering him up, but he doesn't seem to notice me.

But anyways I was wondering if we could hang out sometime. When you are not busy.

From Gristle!

She couldn't help but feel excited (excited?) as she read the letter, dancing around her room. They had been sneakily sending letters to each other for a few days now, and it was…different. Not a bad difference, it was just…nice. The prince wants to spend time with her. She feels like she could fly!

Oh she should write back.

She quickly ran to her night stand and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. And was going to start writing when she paused. 

The other Bergens, are they going to do something about this? Would they…care enough to punish her for talking to the prince? Would they…even if Chef isn't…

She needs to be careful.

Dear Gristle,

I could hang out tomorrow. Order some food so I can deliver it. Don't want you to get hungry while we hang out.

From Bridget

_____

Peppy puts Floyd into the cot, who is sound asleep, watching as the teen shivers slightly. He quickly puts a blanket over him, who immediately stops shivering, and goes to check on Branch. Who is letting out noises of frustration. As he wipes his face with a towel.

The poor boy has been struggling to get the makeup off his face. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Not wanting the boy to suffer any longer, he quickly went up to Branch and helped him wipe off the makeup with ease. 

He got a lot of practice from Viva…

Surprisingly Branch didn't complain much as he usually did. Only looked slightly annoyed, its progress at least.

When he finished, Branch grabbed something from his bag, while he put the towel away and felt a tug in his hair. It was Poppy, he looked up at her and saw she was pointing towards Floyd.

“Floy.”

He let out a sigh, and then a soft smile spread across his face as he walked back to the sleeping teen, and set her next to him. Pulling the blanket over her as she snuggled up to him.

He will never get why she always wants to be near him.

He turned back to Branch, who had pulled out a journal and started writing on it, and asked, “Going to bed soon?”

“Yeah, in a bit.” Branch said distractedly, never looking up. 

“Hm, ok.” He said then looked at the tent entrance. “I'll be right back.” Then walked out, seeing an amused Felicia. “What?”

“If I didn't know any better.” She giggled, “I would have thought they were your kids.”

He blushed really hard, causing Felicia to laugh. The two boys as his kids? That's…he isn't sure what to make of it. “Didn't you want to talk about something?” he said, a little embarrassed.

She giggled for a few seconds then quickly cleared her throat, “Right.” looking serious now.

“We need to talk about the rumors.”