Married Life

Chapter 4: Sleepyhead Poppy

     It was pretty late when the two woke up. 11 o'clock was about the time Branch stirred awake, looking at the clock, then gently shaking Poppy.

     "Poppy.. Wake up.. It's 11 in the morning.." He spoke really only half awake. The pink troll just waved her hand at him.

     "Yeah yeah.. I know.."

     "Come on, we need to get up." He stood up and walked around to her side of the bed, placing his hands on his hips like she often would.

     "Come on Pops. Don't make me carry you downstairs." Instantly she opened her arms, ready to be held in his grasp so she didn't have to walk. He rolled his eyes, gently picked her up, and began walking. He had noticed her change in clothes so assumed she was up in the middle of the night.

     "So you were up last night..?" The pink troll gently nodded, her eyes still closed as she rested her cheek on his shoulder. Being up during the night must by why she's so tired.

     "And what were you doing?"

     She softly hummed and spoke.

     "Just thinking.." It was never really a good sign when she's up late thinking. As much as he wanted to ask about what, he wasn't willing to start an argument.

     The teal troll set her down on a wooden seat as she still wasn't fully awake. Her eyes were squinted and she often yawned. Branch placed a mug in front of her and she took a stiff of the familiar aroma.

     "Hot chocolate?"

     "Your favorite." He said softly, sitting down in his seat with a cup of his own. The two sat silent for a few minutes, giving Poppy the chance to start to wake up. After taking a sip of her drink, she looked upward at her husband and spoke.

     "Can we take a walk later? Not like, right now, but, you know what I mean." Branch looked up at her and spoke.

     "If you want to." He looked over at his wife as she was staring into her drink.

     "You okay?" Quickly snapping back into reality, she nodded her head.

     "Yeah, sorry. I'm just really tired."

     The number one lie in the world. "I'm just tired." But Branch took it as it was and looked around the room. He watched as King Peppy came from the other room.

     "There you two are! I thought you two would never wake up." The teal troll chuckled.

     "Yeah, it was super late when we went to sleep so.." The room fell silent as the king looked over at his overly tired daughter. As much as it concerned him to see his daughter in that state of tiredness, he really couldn't do much about it since she's an adult and her own person. She knows what she's doing. Right?

     "Alright.. Well, I'll see you around.." Peppy said waddling off.

     Yeah that wasn't awkward. Branch stood up and Poppy's eyes widened a bit.

     "I'm gonna get dressed. You should probably too if you wanna head out." With a nod of her head, she went off to find an outfit to wear.

     When the two were ready, the walked out of the house and just, walked. It wasn't aimlessly, but to nowhere specific. The pink troll looked down to the ground, then up to the teal troll.

     "So.. King.. Better get used to that title. After our short break, you're gonna have your coronation." To be honest, a Branch wasn't all that excited to be labeled "King". So what if he was gonna help rule? He's still a normal troll and hates it whenever someone would give him the special treatment. He's definitely gonna have that as King.

     "Yeah, King.. Big job.." It grew silent again.

     "At least I'll be ruling with the greatest troll in the village." They both shared an awkward smile and looked away.

     Neither of them were looking forward to the term "King" being in the future.