why impress him? || trolls [ broppy ]

Why impress him?

Branch had never been one to care whether people considered him "worthy", or anything of the sort.

This is different, he told himself. It's different somehow. I don't know how, but it is. Poppy is different.

He took a deep breath.
He was fine.
He just had to be literally anyone but himself.

~

Well, he had already completely humiliated himself three times. Things couldn't get much worse from here.
So he took Smidge and Guy's advice to heart.
He studied the stags closely and quietly screamed in objection with each one of the creatures that got tickled by his friends - at least they seemed to know where to aim the feathers.
But how?

The young troll glanced at the king and furrowed his brows.
Poppy's father obviously would have developed some disappointment or disapproval of him from his actions, so was he sure that just bagging one swag stag would cut it?

. . . No. Of course not, what was he thinking? Poppy was worth so much more than just one measly prize.

Then it hit him.
He spotted the king of the strange creatures grazing in a patch of sunlight, almost as if the heavens were putting on a show with him as the star.

"Gotcha," he whispered.

~

All eyes were on Branch as he swallowed nervously.

"Listen, I- I'm really- I'm sorry for lying," he stuttered. "I just... It was just really important that you thought highly of me, King Peppy."
He suddenly seemed very interested in the ground, rubbing his arm.
"It's just that Poppy was the first person in a long time to care at all about me, and the first person in even longer to be a friend. She's the only reason I learned to be happy again - she's the only person, or only anything, really, that can make me truly happy. She always tried and still tries her hardest for me to be the best friend she can, so I thought I should at least do something big for her. But all I've done is embarrass myself and mess things up. I'll go. You don't have to tell me to. It's okay."
He turned and started walking away as everyone shouted in protest, except for Poppy, who was frozen in shock.

"He cares," she whispered. "He really does."

The others followed after him whilst Poppy remained still, eyes glistening.

~

After clearing things up with the old king, the light blue troll started towards his bunker.
"Branch, wait!"

He turned just in time for a pink blur to crash into him, nearly knocking them both over.

"Whoa, Poppy-! Calm down," he told her firmly, steadying their balance. "What is it?"
The queen brushed herself off quickly and grabbed his hands between hers.
She took a deep breath before letting loose a rapid flow of words tied together with hardly a break between them.
"Branch, I'm so flattered, I had no idea you cared about me that much-"
"Of course I do!"
"-and I never realized I was really your only friend-"
"That should've been obvious," he scoffed.
"-but I'm so, so, SO happy that it made you happy-"
"You watched me get my colours back."
"-and I don't know why but everything you said just melted my heart and I've never been this glad to matter so much to someone-"
"Wait, never?"
"-and I guess that what I'm, uh, trying to say is... Thank you. But I have one question."
He stared blankly at her as she puffed and let go of his hands, trying to regain her breath. "... Yyyes?"

"Why did you try so hard to impress my dad...?"

Oh.

He felt his cheeks heat up. "I... Because..."
As she stared into his eyes, he let out a sigh.

"Because I really don't think I'm good enough for you."

She blinked. "Good enough for me? Branch, what are you talking about? Good enough for what? Of course you're good enough for me! I love you just the way you are!"

That sentence made his chest throb in pain. He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued, sweating slightly.
"The thing is... Your dad likes everyone. And I mean everyone. He likes all your friends, he likes Archer, he likes Creek despite the whole betrayal thing, he like the Bergens now that they're our friends... So what would it mean if he didn't like me?"

Her gaze softened. "Oh, Branch, I-"

"If the guy who can find something good in anyone didn't like me then clearly there would've been something wrong because you deserve the best and if I can't fulfill that criteria then I definitely don't deserve you because you're amazing and so sweet and kind and beautiful and a wonderful singer and-"

He was cut off as Poppy covered his mouth with her hand. "Whoa, whoa, slow your roll, bud. Of course you deserve me. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve you!"
Branch raised an eyebrow.
"I mean that in a good way, you grump. But it doesn't matter what my dad thinks of you, if you're so worried about me, then it only matters what I think of you."

The recluse gave a half-smile and suddenly seemed as if he wanted to look at anything but Poppy.
"It's just... I really like you, Poppy. And before you say anything, I don't just mean as a friend. I really like you. More than a best friend, I-"
He took a shaky breath and squeezed his eyelids shut before continuing.
"I love you."

The pink troll whimpered, eyes watering. "You... you do?"

He smiled weakly and opened his eyes again, cheeks turning purple. "Yeah. More than you know."

"Branch, I..."
Her lip quivered.
His smile faded, he felt like something was crawling up his throat. He made a mistake, he had to get out of here, he had to-

She threw herself at him before he could finish his thought, laughing and crying at the same time as they crashed to the ground. "I love you too, you big sap!"

Or maybe, just maybe, everything was fine.