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Ariel heaved yet another sigh, letting the wave emotions kick back into gear. She leaned her weight against her arm while it lay lazily on the table. She focused on the performance at hand, seeing how content and at peace Cooper was with his family, all of them getting more lowkey with a calmer and less upbeat song. Her head moved up and down to the beat of the music, almost beginning to hum along, but still didn't want to attract any attention.
"I don't think we properly met." A male voice grasps her attention from the stage, allowing her to look towards her right, where she spotted a light green, almost grey, pop troll with bluish-black hair. He had blue piercing eyes and wore a leaf-customized vest with brown pants. He appeared to be leaning against the wall only two and a half meters away from her. Ariel's eyes widened, this was the troll she had encountered before.
Though the girl had just gotten used to talking to very few trolls, she still was not used to such encounters. Her mind flicked back on the distinct memory that played in her mind once more when this troll had first greeted her, he almost looked uninterested, his awkwardness came off as more so like he didn't want to be in a situation with her.
Ariel shook slightly, that feeling of rejection had taken a toll on her again. But she couldn't back down now, not again.
"Um, B-Branch? Right?" She nervously asked. Her volume was low, as always. Branch only smiled, and calmly walked further towards her.
"Uh-huh, and I know your name is Ariel." Branch invitingly held out an arm for a handshake, Ariel stared at it in shook before hesitantly taking and gently shaking it.
"It's uh nice to properly meet you Branch."
"Likewise," He then gestured to the open seat next to her "mind if I sit?"
Ariel nodded. He calmly took a seat next to her, also looking back at the performance. They both admired it from afar for a brief moment, until a voice from one of them had interrupted their current gaze.
"Something tells me you don't normally come to these things." Branch offered, though it came out like a humorous point, most of it was serious and true.
Ariel shyly laughed, figuring it was obvious.
"Is it that obvious..." she quietly questioned at an attempt of humour, which succeeded as Branch had chuckled at her response.
"Not really... Well, yes." They both laughed.
"But on a serious note, it's not as obvious as you might think."
Ariel cutely tilted her head in confusion, her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Well, let's just say from experience, parties weren't my forté either. The other trolls just saw me as some weird, grey, party-crasher. I was more of the cautious and... well, not the type to get into anything social. People just weren't my thing, they didn't really understand."
