Chapter Text
It was Sunday afternoon, he had gotten off work early and was heading back to his shared apartment before he felt a buzz in his pocket. Picking up his phone, he read "Poppy" and groaned slightly.
He slipped the green answer key and put it on speaker.
"What?" Branch answered with his usual monotone voice.
"Branch!" Poppy screamed, Branch pushed the phone away on instinct and turned off speaker. He hated when she did that.
"Branch!" she screamed again, "I got so-"
"I'm not going." he interrupted her, knowing what was to come.
"-something to- hey! at least let me get it out."
"I already know what you're going to ask. And no, I don't want to got to some dumb party. I'm actually busy." he scoffed briefly, "anything else?"
"Ugh Branch you're such a grouch! c'mon live a little. Okay here's what i'll do, i will send you the invitation in case you change your mind which I hope you do."
Branch just grunted lightly in response, just wanting to hang up already. "Bye."
"Hope to see you there Bra-." he ended the call. soon after, he was spammed with text messages from Poppy for hanging up on her mid sentence along with a link to the party invitation. He didn't bother reading her messages but he did check out the party invite.
From 6pm to 2am?! No way. But with Poppy gone for the afternoon, maybe this is the night.
He wiped off his unusual grim that could make children cry and held his head a little higher as he went home. His plan was coming to fruition, finally after all this time. It was nigh impossible to get some time away from Poppy that any second of silence was a second of freedom for him. Even before he had moved in with her, she was always on his trail-watching him and trying to get him to do things that just weren't him. Fortunately, and surprisingly, she let him off the hook a few times when he'd tell her he had exams to study for or when he had work but, she too would plan ahead.
He often caught her making her own schedule around his in order to get the some time together. Despite how annoying she can be, he was impressed with how well she organized her time.
Well, for stuff that she likes. An image of their shared apartment came to mind. He saw his organized and tidy room and then a shiver went down his spine when he saw Poppy's... room. Papers and crayons flooding her floor, buckets full of old scissors and worst of all- glitter!
He locked the door behind him and hanged his keys on the ornament Poppy made, quietly glanced into Poppy's room.
Good, she already left.
He almost didn't notice the slight grin on his face.
Upon reaching his room on the other side of the apartment, he reached into the floor of his closet and lightly pressed on the wooden floor. A smile click and the wooden tile slid off. During his first week with Poppy, he had secretly been making changes everywhere. Poppy, ever so positively naive, never suspected a thing. Plus, he knew that she'd flip if she found out.
He rummaged throw the contents of the secret compartment, carefully tossing aside Poppy's invitations. His searched stopped when he saw a blanket covering a big box. The box. He snatched the blanket aside and lifted the white box out and slid the wood tile back on with a click. He took some time to look at the picture on the box, reading the words Ps5. Eyes gleaming with nervousness and child-like excitement, he placed the box down with care.
The monitor lit up and the opening tune filled the room. Heart beating to his ears, he tightly held the controller as it lit up.
The setup was complete. Headset on his shoulders and drinks sat on his desk. The clock struck 7pm, and the rattle of his phone on the wooden desk startled him. Branch picked his phone up and sighed. Over a dozen messages and missed calls from Poppy. She had probably been waiting for him at the party, Branch felt some guilt for ignoring her, he never did it on purpose but he was just so infatuated his new toy that he let time fly by. A spark lit in his mind as he scrolled down his short contact list. Eyes scanned "Darnell," Yo, Branch texted, It's time.
A ding came shortly after, Perfect timing, me and Gristle are on. let me send ya our users, Darnell said.
Hours went by as the trio enjoyed each others company online. screams and arguing filled the night. Branch got the worst of it.
"Dude this is my first console in years! Last time there weren't any 'joysticks!'" he argued.
"We! Are! Playing against bots! there's no FUCKING WAY you missed every shot!" Gristle shouted in return. Darnell's laughter didn't go unnoticed, unfortunately for him.
"I just know you're not laughing. Read me the kill count again? Exactly, shut the fuck up." Branch called him out.
"Bro gets his first big boy console and thinks he can talk shit. You held me back cause you kept dying to everything. How am I gonna get kills with you around? I only level up from having to revive you all game." Darnell retorted.
Talks like this went on the rest of the night, before Branch knew it, it was 11pm.
Oh no, Poppy'll be home soon.
The guys agreed to call it a night but, even after the consoles were off, the fighting continued in their group chat. Branch hadn't used his phone to text anyone longer then his usual 'no's every time Poppy invited him to something. It was a new sensation, felt like a rush through his muscles. Branch wasn't tired after everything. He decided to head to the kitchen for a healthy snack and some black coffee. Time was running out. Poppy would be back soon and Branch wouldn't be able to escape her if she found him. Meanwhile, filled mug on the kitchen counter, he sat with his phone and chuckled lightly. Darnell and Gristle were chatting about other games to play for next time and he joined in, asking questions and joking around.
The door handle jingled and the door swung open. A pink beauty popped into the apartment, a cute smile on her face that complimented her amber eyes. Poppy had partied too hard that she tossed everything down on the living room couch for the night, as she was about to skip to her room she paused. A chuckle reached her ears. One that wasn't her own. Imaginary sweat dripped down her face and her loud heartbeat muffled out everything else. Tiptoeing back to her couch, she quietly reached behind it and pulled out her ukulele and held it over he shoulder like a bat. She took up a bater stance and slowly moved closer to the kitchen-where the chuckle came from.
The dark hall hid her. Her breathing short and quick, almost matching the speed of her heartbeat. Poppy peeked an eye into the kitchen, readying her arms to swing but, what she saw left her speechless.
Sipping his mug by the counter, Branch, his back towards Poppy, was chuckling and smiling at his phone. His voice melted her heart but then her mind raced. Who or what had Branch smiling at this hour? All of Poppy's efforts to get some joy out of him had crashed and burned. None of that mattered right now. The ukulele rested on a nearby wall.
"BRANCH!" Poppy launched herself up to him, arms out, knowing that Branch wouldn't drop her. And she was right.
"Woah, Poppy!" Branch's survival instincts activated. Swiftly turning around and receiving Poppy into his arms, "what are you doing?! Let go!"
Poppy backed up a bit, still in his arms, "Branch, you were smiling!"
A cringe grew on his face, "What? Poppy, you must've been out partying too much. Get to bed." He scoffed.
Poppy looked up at him, her brows furrowed, "Branch I know what I saw, so, what's got you all cheery tonight?" She smiled up at him.
The kitchen light reflected off of her amber eyes, his cold face nearly faltering. Her puffy pink hair caught his attention, the way it swayed when she moved, he attempted to avoid her questions but, her stubbornness meet no end. A few seconds after, Branch faltered. Topics bombarded his mind.
What to say, What to say? Dammit
"Poppy, it's late. I'm busy tomorrow and you got planning to do with that friend group of yours. What was it again? The Slack Pack?"
"Auh! Branch, its the snack pack. You're lucky they're such merciful people that they'll forgive you for this!" she stepped back, feigning offense, her hands on her hips. Right before she opened her mouth to speak Branch had interrupted her.
"Uh-huh yeah whatever." He said, his voice monotone. He pulled out his phone while carefully pushing Poppy aside then, he speed walked to his room before finally saying, "goodnight, Poppy."
Under the warmth of her bedsheets, the pink princess stared mindlessly at her star covered ceiling. Her eyes half-lidded as they fought sleep. Usually, after a big party, Poppy could just count down from ten and she'd be out like a light but, her curious naive nature kept drilling Branch's smile into her.
What made his smile like that? Chuckle even!
Her entire life Poppy had tried to get branch to crack a smile but had made no progress past hugging (which, to her, is still a big accomplishment), she thought that having him move in with her would allow her to get to know him better.
To get him to open up to her.
And the one time she catches him being remotely close to being happy, she wasn't their to witness what exactly made him happy. Her brain blew a fuse trying to think of an answer. At last, exhaustion won over her as she lay dead asleep.