"I want you." The breathy sentence hit Branch like a death blow to the gut. Who knew that three little words could pack such a fiery punch as it did to the desolate-gray troll. The loner recoiled in shock, blinking incredulously-wide cerulean eyes at the incredulously beautiful pink shape floating towards him. 'How is this happening?! When did she get here?!' He spun wildly, recognizing familiar bare walls and an old rug beneath his feet. 'HOW DID WE END UP IN MY BEDROOM?!' Vanilla scent blanketed Branch's nose as delicate arms twined around his neck and hooded magenta irises sparkled enticingly near. "Branch…," the bane of his existence murmured silkily. His traitorous heart thumped, acknowledging the heat that seemed to be sewn into the spoken syllable. The frightened recluse swallowed roughly, forcing the urge to hug her deep into the recesses of his yearning soul.

He wouldn't address her. If he chose to ignore her, she'd go away...right? The magnetic princess would disappear as quickly as she had come, and with that exit, his sole ray of happiness extinguished. But that was okay. It had to be. The future ruler of Troll Village had everyone else's joy to attend to, much less his own. What was he thinking?! There was no way she would even remotely consider him to be worthy of loving. There were so many suitors. So many who pined after the radiant bundle of energy. Like that infuriating, disgusting, goodie guru Creek. Branch must've heard the monarch wrong. That's it. There was absolutely no possible way she reciprocated his feelings. There was no way she could know he even liked her. Branch buried the burning desire as well as he had buried the queen-to-be's invitations to him that she presented for any and all occasions.

That's it. There was absolutely no possible way she said- "I want you." The breathy sentence struck Branch more severe than before, causing the poor male to stagger backwards, bringing the clinging princess with him. His shaking legs pedaled into a bed post. He froze. They were so close, too close, to a place he never entertained the thought of visiting with the singing songbird. "Wh-what?" Branch croaked, throat dry and constricted, as one hand stroked satin digits along his jaw. A musical giggle echoed like a celestial wind chime and curled into the corridors of his lonely bunker. "Is that so hard to believe?" Her sweet voice spilled onto his flushing face. He clenched and unclenched his fists in an effort to tame his rapidly-diminishing discipline over his bodily functions as everything in Branch succumbed to the female's irresistible siren call. "Branch."

The village grump's ears twitched as he slowly inhaled and exhaled, a futile attempt at lowering his heart rate. "Hmm?" He grit his teeth, his eyes having shut to better resist the charming temptress tightening her hold on him. "Look at me." It was said with unshakable authority. It was a trick. She was using her status to command him into submission. Branch couldn't relent, wouldn't break. An eye peeked. He broke. The princess's fuchsia gaze swamped his vision. He was drowning in those glittering depths. Her eyes were like two pools. Wondrous and welcoming. Her name bubbled up from within the confines of his blazing heart and soared past his lips. "Poppy," was all he could mumble as he dived, engulfing her mouth hungrily. 'Why didn't I give in sooner?' Was the troll's last thought as the taste of strawberries and heaven danced on his tongue. Poppy gasped delightfully, melting farther into his chest.

The additional weight had Branch tumbling into his bed. The royal pop troll landed on top of him, muffled laughter resulting in extremely wonderful friction. A moan strained from the loner, his insides twisting as lust boiled in his core. He flipped them deftly, pinning his prize against the mattress. Poppy blinked seductively- 'How does she know how to blink like that?'-coaxing him impossibly closer. An involuntary shudder skewered Branch's spine as she arched. His nervous system ceased as every curve of the princess pressed up. There was no way he could stop himself if Poppy wanted to go further. Poppy claimed his mind a long time ago and his heart had willingly gone along for the ride. "Take me." Searing blood flooded south as Branch's azure eyes popped. The princess grabbed his face, smiling with an ethereal light.

Any shred of control he might've been able to recover was splintered into dust as he heaved towards Poppy. He shoved her between his legs as she repeated her order. Branch poised dominantly above his pink prey. "I love you," fell from his lips as he flew forward. A resounding thud of skull kissing carpet ripped Branch from his intoxicating company. He sat up, startled and confused, on the floor of his bedroom. Want still stewed hotly as what he gradually realized was just a dream faded to the corners of his conscience. The dull-colored recluse sunk his sweaty face into trembling palms. 'That felt so real. Too real.' Branch had dreams of Poppy many a night, but they never left him this starved, this depraved. He clutched his quilt, using it to right himself, and took in his crumpled sheets and mangled pillow. Branch became aware of a pressure that had already built up and needed desperate release.

A fresh reddening dusted the bridge of his nose as the troll grunted through the image of his angel resurfacing behind his eyelids. 'I want you...Take me…" A tremor rocked Branch as he imagined his princess crying out in pleasure, egging him on as he ravaged her with burning kisses and frantic hands. The gray troll's climax came and went, leaving a panting, hot and bothered Branch collapsing in the privacy of his bunker. Shame and discontentment seethed as the last traces of his secret crush vanished. He groaned, soul aching for the bright and optimistic object of his heart's affections. 'I shouldn't be thinking of Poppy like this. It's one thing to admire, but this?' The outcast stood and glanced at his clock. Early. But not too early to not start chores. Branch made to prepare for the day, stifling another wave of desire that threatened to rearrange his insides.

'The sooner I get busy, the better. Some forest air should clear my head...I hope.' A little while later had Branch out and about, scavenging for sticks to add to his stockpile. The usual ambience of the woods relaxed his stress. The loner drew in musty smells of moss and bark bathed in morning sun. Normally, Branch exercised a tremendous level of caution when foraging, but his previous spell had him less wary of things. Outside was a remedy for what lurked inside his fortified shelter. 'I know I have to go back eventually.' Just the slight consideration of returning to his underground home ushered a tantalizing fantasy of the princess greeting him, rosy locks cascading like waterfalls over glowing shoulders. She would wink and take him by the hands, reigniting Branch's appetite for horizontal tango.

He cursed the venereal path his brain had merrily chosen to sprint upon. The only cure for his body's insatiable craving would be the princess herself, but of course that was out of the question. She deserved someone as joyful and caring as her. Branch angrily snapped a stem in two. He could never be her other half, Poppy's partner in life. They were from different worlds, as much as he thirsted for otherwise. A rustling ahead caught the troll's attention. It was too late to run from whatever it was. Branch scrambled for a stone to defend himself, his supplies plummeting to the grass in his haste. A boisterous caterwaul and shove from his attacker sent Branch, back first, cushioned into the dirt. The ashy troll lay winded, an unexpected burden sprawled atop his vest-clothed torso. A honeyed titter evaporated the fog of Branch's sight and immobilized movement.

A tide of perspiration drenched pebble-shaded skin and want coursed anew in his veins as he listened to the laugh. Midnight hair flared in fierce alarm. "POPPY?!" He yelped as the upbeat ruler propped herself up on her elbows, making no effort to shift more. Poppy's lashes fluttered as she beamed down at him, rivaling the strengthening sun filtering through the canopy. "Hey, Branch! My man! Howzit?" His lips crinkled into a sneer, the usual response to Hello's and How are you's from her, but the intimacy of their positions dawned stronger. The pink troll's freckles glittered like the facets of a gem, keen observation skills swiftly informing him she owned exactly twenty-three bewitching specs. In a frenzied tangle of arms and legs, Branch rolled so Poppy was caged beneath him.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, shouting your lungs off and slamming into me! WHAT the HAIR do you want?!" He growled, ignoring violent butterfly wings smacking his stomach. Poppy, thoroughly unfazed at her larger companion's wrath, smiled sweetly up into a furrowed brow and heavy frown. "I want you." Branch jolted, jaw slack as deja vu rippled across his frustration. "Wh-what?" His breathing became erratic as Branch stared down at an unusually serene Poppy. Want flowed hotter as the butterflies rested on his flaming core. 'This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be-' "At my slumber party tonight!" The princess spouted, oblivious to the recluse's inner struggle to maintain a grip on reality and restraint. As Branch gaped blankly, Poppy produced another of her famous felt monstrosities from her frizzy top-knot.

She opened it excitedly, and for once, no spray of sparkles spewed out. She continued to smile through his silence. Using his other arm to support himself above Poppy's body, Branch reached as if to caress a pink cheek. Fingers quivered as he fought the desire to grasp that cheek and kiss her with all the passion he's ever concealed. "And I want you…" He snatched the invitation and sprang away, granting enough space for the princess to stand up and his heartbeat to stop careening out of control. "To leave me alone." The lie coated his tongue like an outdated slice of fluffle-berry cake. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun! Might make you, dare I say, happy?" Poppy straightened her dress and glanced imploringly his way. "I don't DO happy." 'But I'd gladly do you.' Branch gasped at his mind's answer, vigorously shaking his head to keep the blush he felt coming at bay.

"Braaanchhh! Sleepovers are the best! You eat cupcakes, do face masks, have pillow fights, braid each other's hair, and no doubt best of all," Poppy sauntered to close the distance Branch had put between them. The loner's breath hitched painfully as brilliant magenta irises fixed him in a steady gaze. "Maybe make a wish on a shooting star." Branch gulped, trying not to flinch with those rosebud lips within devouring range. 'The only wish I'd ever make on a shooting star is staring me in the face.' "Someday, Branch. I promise you. You will want to be a part of troll society again. I'll have you singing and flash mobbing right at my side." Poppy paused as a wicked gleam twinkled in her eyes. The monarch's voice softened. "Someday, Branch. You might have sleepovers yourself, inviting others along. And when that time comes, I want you to take me."

And there went his heart, crashing into an indiscernible rhythm as the royal pop troll pulled back, grinning broadly at his stupefied look. 'The words she just uttered…' The pressure was mounting extraordinarily high and fast as blood drained from his face and fled to his lower extremities. Panic driving his limbs, Branch plucked his forgotten strips of wood from the ground and covered his growing arousal. Poppy chuckled, patting a friendly and naive hand on his back and retreated with a quirky salute. "So long, Branchifer!" The loner watched as the pink beauty skipped to the outskirts of the clearing and into the bush she used to make her entrance. Regardless of the odd nickname Poppy graced him with, the instinct to chase after her dangerously throbbed. His heated dream rushed to ensnare his brain, straddling the princess, Poppy crying out in ways that set the fire within raging to inconceivable heights. Branch ran, taking great strides to his bunker. He needed a very, VERY cold shower. 'I'm doomed.'