poptrolls

[poptrolls]

The lie of him so quickly trying to say he likes her music wasn’t the response she had expected, certainly not after he had made his disinterest in her work so obviously clear the last time they had sat down and listened to any of it. A giggle escapes her as she shakes her head at the very thought. “No you don’t,” she insists, finally working up the nerve to move closer on the couch towards him and poking his arm lightly. “But that’s okay, I know it’s not your type of music.” Crossing her legs, she rests her elbow on a knee and then places her head in her hand as she watches him and waits for a better response than simply lying about liking her discography. It’s nerve wracking, listening to him give such a whatever answer rather than telling her what he really and truly thinks.

It’s not a surprise to Poppy that the one he mentions first is Dog Days Are Over - it had been pretty clear when they were listening that he’d enjoyed that one the best, but it wasn’t one of the tracks that she had really hoped he would catch on to. “Your opinion matters way more than any of the label,” she argues, focusing on that fact first and foremost. It seemed silly that Branch couldn’t see how much she valued what he thought - even when he hated something, she wanted to know. “They only care about what’ll make money. But with these songs… It kind of was like throwing my heart onto song. Which I always try to do, yeah, but this time they were… special. And I really wanted to know what you think, specifically.” It’s about as obvious as she can get without outright just screaming that a good portion of the tracks had been about him.

"I like your music," Branch corrected, finding now to be a strange time to lie about something like that. It was true that it wasn't what was usually spotted in his playlists but it was far from the worst of what he could hear on the radio. Maybe because he knew the context of her songs, he could easily defend the ones he knew she'd put meaning behind. And though he certainly wouldn't act like it or ever openly admit to it, he would go back to re-listen to some songs of hers he thought were way better than what the studio told her to release. If there were any moment to traverse the conversation back to some songs that felt like they could be about him, it would be now. And yet, the words couldn't slip out asking her if they were. He was too afraid to ask, knowing how disappointed he could be if she came back with a resounding 'no'. It would turn the friendship sour and that's the last thing Branch wanted.

In his choice to preserve his feelings, he let the question drop for now; Unsure of when, or if, he'd feel like it would ever be the right time pick it up again. "I mean, I kind of doubt my opinion matters, if the label likes it then they probably know what's best. I don't know how they figure out which ones the fans will like, I think everyone enjoys whatever you put out in general." Realizing how technical he sounded, even Branch knew there had to be a change in answer. "But they're good. I think my favorite is that Dog Days one, and there were a couple in the middle there that really sound like you put a lot of yourself into them." He nodded along, still a bit stuck in that silent gaze towards nowhere in particular ever since he'd heard some interesting lyrics. But he certainly wasn't in the terrible mood he pretended to be in after he'd heard other albums. "You're right to be proud of this album, I think it's gonna go over well with everyone."

[poptrolls]

Standing at a slower pace than her housemate, she picked up the now half empty bowl of candy in her free hand and automatically handed it to Branch to carry as she adjusted her daughter on her hip and started heading into the house, knowing that he would follow behind. “I did and you’re right, you’ve listened to everything that’s already been officially released,” she admits with a few nods of her head as they make their way into their living room. Setting a sleeping Ivy down in the little mini crib kept down here for nights like this, Poppy turned back to her roommate with a somewhat nervous smile. “But I plan to release new music next year. A song every month, actually. And I wanted your opinions on them, obviously.” This was a big deal, these songs baring her soul to Branch in a way that was far more personal, specifically to him, than anything else she’d ever written before. Not that he would know that yet though, so she tried her best to act as normal as possible and not let the butterflies fluttering about her stomach show too much. There was a chance this could change everything between them - for the better or for the worst - and that thought was as equally exciting as it was terrifying.

~ time skip to after she’s played all the songs ~

Remaining quiet and trying not to stare too hard or watch him too much as the songs she had written about her budding feelings for him played had been a lot harder of a task than Poppy had been prepared for, but she got through it. She had purposefully sat on the opposite end of the couch from him to give as much space for Branch to process everything he was hearing. Though from the fact that he barely even glanced over at her or really reacted to any of the songs that were in her mind quite obviously about him, she wasn’t even sure if he had picked up on any of it the way she had assumed he would. And with the twelfth song finally wrapping up but no comment being made from his end, everything Poppy had been holding back just exploded out. “So yeah, that’s what I’ve got. The label likes them and they like the idea of a monthly drop. You’ll probably start getting some of the previews from work in the next month, but I wanted your opinions now. And I thought it’d be better if you listened actually with me, not just in your room or office all alone,” she starts, eyes glued to him in hopes of seeing some kind of reaction play out on his face. “Did you like them? I know you aren’t the biggest fan of my music, it’s just not your taste, I get that. But I’m really proud of these ones - they really mean a lot to me and I put a lot of my heart into them… So I hope there were at least a few that you liked…” She doesn’t say which ones in particular she hoped he enjoyed, hoping that he was able to pick up on what she meant on his own.

A dull sigh escaped Branch as him, Poppy, and Ivy sat on the steps, waiting for any latecomers to stop by for a treat. He'd searched through the bowl of candy, hoping to find anything he liked but as luck would have it, all the kids had gotten to the good stuff before he could. It was disappointing note to end the holiday on as he was already having a miserable time that people he knew were seeing him in a costume he would never have chosen for himself. With said company comprising of someone he didn't quite get along with, it was a night that he'd rather had been over sooner than later. At the mention of Poppy's suggestion, he'd risen to his feet and already planned on locking himself away for the night. That was until his roommate was looking into making plans for the rest of the evening. "There's more?" Completely ignoring the motion of watching a movie, which wasn't his favorite pastime anyway, he'd moved onto the idea that he didn't even think was possible. It's not that he wasn't having a nice time listening to her music, he enjoyed more of it than he'd expected or even wanted to let on, he just didn't know that there was more music yet to be reviewed. "I thought you said that last album was the most recent one is all."

[poptrolls]

closed starter for @branchedoutlocation: their town house, halloween night

Sitting on the porch steps with a bowl of candy at her feet, her daughter half asleep in her lap, and Branch just a step behind, acting like he hated every moment of this - Poppy really couldn’t imagine a better evening. While it would have been nice if Hans and Anna had stayed longer as well, she understood they had their own lives to get to, a party that given any other year the brunette likely would have also been attending. It had been nice enough for them to spend the time they had all together, celebrating Ivy’s first Halloween. Besides, she’d never say it aloud or admit it to anyone, but she was kind of happy to spend the rest of the night with just her roommate.

“We could probably head back inside now, if you wanted,” she finally declares, when it’s been a good solid ten minutes since the last trick-or-treater had walked down their street. A part of her fully expects Branch to jump up right away and bolt to his bedroom as soon as he was given the okay to be done, so she’s quick to add on the option of additional plans for the evening. “We could go watch a movie - something spooky. Or, oh, we could keep up with your music education! Don’t think I forgot about that - you still have some Poppy discography class waiting for you, and what better time to continue it than now?” It was a long shot of him willingly agreeing to it, but she hoped that maybe the few hours spent together handing out candy might have put him in a better mood than normal. After all, who didn’t love seeing a bunch of little kids dressed up and running around hyped up on sugar? It was enough to put even the sourest of sour pusses in a good mood.

[poptrolls]

It was strange, their roles seeming to be reversed right now as Branch told her to calm down seemingly actually appeared to be fine. But Poppy knew him better than to believe that. She’d spent enough time hiding her own true feelings back during her whole breakup with Creek to know how easy it can be to fool someone into thinking you’re okay when in actuality you’re breaking down inside. And she knew Branch well enough to be more than aware that a situation like this was hardly going to be brushed off so easily. Which is why she doesn’t let it go, not right away, and instead quickly follows after him to his room, stopping only to grab the baby monitor so she can still hear Ivy in the living room.

As he sits on his bed there’s only a moment of hesitation before she joins him, keeping only the smallest amount of distance between them so that she doesn’t potentially hurt him or his arm - even though she’s not even sure which one it is that got shot. It’s one of the first times she’s actually stopped to consider whether or not he actually might want her around, normally just forcing herself into every and any moment she could regardless of whether she was wanted. It’s not enough to make her actually go away, but it’s still something.

Nodding her head at his request, Poppy doesn’t hesitate to agree. “We can do that. But Branch… you don’t have to go through this alone. If you need anything else, you know that I’m here for you,” she promises, even though she also knows it’s futile. Asking for help wasn’t something he did, like ever, and she doesn’t expect this to be any exception. But that’s never stopped her from forcing her way into helping anyway. “Did you eat there? Are you allowed to eat? I don’t know what meds they might have given you, but you should probably eat, right? I can make you something.” It’s the easiest thing she can start by doing, just simply making sure Branch has the most basic level of needs satisfied - like food and water.

Branch should have seen it coming, he figured the voice telling him not to go was just that, the same voice that stopped him from doing anything. Given how nice life had been lately, possibly from being around Poppy and Ivy more often, he'd mistakingly let his guard down, forgetting about the dangers of the world they lived in. His hospital stay was as brief as he made sure it could be. The stitches in his arm were in place and thankfully, that's as much help he needed with other than the prescription of mild painkillers and antibiotics. It wasn't lost on him how much worse he could've ended up had he been standing around in a different spot or if he hadn't reacted as quickly as he did. But that wasn't what took up much of his thoughts while he was recovering at the hospital, all he could think about was how grateful he was that Poppy and Ivy were safe at home.

The hug wasn't unnatural coming from Poppy, but maybe the urgency of it was what kept him from pushing away at all. They both needed the hug, and though Branch's arm was still sore, that didn't matter because the embrace felt really good for once. He couldn't blame her for the sudden examination, he might've acted the same way, if not worse than she was. Normally, his paranoia would've caught him amping up the pressure to make sure everything was resolutely fine, maybe he was too tired to do it this time around but it certainly helped that his injury was kept to a minimum. "Poppy, Pop, let's calm down. I'm fine, I just want to go to my room if that's alright." He could tell by the accompanied trail to his room that they weren't done talking. He sighed as he sat on the corner on his bed, "I got grazed in the arm by a bullet, they stitched it up. They told me not to do any strenuous activity for a bit. You don't need to do anything for me, it'll heal up in no time. All I need from you and Ivy is some peace and quiet while I work from home for the next couple of days."

[poptrolls]

~ timeskip to branch coming home from hospital ~

For all Poppy had felt maybe she was being a bit silly, skipping out on the island’s annual anniversary festival, given that Ivy was now four months old - she couldn’t be more grateful at her small lapse of paranoia keeping her away from the event. In no way had she any idea that the hunters would attack again, and on such a major scale this time, but she was thankful not to have been in the midst of it. Though, there was a growing guilt as she continued to sit at home with her daughter - knowing that both Branch and Anna were in the hospital right now. A part of her wanted nothing more than to run off and go help in any way that she could - but logically she knew she would only likely be in the way. And it wasn’t smart, taking even a four month old back into an emergency room or hospital setting, exposing her to all the germs and illnesses floating throughout the building. So she stayed put, tracking Branch’s phone location from the safety of her living room and watching each second that passed by, finally bringing him closer and closer to their home.

The moment his little pin indicated that he was outside their townhouse, Poppy was on her feet and waiting at the door. The moment it opened, without any hesitation or even a second to really think on what she was doing, the brunette launched herself at the figure standing in the doorframe. “Branch, Branch,” she breathed his name twice, arms wrapped tight around his chest despite having no clue where it was he’d even been harmed. All she had been told was that he had been injured - she couldn’t get any more information than that because she wasn’t officially family, which felt like a load of bullshit at the time but hardly mattered now that he was safe and home and in her arms. “You’re here. You’re okay.” It’s only once she makes that statement that Poppy remembers he must be hurting and holding onto him like this might not be helping him any, so she quickly lets go and backs up, her eyes scanning over his body in search of any obvious signs of damage. “Are you okay? What happened? Do you need anything? What can I do to help? Oh god, I can’t believe this actually happened. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Branch knew well by now that Poppy was affectionate. No matter how many times he tried getting the point across to her that he most definitely was not, it certainly didn't stop her attempts at proving how different they were. He'd succumbed for the night letting his lenient approach take over, and allowed her grab onto him. Not that he had much of a choice with the hold she had but he was willing to let it happen, it was more than he would allow anyone else to do to him. As she laid her head on his shoulder, a strange feeling passed through. A feeling he could only suppose was discomfort considering he never really ever got used to the feeling of someone touching him, but since he wasn't completely sure what it was he brushed it off.

"It's not like that, Ivy was crying and you were sleeping. The natural response to that would be to get her to stop crying." Despite the fact that he had done the favor multiple times before, this was the first time getting caught and he didn't want it to seem like it was going to be a habit. Already Poppy was giddying over something that he didn't consider that big of a deal, it was something that anyone with basic empathy would and should do. "Is it bonding? I kind of see it more like I'm training her on how to be a good roommate in the future." He joked, trying to downplay the excitement to the scenario. "Can I ask what these supposed 'normal human emotions' I should be having are? 'Cuz I feel like I've been doing alright with the emotions I've had so far."

[poptrolls]

The sleep schedule of a newborn baby and her mother was so sporadic and chaotic, it could hardly be called a schedule at all - which Poppy had known would be the case long before she actually gave birth, but the reality was far harsher than anything she could have expected. Most nights she was on top of it, waking up at the first or second cry and immediately getting out of bed to go to her daughter. But not even the most perfect mother in the world could get to every single moment of need, certainly not when they’re practically doing it all on their own. Which meant there were still times when she struggled, letting Ivy cry for a few moments before forcing herself to climb out of her bed, and tonight had been one of those times. Only rather than continuing to scream until Poppy got to her, the cries faded and ceased before the brunette had even thrown off her blankets.

Now there was probably a perfectly reasonable reason for why her daughter had calmed herself down, but this was the first time it had ever happened and Poppy couldn’t help the way that her brain immediately raced to worst case scenarios. Rushing out of her bed and to the nursery, it’s only when she sees the familiar figure of her housemate rocking her daughter back to sleep that she lets herself breathe again. Of all the explanations she could have possibly imagined for Ivy’s cut off cries, Branch being there to calm her down never would have crossed her mind. Yet now that she’s seen it, she doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to forget the sight. Though he’s interacted with Ivy before now, it had always been at Poppy’s prompting - never on his own accord. But this? This was Branch waking up and actively checking in on her daughter without anyone asking or expecting him to do so. It was such a touching gesture, and a sweet picture seeing him slowly lower the baby girl back into her crib, that a warmth filled her chest as she leaned against the doorframe and silently watched for as long as she could.

Of course he was bound to notice her eventually, and as he turned to look at her, Poppy couldn’t help the bright grin that grew on her lips. The comment about his inability to get work done might have made her feel guilty if he had said it any other time - but as it was, her joy was too strong for her to care at all that Ivy might be cutting into his personal life. “You checked up on her,” she points out, a statement they both knew to be true but meant so much more to her than it likely did for him. As Branch made his way over towards, she was quick to loop her arm through his, grip tight so that he couldn’t easily push her away, and rested her head against his shoulder. It was an easy display of affection that Poppy would have shown for anyone she cared about, but always felt extra special with him. Probably because he so rarely let anyone into his life that she liked to think her casual touches and closeness with him was a special privilege just for her. “You care for her. She’s just a little blob of a human being and you already care for her! You’re having normal human emotions, Branch! You’re making a bond with my daughter!”

-timeskip-

Was Branch completely aware of what he signed up for when he agreed to live with a pregnant Poppy? No, he probably knew very little about what it meant to raise a child, let alone take care of one. Although Poppy made it clear he wasn't expected to help around for too much, he still felt the need to give an extra hand when it became clear how hectic looking after a newborn would be. The agreement the two roommates came up with was that Branch mainly looked after household chores and the baby stuff was kept to Poppy. This he could handle, it didn't interfere too much with his work schedule so taking on the extra load of domestic tasks seemed like a piece of cake. At least he didn't have to deal with stinky diapers and feeding the kid all the time.

The only real problem Branch had with having a baby in the house were the colliding sleep schedules. It seemed that every time he was dozing off to sleep, the baby could cry at an ungodly volume that not even ear plugs could do the trick. The worst was waking up to all the screaming, it was like he couldn't catch a break. But it also dawned on him that he wasn't the one bearing the brunt of the labor. This kind of realization had him calming the fussy baby in the middle of the night sometimes, letting Poppy rest easy for a bit longer. Branch tried his best to let his efforts go unnoticed, he didn't want to make a big deal of it. But on this particular evening, as he cradled Ivy back into her crib he caught the sight of Poppy hanging by the doorframe with a smile on her face to see him interacting with the baby he could complain endlessly about.

He felt caught, and although he could claim he was doing this in the name of getting the baby to shut up, Branch knew he wouldn't be able to evade Poppy's excitement for the bond he was building with her child. "I was already up, I had a cup of coffee a couple hours ago," he quietly mentioned on his way towards his roommate. He stood by as they both watched after the baby. "It's hard to get work done when she won't stop crying so I just figured I'd get her back to sleep without waiting for you to wake up."

[poptrolls]

Considering their time together had never really ever been romantic, just a simple one night stand that had led to circumstances that tied them together for life, Poppy had no reason to think any deeper into his words of wishing to be here instead of at the party. For once her hopeless romantic heart was too tired to kick a beat at the sentiment. They had a daughter together, a newborn that he must have been talking about. Certainly if their roles were reversed, that would be her focus, wanting to see her child over anything else - which is what she assumed Hans must mean as well. “There’ll be other parties,” she promises, also assuming that he must have some level of regret or worry over leaving. “You two will have plenty of chances to dance the night away. And honestly, selfishly, I’m glad you’re here. Branch is amazing and I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world, but it’s nice seeing another friendly face.” Sure she’s facetimed with family and friends back home, but Poppy didn’t have that big of a social life on the island and it was showing now that she was basically housebound for the next few weeks at least. Having Hans here was a very pleasant change and surprise.

Laughing softly, she shakes her head at the thought that just because she had been pregnant for the last better half of a year meant that she wouldn’t still have alcohol. “I do. What are you feeling? I still have my liquors and probably a bottle of wine or two as well, I don’t know exactly. I haven’t checked in there since well, you know,” she teases, shooting him a smile as she moves to the closed bar cart in the corner of her kitchen. “I won’t be joining you - Ivy doesn’t have a strong enough of a schedule yet for me to even begin predicting when she might need to feed - but feel free to whatever you want.”

Hans could swear she'd brought up the other guy's name before, though he hadn't been paying enough attention to recall just who he was in relation to her life. Probably just a friend, or something--if she was dating anyone, he was sure he would've heard about it by now. Not that he really cared much about the daughter who wouldn't bear his last name or even be a part of his legitimate family line for purposes of the Arendelles and their business, which was the priority. But, for some reason, he'd found himself here tonight, and, now that he was, part of him wanted to stay solely to get away from the life he'd built for himself at home.

"We were," he confirmed, "and we went, but I just wanted to get out of there. I kinda wanted to be here instead." Hans leaned against the island with a shrug. In truth, he'd really just wanted to spend time with her when he'd left, feeling it a much better option than listening to Anna drone on about the sanctity of love and marriage for the rest of the night. "Do you have anything to drink? Like, alcohol? Wait, shit, you were just pregnant," Hans reminded himself, though he hoped someone like a pop star would at least have a stash anyway.

[poptrolls]

QUEEN POPPY in Trolls Band Together

[poptrolls]

“As much as a week old baby can let me sleep,” she responds with a tired but bright smile as she takes the bouquet handed her way. Taking a deep breath of their scent, as she always does whenever she comes across freshly cut flowers, her smile wides and she turns to get a vase out of the cupboards to put them in. The truth was Poppy was barely sleeping other than the few hours she managed to catch between feedings or diaper blowouts, but that was to be expected. And she was hardly upset or bothered by it - in fact, it felt more like a right of passage in a way. One that kind of sucked and was draining beyond belief, but it’s not like she wasn’t used to the exhaustion. This was just a different brand of the same bone deep tiredness she always felt on tour.

With the flowers in the vase now, she set it right in the middle of the island to be on display for any and all guests to see. They really were beautiful and if it weren’t for the fact that she knew Hans was married, very recently in fact, she might have thought they actually meant something. But Poppy knew better than to get her hopes up, even if the romantic in her sometimes wished that maybe something had blossomed between them all those months back. “Branch was here before he had to head out to the party. I was supposed to go too, but it didn’t exactly seem like the best place for a newborn,” she teases, though the mention of the engagement party does bring another thought into her head. “Which speaking of, why aren’t you there? Surely Anna was invited.” It had seemed like everyone with any type of status or name for themselves on the island had been asked to attend, certainly the Arendelles would fall onto that list as well.

Though she'd seemed reluctant at first, Poppy had cleared the way for him to come in, and Hans considered it a win. Coming to see her on a day like this, in these circumstances, had him wondering whether he'd done it all wrong. If he'd simply gone for Poppy instead, he wouldn't have had to show up unannounced, hoping she'd let him in. He could've been married to her, and been more than happy to welcome a child so soon. And, in all other instances, Poppy was the kind of girl he'd seen himself with all along, instead of the one who was currently his wife. While his heart had all of these strange revelations coming to light, Hans caught a glimpse of some trophy on a bookshelf and was reminded just why he'd unfortunately had to go for Anna: the career he wanted for himself, not the career Poppy had.

"Well, I hope she's been letting you sleep," he said quietly as he set the food on her counter and handed her the flowers. Hans hadn't really offered to take his daughter yet to give her a break, but it seemed like Poppy wouldn't have given her up so soon, anyway, which was at least his justification for staying out of it. If his life could just be moments of popping in when he felt like it, he'd be satisfied. "Are you, uh, have you been alone all day?" It wouldn't be strange, really, for a woman who'd just given birth to be taking some time for herself, but it felt particularly unfair that someone like Poppy would have to suffer the same fate as so many other people who deserved to be single. "You could've said something, you know, I would've skipped the party, and everything, to keep you company."

[poptrolls]

Being single on Valentine’s Day wasn’t a new experience for her, not since the big break up with her ex-fiance. But being alone on this particular day? This was a first for that. Though she supposed she wasn’t actually alone, considering she had her newborn daughter with her. But even if she would take baby Ivy over anyone else in the entire world any day, it was still a bit strange, not having anyone else around at all. Really, what was sort of bothering her the most was even Branch was out doing something - even if he hadn’t been all that happy about going. A small part of Poppy’s brain felt insecure about being alone tonight, enough so that she had genuinely been tempted to suck it up and attend the party as well regardless of the fact that she had just given birth less than a week ago. But that thought was quickly shut down the moment she realized going to the event as well would mean leaving her daughter. That just wasn’t something she was at all ready to do yet. So she had swallowed her pride and accepted that she would simply just have a lonesome holiday - watching romcoms by herself as she rocked her daughter and tried not to get too emotional over every big movie moment the love interests shared.

Or at least, that’s what she assumed her night was going to entail. So when a knock came on her front door, she was genuinely confused as to who would be coming to see her at a time like this, on Valentine’s Day night. Placing her daughter in the portable crib she’d set up in the living room a few days ago, Poppy made her way to the front door and couldn’t help the way her lips twisted into a small frown at the sight she saw in the peephole. While she had no clue what Hans might want from her right now, she still opened the door and though she was still confused, the bag obviously filled with food had her expression shifting quite quickly. “Yeah, come on in,” she agreed, taking a step back and opening the door a bit wider so he could enter. Closing the door after him, she offered a small smile and waved for him to follow her into the kitchen, the open floor plan allowing her to still keep an eye on the crib in the living area. “Ivy’s asleep but she should be waking up any minute - it’s been about three hours since she last ate, so it’s almost time again.” She figured that their daughter must be the reason he was here and while she wanted to question why his wife wasn’t with him on a night like tonight, she figured that was his own business.

~time skip to valentines day~

Something about something he'd eaten or drank had begun to fuck with Hans about halfway through the engagement party he was attending. It was strange to be there with Anna as his wife now, especially when there was another woman across town with his child in the world. He'd reluctantly been there to witness the birth of his daughter, only having caught the last hour or so of Poppy being in labor given that she'd started to have contractions while Hans and Anna were reciting their vows. He truly hadn't wanted to be there; being a father with a technically illegitimate kid was not on his agenda for himself. But, for reasons unbeknownst to him, Hans was currently feeling more strongly than ever about wanting to be with his child and her mother. Anna had completely understood when he'd told her where he was headed, framing it as wanting to give Poppy a break from handling things on her own.

Hans hadn't ever considered himself a romantic, but it was Valentine's Day, and he was feeling a particular sort of way about Poppy. So, he showed up to her house with a bouquet of flowers and dinner, hoping that it wouldn't seem too out of the ordinary for him to want to be nice to his child's mother. Hans had texted her to come to the door, hoping Ivy wasn't asleep. "Hey," he greeted as she opened, holding the bouquet in his hand and takeout bag in his hands up in offering. "The party was getting boring, and I kind of wanted to be here, with you, so, I brought you these. Am I ... can I come in? I can be quiet."

[poptrolls]

It clearly didn’t seem fine, from the way Hans so obviously didn’t want to deal with this. A small part of her wanted to just say never mind and turn around, maybe wait until he’d had more time to think about it all and really settle with his decision to be in the baby’s life - but Poppy knew that wouldn’t do either of them any good. She had already given him more than enough time and with her due date growing nearer and nearer every day, they didn’t have much longer to figure everything out. Following his lead, she took a seat on the other end of the couch and bit her lip to hold in her true thoughts on the excuse he offered. It was rare for Poppy to be one to judge anyone, but well, this type of behavior seemed just a bit too familiar. How could he already know for certain that Anna was the one - how could he really be so concerned for the redhead or love her as he claimed he did when just a handful of months ago he was sleeping with someone else instead? But that wasn’t her business. No, she had to focus on the baby right now, not whatever else Hans had going on in his life.

“Well, everything, really,” she starts, frowning ever so slightly at the way he very clearly didn’t understand just how much there still was to do before this baby arrived. It must be nice, to be the father and just get to show up whenever he wants without any real care about the serious aspects of this pregnancy. “I guess first and foremost should be how much you want to be in her life. I… I really hope we can figure that much out on our own, without needing to get anyone else involved, but I will want a legal custody contract in place, no matter what decision we come to in the end.” It seemed like the most important place to start - this was the biggest question she had anyway: just how much of a role as a father was he willing to take on? How much was he going to try to take away from her? “To be completely honest and upfront - I want primary custody. But I’m willing to work with whatever schedules you may want to create or figure out what’s going to work best for us.”

All of this was such a giant inconvenience for Hans, all because he had been too lazy to put on a fucking condom. Sure, having a child with a pop star was going to have its perks, including the possibility of getting some sort of payment from her to help take care of it. But, generally, he didn't have time for this. The pressure that had come from Poppy, whether she meant to put it on him or not, had been overwhelming, sealed by the desire from his future wife to be in his child's life. To play the long game with Anna was to keep to the happy wife, happy life slogan that he'd heard so many times in his own household when he was growing up. He couldn't have her thinking that he was the kind of monster who would abandon his own child before it was even born, especially if she'd specifically asked him not to.

"Yeah, no, this--it's fine," he agreed unenthusiastically, gesturing for her to take a seat on his couch ass he took one of his own. This was the last thing he wanted to do today, but he supposed it was better to rip the bandaid off now than ask for her to come back. "Sorry I haven't, y'know, been around, it's just that I really didn't know how Anna was going to react to all of this. I didn't even know if we were going to last, so I didn't want to tell her until I was sure she was the one." It was kind of true: Hans hadn't wanted to have that conversation if he didn't have to. His strategy was to avoid hard things as much as he could, and to now be as nice to Poppy as possible if he was going to have to deal with her for the next eighteen years. "Anyway, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

[poptrolls]

It wasn’t often that Poppy got upset or truly let something bother her, and when it did happen rarely did that anger ever last long. And right now was no expectation of that rule. For all she had come in with the intentions of holding her ground, of remembering how horrible these past few months have felt just sitting around and waiting for an answer from the man… but when Hans begins with an apology and an explanation of what had been happening, the resentment and frustration slowly but surely began to melt away. As hard as it has been on her, not knowing where the father of her child stood on anything regarding this pregnancy, Poppy couldn’t deny that it likely wasn’t easy for him either. This baby wasn’t planned, not by a long shot, and Hans had seemed pretty shocked when she had told him… it would make sense if he needed time to figure out what he wanted to do… Maybe she was being a bit too harsh coming over here and demanding answers, but there was no going back from it now, and well it seemed to have worked anyway.

For a moment when Hans finally says he’ll be there, along with the redhead she assumes is the girl he’s talking about, Poppy doesn’t even have any words - just an overwhelming sense of relief and weight lifted off of her shoulder. Not even fully because she didn’t think she could handle being a solo parent, she knew she could, but at least now she finally had an answer. She could begin actually planning and figuring out just what she, and now Hans, were going to do. “Okay, okay,” she breathes out, a bright smile slowly growing on her face. “That’s perfect. That’s… that’s mostly what I wanted to know. And I’m sorry for just barging over here like this - it’s just been a bit difficult trying to navigate everything these past few months. But now that I’m here and you’ve made a decision - we should probably talk some things out, right? Or is it a bad time for any of that?”

It had been a while since he'd last heard from Poppy, since she'd told him that she was carrying his child. Which wouldn't have been that big of a deal, except that he had another woman to think about. Anna was the key to his future in a way that Poppy wasn't--she could've been, but she wasn't from the same lineage of money that the Arendelles had. Hans was in far too deep with the redhead to pivot now, though he had admittedly thought about it after Poppy had dropped the bomb on him.

The knock he'd received on his door was one Hans had been expecting, though not waiting for. He'd been keeping track of just when his child was supposed to come into the world, to know when Poppy might finally demand an answer from him, and had made sure that he waited until after he and Anna had the papers signed to tell her about it. Poppy was to blame, of course, in Anna's eyes, but it was all just one big misunderstanding to her, too. "Good afternoon to you, too," Hans grumbled as he let her inside, rolling his eyes to himself while her back was turned. She was showing much more than she had been the last time he'd seen her, and he gestured for her to sit down. "I'm sorry it's taken me a while to get back to you, okay? I was working on telling the girl I'm with, but she thinks I should be there in their life, so ... I guess I'll be there, and she will, too."

[poptrolls]

Though she had heard each excuse and comment Branch made during her rambled request for him to attend the dinner party with her, Poppy hardly gave anything he said much thought at all. Of course she was going to use her pregnancy as an excuse, she’s been using it as one since she first realized it had a chance of working on her roommate. Of course she knew him perfectly well. And of course they were friends - he was her best friend. Readjusting herself on his bed, the brunette sat cross legged and dropped her hands into her lap as she watched him, waiting for any crack in his mental armor that she could poke at to get her way. It would come, it always did. “It won’t be a nightmare - it’s not even like a real party, I promise! Just a night dinner, you’ll love it. It’ll be better food than your silly little cans - the Bete family owns like half the restaurants on the island. And since, like you said, you already know some of these people from work, you won’t be lonely or feel left out! It’ll be fun - for both of us,” she argued, turning all of his points back around on him.

As he asked if there was anyone else she could take and then what he would have to wear if he did come along, Poppy knew she had won. Not that she was going to celebrate yet, no there was still a bit of convincing that needed to be done - but Branch was teetering heavily towards the side of agreeing with her. And the grin that grew on her face said that she knew it. “I don’t want to go with anyone else - I want to go with you,” she points out, shrugging as if that was obvious. It was a true statement, there wasn’t anyone else she wanted to go with, but also she knew that if she didn’t get him to come out for this dinner, he’d spend his entire holiday season alone in this room. “No! You could totally dress however you want. It’s not like black tie or anything, you’ll be fine.”

If there was one person who’d be able to break through noise-canceling headphones, it would be Poppy Can. Maybe if he’d been playing any music he could’ve avoided all of this, but his preference for sitting in silence had backfired on him. As much as Branch wanted to ignore the sounds of her yelling, the pounding on the door was something he couldn’t tune out. It was a rule of his that knocking on the door was meant for emergencies only, so that’s what he assumed this was. He’d rushed over to make sure everything was alright with their shared home, or god forbid, something was happening with her pregnancy. You could imagine his surprise when a lively and smiling Poppy with no immediate crisis to tend to was all he saw when he opened the door. Not only was she not in any danger but now she was in the one place he used to hide out from her. “Don’t even bother asking.” He quickly begged before she began her rambling. Of course, he gave his comments as she went along; “You can’t use your pregnancy as an excuse.”; “You barely know me.”; and “We’re not friends.” He’d hoped she’d hear something to make her back off but she never did, she just kept talking until she’d finally asked for the favor.

The question of being her date caught him off guard, partially because it was so absurd of a request to ask of him. “There’s no way I’m going to that. Fun-ish for you usually means a nightmare for me.” He wasn’t a fan of attending things, his own home was where he found serenity and safety so why would he bother leaving that? “Important people around the island? I already have meetings with some of them at work, so I won’t be missing much.” Poppy wasn’t making a compelling argument here, food was the last thing that would get him to leave the house. “I have plenty to eat here, I’m stacked on canned foods that aren’t going to eat themselves.” He could think up a million reasons why he didn’t want to go, but what probably mattered most in this case, and probably why Poppy was asking him in the first place, was that she didn’t want to go alone. He could sympathize with that, not that many people could ever force him to go but on the small cases that he did have to attend things he knew having a friend or just someone you knew to talk to made things easier. “Can you really think of no one else to go with you?” He really tried hard not to let her know that he was caving in but one could hear the exhaustion in his voice from already mentally running through this conversation in his head that he’d probably end up going for her sake anyway. “I’m not saying I will go with you but if I did maybe possibly say yes, would I actually have to dress up for it?”

[poptrolls]

HANDE ERCEL AS EDA YILDIZ

[poptrolls]

closed starter for @branchedout location: branch & poppy's house

Going through her little pile of mail, it wasn’t a surprise to find an invitation to the Bete family’s holiday day dinner considering she had been invited every year since she had first moved to the isle. But unlike every other year, this one was different. She hadn’t been hiding a pregnancy at any of the past parties and she had been perfectly content showing up alone, rather than using her offered plus one. This year though Poppy wasn’t sure if she could handle trying to navigate it all by herself, not without some kind of built in buffer of a date. Which was why as soon as she had finished reading through the invitation, she was bounding up the stairs to her roommate’s bedroom. “Branch! Branch!” she called out down the hall before she was even at the door, only getting louder and louder the closer she got. It wasn’t uncommon for him to ignore her, at least at first, but like always she knew she’d wear him down. The banging on his door always helped a bit as well. “Branch! Branch! Branch!”

Finally when the door opens to show a disgruntled and annoyed Branch, she simply grins at him and pushes past to make her way over towards his bed. Without asking if it were okay for her to even be in the room, much less on his bed, she drops down to be laying on her back across the bottom of it. “I have a favor to ask you,” she starts before he has a chance to begin complaining about her barging in like she owns the place. Which, technically she kind of does, but that’s not something Poppy plans to bring up - otherwise it’d just turn into another argument about the amount of rent he pays and how she needs to be stricter on him. Or whatever other boring arguments he‘d make that just seem ridiculous to her. “And keep in mind when I ask you for this favor that I’m pregnant. With a baby daddy that’s been ignoring me for months. And also I love you and you’re my best friend. All very important factors to remember when I ask… will you be my date to the Bete dinner this year?” She pauses for a moment, realizing he probably doesn’t even fully know what the event is and decides she’ll need to elaborate. “It’s not a party, I promise. It’s just like a fancy dinner with important people around the island. The food is usually pretty good and it’ll be fun-ish. And I really don’t want to go alone this year. So pretty please, will you go with me?”

[poptrolls]

closed starter for @catchthesehans location: hans's place

Now that she’d officially stepped down from Moulin Rouge and was soon going to start showing to a point where oversize shirts wouldn’t be enough to hide her bump, it was time to start figuring out how to announce the fact that she was pregnant. Which would be a lot easier to do if she knew if the father of her child had even the smallest desire to be a part of the baby’s life - but as it was, she had yet to hear a single word from Hans since the day that she told him about the pregnancy. It was a stress that was constantly floating around in the back of her mind, no matter what else might be at hand. Which was what had brought Poppy to this moment, standing outside of his door and trying oh so hard to muster up the courage to finally knock or ring the doorbell. A few minutes had passed by before she realized if she kept sitting here just waiting, there was a chance someone might recognize her and start up rumors once again about the two of them - which was the last thing she needed right now. So with that thought in mind, her eyes closed tight as she finally lifted her hand and knocked quite harshly on the door, waiting for it to open or some kind of answer to come from the other side.

And when the door does finally open, there’s an obvious look of confusion on the owner’s face, but Poppy doesn’t even give him a chance to ask what she’s doing, or say anything at all, actually before she’s jumping in to start the conversation. “I need an answer,” she begins, feeling a bit stupid that it’s had to come to this but what else was she supposed to do? “I’m not going to be able to hide it much longer - I have to tell everyone soon, like before the holidays. And I need to know what you want me to say about who the father is. What you want the father situation to even be. Are you in or am I on my own for this?” The words all come out a bit fast and slightly more stressed than she had intended for them to be, but could she really be blamed? If he didn’t want to be a part of this baby’s life, that was fine, she could figure things out on her own - but she couldn’t keep going on not having any kind of an answer at all.

[poptrolls]

“Oh Luka’s great! We did a remix of one of my old songs together and he’s on another track for my upcoming record. He’s been really amazing at making sure I’m comfortable and putting out the kind of music I want to make rather than just what’s going to sell,” she explained, hoping it isn’t too awkward to be practically gushing about the boy. But she couldn’t help it - the Couffaine siblings and their record label had practically saved her career. How could she not be grateful and excited about potentially giving someone else that opportunity? Poppy’s smile only brightened even more at the invitation to a premiere and afterparty. “No, no. I’m not busy at all,” she’s quick to answer, probably looking a bit more desperate than she wanted to come across, but oh well. “I’d love to come! Thank you so much. And that’s so exciting! Is this your first movie you’ve done?”

Sharpay had seemed to earn her trust so quickly, even hearing something from her that she'd never heard in the media before. To think that being part of a certain record label could've possibly contributed someone as successful as Poppy to think about quitting was ridiculous, and Sharpay knew she couldn't suffer the same fate. Thankfully, she sort-of knew Luka from working on their movie together, so with a bit of the popstar's help, she might have a shot at the real thing. "Yeah, no, that makes total sense," she agreed. "I met Luka working on our movie together--I don't know him that well, but at least we already know each other a bit. Which, by the way, if you're free on the thirteenth, it's our premiere. I know you probably have to work, especially if Ryan's out, but there's this party after, and I'm sure the director won't say no to you. Luka, Ryan, and I will all be there, too. But, only if you have nothing going on: if not, totally get it. You're probably, like, one of the busiest people on the island," she offered, ending in a sheepish laugh.