"Truth or dare! Truth or dare! Truth or dare!" Smidge and Guy both chanted out happily as the group of trolls sat together in the royal pod, Poppy giggling softly at her friends' amusement while Branch just sat there with crossed arms, the newly blue troll regretting ever agreeing to come to this stupid game night in the first place... he would much rather be sitting at home doing a nice puzzle all by himself in the quiet seclusion of his own home...
"Ok, ok," Poppy finally laughed after what felt like hours to the former village grump. "Who wants to go first?"
"Me!" Guy shouted out happily, raising his hand up into the air as he waved it around enthusiastically. "I do! I do! I dooooooooo!"
"Well, ok then, Guy," the young queen giggled. "Go ahead..."
Lowering his hand, Guy looked to each of his friends with a thoughtful gaze for just a moment before his eyes finally landed on Branch, the little blue troll sitting grumpily away from the circle, his arms crossed and back facing the group...
And yet... even though the survivalist had his usual grumpy facade... Guy noticed that the young boy had his eyes stealthily locked on Poppy, his face softening just a bit into a light smile as if admiring the queen's beauty...
"Hmm..." Guy smirked, rubbing his hands together in a mischievous manner. "Branch... truth or dare?"
At the sound of his name being called out so devilishly, the blue troll turned, his face having a look of complete shock painted onto it...
"M... me?" he questioned in disbelief. "Why me?"
"Because you're who I chose," Guy stated as if it were obvious. "Now... truth or dare?"
"Do I have to?" the survivalist whined, turning his entire body back towards the group so that he was once again in the circle.
"Yes!" Smidge yelled out in her deep voice. "It's the rules! Now chose, or you'll get a little visit from my good friend, Skull-crusher!"
The tiny yellow troll raised her right fist into the air, pounding her left hand with it in an extremely threatening manner...
Branch paused for a moment, the paranoid recluse seeming to be contemplating his answer...
"Um... truth?" he finally said with a slight shrug, Guy beginning to chuckle silently once more, the silver glitter troll seeming quite pleased with his friend's response...
"Ok..." Guy snickered, rubbing his glittery hands together in mischievous delight. "Is it true you have a crush on... someone in this group...?"
Oh god...
Branch instantly froze at the sound of that question, his eyes widening in horror as his heart literally stopped and stomach twisted into a tight nauseating knot...
It was fairly obvious that when Guy had said that... the glitter troll had ushered sneakily to Poppy at the exact same moment...
He... he knew? How the hair did he know!?
"Uh..." Branch stuttered, all eyes now on him as everyone but Poppy giggled at his fear...
They all knew!!!!
"Um... dare..." the survivalist quickly declared, changing his answer so he wouldn't have to tell the truth about his most hidden secret...
"You can't do that!" Smidge yelled, the little troll jumping up angrily to her feet. "You gotta answer the question!"
"No, no, Smidge..." Guy quickly eased, nudging Smidge gently so the tiny troll would sit back down. "It's fine..."
He turned back to Branch, the blue troll staring right at him in complete terror, the paranoid survivalist instantly realizing... he had messed up...
"I dare you to admit who your crush is..." Guy smirked, Branch's world shattering right before his eyes...
"Ugh..." the village grump groaned, his terror instantly turning to nausea as the poor boy reached up to clutch tightly at his aching stomach, suddenly feeling as if he were about to puke all over Poppy's perfectly spotless floor. "I... I, I, I... can... can I go back to truth...?"
"No!" everyone shouted out at once, causing the light blue troll to flinch at the harshness in their voices, his ears drooping down low as his eyes sparkled in pure and utter sorrow...
"Branch?" Poppy questioned, seeing the discomfort in her best friend's body language as he slightly shifted his position in pure nervous terror. "Are you ok?"
Trying to comfort the slightly shaking blue troll, Poppy placed a gentle hand on Branch's shoulder... a gesture that proved to be the completely wrong thing to do, because the second her hand touched him... the contentious hermit immediately jumped up to his feet with a short scream of fear...
The snickering finally coming to a sudden halt... the entire group of trolls stared at Branch in utter shock...
"Um... I... I..." Branch stuttered softly, looking around at all the eyes now glued on him, the poor boy rubbing his hands fiercely on his shorts to try and rid his skin of the sweat now dripping down it.
Ding!
The bright sound quickly catching his attention, Branch looked down at his watch, sighing in complete relief...
Oh thank god...
"Would you look at the time!?" he exclaimed, looking back up at the group with an innocent grin. "I gotta go take care of the bunker! Bye!"
Quickly, the survivalist turned, rushing out of the pod in great haste, not even looking back as Biggie called out to him...
"But what about the game!?" the large blue troll yelled out, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound of his voice.
"You guys win!" Branch yelled back loudly, the paranoid recluse already halfway to the safety of his underground home, Poppy watching after him with sad caring eyes...
