Branch angst one-shots

Overworked?

Cooper walked over to Branch's bunker with Poppy and knocked a total of four times. "Hey, Branch?" Poppy asked with no answer. Poppy knocked on the door, harder than Cooper had, "Branch!"

They heard a loud thud,  "Yeah, Poppy?" Branch asked, groaning. "Uhh...First, are you ok? That was a really loud thud..." Poppy asked, the tone in her voice expressing concern. "I'm fine-" he stopped mid-sentence to yawn, then continued, "You just kinda startled me..." Poppy then said, skeptically, "Ooo-k...second, Cooper needs help fixing his toilet."

"Yeah! I flushed a tire down there!" Cooper responded, giving his usually obnoxious laugh right after. "I'll be up in a second, Copper. Just need some time to- OUF!" Another thud, then grumbling, then angry whispering. "Just wait up there Cooper."

"I was gonna spend my night here anyway!"
"You mean evening or...something, right?"
"Nope." Cooper replied seriously, waiting a moment before laughing once again.

"Can I come in, Branch?" Poppy asked. "Uhhh...
M-My bunker is a little messy...you wait up there too." Poppy crossed her arms and looked at Branch's bunker door skeptically. She then shrugged and walked over to check his bunker door. "Unlocked..?" She thought as the trapdoor opened with a light pull. "Branch never leaves his bunker unlocked."

"Uhm, Branch?"
"Yeah, Queen P?"
"I'm coming in." She stated, descending down the bunker's elevator."No! Poppy..! The bunker's a mess and I-I- my toilets clogged and the water overflowed- they- theres water everywhere! I-Its-" Branch said, before he could finish, he saw Poppy appear on the elevator.

He stood there, unable to do much else, rubbing his arm anxiously. "Hey Bran-ch oh- oh-. You weren't kidding about the mess." Poppy said, finally making it to the bottom and seeing dirty clothes, trash, half full monsters, plan boards, and much else scattered on the floor. "And- Branch are you ok? You've got bags under your eyes and-" Poppy stopped and sniffed the air, "You...smell."

Branch walked toward her, bringing a plan board, "Yeah, I took a shower a few days ago if that's what you're worried about." He placed the plan board in Poppy's line of sight, "I've just been working a bit overtime, you know? You know about not knowing when to stop working." He pointed at a calendar on the plan board, "Saturday I spent almost all day at Smidge's house fixing her- well...her whole house really."

He pointed to a the next day, "Sunday, DJ Suki needed me to fix her pipes again, can't maintain them for anything! And then I had to help your dad, he got his head stuck in his toilet, can you believe it?" Poppy cut him off, "Branch."

"Oh, don't worry, I got him out, took a while though." He then pointed to another place. "Monday I had to go the village and fix the community slide, it got blocked up and broken, weird right?"

"Branch."

"Nobody was hurt of course, I made sure of it. Then I-"

"Branch!" He stopped and turned to her. "You know I love listening to you talk but, I'm worried. It seems like you haven't gotten sleep in days, Saturday was 5 days ago. By a few days, how many did you mean when you said you hadn't taken a shower in a few days?"

Branch hesitated then began, "A week and a half..? But I'm fine, I don't need one, no time for one anyhow. Sorry about the smell, I really didn't want you to see me like this..."

"Branch...you seem overworked, do you want help managing all of this?"

"No," Branch chuckled, "I-I mean it's hard but I can manage. Also," Branch turned his head slightly, hovering his hand over his mouth, "I'm not overworked." He then turned back to Poppy, "The schedule speaks for itself. I only did 3 things yesterday!"

"And which one of those was 'take a break'?" Poppy asked, crossing her arms. "Well I didn't- I didn't have time-"

"Because you were busy overworking yourself."
"No- because I was just working it's-"
"Branch!" Poppy shouted, grabbing his shoulders, gently of course. He appeared frightened, more so anxious though.
"It's ok to admit you need help, I'm here to help. Talk to me-...please."

Branch smiled falsely and pushed Poppy away, literally and figuratively, "I'm fine I'm not being overworked, it's normal to work every day!" His eyes began to glisten. "I only have two more things to do today."

"What are they?"
"Well...I have to help Milton fix his gate, the animals broke it again. Then- I have to help Cooper, with- you know."

Poppy swiftly grabbed a chair with her hair from the mess and put it behind Branch, then pushed him onto it. "I'll handle it, take a break." she then ascended up and out of the bunker, leaving Branch to anxiously hold the bottom of his chair.

He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding and slowly stood up. Looking around, he found his bedroom door and began to walk towards it, stopping halfway. "Why would I take a break..? I have so much more work." he thought.

He began to walk back to his bunker elevator when it started downward. He stopped abruptly and froze. Poppy came down, making only her head visible, "And don't even think about working on anything. When I'm done with the other two things, I'll come back and clean your bunker, don't worry."

His eyes began to water but he nodded with a neutral face. "Thanks, Braaanch!" Poppy said, ascending again slowly and waving.

Branch began to cry, standing there and wiping his tears frantically. He nearly fell to his knees but he caught himself. "I'm so tired...Stop crying! It's making you tired." He told himself.

He sniffled and blinked his eyes quickly but he couldn't hold back and he fell on his knees. He wanted Poppy to come back. He needed Poppy to come back. "Poppy..!" He shouted.

———

While she was telling Cooper to get back to his pod, Poppy heard a shout for her and she turned back towards Branch's bunker. First, she went down the elevator slightly then, after seeing Branch, she went down faster. "Branch!" Poppy said, running toward him. "Hey, hey, hey...calm down, it's ok, I'm here, I'm here...What happened?" She hugged him tight and rubbed his back gently.

"I'm sorry for pushing you away, Poppy. I'm sorry for lying. I'm sorry- I...I just wanted to make up for all the years I hid in my bunker. I wanted to be...useful." 
"No, no, no, Branch you are so useful, you don't need to overwork yourself to be useful."
Branch nodded, "No I know- I-I know- it-" Unable to continue, he began to cry again, slowly this time, wanting to stop.

"It's ok Branch, we can talk later." Poppy said, holding him tight.
"It's ok."