Trolls: I Hear a Song!

Chapter 3: Backstories, Birthdays, and Cloud Guy

Branch woke up the next morning to a strange sound. He was sure Rowan was still angry and filled to the brim with questions just like he was about her. So why was it that he heard such a lovely voice drifting through his bunker? His first thought was Poppy, but no, that wasn't her voice.

"I'm lying alone with my head on the phone, thinking of you till it hurts..." He got up out of his bed and put on his robe, yawning and not bothering to brush his hair quite yet, and curiously stepped out into the hall.

"I know you hurt too, but what else can we do? Tormented and torn apart.." He stopped by the room he had given Rowan- she wasn't in there, but she had unpacked. There was a brush lying on the dresser, along with five books, neatly stacked side by side, a tiny pink stuffed rabbit seeming to hold them up. Her bed was neatly made and her bag lay on the floor by it. Perhaps the trunk was to full for it to fit now.

"I wish I could carry your smile and my heart, for times when my life seems so low.." He continued on his way, and quietly entered the kitchen, where he saw Rowan. She was...singing. He decided to wait and see how long it would take before she noticed him- but he did notice she was cooking something.

"It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring, when today doesn't rea- OH my..," she had turned. That hadn't taken very long, She stopped singing immediately and her face hardened at the sight of him.

"Yes?" Her voice was hard, as seemed the usual.

Branch yawned and went to a cabinet and took out a cup, as if nothing had happened, and started to make a batch of coffee.

"So you sing?" He asked, glancing at her from the side.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She grumbled. Of course. It wasn't going to be that easy to squeeze that out of her. He changed the topic.

"What are you cooking?" He asked, well aware that it was pancakes. He just needed a way to start a conversation.

"Look in the pan." She replied, taking out what seemed to be the last of the batch and setting it on a plate. She had two plates out of the cabinet and enough there for two people. So she hadn't planned on letting him go hungry.

They ate the pancakes in an awkward silence. Rowan kept glancing up at Branch from across the table. She would sip her coffee, and glance up at him. It made him feel a little uncomfortable. He decided to address it.

"So am I just that pretty or is there something you want to say?" He asked the next time she glanced up. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Truth be told, on her end, she was nervous. She felt as if she might stumble across her words as she spoke, especially since Branch had used a slightly accusing tone. She took in a quick breath and let it out before speaking.

"So uh..the bergens...a trolls best friend now, eh?" She idled into the topic she was so interested in. Not the bergens being a trolls friend, no. She hardly believed they were truly on the side of the trolls. She wanted to know about that release.

"Yep," Branch sipped on his coffee, his plate empty, the sticky residue of syrup being all that remained,"Well, Poppy's anyway. The other trolls are still having a slightly tough time warming up to them, but they're coming around."

Rowan nodded and leaned forward onto the table, stirring around the spoon in her cup, "Yeah, understandable. But anyway, I have a more important question for you."

"Well...ask it."

"Did you pull the release lever on my fort?"

"If by 'pull' you mean 'accidentally leaned on after you initiated a full system lockdown and being caught completely off guard by the stick not supporting my weight', then yes, I pulled it." Branch replied. Rowan blinked.