[Branch bristles so much his hair actually bristles a little and stands up slightly like a cat's fur.]
[He very nearly growls.]
I meant your "it's complicated."
But anyway...
[He grabs the lifeline of the change in conversation because it's a way out of talking about Poppy.]
[Branch looks up at some kind of large plastic playset, almost large enough he could actually be one of the dolls. There are a few trolls on this one in the likeness of himself and a few of he and Poppy's friends.]
It's weird. I don't get it.
I mean, Poppy sure.
[He doesn't exposit out loud why because it's more ammunition. She's unstoppable and brave and full of sunshine. She's the one that was willing to walk into the growlbeast's den of Bergentown on the off chance her friends were alive.]
[He followed her because it was the right thing to do and because she asked him to, and because deep down he cared about her, the only person that insisted on constantly reaching out to him to welcome him into village celebrations despite how he growled and snapped at everyone, and said openly that it was because he deserved to be happy.]
[But he still tells himself he only went after her because he didn't want his bunker wrecked by the entire village when she let them in, that it was because he couldn't stand the constant hug times.]
The only thing I can think of, after seeing human kids on their teevee is that human children just really like bright colors and pretty sounds. Trolls can talk from when they're hatched but human children seem, uuuh, like they take more time to develop.
[It's not the only reason. It doesn't account for the older children and teens that identify with someone so traumatized still being brave enough to do the right thing.]
I mean, you actually go out of your way to do stupid hero stuff, right?
[Puss is pretty loud about it.]
[Branch is struggling to conceptualize himself as a hero. Never mind that he was trying to help people in the theater by tripping serial killers 30 times his size.]
no subject
[He very nearly growls.]
I meant your "it's complicated."
But anyway...
[He grabs the lifeline of the change in conversation because it's a way out of talking about Poppy.]
[Branch looks up at some kind of large plastic playset, almost large enough he could actually be one of the dolls. There are a few trolls on this one in the likeness of himself and a few of he and Poppy's friends.]
It's weird. I don't get it.
I mean, Poppy sure.
[He doesn't exposit out loud why because it's more ammunition. She's unstoppable and brave and full of sunshine. She's the one that was willing to walk into the growlbeast's den of Bergentown on the off chance her friends were alive.]
[He followed her because it was the right thing to do and because she asked him to, and because deep down he cared about her, the only person that insisted on constantly reaching out to him to welcome him into village celebrations despite how he growled and snapped at everyone, and said openly that it was because he deserved to be happy.]
[But he still tells himself he only went after her because he didn't want his bunker wrecked by the entire village when she let them in, that it was because he couldn't stand the constant hug times.]
The only thing I can think of, after seeing human kids on their teevee is that human children just really like bright colors and pretty sounds. Trolls can talk from when they're hatched but human children seem, uuuh, like they take more time to develop.
[It's not the only reason. It doesn't account for the older children and teens that identify with someone so traumatized still being brave enough to do the right thing.]
I mean, you actually go out of your way to do stupid hero stuff, right?
[Puss is pretty loud about it.]
[Branch is struggling to conceptualize himself as a hero. Never mind that he was trying to help people in the theater by tripping serial killers 30 times his size.]