Chapter Text
𖤣.𖥧.𖡼.⚘
Branch squeezes back three times, quietly asking, “Why?”
Shit.
How can Clay actually explain this?
Treat it like a story, a voice that sounds suspiciously like his Ma whispers to him, start from the beginning.
Clay takes a deep breath (four seconds in; Branch, Floyd, Spruce, John) and slowly releases it (three seconds out; Grandma Ro, Baba, Ma), paws moving from Branch’s face to hold his smaller ones.
“Do you remember those stories Gran would tell, about the Perfect Family Harmony and how powerful it is?” Clay asks, giving Branch a soft smile when he nods, “Well, a few months ago, the Guard saw us all singing and messing around and having fun,” He sighs, breathing through the bitter feeling that rises in him, “Apparently they noticed how close we were to achieving Harmony, and they reported it to King Peppy.”
While Branch is clearly confused about where the story’s going, he notices how upset Clay is and lets go of his paws to curl up on his chest, hugging him. Clay wraps his arms around Branch, nuzzling him.
With his baby’s head resting on his shoulder, Clay continues, “King Peppy came to the pod that night and sat us all down to “talk”.” He can’t keep the snarl out of his tone, causing Branch to nuzzle closer which helps calm Clay down, “He told us that we needed to achieve the Perfect Family Harmony, that we were probably the only hope the Trolls had of fighting back against the Bergens.”
“I don’ ‘member this,” Branch mumbles against his shoulder.
Clay squeezes him closer, “You wouldn’t, you were at your friend’s Hatchday party- Ricky, right?” He teases him, silently snickering when Branch lightly smacks his chest.
“Trickee! You know that!” Branch admonishes him.
“Oh, right!” Clay snaps his fingers, grinning at the moment of reprieve, “Mickey!”
Branch sticks his tongue out at Clay, giggling when Clay does the same right back at him.
The lighthearted moment fades with Branch’s smile as he absentmindedly fiddles with Clay’s wristband, “What happened after that?”
“Grandma came home and threw him out the door herself.” Clay proudly says, fondly remembering the night.
Grandma Ro had come home to him and his brothers surrounded by the Head Guard with the King sitting across the table from them as he casually ate their rations. Roro had taken one look at the scene before her face went blank and she stomped straight towards the King, pushing the Guards aside like they were mere Trollings. She had grabbed the King by the roots of his hair and tore him from her chair, dragging him across the pod’s floor, and throwing him so hard out the door that he almost fell off the Tree.
“Awesome.” Branch’s star-struck voice pulls him from the memory and makes Clay chuckle.
“Very awesome.”
The paw fiddling with his wristband stops for a second, “But what about the show?”
Clay sighs, grabbing the still paw in his for a little extra bit of comfort, “The Guard started doing what they do best - talk. They would “subtly” talk while on patrols, always making sure that a Troll was in earshot, about how close BroZone was to achieving the Perfect Family Harmony and how maybe they’ll have a real way to escape.”
“But you didn’t say you would!”
“No, we didn’t.” Clay agrees, “But that didn’t stop random Trolls from coming up to talk at us about the Harmony, about if we could even pull it off, about how long we think it’ll take for us to become “perfect”.”
The first one it happened to was John Dory, and Clay had only witnessed the aftermath. Had only seen his big brother rush into the pod, his breath coming out in short, fast pants, and tears filling his eyes.
“Was that why Johnny wanted everything to be perfect?”
“I think he not only felt pressured to help everyone but…” Clay pauses, a memory floating to the front of his mind.
(“Bubba, you don’ gotta do anythin’ for these Trolls. It’s not your job to save anyone.”
”I know, Ro. But if there’s a chance this can work - a chance my little brothers can live without ever having to worry about Trollstice or a Bergen again - I have to take it.”)
“But what he really wanted, was it to work so we could have a chance at living a semi-normal life outside of the Tree.”
“Is that why everyone left?” Branch’s quiet voice says into Clay’s chest, “Because we weren’t perfect and it didn’t work?”
Isn’t that the question of the hour, Clay furiously thinks.
Clay wants to be bitter and petty, wants to scream that their brothers abandoned them, wants to burn every root that connects him to his brothers.
But he can’t, because this isn’t just about him anymore.
He can’t let his emotions get the best of him and end up making Branch resent their brothers. If his brothers really do never come back, Branch can’t live thinking it was his fault or his brothers didn’t love him because they weren’t perfect.
(And he might understand that JD was trying his best- but that doesn’t erase the years of being the ‘Fun Boy’.
There wasn’t any pressure from Peppy or other Trolls to be perfect and escape the Tree before these last few months - yet they were still confined to the roles they played within the band.)
Clay’s breath is shaky as he clutches Branch closer, a rush of cold grief and burning rage going through him, “No, no. It’s more… complicated than just that.”
He repeats his breathing exercise a few times (four in, three out), before asking, “Do you remember why we made our secret signal?” He softly smiles at the confused hum Branch makes at the change in topic.
”Yeah…”
Clay runs his paw through Branch’s hair, “Can you tell me?”
“You weren’t allowed to be sad or mad,” Branch says as he tries to burrow even closer, “Everyone always wants you to be happy and funny.”
“Well, our brothers dealt with similar things.” Clay pauses, feeling the way Branch tenses before quickly relaxing, “But you already knew that, huh?”
Branch hesitates before nodding.
Clay can’t say he’s surprised; Branch has always been more observant and empathetic than a normal Trolling, somehow able to tell when one of his brothers was upset, and always able to cheer them up.
Branch mumbles into Clay’s neck, “Sprucie didn’t like eating all of his food, or going out with fans.”
Clay squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, repeating his breathing exercise (four, three - four, three - four, three - four, three).
When he’s a little more composed, he continues, ignoring the way his words stick to his throat, “So because Spruce is ‘The Heartthrob’, Trolls expected him to act and look a certain way.”
“Look?”
The innocent question almost makes Clay break down crying - no matter how smart Branch is, he’s still just a Trolling.
“I’ll explain when you’re older,” Clay jokes as he ruffles Branch’s hair, ignoring the burning underneath his skin from his need to scream, smiling at the weak growl the action earns, “But a lot of Trolls pressured Spruce about what he ate or how much he exercised.”
Branch pushes himself up, looking the angriest Clay’s ever seen him, “Why would they do that?“
“Because he’s ‘The Heartthrob’.” Clay says. And he’s not saying it to avoid Branch’s question, it is the reason Spruce suffered.
Branch seems to understand that, if the way his eyes go wide and watery and his ears sag down are anything to go by.
Clay runs a knuckle over Branch’s cheek, softly asking, “Do you want to take a break?”
While Clay wants to get this over with, he knows he has to go at Branch’s pace while explaining things.
Branch says nothing, instead he crawls to lean against Clay’s chest with his head resting on his shoulder once again.
Clay wraps his arms back around him, nuzzling him when he nods and gently cooing when he curls in closer, “Let’s do somethin’ else then, ‘kay?”
𖤣.𖥧.𖡼.⚘
Branch can’t help but relax in Gramma’s arms as she cradles him close, both happily sitting on the living room couch.
Clay sits crisscrossed on the floor in front of them, dramatically reading from one of the many storybooks they have. Every character has their own voice, and Clay never misses a chance to act out a scene or wave his arms around.
This had always been one of Branch’s favorite things to do - just spend time with his Gramma and brothers.
He wonders when that changed…
When had cooking with Sprucie turn into him ushering Branch out of the kitchen and telling him to spend time with Gramma?
When had quietly drawing while Johnny worked on songs turn into him telling Branch to hang out with Floyd and shutting the door in his face?
When had listening to Flo playing the guitar turn into him constantly being out of the pod and only talking to Branch when their brothers fought?
When had listening to Clay read stories together as a family turn into the two of them hiding underneath Gramma’s bed because everything became too much?
When had being excited to spend time with his brothers all together turn into Branch quietly biting his paws and waiting for the yelling to start?
Was it because of him?
Clay said it wasn’t his fault their brothers left or that the show went wrong, but maybe Clay just hasn’t realized yet that it was.
Even when his brothers fought, they would perform perfectly - only Branch being there ruined it.
Branch singing with his brothers was what made the Guard notice them, what made the King talk to them, what made the other Trolls bother them, and what made the Perfect Family Harmony appear in their lives.
Clay jumps up to act out another scene, a wide smile on his face but creases around his eyes that he only gets when he’s upset or worried about something.
Gramma clutches him closer, tighter than she would’ve a week ago.
What Branch said to Floyd still feels true to him, he ruined everything.
𖤣.𖥧.𖡼.⚘