Chapter Text
“See what happens when you don't follow my lead!”
“Dude..That is EXACTLY what happens when we follow your lead!”
The brothers continued to argue, tension filling the room. Floyd looked over to John Dory and Spruce as they continued to yell, their voices getting louder and their tails moving from one side of his body to another with frustration, as concern fell on Floyd’s face. Floyd looked over to Branch, the youngest of the brothers, seeing the tears welling up in his eyes and his short, vibrant blue tail hanging between his legs, signalling to Floyd that he was afraid. Floyd knew Branch didn’t like fighting, especially when it came to his brothers. He placed his hand on Branch’s shoulder reassuringly, signalling him to look up, allowing Floyd to see his full facial expression.
Fear. Actual fear.
The ‘fights’ the other brothers began were almost always debates. Silly arguments which would usually end in their grandmother, Rosiepuff, glaring at them with her signature “ One more word and there will be problems.’ look. At least that’s how Floyd took it. However, she was just sitting there, paying no mind to the tension rising, allowing this argument to continue.
Floyd usually never contributed to the arguments, but it was…sometimes fun to join in just to be in the loop with his family. Branch had sometimes been the cause of arguments, not that it was his fault! Those fights usually began with something on the lines of “ Did you feed Bitty B?” , which he had remembered that had caused a fight at one point.
“ No? Why?” Clay turned his head to face John Dory as both him and Spruce walked through the door, which was located at an angle to the couch, closing his book after placing his bright pink handmade bookmark into the page he had stopped reading on. The bookmark had been made by Viva years prior. They had become friends quite some time ago, but with her being the King’s daughter, and having his regular rehearsals for BroZone, they rarely had a chance to see each other now. Plus, Princess Poppy was still a baby, like Branch. She needed to be cared for. Quite ironic, as he was doing everything but taking care of the other baby in question. Not intentionally, of course.
As clay turned to face John and Spruce, his body tensed up. He was now eye-to-eye with John Dory.
“Seriously, Clay?! I asked you to feed him HOURS ago!” John’s voice had begun to raise slightly, crossing his arms tightly as he adjusted his posture to be more up-right, his tail thumping violently on the carpet, which covered the floor beneath him. It was his way of intimidating his younger brothers, which worked…When they were younger. Now he just looked stupid, in Clay’s eyes, anyway.
“No you didn’t.” Clay blankly replied as his tail swayed slowly beside him, mirroring John’s body language by crossing his arms tightly against his chest. He honestly found it amusing, as he knew it pissed John off.
“I most definitely did! I’ve been very busy Clay, you CANNOT rely on me to take care of him every second of my life! I ask you to do one thing and you ignore me?!” Rage filled his voice.
“Why ask me then!” Clay blurted out, his frustration reaching its limit. “You get angry at me for the littlest of things, yet you still ask me to do everything for you! So, to save us all the petty arguments, why don’t you take knowledge of your other brothers, and stop asking me! Spruce is RIGHT THERE!” Spruce had walked in behind John Dory only moments ago, and his tail stuck up suddenly, his face turned to immediate confusion as to why he was being dragged into this.
“And Floyd is also old enough to take care of Branch, is he not?” He raised an eyebrow at John, seeing his face shift to pure annoyance as he talked back to the eldest.
“I asked YOU because I thought I could rely on you for these things! I’ve heard you talking to Spruce and grandma about wanting to be taken seriously, and the minute I actually TRY to do so, you do fuck all! You want to be taken seriously? Do what I ask of you!” John sighed as he stopped himself from speaking any longer to Clay, avoiding saying something he may regret, pinching the bridge of his nose as he attempted to calm himself, as his tail began to slowly calm itself, still flowing slightly aggressively behind him, accidentally hitting Spruce in the process at one point, which gained John a glare by Spruce for a brief moment.
John dory turned around, walking towards Branch, who was sitting on the floor, scribbling colourful lines on a blank sheet of paper with crayons as his tail swayed happily behind him, with Floyd next to him, who had been staring at the two with a face of guilt forming on his face after being mentioned in their fight.
“Maybe don’t cuss in front of the baby, smartass.” Clay mumbled as he stood up from the couch, beginning to walk to his room and continue his book, where he could have some peace and privacy. John immediately stopped moving, his body tensing up.
“The hell did you say?” His head swung around to glare at Clay once more, as Clay stopped in his tracks, refusing to turn around, scoffing at John’s response as the hair on his tail shot up in surprise. The only indication of fear that John could see. Floyd was sure he could see steam coming out from John’s ears.
Before Clay could reply back, Floyd interjected.
“I fed him already!” Floyd sighed, smiling with relief as he noticed the two looking at him. John had an expression of surprise, and Clay’s face immediately breathed with relief, glad the fight was over.
He thought too soon. “Thank you, Floyd. Just…Listen to me next time, Clay. It’s stressful enough taking care of all four of you, don’t make me stress any further with your ignorance.” John took one more look at clay, his expression a lot calmer than before. Clay continued to stand with his back turned to John, refusing to look at him. He wasn’t sure if it was worth responding or not, but he chose to nod, his hands clenched between his sides. He chose it was best to keep his frustration to himself, proceeding to walk to his room in silence.
As Floyd came back to his senses, he quickly noticed the change of atmosphere. “Fine! I don’t need this! I’m out. I’m done. I’m sorry.” John began to ramble, his hands waving around, and his tail swaying quickly, almost mirroring his dramatic hand motions as he spoke. Floyd glanced over at his brothers with worry, who seemed to have no sense of surprise in their expression. It seemed as if he was the only one shocked at this reaction from John.
“I’m going to hike the Neverglade trail by myself, Bro-LONE. Yeah, that’s right! Bro-bro-going solo…YOLO.” he took out his grapple and Floyd’s eyes followed the hook swing onto part of the Troll Tree outside, trying to process the events which were taking place in front of him, seeing the lack of care from the other brothers.
“Goodbye forever!” That sentence made Floyd’s stomach drop. Forever? Surely he didn’t mean that. This was just another brotherly fight, right? John was leaving. He was actually leaving.
Floyd’s eyes stayed locked on John and his grapple as he Travelled down out the window. He’d be back. Surely.
And then, Spruce left, leaving him ,Clay, Branch and Rosiepuff alone in the pod. He’s also be back! They wouldn’t leave forever. Brothers stick together! This was just another fight that was just .. going to take a little longer to resolve! Spruce tends to leave to avoid the conflict, so it’s fine! Everyone just needed time away from each other to relax.
But he knew deep down they weren’t coming back. This was it.
Branch’s voice broke his thoughts. “It’s my fault. I ruined everything.” Now that broke him. This was his first show, and he believes he is the cause of this fight? “No…No Branch this is not your fault!” He spoke reassuringly, turning to his younger brother as Clay stood, his left hand rubbing against his other arm.
He continued to reassure Branch through his worries, seeing the worry slowly lift from his eyes and his tail relax itself from its continuous and panicked swaying prior, but the concern quickly returned.
“But not you Floyd…You’re not leaving too?” his younger brother spoke, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. Floyd sighed, looking over at Clay, who seemed to have no intention of leaving.
“Not forever. I’ll be back, I promise. But right now, I have to follow my heart. It’s telling me it’s time to start a solo career.” A solo career was something he was passionate about doing from a young age. Once the idea of BroZonecame around, proposed by John Dory, that dream was thrown out the window by him and his boyband dreams. How ironic he throws my idea out the window and then literally throws himself out of the pod’s window.
He had looked over at Clay briefly, inspecting his body language and facial expressions carefully for any sign of disappointment in his decision to leave, but a calm expression was locked on his face, and his tail was flowing peacefully behind him. He seemed to be okay with Floyd’s decision. That was comforting, he had thought to himself.
“But…what am I going to do?” the younger troll questioned, causing Floyd’s eyes to dart back to Branch. He didn’t want to leave Branch, the guilt would eat him alive sooner or later, especially since Spruce and John had just left! But what was the harm in leaving him with his grandma and Clay? Surely he’d be fine…right?
Floyd kneeled down to be at eye level with the younger troll, smiling softly at him. “Branch, you are going to do the most important thing of all. You’re gonna….” he looked around the room in panic. What could he do? He was so young, he couldn’t be left with a big responsibility at such a young age. That wasn’t fair on him. It wasn’t fair for him to be left by almost all of his brothers.
Floyd looked at Clay, urging him to think of something while his brain struggled to figure out a task for his younger brother. Clay looked at him with complete and understanding and after some time of thinking, his eyes were drawn to their grandma.
“You’re gonna take care of Grandma with me!” Clay spoke quickly and enthusiastically as his tail swayed fast, matching the enthusiasm in his voice, hoping it would soothe Branch’s worries of another brother leaving. He had also noticed the relief on Floyd’s face after the confirmation that Clay was in fact, not leaving Branch like the rest of them. Thankfully, the two of them were saved from overthinking their idea as their grandma spoke to Branch, confirming she was okay with this.
Her response was…surely something.
“And when you miss me, you can wear this. It’ll be like I’m right there with you.” he began to take off his leaf jacket, wrapping it over Branch, and he watched as Branch beamed with joy over being given such a precious item from his brother. The jacket was certainly too big for him, but that was normal for this family.
Hand-me-downs were common for these trolls. Five brothers meant most clothes were passed down to avoid extra money being spent, and more clothes for the younger brothers to wear. They rarely saw their parents, and money had been short before BroZone debuted, so new clothes were a rare occurrence.
Floyd was happy to know his jacket seemed to be a big deal to Branch, as he noticed the bright smile appear on his face. Floyd had thought how nice it would be nice to see him grow into it once he gets back…If he comes back. Which he will! He made a promise that he would.
“And when you come back, we’ll build our hideout!” Branch’s face beamed with excitement, and his tail swiftly swayed behind him, confirming his excitement to Floyd.
“Definitely.”
Floyd had heard about the hideout he had planned for the brothers once they escaped the Troll Tree together. He found the idea cute, rather than practical, if anything, which was probably not the best approach to this, and definitely not something he would admit to Branch.
Branch unfolded the piece of paper he had in his hand, revealing the blueprint of the hideout.
‘Blueprint’ was most definitely an overstatement. Floyd inspected the piece of paper as Branch handed it to him. The sheet was covered in glitter, with cut out images of the brothers, which he had definitely recycled from a magazine of some sort, since the cut out images were from their signature album cover. Despite his doubts for the hideout being possible, the blueprint could certainly be a start to something he was sure they could attempt to help come to life in the future.
“Woah, is that a ten story waterslide?” Clay’s voice returned, now crouching beside Floyd. The mention of the blueprint must have sparked his curiosity.
“Yeah! That’s how we shower!” Branch giggled as the blueprint was returned to him, being placed in the pocket located inside of the jacket by Floyd.
“Well, we better keep this in a safe place.” Floyd spoke softly, a small smile appearing on his face. Sure, he wasn’t exactly happy, he was leaving after all, but the thought of upsetting the trolling anymore than the fight already had been didn’t seem ideal.
Floyd’s arms opened, signalling Branch to slowly creep to him, embracing the hug. Floyd closed his arms around him tightly, not tight enough to hurt him, but enough for Branch to feel protected in the embrace. He felt Clay join the hug shortly after, his arms locking the three together in a semi-uncomfortable way, but he didn’t mind. It really did feel the hug was being treated like it was the last.
“I’ll see you soon, baby Branch.” His voice broke as he spoke. Tears did not fall from his face, but it felt like they would if he spoke any more words. He watched as the smile on Branch’s face didn’t fall, but it certainly became smaller. The realisation that Floyd was actually leaving had definitely hit him.
Floyd grabbed his guitar and began to slowly walk out, savouring his last moments in the pod. He took one final turn to look at his brothers, and with one final nod from Clay, to ensure he wasn’t leaving, and a deep breath, he walked out, hearing Branch speak quietly as he left.
“Goodbye…See you later..”
As the years progressed, Clay kept to his word. He lived in the pod with Rosiepuff and Branch, as promised, taking care of Branch most days and making sure Rosiepuff was safe and healthy, with occasional days away where he would stay elsewhere. Sure, Rosiepuff was capable of taking care of herself, but there was always this … feeling deep down that something would occur if he let his guard down too much.
On the nights where he left the pod, he stayed with Viva in her pod. Well. King Peppy’s pod.
King Peppy was a great king, all trolls knew that. Regardless of the yearly tragedies that occured at the tree, he attempted to keep as many trolls safe as he possibly could, but any troll that was lost were mourned greatly by all, especially him.
The pressure of being king must be really difficult, especially in these circumstances. Not being able to protect all trolls when trollstice eventually came is probably a lot of weight on one troll’s shoulders. Clay had very quickly understood at a young age, which in all honesty, he wished he hadn’t.
All trolls, regardless of age were informed about trollstice, which isn’t exactly a conversation he would ever be able to give to a troll himself, especially a younger troll. He wished the circumstances were different. Life would be a lot easier if they lived away from Bergentown, which led him to think about his brothers. Did they make it out of the troll tree successfully? If they could do it, could all of the trolls? Where would you even go? How would they avoid being noticed?
He had come to the conclusion that they had all made it out safely at one point. He was sure of it, pushing away the negative assumptions he had about his brothers’ status, even if it hurt to do so. Even if it hurt to lie to himself.
The concept of sleeping in the same pod as King Peppy for the sake of seeing Viva was more threatening than it may seem. Sleeping in the same pod as the King. It was pressuring. He wasn’t sure why, but regardless of the King’s friendliness towards him, it still felt tense being around him, especially when staying around him overnight. Especially when he stayed for more than one night.
The things he did for this girl…
As much as he enjoyed spending time with his closest friend, regardless of the concerns for being around Peppy for so long, he hated leaving Branch alone. Sure, he was with their grandma when he was absent, but he knew it bothered Branch when he left, especially for more than one night.
After the whole… incident with the other brothers, Branch had become more paranoid when Clay left the pod. Clay understood he was young, and when he left, he knew it definitely caused him to worry that he would never return, but the paranoia quickly left once Clay would return. A smile would immediately spread across the younger troll’s face and the hug he would receive from Branch almost always felt never ending.
Honestly, it was still weird to be so close with Branch all of a sudden. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Clay loved Branch. His youngest brother meant the world to him, but it wasn’t that long ago that the constant arguments arose due to his ignorance towards caring for Branch. Things were different then to how they were now. BroZone had just debuted, and the constant pressure to be ‘perfect’ was constantly thrown onto him. Even with the smallest of mistakes, yelling would occur from the eldest.
Branch was not his priority. It hurt to think that, in all honesty. It wasn’t that he disliked Branch, but how was he supposed to care for Branch when he was constantly thrown into the endless orders to “Perfect your dance moves!” or ‘Finish the choreography for the remaining songs, Clay!” . It was tiring. So so tiring. He couldn’t possibly find a time to do anything for himself, so the small times John Dory wasn’t home, he’d take time to de-stress.
Reading. Reading was his way to de-stress. Indulging in the pages upon pages of tragic plots and forbidden troupes! He would be lying if he said he hadn’t cried at least once every chapter of the current novel he was consuming. John didn’t have anything against books, but he sure seemed like it. The constant nagging at him to stop ‘wasting his time’ reading and focus on the boyband. Clay saw this as a pathetic attempt to be mad at him.
He missed John. Yes, the arguing and the complaining pissed him off. It enraged him. But John was his brother. He cared for him. He cared for all of them. Clay chose to believe there was a deeper meaning behind the whole ‘perfect’ shit. He couldn’t bring himself to believe John would act like that on his own accord. Even if it was, he could understand from some perspective. He was the eldest, he had a lot of weight to carry.
Honestly, Clay would have preferred if they never went through with BroZone. It was a dumb idea. It tore his family apart.
The years Clay spent getting to know Viva properly were well spent. He really did enjoy her company, and it seemed she thought the same. The two would spend hours upon hours talking about events which had taken place earlier in their childhood, or their occasional outings around the tree if it was deemed “gossip worthy” by the two.
Clay and Viva had been friends since adolescence. After King Peppy had heard of the … issues revolving around their family, he had chosen to pay their pod a visit. At this time, Clay was very young, around Branch’s age at the time BroZone disbanded. He had taken his only child at the time, Viva, on his visit, and they were both placed together while John, Rosiepuff and Peppy spoke around her table. Her weirdly coloured…Macramé table that really shouldn’t have been made, in his opinion.
Viva and Clay took a liking to each other almost instantly, like an immediate bond between the two. Ever since the day they met, they’ve admired the other, loving and treasuring the days where they were able to meet up and talk for hours about the most pointless of topics they could possibly cover.
They really did treasure each moment together. The days they were apart would drag on and the two would wait quite impatiently for the day they would see each other again to eventually come around once again. Now that BroZone was long gone, and Clay’s schedule was finally cleared up entirely, aside from the days he would need to be at his grandmother’s pod to take care of them both, he could see Viva a whole lot more, and he loved that. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t stare at his calendar on some occasions, in hopes the day would suddenly change to his next meetup date with Viva.
Viva adored seeing Clay. She was slightly older than Clay, only by a few months or so, so her memories of their adolescent years are slightly less fuzzy than Clay’s may be, well, that's what she tries to make Clay believe.
She hated lying, but making up embarrassing stories from when her and Clay were younger, which very much were targeted to embarrass Clay, rather than her, just to see his reaction and see if he would give in to the lie was highly amusing to her. He would get so defensive and Viva loved it! His head would quickly turn out of embarrassment to Viva bringing it up, making him flush as his cheeks turned a darker teal than his original fur colour, making Viva howl with laughter even more.
Their friendship was like no other. It definitely hurt Viva when Clay admitted they would have to cut their time short for BroZone’s sake, but there’s no harm in acting fine! Viva was strong, she couldn’t see Clay every day. That was fine! That just meant her time spent with him would be even more treasured!
“I’m sorry Vivs. John Dory has this whole schedule for us. I’ll make time to see you when I can, it just won’t be so often anymore.” Clay sighed, his hands rubbing against each other, and his tail hung flow, as his eyes kept locked onto Viva’s, analysing her reactions, specifically facial expression for any sign of anger or hatred for him and this sudden news.
“Oh. Well- That’s okay, Clay! You can’t control that! BroZone is very important to you all, and you guys are absolutely FANTASTIC, so it’s like- totally okay. Plus I’m sure I’ll have duties as princess, so we’ll both be busy! I’ll just have to treasure our little moments a whole lot more than I have been- you know, ‘cos we’re seeing each other a lot less?” she rambled on, her hands swaying around, emphasising her words as she spoke rather too quickly for Clay to fully process what she had said.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll make as many plans with you as I can, I promise…But right now, John’s acting like a real douche…So chances of me seeing you anytime soon are a total zero.” he made a “0” shape with his hands as he spoke softly to the girl, sadness heavily showing in his speech.
After a beat of silence, he slowly reached out to offer his hands to the girl, a small, reassuring smile creeping onto her face as he motioned his hands out for her. She gladly accepted the invitation, and they stood, hands interlocked tightly as they locked eyes, both smiling at each other with admiration and understanding. It was like the world had paused for the two of them in this very moment. Their tails slowly moved, mirroring the others’.
It honestly surprised the both of them how comforting this felt. No awkward tension. No embarrassment for the current scene taking place. It was calm. It was reassuring. Reassuring that they’d see each other again, and this was clearly not their last interaction.
Things were just going to be more difficult.
BroZone disbanding was probably the best thing to happen to Clay, purely for the sake of seeing Viva. He helped to care for Princess Poppy while he visited, and he grew a bond with King Peppy, which was unexpected, but at least that tension was slowly rising the closer they got!
Viva and Clay’s bond only grew stronger and stronger as the years progressed. Friendliness turned into admiration, and admiration turned into love. Thankfully, it was a joint feeling between the two. Not many words needed to be exchanged to confirm their feelings towards the other troll, the three special words were all it really took for the two of them to want something more with the other, and before they could fully process the conversation, they were together. They were dating, to be more specific.
Obviously, Peppy had no doubt that this relationship was of any concern, and rooted them on for the future, and Rosiepuff was more than proud of Clay’s decision to “get himself out there” and find love, which was relieving for Clay. Rosiepuff was weird when it came to the brothers and love life’s. He had never heard of John having a partner, and the other brothers had secretly made a theory that Rosiepuff forbid John from having a love interest, so he would be ‘forever old and lonely’, despite not being much older than Spruce, and Spruce didn’t have a love interest either. They thought it was humorous, and that was enough for them. John never needed to know about this secret joke between the brothers, and he never found out!
But to see Rosiepuff so proud of Clay for maturing and finding someone he deemed his ‘forever person’ made Clay ecstatic . Branch seemed to like her , but then again, Branch liked everyone. He approved of Viva in his own way, and that was good enough for him.
He wondered if the stress of becoming Queen one day pondered in Viva’s mind at any point in time. Weirdly enough, Clay thought about it more often than he’d want to admit. He had thought about the stress Peppy must have being king, and he could only imagine how much pressure it would be for her once he passed the crown down to her. Would she be able to handle trollstice? Would she be able to protect the trolls?
Clay was certain she could. The worry was heavily towards if Viva believed she could herself. Viva wasn’t the type to want to show panic, but there had been occasions where she had let her guard down, and Clay had seen her at her most vulnerable of states. He thought it must be a worry for her. There is no way it didn’t bother her. The only thing he knew for sure in this moment, however, was that he would do his best to help and guide her along the way, and bring out the best in her, especially when she was ready to be given the official title of ‘Queen.’
He just didn’t expect it to happen so soon after this thought.
Clay had said his goodbyes to his grandma and Branch, leaving just after the hour to give them both one last hug time, and singing one last song with Branch, and strolled off to visit Viva at their pod. He had noticed a couple of months ago that Branch really enjoys singing a song with Clay before he leaves the pod. He assumed it was just a comfort thing for him, but embraced it every time. He loved singing, as did his brother, so why turn down a request to sing together?
He hadn’t seen Viva in a few days, as she had informed him of an important plan her dad had been coming up with. He wasn’t told anything, he just knew it was serious business, and not business he should be sticking his nose in.
He had bumped into Viva the day prior to this, and she had given him the thumbs up to visit her, so he had no doubt she would be busy, but that unlikely doubt began to overtake his thoughts as he approached the door, hearing King Peppy and Viva discussing something rather important. It was muffled, but he could depict what they were saying pretty easily.
“…Follow the route out. It’s all dug out and ready. We need to be at the front, leading the way, Viva. Can I leave you in charge of Poppy? I trust you can keep her safe in your hair. If I need to go back to help a troll in need,
I need you to take that lead and get everyone else out safely. Can I trust you with that?” Peppy had spoken calmly, but the worry in his voice was present.
“Of course. I just need you to be safe as well, dad. I can’t lose you now.” she sighed softly. Clay could only imagine the worry on her face as she spoke, his tail swiftly moving with curiosity as he kept eavesdropping.
“Don’t be silly, Viva! You won’t lose me, I’ll just be slightly behind if help is needed! If not, we will both make it out first. Don’t think too deeply into this, sweetheart. Our next plan of action is informing the rest of the trolls. We have around three days until trollstice, and we need to be ready to leave by then. Start informing as many trolls as you can. Spread the word.” He spoke louder on that last sentence, pride fueling his voice.
He heard Viva giggle at his sudden dramaticness, and he stood patiently as he heard footsteps approaching the door. He would totally leave now, and allow her to come to his grandmother's pod herself, but his feet were trapped in place. He could not move even if he wanted to. He put on a smile and as the door opened, he became face to face with Viva.
“Heyyy Viva! Nice to see you!” he quickly spoke, seeing the surprise on Viva’s face as she took in his presence.
“Hi Clay!” Her expression quickly changed to joy, her tail beginning to flow from side to side at a concerningly quick pace, which conveyed her excitement to seeing Clay. “I totally forgot I asked you to come over! I’m so sorry, I need to gather as many trolls as possible! Oh, wait, how long were you standing here? I definitely didn’t hear you knock.” she questioned him, a puzzled look replacing her smile, her tail slowing down as she spoke.
Her tail constantly changed its pace, and it never failed to confuse Clay. Tails seriously helped trolls understand a troll's mood without words needing to be exchanged, but he could never expect what Viva’s tail would do when they spoke. Her mood constantly changed, and it changed so fast in such small periods in time!
“Did you hear what we were talking about?” excitement suddenly filled her voice. Clearly this plan was a big deal. Clay paused for a moment, then shook his head.
“No, was I supposed to?” was his response. He wasn’t fully lying to her, he really didn’t know what they were talking about. Sure, he could make an assumption, but nothing he had heard fully confirmed anything.
Viva’s smile returned, excitement showing clearly on her face as she realised Clay would be the first person she gets to inform, her tail starting to flow quickly yet again. “Okay, so basically, my suuper amazing dad has dug out an escape tunnel! Isn’t that like- so cool? Anyway, we’re all leaving the second everyone is ready, but we’re almost certain we won’t be leaving until trollstice, but that's fine! We’re going to all make it out super safely and live freely from then on! Isn’t that so great, Clay!” she beamed with joy, the wide smile not leaving her face.
Clay smiled at her, relief washing over him. At least one of his assumptions was correct. The one assumption he thought was unlikely. “Viva, that’s amazing! This is a lot more important than spending time with me, so please,
don’t worry about it!” he smiled at her reassuringly, overwhelmed with joy as he fully processed the idea that the trolls were escaping the troll tree. They were actually escaping! In Three days!
Viva nodded, making a salute gesture with her hand, giggling as she motioned the salute. She looked at Clay, whispering a goodbye through her giggles, landing a small kiss on his cheek as she skipped off to inform the trolls about their escape plan, her tail brushing against his own, causing Clay to jump a little out of the sudden feeling. Clay could feel his cheeks becoming flushed. His whole body radiated with warmth and his own tail began to sway, matching the giddy smile that formed on his face. He turned to see King Peppy looking at him, smiling peacefully, glad to see Clay so happy. Clay however wasn't sure if the overbearing joy he was experiencing was due to the escape plan, or the kiss he had just received. Nobody said it couldn’t be both!
Clay waved his goodbye to King Peppy, closing the door Viva had forgotten to close when she left, and returned to his Pod, ready to inform them of the escape that awaited in a few days' time.