don't you know anything about sarcasm?

[branchedout]

              meet  benjamin 'branch' lim  !

               28 — ANALYST AT COUFFAINE RECORDS

favorite song? doesn't have one

sexuality: pansexual

pronouns?: he/him

big three? who cares

benjamin wasn't always the lonely, sad sack one sees today. he used to be full of life and love that came with the family he used to be able to call his own. he and his brothers had the most fun anyone could imagine and he never thought the adventures would end. unfortunately they did. he was too young to understand why his brothers had to go their separate ways and why they were quick to leave without goodbyes. only one of his four brothers was nice enough to give a farewell speech, promising they'd be back eventually. benjamin was stupid to believe in that oath, he held onto it for years until came the eventual realization that it would never happen.

maybe he'd have a more forgiving heart if they'd left with an explanation but instead his brothers left him with a mess. he wouldn't learn about it until later in life but his brothers weren't the most upstanding of citizens, benjamin had no idea of this, of course. he never questioned how they all got their money he was just wowed by all the toys and trips they used to go on. little did he know, his brothers would do just about anything to get money to take care of him and their grandma. the reason for their departure came from a stash of money they found in a heist, the stacks and stacks of money looked too good to be true but times were tough, they didn't know it all belonged to a mafia. once they caught wind of what they'd done, they knew they were in big trouble. at the time, the only option that felt right was to run and hide. looking back, benjamin still doesn't quite understand why they didn't just give the money back or why they even needed the money in the first place, if he'd been given the choice between loads of cash or more time with his brothers, he'd choose his brothers every time. it became clear that his brothers didn't feel the same.

in the years that he did hold out the hope his brothers would come back, benjamin looked after his grandma. she took him and his brothers in after his parents died, he was too young to remember them so all he had were his brothers and his grandma. or well, now he only had his grandma. she was fun. a strict lady but he loved her and never wanted anything bad to happen to her. he swore to protect her because she was all the family he had left. he lived a quiet life, didn't really make waves anywhere he went he just longed for the return of his brothers who could teach him a thing or two about life. things were alright until they weren't. one day he came home from school to find his grandma dead. it was clear it wasn't a natural death, she was murdered. in the mess of the bloody scene, benjamin found a note that stated his family stole money from a powerful mafia and he'd eventually have to own up to it. he didn't know what to make of everything but suddenly he was being put in the foster care system with massive debt and no way to tell his brothers that their grandmother was dead. suddenly the pieces were being put together, his brothers' sudden disappearances made sense.

the years in foster care were spent in deep agony, depression, and loneliness. benjamin held resentment for the brothers he once looked up to and now hoped they'd never come back. his sour and pessimistic attitude toward life left him with no family ever wanting to take him in long enough for him to call it home. the only steady thing was school, it was the only thing to distract him from any matters of the home he didn't have. he supposed the mafia was nice enough to not bury the kid in any more stress while he was still a minor but once he turned eighteen, they came back and made sure he was reminded of the debt. he worked multiple jobs, doing whatever he could to pay off his debt little by little while trying to pay for his own apartment and further his education. he went after jobs in business, thinking it was sensible to go for something with job security and steady income. after college, he became a risk analyst for a financial company, eventually moving up in the company and later being offered a position at couffaine records for his impeccable work and experience. really ironic for him to work with finances given how he was still owing tons of money back to the mafia but it was manageable now and seemed to have an end goal in sight. throughout all of this, benjamin really learned that the only thing he had to depend on was himself.

HC’s:

actually had small dreams of becoming a musician once, but obviously that wouldn't pay the bills or the debt so he sticks to business

probably hasn't genuinely smiled in years, there's not much to smile about. his cynical state leaves him hating just about anything and he doesn't care enough about anything that could make him happy, he doesn't have the time for that kind of stuff.

really hates his brothers, like he would sell them out to the mafia in a millisecond if he could.

he's constantly worried about the mafia coming to get him, he knows he's doing good on his payments but what happened to his grandma really scarred him. he doesn't sleep much because he'll get nightmares about that day if he does.

[poptrolls]

The lie of him so quickly trying to say he likes her music wasn’t the response she had expected, certainly not after he had made his disinterest in her work so obviously clear the last time they had sat down and listened to any of it. A giggle escapes her as she shakes her head at the very thought. “No you don’t,” she insists, finally working up the nerve to move closer on the couch towards him and poking his arm lightly. “But that’s okay, I know it’s not your type of music.” Crossing her legs, she rests her elbow on a knee and then places her head in her hand as she watches him and waits for a better response than simply lying about liking her discography. It’s nerve wracking, listening to him give such a whatever answer rather than telling her what he really and truly thinks.

It’s not a surprise to Poppy that the one he mentions first is Dog Days Are Over - it had been pretty clear when they were listening that he’d enjoyed that one the best, but it wasn’t one of the tracks that she had really hoped he would catch on to. “Your opinion matters way more than any of the label,” she argues, focusing on that fact first and foremost. It seemed silly that Branch couldn’t see how much she valued what he thought - even when he hated something, she wanted to know. “They only care about what’ll make money. But with these songs… It kind of was like throwing my heart onto song. Which I always try to do, yeah, but this time they were… special. And I really wanted to know what you think, specifically.” It’s about as obvious as she can get without outright just screaming that a good portion of the tracks had been about him.

[branchedout]

"Okay, I don't love what the studio sends over. It's generic and soulless." Branch had some problems that prevented him from calling himself a Poppy fan. It was sometimes hard to listen to what was considered safe for Poppy to release when he knew there were much better songs she could write up instead. "But the songs that you actually make are good," He felt like he knew better than to say they were amazing or so catchy he caught himself humming them in the shower sometimes. Seeing as how Poppy barely believed him when he claimed to like her music, he felt like using anything more than 'good' would've been seen as a lie or that he was making fun of her. So, he left it at 'good.'

"Did you—" Both Branch's and Poppy's sentences collided at the same time so he let her continue, disregarding the need to know if there was a reference to him in one of the songs. All he did was listen and move along with what she was saying. And in truth, it would've been easier to disregard any thought he had that he was somehow involved in the song making process without knowing. He sat in this now awkward sensation that required him to think of what to say about her songs. But how could he, especially when his mind was somewhere else dealing with a crisis he didn't know he'd be dealing with tonight, or ever? His shoulder raised in an uncertain shrug with his mouth slightly agape, trying to find the right words to say. "I think these songs are as special as you say they are, I can feel it and so will everyone else. These picks are some of the best I've heard from you, and I'm glad you found a place to really say what you wanted to."

[poptrolls]

Standing at a slower pace than her housemate, she picked up the now half empty bowl of candy in her free hand and automatically handed it to Branch to carry as she adjusted her daughter on her hip and started heading into the house, knowing that he would follow behind. “I did and you’re right, you’ve listened to everything that’s already been officially released,” she admits with a few nods of her head as they make their way into their living room. Setting a sleeping Ivy down in the little mini crib kept down here for nights like this, Poppy turned back to her roommate with a somewhat nervous smile. “But I plan to release new music next year. A song every month, actually. And I wanted your opinions on them, obviously.” This was a big deal, these songs baring her soul to Branch in a way that was far more personal, specifically to him, than anything else she’d ever written before. Not that he would know that yet though, so she tried her best to act as normal as possible and not let the butterflies fluttering about her stomach show too much. There was a chance this could change everything between them - for the better or for the worst - and that thought was as equally exciting as it was terrifying.

~ time skip to after she’s played all the songs ~

Remaining quiet and trying not to stare too hard or watch him too much as the songs she had written about her budding feelings for him played had been a lot harder of a task than Poppy had been prepared for, but she got through it. She had purposefully sat on the opposite end of the couch from him to give as much space for Branch to process everything he was hearing. Though from the fact that he barely even glanced over at her or really reacted to any of the songs that were in her mind quite obviously about him, she wasn’t even sure if he had picked up on any of it the way she had assumed he would. And with the twelfth song finally wrapping up but no comment being made from his end, everything Poppy had been holding back just exploded out. “So yeah, that’s what I’ve got. The label likes them and they like the idea of a monthly drop. You’ll probably start getting some of the previews from work in the next month, but I wanted your opinions now. And I thought it’d be better if you listened actually with me, not just in your room or office all alone,” she starts, eyes glued to him in hopes of seeing some kind of reaction play out on his face. “Did you like them? I know you aren’t the biggest fan of my music, it’s just not your taste, I get that. But I’m really proud of these ones - they really mean a lot to me and I put a lot of my heart into them… So I hope there were at least a few that you liked…” She doesn’t say which ones in particular she hoped he enjoyed, hoping that he was able to pick up on what she meant on his own.

[branchedout]

"I like your music," Branch corrected, finding now to be a strange time to lie about something like that. It was true that it wasn't what was usually spotted in his playlists but it was far from the worst of what he could hear on the radio. Maybe because he knew the context of her songs, he could easily defend the ones he knew she'd put meaning behind. And though he certainly wouldn't act like it or ever openly admit to it, he would go back to re-listen to some songs of hers he thought were way better than what the studio told her to release. If there were any moment to traverse the conversation back to some songs that felt like they could be about him, it would be now. And yet, the words couldn't slip out asking her if they were. He was too afraid to ask, knowing how disappointed he could be if she came back with a resounding 'no'. It would turn the friendship sour and that's the last thing Branch wanted.

In his choice to preserve his feelings, he let the question drop for now; Unsure of when, or if, he'd feel like it would ever be the right time pick it up again. "I mean, I kind of doubt my opinion matters, if the label likes it then they probably know what's best. I don't know how they figure out which ones the fans will like, I think everyone enjoys whatever you put out in general." Realizing how technical he sounded, even Branch knew there had to be a change in answer. "But they're good. I think my favorite is that Dog Days one, and there were a couple in the middle there that really sound like you put a lot of yourself into them." He nodded along, still a bit stuck in that silent gaze towards nowhere in particular ever since he'd heard some interesting lyrics. But he certainly wasn't in the terrible mood he pretended to be in after he'd heard other albums. "You're right to be proud of this album, I think it's gonna go over well with everyone."

[poptrolls]

closed starter for @branchedoutlocation: their town house, halloween night

Sitting on the porch steps with a bowl of candy at her feet, her daughter half asleep in her lap, and Branch just a step behind, acting like he hated every moment of this - Poppy really couldn’t imagine a better evening. While it would have been nice if Hans and Anna had stayed longer as well, she understood they had their own lives to get to, a party that given any other year the brunette likely would have also been attending. It had been nice enough for them to spend the time they had all together, celebrating Ivy’s first Halloween. Besides, she’d never say it aloud or admit it to anyone, but she was kind of happy to spend the rest of the night with just her roommate.

“We could probably head back inside now, if you wanted,” she finally declares, when it’s been a good solid ten minutes since the last trick-or-treater had walked down their street. A part of her fully expects Branch to jump up right away and bolt to his bedroom as soon as he was given the okay to be done, so she’s quick to add on the option of additional plans for the evening. “We could go watch a movie - something spooky. Or, oh, we could keep up with your music education! Don’t think I forgot about that - you still have some Poppy discography class waiting for you, and what better time to continue it than now?” It was a long shot of him willingly agreeing to it, but she hoped that maybe the few hours spent together handing out candy might have put him in a better mood than normal. After all, who didn’t love seeing a bunch of little kids dressed up and running around hyped up on sugar? It was enough to put even the sourest of sour pusses in a good mood.

[branchedout]

A dull sigh escaped Branch as him, Poppy, and Ivy sat on the steps, waiting for any latecomers to stop by for a treat. He'd searched through the bowl of candy, hoping to find anything he liked but as luck would have it, all the kids had gotten to the good stuff before he could. It was disappointing note to end the holiday on as he was already having a miserable time that people he knew were seeing him in a costume he would never have chosen for himself. With said company comprising of someone he didn't quite get along with, it was a night that he'd rather had been over sooner than later. At the mention of Poppy's suggestion, he'd risen to his feet and already planned on locking himself away for the night. That was until his roommate was looking into making plans for the rest of the evening. "There's more?" Completely ignoring the motion of watching a movie, which wasn't his favorite pastime anyway, he'd moved onto the idea that he didn't even think was possible. It's not that he wasn't having a nice time listening to her music, he enjoyed more of it than he'd expected or even wanted to let on, he just didn't know that there was more music yet to be reviewed. "I thought you said that last album was the most recent one is all."

[poptrolls]

~ timeskip to branch coming home from hospital ~

For all Poppy had felt maybe she was being a bit silly, skipping out on the island’s annual anniversary festival, given that Ivy was now four months old - she couldn’t be more grateful at her small lapse of paranoia keeping her away from the event. In no way had she any idea that the hunters would attack again, and on such a major scale this time, but she was thankful not to have been in the midst of it. Though, there was a growing guilt as she continued to sit at home with her daughter - knowing that both Branch and Anna were in the hospital right now. A part of her wanted nothing more than to run off and go help in any way that she could - but logically she knew she would only likely be in the way. And it wasn’t smart, taking even a four month old back into an emergency room or hospital setting, exposing her to all the germs and illnesses floating throughout the building. So she stayed put, tracking Branch’s phone location from the safety of her living room and watching each second that passed by, finally bringing him closer and closer to their home.

The moment his little pin indicated that he was outside their townhouse, Poppy was on her feet and waiting at the door. The moment it opened, without any hesitation or even a second to really think on what she was doing, the brunette launched herself at the figure standing in the doorframe. “Branch, Branch,” she breathed his name twice, arms wrapped tight around his chest despite having no clue where it was he’d even been harmed. All she had been told was that he had been injured - she couldn’t get any more information than that because she wasn’t officially family, which felt like a load of bullshit at the time but hardly mattered now that he was safe and home and in her arms. “You’re here. You’re okay.” It’s only once she makes that statement that Poppy remembers he must be hurting and holding onto him like this might not be helping him any, so she quickly lets go and backs up, her eyes scanning over his body in search of any obvious signs of damage. “Are you okay? What happened? Do you need anything? What can I do to help? Oh god, I can’t believe this actually happened. Are you sure you’re alright?”

[branchedout]

Branch should have seen it coming, he figured the voice telling him not to go was just that, the same voice that stopped him from doing anything. Given how nice life had been lately, possibly from being around Poppy and Ivy more often, he'd mistakingly let his guard down, forgetting about the dangers of the world they lived in. His hospital stay was as brief as he made sure it could be. The stitches in his arm were in place and thankfully, that's as much help he needed with other than the prescription of mild painkillers and antibiotics. It wasn't lost on him how much worse he could've ended up had he been standing around in a different spot or if he hadn't reacted as quickly as he did. But that wasn't what took up much of his thoughts while he was recovering at the hospital, all he could think about was how grateful he was that Poppy and Ivy were safe at home.

The hug wasn't unnatural coming from Poppy, but maybe the urgency of it was what kept him from pushing away at all. They both needed the hug, and though Branch's arm was still sore, that didn't matter because the embrace felt really good for once. He couldn't blame her for the sudden examination, he might've acted the same way, if not worse than she was. Normally, his paranoia would've caught him amping up the pressure to make sure everything was resolutely fine, maybe he was too tired to do it this time around but it certainly helped that his injury was kept to a minimum. "Poppy, Pop, let's calm down. I'm fine, I just want to go to my room if that's alright." He could tell by the accompanied trail to his room that they weren't done talking. He sighed as he sat on the corner on his bed, "I got grazed in the arm by a bullet, they stitched it up. They told me not to do any strenuous activity for a bit. You don't need to do anything for me, it'll heal up in no time. All I need from you and Ivy is some peace and quiet while I work from home for the next couple of days."

[poptrolls]

The sleep schedule of a newborn baby and her mother was so sporadic and chaotic, it could hardly be called a schedule at all - which Poppy had known would be the case long before she actually gave birth, but the reality was far harsher than anything she could have expected. Most nights she was on top of it, waking up at the first or second cry and immediately getting out of bed to go to her daughter. But not even the most perfect mother in the world could get to every single moment of need, certainly not when they’re practically doing it all on their own. Which meant there were still times when she struggled, letting Ivy cry for a few moments before forcing herself to climb out of her bed, and tonight had been one of those times. Only rather than continuing to scream until Poppy got to her, the cries faded and ceased before the brunette had even thrown off her blankets.

Now there was probably a perfectly reasonable reason for why her daughter had calmed herself down, but this was the first time it had ever happened and Poppy couldn’t help the way that her brain immediately raced to worst case scenarios. Rushing out of her bed and to the nursery, it’s only when she sees the familiar figure of her housemate rocking her daughter back to sleep that she lets herself breathe again. Of all the explanations she could have possibly imagined for Ivy’s cut off cries, Branch being there to calm her down never would have crossed her mind. Yet now that she’s seen it, she doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to forget the sight. Though he’s interacted with Ivy before now, it had always been at Poppy’s prompting - never on his own accord. But this? This was Branch waking up and actively checking in on her daughter without anyone asking or expecting him to do so. It was such a touching gesture, and a sweet picture seeing him slowly lower the baby girl back into her crib, that a warmth filled her chest as she leaned against the doorframe and silently watched for as long as she could.

Of course he was bound to notice her eventually, and as he turned to look at her, Poppy couldn’t help the bright grin that grew on her lips. The comment about his inability to get work done might have made her feel guilty if he had said it any other time - but as it was, her joy was too strong for her to care at all that Ivy might be cutting into his personal life. “You checked up on her,” she points out, a statement they both knew to be true but meant so much more to her than it likely did for him. As Branch made his way over towards, she was quick to loop her arm through his, grip tight so that he couldn’t easily push her away, and rested her head against his shoulder. It was an easy display of affection that Poppy would have shown for anyone she cared about, but always felt extra special with him. Probably because he so rarely let anyone into his life that she liked to think her casual touches and closeness with him was a special privilege just for her. “You care for her. She’s just a little blob of a human being and you already care for her! You’re having normal human emotions, Branch! You’re making a bond with my daughter!”

[branchedout]

Branch knew well by now that Poppy was affectionate. No matter how many times he tried getting the point across to her that he most definitely was not, it certainly didn't stop her attempts at proving how different they were. He'd succumbed for the night letting his lenient approach take over, and allowed her grab onto him. Not that he had much of a choice with the hold she had but he was willing to let it happen, it was more than he would allow anyone else to do to him. As she laid her head on his shoulder, a strange feeling passed through. A feeling he could only suppose was discomfort considering he never really ever got used to the feeling of someone touching him, but since he wasn't completely sure what it was he brushed it off.

"It's not like that, Ivy was crying and you were sleeping. The natural response to that would be to get her to stop crying." Despite the fact that he had done the favor multiple times before, this was the first time getting caught and he didn't want it to seem like it was going to be a habit. Already Poppy was giddying over something that he didn't consider that big of a deal, it was something that anyone with basic empathy would and should do. "Is it bonding? I kind of see it more like I'm training her on how to be a good roommate in the future." He joked, trying to downplay the excitement to the scenario. "Can I ask what these supposed 'normal human emotions' I should be having are? 'Cuz I feel like I've been doing alright with the emotions I've had so far."

[poptrolls]

Though she had heard each excuse and comment Branch made during her rambled request for him to attend the dinner party with her, Poppy hardly gave anything he said much thought at all. Of course she was going to use her pregnancy as an excuse, she’s been using it as one since she first realized it had a chance of working on her roommate. Of course she knew him perfectly well. And of course they were friends - he was her best friend. Readjusting herself on his bed, the brunette sat cross legged and dropped her hands into her lap as she watched him, waiting for any crack in his mental armor that she could poke at to get her way. It would come, it always did. “It won’t be a nightmare - it’s not even like a real party, I promise! Just a night dinner, you’ll love it. It’ll be better food than your silly little cans - the Bete family owns like half the restaurants on the island. And since, like you said, you already know some of these people from work, you won’t be lonely or feel left out! It’ll be fun - for both of us,” she argued, turning all of his points back around on him.

As he asked if there was anyone else she could take and then what he would have to wear if he did come along, Poppy knew she had won. Not that she was going to celebrate yet, no there was still a bit of convincing that needed to be done - but Branch was teetering heavily towards the side of agreeing with her. And the grin that grew on her face said that she knew it. “I don’t want to go with anyone else - I want to go with you,” she points out, shrugging as if that was obvious. It was a true statement, there wasn’t anyone else she wanted to go with, but also she knew that if she didn’t get him to come out for this dinner, he’d spend his entire holiday season alone in this room. “No! You could totally dress however you want. It’s not like black tie or anything, you’ll be fine.”

[branchedout]

-timeskip-

Was Branch completely aware of what he signed up for when he agreed to live with a pregnant Poppy? No, he probably knew very little about what it meant to raise a child, let alone take care of one. Although Poppy made it clear he wasn't expected to help around for too much, he still felt the need to give an extra hand when it became clear how hectic looking after a newborn would be. The agreement the two roommates came up with was that Branch mainly looked after household chores and the baby stuff was kept to Poppy. This he could handle, it didn't interfere too much with his work schedule so taking on the extra load of domestic tasks seemed like a piece of cake. At least he didn't have to deal with stinky diapers and feeding the kid all the time.

The only real problem Branch had with having a baby in the house were the colliding sleep schedules. It seemed that every time he was dozing off to sleep, the baby could cry at an ungodly volume that not even ear plugs could do the trick. The worst was waking up to all the screaming, it was like he couldn't catch a break. But it also dawned on him that he wasn't the one bearing the brunt of the labor. This kind of realization had him calming the fussy baby in the middle of the night sometimes, letting Poppy rest easy for a bit longer. Branch tried his best to let his efforts go unnoticed, he didn't want to make a big deal of it. But on this particular evening, as he cradled Ivy back into her crib he caught the sight of Poppy hanging by the doorframe with a smile on her face to see him interacting with the baby he could complain endlessly about.

He felt caught, and although he could claim he was doing this in the name of getting the baby to shut up, Branch knew he wouldn't be able to evade Poppy's excitement for the bond he was building with her child. "I was already up, I had a cup of coffee a couple hours ago," he quietly mentioned on his way towards his roommate. He stood by as they both watched after the baby. "It's hard to get work done when she won't stop crying so I just figured I'd get her back to sleep without waiting for you to wake up."

[mndvx]

SHORTCOMINGS (2023) directed by Randall Park | written by Adrian Tomine ››› Justin H. Min as Ben Tagawa

[poptrolls]

closed starter for @branchedout location: branch & poppy's house

Going through her little pile of mail, it wasn’t a surprise to find an invitation to the Bete family’s holiday day dinner considering she had been invited every year since she had first moved to the isle. But unlike every other year, this one was different. She hadn’t been hiding a pregnancy at any of the past parties and she had been perfectly content showing up alone, rather than using her offered plus one. This year though Poppy wasn’t sure if she could handle trying to navigate it all by herself, not without some kind of built in buffer of a date. Which was why as soon as she had finished reading through the invitation, she was bounding up the stairs to her roommate’s bedroom. “Branch! Branch!” she called out down the hall before she was even at the door, only getting louder and louder the closer she got. It wasn’t uncommon for him to ignore her, at least at first, but like always she knew she’d wear him down. The banging on his door always helped a bit as well. “Branch! Branch! Branch!”

Finally when the door opens to show a disgruntled and annoyed Branch, she simply grins at him and pushes past to make her way over towards his bed. Without asking if it were okay for her to even be in the room, much less on his bed, she drops down to be laying on her back across the bottom of it. “I have a favor to ask you,” she starts before he has a chance to begin complaining about her barging in like she owns the place. Which, technically she kind of does, but that’s not something Poppy plans to bring up - otherwise it’d just turn into another argument about the amount of rent he pays and how she needs to be stricter on him. Or whatever other boring arguments he‘d make that just seem ridiculous to her. “And keep in mind when I ask you for this favor that I’m pregnant. With a baby daddy that’s been ignoring me for months. And also I love you and you’re my best friend. All very important factors to remember when I ask… will you be my date to the Bete dinner this year?” She pauses for a moment, realizing he probably doesn’t even fully know what the event is and decides she’ll need to elaborate. “It’s not a party, I promise. It’s just like a fancy dinner with important people around the island. The food is usually pretty good and it’ll be fun-ish. And I really don’t want to go alone this year. So pretty please, will you go with me?”

[branchedout]

If there was one person who’d be able to break through noise-canceling headphones, it would be Poppy Can. Maybe if he’d been playing any music he could’ve avoided all of this, but his preference for sitting in silence had backfired on him. As much as Branch wanted to ignore the sounds of her yelling, the pounding on the door was something he couldn’t tune out. It was a rule of his that knocking on the door was meant for emergencies only, so that’s what he assumed this was. He’d rushed over to make sure everything was alright with their shared home, or god forbid, something was happening with her pregnancy. You could imagine his surprise when a lively and smiling Poppy with no immediate crisis to tend to was all he saw when he opened the door. Not only was she not in any danger but now she was in the one place he used to hide out from her. “Don’t even bother asking.” He quickly begged before she began her rambling. Of course, he gave his comments as she went along; “You can’t use your pregnancy as an excuse.”; “You barely know me.”; and “We’re not friends.” He’d hoped she’d hear something to make her back off but she never did, she just kept talking until she’d finally asked for the favor.

The question of being her date caught him off guard, partially because it was so absurd of a request to ask of him. “There’s no way I’m going to that. Fun-ish for you usually means a nightmare for me.” He wasn’t a fan of attending things, his own home was where he found serenity and safety so why would he bother leaving that? “Important people around the island? I already have meetings with some of them at work, so I won’t be missing much.” Poppy wasn’t making a compelling argument here, food was the last thing that would get him to leave the house. “I have plenty to eat here, I’m stacked on canned foods that aren’t going to eat themselves.” He could think up a million reasons why he didn’t want to go, but what probably mattered most in this case, and probably why Poppy was asking him in the first place, was that she didn’t want to go alone. He could sympathize with that, not that many people could ever force him to go but on the small cases that he did have to attend things he knew having a friend or just someone you knew to talk to made things easier. “Can you really think of no one else to go with you?” He really tried hard not to let her know that he was caving in but one could hear the exhaustion in his voice from already mentally running through this conversation in his head that he’d probably end up going for her sake anyway. “I’m not saying I will go with you but if I did maybe possibly say yes, would I actually have to dress up for it?”

[the-savior-and-the-pirate]

Umm… Did Branch kill the clown troll?

[egertn]

Justin H. Min photographed by June Kim for CQ (2020)