Question since Poppy is hiding in Branch's lab/house do they sleep in the same room or does Branch goes to sleep in the couch
So, Branch actually has multiple spare rooms on the main level of the bunker, further down the hallway to his room: he lends Poppy one, however, it ends up becoming “Her room,” (his words) and he eventually even renovates it for her, and helps her redecorate ❤️
Why does the grumpy, gray boy do this, you ask? Well, due to the nature of the extended plot which I will disclose later when I finish drawing everything😭, it is unsafe for Poppy to return home, while the safest place for her to be, is at the Bunker- and she is there for a while.
Because of her extended stay, Branch gives her a room to herself, after a week. At first, she did sleep in his bed, and Branch resigned himself to the couch (however, what really happened would be he fell asleep in a chair or on the floor of his own room because he refused to leave Poppy’s side)
But, why would the still-actively-love-avoidant, emotionally-constipated hermit be so openly caring? Cuz, he was too scared to remember to act standoffish and detached. Poppy was severely injured, and he didn’t know if she’d be ok. Poor man was worried sick
For anyone who’s reading without the initial context: (also ig, trigger warning, this au contains graphic violence and a direct approach to ✨trauma✨)
like 2 chapters into the plot, Poppy accidentally stumbles into what I can only describe as the “antagonist’s dirty load of Bullsh*t,” and before she can fully process the horrible things she’s witnessed, she is seen, and they try to jump her ass. Then blah blah blah, she gets away..
However, if you saw any of the first drawings for Furtherance, you’ll recall Poppy was found injured. I made that 2-3 hours after I created this au. After more retconning: it’s evident that Poppy’s injury is heavily understated in that first sketch. She was hit with a bolas that heavily fractured her leg in two different places, and the blunt force of impact drew blood. She managed to hobble to a bolt hole, and drag herself all the way into the bunker by, like, 1:00am, but by then she’d already lost a concerning amount of blood. Branch had gotten up at 4:00 and found her because of the bloody trail leading into the store room. Poppy was sitting in a pool of her own blood, pale, shaking, and exhausted (she tried sleeping and failed), only even conscious due to adrenaline and fear, and greets him with a very conspicuous “Heyyy” and nervous laughter; Branch, understandably, is horrified.
It doesn’t help that very quickly after he finds her and starts checking the wounds, Poppy calms down, because she fully trusts Branch with her life, and knows she’ll be ok, because he’s here. Which is really cute. Until the adrenaline plummets, she no longer can pretend she’s fine, the pain hits her like a semi truck, and the hemorrhagic shock leaves her drifting in and out of consciousness. Branch does his thing, rushes her to his infirmary, does everything he can until she’s stable, panics the entire time- etc
From that point, Poppy spends hours in his infirmary, before being relocated to a couch once she’s awake and stable, until he brings her with him to break into the hospital -it’s a long story- until they finally get back, and he leaves her in his room with some borrowed medical equipment, and at some point tries to sleep on the couch… except he hears her crying, trying to do it silently, because she’s in a LOT of pain… and he gets her some pain killers, and ends up sitting at the bedside awkwardly, holding her hand until she falls asleep… he can’t bring himself to let go.
This is the norm for about 2 days; not entirely because Poppy needs it, but because Branch is too paranoid to leave her alone. Poppy eventually manages to convince him to let her sleep somewhere else, so he can have his bed back, after catching him passed out on the floor for a 3rd night in a row. :>
