Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One of the best things about being home alone while his brothers were away, was John Dory had plenty of time to practice. He had all of the living room to himself for a blissful hour while Baby Branch was napping, a couple if his little brother was especially exhausted. 

So, practice he did! JD felt especially motivated today, he had the demo to ‘Girl I Love Your Love Girl’ finished and, if he said so himself, the instrumental was perfect. He could really get into the flow of the tune, singing quietly to the music as he follows Clay’s new choreo.

He had to give Clay a few pointers in his choreo when the steps got complicated, they were gonna have to start teaching Branch since he was finally old enough to hold himself up. It was… A good excuse for himself, too. Clay was darn good at dancing, a natural, if he said so himself. John Dory, however? Yeah, not so much. He can follow along, get in step, but all those little… Flourishes his brothers do? Nah, not him.

Maybe Bitty B would take after the bros. That’d be for the best, anyways. Spruce and Clay’s whole act on stage was killer!

…. Not much to act on, being the baby, now that he thought of it, but, eh, Branch will find his own act after the whole diaper thing. Maybe they could get him some glasses… Something to transition his look… Well, that was for another time.

The idea had been Clay’s initially, take Baby Branch on shows! It only made sense, Trolls were naturally gifted in song from a young age, and Grandma would have less stress on her at home! Branch was smart, too, the kid was already bouncing along with Clay’s dancing. Still stumbling, but he’d learn the moves fast, John could tell.

John Dory pants, finishing the dance with a snap, giving his best grin. He probably looked… Really stupid, smiling at no one, but he needed to be ready! If they want to be a boy band, they need to put on a good face. Clay and Spruce had a good stage face already, but Floyd always looked a little.. Constipated, concentrating more on getting the dance moves right.

Well, it was a habit he could break. It wasn’t that hard to put on a smile, he had good first hand practice in that! If he could do it, so could Floyd.

… Was that mean?

Floyd was a sensitive guy, he’d have to be a little gentle telling him. He couldn’t just say ‘you need to work on not looking so ugly when you dance!’

No. That’d hurt his feelings. Maybe he’d… Go easy. ‘Hey, Floyd, great dancing…. Maybe let’s work on that smile.’

… Eh.

He’ll work on his gentle approaches later, really, if they all practice enough, Floyd won’t have to concentrate so hard on dancing. He’ll have the steps down perfectly and he can go from there! 

Speaking of, if John can just get a little more time, he might just nail this without all of the stumbling around.

He flinches as he feels Branch’s fussing before he hears it, small hands tugging at his hair as he starts the dance over. Dang. Looks like he was only getting an hour today. He gets what little time he can to practice as Branch tugs his hair apart, peeking down at his older brother with crinkled, sleepy eyes.

“... D?”

John sighs, clicking the boombox off. No more practice.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Bitty B!” He smiles, reaching up to fish his fussy brother out of his hair, settling him down to the floor and- oof, Branch was getting heavier, an ache in his lower back settling as he stands up straight. Man, he is way too young to have old man back pain.

“Whatya doin’?” Branch asks in a sleepy mumble, following John into the kitchen with his large hand clutched in two tiny ones. Boy, he was a clingy kid. 

“I’m practicing, B!” John boasts, lifting his brother into his high chair, “We’re a band, we’ve gotta practice!”

“... Boring.” Branch pouts at the idea, but with John putting a cup of fluffleberry juice in his hands, he perks up really quick. Man, he was a weird kid, those berries tasted like if dirt and lemons had a baby.

“Wh- pff- no it’s not! It’s like the- the best thing ever!”

“You’re- you- you’re mad when you dance.” Branch pouts, doing nothing to wipe the purple stains on his cheeks.

“No I’m not! I just have resting jerkface.” John jokes, grabbing a hand towel to wipe Branch’s face, much to his disagreement, small hands smacking at John’s with barely concealed giggles. “Quit squirmin’! What, do you wanna look like a nasty little Bergen?”

Branch stops his fussing to think… 

Before punctuating the silence with a single, pouty nod.

“... Well that ain’t happenin’. C’mere, you!” John swipes up the trolling in his arms, Branch squealing as his face is completely enveloped by the towel, small hands ineffectively swiping at John’s.

When the towel is pulled back, John’s face is met with a clean, huffing trolling, scowl looking out of place on his little blue face. “Theeere we go! Nooooope, wait, actually-” John licks his thumb, going to wipe a smudge that’s not there as Branch yells, holding the hand back by the wrist.

“Johnny! Quit tormenting your little brother and help me out here!” Grandma Rosiepuff announces as she hops into the pod, two large baskets hefted in her arms.

“Ooooh you are the luckiest troll alive.” John Dory smirks as Branch blows a raspberry at him, dropping the little troll to the floor so he can rush to help his elderly caretaker.

“Heyyy, Grandma.” He greets, rushing in to ease the strain on her back by grabbing the baskets she’s holding, chock full of foraged goods. “How was it out there?”

“Oh, it was fine, Johnny, don’t you fuss over me, too.” She smiles, kneeling over with a wince to catch Branch as he rushes up to her, throwing his little arms around her neck in a greeting.

“Gramma!” Branch giggles, nuzzling his cheek into hers as John Dory hefts the baskets in his own arms. Jeez , these were heavy. Whatever’s in here should be plenty to feed them for the next two weeks.

They’d usually go out every couple of days for smaller food runs, but… With trollstice in a week, they should be prepared. No telling if the Bergens would decide that trollstice was a few hours, a few days ahead. Sickos. They couldn’t even mass murder on time.

Johnny huffs out a sardonic chuckle at his dark thought, keeping that joke to himself as he fills nearly empty jars with nuts and forage that Grandma Rosiepuff scavenged. Ohh yeah, this would be plenty until the bergen attacks were over.

JD sighs, tapping his chin as he goes over his mental checklist. He’d gotten some dancing in, but dang it if it just wasn’t enough. He muses on the idea of letting Grandma cook tonight, but….

No. Just no.

He wants to be ready in case of a bergen attack, not weighed down by the lead in his grandmother’s food. So, he’ll just have to make something quick, maybe between the time dinner’s done and  his brothers get here, he’ll have some time to practice before he has housework to do.

“ Floyd !” Branch announces as the door opens, crushing John’s hopes as his 3 brothers pour in, Branch running to hug his (clear favorite) brother before greeting the other two.

“I’m not so dumb I forgot how to tell time, right?” JD muses out loud as Clay rushes into the kitchen, grabbing a trollberry from the basket before John can put it away.

“Nahh. School’s let out ‘cause they’re worried about early attacks.” He explains, planting his butt right on the counter as he fishes out a stack of schoolwork, slapping it down next to himself while taking a bite of the berry.

“Teacher’s maaaaad. She says you have to actually come in to learn. You’re gonna get kicked out like this.” Clay sing-songs kicking his feet annoyingly against the kitchen cabinets as John rolls his eyes.

“Oooh, yeah, you’re right, little man. Didn’t know being a jerk took so much learnin’.” He counters, bounding a berry off of the side of Clay’s head, instantly regretting it as it falls to the floor.

Dang it, Grandma worked hard to grab all of these.

Clay laughs anyways, completely unphased as he finishes off his berry, legs swinging back and forth. “Real good come back, John. Y’know, if you went to school , you might be able to think of something more clever.” he snips back. John Dory sighs, shaking his head as he washes the berry, ignoring his yellow haired brother.

“Guys, come on, knock it off.” Floyd breaks the tension with an awkward chuckle before it can begin. John can’t help it, Clay was always good at getting on his nerves. Since he started going to that book club at school? Doubly so. John wanted to rip his hair out sometimes at how witty and annoying his brother could be.

“I’m not knocking on anything!” John shrugs, plopping teardew seeds into a nearly empty jar. Yeah, this will last all of them a week for sure. “I’m just sayin’, maybe if lord loser over here-” John prods his little brother in the forehead, nearly sending him slipping off the counter.

“Ey!” Clay snips, slapping JD’s hand away. “Sorry some of us can read at a 8th grade level!”

“Nerd.” John snips, smacking his brother on the shoulder so he can reach the cabinets he was so kindly blocking.

“‘Least I can read.” Clay snaps back, John feeling an annoyed growl bubbling up at the back of his throat.

“You know, if you’re gonna be a little-” 

“Guys!” Floyd interrupts again, stepping between the two. “Come on, don’t fight in front of B.” He huffs, gesturing to the little trolling who’s trying… Very hard to look like he hadn’t been looking.

“.... Yeah, yeah.” John Dory mutters, guilty. He shouldn’t be fighting like this in front of Branch. He’s the oldest! Jeez, JD, get it together! “Fine. Look, I’m makin’ dinner tonight so if you guys have an easy request, I-”

“Oh, I got an idea.” John hears Clay before he hears the popping of a jar. He turns, but he’s quickly blinded by… What the heck!? John Dory sputters, squawking as Clay throws something at his face. Rice? 

“Clay! Come on, man!” Another handful of rice in his face, Clay cackles while John spits uncooked grains from his mouth. “ Clay ! Not funny!”

John whips his head to his younger brother, cackling unnaturally. What was he thinking? This was good food! A few handfuls of rice were two meals!… Two…

Perfectly good… Meals…

…

Rice doesn’t grow near the troll tree, and it… It doesn’t grow this time of year. Rice was sparse, even in the neverglades.

No, no, no no… Clay wouldn’t do that, anyways. He’s smart, he’s not gonna waste food like that. If he’d throw anything, it’d be something big enough to pick up, wash off. Food fights weren’t allowed in the house after their parents…

This was… Wrong.

John Dory finally wakes to a prickling on his skin, the smell of cologned air wafting into the bottle. Eugh, whatever their perfume was is gag inducing.

…

Wait, huh?

John shakes his head, eyes poking open to see manicured nails dropping.. Something. On his face.

The teal haired troll sits up with a shock, scooting away from the opening as he wipes a hand down his face, multicolored little.. Flakes. “Ugh, what is this stuff!?” He huffs, spitting out the strange, salty taste.

“ Ohthankgod ,” Veneer huffs, putting a hand to his heart and jostling John in the process, “Ohh my god, I thought you died. You looked so dead.”

John only now realizes where he is, suspended in the air in Veneer’s hand, multicolored flakes in a little pile on the floor. “.... What are you doing?” He asks incredulously, gesturing to the pile of…. Stuff.

“Wha- I’m feeding you!”

“ That is not food.”

“We ran out of Troll food!”

JD blinks, “That was troll food?” He arches a brow. The crap they’d been feeding him after he’d ran out of provisions was like… Really bad trail mix. Did these freaks just keep trolls trapped in jars like pets on the regular??

“.... Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnno. It was gerbil food. Buuut we ran out, annnd Crimp isn’t here today, so….” Veneer trails, corking the bottle and setting him back down on the sound system. Yeah, John was shocked when he found out the bottle had an opening, but it was no bigger than his arm, so…. Not an escape option.

Least they weren’t all freaks.

Juuuuust these two.

“So what is this?” He gestures again to the flakes on the floor, kicking them to one corner so he doesn’t have to sit on them.

“... Fish food.”

“What??” JD scoffs, crossing his arms. 

“ It’s all I had! ” Veneer whines, John putting his head in his hands with annoyance.

“You gotta be kidding me.” John grumbles, sitting against the cold, opposite wall of the pile of flakes.

“Picky.”

“You’re gonna starve me like this! You think I’m gonna eat fish food?”

“…. Crimp will be back tomorrow… It’s probably fine until then, right?”

“What if I starve to death overnight, huh? There goes your source of talent!”

Veneer blanches, eyes going wide, “That can happen!?” He squawks, putting a hand over his mouth like that’s the most heinous thing he could have done. Not the whole… Troll kidnap and torture until John dies.

“No.” John deadpans, “Wow, you really can’t live without sucking the life out of someone, huh?” He points an accusatory finger up at the teen, the gangly rageon shrinking back. Not that it helped, John was literally in his hand.

Veneer sputters, pulling the bottle towards his face as if proximity could change John’s mind on the whole, again, kidnapping and torture thing. “You don’t get it!!!”

“What’s there to get?” John complains, steadying himself against the wall as he’s shaken around. They hadn’t dropped him yet, but that doesn’t mean they were careful with tumbling him around.

Veneer pouts, “You little guys are so, like, naturally talented! And you’re not even using it!” He reasons, it sounded recited, like he’d been given that line, or maybe he’d been reciting that one in the mirror.

“....So!?”

Veneer bites his lip, clearly not ready for opposition to this most clear and resolute fact. “Soooooooo….” He trails, tapping a finger to his chin, “.... We’re using it.”

JD sighs, shaking his head. Wow, this kid really was aimless. Or stupid. “And you can’t just… Do it yourself?”

“What? Ew. No.”

John puts his hands in the air, exasperated. “You were practicing a month ago! Where’d that go!?”

“We’rrrrre just not….” He takes a deep breath, trying to find the right words, ”Practice people.” Veneer shrugs a shoulder, guilt barely hidden by his paper thin facade.

“Cause you suck at it!”

“Exactly!” Veneer agrees, though he looks maybe just a touch hurt.

“No- I mean like- ugh.” The troll sighs, putting his head in his hands. It was like talking to his brothers again, he just couldn’t get the right words to come out correctly. ‘Cept this guy was just dense. “You don’t know HOW to do it.”

Veneer chews on his lip again, eyes flicking between the troll and the middle distance. He pops his lips, words coming out slowly, “….. I don’t follow.” He finally concludes, making John sulk even further.

“ Look, all you need to be GOOD at something is to put some effort into it. Not…” John vaguely gestures to the sound booth, the home of their little… Screeching session a few months prior. “Whatever you two were doing.” He cringes, hopping up to his feet, putting on a wide, John Dory smile. “Me and my brothers practiced all the time!”

Veneer arches a brow, “What??? Why?” he asks, lip curling at the idea. Practice? Even when you were naturally talented..?

“ ‘Course! You REALLY think trolls are just gifted and that’s it?” John reasons with an easy shrug. It was… Pretty easy for some trolls to tap into their natural talents, harder for others. Practice was the only real way to keep yourself in tune.

Veneer, ever helpful, hums thoughtfully before nodding. “Mmmyyyyyyeah, that’s pretty much it.” He shrugs, jostling John. Man, he’s lucky he’s so good at keeping on his feet. Years living in the excitable Rhonda was sure to keep him on his toes. Literally.

He shrugs it off, shaking his head. “It takes hard work to keep this voice sounding good! And those dance moves don’t come for free.” For… Some trolls, anyways. Clay always had a natural talent for dance Compared to him and Floyd.

“Wellllll….” Veneer clicks his tongue, putting a hand on his hip. “Vel’ssss not really gonna want to do that. She’s not really a ‘work’ kinda person.” 

John sighs. “Kay… Well, I’m not asking Velvet.”

Veneer stares again, and John can feel his patience waning. “... Me?” the teen blinks, John nodding silently in response.

John chuckles, finally, something gets through his head! “Yeah, you! I mean, why not you? Velvet’s always drowning herself in talent, but you?” He trails, gesturing to Veneer with a smirk.

Veneer thinks for a moment before sighing, face falling. “...... Not following.”

JD sighs, okay, new tactic. “Velvet sounds like some kind of pitch perfect idol!” John muses. Velvet always goes… Way too hard with the talent, leaving John nauseous and dizzy, his limbs numb and cold. 

She sounded great, unfortunately.

“And that’s uh… Great, and all, but you? With just a little juice, you’ve got a real sound! Heck, Velvet practically sounds like a different person!”

Veneer nods along, confusion waning eeeever so slightly as he bites his lip. “I… Guess…” He agrees tentatively.

John stops. Maybe.. He’s rambling. A bit. “Look…… Point is, You’ve got talent in there somewhere!” John gestures towards Veneer, the Green haired teen’s eyes widening. Thank god, he was susceptible to compliments. “Look- Why don’t I walk you through some practice?”

“Wait, really!?” Veneer gawks, pulling the bottle closer to himself before pulling away again, confused. “....Wwait. Why would you do that..? Like actually?” He quips, tilting his head in confusion.

“....So I don’t die quicker?” John shrugs.

Veneer nods solemnly, inhaling a hiss through his teeth. “Yeah…”

John perks up as the bottle is set down, Veneer looking down at him, a bit lost. “ I did this all the time with my bros! This’ll be a piece of cake. C’mon, show me what you’ve got. Let’s start with one of your songs. You remember the choreo?”

Veneer’s face twists in confusion, “... The what?”

John grits his teeth. This is going to be…. A process.

“Kay, now just- no, no. Just- Just watch me, all right?”

Veneer whines, “Can’t I just like- do a little spray or something?”

“Do you wanna kill me, or do you wanna actually learn?”

“...... UGHHH Fine, just- just show me that thing you did with your feet again.”

“No- no, you’re pushing your throat too hard.”

“Wha- how else are you supposed to sing?”

“... Not like that.”

“If you don’t have the timing down yet, just sing to the demo for now.” John sighs impatiently, Veneer’s squawking into the mic only slightly better than he started.

“The… What..?”

“..... You don’t know what a demo is.”

Okay! So!

Veneer’s first practice session was….

It was. Progress.

John can’t say he was exactly… Patient at times, he wasn’t really used to leading someone who wasn’t at least a little naturally talented, but by troll was he trying.

They finally decided to cut it off when Veneer’s voice started going hoarse, the teen collapsing miserably in one of the chairs. “.... I’m never doing that again.” He concludes quietly, huffing with frustration.

“What?” John Dory deflates, hands on his hips as he jumps to his feet, wincing a bit at the ache in his knees that accompanies the movement. Man, it’s been too long since he’s danced so much. If- When he gets out of here, he needs to do some serious life changes. Like a workout regimen that didn’t involve hunting or being hunted.

“Ugh- look, I’m sure this training stuff is like, great for trolls, or whatever, but likeeeee. Like, this was a lost cause, right?” Veneer pouts, chin resting on the sound system. He sounded… A bit unsure, like he was waiting for John Dory’s agreement.

John sighs, crossing his arms. Man, he really wanted to agree. Veneer was… Far from perfect. John hadn’t exactly been famous for his patience, even before Brozone. But…. Well, yeah, that was exactly his problem. Impatient, not good enough, not willing to work hard enough. That was John Dory, the loser band leader who couldn’t even keep a couple of teens together.

… At least this was just one.

“... Look, Veneer. Today was… Rough.” He agrees, trying to put on his best ‘big brother’ voice. “But listen. When my little brother was learning how to dance-”

“Wasn’t he like, a baby?”

“Not the point. When my baby brother was learning how to dance… He sucked. Couldn’t keep to a beat. But that’s what practice is for, man! You’ve gotta be okay-... You gotta be okay with not being perfect.” John sulks, wincing at his own words. Would’ve been great to have this talk with his brothers 20 years ago.

“... Look, if you’re not getting it right, that just means I’m not doin’ a good enough job of teachin’ ya!” He perks, putting a hand on the glass with a determined look. “Go home, dust yourself off, and come back! Gimme a couple tries, and we’ll have something workable. I promise.”

Veneer sits up slowly as John talks, shocked at the strange level of kindness coming from John Dory. And… Yeah, it was probably weird how determined he was to teach what was essentially his captor, but… Whatever.

Veneer thinks it over for a moment, folding his hands in his lap like a kid in school. He was really expecting some kind of volley of insults, huh?

“.... You really think so?” Veneer asks after a moment, eyes flickering over to the door as if Velvet would jump out, pointing and laughing.

“... Yeah I think so.” John nods, standing up taller and prouder than he felt. Veneer was going to be a… long con. But heck, it was gonna be a lot easier teaching him than Velvet.

“.... Mmkay.” Veneer nods, standing up with determination. “... Yeah… Yeah! Okay!” He reaffirms, a small smile on his face, searching John’s face for acceptance.

… This kid really needed a better authority figure than his sister bossing him around. John could NOT be the poor loser for him to fall back on. That was just sad.

John gives him what he needs anyways, a confident nod and a thumbs up, Veneer perking up at the small gesture. This really was too easy. John stretches, small groan accompanying the crackling of his bones. “Welp. Let me give you a little JD tip. The most important thing you can do after practice: Go home. Drink some water. You probably smell like a gym locker.”

Veneer immediately recoils, standing up stiffly. “Ew. oh my god. Yeah. Uh.” He stumbles towards the door, “Bye.” He slips past quickly, nearly tripping over himself.

…

The door cracks back open quickly, Veneer’s head peeking back in, “Bye! Uh- thanks- bye-” The door slams shut, and just like that,

It’s quiet again.

And…. Then it stays quiet.

John Dory stays standing, performative smile stretched across his face before, slowly, he relaxes, a loud groan escaping him. “Man…” He huffs, finally allowing himself to collapse on the floor. “Ughhhhh… Why’d I agree to that.” John’s face lands in his palms yet again, scrubbing at his eyes until his vision goes blurry.

Man, he was tired. A self-imposed workout just to give himself a few more days of torture…. Good move, JD. Good move. At least ONE of them would be winning. Maybe he’d go to troll heaven for his altruism. Or… Y’know, if he went to the other place…. Maybe he’d get it off easy.

John huffs out a small laugh into the silence, the noise tinny against his ears. Stupid diamond prison. He peeks his eyes open, glancing at the pile of fish food on the other side of the bottle just as his stomach rumbles.

…. Whatever. He’s eaten worse.

John scoots over, grabbing the stupid food from the floor. The taste is just as awful as he remembers. Not exactly cleanly either, but it was food. He’ll survive another day.

Wahoo.

…

Man, he was tired.