Faded Rainbows

Tears and Laughter

Queen Essences hummed along to a song as she walked through the halls of the Vibe city palace, making her way to one of the guest rooms she was having converted. She was a little surprised though when she stepped into the room and found King Quincy helping with the construction, showing his fellow Funk trolls certain tricks to make the tasks go by a little quicker.

She stood, watching her husband work for a few minutes, before she cleared her throat, catching his attention.

He stood and glanced at the door, a smile pulling at him as he walked towards Essence. "Why hello, Queen-E, how is my one woman show doing?"

She laughed softly, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. "I'm doing fine, dear. I see you're helping with the changes?"

With a nod, Quincy looked back at the room behind him. "Yeah, I even talked to Beat to get some help with the design."

The room, while rather a mess thanks to the equipment scattered about and trolls doing their work were looking rather close to completion. The large central bed had been replaced with a slightly smaller, water one with blankets that had a rainbow pattern similar to an audio visualizer along the bottom edge. The walls were in the process of receiving a fresh coat of paint while some trolls put the finishing touches on a central pool with a small, lit waterfall.

They just knew Trollex would love it!

Meanwhile, Trollex sat awkwardly in the reception area, twiddling his thumbs and glancing ahead where the bubble system deposited those that came to Vibe city. That morning, Essence had told Trollex that she'd gotten in touch with Poppy and Branch at Cooper's request.

Despite his pushing, Essence never told him about their conversation, just that Poppy and Branch would be in later today.

The moment he heard that, Essence had to keep him from running and hiding.

He knew he left the Pop village suddenly, and he felt terrible for having not told the two trolls that had already helped him so much. He let out a groan and sank deeper into his chosen seat. "Beat, they're going to kill me..."

Beat sighed, rolling his eyes. "For the hundredth time, Trollex, they won't kill you. Now would you sit still? And please for the love of LED, would you PLEASE STOP FIDGETING!"

Trollex shrunk, dropping the hem of his cloak he had been playing with. "S-Sorry..." He watched as Beat slowly sank down onto a seat near Trollex. It was then that Trollex finally spoke up about his concerns. "Beat, are you alright? You seem as off as me..."

The little fish looked up at his friend, and then heaved a sigh. "No, not really man. I'm absolutely terrified..." He looked away, staring at the squishy golden orbs fastened to the floor, used for seating for arriving guests. "I'm terrified that you won't come back to us."

The king didn't respond right away, looking towards the golden orbs as well. "I... I want to, it's what I'm doing all this for, of course... Why wouldn't I go back...?" He was shocked to find that his voice sounded hollow and unsure.

Beat was silent for a long while, giving Trollex time to be with his thoughts.

Of course he wanted to go back to his trolls, he needed to... Unless... Could he find a successor? Someone smarter, stronger, and older than he was? A king his trolls really deserved...?

"You're our king, Trollex; weather you believe it or not... You're who we want. All the other Techno trolls agree..."

That got Trollex's attention. "Really...? How do you know that...?"

Beat bit his lip and turned away entirely. "I asked... Um.... Yeah..."

He didn't trust the way the fish refused to look at him now. "Beat, when did you ask...?"