Faded Rainbows

Past, Present, and Future

After a few moments of struggles, he realized it was hopeless, and there was no method of escape. He could distantly hear his trolls muttering to each other, trying to figure out what their guests were doing to their king.

After a bit, the hug pile began to dissipate, the Pop trolls all laughing at the poor confused Trollex, who was finally able to breath. He looked between them all, eyes wide. "What in the deep ocean was that all about?"

Poppy gestured to the bracelet on her wrist, which looked similar to the one they'd given him. "It was hug time!"

Trollex could see Coral Blush out of the corner of his eye, and saw him watching with rapt attention. If hug time was what he thought he was, he hoped Coral didn't get any ideas. "Um, what is hug time, anyway...?"

"Oh! We Pop trolls hug every hour, to remind us that we're all together and all happy and everything is wonderful! The bracelets let us know when hug time is~." She gestured to Cooper, who floated over. "Ours are made from Cooper's fur!"

He looked at Cooper, who seemed pleased as punch. "But... HOW does it work? I... huh?"

He watched as Coral slowly floated forward, nervously tugging at his fingers. He looked up at Poppy and Cooper, smiling nervously. "Miss Queen Poppy, Mister Prince Cooper, can I have a hug time bracelet to...? I wanna hug everyone and make em all happy...!"

There was a collective D'Awwww from all gathered and Poppy sniffled softly, nodding as she tried to crouch in an attempt to get more on Coral's level. This ended with Cooper needing to steady her and keep her from summersaulting off into open water. "Oooh, of course!" She looked at all the curious and eager Techno trolls. "Next time we come, we'll bring a whole bunch so everyone can have one!"

The Techno troll tribe all cheered, Coral dashing forward to hug Poppy, knocking her into a cartwheel through the water. She giggled, holding Coral close and giving him a snuggle. Trollex sighed, smiling softly. While he was happy his tribe was enjoying other troll cultures, he wasn't too sure he'd enjoy hug time as much as the Pop trolls.

Once everyone had at last calmed down, Trollex was surprised to spot Guy diamond up on the DJ stand with DJ Suki. The two seemed to be discussing something. He swam over, tilting his head slightly and giving the Synthfish a gentle pet on the head. "What are you two up to?"

Suki smiled, gesturing to Guy Diamond. "We're making the finishing touches before we start up. Guy's going to sing, and I'll be taking care of mixing!" He had to admit, it was a good plan. Between Suki being the DJ and Guy doing vocals, this party would be nearly exactly like the ones he would throw.

He grinned, his ear fins wiggling a bit in his joy. "This is going to be great! I can't believe you're nearly done already. Do you want me to do anything?"

Suki shook her head as two Ampfish swam towards her. She smiled at them before addressing Trollex. "No, we got this. We just gotta wait on your lil fishy friend now. Beat was his name, right?"

Trollex nodded, and flicked his tail, propelling himself backwards slightly. "Yup! I'll go get him; I'm the fastest swimmer in my tribe, after all!" He zipped off, making his way back to LED castle. It was true; he was the fastest in his tribe, even without track skip. When he did have it, nothing could keep up with him.

His mom was the only one who used to be able to beat him. He looked out towards the deep ocean, smiling sadly. "Mom, dad... what would you guys say to all this? Letting land trolls throw a Techno rave...? Would you be proud of what I became...?"

As he grew close enough to the castle to make out its details, he hesitated, staring up at it. So much had happened in such a short time. He had managed to find friends and new family outside of the water, and learned that his trolls really did care about him. He looked down at his outfit, fiddling with the bracelet. Maybe they wanted him to stay king? He could ask, and make an offer similar to Lonesome flats. He liked the idea of giving them that option.