Poppy, looking for her long-lost friend, asks the king of techno if he has seen her.
Trollex stared at the group of pop trolls, his eyes wide in shock. How they managed to get down here is beyond his understanding. Well, not necessarily. But they still shouldn't be here.
Nonetheless, he plasters a smile on his face as he swims up to the group of newcomers. Upon closer inspection, he sees the group wearing suits with helmets. He glances back to see his citizens giving him knowing looks. He ignores them, turning back to the group.
A troll who looks like pink personified swims forward. "I'm Poppy, queen of the pop trolls." Her voice wavered slightly and her nose scrunched a bit. Trollex didn't say anything, although he was curious if she had recently discovered there were other troll tribes.
Poppy shakes her head, resuming eye contact with Trollex. "Are you King Trollex? We're looking for my friend, and we were told he would know where she is since she was last seen around here."
The crowd behind them share glances and mutter amongst themselves. Trollex turns to give them a look that instantly shuts them up. He turns back to Poppy and her entourage, clearing his throat.
"Yeah, that's me." He says with false confidence. "Who are you looking for?"
Poppy wrung her hands. "It's our friend Suki. We were kids when she left, but She was about this tall, had hot pink skin, orange hair, blue nose.." Her hopeful expression made Trollex's heart sink.
"That…doesn't ring any bells. Sorry. No Pop trolls ever came here to my knowledge."
The group of pop trolls let out groans of disappointment. Poppy looks like she's on the verge of tears. Trollex sighs, knowing his wife might be mad if he turned them away without informing her.
"Why don't you guys stay for a bit?" He blurts out. "Eat something before you go, all that stuff.'' Beat, who'd been at his side when the group arrived, rams into Trollex's side. He looks up at him as if he's crazy. Trollex gestures for Beat to stop and start heading to the palace. The button fish tries to protest, but Trollex gives him a look.
The only one who noticed their interaction was Branch, his eyes darting between the two. He turns to Poppy, but the queen is too despondent to notice.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." Poppy says with a small smile. Trollex returns it with one of his own and gestures for the group to follow him..
.
.
The group looks up in awe as they approach the LED palace. Trollex leads them past the guards, ignoring the weird looks his guards give him as they eye the pop trolls swimming past.
Trollex notices the palace staff are still scrambling to take down certain portraits of his wife, so he diverts the group's attention to the dining room that's currently empty.
"Lucky for you, the palace has a few air bubbles put into place for…certain animals." Trollex lies smoothly. The pop trolls look reluctant but eventually peel off their helmets. Their eyes widen in disbelief as they realize they can still breathe. Trollex chuckles.
"Yeah, it's cool. Just don't leave this room. The air bubbles are few in between."
The group nods, and Trollex notices Poppy looking around. "Is it just you living here?"
Trollex immediately shakes his head. "No. A lot of the staff choose to stay here, my wife is somewhere upstairs, and-"
"You're married?" One of them blurts out. The troll in question gets elbowed by another. Trollex nods in response to the question. Branch raises a brow.
"Really?" He questions. "You look pretty young." Poppy nudges Branch for his comment. "No offense." Branch adds. Trollex waves it off.
"No, it's cool. We're childhood sweethearts. We are kinda young I suppose." Some food is brought in and laid across the long table. One of the servants timidly goes over to Trollex and whispers in his ear. Branch perked his ear to listen, but it sounded like they were speaking in a different language.
Trollex pulls away from the servant and nods. He silently motions to others and turns to the group. "Go ahead and eat." Trollex starts. "I gotta go take care of something, but if you need anything just ask my right hand, Synth." A purple techno troll with pink hair enthusiastically raises his hand at the mention of his name. Trollex swims out of the room, going to where he was informed his wife is waiting for him.
Despite being underwater, Trollex's hands felt clammy. His wife is the most laid-back troll he knows, but boy is she scary when she's mad. With a deep breath, Trollex pulls open the curtain to his and Suki's room. Right behind the curtain is a hot pink techno troll with orange hair tied
into a ponytail. Instead of a heart on her chest, she has a gemstone on her stomach, and at her hip is a sleeping child no older than two.
"Hey Deej," Trollex begins. His wife doesn't look amused. Her pink eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you mind telling me why the staff are taking down my pictures?"
Trollex chuckles nervously. "Oh, Beat didn't tell you?" He squeaked.
The mentioned button appeared beside the queen, his gaze hard. The pink troll smiles softly at him and pushes Beat back. "He told me about our…visitors, I just want to hear it from you."
"From me?" Trollex says dramatically, placing a hand on his chest. His face falls after a moment when Suki just glares at him.
"Fine," He pouts. "Some pop trolls are here looking for you. Their queen mentioned you specifically. I didn't say anything, but they looked so sad, and you said you'd want to reconnect someday-"
"I'm not ready." Suki interjects. Trollex nods, his face empathetic.
"Alright. I get it." Trollex mumbles. "They're in the dining hall right now. I'll keep an eye on them until they leave."
Suki nods at her husband's words, her face unreadable. Trollex reaches out for her hand. Suki blinks, her eyes meeting his.
"Do you want me to keep in contact in case you change your mind?" Trollex asks, his voice soft. Suki's face falls, her resolve crumbling with waves of intrigue and regret. She opens her mouth to speak but stops as the guppy in her arms begins to stir. His glowing pink scales flicker erratically, and his snout scrunches up. Suki lifts the small boy, holding him to her chest to shush his cries.
It works like a charm, the guppy's tiny tail wrapping around Suki to pull himself closer as he sighs in contentment.
"Limited contact, I suppose." Suki mumbles. Trollex nods and squeezes Suki's hand. Suki squeezes his in return, a faint smile on her face.
The intimate moment is broken when Beat starts screaming. Trollex and Suki look down to see their now awake guppy pulling Beat up by his antennae. Trollex quickly grabs Beat while Suki goes to loosen the toddler's fingers, both of them urging the boy to let go.
A butler arrives to let Trollex know that Poppy is asking for him, but backs out of the room upon seeing the commotion. "I'll come back later!" He calls out, his eyes remaining on the king and queen until he swam back past the room's curtain.