Anything for Rainbow
"Are you going to visit Stormy in the winter again? Rainbow turned and asked him suddenly, as they walked side by side back to his sprite hut from the Color castle for the last time that summer.
"I don't know." Krys paused uncomfortably. "Maybe just for a short while. Do you mind if I do?"
Rainbow smiled quizzically. "Of course I don't mind! I know Stormy gets lonely by herself all winter. It's really nice that the two of you can be good friends!"
"Me and Stormy? Good friends?" Krys laughed out loud but stopped when Rainbow looked confused. "She's… a lot," Krys commented.
"Believe me, I know," Rainbow told him.
"I don't have to see her," Krys told her. "Not if you don't want me to. I'll do whatever you want, Rainbow. Anything for you."
At that moment they had to stop and let a bunch of colourful sprites cross the lane to go about their daily chores. The sprites cheered and waved happily. Two young sprites grabbed Krys's hands wanting him to spin them around and give them 'whizzy-dizzys' like he had at the midsummer festival. He obliged then sent them staggering happily on their way. Rainbow Brite laughed and waved them off then turned to Krys. "Actually, that reminds me, there is something I want you to do. But it's not about Stormy."
"Okay," Krys waited in anticipation.
"When you get back to Spectra, I want you to train up some sprites."
"What do you mean? They're already all trained or in training — they all learn how to polish at sprite school."
"I'm not talking about polishing. I want you to train some as house sprites," Rainbow Brite clarified.
"What? No! Rainbow!" Krys rolled his eyes. "I don't need—"
"Your people had house sprites on Spectra before, right? Before they all left?"
"Yeah. They took them all to the new home world. Just left the polishers behind. And good riddance to them!"
"Krys, you have so much work to do on Spectra, and I just want to make sure you have enough help with—"
"—With what? Washing? Cooking and cleaning? I can do those things for myself!"
"And organising, running errands, keeping records… Don't even think of them as house sprites, think of them more as—"
"Servants? Slaves?"
"Assistants."
They kept walking. Krys said nothing for a bit then laughed. "Can you even imagine? 'Bombo, go wash my clothes!' 'Not my job! I'm Bombo, first class polisher! Polish, polish, polish! No time!'"
Rainbow laughed at the accurate impersonation. "Well, maybe not Bombo — unless you entrusted him with polishing your helmet! That could work!"
Krys imagined speaking to the grumpy sprite. "Bombo, I have an extremely important polishing job that I can't entrust to anyone but the very best first-class polisher! Who do you recommend?"
Rainbow laughed. "That'd work like magic, I'm sure! You really have a way with sprites, Krys!" She turned serious. But it's not just about the work. I don't want you being alone all the time."
"I like being alone. Most of the time."
"But if something where to happen to you—"
"I have On-X."
"On-X is a robot horse!"
"So? He's a really good listener."
"I'd feel so much better knowing there was a sprite or two keeping track of you, following you around—"
"— jibber-jabbering and annoying me—"
"—so that if something were to happen, I'd know for sure that you wouldn't be left lying in a ditch somewhere on Spectra with no one even knowing or caring where you are!"
"Rainbow!" Krys whined.
"I'm sorry, Krys, I know I'm not your mother, but—"
"Oh, you don't sound like my mother, believe me."
"Please, Krys. Promise me? You said you'd do anything!"
"I guess I did." Krys took a deep measured breath and then sighed. "Fine, I'll see if I can train a few of the least annoying sprites back home on Spectra to do some non-polishing jobs for me. Happy?"
"Oh, that would mean the world to me," Rainbow Brite clasped her hands together.
Krys mused. "Maybe Fritzo could be my assistant. He's smart. And succinct."
"That's a start."
"And there's this tiny pink one just out of sprite school that I've never heard speak at all, real scared out in the open, and would definitely much prefer to stay indoors, probably even if it meant doing a bit of housework — Poncho, I think."
"Poncho and Fritzo," Rainbow Brite mused. "I love them already. Thank you, Krys." When she bobbed up and rewarded him with a kiss on his cheek, he felt he would have signed up every last Spectran sprite for house chores, even if if meant polishing the entire diamond planet himself, if it would guarantee him more rainbow kisses.