The New Ringmaster Part 2
reader works for the circus :: caine is the new ringmaster :: slow burn :: dividers: @sisterlucifergraphics
the amazing artist: @anessthetic
You and Caine left Kinger with Bubble so that he could focus on his own tasks, much to your horror, as you were kind of hoping he’d stick around for the tour. You didn’t know Kinger’s exact relationship with Caine, but considering his soft spot for him, you assumed they were like family, or at the very least, great friends. It would have helped to have him with you today, perhaps to act as a conversation starter so that you could avoid making things awkward with your new boss.
You didn’t even know what to say to the guy. He looked so intimidating, with his big hat and broad shoulders. Though, you couldn’t deny his lovely smile. Every time he looked your way with that dashing charm of his, all kinds of feelings would contradict, a battle of emotion happening inside of your own head.
Now, that isn’t to say you felt any particular way about Caine. You just met him. However, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t interested in figuring him out.
Kinger spoke of him fondly, but he was still Abel’s brother. They likely grew up together, meaning you couldn’t get your hopes up just yet. The new ringmaster had yet to prove himself, but deep down you wished he’d stay true to the old man’s words. The concept of finally having a boss that cared helped you slip into a chipper state, your hand already gesturing towards the front of the circus grounds to show him around.
“I think we should start here, but I must warn you, there’s a lot to go through,” you began hesitatingly, speaking as if he’d reply back with a snap or a sigh of indifference. You were used to Abel brushing you off since you were never his priority. The man always went off on tangents, explaining in detail how he had a role to fulfill, and redecorating the circus based on everyone’s needs didn’t include that.
You frowned at the thought of him, “You may also find the place a little dull. It’s a work in progress, but now that you’re here, hopefully everything will feel… right again.”
The ringmaster went silent at your warning, contemplating something. You held your breath, afraid that you had somehow crossed a line by throwing a jab at his sibling, but when Caine hunched over into a fit of laughter, you stiffened, not expecting it. Slowly, you found yourself giggling with him, unsure of what to do next.
“HAHAHA!! Hah, ha!” The ringmaster heaved.
“Haha… aha,” you didn’t know what was so funny. You basically confessed to having a terrible workplace, and here he was, chuckling away as if you’d fallen over face first into the pavement.
Did Kinger leave you with a deranged lunatic? Ugh, that man. That sweet, old man!
“Ohohoh… oh, my dear. You have NOTHING to worry about,” he began slowly, posture slumping slightly as he came down from his outburst, “I can assure you, I’m well aware of my brother’s horrific leadership skills.”
He swept away a tear from how hard he laughed, “It’s why I’m here! To make sure everything’s back in working order.”
You blinked a few times as you tried to process his confident declaration. He wasn’t like Abel at all, from the clothes he wore down to the very core of his being. They were like complete opposites.
“I see. Good,” you exhaled, allowing yourself that small reprieve. You had a nagging feeling the rest of the day would be hectic, so now was the time to get things out in the open, truly discover what made the new ringmaster tick. Was he actually on your side, or another C&A suck up, obsessed with giving them what they wanted?
“We’re relying on you Caine. Don’t mess this up.” You looked him straight in the eyes, ignoring the guilt that tugged at your heart strings from being too blunt. You had to remind yourself that you were doing this for the circus, your friends, and if he couldn’t understand that, then he wasn’t worth the replacement.
Caine paused again, except this time, he looked more serious. No more giggles threatened to burst from his body, instead he wordlessly expressed a shared understanding with you. The determination in his gaze was enough to root you to the ground, your previously raised hand lowering as your heart thumped deep within your chest.
“You may view my efforts as an act, but I swear I am nothing like Abel.”
You could have sworn you heard a twinge of anger in his tone, but it passed as quickly as it came, a bright grin already returning to his cheeks and filling his face with a radiant warmth.
Abel rarely smiled at you, and when he did, it was unbelievably fake. His mouth stretched at the edges, a threat veiled with forced acceptance, as if your presence was something he simply had to deal with for the sake of pleasing his employers. They never quite reached his eyes either, nor did the pair squirt or have any life to them, the light diminishing whenever C&A’s Board of Directors dismissed him from monthly check up meetings. Like a pet he continuously forgot to feed, he would occasionally show up to throw you scraps of meat so that you’d stay, but you were starving, hungry for more than the disappointing life he gave you.
“Just promise me that you’ll help us,” you pressed, swallowing the lump in your throat. “Please.” You hated begging, but this felt necessary. Caine now had complete control over everything, including your future at the circus. You weren’t going to take any of this lightly.
The ringmaster slowly removed his top hat and placed it around your head. It leaned over your eyes from where gravity had pulled it down, rendering you sightless. When you peaked out from under it, you saw Caine on the floor, down onto one knee with his hand placed neatly across his chest, identical to that of a knight being honored by the queen, he bowed.
“I promise that you can trust me!” He carried a look of absolute certainty that shifted into another smile, softer this time.
This earned him a genuine smirk of your own, “Pinky promise?”
Caine’s eyes lit up, “Pinky promise!” He lifted up his smallest finger for you to take. You hesitated only briefly before curling your digit around his.
“EXTRAORDINARY grip, my superstar! Now, about that tour–“
“Not so fast, Mister.” You were quick to interrupt, making him kneel back down. Caine spluttered, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. You giggled at his shocked expression, his jaw practically touching the floor at your unexpected audacity.
“I understand your lack of trust in me, but I can’t stay on the floor forever, my dear!” Caine flushed, his face now bearing a dash of red.
“Sore knees weren’t mentioned in the job description, I would know since I read it ten times over! How will I ever bend to inspect costume materials with bad legs?!” Caine rambled. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes for the hundredth time, though it wasn’t out of frustration like before.
“I wasn’t talking about that,” you continued, watching as Caine sunk in on himself like a kicked puppy, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Mmmmnope. I don’t think so!” He perked up.
“Your hat, Caine,” you counteracted, pointing at the accessory that still dangled from your head. It was more upright though from where you had pushed it back into place.
“Ohhh!” He snapped his fingers together, as if a light bulb went off in his head.
“It’s yours. For today, at least!” He chuckled, readjusting his bow tie even though it was perfectly aligned to begin with, “So don’t get too attached to it!” Caine winked.
“I don’t understand why you’re giving it to me.”
“I don’t understand a lot of things, but here I am, at this wonderful circus, getting the job of my dreams!”
“Well, uh… thank you, Caine? Let’s resume then, shall we? Before it gets dark.”
“WOAH, I was thinking the exact same thing! We have so much in common,” he gushed over the small fact as you helped him raise to his feet. When you tugged a little too hard, he fell into you with an oof, “Easy! I’m not going anywhere.”
“Stop teasing me,” you joked with an embarrassed, half-baked grin.
“Me? Teasing you? I’d neverrr. Ever!”
You jokingly nudged his arm and Caine flinched. He then looked down at where your elbow had been, a gentle smile enveloping his cheeks. Based on his face alone, you would have never guessed he engaged with banter before, he instead looked deprived of it. Caine shyly returned the gesture, more than happy to join in with your shenanigans, but it felt a little awkward, as if he wasn’t sure on how to reciprocate. It was a stark contrast compared to his loud ego.
The rest of the tour went by quickly since you and Caine fell into a comfortable pace, talking about potential shows and upcoming performances. When he told you about his ideas, you felt excitement for the first time in months. He looked so thrilled with the opportunity to change things around, and even asked you for positive feedback. Something Abel never did.
The more he spoke, the less you thought about him becoming an Abel 2.0. You just couldn’t envision him lacking passion with how he’d been acting all day.
“Sooo, do you have any more questions?” You turned around to face him, clipboard in hand. You picked it up when you showed Caine the staff room, mainly to busy yourself with scribbles upon being questioned about the hole in the table. It eventually ended up being useful so you held onto it.
You had already taken so many notes that you were going to show the others later. There were questions about previous performances since Caine couldn’t watch them from overseas, props to be ordered that he told you to write down in case he forgot, and doodles of bees from where the ringmaster had asked to borrow paper.
Caine shook his head, twirling his finger around his mustache, “I don’t think so!”
“Great! I hope you enjoyed the tour,” you replied casually, absentmindedly organizing your clipboard and slotting everything into place with a satisfying click.
“It was divine, my ironclad waffle cone! I have no complaints whatsoever,” he beamed.
It was getting easier to ignore the weird nicknames Caine picked out for you, well familiar with his peculiar personality from spending time with him all day. Hell, if he kept coming up with ways to improve the circus, he could call you whatever he liked.
“You know where your wagon is, right?” You glanced at the collection of wagons nearby, all of them lacking proper care from where Abel had left them unattended. Despite this, you could still tell which one belonged to who.
Yours was painted in your favorite color, flaking around the windows and wheels from the lack of maintenance, but the love you put into the craft made up for it.
Zooble’s had a variety of things, as if they couldn’t make up their mind, but shortly after Gangle attached her wagon to theirs, it became more coordinated. Plushies and anime figurines could be seen peaking through the polka dot curtains along with strawberry glass cups and matching cutlery. It made the deteriorating wood somewhat welcoming.
Jax’s looked a bit childish and was coated in a dusty shade of pink. Banners hung low around the wagon that read out all sorts of punchlines, and there was also a massive “do not enter” sign etched out on paper, lazily taped to the door.
Next to the assistant was Pomni’s wagon. It had red and blue stripes all over with dramatic, stage like curtains. Since she was the last to join the circus, Abel put a little more thought into hers as to “welcome” the jester, but she was quick to know of the old ringmaster’s neglect as she wasn’t an exception to his damaging habits. There were scrapes and rips along the bottom.
Ragatha’s had white and red checkers and smelled strongly of baked goods. Wooden horse statues stared outside of her window and it wasn’t as dirty as the others. You had no clue how the magician kept everything so clean with the tight schedules Abel gave her, but you had to applaud her for it.
Kinger had one, but it was plain since he moved out long ago. Now it’s just used as a pillowfort, though it was missing the actual pillows. Whenever any of you got into arguments, you’d talk things out in there, or gossip about other rivaling circuses. You didn’t know how Jax knew about the adrenaline junkie that supposedly got stabbed during a knife throwing act, but he did have access to many places, so you concluded that was the reason.
“Yep! If I’m correct, which I am, it should be righttttt….”
Caine’s finger moved around with flair.
It landed directly onto the wagon right beside yours.
Just like Caine, it was grand and extravagant. The paint encasing the wagon seemed like real gold, and what looked like trumpets stuck out from every angle. A red carpet that took the place of a doormat presented his door to you like a celebrity, and the front of the wagon had its very own bow tie and an overwhelming amount of stickers. It was kind of tacky, but cute.
“Oh! We’re basically roommates,” you hummed.
The new ringmaster stared at yours, “You poor thing. Abel truly left the place in filth, but don’t worry! Everything will be fixed by tomorrow.”
When Caine said tomorrow, you didn’t think much of it. You assumed it was an exaggeration to get another giggle out of you, and you did, a tiny laugh escaping through parted lips as you waved him goodnight.
Hence why you were very surprised the following morning, head pounding after waking up to the sound of chaos. Construction sites were now littered around the circus grounds and angry voices could be heard outside, mingling with Caine’s gusto.
“What the fuck happened to my wagon?!”
“No swearing! You should know this by now, Jax.”
“My anime figurines! You’re not supposed to handle them like that!”
“Bubble wrap! Has anyone seen the bubble wrap?”
“My camera! Do you know how much footage I’ve recorded on that?!”
“Nonsense, Pomni! I can just buy you another!”
“Nobody wants your stupid pastries, Ragatha.”
“A-Actually, I would like one.”
Voices merged together as you tried to cover your ears with pillows. When nothing worked, you sat up with a groan and cracked your back, yawning.
Coffee first, furious crowd after. You nodded to nobody but yourself and started the machine.
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