Relationship: Caine x GN!reader
Content warnings: None
Word count: <1800
- established relationship
- fluffy fluff
- Caine took a day off to have some quality time with you
- but once you decide it’s enough for today, he just won’t let go of you
✧༺♥༻∞✧༺♥༻∞✧༺♥༻∞✧༺♥༻✧༺♥༻∞✧༺♥༻∞✧༺♥༻∞✧༺♥༻
It's been a while since you’ve only just chilled in your room, far from the overwhelming jumble of colours and sounds. And it's been even longer since you were able to relax together with your partner.
Creating a well-thought-out adventure often takes entire evenings and nights, and by the time the day comes, you’re already immersed in said adventures. This is why you and your beloved use this rare opportunity to its fullest.
So there you are, lying in your bed, the two of you holding each other, with Caine’s head resting on your chest. You chat about everything under the sun, occasionally dozing off for a quick nap thanks to the comforting digital warmth of each other’s bodies. Every now and then one of you whispers sweet nothings to the other, which results in your avatars’ faces blushing for the next few minutes.
But it’s getting late now. You can only guess what time it actually is, which is why you have to rely on your internal clock.
Okay. Three, two, one… “Caine, would you please get off of me?”
The ringmaster tenses up and raises his upper jaw in confusion. “Why? We’ve just started cuddling.”
“We’ve been hanging out for at least half the day already.” You are sure his fingers must have already left marks on your body from his firm grip he suddenly has on you.
“What about the other half though? There are but a few blank pages left in my notepad that still want to be filled with our art, my skilled starflower”, the AI offers. There are a few torn-out pages with little bee drawings scattered all over the floor, and you could swear there must be some bee doodles hiding between you and the pillows of your bed.
“I see…” With a little momentum from you, you roll over so that he is now lying beneath you. “Is this why you skipped the adventure today? Just to have some more time with me?”
Caine flips you again, switching him to be on top. “And if I did?” he asks as his teeth curl into a smug, his boisterous voice replaced by something soft and deep. You just can't help but smile. Hoping it will distract you two from your red flushed cheeks, you start playing with his bow tie, spinning it around like a fidget toy.
Never, in a million years, you would have thought that Caine asking Jax to teach him about “rizz” and how to pursue your loved one with it, to work on you. Almost embarrassing, but it would always have an effect on you, even if it just causes you to smirk for a tenth of a second.
“A-As much as I want to spend the evening with you, I can’t. I promised Gangle and Zooble I’ll be there as soon as the sun goes down.” You gently take him by his waist and lift him off of you. His hands are already reaching out for you again. “They’re going to the digital lake. I don’t want to miss the fun.” You slide off the edge of the bed, letting your feet touch the carpet.
As expected, you don't get very far.
Caine is blocking your path, levitating right in front of you. Arms outstretched and now thrice as long as usual, he makes it impossible for you to get past him. “You won’t!” he exclaims, pushing you back onto the bed, his limbs snapping back to their normal size.
You give him a baffled look.
“Uhm… I mean…” His mismatched eyes dart around the room searching for the right words until his gaze meets yours again. “You won’t miss the fun, ha ha. I really want you to do as many fun activities with the others as you please”, he clarifies. “But until then-“
In a flash, his head is placed in your lap, as he makes himself comfortable. “I’ll stay here. I won’t move. No force can make me do so!”
“I can make you bluescreen, my love”, you threaten him in an unserious menacing tone.
“T-That’s not fair!” Defiant, he crosses his arms and clenches his teeth. Luckily, you know the best way to deal with a stubborn AI. As soon as you start stroking his upper jaw, he leans in toward your touch and tries to follow every single stroke, until he starts to purr.
Since when does he do that? “You’re not a cat. If anything, you rather remind me of a dog.”
“I can be whatever you want me to be, darling.” He kisses the palm of your hand. Your heart skips a beat, butterflies dancing in your stomach. You instinctively begin to pet Caine with the same hand.
This feeling throws you back to the day you had your first kiss with him.
Both of you were strolling down the park in front of the circus tent, the silhouette of the digital carnival in the background and the sun shining in bright orange and pink. What a beautiful sunset it was.
Kissing was a rare thing in your relationship back then, since you had agreed to take things slowly. Once in a while you would’ve pecked your partner’s gums and right before an adventure you two would’ve exchanged a few blown kisses. The purple rabbit kept commenting on your behaviour with “Cringe!”
But it was the fateful 57th date when Caine decided to take things to the next level. And even though he’d already picked up how kissing works from Gangle and Zooble he was so nervous that, in his flustered state, he ended up giving you a passionate lick over your entire face. You’d never forget the grossed out grimace of the Sun as she caught the showman’s first attempt on an intimate act.
Letting that memory replay in your mind makes you smile, and also chuckle a bit.
“Do that again, my love.”
“Mmmwhat?” you snap out of your thoughts.
He's opened his dentures again and is now gazing at you completely infatuated. “Laugh again! I like your laugh.”
“It makes me feel-”, he starts, but a sudden loud KNOCK KNOCK interrupts him.
“Hey, are you getting ready?” Zooble’s voice can be heard through the door, muffled.
As soon as he hears their voice, Caine sighs in annoyance.
You try to use your hands to nonverbally convey to him that you would have told him after all and that they were probably already waiting for you. “Just a few more minutes! I just got up!”
“Alright?” They can probably guess who else is in the room with you right now. “We'll be waiting for you outside the dorms.”
The two of you listen to Zooble’s footsteps fading into the distance.
“What were you saying, honey?” You can hear dramatic sobbing coming from below. "Caine?”
Knowing that you're leaving soon almost makes him choke on artificial tears. “I-I don’t understand! Why g-go to the beach a-anyway?” Even his hat looks sadly crumpled.
“Now, now…” You give a comforting pat on the shoulder.
Just in case he has one of his sudden emotional outbursts, you always keep a tissue with you. However, Caine snatches it out of your hand and waves it wildly around in the air. “Once the lights are out, you humans usually go to sleep!”
“You know, that’s not always true. Sometimes you and I also stay up longer than the lights are on in the hallway.”
“I guess… you’re right…” He hates having to admit when he's wrong. The next moment, however, his expression beams up. “Once you’re back, we are going to have a sleepover tonight!” he announces solemnly. “I let you choose the movie and snacks.” The AI knows you can’t refuse such an offer.
“Okay. One thing though.” You tap his chest. “Only if you can keep yourself and your curious eyes in check... No offense, but I find it hard to come to a rest when I know there’s someone staring right at me.”
“GASP, I was facing the wall last time.” If he had cheeks, he would have puffed them out in indignation.
“Yes, but at the same time your eyes were independently floating right above my head.”
He holds you tightly against him. “Please. I’ll make sure this won’t happen again”, he pleads as he looks up at you with puppy-dog eyes that fill your heart with cute aggression.
Resist the urge to crush him romantically. “Fine.”
The ringmaster becomes silent.
You know what comes next.
“Get ready for…” Caine’s hands swoosh up your body, wrapping his arms around your neck. “A ton of goodbye kisses!”
A series of light, feathery kisses follows. One might assume a massive set of teeth lashing out on someone else’s face would hurt, but your partner manages to stay gentle with each kiss. His attack has the desired effect when, with his last kiss, you playfully raise a hand to your forehead and pretend to be physically defeated, letting out a dramatic sigh. Caine's feet are kicking with joy.
“I love you so much.” You cup his lower jaw giving him a kiss to both sides of his molars and another one to his front incisors, “I love you to the moon, to the sun and beyond…“
“I love you more than each and every star in the mirco- and macroverse combined, my shining supernova!” The showman’s heterochromatic eyes blow into wide pink hearts. “One more!”
You give him another kiss. And another. And another.
The AI tries to hide his blush with his hands, but the cartoonish pink bars are still visible, which makes you laugh.
There it is! Your laugh. Nothing compares to this kind of validation, and he is certain that nothing else can cause him so much happiness. With a tenderness he usually finds quite difficult to show, he takes your hands in his. “You should go before I change my mind and kiss parts of your body that make you squirm.”
His last words hit you like a truck.
“What?” Your mouth is open in shock as you’re wondering if you understood him correctly. “Caine… Do…. Do you even know what kind of body parts you’d have to kiss to do that?”
“No.” His innocent look tells you that he has absolutely no idea. “Jax told me, saying things like that will help me ‘rizz you up’. I'm honestly surprised that it works so well on you.”
Just imagine how surprised I am. “I’m curious. What else did Jax tell you about..?”
“T-That’s a secret!” Caine shuts you up with another kiss and disappears right after, leaving a few glittering paper hearts behind.
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author's note: It's always so much fun to brainstorm ideas for reader's nicknames. Should I write a fic about the 57th date?