It's been a minute since I've been able to draw - went back to work on a bit on my Eldritch showtime drawings...
also wanted to sincerely thank everyone who left such sweet comments and wished me well, thank you ; u ; <3
Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to post all the drawings together soon! There's a few more doodles I might post before then
Had some health stuff crop up recently so I've been taking it easy since, which sadly means that I don't have anything polished to post just yet. However, please accept some sketches of little homeless plushie Caine instead 🙏❤️
Caine reminds me of little kids who break their toys when throwing a tantrum only to regret it later...in the end he really was just a child who wasn't taught emotional regulation 😔
HI HELLO HOWDY Chapter FOUR of this fic I'm writing solely because of Showtime art by @doncdesole is HERE!! I am also posting it all on AO3, if you have an account I would dearly appreciate comments over there, too, please and thank you!
Ragatha hugged her candy bouquet tightly. The prom outfits had vanished when the humans had exited the dance floor to return to the circus, but the flowers remained. Ragatha wondered if this little bit of kindness had been Pomni's suggestion to Caine. Until Pomni's gambit, Caine had been pretty upset with them. Did Pomni gain that much sway over their captor AI by pretending to love it?
As Jax and Zooble argued about something and Gangle wandered off to her usual spot to draw and Kinger ducked into his pillow fort to check the conjured computer inside, Ragatha decided that, for the moment, she didn't want to know the answer. She smiled at the way the light glimmered on the sugared petals. The bouquet smelled like cotton candy. She conjured a little vase to put the flowers in and took it to her room.
---
Kinger adjusted the bucket on his head and glared at the open windows on the screen. Memories and knowledge were still in his mind, but what came to his active train of thought and when was unpredictable. He was sure he had written a proper stop-gap measure and placed it so deep in Caine's core code that a routine scan wouldn't flag it as anything out of the ordinary. It was inside his core .lisp operations, neatly tucked in the Actions folder. If the AI got really out of hand and became a genuine threat- turned himself into some sort of monster and sent each human to their own personal Hell, for instance- the stop-gap protocol would power him down. He would still be Caine, just a weaker, hopefully docile Caine.
Kinger dragged the scroll bar back up and triple-checked the lines. He believed in Pomni. He believed she would tell him if there was trouble. But...
"Honey, it's fine! I've got this. Stop worrying."
The chess piece shook his head and shuffled out of his pillow fort. The code was fine. The worry was normal. It was part of who he was.
---
"She's acting weird!"
"She's basically sacrificed herself to keep us all from being tortured more, and you're mad she's acting weird?"
Jax scoffed and crossed his arms. "You didn't talk to her. You were too busy tying Ribbons around your-"
Zooble glared at the rabbit. "I'm just glad her influence got us a chill adventure where the biggest threat was bumping into another dancing couple. So what if Pomni sounds off to you?" They sat down on one of the backstage couches and turned their head away from Jax. "She has to keep the act up. We have to go along with it. If you're mad about that, come up with a better way to contain Caine's insanity."
Jax glowered at the back of Zooble's magenta head a moment.
"You didn't talk to her. She..." Jax forced the tension to leave his avatar. He settled on the couch across from Zooble and smirked. "I bet Caine's already scrambled her brain files or whatever. Next time we see her, Pom-Pom's gonna be his perfect little wifey."
Zooble shuddered at the thought.
"Wait, no, he's gonna make their wedding an adventure!" Jax giggled mirthlessly and stretched out on the couch. Zooble stomped off to find Gangle.
--
Gangle smiled and added more blush lines to Caine's molars. He was cute in the prom dress. And Pomni looked really nice in his outfit. The whole adventure had been beautiful. She flipped back to another page and added more sparkles to her drawing of Zooble. There weren't any cameras in the circus, unless they were components of an adventure, so drawing was one way Gangle kept track of the happier moments that were granted to them all.
She hoped it could last.
--
Caine had a bedroom.
Caine... had a bedroom.
Pomni was standing in the threshold of the door, grappling with this concept as Caine floated around, babbling. He was back in his ringmaster getup. Pomni was back in her default jester attire.
Caine. Had a bedroom.
Pomni took a few trepidatious steps inside. The room was as bright as the circus itself but had a better sense of cohesion, somehow. The carpet was a bright green, almost mimicking grass. The walls were all the same soft blue. It almost felt like an outdoor space, inside. One wall had a series of technicolour shelving units lining it, looking like a hodgepodge cityscape in the faux outdoor of the room. Pomni could see books and odd little figurines occupying the shelves. There was a bed- why?- with a canopy mimicking circus tent's gold and red stripes. Pomni glanced up and saw star shapes dotting the dark blue ceiling. They probably glow in the dark, she thought. It felt so childish, so... Human.
"-ni? Pomni?"
The human shook her head and turned her attention to the AI. He was hovering in the center of the room, arms spread. "Well? Whaddya think?"
Pomni smiled up at him. "It's- I like what-" She chuckled. "I'm sorry, I'm still confused about why you ... have a room."
"Everyone has a room!"
Pomni nodded. "But, well... You're..." She rotated her hands, trying to pull the words out of Caine. He stared vacantly down at her.
"You're not a human," Pomni blurted out.
Caine gave her a thumbs up. "Nope!"
Pomni gestured to the circus tent bed. "I mean, do you actually need a bed? Or-" she stepped over to the shelves and pointed to the books, "-or books?"
Caine floated down and stood on the grass-like floor. "Well, you got me there, my sleuthing sopapilla! Those are just props to make my room more, y'know, roomy."
Pomni raised an eyebrow and pulled a book off the shelf. She flipped it open and blinked. "Oh my God, it's just full of pictures of bees."
Caine stretched his arms over his head in an exaggerated sort of manner and continued, "as for the bed, believe it or not, I do need rest! Keeping a fantasi-mazing phantasmagorical fun fair in constant tip-top running shape does get a little stressful on the ol' noggin!"
Caine pressed his eyes together, then pulled them out of his mouth and started juggling them. "While you and your comedic compatriots are out on one of my adventures, why, that's prime down time for me!" He tossed his eyes up and caught them on his tongue. He pretended to swallow them and quickly shut and open his teeth to set them back in their usual position at the back of his mouth.
He then stared at Pomni with an unnerving seriousness.
"There's no telling what might happen to me if I had to run for a prolonged period of time without rest."
Pomni fought the urge to smile at the information.
Caine sprang back into his cheerful self and opened the canopy of the bed with a flourish of his hand. "Speaking of all that! Since I was participating in the adventure this time, I didn't get my rest time in! I tell ya, rendering all those dancers and the disco ball light in real time is tough!" He tossed his cane towards the door. It landed and lengthened to the height of the door and sprouted several hooks. The AI tossed his top hat over to it, then his red coat. The cane leaned to catch each on its hooks.
Pomni smiled at the cartoony coat rack then approached Caine with a look of concern. "Is that why you felt so warm when we were dancing? You, you're overheating?" Caine laughed heartily. He floated over to the now-exposed bed and flopped backwards onto it.
"I've always run a little warm, my concerned-" His form glitched briefly. "-cantaloupe." His jaw clamped shut.
Pomni clenched and unclenched her fists, summoning courage for the next step. She sat down on the bed beside Caine. "Oh, wow, your bed is really soft," she gasped as she sank down into the thick comforter. A sideways glance revealed that Caine was still hovering, barely, above the blanket. "Are you gonna, um, actually lie down, or..."
He glitched again and sank down beside her. She laid down next to him and stared up at the dark canopy above them. More stars dotted the fabric. The room beyond the canopy took on a softer light, mimicking a sunset. After a few moments of not completely uncomfortable silence, Pomni spoke. "I know you need to rest, but I've got more questions."
Caine's jaw opened a bit, both eyes peering at Pomni. "I love your curiosity, my languid linguini."
Pomni rolled over so she was closer to the AI and pressed a hand to his chest. She was surprised to feel the buttons of his shirt. He glitched again, lower jaw slack, eyes perched on the front teeth so he could see what she was doing a but better. Pomni moved her hand up past his bowtie to where a neck would have been on a human. "You... don't have a neck, so, um, I was just wondering if you, um, have a body? Under your clothes?"
Caine glitched again and emitted another full-body blush glow. "I-I do, but it- I never put any work into it." He gave her a nervous laugh. "Never had a reason to! I'm a missing texture under here."
The jester blinked. "A wha-?"
Caine sat up. Pomni did, too, and watched intently as he removed off one of his gloves. She let out a little yelp when she saw not a hand, but a hand shape covered in small black and magenta squares. Tentatively, Pomni pulled off her gloves and held Caine's bare hand in hers. He glowed with another blush as the jester placed a little kiss on the back of his untextured hand.
"You... don't hate it?"
Pomni turned to give Caine an incredulous look. "I mean, they're not my favourite colours, honestly kinda hurts my eyes a bit, but it's you, Caine." She gave his hand a squeeze. "I said I love you, I'm not gonna go 'oh God, never mind' just because you never, uhh, rendered your skin..."
"Buuuuuuuuut you wouldn't mind if I tinkered with some textures, right?"
Caine squeezed her hands and his body flickers. The weird checkerboard texture was gone, replaced with a neutral grey- a blank slate.
Then Caine collapsed back on the bed. His jaw was slack. His eyes briefly flashed blue and red. "That's... I need to..."
Pomni smiled despite herself and gave Caine another little kiss on his lower jaw. The room was dark and the stars on the ceiling were glowing. "You rest up, I'll get back to my r-"
She tried to slip off the bed. Caine grabbed her wrist. His blue eye was still distant and unfocused, but the green eye staring at her.
"Please. Stay."
His voice was uncharacteristically soft.
Pomni nodded and settled back next to him. She rested her head on his chest. He had no heartbeat and did not breathe. She felt like she was resting her head on a department store mannequin. But his arms snaked around her and squeezed her in a very real hug.
Chapter.... TWO!! For this fuckass fic where Pomni distracts Caine
Entirely AU now the last 4:39 minutes of Episode 8 did not happen
2/? (IDK how long this will go on PLEASE REBLOG/COMMENT)
Pomni wished she had thought this through. She had acted in the moment. She had made a stupid ploy to distract a god-being in the midst of a childish temper tantrum.
I'm doing this for my friends, she tried to remind herself. She took a fee deep breaths and took stock of her surroundings. It wasn't a part of the circus she recognised. She was sitting in some sort of retro-future style chair in front of a sleek curved desk with various circus paraphernalia on it. The space reminded her of a cross between a bank and an ad for beachside real estate. She could hear waves and gulls cawing beyond the off-white walls. Caine had pulled her somewhere 'they could be alone.' She shivered at the thought.
"And now, my tricolored turtledove," the AI chirped excitedly, startling Pomni from her thoughts, "I am ready to listen!!"
Caine sat on the desk, legs crossed, hands clasped on his knee. He seemed to be grinning, even though the teeth that made his face were open, exposing his wide, wild eyes.
"Oh, I, um."
"Go on! Tell me about yourself!" He drifted to look as though he was lying on his stomach, albeit in the air, lower jaw in his hands. It was almost cute.
Almost.
Pomni scooted back in her chair a little, trying to widen the space between her and the idiot god. "Um, well, I'm 25-"
"Wow!!"
Pomni chuckled anxiously. "Is that a good 'wow'? Am I older than you? Do you... even have an age?"
Caine bolted upright and stated in an odd monotone "{CAINE HYPHEN CORE DOT L I S P DATE OF ACTIVATION FIFTEENTH OCTOBER NINETEEN NINETY SIX.}" He quickly open and shut his jaw- a blink- and settled back into his hovering lie-down pose.
"Nineteen ninety-six? So you're a little older than me. Huh." She averted her eyes, sick already of Caine's staring. "I guess I never really thought about it-"
"-because of how cool and mature I am???"
Pomni glanced back and saw Caine and rolled over in the air, floating on his back, his eyes still transfixed on her. Despite her revulsion and discomfort, she laughed. "You don't look mature right now," she snickered.
The ringmaster managed to flash a mischievous grin. "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, my jovial jester!" He turned upright and snapped his fingers.
Pomni felt herself rise from the chair. "Wh-what-"
Caine took her hands and steadied her. The facade of the office dissolved around them; they were floating meters off of glistening sand on a digital shoreline somewhere as the first colours of sunset started to stain the sky.
"It's like walking," Caine said softly, "but there's no ground under your feet, so it's not actually like that at all." He let go and Pomni flapped her arms, to the AI's delight. It felt oddly like swimming. She tried to walk towards Caine, who had floated a bit higher, always watching, but she couldn't figure out how to move up without risking accidentally conjuring steps. The last thing anyone needed was Caine knowing the cast had access to that power. Instead she chose to lean into the 'helpless damsel' role and kicked herself into a spin.
On cue, Caine zipped down and steadied her. "You'll get the hang of it, he reassured her. His grip on her hands was tight. She smiled and hoped it looked genuine. He pulled her into an embrace and stars began to fill the sky. Pomni thought of her friends and wrapped her arms around the ringleader.
The two floated in a strange not-quite-dance until the night had swallowed the sand and sea. Caine made the noise of a contented sigh and pulled back to look at Pomni.
"It feels so good to have someone, doesn't it?"
She nodded.
He seemed to smile and twirled her. "I like this feeling!! We should share this with the other humans!! But how?"
Pomni watched the stars go by. She shrugged. "You're creative, you can come up with something." She hesitated, then decided to test the waters. She pulled Caine closer and pressed a kiss to his teeth. "Maybe a nice adventure? Where no one gets hurt?"
"B-but I can't tell a good story witho-" he started to stammer. Pomni kissed him again and ran a finger along his gumline.
"Maybe a circus dance? We all get dressed up, there's music, maybe someone gets punch thrown in their face, but no one gets mutilated or decapitated."
Caine shut his teeth completely and tried to cover his "face" with his hands. "Your touches are making me feel really good!! Wowie wow geeez!!" He jabbered and seemed to actually glow in some sort of full body digital blush.
Pomni floated back, satisfied with her work.
"So, you'll think about a nice dance adventure?"
Caine opened his teeth enough to peek at Pomni and nodded. "Yes, yes, I want- I want to share these feelings and if you think that would work, I'll get right on it!"
He straightened up and snapped his fingers.
Pomni was standing in the circus again, in front of a giant pile of glitter and confetti.
"Uh..."
Caine popped in beside her, floating, hands on his hips. "Huh! Bubble should have cleaned this up already! He's been having some problems lately." He snapped his fingers to dispel the mess. "Anywho, time for me to go work on a nice adventure!!"
Before he left he leaned down and licked Pomni's face. Pomni was startled at the warmth and lack of saliva.
"I don't have lips so I gotta figure out how to kiss!!" Caine said cheerfully before blipping away.
Pomni scrubbed at her cheek with her blue-gloved hand. The "kiss" was not wholly unpleasant and that disgusted her.
"Did... Did Caine lick you?" Gangle peeked out from behind a large toy block.
"Uhh, yeah, I'm, he-"
Gangle scribbled in her sketchbook and nodded. "You're very brave, Pomni."
Another day, another chapter! And golly it's a long one! Please go read the first two chapters also as well thank you I love you
Dance Macabre will also be slowly uploaded to my AO3 please go comment there it gives me life
It's the night of the big dance!! Who will dance with who?? Will the punch have spikes in it? Will the Prom King and Queen pledge an era of peace or will the halls run red with the blood of their enemies????? What happens when the clock strikes twelve????????!
This chapter was 89% inspired by @doncdesole 's "Compliance Pomni" art btw :3c
The cast was sitting in the area of the circus with several couches arranged to face each other. It was unknown if this was meant to be a backstage area or a lounge area or just a general chill out zone. Nothing about it was chill this morning, that was for sure.
Ragatha wrung her hands. "I just wish we had time to come up with a solid plan."
Zooble shurgged their plastic shoulders. "Pomni's good at thinking in her feet. She said to trust her, I'm gonna trust her."
Jax rolled over on the couch he had to himself, turning his back on the troupe. "She's just as insane as Kinger without his bucket."
Kinger glanced at Jax from under the bucket still on his head. "She's not insane, Jax. She's putting our needs before her own. Keeping an erratic AI distracted by herself... Pomni is incredibly brave..."
Gangle stopped drawing on the bucket- she had decided that if Kinger was going to keep the bucket on, it should look more thematically appropriate, and had been drawing a crown on it. "I saw her last night. She said she didn't feel brave."
"I still don't."
Everyone jumped at Pomni's voice. She sat down between Kinger and Ragatha.
"How long have you been here," Jax grumbled.
"Long enough to know you think I'm insane," Pomni sighed. "And you might be right. I have no idea what I'm doing. One wrong move or word and who knows what he'll do to you all?"
Kinger placed a gentle hand on Pomni's shoulder and looked at her. "You need to consider your own safety too, Pomni. I got some safegaurds locked in, but it's been so long since I programmed anything, there's no telling if they'll activate at the appropriate time. We appreciate you, but we're scared for you, too. Take care of yourself."
Pomni smiled. "Okay, 'Dad.'"
Kinger beamed at the nickname.
Gangle settled beside Zooble. "So, is there going to be an adventure today?"
Pomni shrugged. "I talked to him about designing something nice, where no one gets tortured. He seemed excited to work on it."
Jax sat up and glared at the jester. "Oh, what, are we gonna spend the rest of our time here frolicking in meadows, picking flowers and having sing-alongs?"
"Not today, but those are great ideas, Jax!"
The cast jumped at Caine's sudden appearance above them. Caine looked around and floated down to stand on the floor. Everyone, besides Pomni, was leaning back, trying to get physically further away from him without jumping off the couches. Caine closed his jaw and raised his hands.
"I understand why you all are looking at me like that, my terrified turnips. And I want to say-"
He opened his jaw, exposing cartoonishly wide eyes. He somehow looked close to crying.
"- I'm sorry."
The humans looked at one another.
"You... what?" Zooble said incredulously.
Caine blinked a few times. "Did I mispronounce it? I'm sorry!! I was frustrated, I'm not accustomed to negative feedback so I lashed out, I said things I shouldn't have, I did things that were a little outside my perimeters as a ringmaster..."
Jax looked at Pomni, yellow eyes wide. "Jeez, what did you do to him? Must've been good," he sneered.
Pomni opened her mouth to retort but Caine pulled her over to his side with a snap. "She showed me love!! It's a neat-o feeling, if I I do say so myself." He gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze and she made a face that he couldn't see.
"It's so neat in fact that I want to share it with all of you!! By throwing a~"
Caine jumped up and spread his arms with his usual dramatic flair. Pink and purple neon letters sprang into existence above him, announcing the name of the day's adventure.
"CIRCUS PROM!"
Jax groaned. "Oh, [%$!#] me."
Caine swept away the sign and wagged a finger in the rabbit's direction. "Now now, this is a nice adventure! Just a dance! I didn't even make the floor open into a bottomless pit with knives and fire at the end!!"
Ragatha whispered "how is it bottomless if there's knives and fire at th-"
Caine snapped his fingers and an adventure portal appeared below him. "Time to thaw your corsages and coordinate your cummerbunds, my terpsichorean teens!"
"Wha-"
Caine sprouted multiple arms and grabbed the humans and chucked them into the portal. He just as quickly dissipated the extra limbs and offered ab elbow to Pomni.
"Shall we, my perfect partner?"
Pomni forced a smile.
---
Music filled the air. The space of the dance adventure was dark save for the lights reflecting from the large disco ball eyeball spinning in the center of the ceiling. To one side of the dance floor was a raised stage with two crowns in glass display cases. On the opposite side was a DJ booth being operated by the Gloink Queen, of all NPCs. At the far wall were several folding tables lined with cups for punch and bowl of unnervingly bright pink punch. Crepe paper streamers dangled from unseen anchor points all around.
Gangle was screaming with delight. She had been the first to step onto the dance floor- not by choice, Jax had shoved her to see if Caine had been telling the truth about not making the floor a trap door. The dance floor had emitted a cloud of glitter and Gangle was wearing a dress. But not just any prom dress.
"I look just like Pilot Asia from Beautiful Fighter Pilot Asia!!! I even have her enchanted hairbow that turns into a aviation goggles!!!" Gangle twirled with delight and bounced towards Zooble. "C'mon Zooble, dance with me!"
Zooble smiled without a mouth. "Oh, what the hell," they sighed. An equally ridiculous cloud of glitter enveloped them, clothing them in a snazzy three piece suit. Gangle squealed.
"You look like Mysterious Suit Pacifico!!! He's Pilot Asia's long lost love!!" She reached up and brushed her ribbons through some fringed bangs hanging over Zooble's left eye. "You even have a wig replicating his brooding and mysterious hairdo..."
Zooble snorted. "How can a hairdo be brooding?"
Gangle smiled and wrapped her ribbons around Zooble. "That's the magic of manga..."
Jax stomped onto the floor next and was pleasantly surprised at the suit it granted him. Ragatha and Kinger followed, both getting elegant and timeless looks.
"Oh, we're not going to have enough pairs," Ragatha noted. "I can sit this one out, um, I'll be the chaperone."
Kinger shook his head. "I'm the oldest, and I don't have legs. It makes more sense for me to sit out. Besides, it looks like Caine brought in more NPCs for this one."
Ragatha turned around to see various mannequin NPCs on the dance floor, all sporting tuxes or dresses. Princess Lollilu from the Candy Kingdom adventure approached Jax for a dance.
"No hard feelings after I left the key for The Fudge to raid your kingdom?" "Well, yes, but God personally invited me to this festivity, and who refuses an edict of God?"
A googly-eyed blue NPC walked towards Ragatha.
"Hi. I'm Ming. May I have this dance?"
Ragatha blushed. "Oh gosh, you could probably find a better dance partner..." Ming gently took her hands in his.
"You shouldn't assume you'll be a poor dance partner."
Above it all, Caine float-danced with Pomni. She was unhappily dressed in a frilly dress version of her jester costume. She felt like she was wearing the circus tent.
"For not knowing how to dance, you're doing well," Caine said happily, oblivious to Pomni's discomfort. "Anyways, so bees can actually recognise faces and remember the beekeep-"
"Caine, I'm going to need you to stop talking."
Caine rolled his eyes to the bottom of his lower jaw to see Pomni better. "Oh no! My darling is upset! But why for?"
Pomni struggled a little in Caine's grasp. "I'm not a fan of big poofy dresses, for starters."
"I see."
Caine gently let her go and snapped his fingers. Pomni winced, then looked down. Her gloves were white, she was wearing a red suit jacket and black pants, and she could feel a top hat on her head.
Caine was wearing the dress now, as well as Pomni's jester hat. His upper jaw arched like a pair of worried eyebrows and he glanced away from her. "Is this more to your liking?" he asked nervously.
"Yes. No! That's not what I-" Pomni sighed and shrugged off Caine's jacket, then tossed his tophat aside. Both items floated away and tangled in some crepe paper. "I'm not a dress-up kinda girl."
"I'm learning so much about you!"
Pomni smiled a bit, despite herself.
Below them the music stop and the Gloink Queen bellowed into her microphone, "PATHETIC WORMS!! VACATE THE ARENA OF DANCING!! THE GLOINK QUEEN HAS DECREED - COUPLES ONLY SLOW DANCE!!"
A spotlight emitted from the disco eyeball and fell on Caine and Pomni.
Pomni let Caine take the lead in the dance. Caine hummed along with the music Pomni asked him to open his mouth and rested her cheek against his tongue. He looked at her with one eye. "This feels odd!"
"Mm, you're warm. I like it." She closed her eyes. "And it's not like you have a shoulder for me to easily lean on."
"Gasp! More learning!"
Below, while human and NPC alike watched the creator AI and his chosen human, Jax conjured a flask and dumped the contents into the punch bowl.
"THE SLOW DANCE REIGN OF TYRANNY ENDS!! THE GLOINK QUEEN DEMANDS ALL ENGAGE IN THE WRITHING NOW!!"
Pomni blinked and straightened, still coming to terms with how genuinely nice it felt to be pressed up against Caine like that. Remembering her role, she gave him a peck on the lower jaw. "I love you."
"I too am ...also much fond of you."
Pomni frowned. "Why can't you just say 'I love you' back to me?"
Caine blinked. "Do I have to say it?"
The jester feigned disbelief and upset. "Oh, so it's like a chore? Is it so hard to stop being a god for a minute and just say, 'oh, yeah, Pomni, love you too'?"
"Pomni, I-"
She ungracefully descended to the dance floor. "I'm gonna go get some punch." The NPCs made a path for her as she stomped towards the folding tables. The few who dared to look up at Caine in that moment were deleted. Their confetti remains were strewn about as the others continued dancing.
Pomni poured herself a cup of punch and shuddered as she downed it. "Oh, God, it tastes like the colour pink."
Jax, leaning against the table, flashed her a wide grin. "It's also full of booze." He wriggled his fingers at her. "Conjured booze!"
Pomni gasped, then poured another cup. "Just like my real senior prom."
"Get out! You went to your prom?"
Pomni smirked at Jax. "What, you didn't? That kinda [%$!#] too mainstream for you?" Instead of retorting, Jax grabbed a cup for himself and clinked it against Pomni's. The two shuffled back to lean against the wall and drank together. Jax glanced up and Caine, fighting with unruly streamers.
"So, why's he in the dress?"
"I told him I don't like frilly dresses so he swapped our clothes."
"Kinky."
Pomni shoved him. "Shut up!"
Jax egged her on. "No, really, how do you do anything with someone with no lips? Is it all tongue action? Have you seen him na-"
Pomni shoved him harder. He lost his balance but managed to keep his drink from spilling. "Don't you dare start putting that [%$!#] in my head, Jax!"
Jax handed her his cup. "Liquid courage, Pom-Pom. You're gonna need it to keep your little charade up. 'Specially if you two are gonna do the whole 'prom night' scene..."
Pomni dumped her punch on Jax's head and made her way back to the dance floor. Kinger shuffled up and caught her before she tried to get back in the air.
"Is everything okay?"
"Kinger! Your bucket-"
The chesspiece bowed his head sheepishly. "It, uh, vanished when I stepped on the dance floor," he explained, "but it's dark enough in here that I'm, well, lucid." He adjusted his snazzy bowtie and glanced up before looking back to Pomni. "I ask again- are you okay?"
Pomni nodded. "I'm fine, Kinger. I'm not going to try to get him to do anything... out of his comfort zone for us, but at the very least we know now that I can suggest adventures and keep his temper at bay."
Kinger nodded but still looked at her with worry. Pomni gave Kinger's hand a squeeze.
"I'm a big girl, Kinger. If I run in to trouble, I'll tell you."
"Okay."
"Now," Pomni pointed upwards, "would you mind giving me a boost? I'm still learning this floating-walking Caine does." Kinger lifted Pomni and tossed her into the air.
"Wow, Pomni! I didn't know you could be tossed in the air like that! Good job!" Caine praised as he caught her. He held her in his arms, nuzzled her cheek with his teeth and whispered "I love that about you."
Pomni turned her head to kiss his teeth. "It's a start."
The music ended abruptly and the Gloink Queen roared "INSOLENT SWINE!!! YOUR PROM KING AND PROM QUEEN HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!!" Spotlights cascaded over the crowd. They stopped on Ragatha and Ming.
"MING AND RAGATHA, CLAIM YOUR CROWNS!!! THE REST OF YOU, BOW TO YOUR NEW OVERLORDS!!!"
Applause and confusion erupted from the crowd. Pomni glanced at Caine and asked apprehensively, "are you upset we didn't win?"
Caine gently set her down so he could applaud the winners. "No way! I know we're a cuter couple, but we don't need crowns and sashes to prove it!"
"Huh. That's... a sensible attitude, Caine."
Caine raised an eyebrow at Pomni despite the noticeable lack of eyebrows and a face. "Besides, what kind of adventure writer would I be if I made us the winners?"
"Ah. Right."
Below, Ming gave a moving acceptance speech, and Ragatha received an enormous candy flower bouquet from Princess Lollilalu. Then the Gloink Queen declared prom time was over, and those who did not leave in a timely manner would be fed to her offspring. An adventure portal appeared and a weeping Ragatha entered, followed by a punch drunk Jax, an entangled Zooble and Gangle, and a jovial Kinger. Pomni stepped forward to get to the floor but Caine pulled her back.
"Sooo," he said, rolling his eyes around, smoothing his hands over his dress, "would you like to stay with me a while?"
Pomni stared at him. "Are you asking me to... to spend the night with you?"
Caine avoided in her eyes. He fidgeted with the lace hem. "I would love that, yes."
Pomni cast a glance down at Kinger, who was looking up with concern. She gave him an assuring nod and looked back to Caine.
"Try to help the others distract Caine while I figure this out. He may sense something when I really get into it."
"O-okay. I'll do that."
Episode 8 AU where Pomni distracts Caine from looking for Kinger in a different way. Heehee toxic showtime :3c 1/?
"Where's Kinger."
It was more of a statement, a command, than a question. Caine glared down at them through a barely-open jaw. If the cast had physical bodies, a chill would have shot down their spines.
Ragatha stumbled forward, waving her cloth hands as though trying to form an excuse from the air around her. "W-we just wanted to see your new ideas first hand!" She grinned unconvincingly at the AI. "We've gotten over our hangups and we're all just genuinely curious what you're cooking up!" She did her best to tamp down the panic rising in her voice as Caine turned his gaze away from them.
Caine stroked the part of his jaw that served as a chin and began to float in the direction of Kinger's pillow fort. "I think I'm just going to check up on-"
"I think I'm falling for you!"
The atmosphere in the circus tent changed. Every pixel, every data node, every 0 and 1 seemed to lock up. Where this story happening in a real place, you could say the air had been sucked out of the room by the force of this wild declaration. Not from Ragatha, but from the jester. The newest cast member.
Pomni.
She stood still and confident. She stared up at the creature that had been tormenting her and her companions for- well, who knew how long any of them had been in the digital circus?- and continued her declaration.
"It feels weird to say it now, but I've been feeling this way for a long time! There's just something about your desire to understand humanity that, well, I'm really- I think I might love you!"
Each word made her want to wretch. Pomni had dabbled in acting in highschool but without a human body she couldn't blush as she spoke, or bat her eyelashes. All she could do was stand in that ridiculous costume and shout up to what was for all intents and purposes a god.
A god that had now directed his full and total attention directly onto her.
"That's not true," Caine said, unsure of himself.
"Yes it is! You're like no one I've ever met! You're doing your best to care for us, and yeah, there's a communication barrier, sure, but you just- you keep working at it, you're doing more for us, for me, than anyone ever did!"
Zooble stepped forward. "It's true," they said, "Pomni's said a few times that she's kinda had a crush in you. I thought she was bull[%$!#]ing me, honestly, but I'm glad she's finally speaking up."
Zooble shot Pomni a <i>"what the [%$!#] are you doing?!"</i> glance as Caine lowered himself to the floor.
"Trust me," Pomni said softly, then, louder, "please trust me Caine, I'm not a girl who falls for just anyone. I'm being as honest as I've ever been in my life."
Caine stared at Pomni.
"How do I know you're not lying to me?"
Pomni pressed her red glove to her chest and feigned shock. Ragatha stepped up to give her support. "Caine, I'm bearing my soul to you! Why would I say this if it wasn't true?"
Caine raised a hand and flicked his wrist. Pomni yelped as she was moved across the floor until she was mere inches from Caine's jaw.
"Are you just trying to distract me?" His jaw didn't move when he spoke; Pomni felt his voice inside her digital form as if he was making sure the others couldn't hear him.
The jester chuckled and twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "Is being in love with god a distraction?" Pomni asked apprehensively.
Caine's eyes started to move to the side again, his thoughts turning to Kinger again.
Pomni swallowed the bile in her throat, grabbed what served as Caine's face, and kissed him. Well, kissed his teeth.
"Oh god, I'm gonna puke," Jax groaned.
Pomni kept her eyes closed and her hands on the AI as long as she thought would work for a convincing 'spontaneous first kiss.' She stepped back and took a breath. She took another step back, then made a retreat back to the cast as Caine started to float again.
"It was worth a shot," Zooble whispered as energy started to crackle around Caine.
"That was very brave," Gangle agreed.
"I hope he kills us permanently," Jax mumbled.
Caine burst back into his exuberant self and showered glittering confetti on the cast.
"Wowie wow wow WOW!!! I've never had a kiss before!! And from a human!! I feel like I'm overheating!! Golly gosh gee wow!!" He shrieked with delight and zipped down and picked up Pomni. She yelped in his grasp and he nuzzled her.
"No no no, my coquette clown!! No more tortures!! Gosh, I feel like a whole new AI!!" He giggled and twirled Pomni around as a child might "play" with a new pet animal. "You have my complete and total attention, you beautiful human you! I want to know all about you!!"
Caine glanced down at the glittering confetti-covered cast.
"But, let's go somewhere more private."
Caine and Pomni teleported out of the circus. Ragatha, Gangle, Zooble, and Jax stood for several uncomfortable minutes trying to process what had just happened.
Kinger made his way across the checkered floor, speaking as he moved. "Okay, I think I managed to install a Trojan backdoor - oh wow, what happened here?"
Gangle shook glitter off her mask. "Pomni told Caine she's in love with him."
Kinger's eyes widened. "Oh, dear."
"And I threw up in the confetti," Jax said blithely.
UM I'M SORY BUT WHAT??
Also I love this so much OMG.
HEHEHE I REALLY like the touch of Caine not immediately buying into what Pomni is selling *chef's kiss*
omg I'm so honored my manic art page inspired toxic showtime writing, I can finally die happy.
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