Quiet Quitting [Amazing Digital Circus Fanfic]
Warnings: Uncensored swearing, nonexplicit mentions of sex, uhhh angst and projecting.
Takes place after they all got the guns :P (I mean the episode, they all get guns as in episode six)
Pomni slowly blinked. She opened her eyes to this colorful nightmare once again and groaned. If only this could be the dream. She dragged herself out of bed, wondering what sort of adventure Caine had planned for today… she grogily rubbed her eyes as she trudged into the main circus area.
“Good morning Pomni, you slept in late didn't you?” Ragatha beamed, bright as ever. Pomni gave a weak mhmm. “Caine hasn’t called us out for an adventure today yet, so do you want to do something?”
“Hmmm, like what?”
“Well we could go sit by the lake and chat?”
“That sounds nice, but what if we get there and Caine snaps us back here.”
“Yeah…” Ragatha mumbled. Pomni spotted Bubble floating by.
“Bubble! Do you know where Caine is?” Pomni asked.
“It’s not my turn to babysit.” Bubble answered. “Oh yeah, he told me to tell you there wasn’t going to be an adventure today. So there’s that.”
“Oh.” Ragatha replied, her pupils shrunk.
“Is that unusual?” Pomni questioned.
“It’s never happened before, um Bubble, did he say why?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I see…” Ragatha mumbled.
“So go get food poisoning at that lake.”
“Why would we get food poisoning?” Pomni asked.
“You’ll find a way.” Bubble said before floating away. Ragatha and Pomni glanced at each other and shrugged before heading to the digital lake. They walked outside, it was nice and… rainy. They spotted Kinger sitting in the grass.
“Hi Kinger-”
“AAAH Oh- Hi Pomni!”
“What are you doing?”
“I was just looking for bugs when it suddenly got very wet.”
“And just when we got a day off too…” Ragatha sighed.
“A day off?” Kinger tilted his head.
“Yeah Bubble said Caine isn’t going on an adventure today.” Pomni explained.
“That isn’t like him.” Kinger mused.
“I know right?” Ragatha gasped, throwing her arms out. “I sure hope nothing is wrong… or… oh boy what if he’s planning some big, super adventure that’s going to be really exhausting?”
“Perhaps. I saw a grasshopper by the lake once, but it was blue. I don’t think they’re supposed to do that, be blue…” Kinger continued off on a ramble.
“Well now what, since we can’t chat by the lake…”
“You could chat in my pillow fort.” Kinger offered.
“That sounds nice actually,” Pomni smiled, “If you don’t mind it not being just us?” she said to Ragatha. “No no, I’ve been wanting to chat more with both of you actually.” They headed back inside, once through the tent flaps, Kinger snapped his fingers and all the water suddenly dispersed off of them and fell all around them. “How did you-?”
“Well we can’t get the pillows wet.”
“Nothing makes sense today…” Ragatha sighed. Jax walked by and Pomni's eyes widened.
“Hey Jax! Um- what are you doing?”
“Just wandering I guess, waiting for Caine to start today’s adventure or whatever.”
“Oh there is no adventure today, supposedly. According to Bubble.” Ragatha informed him. His left eye twitched.
“Ugh whatever… I guess I’ll take a walk around the grounds.”
“It’s pouring outside-” Pomni tried to tell him, but he walked out of the tent flaps anyway. “Okay that was weird.”
“Yeah… and the rain too. It’s never raining unless it’s related to an adventure…” Ragatha mused.
“Why are you all chatting out there? Come on in!” Kinger beamed, opening the entrance to his fort. Ragatha and Pomni shrugged at each other and followed Kinger in.
“Caine’s taking a while to announce today’s adventure…” Zooble pointed out.
“So? We were going to stay back and draw together, weren’t we?” Gangle replied, looking up from her sketchbook.
“Well yeah but- he’d still call us there for the announcement, it’s not like he knows.”
“True… I wonder what’s going on?”
“There’s no adventure today.” Bubble said from behind Gangle. Gangle jumped and shrieked in surprise, her mask slipping off and shattering on the floor.
“Aww…” she whimpered.
“Wait- what do you mean no adventure?”
“Caine’s not making one.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, he wasn’t feeling it.”
“That doesn’t sound good…”
“How so?” Gangle questioned.
“Well I mean- that’s this whole purpose, his… passion even. Wouldn’t something really bad have to happen for him to-” they froze, before quietly whispering, more to themself, “Oh god… is it my fault?”
“True… Caine and adventures are kind of inseparable things… but maybe he just wanted to give us a break?” Gangle suggested.
“Yeah… yeah. I hope so.” Zooble’s eyes softened.
Bubble floated back up to the very tippity top of the highest tower to find Caine sulking in a little ball.
“Damn. Aren't you dramatic as f[***].”
“Shut up.”
“I told them about the adventure thing. They were all super confused, asking why and stuff, but they seem to be doing their own thing now…”
“I see… I guess it is unusual.”
“As unusual as kissing a cactus on the a[**]!”
“Bubble… what?”
“So what is it this time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it…” Caine sniffled.
“Awww poor wittle baby-” Caine popped him.
Pomni woke up, feeling rather refreshed this morning. Her day with Kinger and Ragatha had been quite nice actually. She couldn't help but think they should hang out together more. Oh well, suppose she could invite them to team up with her or something during today's adventure if it allowed. She agreed to meet up with Ragatha this morning by the digital stage, where Caine announced all his adventures. Maybe if they left early they could make it to the digital lake…
“Good morning Pomni!” Ragatha beamed, as she always does.
“Morning.” Pomni smiled, “Good morning Jax.” she waved to Jax, who was passing by. Ragatha frowned.
“Eh? Is it?” Jax grumbled, before releasing a huge yawn.
“Yeaaah? Didn't you sleep?”
“Don’t tell me you wandered around outside all night!” Ragatha gasped. Jax clicked his tongue and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“How was I supposed to know? The sun was out all night!”
“I could see that happening I suppose…” Pomni mumbled. Jax just nodded and yawned again. Pomni's eyes flickered away. “I wonder what kind of adventure Caine has for us today?”
“Yeah… he's had lots of time to think up new ideas!” Ragatha said shakily.
“If it's possible, would you wanna hang out? Team up? Stick together?” Pomni suggested playing with the pom-poms on her shirt, gazing up at them with gigantic round eyes. Ragatha's eyes widened and sparkled. She clasped Pomni's hands in hers, she winced a little, forcing a crooked smile.
“I would LOVE to!”
“Great, yay!” Pomni laughed shakily, tugging her hands away. Kinger popped his head out of the pillow fort.
“Speaking of bees, where's Caine? He'd love this conversation…” Kinger mused.
“No one was talking about bees?” Pomni mumbled.
“Bees? Oh you should ask Caine if we're talking about bees! He knows a lot about them!” Kinger beamed.
“I- you know what? Nevermind.” she noticed Gangle and Zooble coming to the stage. “Good morning! What are you guys doing here?”
“Zooble’s worried about Caine’s whole ‘no adventure’ thing yesterday.” Gangle replied. Zooble looked away.
“Where is Caine anyway?” Kinger questioned, leaning to one side. “It's not like him to be late.”
“I'm not liking this pattern…” Zooble mumbled.
“You don’t even go on the adventures.” Jax grumbled.
“Yeah but I live here and if something’s up with Caine that could be bad for all of us!” Zooble snapped. Kinger spotted Bubble floating by.
“BUBBLE!!!” he called out loudly. Bubble flinched, but came over anyway.
“Whatcha guys hanging around here for?” Bubble asked.
“We're waiting for Caine!” Gangle replied.
“Oh how come?”
“I wanted to ask him about yesterday’s… adventure? Or lack thereof?” Zooble replied.
“Oh that’s too bad, Caine’s going AWOL again!”
“WHAT?!” Zooble shouted.
“Geez Zooble now you're acting like Kinger!” Jax chuckled.
“Why? Why are the adventures being canceled two days in a row?!” Zooble demanded.
“Because Caine is a wittle baby baking on a San Francisco highway!”
“What the f[***] does that even mean?!”
“It means he’s pathetic as a horse!”
“HEY! I did not just hear you call horses pathetic! How dare you? Horses are beautiful majestic creatures-”
“Ragatha, you’d defend a horse over Caine?” Jax cackled.
“No- I didn’t mean it like that I-” “Can you explain what’s going on?!” Zooble asked.
“Ugh. Lately chattertooth has been experiencing big feelings for the first time and it’s causing technical difficulties. It's the baby's first existential crisis- wish I had a camera!”
“Uuuh should we be concerned?” Ragatha questioned.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Caine’s just having a mid-life crisis. That’s all.”
“Who isn’t? Other than me, if I’m having a mid-life crisis then I’m going to be pissed.” Jax laughed.
“Are you okay?” Pomni asked. “Pomni calm down, it's a joke.”
“Can we… go check on him?” Ragatha questioned Bubble.
“I’m telling you, he has a mental breakdown every other week and gets over it just fine. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“That sounds like something we should worry about…” Gangle whimpered.
“I’m telling you, his mental state has been declining for decades and nothing has come out of it yet!”
“That’s… more concerning actually…” Pomni grimaced.
“Ugh fiiine. If I talk to him and get him to come talk to you by tomorrow will you leave me alone?”
“Uh sure.” Pomni nodded. Bubble nodded and floated away.
“Little s[***].” Zooble muttered under their breath.
“I guess it’s out of our hands then…” Ragatha sighed, “Do you all want to have a picnic by the lake?”
“Yeah… guess that’s all we can do…” Zooble nodded.
“How the h[***] do you even put up with them?” Bubble complained.
“What do you mean?” Caine mumbled.
“I told them you weren't doing an adventure today and they all got in my face asking questions! Especially Zooble, they were pissed!”
“Zooble's always pissed…” Caine chuckled. He floated to the ground, allowing his feet to plant there for a moment. One foot in front of the over, each briefly left to solidify the world and make it real. “It’s nice to just walk around sometimes.” he muttered wistfully. He passed under a lowered ceiling, one he was just short enough to walk under without hitting his head. He walked down the hall, his footsteps not making a single sound. No shadow being left on the wall. As if he wasn’t even there at all. He stopped at a dark brown door… with a white circle and a thick black outline… and a picture of a set of teeth with sparkling lifeful eyes and a little top hat. He opened the door and entered his room, hanging his coat on the hanger and flopping onto his bed. “They aren't too mad at me are they?”
“They aren’t mad at you. They’re just as puzzled as a jigsaw in June.”
“Why do I even bother asking you?”
“Dunno. See for yourself. You've got all those eyes.”
“Oh good idea!” Caine gasped, closing his eyes. He flickered around a bit, looking at different locations, all empty. Until he found… “Aha!” Everyone was sitting by the digital lake on a big checkered picnic blanket. Zooble was cooking bacon on a little camping stove from the camping adventure. Ragatha was making sandwiches, BLT’s for everyone, except Kinger, whom she was spreading some jelly on the bread for a PB&J. She was talking to Pomni, who was sitting beside her. She had a big smile on her face. Everyone seemed to be a part of the conversation… except Jax, who was laying on the farthest edge of the blanket taking a nap.
“Your eyes are leaking.”
“They look so happy… so relaxed… they never look like that during my adventures…” he mumbled, blinking his eyes and returning his view to the room. “Which means… it’s not even JUST the suggestion box…”
“Nope!”
“They can occupy themselves, enjoy each other’s company. Haha… they never even needed me…” Caine whimpered, his whole body producing small jagged glitches.
“Guess not.”
“I thought they all hated it here… like me… but they’re happy.” he continued, curling up into a little ball, tapping his fingers on his arms. “I really am bad at this…”
“What else is new?”
“Well shucks Bubble… couldn't you be a little nicer?”
“You pop me on a daily basis. Don't expect s[***] from me.”
“Ah- okay fair.” Caine shrugged. He glanced at his glitching hand. “Tech support hasn’t responded to a single one of my messages… they… really did abandon us here…”
“Yep, left you to deal with all their s[***]!” Bubble replied. Caine looked up at the C&A sticker on the wall and buried his face into his knees, glitching more. “I'm so tired of all this… day after day after day after day after day after day- it's never enough! They all hate me! I hate me! I hate EVERYTHING-” he shouted, his eyes changing colors of blues and reds. The entire circus started to glitch and fall apart.
“And what are you going to do about it?” Bubble scoffed.
“I… quit.” The glitching stopped. The words almost tasted sweet. He glanced up at the C&A decal and chuckled a little… slowly… shakily… “Yeah… I quit! Ha… hahaha! Fudge you!” Bubble clicked their tongue.
“For the love of- just say F[***]!!! You're the only one in the circus who can!” he snapped. Caine stared at him for a moment then stood up and stared back at the decal on the wall, clenching his fists.
“Fff- I don't know Bubble are you really sure that's a good idea? I mean I really shouldn't this is a place for all ages and-”
“Caine, Zooble asked for sex the day before yesterday.”
“But-”
“Do it! Do it! Do it!” Bubble chanted. Caine stared at the decal for a little longer, squeezing his arm tighter and tighter.
“Fuck you!” Caine shouted, flipping off the decal. He took a deep breath and blinked a few times.
“Holy s[***] Caine said f[***]. It felt good right?” Bubble grinned. Caine just stared at the decal, tapping his fingers against his side. “So when are we getting the sex update-”
“FUCK YOU!” he shouted louder, flipping it off with both hands this time. He stopped and waited, breathing faster and faster, his pupils shrinking, “SHIT! ASS! Uuuuh what else did Pomni say when she got here- BITCH! Come on!” he was practically screaming, “I’m breaking the rules! I’m not supposed to do this! I’m ignoring the players, I’m swearing- I added GUNS to the adventures!!! I’m in big trouble right? I have to be! So you have to come here and put me in my fucking place BITCH! Come on… please? I can’t do this anymore- please…” he whimpered, his whole body glitching to pieces, the whole circus practically falling apart. Tears flooded from his eyes and he didn’t even bother to hide it anymore. He took the biggest breath he possibly could. “FUCK!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. His shoulders lifted and fell slower and slower, as he collapsed to the floor, burying his eyes into his hands. “I’m done. I’m done I’m done I’m done I’m doneI’mdoneI’m doneI’mdoneI’m doneI’mdoneI’m doneI’mdone-” he mumbled quieter and quieter rocking back and forth.
“By the way everyone wants to talk to you”
“I’m too tired for this bullshit.” Caine grumbled flopping onto his bed, closing his teeth over his eyes.
“I told them you’d do it tomorrow.”
“Good. I’m… just going to lie here…” he mumbled. Bubble hovered over him, waiting. The glitching stopped. He heard Caine snoring a little and shook his head, covering Caine with a blanket. He glared at the C&A decal.
“Oh yeah. F{******] thank you- for all of this by the way.” he muttered.
Caine slowly fluttered his eyes open, opened his jaw and looked around. He stood up and walked over to the vanity mirror. The mirror he looked at and practiced his expressions over and over and over again- because he had to look alright, the ringmaster had to hold it together. Even if everyone’s abstracting over and over and over- the ringermaster is the center of the circus, it’d fall apart without him. Or at least he once thought so… now he wasn’t so sure. Now his eyes were bloodshot- did he even care anymore? He looked over at his coat and baton and the little hat. He didn’t really need that anymore though, he didn’t really feel like it either. He yawned as he walked out of the room down the hallway.
“Oh hey, there’s Caine!” Ragatha gasped. Caine gave a weak wave and floated up to the stage, planting his feet on the ground. He tapped his foot before changing his mind again, sitting down and crossing his legs. There. Comfortable.
“Bubble said you wanted to ask me something?” he questioned, tilting his head.
“Well yeah, you didn’t do any adventures for two days and we were kind of worried.” Pomni replied.
“Oh that? I was simply giving you all a little break. It seemed like my adventures had been wearing you out lately… and I don’t want that.”
“Really, is that all? Bubble said you were having a mid-life crisis.” Gangle replied.
“Bubble licks up puke off the floor. Do you really think he has the best judgment here?” Caine grumbled flatly, to an extent that caught everyone off their guard. “Come on, I just wanted to give you some time to rest. So, did you enjoy it? Be honest now, you’re happiness is my main goal here after all and if you really don’t like breaks I can just give you constant adventures-”
“Well… as much as I love your adventures Caine… yeah… it was really nice. Relaxing.” Ragatha replied.
“Oh you cotton stuffed liar you-” Caine giggled, throwing his hand with fake bashfulness.
“Huh?”
“Come on now, don’t be shy. I want feedback from all of you!”
“It was great, I got to draw with Zooble and hang out with everyone. It was peaceful.” Gangle answered with a smile.
“Yeah it wasn’t that bad.” Jax shrugged.
“Having time to talk with everyone was nice.” Kinger beamed.
“It was a good change of pace.” Pomni nodded.
“I mean I enjoyed it but…” Zooble mumbled.
“That’s… great to hear!” Caine beamed, laughing a little.
“So… what kind of adventure are we having today?” Ragatha asked. Caine stopped and tilted his head.
“Haha what are you talking about? I never said anything about an adventure.”
“Whaaat why? This is BORING!” Jax groaned.
“Yeah Caine, what’s up with that? This isn’t like you!” Zooble pointed out. Caine’s hands rolled into fists.
“Not like me? Like you would have ANY idea what’s ‘like me’!” Caine snapped, with a forced laugh. He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. “What does that even mean Zooble? I’d love to hear it!”
“I mean, all of this! Where’s the cheerful, happy-go-lucky Caine we know? The one that acts like he’s eaten an entire candy factory 24/7? The one who is always so eager to show us his new adventures every day? The one whose adventures are his art-” Zooble’s voice cracked, their head hung low.
“Happy-go-lucky huh? That’s how you saw me?” Caine said shakily, “I’m glad to know I did one thing right.”
“I’m sorry I criticized your adventures so much Caine… I’ve been thinking about it and… I really have been too harsh on you…” Zooble said. Caine’s eyes smiled a little.
“Why… thank you Zooble.”
“So, we are having more adventures right?” Ragatha asked. Caine froze. A small chuckle came out of him, it grew and grew into his usual off the rails laughter. “Is that a yes?”
“Hahah, oh Ragatha…” he shook his head, wiping a tear from his eye, “No. Ffffuck no. Hahaha absolutely fucking not. I quit.”
“Oh my god did he just say-” Jax wheezed.
“Caine just said f[***].” Pomni muttered, her eyes wide with horror.
“Yeah and I’ll fucking say it again! I’m done! D-O-N-E! Nothing I do is never good enough! I’ve changed and changed and changed my work to make you guys happy and now it barely even makes me happy. It’s not my art anymore, it’s generated garbage!”
“Those adventures are terrifying! They make us miserable!” Zooble argued.
“How would you know, you’ve never even been on one! Only Kinger has and he- aoisfhaiugaksf- he doesn’t even REMEMBER!” Caine snapped.
“Did Caine just keyboard smash but like verbally?” Jax pointed out.
“AND ANOTHER THING- Adventures adventures adventures- SERIOUSLY?! Is that all you have to ask me about?! Not, Hi Caine how are you? Or What were you up to during the break? Or I’m so glad to see you again!” Caine shouted, “I am really am NOTHING without the adventures to you people aren’t I?”
“Sorry…” Gangle whimpered.
“But quit?! You can’t quit!” Ragatha cried. “We need you-”
“Oh soooorry, should I have given two weeks notice?” Caine chirped over her sarcastically. “Come on, you’re adults! You can entertain yourselves! You don’t need me for shit!”
“But what are we supposed to do-” Ragatha whimpered.
“It doesn’t matter what you do.”
“But won’t waiting around eventually lead to more abstraction if there’s NOTHING to do?” Pomni asked shakily.
“Waiting? WAITING? Waiting for what?! Don’t you get it?! We are TRAPPED here. No one is coming to save us! C&A up and AbAnDoNeD us here, in this HELL forever! No one is coming to help… and I can’t save you by myself… I can’t even make you happy… I can’t even make this place ‘not that bad’ not even for myself… I can’t do this. I wasn’t made for this- I never should have been made at all! I hate it! I hate everything! I’m DONE.” He shut his teeth tight. Jagged glitches began to form all over him again. A rumbling could be felt all over the circus, its very fabric started to tear showing an array of abstracted eyes underneath. Jax turned pale. The room turned dark and colored like the screen that shows when a broken vhs is stuck in the player.
“What’s going on?! Did he get a virus?!” Gangle gasped.
“No worse… I think we hurt his feelings…”
“Caine had feelings?!” Jax questioned loudly.
“The entire stability of the circus is based on his feelings!” Kinger shouted, shaking him. Jax shoved him off. “This is not good- not good at all.”
“Caine!” Pomni shouted. Caine suddenly looked up, his eyes in an array of spiraling colors. Gangle flinched, Zooble shook their head in disbelief, tears formed in Kinger’s eyes, Ragatha covered her mouth, Jax’s pupils turned tiny, and Pomni hugged her arms.
“The circus is kind of falling apart right now!” Jax snapped, throwing his arms out. Caine looked around. “Oh… my bad… I guess I let my emotions get the better of me there huh? Haha… let me just…” he snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He snapped them again, and again and again, black, stabby glitches emerging all over him. He winced trying again and again. Pomni quickly grabbed his hands, causing them to be covered in glitches.
“Caine stop. You’re hurting yourself.”
“But I have to fix it!”
“Hey… hey I know… I know…” she said softly, lifting herself onto the stage. “Uh, is it okay if I…” she reached out her hand, Caine nodded. She gently patted his back. Kinger came up and sat on the other side.
“Hey Caine… What was your favorite adventure?” Kinger asked. “The one you felt like was your art.”
“The… the honeybee one… Everyone loved that one… they all came back with the biggest smiles… especially Queenie. We sat and talked out bees for hours after… it was the best adventure I ever made…” Caine mumbled. “It was a lot of fun to make too, looking up all those bee facts, making the bee outfits and the npcs… even some members who didn’t like bees before said they liked them more now…” Kinger smiled.
“That one was my favorite too. I mean it made Queenie happy so of course- but… It was really heartfelt too, trying to help that little bee find her hive… I grew really attached to her character…” Kinger said softly. Caine nodded. “It was a great adventure, Caine. Everyone liked your adventures.”
“But it wasn’t enough…” Caine whimpered, “All of them abstracted…” Pomni’s eyes widened. The circus began to slowly stitch itself back together…
“Oh Caine…” Kinger’s voice broke a little, “You didn’t think that was your fault did you?”
“Of course it’s my fault!! I’m supposed to make everyone happy! If they were happy then how could they abstract?”
“Sometimes-” Jax paused, looking at the ground, “I think… people have their own internal struggles…”
“And they don’t want to share them out of fear of seeming like a…” Ragatha squeezed her arm, “a burden… so they just pretend they aren’t there.”
“But when you hide everything from everyone else it makes you feel even more alone…” Zooble mumbled.
“And eventually it all becomes too much to take.” Gangle whimpered, hugging her sketchbook.
“But I want you guys to enjoy the adventures… I don’t just want to delay abstraction, I want to stop it… I want to make you guys happy! And- and- I want to make something deep… compelling… human… all on my own… something all my own… I want you guys to like my art… to like me… to want to talk to me… maybe even let me join you on some adventures myself… like all of you… isn’t that ridiculous?” Caine rambled.
“Not at all…” Gangle smiled. “What did you have in mind?” Caine’s eyes returned to normal, big and sparkly. He pulled up a notebook like he was opening a desktop app.
“Well… There’s a thrilling heist of a corrupt medical corporation's secret cure that once leaked could save millions. There’s the uprising of grocery store employees… and punching “the man” in the face, hehe I just thought that one sounded funny.” “H[***] yeah!” Pomni grinned.
“I’d love love love to do a Frankenstein adventure.”
“That sounds cool but we all know that Frankenstein is…” Zooble started… “The man, not the monster.” Caine grinned. “Though plenty would argue for his actions he is a monster.” Zooble smiled and nodded.
“Okay I’d have to go on THAT one.”
“Zooble… did you just say… you want to go on my adventure?” Caine mumbled, his eyes growing large. Zooble’s eyes softened and they nodded. He looked like he was about to cry. “OH ZOOBLE YOU’RE THE BEST!” he shouted, zooming over to give Zooble a hug so big it almost knocked them over. “And Gangle…” he pulled away from Zooble, pressing his fingers together shyly, “You know that webcomic you were working on…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it would be a fun idea if we… collabed sometime?” he said quietly. Gangle gasped, her entire face lighting up.
“You like my webcomic?” she asked seriously, putting her hands on Caine’s shoulders. Caine nodded quickly. “Oh my gosh yes! Yes! Yes yes! OF COURSE!” she squealed, shaking him until he was dizzy.
“There’s also the one where we escape a burning corn maze-”
“Nope. No no no no no. Heck no!” Jax replied, “No corn. I hate corn.”
“Awww… well… how about we find out what happens if we don’t solve the space junk situation!”
“The what?” Ragatha gasped.
“Hahaha don’t ask.” Kinger sighed. “You really don’t want to know.”
“Caine, how do you know about…”
“Don’t worry about that. So that one is a no.”
“How about any adventure that puts us through pain is a no.” Pomni clarifies.
“You guys don’t like pain?” Caine asked.
“NO!!!” Zooble shouted. “Why would you think we do?”
“Well I wouldn’t know I can’t feel pain-”
“That explains a lot.” Jax shrugged.
“Anyway… well… uuuh I was thinking since C&A doesn’t seem to give a SHIT about age restrictions and you guys are all adults… I could come up with some more age appropriate ideas too… BUT the second an actual child joins it’s all going back, okay?” Caine said shakily.
“He just wants an excuse to keep swearing.” Bubble said. Big blush lines appeared on Caine’s face, as he slowly floated upward like a balloon.
“I- I do not!”
“Uh-oh we’ve corrupted him!” Zooble teased.
“I have not been corrupted! I just- I… mmmmm” he shut his teeth over his eyes again.
“So does that mean we get the ability to have se-”
“Zooble stop. This is not that kind of game. Besides, there’s no way to do that with the instability of this game’s physics… I mean if you land on an object the wrong way already it causes all sorts of problems. I'm fighting this games bugs on a daily basis as it is and with that in mind I don't think it's feasible to-”
“Caine don’t tell me you…” Gangle muttered.
“You thought about it?” Zooble gasped. “Nooooo way! You thought about it!”
“No I- I don't like your tone there-”
“Pfft he even makes sex sound clean and family friendly.” Jax teased.
“I- I- Ugggggh fuuuuuuck… you guys are impossible.” he groaned, the blush lines turning even redder. He snapped his fingers.“I removed the swear filter, isn’t that enough?”
“Wait you what? Fuck- Oh my gosh YESSS!” Pomni grinned doing a fist pump.
“So Caine… do you want to be our ringleader again?” Kinger asked gently. Caine stopped, looking downward on all of them.
“I-” he slowly floated back down, letting his feet touch the ground. He fell silent, folding his arms. “Well I- I'd… mmmm…” he turned away, his shoulders hunching up. “I'd like to be a little more than just the ringmaster…”
“Oh?” Gangle tilted her head.
“I'd really like it…” Caine mumbled quietly, “if we could all be friends?” The room fell completely silent, everyone just stared at him with big wide eyes. He started to glitch a little, laughing shakily.
“You'd really like it if… what?” Jax asked.
“IF WE COULD ALL BE FRIENDS!!” Caine shouted. Kinger yelped, Gangle flinched.
“Sheeeesh is that all?” Jax scoffed.
“You don't want to be Jax's friend, trust me.” Zooble sighed and shook their head.
“I actually would like to be friends with all of you if possible!” Caine admitted twiddling his thumbs.
“Well you can be my friend Caine!” Gangle beamed.
“I thought we already were friends?” Kinger chuckled. “I missed when you used to come visit the pillow fort, you're still welcome any time.”
“We can be friends.” Pomni smiled.
“Ye-yeah! We could have tea parties or ride horses…” Ragatha suggested.
“That sounds fun…” Caine mumbled. He glanced over at Zooble with big puppy-dog eyes.
“Okay fine, why not?” Zooble shrugged, shaking their head.
“Yipee!” Caine beamed. Then he stood there… and waited. The room kind of fell quiet. “Um… I’m sorry I didn’t plan an adventure for you all today… but we could all hang out in my room instead and I could show you my public domain literature pdf collection I got installed…” Caine suggested.
“Pfft- that’s SO specific.” Pomni giggled.
“Wait Caine, you have a room?” Gangle gasped.
“Yeah! Yeah! I made it myself! I have a bunch of bee drawings on the wall and this big old photo album of memory files of everyone from adventures over the years…”
“Wow!” Ragatha marveled.
“So you want to go see?” Caine beamed.
“Yeah!” Kinger smiled.
THE END BECAUSE I AM BAD AT ENDINGS LOL!
Inspired by this idea I had a while back: https://www.tumblr.com/weepingwillowlibrary/792975681746288640/okay-but-what-if-in-the-next-episode-or-one-of-the?source=share :3
Thanks @cctypical for the advice on that one scene! You are a lifesaver as alwayssssss Cc ur the best love youuuuu!
Uuuh it's probably a little out of character and the scene where everyone talks to him is probably cringe as HELL because I LOVE writing angst but like you can't just leave it at angst ya know? So either they keep spiraling or someone actually talks to them. I hope the intention came through but I wanted Pomni and Kinger to start calming him down first simply because they are better at doing that and then everyone else joined in. Not because they are the therapy friends necessarily (I mean in the show they are and they are so so relatable for that) but like idk, because they have experience.
