I need a fluffy fic with a flustered Lee!Caine in my life
Some People in this Circus Need to Learn how to be a bit more APPRECIATIVE Around Here!!!
Kinger and Caine
Summary: Nobody appreciates Caine’s adventures. At least, Kinger can help cheer him up.
Word Count: 1,381
This is a tickle fic!
~🍓~
Caine collapsed into the pile of pillows behind him. It wasn’t often that he made his way into Kinger’s pillow fort, but the other members were being so mean to him! They all insulted his under sea adventure for the day, and he was in no mood to see them.
The only one who was remotely appreciative was Kinger, who seemed to actually enjoy the time Caine had put into designing all of the oceanic NPCs. There was even a narwhal for goodness sake! Had any of them even seen a narwhal in real life before? Well, now they had (sort of), and none of them thanked him.
Caine crossed his arms and pouted into one of the pillows. It smelled vaguely of honey. He wondered if Kinger had been sneaking snacks in here.
“Are you feeling better, now?” Kinger asked.
Caine could feel a hand on his shoulder. He tensed but didn’t push him away.
“No.”
“Oh.”
Silence settled between them. Kinger shifted against the mountain of pillows. One of them hit the ground with a small thud.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Kinger tried again.
Caine sat up. The movement was quick enough to make Kinger flinch. “They hated it!” Caine balled his hands into fists. “Can you believe them? All that time poured into a procedurally generated underwater ecosystem! Coral reefs! Schools of fish! Gigantic squids that threaten to suck out your brains! It had everything!” Now that Caine had started talking, he found it difficult to stop. “And what do I get? Nothing but complaints! I love you humans! I really do! But you’re all so confusing! What do you guys even want?”
Kinger held up both of his hands in front of him. While most human mannerisms eluded Caine, he understood that one fairly clear: stop talking. Caine ended his little rant with an exaggerated huff.
Kinger hummed before scooting closer to Caine. “I think everyone does appreciate the effort you put into your adventures, but some of the things you put them through can stress them out a tad.” He shrugged. “I just think they would prefer more low stakes and calmer activities from time to time.”
Caine stared at him, utterly appalled. “But! But!” He gestured wildly as though that would help him get the words out, but it didn’t do much. “That’s boring! Where is the drama? The stakes? Do they really just want to sit and do absolutely NOTHING for an entire adventure? I don’t buy it!” He flopped backwards into the pillow pile with a dramatic groan.
Kinger watched him quietly. Caine waited for him to rebut his argument, but he didn’t say anything.
He wasn’t sure why he had gone to Kinger’s fort in the first place. If he wanted to sulk, he could do that anywhere in the circus. Yet, somehow, he ended up here.
“You know,” Kinger said, after a moment, “When I get sad, sometimes laughing helps.”
Caine turned his head away from Kinger. He clamped his mouth shut just so he wouldn’t have to look at that dratted chess piece.
“Well, good for you!”
“Actually,” Kinger dragged out the first word. “I think I know the real reason they didn’t like your adventure.”
“Really?” Against his better judgement, Caine turned back around. “Why?”
“They must have thought it was a little fishy.”
Caine gave him a long, blank stare before looking away, again.
Another bout of silence.
Then, something began to scribble up Caine’s ribs.
His entire body seized. He toppled over sideways with a startled yelp. “Wahahaahait!” Caine cackled. His voice remarkably higher-pitched than he was used to. “Hahahaaha! Stahahahap!”
Unfortunately, Kinger paid him no mind. Instead, he moved to the side, closer to Caine. Slipping through his defenses, Kinger dug into the vulnerable stretch of his ribs.
“See?” Kinger said, sounding a bit too chipper for a tormentor. “You sound better already.”
Caine pulled his knees to his chest and swung his legs around frantically in an attempt to kick Kinger in the chest. He missed. Multiple times. Gahhh! It was because he couldn’t concentrate long enough to do anything!
He slapped his hands over ribs, but Kinger simply moved over to his stomach, where he skritched at the center of his torso. “NyahaHAHAHA!” Caine convulsed, first folding in on himself then curling into a ball to try to get away from Kinger’s fingers. Since his hands weren’t exactly connected to his body, it wasn’t much use. “AHAHAHA!” They seemed to follow him everywhere Caine rolled.
“Do you feel better now?” Kinger dug his hands underneath Caine’s suit jacket and swept his fingers along his sides. With only the thin fabric of his shirt to protect him, every touch felt like a new jolt of electricity that tore through his skin and bubbled out through his mouth in shrill laughter.
Caine thrashed around. He managed to kick a pillow in Kinger’s direction, but he easily dodged it by not moving an inch.
He tried to protest some more, but it came out in a long wheeze. “Nohohoho!” Caine scrambled backward but was quickly rendered immobile by one of Kinger’s hands grabbing his leg.
Either Kinger’s hands were huge or his legs were tiny because the entirety of Kinger’s grip spanned his thigh.
“But you’ve been in here for quite a while,” Kinger said. His thumb massaged the muscle of Caine’s thigh, which caused him to sputter out a noise that sounded like some sort of odd howl. “I’m sure the others are wondering where you went.”
Caine instinctively curled around Kinger’s other hand when it started dancing across his stomach. He grabbed his hand to try to pull it off, but the one around his thigh took the opportunity to dive directly into his armpit.
Caine snapped his arms against his ribs. “Mmph—hehehehe!” He cringed at the sudden string of bright giggles that spilled from his mouth. Each sound seemingly squeakier than the last.
This whole situation was entirely idiotic! He was Caine for crying out loud!! The best and most perfect ringmaster and creator of this digital realm! He shouldn’t be rendered this helpless by just a simple touch.
There was no reason—absolutely no reason—for Kinger’s attack to be affecting him this much. Caine grabbed another pillow, but he dropped it once Kinger began targeting his other armpit. What sort of weakness was that?
It made something hot well up in the pit of his stomach, twisting around until whatever was left of his dignity crumpled into dust. Embarrassment pooled in his ribs as another burst of laughter flooded out of him. His face grew hot as he realized how little control he truly had.
And, yet…between the laughter and desperate squirming, there was something else. Caine could only describe it as an odd sort of lightness.
From his training data, Caine knew that tickling could be used as a form of bonding or social play. After decades of feeling isolated from humanity, the idea that Kinger, a human, would be willing to engage in such an absurd form of affection was…
…kind of fun?
No, that wasn’t the right word. Exhilarating perhaps?
Either way, Caine found himself accepting his fate and easing into Kinger’s touch.
“Come on, Caine,” Kinger said. His voice was way too soft for the situation. “Let’s go and do something fun with the rest of the gang.”
“Nahahaha!” Caine giggled, refusing just for the sake of it. He managed to sit up on his knees, but Kinger’s fingers (well, now just his index fingers) were still digging into his underarms. Caine bent over so far that his chest sat flush against his legs. He hugged himself, but that didn’t dull the fluttering feeling that swirled inside him. “Hehehehehe!”
Suddenly, Kinger’s hands disappeared. Caine peeked through one eyelid. He was outside of Kinger’s pillow fort, now floating a few feet above the center stage.
Ah, he had teleported away. He…sort of forgot he could do that.
Huh.
WELL, ANYWAY, it was now time for the next adventure: Amazing Undersea Journey into the Depths of the Deep Dark Abysmal Ocean Part TWO!!!!!!
And, oh, would you look at the time? Everyone was RUNNING LATE!!!
Caine snapped his fingers together, ready to gather everyone for yet another spectacular adventure.
