Thinking. Thinkingggggggggg. Thinking about. OK IDK IF THERES AN OFFICAL COMIC FOR THE CTRL-ALT-DELTE AU BUT I KNOW WHATS THE SETUP ☝. Just thinking about how Caine would expect Zooble to hate him, especially since now he's weasled his way into the friend group and now they HAVE to spend time with him.
And anyways of course at some point they have a moment where Caine talks about his difficulty understanding other people and social cues, his trouble acting in a way that's normal, being too annoying, having such a short-temper, Zooble saying something kind, Caine saying "but... don't you hate me for it? Anyone would." and Zooble explaining 1. Of course they don't hate him. 2. That just sounds like autism.
And of course they'd want to be there for him and support him and help him thrive in any way they can because WE ALL KNOW they are SUCH a carer and bonus sympathy points for Caine cause he has a mental disability that makes life REALLY hard for someone living in a world designed for people who operate wildly different from them.
And Caine is taken aback how they're being so kind and helpful and... like... even tender??? If that's the right word????
And he realizes
Oh.
This kindness from them could've been accessed at any point.
If it weren't for...
The fact that...