Chapter Text
"Alright, you really want to know what I want? I want the ability to have s%$!#"
The surrounding cast members stare at Zooble, dumbfounded by their openness and bold statement.
"No way! Are we finally having this conversation?" Jax chuckles out with a toothy grin.
Caine freezes. He can feel himself start to freak out, body glitching and pupils shrinking to pinpricks. How could they say something so crude?! Nothing I do is ever enough for any of them!! I've already implemented so many facets from their human lives into this circus, when will there be enough? Why do they always want something they can't have?? WHY AM I NOT ENOUGH FOR THEM?!? These thoughts race through his processors at a mile a minute, frustration blooming at his core.
"Um… I think you broke him," Pomni says to Zooble, who rolls their eyes and crosses their mismatched arms in response. The cast members all stare at Caine's glitching form, apprehensively waiting for him to respond.
He opens his clenched mandibles and raises a finger to aggressively shoot Zooble down but pauses. Wait a moment… I'm here to make these people happy. That's what I was created for, right? But I don't… understand…
"Why?" Caine asks flatly, falling out of his tense position. The gap between his teeth narrows into a pseudo-squint as he scans the humans' faces, sleek cane trembling in his unstable grip.
They all respond in a jumble, baffled that he didn't outright say "no". Caine is unable to catch any of their reasons and pleas through the chaos, frustrating him even more. His body goes completely rigid.
Oh… Caine worries, I don't even really know what s%$!# is!! If they all want it so bad then it can't truly be THAT bad, can it? The censors are screaming at him internally, but his own selfish desires overpower their insistence. What if catering to their ridiculous immoral needs just this once would make them enjoy my adventures more, somehow? Make them finally appreciate my efforts, slaving away for them day in and day out? Maybe this could help keep them from abs…
"UGH FINE!" Caine blurts, snapping out of his stupor. Gangle and Ragatha jolt at the sudden return of Caine's booming voice. "If you want it so bad then have at it!"
Jax begins to laugh maniacally before bee-lining it towards his bedroom. Gangle can't suppress a smile creeping up further onto her comedy mask and looks away. Kinger's unblinking eyes slide slowly off of his body like soap on a window. Zooble gawks but says nothing, along with the remaining others.
"BUT!" Caine interjects, teleporting Jax back to his former spot amongst the group mid-stride, "YOU HAVE TO PARTAKE IN MY ADVENTURES FIRST!!" A collective groan rings out from the group. "Only afterwards will I allow you to…" he waves his hand as he searches for a phrase that won't be censored, "do your thing."
A portal opens behind the players as they look amongst each other wordlessly.
"GET IN THE PORTAL!!!" Caine screams animatedly, "I-I mean please enjoy today's adventure, my bizarre buoyant buttercups! Hahahahaaa!" The cartoon characters hurriedly shuffle into the portal as a group as Caine waves them off like the prior conversation didn't just happen.
The portal closes, and the ringmaster hovers alone over the enormous vacant stage. His body relaxes from its exaggerated posture into a slouch as he lets out a sigh. His eyes trace over the checkered pattern of the tile floor his companions were standing on through his partially closed mouth, lost in thought. He fiddles with the pommel of his cane, smoothing his gloved fingers over its surface.
I hope… I'm doing the right thing for them.