Chapter Text
The first thing Caine noticed when he woke up, was the fact that dispite feeling at least semi conscious, his eyes remained closed.
Which was automatically a little concerning.
Usually, when the AI powered on after a Good Nights Rest™️, his eyes would immediately snap open, as his body flowed with the energy his sleep provided!
But that wasn’t happening.
It was almost as if he didn’t wake up at all yet. His limbs reminded limp, his eyes closed, his breathing spread out.
This wasn’t normal. Not for him anyway.
Had something happened?
Was he glitching?
Malfunctioning?
Still asleep and dreaming?
In a state of sleep paralysis!?
DEAD!?
Okay, wait for a second. That was just illogical. Caine couldn’t be dead! And even if so, he was almost certain that dead people couldn’t remain conscious!
…probably.
His brain felt almost as lights out as his body, scrambling to think of a logical answer.
Okay…this was probably fine.
He just needed to…figure out where he was! That’s it!
Underneath his currently horizontally laying body, was a soft mattress material, which he could feel cushioning his limp body.
Speaking of cushions, his head was clearly resting on one, as he felt the softness pulling his closed jaw into it. Over his body was some form of material…probably a duvet judging from its weight.
Alright, so it was pretty clear he was in a bed!
Now the question was, what bed and where—
Oh!
And what was this new feeling?
Of something…touching his head gently?
It was something smooth, not exactly soft like the pillow, but more silky. He could tell underneath the silk was something harder, though a little squishy. Almost like a…
A hand!
That’s it. He was feeling as a hand rubbed gentle, soothing circles into his head.
But…
Whose hand was it..?
Suddenly, he heard what sounded like steps approaching whatever bed he was on. The sound was short lived, as he felt the left side of the bed sink with someone sitting on it.
And then he heard a voice.
“He’s still asleep, huh?”
It was slightly muffled from the way Caines head rested, blocking part of his hearing receptors, but he could still grasp it.
Grasp that deep, calm, slightly cartoony voice.
Kingers.
“Mhm.” The sound came from another voice, this one closer to him. “Been out cold …though it’s not like it doesn’t make sense, heh.”
This one was feminine. Smooth, silky, relaxed.
Queenie.
He knew where he was now. He was in his partners double bed, in their large room, and clearly now by their sides. That would explain the hand petting his head, clearly Queenies since she was the closest to him.
As soon as he figured it out, it was as if his brain unlocked the memories of how he got there.
He remembered crying, panicking alone in his office after talking with Kinger.
He remembered hiding under his desk in the mist of his breakdown, believing the dark and small space of his under desk to be just what he deserved for what he had done.
He remembered…being comforted. Held in the lap of his girlfriend, gently guided through each breathe by his boyfriend. Before being quite literally swept off his feet and carried by them all the way back to their room, where they helped remove the glass that had been lodged in his knees, before finally laying down in bed and falling fast asleep for the first time in days…
Well, that definitely made more sense than being dead at least!
He could still faintly hear his partners talking with one another in hushed tones, most likely as to not wake what they thought was a sleeping Caine. Though it was almost like his brain had turned off the part that allowed him to understand words. Queenies hand continued to message his head ever so gently, calming his body even more somehow.
Well, if they already thought he was asleep, why not drift off for a bit more…
Caine could just feel his body drifting in and out of consciousness, and all that filled his non existent ears was the low voices of his two lovers by him…
“—ould we get dressed yet, love?”
“Hm..no, I’d say we’re good for at least another hour. I doubt anyone else is up yet.”
“Ah right…what’s the time again?”
“Uh- 10:45 I think.”
10:45…
…
…WAIT, 10:45!?
CAINE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AWAKE 2 HOURS AGO!
Oh crud, oh crud, oh SASSAFRAS! He was supposed to have gotten up and prepared the day’s adventure by now!
The realisation seemed to finally be the kick the Ai needed to finally open his eyes, waking him up fully.
…to which he was met with darkness once more. Right. His jaw was still closed.
It took him a good 57 or so seconds, but slowly, he managed to will just enough energy into himself to slowly open his jaw.
To the surprise of him, and his partners.
He heard Queenie let out a small gasp.
“OH GOODNESS-…Caine!” She exclaimed, moving her hand off the AIs head to place at her chest while she breathed out a chuckle. “Oh my- Phew, you gave me a fright!”
He could hear Kinger loudly chuckling from behind him, to which Queenie scoffed at, asking what was so funny.
“Hehe, oh nothing, nothing…” He chuckled into his hand, before turning to Caine. “Good morning, Honeybee. You sleep well?”
The ringmasters hands moved to rub his floating eyes, as a yawn broke out of him. A sound akin to a groan leaked from his mouth, as he attempted to speak, ignoring just now dry and scratchy his throughly felt.
“Mm…’Morning.”
Good creators, is that how he sounded?
That didn’t seem right. His voice sounded so…deep, and tired, and groggy!
Caine coughed into his arm, attempting to shake the tiredness out of him. There was simply no time to be sleepy! He had things to do!
“Ahem…I mean- Good morning! My dearest lillypad lovers!” He reframed, attempting to put his showman persona back on. “I slept absolutely SPLENDIFERIOUSLY! How about you both? Any wacky or wild dreams floating around in your slumber?”
He attempted to mask the fact that his throat was starting to sting, as he shifted the attention over to his partners.
He could see the way Queenies eyes stared at him. And he didn’t like the concern clearly present.
“Oh, funny you should ask!” Kinger suddenly spoke excitedly. “I had a dream we all went to New York for a vacation! Although half way through we were teleported to New Jersey, and we met a man called David Christ who said he was the direct descendant of Jesus Christ and he told us we had to climb Mount Everest in order to stop the hoard of killer ducks from attacking him and controlling the world!”
Queenie and Caine both stared at him for a second in silence.
“…So, did we end up stopping them?”
“Oh, no, it turns out David was actually the antichrist, so we just got some soup and watched the baseball version of the super bowl.”
…Welp, that definitely sounded like a Kinger style dream.
Caine laughed as he forced his body upward into a sitting position, ignoring his joint as they practically yelled at him.
“Oh-ho-ho, My Kinger! That’s sure is one…Interesting plot your brain cooked up!” He chuckled out, placing his still heavy arm on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Buuuut as much as I’d continue discussing our rem cycle movies…I do believe it is FAR past when I should be up and at it! HAHA! I um…BEST GET GOING, MY LOVES!”
As quickly as he could, Caines body began moving to crawl across the bed so they he could finally get up and hopefully get back on schedule!
…Which almost immediately proved itself to be not as quickly as he hoped. Because before he could even throw the blanket off of his legs, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. The same hand that had been petting him just moments before.
“Woah there, Mr.” Queenie halted him. “You’re not going no where.”
Uh oh.
“…I- Um…T-That’s a double negative, which implies I am in fact going somewhere, which is actually CORRECT! GOOD JOB MY QUEEN!” He sputtered out.
“Caine.” She sternly said, “You can barely sit up. We’re not letting you go out yet.”
Crud. She could see right through his fake energy act.
Still, he scoffed, forcing himself to sit on his knees…
…and holding back a wince as he did so. He forgot. The pricks in his knees where the glass lay in last night were still there.
Oh so NOW he wasn’t feeling numb.
“PSH, I DONT KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN MY DEAR!” He waved his hand defectively. “I CAN ASSURE YOU I AM IN TIPTOP, WELL RESTED SHAPE! 100% SYSTEMS AGO AND READY TO START A FULL DAY OF ADVENTURING!…So, um…May I please go?”
Queenie stared at him for a moment, brow raised, before he hummed.
“Hm…Well, fine.”
“…Really? I can- I can go then?”
“Sure, you can go. But one quick thing first..”
“Oh? What would that— WOAH-“
Before Caines sentence could even be completed, his tiresome body was suddenly pulled from its seated state, suddenly being thrown to its left.
And right into Queenies lap.
“You’ll have to break free from me first!”
Oh come ON.
He could already hear Kinger snort from the right of him as he began fumbling around in his spouses lap.
“W-What the- My Ladybug! I really don’t have the time for this!” He stumbled out embarrassedly.
Queenie merely joined in her husband in laughing. “Heheh, come on Love. If you’re so able to get up then this should be no issue!”
The AI groaned tiredly.
Okay. This was easy. He literally just had to break out of her lap.
He shuffled.
Nothing.
He struggled to push her hands off him.
Nada.
He even tried to use his powers and float up.
They weren’t even working.
…He could’ve sworn this was easier.
He could hear Queenie giggling as he struggled in her arms, clearly finding it amusing to watch the man who just insisted he was in ‘tiptop shape’ struggle in her just about average grip.
Eventually, Caine sighed, and begrudgingly stopped his struggling, falling limply into his partners lap. There was no chance he was getting out of there just yet…
“There we go, dear!” The queen laughed. “Now was it THAT hard to accept it?”
“Absolutely.” Caine groaned.
Queenie scoffed out a laugh as she pushed on her boyfriend’s head akin to how someone would ruffle a persons hair, as Caine pushed back on her hand trying to stop her.
But, even through this, Caine would be lying if he said he didn’t miss this.
The early morning waking up next to his beloveds, the teasing, the laughing, the actually TALKING to them. Creators, he had been craving this for days since he started that…that stupid plan!
Oh well, at least now they could move past it and forget it ever happened.
…
Queenies hand came to a slow stop, resting atop the ringmasters head as her laugh faded out into a neat silence.
“…Honeybee.” She suddenly spoke, her voice far more stern than before.
“We need to talk about last night…”
…Welp. He jinxed it.
He could suddenly feel himself getting very hot in her lap, the plush of her morning robe switching from feeling comforting to quite unsavoury. The ringmaster let out a nervous, almost manic like laugh.
“I…THERES NO NEED TO WORRY MY DAZZLING DARLING..!” He laughed, upping the showman act to mask his fear as his heavy hands began to shake. “W-WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT I CAN ASSURE YOU WAS A UM…ONE OFF EVENT, NEVER TO HAPPEN AGAI—“
“Caine.”
Cajne was suddenly cut off by a second voice. That, and a new hand that now took his shaking ones in it.
Looking just forward of him revealed his boyfriend himself, Kinger, had quite clearly moved up in the midsts of Caines rambling, now taking his hands gently in his and looking at him with that familiar, sweet yet concerned look in his eyes.
“Caine, Honeybee…” He soothed, his voice gentle yet stern, as his hands rubbed against Caines. “Im sorry to say, but we are well past worried by now.”
Caine gulped nervously as the King continued.
“You’ve been avoiding us for almost a week, ignoring us, a teleporting away when we try and talk to you. And then when we finally do find you, it’s in the midsts of a breakdown about us hating you and how you apparently…‘can’t and shouldn’t feel’? You- you have to understand how concerning that is!”
Kingers tone at the end sounded just as confused as he felt.
The King continued to rub the AIs hand, looking him straight in the eyes as he continued his concerned monologue. “And we just—..Caine, you know we love you so much, right?”
Caine broke the eye contact, staring his mismatched eyes towards the pillows.
It took a second. Too long of a second.
But Caine nodded his head slowly.
“Good..” Kinger sighed. “So you have to know just how much we’re scared for you…Please, Bee. No more secrets..”
“We just want you to finally talk to us. Properly this time.” Queenie continued his thought, ever so gently guiding Caines head up with her hand to look at her.
“Please…Tell us what started this..?”
…Huh.
You know, it was almost funny.
If you had told Caine just a day ago that by morning he would be in this exact position, he would have laughed in your face and said something like ‘you know you shouldn’t lie to your omnipresent AI Host! Now run along back to your [insert mundane human activity here]!’.
Because…Well, yesterday Caine still had it in his head that he wasn’t liked by Queenie and Kinger at all. Let alone loved.
He certainly didn’t believe himself to be loved enough to be woken up by them just talking next to him in bed.
Or to be held back from leaving the room by his partner engulfing him in what he can only describe as a ‘lap-prison’.
Or to be gently coxed into talking about what started this whole spiral in the first place by two people who truly loved and cared for him and really did just want to make sure he was okay…
…But here he was.
Experiencing all those things.
And it felt…
…Weird.
In a good way, but still.
Just…Weird, to have your whole opinion changed in less than 24 hours.
Though…that was kind of what happened when the whole thing started too. So maybe Caine was just very susceptible to opinion changes!
Which actually reminds him, he needs to tell them WHY it changed in the first place.
…Well, might as well get it over with.
“…I..Guess it started a few days ago.”
Caines voice dropped itself from its showboating style, how much quieter and tiresome. His head too dropped, slipping from his girlfriend’s hand and moving to stare at the bedsheets.
“I was…grabbing something by the couches. And just when I turned to leave, I saw Jax, Ribbit and Kaufmo show up. And- And I KNOW, snooping is bad..! But I maaayy or may not have listened in a bit on what they were saying…”
There was a small silence, edging Caine to continue.
“A-Anyway. I listened for a bit and um…they…said some things. About me not understanding what humans like and feel. And- And I didn’t even fully believe it myself when I heard it!”
Caine let out a bitter laugh that quickly faded out, his face turning much darker.
“But then…then um…someone else joined in with them and…”
His shoulders hunched as his jaw threatened to close itself.
“…Said some…Unsavory things about..you two.”
Caine felt as Kingers hand squeezed his tighter. And how Queenies breathing against his back almost stopped.
…He continued. As he didn’t want to keep them waiting.
“They…they said that you two were just…happier without me. That- That you’s were sick of me ‘running my mouth’ to you..! A-and that I…I…”
He wished he could hold back the sniffle he let slip.
“…That I just annoyed you into dating me.”
Another sniffle broke out of him.
And then another.
And before he knew it…a quiet cry racked through him.
Creators. He probably looked so stupid.
Here he was crying again.
Over that…that STUPID THING HE OVERHEARD.
“I-I guess I just um..I- I think I overreacted to be fair.” He attempted to keep his voice steady. “I just…I don’t know- I guess I just immediately went to them being RIGHT, HAHA! W-WITH NO PROOF TOO! HOW SILLY IS THAT?”
“…Caine-“
“S-SO I ENDED UP FORMULATING THIS- THIS DUMB PLAN TO- G-Gosh darn it… TO…”
“Caine.”
“-TO G-GET YOU TWO TO BREAK UP WITH ME! BECAUSE I…I THOUGHT THAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY! AND- AND SOMEHOW I KNEW THE FACT THAT I COULDN’T BE THE ONE TO BREAK UP WITH YOU, BUT NOT THE FACT THAT THIS ‘PLAN’ WAS THE STUPIDEST IDEA I COULD HAVE HAD! I-ISNT THAT DUMB!? HAHA—
“CAINE!”
The AI was rather suddenly snapped out of his spiral, his toothed head moving up in a quick flash to face his partner who was now—
…crying!?
Kingers hands had inexplicably moved away from Caine, now floating up to his own face and covering what would be his mouth. His sky blue eyes now brimmed with tears that threatened to fall as he stared forward towards Caine, eyebrows raised in shock yet furrowed in sadness.
The sight only seemed to increase Caines internal, and now external panic.
“O-Oh- Oh my code! My- My darling- Hey, it’s okay! E-Everything’s alright now, isn’t it..?”
Impulsively, he shifted his body forward, attempting to comfort his crying partner himself.
Which he would have done…had he not been pulled back into the middle of his spouses lap by her own hands. The second he was forced back down, he felt a sudden shift in weight from his left shoulder.
It took less than a second to confirm, but when he did look to his side, he did in fact see that Queenie herself now had her head burrowed into his shoulder, her eyes just out of view.
But it took even less time for him to feel the wetness beginning to form on his back.
…Crap.
He had accidentally caused both of his partners to come to tears.
“M-My loves! There’s nothing to get too upset about!” He attempted to sooth, as he moved his still heavy arm to place on Queenies back, trying to rub it in the same soothing motion she would do. “Everything eventually worked out, didn’t it..? I’m here, you’re both here, everything is fi— WOAH-“
Caine seemed to be getting pulled into things very often this morning, as just when he was about to finish his sentence, Kingers hand quickly moved towards his waist, grabbing it and pulling his own body towards it in an almost tackling way. The kings eyes squeezed shut, loose tears leaking out as his hugged his boyfriend tightly.
“C-Caine, oh god you—“ he sniffled, “It’s not ‘all fine now’..! You were hurting and- and you didn’t even come to us…”
“…Well, I mean, the whole thing was about not annoying you anymore so—“
“Bee, you never annoyed us in the first place! Why- why did…”
Kinger took a deep breath in for a moment, before letting it out as he opened his eyes to look right into Caines.
“…Why did you immediately believe what they said was true? Did you not…realise just how much we love you..?”
…
To be honest, Caine didn’t have an answer to that.
It was a good question, actually.
Why, after ages of being in this relationship with the two chess pieces, did Caines opinion immediately change upon hearing what was basically a rumor behind a couple of blocks?
He knew they loved him.
He knew he loved them.
So…
…Why was he so gullible to it?
“… I …Don’t know..”
His voice came out small, just above a whisper.
“I… I know you both love me. I just…I…thought…”
…
Oh.
Now he remembered.
“…you were both so happy out there.”
A silence followed that quiet sentence.
He could just about feel Queenies head move up, as he watched Kingers brow raise.
“…Out where?”
“…In the macroverse.”
Another silence. This one not out of confusion, but surprise.
Caine kept going.
“Out there…you two were so happy. The perfect married couple for- for years. ‘Highschool sweethearts’ as you said once. And…And when they were talking about me, he brought that up too.. they said you were- were already ‘lovey dovey’ enough out there without me. so- I guess it just made me think that if- if you were so happy out there without me, then—“
He breathed out a shaky cry, tears spilling from his own eyes.
“…What difference would it make if I wasn’t with you here?”
He heard as Kinger sucked in a breath.
Queenies grip on his back tightened once again.
It took a few seconds.
“…Caine.”
But Kinger spoke again.
The AI felt his face being moved once again, adjusted to look up towards the Kings face, which was brimming with fresh tears of his own. It was both beautiful, and painful to look at.
“Darling, that was then. We- we didn’t even know you existed back then. At least…not like you do. And that’s just how most relationships work, you know?” He said, tilting his head to the side.
“You don’t know what you could have till you have it. And when you do…you understand how much better your life is with it.”
The AIs eyes widened.
“…S-So…Your saying that I..”
“Made our lives so much better?” The king chuckled. “Of course you did! Sure, we were happy enough out there, but that was before we met you. And now…”
Kingers fingers moved, whipping the spare tears from his lovers eyes as he smiled with his own.
“…We could never imagine going back to being without you.”
Oh if Kinger didn’t have a way with words.
Caine smiled with his bottom jaw, letting his no longer fearful tears spill onto Kingers gloved hand.
“Oh, my love…” he sniffled. “How do you always know exactly what to say?”
“He really does just have a way of speaking that hits your heart, doesn’t he?”
Caine almost flinched, turning his head quickly to his side, and nearly bumping into Queenie, who’s head was now resting on his right shoulder while she stared with doting eyes, still wet with past tears.
Upon realising, the AI raised his free right hand upward (in a way that probably looked proportionally inaccurate, but it’s not like he had bones to worry about!) and placed it on her head.
Caine breathed calmly before speaking. “And…are you alright too, my ladybug?”
“Oh, oh yes,” she said, her hand briefly moving from the AIs waist to rub her eye. “I think our king said everything I was thinking.”
Moving his hand back down (and into a much less awkward position), Caine smiled, turning his head back forward.
“That’s perfect then…I’m really just glad we have it all sorted out no—“
“Oh wait!” He heard Queenie interrupt suddenly . “Actually, there is one thing I still want to know…”
Caine felt her grip around his waist tighten.
“Who exactly did was the nosey little b[#%!] who felt the need to comment on our relationship behind our backs?”
…Uh oh.
Kinger raised his brow.
“…That’s a good point actually…so, Caine?”
Double uh oh.
A nervous laugh escaped the ringmaster as he squirmed in Queenies grip, suddenly feeling rather hot.
“O-Oh well um…That’s not important anymore! HAHA! All in the past now-!”
“Caine. Tell us, please.”
“R-Really! Now that we’ve got it sorted there’s really no need for me to ‘expose’ him!”
“So it’s a man?”
…he was really bad at this whole secret keeping thing, wasn’t he?.
Kinger tilted his head at him, looking rather unimpressed whilst also a little smug. “There’s only so many men in here, Caine. We’re gonna find out either way, so why not just tell us?”
Caine simply fidgeted in Queenies lap.
“I um…I PLEAD THE FIFTH!”
Yeah, that’s what humans said when they didn’t wanna say something!
…Well, in court, but still.
It was silent for a moment, with Queenie and Kinger staring at him rather unimpressed. Then, Queenie hummed.
“Hm, Fine. You leave me no choice.”
Her grip around Caines waist suddenly tightened once more.
Her body pressed against his back.
And her head moved right against where his ear would be…before she said it.
“If you don’t tell us in 10 seconds, I will lift you up and flip you over my head.”
Oh, she’ll-
SHE’LL WHAT!?
“W-WHAT!?”
Caines shuffling became a lot more frantic, as he attempted to break out of his girlfriend’s tight grip.
“YOU - YOURE JUST KIDDING! R-RIGHT DEAR..?”
He heard as Kinger chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think she is.”
“8 seconds left, bug.” She said, her voice dripping with cynical delight. “You know this doesn’t have to haaaappeeeen.”
She drawled out that last part in a sing - songy tone as her boyfriend squirmed under her grip.
“N-NOW DEAR, LETS THINK ABOUT THIS.”
“5 seconds.”
“WHY MUST WE RESORT TO PHYSICAL MEANS?”
“4…”
“ITS- ITS NOT EVEN A BIG DEAL!”
“3…”
“…You’re..not letting me out of this, are you?”
“Heheh- 2…”
“OH, FINE. ILL SPILL THE METAPHORICAL BEANS, JUST QUIT YOUR COUNTING!”
Finally, it seemed her…unique method of making him talk had worked, as she quieted down her backwards counting, instead opting to wait in expectant silence for their partner to continue.
It seemed like he wasn’t getting out of this…
…Maaaaybe they’ll be reasonable.
“It was…”
Caine sighed.
“…It was BopDop. Who started the relationship comments..”
“…Oh, you’re F[#%!]ING KIDDING.”
…or maybe not.
Queenies hands suddenly shot up from Caines waist, moving to slap again her face as she groaned in what sounded like shocked annoyance. Similarly enough, Kinger continued to stare forward, his eyes wide. Caine was sure that if he had a mouth, it would be slacked open right now.
“Oh my- OF COURSE! OF F[#%!]ING COURSE IT WAS HIM.” Queenie yelled into her hands.
Kinger sighed. “God, why am I even surprised at this point?”
Okay, Caine was a little bit confused. Don’t get him wrong, he thought BopDop was a…um…’human-male-anatomy-head’ as much as the next person. But he didnt really expect such a reaction from his partners. It felt almost as if they were hearing of him doing this for a second time.
It was almost creepy how he could do this, but Kinger seemed to sense Caines confusion just by looking at him. Pulling his hand away from his face, Kinger spoke.
“Oh wait, we didn’t get to tell you yet, did we?”
Now Caine was even more confused.
“Um…tell me what?” He queried.
“Oh my gosh, right!” Queenie suddenly exclaimed. Kinger quieted down, deciding that she was probably the better choice to tell him.
Oh and tell him she did.
“You will never guess who told us to break up with you, only 3 DAYS into the ignoring, with no context, and even had the audacity to bring up our ‘bedroom life’.”
Caines eyes widened, staring at her.
“…No way.”
“Mhm. Mr Purple dinosaur himself.”
“You’re kidding!”
“That’s what I said!”
Kinger sat back on the bed, leaning on his hands as he watched his wife and boyfriend gossip like girls in a Highschool drama. It was actually kind of funny. Especially considering both of them were well too old for that to be considered ‘normal’.
Still, he watched in what can only be described as laughable admiration, simply staring at his partners while they gasped dramatically with nothing but pure love in his eyes.
Oh, this.
He really missed this over the few days Caine had gone.
What he had said about Caine making their lives better? Wasn’t even CLOSE to an overexaggeration.
He would admit it, sure, he and Queenie had a lovely relationship, even before Caine. Met in high school, started dating in senior year, married right out of college, began working in the same tech company? Life seemed absolutely perfect. No need for anything more.
Until they met Caine that was.
From the first week they were together, Queenie and Kinger had just about fallen hard for his charm. The way he exclaimed every word with such enthusiasm, the way he quite literally floated around them excitedly, the very way in which his eyes sparkled whenever they talked with him. It all drew them in so much, that by the time Kinger had realised his feelings for the AI, so had Queenie!
If they thought their romantic life was good before Caine, then why, now it was downright incredible! ‘Spectacular’, as Caine himself would say.
Which is why the few days in which Caine had ignored them felt like…torture. It wasn’t as if they weren’t happy with eachother, far from it! But it was more like…having a really good book, and knowing there’s an additional part that makes it better, but being unable to read it! Sure, you can still read the book normally and the plot will still make perfect sense, but it’s the fact of knowing that there’s more to it that makes it just feel wrong to read on its own!
…Okay, Kinger might be rambling a little by now.
The important part was, he missed feeling of being all together. And by all means, he never wanted to let it go again.
“I personally think he’s just jealous of us! I mean, there’s three of us here, and he’s still single!”
“Well…it’s not fully his fault, I can’t imagine many people are attracted to dinosaurs.”
“I’ve also never heard to people attracted to removable shapes, but Zoobles never had any trouble.”
“Darling, now don’t be ru— “
Suddenly, Caines sentence cut itself short, as before he could finish, a second pair of hands wrapped around his and Queenies backs. The Kings body pushed against the other side of Caine, smushing him further into their Queens lap.
“Woa-ho-ho! Hey!” Caine exclaimed, caught off guard. “Now what’s this extra ‘bout of love about?”
Kinger shrugged in response. “Whaat? You don’t think I’d just stay sitting idol while my two favourite people hug eachother, do you?” He responded, his voice soft and happy.
The Queen piece laughed into her hand. “Well, to be fair, someone was rather aversive to even start this hug.”
“Ah! Which actually reminds me, my dears!” Caine suddenly exclaimed. His head turned to face Queenies, eyes open and wide akin to a dogs pleading face. “Now that we have finally properly solved his dilemma, for real this time, I still have an adventure due today!…do um…may I please be let to go?”
The two men watched as their Queens face morphed into that of a thinking face. Clearly, Kinger thought, she was attempting to come up with an excuse to keep Caine in her grasp for just a bit longer.
And when she seemed to come to the conclusion she didn’t have one…
…well, she just had to get creative.
“Oh no!”
Suddenly, her whole body went limp, falling against Caines back and forcing him stuck under her body weight.
“It seems gravity had increased on me and I am unable to move! Oh no, how tragic.” She said, ever clearly unconvincing.
Kingers hand covered his face as he laughed, while he watched as Caine struggled under her, clearly annoyed at this point.
“Queenie! Darling, I really must be off-“
“Well it’s not MY fault gravity just seems to be against me! Oh well, guess we should just go back to sleep.”
“We- WE CAN’T JUST SIMPLY ‘GO BACK TO SLEEP’ NOW!”
“Honk…shoo…honk…shoo…”
“THAT IS THE MOST UNCONVINCING SNORING IVE EVER HEARD!”
The king broke, letting himself laugh out loud at the rather ridiculous display in front of him.
Yep.
He really never did want to let this go.
~~~
Eventually (to Caines delight and Queenies disappointment) the throuple did have to get up and start the day. After all, the circus members would surely be worried if not only their ringmaster but also two of the oldest circus members didn’t show up!…or at least mildly interested in what happened.
So, now, the Queen and King leaned casually against the stage, chatting away with themselves in the large lobby near the other several groups of people in the circus.
Caine had left just a bit ago, saying something about ‘not having time to prepare an actual adventure’ and ‘hoping this will do’. What ‘this’ was was unknown for now. So, for the moment, Queenie and Kinger were left on their lonesome…
…Well, okay, literally almost 30 other members were there, but can you blame them for feeling kind of lonely?
Either way, it didn’t matter, because at least now they had sure conformation that their boyfriend WOULD return to them, which was all they needed.
Anyway. Yes, now the two chess pieces were left waiting patiently with the rest of the circus for Caine to show back up and announce the adventure of the day. So for now, they could fill in the time with completely normal conversation.
“—And that’s why you should never drink a giraffe’s milk after Christmas!”
“…Kinger, I understand virtually nothing about what you just said.”
Completely normal indeed.
Just as Kinger was about to start the story again, despite Queenies evident hesitancy, a voice near them suddenly broke up the conversation.
“Kinger! Queenie! Hey!”
Queenies head whipped around to her left, immediately spotting the source of the voice. Just a bit away from them, was Gangle, along with Zooble in her grasp, walking quickly up to the stage where they chess pieces rested.
Gangle was waving, a small smile on her still intact happy mask, which was a rare site to see. Zooble did not look just as happy, trailing behind her almost as if they were dragging their feet, looking as if whatever they were being dragged up to was a chore.
“Oh, Gangle! Zooble! Good morning!” Queenie called out, waving the two over.
The couple slowed to a stop in front of the chess pieces, hands still interlinked. (Well…interlinked the best a ribbon and plastic hand CAN be.)
“Good morning to you both two!” Gangle grinned.
Kinger tilted his head as he smiled with his eyes, leaning against the stage. “And to what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you two out of your room today?”
That one earned a giggle out of the ribbon, as well as a snort from his wife. It was definitely not a lie that those two were prone to avoid being dragged on the adventures, usually from Zoobles end, and that they were keen on hiding in their now shared abode to get out of the line light.
Gangle waved her hand dismissively, her giggles fading. “Well…”
She turned her porcelain face to the side, catching her eyes on the mismatched ones of her partner. “Zooble said they wanted to talk something to you!”
Zooble blushed, clearly embarrassed as their triangular head turned to the floor.
It was definitely abnormal to see Zooble act as the shy one while Gangle took lead for once. Not exactly strange, but still, not the usual.
“Well I just— I mean, I just wanted to- Uhg, F[#%!]…” They sputtering out. It took them a second while they took a deep breath, but eventually their head raised, as they looked up to face Kinger and Queenie directly.
“I…Just wanted to say…I’m sorry. For uh- what I said yesterday.” They said with a shrug, one of their hands gripping the other. “It um…wasn’t cool of me to just give unwarranted advice about that kind of thing. I mean, I’d be pissed as hell if someone said that to me about me and Gangle, so…yeah. Genuinely though, I am sorry.”
Their head still faced the royalty, though their gaze shifted back down to the floor as to not make eye contact.
Queenie would admit, she was a little taken aback by the sudden change in mind. To be honest, in all that had happened both last night and this morning, she had completely forgotten about Zoobles comment.
She could see just how genuine they were being right now; from the way they stumbled on their apology and fiddled with their limbs. It was actually really sweet, she thought. Compared to everyone in the last few days, Zooble was probably one of the last people she expected to receive a sorry from, but here they were.
She supposed it really showed their character, and it overall was the right thing to do.
(Now if only SOMEONE ELSE would do that.)
“Oh, Zooble,” she began, looking at them happily, “Thank you for the apology, but honestly, it was no big deal to us at all!”
The toy shrugged. “Eh, still…felt like the right thing to do. Probably would have kept me up tonight anyway.”
Queenie could hear Kinger chuckle from beside her.
“Heh, well that’s fair enough.” He said. “Still good of you to say sorry, even if we didn’t hold it against you. Anyway, we got the situation sorted out by now!”
Gangle tilted her masked head, her brows raised. “Oh! Really ? Is Caine back talking to you’s?”
“You best believe it!” Kinger responded, nodding. “We talked last night! And now basically everything’s back on track!”
Zoobles poster seemed to relax once the attention was taken away from them, resting one of their arms on their side as they raised their eyebrows questioningly.
“Huh…So, what was up with him anyways?” They asked. “Well uh…if you wanna talk about it that is.”
Kinger and Queenie stopped for a second, turning their heads to look at one another.
…should they tell them? Would Caine WANT them to tell them? Would be be fine with it if they DID tell them? They rattled the question in their minds for a bit.
It would make sense if Caine DIDNT want them to know. He already was pretty adverse to his circus members seeing him as anything other than the perfect, unbreakable ringmaster persona he set for himself.
…But on the other hand, I might benefit them to tell them. Especially if they had a similar idea on it. After all…you can never be too mad at BopDop.
“…Well—“
“GOOOOOOOD MORNING MY LITTLE SPACE CADET CASSEROLES!”
Ah, speak of the devil. The two didn’t even need to turn around to see who had appeared just above them on the stage.
Sending a wink towards Gangle and Zooble, one that hopefully got the message of ‘I’ll tell you later’ through, the Queen turned around, along with her husband, and strolled back to get a proper view of their partner.
Caine stoop up on the stage, loud and proud as per usual, seemingly back in action as he would say. The dark lines under his eyes had all but gone after last nights rest, and his red ringmaster suit was neat and shiny as it always was! Although, the AIs trousers had clearly been changed out, going from his usual skintight black ones to more of a deep-maroon bell-bottomed type. (And only Queenie and Kinger were left to know the reason, his old ones with the holes in the knees from where the glass ripped were left abandoned in their room for the time being.)
He floated a good few inches above the stage, his hat floating just above him while his cain rested in his left hand. He looked down towards his group of brightly coloured circus members, and smiled with his bottom jaw as he dramatically twirled around.
“TODAYS ADVENTURE MY DEARS, IS….”
He threw his arms up in the hair, the word appearing just overhead of him.
“A REGULAR SHMEGULAR FUN OUTING TO THE DIGITAL CARNIVAL!!”
“Wait, wait, wait a second, Cainines.” Jax called out from down below in the crowd, Ribbit and Kaufmo at either side of him as per usual. “That’s it? You’re just like, sending us off to the carnival?”
“WOWEE! VERY OBSERVANT, ARENT WE, JAX?” Caine said with a tilt of the head, not actually meaning any of the sarcasm that it might get misinterpreted as. Though Jax himself still interpreted it as such, scoffing as he turned his head to the side, all while hearing his two friends hold back their laughter.
Caine shrugged it off the best he could, which the king and queen could see was quite well, spinning his stick around in his hands as the letters spelling out the adventure faded off in a poof of smoke.
“I KNOW TODAYS ADVENTURE MAY NOT EXACTLY BE…AS ‘AMAZING’ AS USUAL,” he yelled, slight nerves creeping through his voice, “BUT IM SURE YOU’LL ALL HAVE AN ABSOLUTE SPLENDID TIME! IVE INSTALLED SOME NEW UPDATES TO IT RECENTLY, INCLUDING NEW CARNIVAL GAMES, NEW ACHIEVABLE PRIZES, NEW—“
“You had me at ‘carnival’!”
“Hm, that doesn’t sound too bad actually.”
“Bet I can beat you at ring toss!”
“If it still has cotton candy, I’m sold.”
Huh. Well, at least they weren’t exactly a hard sell today!
Caine watched from his high perched spot as the circus troupe began to disperse, making their way away from the lobby in their own multitude of groups towards the large exit door of the circus.
He could spy the prankster trio together, already making bets on who would win the most games. His eye crossed by Scratch and Wormo, who were calling over Rattie to ask if she wanted to stick with them for the day.
And, of course, as he looked down, he made eye contact with his two dearest darlings themselves, who already seemed to be waving him over happily.
He was so glad he could actually accept this little invitation of their space now.
He floated down gently, watching as Queenie waved off Gangle and Zooble who were already walking their own way before turning back around to face him, immediately raising an eyebrow.
“So…Any reason you decided to make the carnival today’s adventure?”
A slight pink blush crept onto Caines teeth, as he kicked his foot bashfully.
“Ooohhh…well uh, heh,” he shyly began. “Well…ya’know, since I kinda rejected you the last time you asked me out to the carnival, I thought maybe this would make a good… Re-do-date! One where we can finally all be together again!”
“D’awh, Caine.”
Kingers hand reached up, clasping Caines in it. “Now that’s a real sweet idea!”
“It sounds perfect, Buzzy!” Queenie agreed.
The blush on the AIs face deepened as he waved his hand coyly. “Psh’Oh! Well, it’s nothing really, heheh!”
Suddenly, his eyes widened with a thought. “OH WAIT A SECOND! I wanted to show you both something first!”
Taking his hand back from Kingers and lowering himself even further down, yet not to the floor, he snapped his fingers. As quickly as he did so, a familiar red and black notepad manifested itself into the air, dropping in Caines hand before he got to work flipping through it.
“It um…might still be a little messed up from the whiskey,” he said as he quickly flipped through the pages of doodles, “But I got it mostly cleaned up!”
His hands stopped as he clearly found the page. He gripped the notebook tightly, looking down sheepishly as he spoke.
“I um…hope you like it!”
With that, he turned the book around, placing it into the couples hands as he revealed the drawing inside.
Had he not been looking at the ground, he would have seen as their eyes lit up upon seeing the drawing.
What lay on the page was a drawing, a highly detailed drawing that is, of both Kinger, Queenie and Caine all sitting together. Kinger on the left, Queenie on the right, Caine right in the middle, all smiling happily as they held eachother. (Well…smiling in their own unique ways without having mouths.)
The page was darker than the rest, most definitely from the now dry alcohol that was spilled onto it, but it didn’t matter. It in no way took away from the beauty of the art itself.
“Oh…Caine, it’s…it’s beautiful!” The Queen said, awestruck.
“Absolutely gorgeous, love..” Kinger seconded.
Caine chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Oh, it’s nothing really! Just thought it’d be nice to have something like this to put in my office, Ya’know!”
Queenies eyes broke away from the drawing, looking towards their boyfriend with nothing but adoration in her gaze. “Oh! Do you think you could possibly make a copy of this? I think I would go perfectly framed in our room!”
Caines eyes widened as his jaw only got redder. “…You..really like it that much?”
The king chuckled. “Of course we do! It’s absolutely perfect! Thank you, honeybee!”
The AI squeaked happily, wrapping his arms cartoonishly around his two spouses in a large hug. “OH, THANK YOU MY DEARS! YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT!!”
Laughing happily, the two wrapped their own hands around Caines in a return hug. They truly did love watching him respond so happily to praise.
After a moment, they broke away from their hug, as Caine took the notebook back and said he would work on duplicating the drawing later.
“Well then,” Kinger stretched. “Shall we get a move on, my monarchs?”
“Why, WE SHALL, MY KING!” Caine replied, his arm raising into the air dramatically. “AFTER ALL, THE DIGITAL CARNIVAL WAITS FOR NO ONE!”
But just as Caine and Kinger began to start walking, Queenie spoke up.
“Actually…I’ll be just a few minutes, my loves.” She quickly said, turning her head around as if she were looking for something. “I just need to do something really quick.”
The AI and white king stared for a second.
“…Well, I guess the digital carnival will have to wait for SOMEONE!”
Queenie rolled her eyes at their boyfriend’s terrible joke, and Kinger laughed into his hand before turning back to her.
“Promise you won’t take too long?”
“Oh, trust me, I’ll meet you both down in a bit. If I do it right, it shouldn’t take long at all…”
“…Pft, I know what you’re doing, Ladybug. Just remember to save some for me for later.”
“Will do, love, will do.”
The two whispered those last parts, not wanting Caine to be aware of what they were at. Just as Caine looked over, silently questioning what his two dears were talking about, Kinger grabbed his hand once again.
“Well, no time to waste then!” He said, already starting walking towards the circus entrance. “We’ll meet you down there soon, Honey!”
Caine still looked a wee bit confused, but he seemed to shrug it off, instead flipping his head around to call out to Queenie.
“SEE YOU IN A BIT, MY LITTLE MULTITASKING MANGO!”
“Heheh, see you there!” She smiled; waving them off with her hand.
It didn’t take the two long to get out of the tent, but it almost didn’t matter, because even though they were out of the tent itself; they still both flinched when they heard a very familiar voice yelling from the inside.
“BOPDOP. YOU SON OF A B[#%!]—“
…
the two stood for a second, the yelling from inside being drowned out by the tents thick fabric.
but they still heard it.
“…Is she—“
“Yelling at BopDop? Yep.”
“…Is it because of—“
“What he said about you? Mostly, but I think she’s been meaning to do that for a while.”
“…So will—“
“Yes, she will probably still meet us down at the carnival soon. She can make quick work of these things you know.”
“…Well, Okay then!”
And so, without any further thought on it, Caine and Kinger kept walking down towards the carnival, ignoring their loves angered screams from inside the tent.
They knew she wouldn’t take long anyway. And when she was done, they could all hang out as a throuple. And they could play carnival games, and ride the rides, and talk, and eat food, and have a wonderful day together.
And they would all be together.
Just like they always would be.