Chapter Text
After what had to have been the craziest fever dream Tera had ever experienced, complete with bowling balls, a cake falling on her head, a [SQUEAK] ton of eyeballs, and some pretty fun music, Zooble managed to interrupt the "Intermission Time" and get them all back on track.
Tera appeared outside a bar, immediately dashing towards the door to get out of the pouring rain. Jax was a few steps ahead of her, walking inside and not holding the door, like the gentleman he was.
She opened the door with a huff, grateful to be out of the storm that was soaking her pants.
…wait a minute.
Pants?
Now that Tera was in a (albeit dimly) lit room, she could take in her outfit. Black pants were held up by suspenders over a white shirt with short, puffy sleeves. She patted the back of her head, feeling her hair tucked into a bun instead of pigtails.
Well this was one heck of an outfit change.
With a slightly lighter bounce in her step, Tera took the seat next to Jax just as he told Zooble, the bartender, his order.
"Gimme a whiskey sour," he drawled, looking tired. "But hold the egg white, since I'm a vegan."
He shot up at that, having apparently said it against his will.
"Wha- I hate this!" He complained. "How is this even possible? I thought Caine couldn't-"
He trailed off into stammering nonsense.
"Caine can't what?" Tera asked, fidgeting with the cloth on her knees.
"Mess with our brains!" Jax whined, holding his hands up in confusion. "He says he can't, and then this happens?"
"I could've made it way worse for you," Zooble pointed out, mixing a drink.
"Well I'm calling a vote to turn Zooble into a slug," Jax sneered.
Each vote popped up with a red X, Jax's being the only one in favor.
"Everyone voted against that," Caine informed him. Tera glanced over. Since when had he been sitting-?
Oh, never mind. Caine was gone.
Jax whined and flopped his head onto the bar as Zooble placed a drink in front of him. "And you Tera?"
"Oh, uh… a Shirley Temple?" She asked sheepishly. She wasn't a big fan of the taste of alcohol.
Zooble set to work as Jax took the first sip of his drink.
"Are you too young for alcohol or something?" He asked, the words missing their usual teasing tone.
"No, I can drink!" Tera answered defensively. And that was true, she could drink-
Just, not in America. Nineteen may have been old enough for other countries, but not for the Ol' U-S-of-A.
The door jingled as Kinger and Ragatha walked inside, saving Tera from any further questioning.
"Woo- it's raining like the dickens out there!" Kinger exclaimed, holding the door for the ragdoll. Tera choked back a giggle at his old-timey sounding choice of words as Zooble handed her the drink.
"I'll have a cosmopolitan!" Ragatha decided, sitting next to Gamgle.
"Gimme a corncob blitz," Kinger declared from Tera's left, where Caine had been for a few brief moments before.
Zooble looked as confused as Tera felt, but turned towards the shelf of drinks anyways.
"I'll… throw something together," they shrugged.
"You know your way around alcohol, huh?" Pomni asked, noticing how at ease Zooble seemed behind the counter.
"Yeah, this was… one of my suggestions," Zooble admitted as they flipped a shaker in their hand with more skill and coordination than Tera could ever hope to have. "I worked at a bar briefly. I like making drinks."
"That sounds fitting, for you," Jax remarked, smirking at Zooble as they turned towards the back and began pouring various liquids into the shaker.
Zooble paused and straightened up. "I know there's an implication there, but I can't be [BOINK]-ed to figure it out."
Tera glanced between the two, taking a small sip of her drink. She had no idea what he'd meant by that, but there was no way she was asking.
"So, Pomni, you ever have any jobs?" Jax asked, turning to the jester sitting on his right. "Or are you too young for that, like screen-face over here?" he smirked, putting his hand on Pomni's head.
Tera rolled her eyes and focused on her drink. She'd had a job before the circus, but she wasn't going to keep responding if he was just going to tease her.
"I'm twenty-five years old," Pomni responded grumpily. Tera almost choked on her drink. She really was the youngest there.
"And… yeah," Pomni conceded. "I was an accountant, for a supermarket chain."
"A supermarket? How'd you end up here?" Jax asked, voicing Tera's own question.
"Well, I sometimes got bored of things… and I would seek out mild thrills, like exploring abandoned buildings, y'know?" Pomni answered. "And… posting videos of it online," she added quietly.
"Like on youtube?" Tera asked, cutting off Jax's own response.
"Yeah, but nobody every watched them," Pomni answered, staring into her drink. "It was just something I did for me."
"I sometimes did that," Zooble spoke up. "I wouldn't record it though. Here's your cosmo." They handed Ragatha her drink, a vibrant pink color.
"Ah, thanks," the doll answered, taking a sip.
Tera fished the cherry out of her cup with her straw. That explained why two of the others were in the circus. Her own reason was a bit different than wanting excitement in her life.
"What's your story then?" Zooble sneered at Jax who was staring at them with a [SQUEAK]-eating grin.
"Ah, I thought you'd never ask," Jax sighed, leaning his back against the counter in a overly dramatic fashion. "Well, after my lung cancer diagnosis, me and my junkie associate from a chemistry class I used to teach-"
"Yeah, I figured," Zooble cut him off with an eyeroll as Tera coughed into her drink. "How about you Gangle?"
"Hey, I wasn't done!" The rabbit complained.
"If you're going to make sh[SMACK]t up, at least be creative about it," Zooble chastised. "I know what you're referencing."
"Was that a reference to something?" Ragatha asked from the other end of the bar. No one answered her, but Tera added "explain Breaking Bad to Ragatha" to her mental to-do list.
"Uh… I worked in fast food," Gangle said quietly, her pencil scratching slow lines on a paper.
"You've done more than that. What about your art?" Zooble encouraged.
"I was in community college for graphic design," Gangle continued, leaning her face on a ribbon-hand, "But I dropped out. I didn't really pursue art much after that," she finished sadly.
"Hey, I'm always down to make art together if you want," Zooble offered, mixing up what was most likely Kinger's drink. Gangle smiled at them as Ragatha piped up, continuing the conversation. Tera would've popped in to agree with Zooble, but she didn't want to interrupt the moment they were having. She hadn't been in the circus very long but she could already tell that Gangle and Zooble were pretty close.
Zooble and Jax had another back-and-forth moment before Ragatha took over, talking about her home life on a farm with her mother, who sounded like a real piece of work. The bar grew quiet as she talked until she paused, realized everyone was staring at her, and quickly downed most of her drink.
"Yeah, just, kind of a farm girl!" she finished hastily. "Nothing too out of the ordinary," she added, emphasizing her words with an arm swing.
Tera hands sat in her lap as she glanced down the bar, noticing Jax staring at his drink as he traced the rim of his glass, a strange look on his face. Almost like Ragatha's story had brought up some bad feelings.
There was still an awkward silence, so Tera decided to break it.
"I was in school for computer science," she offered, folding her fingers together. "Had a couple of years under my belt before my…"
She froze, realizing she hadn't thought through the impact of telling everyone how she ended up in an abandoned building- especially in Missouri of all places.
It wasn't like there was anything she had to lose though.
Tera squeezed her hands together before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I uh… I grew up on the coast, but my parents and I didn't really agree on some stuff. After my second year of college something happened and things got worse so I… I left," she admitted, her hands separating and grabbing the fabric of her pants instead. "Wandered a bit. I ended up getting pretty lost and then… well…"
She motioned to the bar around her as a finale to her story, then stared at her drink. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.
After a moment of silence Tera risked a glance upward. Ragatha had gone from panicky-cheerful to what looked like a mix of worry and relief, Gangle, Zooble, and Pomni were staring with various levels of concern, and Jax was…
He was staring at her with a blank expression, his pupils the widest she'd ever seen.
"So uh… what about you Kinger?" she asked, her voice squeaking.
"There's no point asking him," Jax snorted, suddenly back to normal. "There's no way he remembers anything!"
"Never better!" Kinger responded cheerfully, confirming Jax's statement.
"Do you guys know about his wife?" Pomni asked tentatively. Everyone stared at her in confusion, Kinger himself grabbing his head and yelping, "MY WHAT?!"
He calmed down quickly, letting out a soft "Oh!" as Zooble placed a drink in front of him, garnished with a corncob. Jax flinched at the drink, for some reason Tera didn't feel like trying to puzzle out at the moment. She was more concerned with figuring out where Zooble had gotten the corncob. From her (albiet limited) knowledge, they usually weren't stocked at bars.
The door jingled as someone walked inside- a red mannequin sporting a brown cowboy hat. They paused at the bar, raising their head as they began to speak.
"He-!"
Aaaaaaand they were gone.
Pomni blinked in surprise. "Uh… what?"
"That's Disappearing Guy," Zooble explained. "That's just what he does."
Honestly, Tera wasn't even surprised.
"I see…" Pomni answered slowly. "From a… previous adventure?"
"Yeah, God Pomni, you didn't know that?" Jax snickered before turning towards Zooble with a smug expression.
Zooble rolled their eyes, turning away. "I'm ignoring you."
"By the way Pomni," Jax continued, "Sorry 'bout the whole president thing. I just thought it'd be funny," he grinned, leaning on one hand as he traced the rim of his glass with the other.
"Uh- are… are you apologizing?" Pomni stammered, looking even more shocked than she had at Disappearing Guy's antics. "What's happening?" she asked Zooble with a concerned expression.
"Just ignore him," Zooble advised, pouring something else behind the bar. "Tera, you want another drink?"
Tera glanced down at her glass, surprised at how empty it was. "Oh- sure, yeah. Thanks Zooble."
She glanced over as Jax continuted with his strange(-er than usual) antics, her eyes flicking down to his half-empty glass before widening briefly in realization.
Jax was a lightweight.
She decided to ignore the rest of the conversation, murmuring her thanks to Zooble when they replaced her empty glass and turning inward to her own thoughts.
Jax had said before that Caine had no apparent control over their minds. But that wasn't totally true was it- between the vegan thing and the fact that the alcohol was actually affecting Jax, he had to have some way to modify their brains.
But then again, how much control did Caine really have over the circus?
Had he created the circus, or had Caine's makers created it? How did technology that looked like it was from the 80's run an actual AI while also having several people hooked up to a full-dive virtual reality system?
A pit began to grow in Tera's stomach as she remembered the building with the headset.
Empty.
No other signs of life- or life that used to exist. No bodies. No life support.
One headset.
"If the circus isn't just some messed up real life form of SAO, then what is it?" she thought, twirling a maraschino cherry stem between two fingers.
Her brain was not providing any helpful ideas, it was simply replaying scenes from the anime in her head in an attempt to find an explanation. She would've physically cringed, if she hadn't remembered something brought up near the end of the first season.
It would explain why she hadn't seen anyone else near the headset. It might've even explained how the circus ran on such old hardware.
In the anime, the creator of the game Sword Art Online had ended up dead after the game was beaten, but his consciousness had actually been-
"You guys all take this place waaaaay too seriously," Jax drawled, leaning on Tera's shoulder and knocking her out of her thoughts. She scowled, shoving him with her elbow. He refused to move.
Zooble narrowed their eyes before taking the corncob from Kinger's drink and placing it in front of the rabbit. Tera felt him tense up at the sight of it.
"Wh- what is this. Why'd you do that?" he asked.
Zooble said nothing, only watched his reaction.
"Can you get that thing away from me?" he scoffed, finally moving off of Tera as he leaned away from the bar.
"Are you afraid of corn?" Zooble asked incredulously.
"No," Jax scoffed. "Who's afraid of corn?"
Zooble slid the corn closer to Jax and he jumped out of his seat, shifting behind Tera who didn't appreciate being used as a shield.
"I'm bored!" declared Caine as he popped out of nowhere. "Let's go to the next adventure!"
"Wh- you're not even a part of-!"
Zooble's arguments were cut off as the world went dark once more.
Happy upbeat music, a giant stadium surrounded by cars, and a jumbotron displaying advertisements that matched the banners surrounding the field.
"It's softball, ladies and gentleman!" Caine declared through a microphone from his spot in the announcer's box.
"O-oh, we're doing this now?" Ragatha stammered.
"Beautiful night for a game, right Bubble?" he continued. Instead of responding properly Bubble just went "BLAAAAAAA."
"We've got the Big Tops…"
Tera stared at her team, the apparent 'Big Tops.' Everyone except Zooble was wearing a baseball cap with their name embroidered on it…
…and she was back in that stupid maid dress. Lovely.
"…playing against the Evil Big Tops!"
She looked over at their competitors- an assortment of miscolored clones, sans Gangle.
Evil Pomni had sharp teeth and a sailor's taste for swear words. Evil Ragatha had a crazy laugh that reminded Tera of a witch. Kinger's evil variant was called Coach Dictatorer for some reason, and Zooble's was a silly-sounding character named Bazooble with the words 'I'm Evil' writen across their torso.
The other three were a slightly different story. The so-called 'Evil' Jax seemed anxious, smiling and waving nervously. Tera raised her hand to wave back, until Regular Jax shot her a glare.
Gangle didn't have an evil clone. A red figure composed of orbs and aptly named Evil Orbsman took her place.
Tera's evil clone was… something.
For starters, she only spoke in beeps, ones and zeros flashing across her eye screen. Judging by the censor bars appearing every now and then, there were quite a few swear words mixed in to whatever she was saying.
Her hair was black and her eye-screen purple, a color swap akin to the other Evil Big Tops, complete with a fanged smile.
Oh, and she was wearing pants. A white tank top and baggy jeans, to be exact.
Instantly filled with an insane amount of jealousy, Tera resolved to call her evil version 'Bytes.' Like bites, and TeraByte- and with her teeth-
Well, you get it.
A familiar red mannequin walked up to the microphone as each team took their spots on the field or in the dugout. He grabbed the mic, readied his voice, and…
Disappeared.
Again.
Tera sank into a seat, crossing her legs with a huff as she tried to get her skirt to behave.
"You alright?" Zooble asked as they walked past with Gangle.
"I just hate this stupid dress," Terabyte muttered. "I wish I had a different dress, or some pants or something-"
She paused, taking a breath. "Sorry. Got carried away there."
"Don't worry about it," Zooble assured her. Gangle tugged on Zooble's arm with a small smile on her face, whispering something to her geometric friend.
The two walked off as Kinger began what Tera thought was meant to be a motivational speech. It was… confusing, to say the least.
Evil Jax walked over, holding his arm.
"Hey guys! I hope we have a fun game- no matter who ends up winning," he offered with a nervous smile.
Tera half-smiled. 'Evil Jax' was actually a little adorable, unlike his counterpart.
"I wanna kill that guy," Jax sneered.
Case in point.
Ragatha was up to bat first, hitting it pretty far across the field. At least, Tera thought it was a good hit.
Evil Pomni managed to catch it, jeering at Ragatha as she threw down her hat and stormed off the pitch. Tera watched her with a concerned expression as Evil Pomni and Jax called out to each other across the field.
A vote box popped up in front of Jax. The information explaining the vote poked at the edge of Tera's mind, but she ignored it and voted yes. She was too mentally tired to make a decision, and if it had anything to do with what Gangle and Zooble were whispering about next to her, it was bound to be good.
To quote the wonderful website known as tumblr, she'd been hit by Apollo's red dodgeball of prophecy.
Her maid dress disappeared, instantly replaced by a familiar set of pink overalls with golden buttons. It had been modified slightly to fit her body, but it was definitely Jax's.
The new location of her dress became immediately apparent as Jax started throwing a loud fit, chasing Gangle around until Kinger called him up to bat.
Tera did have to give the pair some extra points though- she'd only had the dress and shoes. She had definitely not been wearing a white headpiece and matching eyeliner.
"I don't want to wear this!" Jax fumed, turning bright red as he huffed in anger.
"I have never seen you this upset about something," Zooble remarked, leaning slightly with a hand on their hip.
"JAX! BAT!" Kinger yelped, shoving the bat towards Jax.
The rabbit snatched it away while snapping a death threat towards Zooble.
"Let's see what you're maid of," Bazooble taunted, making Jax flush in anger and stammer again.
"D-don't worry, I think you look good!" Evil Jax encouraged, tapping his fingers together.
"I don't wanna hear that! I want you DEAD!" Jax shot back.
Bytes immediately went off on an angry beeping tangent, complete with a rapid-fire amount of censor bars. They all seemed directed at (normal) Jax.
As much as she loved the overalls (and the fact that even an 'evil' version of her would stand up for someone) something about Jax's reaction was bugging Tera.
A few minutes later Zooble walked over, missing an eye for some reason.
"So, whaddaya think?" Zooble asked her. "Like the new outfit?"
Tera opened her mouth to respond, but the 'yes' died in her throat as she watched Jax slump off the pitch in defeat.
"I… maybe we should switch back," she muttered. "He obviously doesn't like the dress."
The dress…
A memory pricked at the edge of Tera's mind. A green dress…
"Hey Caine! We need a ball here!" Zooble yelled up at the announcer's box. A softball appeared above their hands, bouncing off their plastic limbs for a few seconds as they struggled to catch it.
"Jax, we've got a ball now! What are you doing?"
Tera looked up, noticing him talking with Evil Pomni before walking back over to home plate at Zooble's call.
"Sorry Tera, what were you saying?" Zooble asked, turning back towards her.
"Ah- nothing," she answered, offering them a smile. "Thanks Zooble."
"Don't worry about it," they answered, lightly punching her arm. "We look out for our own here."
Tera went still as they walked away. "What did they mean by-? Surely they didn't mean… No, it's just… 'our own' as in the fellow circus members… right?"
Thoughts raced through her mind, making her breathing quicken. She turned her attention towards the nearest conversation as a distraction. Zooble had moved away to watch Gangle bat, so her only option was Ragatha, Pomni, and Jax, sitting a couple of yards away.
"I'm sorry Jax," Ragatha sighed, looking pissed. "For… bringing up that thing earlier."
Jax's pupils widened as he stared.
Evidently that was not the conversation Tera wanted to get involved in. She turned her attention back to the pitch.
Zooble had replaced Gangle as batter, and the score had gone up one. Tera tried to force her face into a neutral/happy expression as her friend walked back into the dugout.
"How's the game going?" Ragatha sighed.
"Great! Gangle hit a home run!" Kinger informed her.
"Really?" Ragatha asked, eye widening.
"Nice job Gangle!" Tera cheered with a few light claps as Gangle came over, a shy smile on her face.
"Your instructions helped me a lot," Gangle murmured to Ragatha, who looked pleasantly surprised.
Tera could feel her mind wandering back to the uncomfortable thoughts again, so she directed her attention towards the pitch once more. Zooble was up to bat, and Bazooble was in pieces on the ground a few seconds later.
Apparently that counted as a home run- according to Caine anyways.
Ragatha was up again a few moments later, but Bazooble was still scattered across the dirt. Yet another 'technically-home-run.'
Confetti rained around them as Caine declared their victory, despite Ragatha contradicting him on the rules. He seemed a little ticked off for some reason.
Kinger and Gangle began to celebrate with Ragatha as Tera stood up, ready to head to the next adventure.
With a soft pop her overalls were gone, replaced by the dress once more. She barely had time to feel disappointed before Jax was shooting past her, heading for his counterpart with a mouthful of sharp teeth.
"Please tell me that was the last adventure," Tera muttered, covering her mouth as she yawning. "I really need a nap."
Sure enough a glowing portal appeared instead of the usual fade to black that brought them to another adventure. Tera would've cried in relief if she was able to produce tears.
Jax and Pomni walked off on their own, chatting about something. Zooble, Gangle, and Kinger began heading towards the stairs. Tera was about to follow them, desperate to get out of her dress, before she noticed Ragatha standing by herself with a small frown.
"Hey Ragatha, do you wanna walk to the rooms with me?" Tera suggested before she could think. Ah yes, a lovely side effect of exhaustion- lack of filter. Not that she had much of a filter anyways.
Ragatha perked up. "Oh- sure!"
The two walked in silence for a moment before Tera remembered something the ragdoll had said during the bar adventure.
"What were your horses like?"
Ragatha startled. "My- Oh right, I did mention them earlier," she realized, rubbing her neck. "I had a few, but my favorite was this chestnut named Daisy Bell. I'd raised her from a foal and we'd practically grown up together."
Ragatha continued prattling on about her horses, some life coming back into her steps as the two walked. Tera listened as she talked about all the horses she'd cared for, and her love of riding. Eventually the adventures bled into the conversation as Ragatha began talking about the softball team she'd been on in highschool.
"If you had a chance to pick an adventure what would you have chosen?" Ragatha asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Oh that's a hard one," Tera mused, smoothing out the ruffles on her skirt. "Maybe a computer lab or a library? Or like a cafe?"
"There's a cafe up the spiral stairs!" Ragatha mentioned, her face brightening. "I'll take you there sometime, it's really cozy!"
"Wow, really? That's awesome," Tera answered, smiling. Talking with Ragatha reminded her of her old friends from the real world. It was a pleasant feeling to be lost in.
The pair soon arrived at Tera's door, where they said their goodbyes and separated. The first thing Tera did once she was in her room was lock her door, and the second thing she did was carefully hang up the maid dress so that it would disappear when her rotation of clothes changed.
And then she threw on her nightgown and promptly collapsed onto the bed.
After a few hours of peaceful sleep, the thoughts began to creep into Tera's dreams. Visions of her parents, the sounds of their arguments, the chaos that followed the worst day of Tera's life…
Suffice it to say, Tera bolted upright in a cold sweat, a hand clapped over her mouth to muffle her strangled scream.
She shifted her legs over the side of her bed, breathing heavily as she tried to regain her bearings.
"You're not in your parents house, you're in the circus," Tera muttered to herself, pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead. "You're not there anymore. You're safe."
The affirmations weren't doing much to calm her nerves, especially in the bright pink room that seemed to glow despite the lack of light. With shaky legs Tera stood up, stumbling out the door in hopes of a breath of fresh air.
Though the inside of the circus was bright, the outside was once again in its night cycle. The moon shone far above the red and white tent, a familiar figure floating nearby.
Tera peered up at the sky, trying to figure out what the pair were talking about. They were too high for her to hear anything they were saying.
She turned to the right and retraced her steps down the beach, passing by the chairs and the umbrellas and the changing booth like she had a week ago.
Her feet sank into the soft sand as she strolled down the beach, the waves lapping at her feet. The night was silent except for the sound of the small waves rolling over the lake, until a voice saying "Hey there Tera!" right behind her ear nearly made her jump out of her skin. She ended up tripping over feet, face planting on the ground.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Caine said as she spat sand from her mouth. She looked up and saw him, floating above her with a tired expression.
"I-It's fine," she managed, sitting up and brushing the sand off her face and nightgown. Her hair was probably a lost cause, so she left that alone as she stood up.
"What brings you out here on this fine night?" he asked, once again floating higher as she stood up. Tera had noticed he always floated above them, never touching the ground, like he had to show them he was higher than them literally and figuratively.
"Couldn't sleep," she shrugged, feeling a wave of deja-vu. "You?"
"Oh, I was just chatting with the moon," He answered, glancing up at the crescent blue light in the sky. "She's nice but she's a little forward, if you know what I mean," he grimaced, waving a hand.
Tera giggled, doing her best to disguise it as a cough with a fist in front of her mouth.
She glanced down the water's edge, knowing she very much would not be able to sleep if she returned to her room now. Besides, having someone to talk to always quieted the voices in her head.
"Want to walk with me?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Without further ado the pair set off down the beach once more.
"So… what's your favorite animal?" Tera asked after a few steps in silence.
"I like bees!" Caine answered, whipping out a sketchbook from nowhere and flipping it open. Sure enough, most of the pages were doodles of adorable little cartoon bumblebees. The sight of his grin made her heart skip a beat. "What's your favorite animal?"
"I like birds a lot," Tera answered, staring up at the sky and remembering when flocks of geese used to land in her backyard during their migration. "They just seem so carefree." She could hear crickets and birds chirping softly in the night air, but either creature was nowhere to be found. It was just ambient sound.
"How'd you come up with the idea for the Evil Big Tops?" she asked.
"Oh, I've had 'evil versions of yourself' in the back of my mind as an adventure for a while!" Caine answered. "They weren't going to be a sports team though," he added bitterly.
"You aren't a fan of the suggestion box, huh?" Tera guessed, wiping stray bits of sand off her arms.
"I just wish you guys would like the adventures I came up with," he sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I work really hard on them y'know. It's literally what I'm here to do."
"People like different things," she shrugged. "It's hard to-"
"You said that on our first walk," Caine reminded her. "I've tried catering to people's likes and dislikes since then, but it hasn't worked."
"Maybe you could ask everyone what kind of things they like and make an adventure that works for everyone," Tera suggested.
"Maybe," He sighed, crossing his arms. He was only getting more upset as time went on, so Tera decided to drop the subject.
They continued their trek around the lake, Terabyte occasionally pointing out different assets and complimenting them until Caine looked less grumpy. By the time they'd made a full loop the sun was beginning to rise, and she'd actually managed to crack a few jokes that made Caine laugh. His laugh was stupidly adorable, with the way he'd throw his head back and almost cackle. With every step she took he slowly descended, until his head was floating at the same height as her own.
He was still laughing at a rather dumb one she'd remembered about the beach waving and never speaking when Tera yawned. The walk had worked, and she was finally tired and calm enough to go to sleep.
"I think I'm gonna go get some shut-eye before the day really starts," she decided, stretching her arms upward. "Thanks for cheering me up," she added.
"I… I cheered you up?" he asked, pointing to himself in surprise.
"Yeah," Tera answered, smiling. "Can't wait to see what you've got cooking up for our next adventure!"
Without thinking, on an impulse Tera couldn't understand or explain, she leaned over and kissed the side of his head, where a normal human's cheek would be. His teeth were cold and smooth; it was almost like kissing a wall.
He froze, whatever he was about to say cut off in surprise. Red lines tinted his face, like a cartoony blush.
"Sorry I shouldn't have- I should've asked-" Tera scrambled to cover for what she'd just done, but Caine wasn't moving. He didn't appear to be hearing her- in fact, his eyes were bright blue with white scrolling text once more.
"…Caine?" Terabyte asked tentatively, waving a hand in front of his face.
The dial-up tone started again, this time louder. Trees started glitching in and out of existence, the ground shaking beneath her feet.
"Caine!" Tera yelped, grabbing his shoulders.
He startled back into the present, the noise and glitching disappearing. Tera let her hands drop from his suit with a relieved huff.
"Is something wrong?" he asked. "I think I zoned out for a second there. Did you say something?"
Tera shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin smile. "Just making sure you were okay."
He didn't seem to remember the kiss, which Tera was almost thankful for. She had no idea why she'd done that. Maybe she was more tired than she thought.
"I'll see you later!" she said quickly before dashing off into the circus, her heart racing.
After sprinting through the tent and up the stairs Terabyte fumbled with her doorway for a few moments before slamming it shut and locking it as quickly as possible. She placed her back against the door and cupped her head in her hands, trying to slow her breathing.
"I'm so [SQUACK]-ing tired," she laughed, taking a few steps forward and collapsing onto her bed. She grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it tight in her arms.
Within a few minutes her screen dimmed and she drifted back into sleep.