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Caine never really knew what the point of love was for a while. Well, when there weren’t many others in the Digital Circus. He knew what love was, basic knowledge like that was in his programming… but the point of it was something he hadn’t grasped. And he hadn’t needed to. Not when it was mainly just him, and Bubble for a time.
But then. Others. Others began to show up. He did his thing! He did what he was made to do for the most part. What he was supposed to do. No matter who it was. No matter what happened.
Currently, he has a nice cast of people here in the Amazing Digital Circus! There’s Ragatha, Jax, Gangle, Zooble, Pomni- their newest, actually! - and… Kinger. He’d mention Kaufmo, if he hadn’t… well… Abstracted. But that’s besides the point. There’s… something about Kinger.
Nothing bad! It’s actually something that is… very good! Kinger… caught Caine’s eye. He wouldn’t be able to tell you what it was exactly at first. Sure, Kinger isn’t exactly the societal depiction of attractive. He was jumpy, and buggy-eyed, and jittery, and… has a cool passion for insect collections, and… he’s tall, and really cute in his own way, and when you get to know him better, he…
You see? That is what Caine didn’t exactly pick up at first. And it didn’t start out this way either! Caine treated Kinger like everyone else for a while! It’s just… after some time… something stirred in the ringleader. Maybe it was because he wanted to really be friends with Kinger! Get close, be his buddy! But then suspicions arose.
Caine’s behavior changed a lot around Kinger after some time. He’d get nervous, fidget a lot, sort of… gently stare into his eyes for a few moments before snapping out of it- like he was lost for just a brief, few moments. He’d act like a real loser around Kinger. And he didn’t know why.
Then he went to Bubble. Bubble was there with him from the beginning. They were always kind of blunt at times with what they thought, especially since they really didn’t think before they spoke. So when Caine went to Bubble, and told him about his weird, loser-like behavior around Kinger, they just went:
“You’re in love?”
“…What?” Caine blinked, head tilting to the side.
“Yeah! That’s how people get when they’re in love! I think so anyways!” Bubble gasped. “Ooooh, the Boss is in looooove! ”
Caine was incredulous. “Wha- that- can’t be! I mean- I know what love is but I don’t know why I’d fall in love!” He never really got the point. Nor did he… ever really know what it was like to be in love apparently. Those two things were probably interconnected. “Besides, Kinger’s in a relationship with Queenie! That’s extreeemely inconvenient!”
Bubble floated up, just a centimeter or two, before coming back down. That was them shrugging. “I dunno, Boss! It just happens, y’know? Like people joining the Circus, y’know?”
“…I see.” Caine stared at the ground. Putting it like that, it made a little bit more sense. “But- that doesn’t solve the issue with Kinger and Queenie being a couple! How do I get rid of— this— love thing??”
“Not sure. Maybe it’ll leave whenever! Don’t sweat it, Caine!” Bubble slowly floated away. “I wanna go talk to Zooble, so I’m gonna go do that. Don’t worry- again, it might go away!”
It did not go away. It stuck around, which was almost frustrating. Why? Why Kinger? He was- just like everybody else in the Digital Circus, right? He didn’t… really get it for a while. But eventually, he started sort of… figuring out what made him so attracted to Kinger. Traits, details… then he knew why.
Then came the day Queenie Abstracted and taken to the cellar. Caine wasn’t happy Queenie was gone. He respected Queenie just as much as anyone else! It’s just… Kinger was so sad. So, incredibly sad. It hurt seeing him like that. And given that he was in love with Kinger, he had to try and help, right? So he did. While everyone else left Kinger to his own devices, Caine tried actively helping Kinger through the tough time that was losing Queenie.
And it seemed to be effective! They hung out some-days, which was often very fun. Kinger very gradually healed, at least from the tragedy, and… well— something happened. He, so unexpectedly, fell for Caine.
Huh. He didn’t know he was Bisexual.
They were stuck in a state of mutual pining, so to speak. Even after Pomni arrived, they still hadn’t confessed to each-other. Everyone else slowly caught on to the thing going on with Caine and Kinger over time, and were simply… waiting.
Unbeknownst to anyone, today was the day. Caine paced mid-air, back and forth, a meter away from Kinger’s pillow fortress. He held flowers in his hands, staring long and hard at them. He often changed the types of flowers. Roses? Tulips? Daisies? What would work best??
He groaned, throwing his head back. “Ugh! C’mon Caine. You can’t mess this up.” He muttered to himself. Eyeing the bouquet for just a second longer, he changed it one more time. Red roses, red tulips, daisies… white carnations, daffodils, red chrysanthemums… this will work.
Caine moved to the pillow fortress, holding the flowers, anxiously. He cleared his metaphorical throat, and called into the fortress. “Kinger? It’s Caine— may I.. er.. come inside?”
“AH!” Kinger yelped, the pillows shivering for a moment. The chess piece stuck his head out, and looked towards the ringleader. “Oh-! Y—Yes-! You can..” He nods, moving back inside, and making room for Caine. He very silently questioned the flowers.
Caine slowly floated inside, and sat on the ground, directly in front of Kinger. They both locked eyes for a moment, before averting their gazes. “How… how have you been?” Kinger starts.
“Good. Good.” Caine responds. “Uh… can we— can we talk?”
“Sure…” Kinger leaned forward a little. “…what do you want to talk about?”
“Well… ah…” Caine sighed. “Kinger- we’ve spent a lot of time together, haven't we? Not much at first, but over-time, because of… events, we grew very close! At least- I’d assume we’ve had, I mean…” He trailed off. This is going to be harder than expected. “It’s just… ever since we started spending time together- even before that, I’ve… had these… feelings.”
Kinger blinked. “…What- what kind of feelings?”
“…Feelings I… hadn’t ever felt before. It was- strange- when you were around, I acted like a loser! A complete fool, an utter wingnut! I stuttered and stammered and fidgeted and stumbled- and I didn’t know why! I wasn’t ever like that around anyone else, at least not frequently! Then I spoke to Bubble, and they told me that was because I was… in love. ”
Caine paused.
“…With you. But of course- I couldn’t say anything. You were with Queenie, and it’d be dastardly of me to interfere with it! That, and I didn’t fully.. comprehend my feelings for the first while. And then… her Abstraction. That period of time- of helping you get through the tough time, spending time with you.. it made those feelings… more intense, I think.”
Caine glanced down at the flowers he held. “If I had to try to describe who I see when I look at you, I’d…” He trailed off again, before taking a deep breath. “I’d say- I see a… well— well literally I’d see the king piece of a chess board— who is tall, and easily scared, and…” Another deep breath. “Someone who is.. cute, and.. has a fascinating, interesting passion for insect collections, and… quite nice…”
“Wha—… what I’m trying to say is— I think you’re perfect. In your own way. To me And you’re very lovely to me, and… I…” The silence aches. He’s so, so close. So close. Just three more words.
“I love you!” Caine held out the bouquet of flowers towards Kinger, shutting his eyes, keeping them shut. Please let this work, please let this work, PLEASE let this work!
…Kinger stares in surprise and awe, looking at the flowers with big eyes. Slowly reaching out, he held the bouquet in his own hands. The flowers were… beautiful. He glanced back at Caine, sitting, nervously waiting for some sort of response, eyes open, but fixed on the ground. “…Caine…”
He sat the flowers to the side, before tapping Caine’s shoulder, signaling him to look up. “…I feel the same way.”
“—Really?” Caine sounded taken aback.
“Yeah.” Kinger nodded, before continuing. “I’ve felt that way about you for… for a while actually. You were always there for me since Queenie left, and… it came- really gradually, with the more we hung out together. And.. well- I think- I think I’m… ready to admit it. I… I love you too, Caine.”
…
It was quiet. A peaceful quiet. A calm, admirable quiet. Caine hesitates. “…Can I… hold your- hands? Please?”
“…Sure.” Kinger lends his disembodied hands towards Caine. And Caine, in return, holds them in his own hands. The hand-holding was gentle, and gingerly. Caine’s thumb softly rubbed up and down Kinger’s thumb. The ringleader inches closer and closer to the chess piece, eventually getting close enough to lean against Kinger, curling up into a slight ball with his hands still interlocked with Kinger’s.
The robe. It was really soft.
“…Ah— did you.. like the flowers I gave you..?” Caine asked.
“Oh- um- yes! Yes, they’re.. very nice!” Kinger smiled through his eyes as he responded, one hand moving to rest against Caine’s side to support him (even though he kind of knew he didn’t need it, necessarily, but it’s the thought that counts). “They.. uhhh…” Kinger blinked. “The- the flowers- where’d they go?”
“What?”
“The flowers, they’re- they’re gone!” Kinger blinked, confused, head swiveling around. “Unless…”
The two of them heard snickering from beyond the pillow fortress. “…Right.” Kinger said. “Jax.” Kinger scooted towards the little doorway, Caine still balled up leaning against him. He remembers Jax did this sort of thing when Queenie was still around— he tried to give her flowers, but then they disappeared out of nowhere! Wasn’t hard to decipher that Jax was responsible.
Kinger peeked out, and— yeah Jax was there. Holding the flowers. Not just Jax though- but everybody else. “-aAH!” Kinger jumped at the sight of literally everybody else in the Digital Circus. “What- what are you all doing outside of my fortress??”
“Uh… something about… Caine confessing.. to you..? We were all sort of just.. listening in, I guess.” Pomni started. To be completely honest, she was just following them.
“ Finally. Nice to see Ol’ Jawhead get the guts to do it. Even got you flowers..” Jax rolled his eyes, waving the bouquet in his one hand.
“We all assumed this would happen eventually.” Zooble spoke, with low enthusiasm, per usual. “We all sort of just… got here conveniently. At the same time.”
“Er- congratulations, at least! So happy to see you guys together, after all this time!” Ragatha really tried to save this. She really did.
Gangle, behind the lot of them, hummed joyfully. “Mhm!”
“Yay!” Bubble exclaimed. They were there.
…Kinger and Caine eyed each-other. “..I’ll just… take- this.” Kinger slowly took the flowers from Jax, scooted back inside, and placed the bouquet behind him. “And I’ll just… shut the door… you all can leave now…” Kinger reached for a stray pillow, and gradually slid it in front of the opening.
After half a minute, the two of them were completely shut in. “…Well! Uh… best case scenario, they… leave it alone after today! Worst case scenario… we never hear the end of it.” Caine sounded mildly embarrassed. “B-But- ehhh. That doesn’t matter, not right now at least! Because I have my new love-partner beside me! And that’s… pretty great!”
The two of them shared a laugh. “Ahh… I love you, Kinger.” Caine kept himself leaned up against the chess piece, finding himself extremely comfortable leaning over the robe.
“..I— I love you too, Caine.” Kinger held the ringleader close.
Now… It was only them. Them time. Time to themselves, together. It’s lovely.