Chapter Text
Flying was a natural thing to do for Caine.
It was just convenient. Efficient. An advantage he had over the flightless circus members who could only look up at him like a couple of bugs under a rock. He didn’t think much of it until Ragatha, his cheerful performer, tripped over nothing again.
“Oh no-“ Ragatha yelped as her foot got caught in between loose tiles, arms windmilling.
Caine reacted on instinct.
Ragatha braced for the impact. One moment she was falling, but next she wasn’t.
Air rushed between them as Caine lifted off the ground, gloved hands wrapped around Ragatha a bit too tightly. The world blurred into bright RGB colors and floating platforms.
They hovered in the sky.
Silence.
“C..caine?” Ragatha opened her eye.
“Yes, my dear?” His voice was far too close. He hadn’t realized how close he’d pulled her in, her chest against his, hands clutching the lapels of his coat.
“I’m.. flying.” She kept note mentally to not look down.
“Yes, you are.” He paused, “You were falling.”
She looked down. Shit.
Far down.
Very, very, far down.
She was just on the ground; Caine swooped in and now she might be as high as where the ceiling was. Her vision started to blur. “I- oh no, sh%&. Don’t look down- don’t-“
Ragatha squeaked and buried her face into his chest. Caine stiffened.
She was holding onto him. He never personally got this handsy with a performer, her light as a feather body weighing on his. The grip he had on the small of her back tightened.
“Ragatha.” His voice calm, trying to maintain professionalism and failing a little, “I require you to breathe. Preferably not directly into my- uh, torso.”
“Sorry!” she said, muffled. She did not move away, however. In fact, she clutched tighter.
“..You can let go,” he added.
“I really can’t.”
That was.. not an ideal response.
Caine swallowed. “Then I will simply.. fly closer to the ground.”
A beat.
“Is that okay?”
Ragatha peeked up at him, eyes wide but smiling slightly now.
“I never flied before.” She breathed out, “It’s kind of amazing, actually. That you are able to.”
Amazing.
No one had ever called him that without fear, sarcasm, or both.
He adjusted his grip more carefully this time, one arm supporting her back, the other steady on her waist. “Would you... want to look around?”
Ragatha considered it. “Yeah.”
Caine hesitated. Then he asked.
“Where to?”
Her eyes drifted up to the blue sky, where the tent ceiling didn’t cover it.
“To the grounds.”
It was a place they rarely went to except if the adventures called for it. The circus members never made it a habit to explore the places the circus had to offer since their mental states were battered after each adventure. It seemed like a good place to start.
They drifted forward, gliding through the air in a lazy arc. The digital sky passed them, artificial clouds hitting their face, and it sounded like an applause. Weird.
Ragatha relaxed against him, trusting, warm.
Caine focused on not dropping her, his nonexistent digital heart letting out a hum.
“Caine?” She spoke.
“Yes, Ragatha?”
“...Thank you for catching me.” She leaned against his chest.
As they flew, slow and careful, Caine had a terrifying realization.
He didn’t want this to end.