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“Today’s adventure,” Caine announces with a flourish, “will be speed dating!” He throws up an extravagant, glittering pink sign overhead, a portal opening way beneath his feet to enter the adventure. When he’s met with a long silence from the cast gathered on the floor beneath them, he looks down expectantly. The expressions he’s met with are blank.
“You’ve gotta be kidding,” Zooble finally speaks up. “Speed dating?!”
“Why, of course!” Caine declares. “You’ve all asked for more “human” adventures. And there’s little more authentically human than an awkward first date, right? So how about I give you ten of them?”
Pomni steps up hesitantly. “How does this even work?”
“I’m so glad you asked!” Caine snaps his fingers, the flashy pink sign disappearing, and a projector screen dropping down in its place, displaying a slideshow. A clicker materializes in Caine’s hand. “Speed dating is an event in which singles rotate through a number of timed ‘mini-dates’’ with a–”
“No, sorry, I– I know what speed dating is,” Pomni clarifies.
Caine blinks. “Oh. And does… everyone else?”
Nods from everyone confirm that they do, and he waves away the presentation, the projector screen retracting back up into itself before vanishing.
“I just mean, how does this adventure work?” Pomni continues, “Like… are we speed dating each other…?”
“Gross,” says Jax, “if that’s the case I’m out.”
“It would be kind of weird,” Ragatha agrees, “we all already know each other.”
“And that’s why I’m introducing a vibrant new cast of NPCs!” Caine declares, “You’ll have plenty of new faces to get to know.”
“W-wait!” Gangle interjects. “If they’re all just NPCs, you just want us to get to know them and then never see them again?”
“Exactly!”
Pomni scoffs softly. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” she averts her gaze, crossing her arms over her chest.
Caine hesitates. “Well I–”
“Whatever, let’s just get this over with,” Pomni interrupts. She steps through the portal without much of a second thought, and the others follow suit. There’s little anyone can do but just go along with it.
Upon entering the world, Pomni is promptly teleported into a cafe, finding herself seated at a table for two. A vacant chair waits expectantly across from her. Looking around, she notes that the cafe is empty, save for a mannequin-model NPC idling about.
Caine must’ve set everyone up with a private space, she thinks.
The front door jingles, swinging open as a newcomer steps inside. They appear tall and lanky, seeming generally human in shape, but made entirely of what looks like pink cotton candy. Or maybe it’s fiberglass. Pomni can’t exactly tell.
The newcomer catches her eye from across the way, waving as they make their way over and slide into the seat across from her, wisps of cotton-candy-fiberglass billowing around them as they settle.
Pomni awkwardly forces a smile. “You must be my first date, huh?”
Ultimately, Pomni's first micro-date of sorts, is uneventful. The five minutes pass by slowly, and the exchange of pleasantries seems forced and robotic.
As Pomni’s date waves over their shoulder and heads for the door, she sinks back into her seat for relief, grateful for a momentary break. When the mannequin waiter passes by, she orders a hot chocolate for herself, figuring she might as well make the most of the setting.
No sooner has the steaming mug been set down in front of her does date number two show up.
And ultimately, it’s no more interesting than the first.
Pomni orders herself a tea before date number two has even left the cafe. She stretches, readying herself for the next hour.
Dates three through nine are equally uneventful. She’s torn between feeling relieved that Caine has put together a calm adventure for once, and bored out of her mind.
And besides, she thinks, even if there were some kind of connection, Caine is just going to snap them away the minute this adventure is over. What’s even the point of this?
She sighs as the door jingles again and barely looks up.
“Ah, Pomni! What a delight!”
Pomni’s gaze snaps up at the familiar voice, eyes meeting with her tenth and final date standing by her table.
“…Caine?”
“Mind if I have a seat?”
Pomni blinks, confused.
I guess this is just… part of the adventure? She thinks.
“Uh, sure…” she gestures at the seat across from her.
Caine is all smiles as he slides into his seat, folding his hands politely on the table. “So, tell me about yourself, Pomni,” he says.
He’s really leaning into the part, huh?
“This is weird,” she states.
“Is it?” Caine asks rhetorically. “What’s so weird about wanting to spend a little one-on-one with a cast member?”
“Well um, I kind of feel like you already know me, Caine.”
“Nonsense!” Caine exclaims. “I’m sure there’s something about you I don’t know.”
Pomni thinks on it for a while. As she does, the waiter approaches to take Caine’s order, and he orders wordlessly by pointing at the menu, as not to interrupt Pomni’s thoughts.
I guess I can play into it too? Pomni thinks. I mean, he clearly wants to have a conversation, I can give him that. Maybe he’s gone on a date with everyone, there’d be enough rotations for that.
“Okay,” Pomni says as the waiter walks off, “I’ve got one,”
“Let’s hear it!” Caine says leaning forward in his seat, propping his chin against his palm interestedly.
Pomni smiles nervously, instinctively leaning back a little. The proximity feels almost intimate.
“I feel like we don’t talk much about what things were like… back in the real world, I guess.”
Although, maybe Caine doesn’t want to talk about the real world, she thinks.
But to her surprise, Caine just tilts his head with evident curiosity. “Do go on,” he encourages.
“Well… in the last few years, I started spending more time outside. My job was always pretty boring, but it always kind of cheered me up to spend a little time decompressing in nature.”
Caine’s expression lights up with recognition. “Yes of course! Oh, I’ve heard that humans often seek thrills in “outdoor recreation”,” he says, making air quotes. “Tell me! Were you into camping? Biking? Canoeing, maybe?”
Pomni laughs a little at that. “No, nothing crazy like that, really. I never got especially good at any one skill. I guess for me it was more like a walk around the local park, or maybe a short hike when I went to visit family outside of the city. I never got too serious or sporty with it, it was just a nice way to clear my head.” She finds herself remembering fondly a particularly nice walk she took one afternoon on one of the first warm days of spring. “And it was always nice to be outside again after cold and depressing winters.”
Caine sighs dreamily. “You make it sound so wonderful. I’ve always wanted to experience nature,” he says. The waiter approaches the table, passing by briefly to set a mug down in front of Caine. Pomni doesn’t even get a chance to see what he’s ordered before he downs the contents of it in one go.
“I mean, can’t you kind of put yourself anywhere?” Pomni asks. “You make all these adventures—” she gestures around the cafe, “—So in theory, I mean, couldn’t you put yourself wherever you want?”
“Well, sort of,” Caine says. “Here.” With a wave of his hand, the cafe vanishes.
Pomni lets out a little squeak of surprise as she’s momentarily suspended in a sky-blue void, before a new landscape takes shape beneath her feet, and she touches down onto vivid green grass. As she stumbles forward to catch her balance, she gets a look at the landscape around her. She and Caine appear to be in some sort of meadow, evergreens bounding the field’s perimeters in the distance.
“Like you said,” says Caine, “I can put us anywhere. But does this feel real?”
Pomni gazes around. Caine is right. The scene reads as an attempt at realism, but an uncanny sort of edge to it makes it feel more as if she’s been transported into a 90s desktop screensaver than back into the real world.
“It’s… still nice,” Pomni offers.
“I knew it,” Caine says, shaking his head. He touches down to the ground for a moment, reaching down to pluck a seeded dandelion from the grass. “It’s all pixels and polygons. It’s missing– molecules! Cells! Atoms!” He’s floating again, and with a wave of his hand, the dandelion sheds its seeds. Pomni watches as the little white whisps are carried away by the gentle breeze.
Caine folds his legs up, appearing to sit cross-legged as he’s suspended. “Can you tell me more about the real world, Pomni? What was it like for you, what did you like about it?”
Pomni blinks up at him. “I mean sure.” Crouching down, she runs her hand through the grass. It’s soft to the touch. Uncanny or not, she supposes Caine isn’t too far off with his interpretation. “I always liked that I could hear the birds when I went out. And it was always nice to feel the sun on warmer days.”
Caine snaps his fingers, and Pomni braces herself for the scene to change. But her surroundings remain the same, and it takes a moment for her to register the subtle shift. She can now feel the distinct, radiant warmth of the sun on her exposed skin. And when she falls quiet for a moment, she catches the sound of distant birdsong from beyond the treeline.
“Did you just–?”
“Keep going,” says Caine. He lowers himself just a little closer to the ground, listening more intently.
It’s unusual for him, Pomni thinks, he isn’t always much of a listener.
“Well,” says Pomni. She finds herself walking, taking in more of the landscape, and Caine follows alongside her. “There were always new little things like that to notice,” she says. “Things like the shape of clouds, or the movement of water on a rainy day, or the way the colors would change with the seasons.”
She talks a little more about things she liked back home, answering more of Caine’s questions about the real world. At some point in the conversation, Caine touches down to the ground to fall properly into step beside her, and they walk until they reach the treeline where they finally pause.
Pomni shakes her head and smiles. “-Anyways, it was always just nice to have a change of pace back home, something to get lost in besides my job,” she finishes.
“I see…” Caine says. “Now, does this kind of environment give you that same feeling?”
Pomni hesitates. And Caine notices. His face falls a little. “I– I’m still working on it!” he insists quickly.
“Well hold on,” Pomni says. “I mean, okay, it’s not quite the same, but if you gave us something like this as an adventure, no one would complain. Nothing in here is going to be exactly like the real world, but that doesn’t make it not worthwhile. Besides, you even took a few of my suggestions.”
“Then I’m going to keep working on it,” Caine decides. “I’ll make you an– I mean, you all– a wonderful outdoor adventure!” He gestures grandly at the scene around him.
“That would be nice,” says Pomni. “And hey, maybe you could join us. If you can’t experience real nature like you’ve always wanted to, you should at least get to experience your own simulation of it.”
Caine’s eyes widen in excitement, and he blushes cartoonishly. “That’s so kind of you to invite me!”
Pomni smiles softly at his evident excitement. The thought momentarily crosses her mind that Caine’s expressiveness almost reads as cute, but she doesn’t let herself dwell on that.
Caine settles back down and glances down at his wrist. “Oh gee,” he finally says, “that five minutes sure did go by fast. I’m sorry to say that we should be wrapping this up.”
“You’re… not wearing a watch.”
Caine blinks at her. He snaps his fingers, promptly teleporting them back into the cafe. In the same instant, a watch materializes on his wrist. “This was fun, Pomni,” he finally says, his voice softens a little to something sweeter, more sincere. “I think I learned something. And I think I enjoyed this quite a lot.”
Pomni glances down at the table. “Yeah,” she agrees. “This was… kind of nice. Thank you.”
Caine snaps once more, and just like that he’s gone.
Her heart thuds in her chest, trying to unpack what just happened as it catches up to her. She just went on an adventure date with Caine. Beyond that, by the end, she found herself enjoying it. The thoughts swirling in her mind are dizzying.
She barely has time to pull herself together before a portal back to the circus appears in front of her. She’s reeling as she steps through it, finding herself glancing back over her shoulder, looking back at the empty cafe, the two unoccupied seats across from each other and a pair of empty matching mugs on the table. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, it looks rather fitting for a cozy first date.
The others are already reconvening in their usual sitting area. She’s the last one out, and the portal closes behind her, swallowing up the picturesque image of the cafe. Pomni shakes her head as if to clear it before decisively joining them.
“That’s one of the more normal adventures we’ve had,” Ragatha comments. “I mean, the concept was a little strange, but it was surprisingly… normal?”
“Yeah,” Zooble agrees. “It honestly doesn’t seem like Caine’s usual style.”
“The last one felt long,” Kinger comments.
“The last date?” Ragatha asks. “I mean, yeah, it did feel kind of long, didn’t it?”
“It definitely did!” Gangle pipes up, “the last date was definitely longer than the others.”
“Whatever,” Jax says with a dismissive wave. “I just thought it was boring, Caine should bring back the guns.”
“Come on,” Ragatha argues, “it was a nice break.” She glances back at Pomni and smiles. “What did you think?”
“Um…” Pomni seats herself on an unoccupied end of one of the sofas next to Kinger, who seems off in his own world again. “It was fine, I guess. Boring mostly?” She spots a slip of paper on the coffee table, and leans forward to read it.
Hello my splendid starlings! I would love to reconvene after that wonderful adventure with you, but I’ve got a new adventure to plan! I’ll be in my office, please enjoy the afternoon off!
— Caine
Is this about what we talked about? Is he already planning some kind of outdoorsy adventure for us, Pomni wonders. It’s unusual for Caine not to pop in when they all got back to the circus, if not just to seek praise for his adventures.
Pomni sets the paper back down. “I mean, I thought it was kind of weird that Caine inserted himself as one of the dates. Do you think he was… trying to get to know everyone better or something?”
Zooble tilts their head, looking at her curiously. “Caine showed up as one of your dates?”
“Yeah?” says Pomni. She glances around at the others, who exchange confused looks between them.
Jax bursts out laughing, breaking the silence. “What’s it like then, huh? Going on a date with Caine?”
“Wh—!” Pomni shakes her head, “Wait so it was just me he showed up for?”
“Just you, I guess,” says Zooble.
Pomni shudders. “That’s even weirder!”
“Oh man, lucky you!” Jax teases.
Pomni’s face flushes. In concept, sure the date was a little strange, but her conversation with Caine felt so much more real than her conversations with any of the NPCs before him. She got to think about her real life back home, something she rarely indulged in. And beyond that, Caine seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say, as if the setting they found themselves in opened him up to better listening. She can’t exactly say she didn’t enjoy it.
Not the time to be thinking like this, she chides herself internally.
Jax leans in closer and grins. “You’re blushing.”
“Because I’m weirded out!” Pomni protests.
“Are you sure it was Caine?” Zooble asks.
“Yeah! Maybe it was just a look-a-like?” Gangle offers helpfully.
Pomni shakes her head. “No, it was definitely him. He changed the scene and everything, all of my other dates were just in the cafe, he was using his like– Caine powers or whatever to switch things up.”
Jax laughs harder at that. “Where did he whisk you off to?”
“Um… this kind of outdoor scene? Like a meadow?”
“Man, the AI really took you on a dateI ! It’s too much!” He grins and waves the group off as he stands up to dismiss himself. “Too much,” he says again. “And too weird! I’m out.”
Pomni cringes.
Not helping, she thinks.
“I mean, you know how he likes to be involved sometimes,” Ragatha offers gently, “maybe he just put himself in as a random option among the other NPCs to keep things interesting.”
“Yeah, maybe…” Pomni agrees.
But thinking about it, Caine hadn’t seemed all that surprised to end up at her table. “I think that’s enough for me too,” she decides, standing up. “I’ll be in my room. For a while at least.”
“Yeah, go process that one!” Jax calls back to her over his shoulder.
Ragatha smiles at her sympathetically. “I’m here if you want to talk.”
Pomni smiles weakly. “Thanks,” she says. And she’s grateful to head off for a moment to herself. Even if only intended to tease her, Jax is right: she does need to go process what just happened.
What greets Pomni when she arrives back to her room surprises her. The decor hasn’t changed since she’s arrived, but when she opens her door, she immediately notices the framed image of a sunny field – not dissimilar to the one she found herself in earlier – freshly mounted opposite her bed.
She approaches it almost cautiously. It has that same uncanny, digital quality to it that the adventure scene itself had, but she admits that it’s rather pretty to look at. The softer blues and greens stand out pleasantly against the otherwise vibrant tones of her room.
It strikes her then how strangely thoughtful the gesture is. She told Caine of something she liked, and he left a gift of it in her bedroom. Something flutters in her stomach, her heart beats a little faster as she gently touches the frame. She pulls her hand back, retreating to her bed.
Okay, she thinks, I just effectively went on a date with Caine. And then he leaves a gift for me. But that could mean anything!
She grabs her pillow out from under her head, in favor of pulling it over her face. She could scream into it. This cannot be happening. She absolutely cannot be developing any kind of complex relationship with the AI.
Anyone else! She thinks. Literally anyone else!
She tries bringing her mind back to one of her other dates, seeing if any of those stir up a similar wave of emotions. But every interaction she’s had with an NPC just feels so hollow compared to what she had with Caine.
No, no, no! She scolds herself internally, hugging the pillow down to her chest instead. Okay, so what if we went on a date. That was his decision, not mine! But what was even the point of that in the first place? Was he trying to just go on a date with me? Then why did he send everyone on the adventure? And what was the point of all the NPCs? No, there’s no way this was just about me.
Pomni gets up in favor of pacing around, her mind still racing. So, okay, let’s assume it’s not just about me! Let’s assume Caine had some other motivation here and genuinely wanted to send us all on this adventure. He must’ve thought it would be fun for us, he does generally seem like he wants us to have fun… but I still don’t get it. How could he think connecting with NPCs we’d never see again would be fun for any of us?
She stops pacing as she finds herself back at the new art Caine has left for her. She can faintly catch a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the glass that covers it, and it’s as if she’s right back in that meadow with Caine.
His interest in the real world, I think that was real. And his interest in my interest… I think that was real too. I’ve seen him excited, but I never see him that sincere. I know that has to mean something.
She flops back down onto her bed, dragging her hands over her face. “Okay,” she says out loud. “I’ve just gotta sort this out. I need to talk to Caine about it.”
No sooner have the words left her mouth than does her bedroom disappear around her. She lets out a yelp of surprise as she blinks into Caine’s office, now sprawled on the floor looking up at a colorful ceiling.
“You called, my dear?” Caine appears leaning over in her peripheral vision.
Pomni leaps to her feet, brushing herself off hastily. “Caine! Were you listening in on me?!”
Caine laughs. “I’m always listening! To everything! It’s nothing personal.”
Must be selective, Pomni thinks. If Caine really is listening in all the time, there are certainly things he chooses not to hear.
Caine waves it off dismissively, pulling out a seat for Pomni across from him, before settling into his own seat.
Pomni takes it, shifting a bit uncomfortably. She notes that Caine’s desk is full of papers, and catches a glimpse of some landscape pictures, and doodles of bumblebees, childishly drawn in crayon, that Caine sweeps up into a stack along with the other papers to tidy up the space.
“So, what did you need to discuss with me?” Caine asks, tapping the stack of papers once against his desk to straighten them out. He sets them down beside them, patting a hand over them almost fondly.
“I–” Pomni hesitates. “Well you didn’t give me much of a chance to think. I didn’t exactly mean I wanted to talk about it now.”
“Oh. Well in that case–” Caine raises his hand, thumb and index fingers poised to snap Pomni right back to her room.
“Wait!” Pomni exclaims. “No– no, look I’m already here. Let’s just talk now. But in the future, maybe don’t just summon me to your office at the first mention of wanting to talk?”
“Duly noted!”
Pomni sighs, leaning back in her seat. “Okay. Good. So now that I’m here, and we’re gonna talk about it, I want to talk about today’s adventure.”
“Do go on.”
“Why did you only show up as a date in my adventure?”
Caine’s demeanor shifts, and his face flushes at the question. He fidgets awkwardly with his hands on his desk. “Can… we start with a different question.”
Pomni sighs, “Fine,” she says, “Why were you having us ‘date’ NPCs today? You’re just going to snap them away when the adventure is over, so what’s the point?”
“Well that’s an easier question!” Caine says, his confidence and enthusiasm visibly returning as he straightens up in his seat. “Humans evidently thrive on connection. That much I’ve figured out. But humans don’t seem to like commitment either. An adventure like this offers the best of both worlds! Connection with none of the strings attached, you never have to see your date again!” He makes eye contact with Pomni and backpedals a little. “Or, well…”
“Okay…” Pomni starts, “you’re on the right track, but you’re not exactly putting the pieces together either.”
“I’m– I’m not?”
“Well, you’re right that most humans do need connection. We’re kind of built for it, you could say. And okay, sure, some people might struggle with commitment, but generally speaking, when we really connect with someone, we want them to stick around.” She swallows thickly. “Do you remember Gummigoo?”
“Who?” Caine tilts his head, thinking for a moment before he lights up with recognition. “Oh! That NPC from one of your very first adventures!”
“Yeah. So I won’t bore you with the details of a story you already know, but when a human gets to know someone, and finds comfort, or relatability in them, they usually want that person to stick around. What would be the point in trying to connect with someone you’re never going to want to see again?”
“I see…” Caine says. “You, um… you know I’m not trying to hurt anyone, right Pomni?”
“No, no, of course not,” Pomni agrees, “I think your intentions are good, but humans are easy to hurt if you don’t understand them. Don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you’d consider taking more of our feedback once in a while.”
“I want to!” Caine insists. “But when everyone is shouting at me at once and putting down the adventures I’ve worked so hard on, how am I supposed to take any of that in?”
“I guess I never thought of it like that,” Pomni admits. “But you seemed really receptive today. Earlier, I mean. Does it help having a comfortable space for it?”
“I guess?”
“That’s a start then. Are you willing to receive a little advice right now?”
Caine folds his arms defensively over his chest. “Will you at least be nice about it?”
“Promise,” says Pomni.
Caine eases up a little. “Then fine.”
“Maybe,” Pomni starts, “your adventures shouldn’t be so focused on us connecting with NPCs. If you can’t keep them around – and I get it, it’s probably better not to fill the circus with NPCs – it isn’t really worth formulating a situation that might get us attached to them.”
“I… I think I get it,” says Caine. “If adventures are about connection, then they should be about the kind of connection that can last outside of the adventure. Is that right?”
Pomni smiles softly. “Exactly.”
“I– yes! Okay, I can do that!” Caine decides. “Hang on one second.” He waves his hand to summon himself a legal pad, scribbling notes down at an entirely inhuman pace to fill a full sheet front. He rips it off, adding it to the neat stack of papers beside him. “That settles that then,” he decides. “My next adventures will be all about authentic human connection!”
“Don’t cite me as responsible for that,” Pomni jokes. “I think that sounds nice, but I can think of someone who might be even less interested in that than going on a meaningless date with an NPC.”
“We’ll keep it between us,” Caine assures her.
Pomni nods. “Now, okay, can we address my other question?”
“That is…?”
“Why did you show up as one of my dates? And why was that only a part of my adventure?”
Caine shifts his gazes, thumbs twiddling nervously. “Why, um, isn’t it obvious?”
“…No?” Pomni says. “I thought maybe this was a situation of like— wanting to get to know everyone better?” She gestures vaguely as she continues, “but you only showed up in my adventure.”
“Well… then maybe it was about wanting to get to know you better.”
“Oh…”
“Bubble told me it was a stupid idea,” Caine says, dropping his head into his hands.
“I wouldn’t call it stupid,” Pomni says. “But Caine?”
Caine looks up at her, and Pomni smiles softly at him.
“In the future, you really don’t need to put together a whole adventure just to spend five minutes with me.”
“…Fifteen.”
“Huh?”
“Fifteen,” Caine repeats, “It was fifteen minutes. At least. I made our date longer.”
“Of course you did.” Pomni shakes her head. “My point still stands, you don’t need to manufacture an entire adventure just to talk to me. If you want to spend some time together… you can just ask.”
Her heart pounds in her chest. Am I really doing this? She asks herself. Is she really opening the door for another date with Caine? A real one, at that. One that wouldn’t take place under the guise of a cast-wide adventure.
Caine’s eyes widen. “Really?”
Maybe it’s crazy, Pomni thinks. But if she’s honest with herself…
“It was really nice talking to you earlier, Caine. So yeah, really. Next time, just ask.”
“Oh I will!” Caine declares. He stands up from his desk excitedly, shuffling through the stack of papers he’d just reorganized, spreading them back out haphazardly over his desk. “But first, I need to finish the next adventure I have planned. You’re going to like this one, I’m sure of it.” He pauses his rambling for a moment, as if remembering why they were there in the first place. “Sorry, was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?”
Pomni shakes her head. “That answers everything, I think,” she says. “But um… thank you for the new picture. In my room, I mean. That was really thoughtful.”
Caine blushes, and waves her off. “It’s nothing,” he insists. “Just… something to make you feel more at home.”
“Well it means a lot,” says Pomni.
“I, um… I have an adventure to plan!”
Pomni stands up, pushing her chair back in. “I know you do,” she says. “So I guess I’ll… see you around then?”
“I’ll see you very soon!” Caine agrees.
Off on her own again, Pomni is left with far more clarity than she had before, and a fluttering in her chest that finally begins to feel just a little more pleasant than terrifying.
Caine summons everyone to the circus the next morning with somehow even more enthusiasm than usual.
“Good morning my splendid sparkles of sunshine!” He greets warmly. “I am simply ecstatic to announce today’s adventure!”
Pomni catches herself smiling fondly up at him, wondering how he can possibly contain that much enthusiasm. She self consciously rubs at her cheek, feeling the warmth in her skin.
“You could say I had a little assistance with today’s adventure, based on some feedback I received yesterday.”
Pomni can feel eyes on her, and her cheeks burn hotter.
Way to be subtle, Caine, she thinks.
“Regardless!” Caine continues, “consider this style of adventure still a work in progress. I’m trying something new today.”
With a snap, a portal opens in front of the others. The view beyond it shows a serene-looking evergreen forest. Pomni can even hear birdsong from beyond it, a subtle detail Caine seems to recall from yesterday that makes her chest feel warm.
“Your adventure today will be a woodland hike in the company of your fellow humans!”
“Wait, that’s it?” Jax asks.
“That’s it!” Caine confirms brightly. “Although, I may pop in throughout the adventure to spend a little time with my favorite adventurers.” For a moment, Caine’s eyes meet Pomni’s in a personal, knowing sort of way.
Pomni finds herself glad no one else is looking at her; her face is simply on fire.
Caine breaks eye contact, gaze sweeping back over the whole cast. “So, what do we think? You love it!"
“That’s really it?” Zooble asks skeptically. “No surprises?”
“We’re keeping it simple today,” Caine assures her. “Like I said, I’m trying something new.”
”That date made you boring,” Jax comments with a yawn.
“I think it sounds nice!” says Ragatha. “We‘ll get to spend some time together.”
“It seems relaxing,” Gangle seconds.
“And being in nature sounds nice too,” Kinger agrees.
“Well then, off you go!” Caine says, with an exaggerated sweep of his hands towards the portal. As they begin to file through, Pomni takes up the rear. She hesitates at the entrance.
“Caine?” She asks, looking up.
Caine floats down, closer to eye level with her. “Yes my dear?”
“I’m looking forward to this,” she says. “Thank you for listening to me yesterday. It means a lot.”
“For you? Always.” He touches down to the ground to place a gentle hand on her back. “I hope you have a wonderful time. I look forward to seeing you in my intermittent appearances.”
Pomni glances back at him and smiles. “I look forward to it too.” And like that, Pomni is off into the adventure.