Chapter Text
Caine sat in the plush chair at his desk, his eyes blue with code, deep in conjuring up yet another adventure. He was rendered useless for a few minutes when actively bringing his ideas out of paper and into development, his fingers curled around a crystal ball where the globe inside was being built from ones and zeroes.
"Caine?" Kinger opened the red office door and knocked with a gloved hand. When he received the sound of rhythmic bleeps, he climbed the staircase in hops. Once he reached the top, he silently stared as Caine was wrists-deep (literally) in his work. The chair made him look so small and childish despite being the 'God' of their little pocket dimension, like a child invited to the adult table with their legs dangling off the chair and their head barely reaching the top of the dinner table with everyone else.
Seeing him hard at work always fascinated him, no matter how many times he's walked in on him working diligently, it always seemed so surreal, like it solidified that Caine was real and Kinger's passion for computer science hadn't gone to waste. He clasped his hands and waited patiently until his creation was done fulfilling their purpose.
The shelves were filled to the brim of globes much like the developing one in his hands, each ball held in its own cubbie. No one was allowed to touch them since Caine barely did so himself. Only to readjust if slightly off balance or to quickly use as inspiration for another adventure, but for the most part, they spun slowly in their individual shelf squares as milestones for Caine. To remind himself of how far he had come sine he first made his circus. His first creations from when he was but a buzzing dot in a dark landscape were locked behind the high bookshelf behind his desk. 3D Shapes slowly spinning endlessly ran down that checkered hallway on pedestals. Those weren't allowed to be seen by anyone.
Once Caine to a sound mind, his eyes returned to the familiar heterochromatic blue and green that everyone knew but not many loved. When his gaze landed on Kinger, he zoomed up out of his seat, the glass orb held tightly to his clothed chest.
"What a delightful surprise!" Caine's voice boomed, a tone that Kinger had found himself not flinching at anymore with the years. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Afternoon, Caine. Working hard?"
"More like hardly working!" Caine laughed obnoxiously hard at his own joke, floating up to a newly curated cubbie for his creation. He could introduce his new idea later, his main priority was pleasing the human in front of him. Air whooshed past the twin tails at the end of his suit, stopping just short of too-close distance between himself and Kinger, batting his eyelashes so fast that they were a wind force on their own.
"Well," Kinger cleared his throat, "I have something of a surprise for you."
"Wowie! A surprise?! All for me?! This is the most fantastamazing day of my life! Go on, what is it?" He asked enthusiastically, laying on his stomach in the air.
Kinger turned around and perched over the railing, looking down and ushering someone up with a hand. Small steps scurried up the stairs, a squeak following each fall against his floors.
"Caine, meet your little brother, Bubble."
"What?" His expression conveyed his sentiment.
Something stepped out from behind Kinger. This something was much smaller and chubbier in stature than Caine was. And blue. His head was in the shape of a bubble—what creative naming there—his beady eyes didn't help soothe Caine from the feeling that his all-too-sharp teeth brought him. They bore a lot of similarities. Same style top hat, same ringmaster-esque outfit, even the same little bow tie that spun with every surge of excitement, much like how Bubble's was spinning uncontrollably. Bubble was so blue that the sight of him ticked him off.
"Bubble, this is Caine."
Caine didn't react at first, stuck floating in their air like a buffer. Little brother? What did he need a little brother for? He was good at keeping himself occupied! And he had the other circus members! And countless NPCs!
"Woah! This is my room?!" Bubble floated up and started touching things that weren't his and definitely shouldn't be touched. That was what brought Caine out of his malfunction with a shake of his head, following close behind Bubble and grabbing him by the rounded out twin tails on the back of this coat. Who the %*!! designed this guy?
"Hey! No touchy-touchy!" Caine exclaimed, but that didn't stop Bubble from investigating. They both flew around Caine's office, Bubble touching things and almost dropping some while the other followed behind and neatly put things back in their place. Kinger tried to be useful and help, but Bubble was too enthralled in causing accidental havoc and Caine was too busy cleaning up after him.
"Oo! Shiny doo-dads!" "No!"
Bubble picked up a globe of an adventure that Caine didn't enjoy making all too much, but his humans seemed to adore, so he kept it. He felt all warm and uncomfortable when hands that were foreign and not his grabbed at it. That's when Kinger finally got their attention.
"Boys! Enough!"
That startled the both of them when they heard the sudden boom, causing Bubble to drop the glass on instinct. Caine's response of his limbs curling inward, yelling "no!", didn't stop the inevitable shatter. The office fell silent for a moment before Bubble floated down and licked at the residue with his tongue. Caine shivered at the sight. Yuck. While Bubble was busy having a late lunch, Caine looked at Kinger and silently flailed his arms to try to convey a 'What is this? Who is this? Why is this? Where is this? When is this? What???'. All Caine got in return was a sheepish look from Kinger.
"Let's try again, yeah?" Kinger clasped his hands together.
Caine and Bubble stood adjacent to one another, Bubble still nibbling on a piece of glass while Caine sat in a ball with his arms crossed, his dentures bent to resemble the pinnacle of annoyance. A circle of black scribbles materialized next to his gums. The scraping of glass against teeth was aggravating him tenfold.
"Caine, say hi to your brother."
When he was met with a low rumble from Caine, he let out a nervous laugh and tried again.
"Come on, Caine. Say hi to your new little brother, Bubble." Kinger's face gave a plea he didn't want to say. Caine shifted his gaze from Bubble to Kinger.
"Why does he get to eat my things?"
"Uhh…"
"Why does he get to eat my things?!" Caine shot up from the floor in an attempt to try and take away the glass shard from Bubble's hands, but Bubble was faster—lighter and more agile, so he was able to float up just in time. Kinger in a feeble attempt to hold Caine back, held him by the back twin tails of his suit. Caine slowly turned his dentures to face Kinger, the pupils in his eyes shivering with rage and his fists tightly clenched.
"Here," Kinger waved his hand, a red-and-white-swirled lollipop manifesting into his hand. When Caine said nothing, he very slowly put it into his mouth. Caine and Bubble's bonding was getting off on the worst foot possible. Weren't siblings supposed to be loving for the most part?
"Hereee…" He dragged it out, placing the sweet on his tongue.
Caine chomped down on the stick.
"There we gooo…" Kinger pat the top of Caine's gums with a weary look on his face.
Caine and Bubble floated down. Bubble landed on Kinger's left and held his hand with a nervous look on his face. Caine landed on the polished floor, black scribbles materializing next to his head again. His posture was unnaturally rigid with fists closed so tight they trembled.
"See..? Now we can be a happy, functional family…" He let out a weak laugh that trailed off.
Bubble chewed on while Caine grumbled. Neither of them liked this new change. Despite all of the open space in Caine's office, everyone felt claustrophobic.
This'll work fine, Kinger thought.