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The entire commons area was dark, just as he liked it. Everyone else was asleep; he couldn’t anymore. He was restless tonight. And as he wandered out of his pillow fort and looked around the space, he noticed someone else was also forgoing rest and relaxation.
Caine sat on the edge of the main stage, his hand holding the side of his lowered jaw. His shoulders were slumped, and Kinger could feel the melancholy radiating from the usually relentlessly upbeat man all the way from where he stood.
“Something wrong?” Kinger asked gently upon approaching him.
Rather than snapping to attention as he normally would and showcasing his typical bravado, Caine raised his gaze to acknowledge his new company. “Oh, uh, hey there, Kinger. Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s….fine.”
Rarely did Caine get a serious tone like this; having spent enough time in the circus alongside him, Kinger knew better.
“It certainly doesn’t sound that way. Wanna talk about it?”
Caine’s hands fiddled with each other anxiously in his lap as he again lowered his mouth.
“I just get the sense that….nobody likes me. I try and I try, and nothing seems to please these people. Just today Zooble told me nobody likes my adventures, and if nobody likes my adventures, then nobody likes my ideas. And if nobody likes my ideas….”
‘Then nobody likes me,’ Kinger finished for him silently. “You know….I used to think like that.”
Caine sharply lifted his mouth and eyed him curiously.
“I used to think the success of my ideas equaled the degree to which people liked me. But over time, I learned that’s not the case. It’s not what you create that matters; it’s who you are.” Hopping up onto the stage to sit beside his very own creation, who currently didn’t seem to be buying what he was saying, Kinger went on, “And whether someone likes your ideas or not shouldn’t determine their opinion of you as a whole. I’ve had plenty of ideas that were terrible and didn’t go anywhere.”
“You did?” Caine asked doubtfully.
“Of course! And I wish I could be half as creative as you are. Coming up with so many different scenarios and NPC’s and environments….it’s incredible. Truly.”
“You really think so?”
“I do. And even though you’re one of my greatest achievements, that isn’t why I like you.”
Caine cartoonishly teared up, his lower jaw quivering as he stared at Kinger fondly. “You like me?”
“I do. Maybe Zooble was just having a bad day. You know how they can get a bit moody. I wouldn’t let it get to you. For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing an amazing job and have created something special for the time that we’re here.”
There was a brief moment of stillness before Caine threw his arms around Kinger and hugged him.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and Kinger patted him lightly on the back.
“Keep up the good work, Caine. I’m proud of you.”
“I won’t let you down.”