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Caine just sits on the couch, fidgeting with his hands nervously. Abel realized he wasn’t really any sort of danger so he allowed him to roam around freely as of maybe a few days ago. Although, he can’t really see at all (not like Abel cares), so Caine would just gravitate towards one area he recognized and would stay there for a handful of hours. The humans seemed to actually feel bad for him. Which was odd. They’d never cared for him before, not like that.
He hears bells jingling in the distance followed by some amount of footsteps slowly approaching and he sits up, assuming it’s from Pomni. Maybe someone else in tow. There’s a soft voice next to him, Pomni’s voice, “um, hey, uh… Abel is… busy with something so we… we’re planning on maybe trying to get this metal thing off of you. I wouldn’t think you’d want it on, but, uh, are you alright with that? Like, right now?” Caine just enthusiastically nods and tries to get off the couch before losing his balance, momentarily flailing his arms around, and then falling straight onto the floor.
Ragatha asks, “Woah- Are you alright-?” and she helps him up. It’s always odd seeing him walking rather than just floating around, so he seems infinitely smaller. Well, his actual height. …Either way, Caine just nods once again. He keeps holding her hand as they start to walk elsewhere.
“We don’t actually know how long Abel is gonna be busy so we should probably be quick about this,” Ragatha continues as the three walk. Eventually, they make it to… someone’s room, and he hears the door open creakily.
Zooble croaks, “Oh, hey. C’mon in.” They walk a little longer and there’s a bit of murmuring, and Caine gathers the information that all the other humans are here. “Apparently Jax also has a sh[BONK]t ton of screwdrivers alongside all those keys, so… we’ll try to see if one works on that… metal… thing. I dunno what it’s called n’ I don’t care, either.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Jax says smugly, though he seems genuinely sort of happy-ish to help.
“...Let’s just help Caine already,” interjects Gangle, and Kinger nods with a sigh.
“On it,” he says. Caine hears metal pieces clinking against one another likes Kinger’s digging through a pile of something, before he feels warm hands on his “chin” as he starts to work. “I’m… so sorry this happened in the first place. I just… meant to stop you from going too far and… I didn’t think this would happen.”
Caine tries to open his mouth to respond but… oh. right. He can’t. not yet. He just opens his arms to offer that thing humans call a hug, and a few moments later, Kinger has his arms (??? does he have arms even. sorry) around him. He keeps him close with one hand but continues to work with the other, trying out different screws until eventually… Something loosens, followed by bewildered but sort of excited silence.
Kinger unscrews the rest, one by one, slowly, until it all falls off. His gums feel sort of bloody and numb like he’s been forced to sit entirely still for 100 years, and just now is he being given the option to stretch. So Caine opens his mouth again and… oh. Kinger’s eyes are teary, as he holds the sides of his head with gentle but shaky and scared hands. He looks around. Ragatha’s missing her button eye and it looks like she’d been sewed up a thousand times, Gangle’s ribbons are torn and her mask is cracked, Zooble is missing a lot of xeir limbs and parts, Pomni is bruised and scarred all over, and Jax looks like he had to shabbily sew his skin back on. They’re all visibly concerned, half of them also too close to just bawling their eyes out.
“Hh- hhgh- e- hhhn-” he tries to speak but his throat feels dry, “m’ h-srry, I-” and damn it, now he’s sobbing, too. Caine buries his face into Kinger’s robes and he just holds the little AI close. Eventually, he feels everyone else’s warmth. Long ago was the day he thought he’d have to burn them to feel this sort of warmth, but today… is different.
Then, a thought flashes through his mind. Abel’s gonna actually kill him for this, as much has he’s happy to be able to speak (sort of) and see. “Hha- ab- if abel… h-…”
“Oh, sh[BONK]t, right- How are we gonna hide you from Abel?” Zooble catches on, realizing. The rest of the group realizes as well, and they don’t say it but they all know damn well Abel will definitely kick their asses and put maybe twice as many restrictions and whatnot on Caine. He’ll never be let out of his sight again.
Jax sighs and adds, “Honestly? I don’t think Abel actually, like, cares at all about what Caine does. He’s kind of harmless like this. He’s still getting used to walking at all.” the lavender rabbit continues, “n’ if he does anything he’ll probably just, like, yell at us and maybe put the weird face prison back.”
“He kind of gets mad about everything, though. Remember that time Gangle literally just drew Caine and Abel ran her over with a truck?” argues Pomni. Gangle grimaces at the memory.
“He also ripped my arm off because I suggested an adventure once. If he finds out we literally freed Caine, he’ll go bonkers.”