Chapter Text
“How do you think Caine tells what time it is?” Ragatha posed a question.
Ragatha and Kinger had been on a long walk across the circus grounds, kicking rocks, pointing out polygonal flowers, all on a hopeful search for a butterfly. Kinger had mentioned missing them a lot, so Ragatha took him out to search for one.
“The sun and moon keep track of all that! In fact, Miss Moon also controls the tides of the sea.”
“We don’t have a sea, Kinger. That’s a lake.” Ragatha still smiled, “But I mean, we’re in a digital world. So, uh, maybe the computer has the date running still to tell Caine and the-uh, the astral bodies when to shift the time of day.”
Kinger’s attention was swiftly taken to a very low-poly dragonfly. It was basically a stick with wings. But not a butterfly, and that remained the goal of their stroll.
“I just wish he’d give us a little warning before-” Ragtha began.
“IT’S NIGHTTIME, MY PRECIOUS PUPPYWAGGLERS!” Caine’s voice rang out.
And then it was night. Within the blink of an eye, Moon popped into the sky and Sun blew a raspberry at her before sinking down.
Ragatha sighed, “Well, we can always look for fireflies!”
Kinger was frozen for a second, before looking up. The deep night sky shimmered with stars that were nothing but flashing pixels in .gif files stored somewhere on a hard drive. His pupils were very dilated looking up, and his general posture shifted to be a bit more… relaxed.
“...You alright, Kinger?” Ragatha took a step towards him.
“...The stars look a lot like fireflies that far away.” Kinger didn’t turn to her, but he remained transfixed, “You know, Caine may have gotten rid of most of the bugs in the game. I’d bet he doesn’t know the difference between a glitch and an insect.”
“...Huh. Maybe.” She trotted up to stand next to him, gazing upwards. “...You don’t seem very….eheh, squirrely right now.”
Kinger finally looked down at her, and did his semblance of a smile and shrug. Closing his eyes, tilting his head a bit.
It was the soft expression he gave to anyone struggling, to Gangle, at least tried to show it to Jax once, Zooble didn’t have much interest hanging near Kinger, but… Sometimes when he showed that soft side to Ragatha, the cotton in her chest felt like it was in knots.
That fluttering, bashful feeling… Ironically, the only butterflies Ragatha had found were in her stomach.
Ragatha knew that if her feelings were known, chaos would reign. Gangle would… well, she’d be fine with it. JAX. Jax was the issue. He would never let her live it down. And Kaufmo would surely find a way to make her a punchline. Zooble wasn’t one to judge, and when Ragatha thought of it that way, it made it seem not so bad.
“Thinking about something?” Kinger finally asked.
Ragatha knew well her plush body was incapable of blushing, but she still averted her gaze.
“C-Can we head back inside? I think that’s all the bugs we can find.” She stammered.
“Aw, but we didn’t find any butterflies!” Kinger replied.
“...Maybe tomorrow there’ll be a nice big one, or a huge moth, or a monarch!” Smiling back, Ragatha brushed off the nerves.
Without any prompting, Kinger reached for Ragatha’s hand, and did his little “smile” of his. There was no danger out here, but just the scenario of a man and a woman out alone at night.. Ragatha recognized the instinct to escort her back home.
And she smiled, pretending not to tear up. It had been so long since she felt treated like a lady, and not a punching bag.
She squeezed Kinger’s hand, and the two made their way back.
In a way, Ragatha supposed she had found some butterflies. The way she felt looking at Kinger was something she’d never put any thought into, but this traditional act of a man walking a lady home sparked something in her mind. She leaned into Kinger and smiled.
And from afar, Caine watched with intense confusion.
“Bubble, what are they doing?” He was frantically taking notes.
“I think it’s puppy love!” Bubble appeared out of thin air.
“Oh Bubble, you caramelized rapscallion. That’s a chess piece and a ragdoll, not DOGS!” Caine laughed. Bubble laughed. A very loud sitcom laugh track began to play.
Below, Ragatha jolted and practically clung to Kinger from the shock.
“WH-Where? What? Is that a laugh track?! What?!?!??” She sputtered.
“...Oh I get it!” Kinger beamed.
“Get what?”
“We really aren’t dogs at all!”
“What?”