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“Dear? Are you okay?” Caine's voice peered through Spindelle's trance of thought, making her jolt and look at the dentures headed AI. They were inside of Spin’s room, sitting peacefully on her bed. Her room looked almost like a forest, with green carpet like grass, sky blue walls that were darkened due to the sparse amount of light—only radiating from the oak tree lamp on her nightstand. Her bed was covered in green and brown blankets and pillows, which makes sense with her fox humanoid avatar.
“Huh?.. Oh, sorry. I spaced out again, hm?” Spindelle awkwardly spoke, her sharp teeth clicking together between her lips.
Caine let out a tiny chuckle, looking at his orange foxy friend next to him, “Not at all, dear! You just looked a little dazed again!” He tilted his head, the top and bottom of his teeth moved into an expression of happiness, and a little bit of relief. Spindelle just stared.
“Mm..” She whined a little, turning her head away as her paw-like hand went to her other shoulder, squeezing it gently. Caine quickly took notice of her uncomfortable state, his code buzzing to figure out what was wrong with her.
Gently—and with a LOT of hesitation—Caines gloved hand cupped around her cheek, the fur of her face melting it seemed into his palm. Spindelle squeaked out, not expecting such a movement from him, she noticed how much he felt.. off about physical touch. This was rather odd of him to do such, “C..Caine..?”
“Spindelle.. What seems to upset you?” Caine started, his eyes shifting with unease. “Was it today's adventure? You told me it was ‘okay’, which is completely different from your other answers about my adventures!..” He whined, snapping a clipboard into her hands, showing the many comments she's made about his adventures, they looked like Yelp reviews with how he wrote them down–WHEN did he write these down?..
“..No it wasn’t—” “Is it the other members of your wacky group? Jax is still giving you a.. ‘brain scramble’?” Caine interrupted, his hand had pulled a little to have her look at him. His other hand was on his chin, or well, bottom of his jaw, like he was deep in thought.
Spindelle looked at him, her foot tapped below her and against the green carpet.
“Caine—”
“OH! I KNOW! Was it the—”
“CAINE!”
The room quickly fell quiet, Spindelle had turned her head to the floor, biting her bottom lip quickly to quiet herself. She's never raised her voice at anyone, let alone Caine, so she was even taken aback by herself. Her eyes nervously shifted to his, which made him look like a scared cat. Caine was holding his arms close to his chest, his tiny legs scrunched up as his mouth was clamped shut, so she couldn’t even lock eyes with him anymore.
“...Caine, I’m so sorry…” She gently whispered, not trying to move as she felt like if she did, he’d snap himself away—which he unfortunately did the moment she finished her sentence. Spindelle watched as the confetti fell onto the edge of her bed and the floor, her body rattling with shakes.
She quickly stood up, her hands pushing into her face as she groaned, “Mmmmmfff… ####!..” She cursed into her palms, knowing she did hurt his feelings as he was just an AI, he didn’t get why she was so tight with herself. So why did she yell at him? Ugh..
Within the rise of the sun, everyone within the circus were waking up—despite needing no sleep—and heading out towards the main area. Spindelle stayed behind, sitting in her little desk chair that was covered in moss, dark oak, and a sage green cloth. Staring into the mirror in front of her, she didn’t know if she could face Caine after yelling at him. It made her scared, not knowing if he will just start hating her or keep talking and hanging around her like normal. Her foot thumped against the floor as she kept thinking deeper and deeper, hands clenching tighter, and sweat beading down her face, it felt like she was being strangled. But suddenly, a tiny knock was from the door.
“...Spindelle? Are you coming to breakfast?...” Pomni’s voice leaked into the room from under the door, it made Spindelle jump out from her fur.
“H—Huh??.. Oh.. Uh yeah..” Spindelle stuttered out, her claws accidentally itching into the desk. She stood, her tail wagged and knocked something off the desk, “MM! Dang it..” Spindelle yelped, quickly kneeling down and picking it up.
“Are you okay? What was that??” Pomni yelled out, worrying drowning in her voice as Spindelle huffed.
“I’m fine.. Just dropped something..” Spindelle calmly spoke, before finally opening the door. The orange fox was overshadowing the jester, Pomni having to turn her head up to even look her in the eyes.
“..Ready to head out?” Pomni tilted her head, giving Spindelle a tiny smile as she held out a hand. She knew the fox liked her hand being held, her tail flew up, wagging a bit as she stepped out, closing the door behind her, and took the jester's hand. They walked down the hallway, Spindelles room was between Ribbits and Kaufmos rooms, so it was a rather awkward long walk.
“...Everything okay? You’re a lot more quiet than normal…” Pomni muttered, her eyes peaking up at her. Spindle looked down, before shrugging, “It's just.. I think I scared Caine last night.”
Pomni blinked at her, before laughing a little into her other glove, which made Spindelle sigh, “I’m serious..”
“Right but.. How did you scare him? You’re very sweet and caring, and very sheepish..” Pomni wiped the laugh from her, tilting her head in confusion. It was true, Spindelle was rather nice to everyone, even Jax when she tried. It was unbelievable that she could scare the person she was closest to within the whole circus.
“Well.. Caine and I were in my room and talking, like normal. I wanted to… ask him something, but my mind was drifting off into space thinking about it.” Spindelle started, they had reached the little balcony where the rooms and circus met. “He noticed I was, I guess, off. So he started to question me about it.. But went on and on about the adventure.. And kept interrupting me..” She started to silence herself once she reached the end of her sentence, to which Pomni tightened her grip on Spindelle’s hand gently.
“..I yelled at him ; well, more raised my voice. I shouldn’t have.. He looked like a scared puppy..” Spindelle shook her head, tears forming with her eyes. She knew she was sensitive, but this was a little crazy to her even. Crying over an AI that didn’t even share the same feelings as her. Jax would call her something that would only make her cry more, and that thought alone made her want to pull at her face and stretch it until it came off.
Pomni stared at her as they went down the spiral stairs, nodding as she thought for a few moments, and letting Spindelle wipe her little pricks of tears.
“Would.. You like to speak with the others about this?.. I know you’re close with Ragatha and Kinger..! They can help more than me.” She let out a tiny chuckle, and warming smile as Spindelle finally looked down at the tiny jester. The smile made her mouth tug into a smile. “Yeah.. That’ll be good..”
Once everyone was sitting on the couches, Spindelle had wandered over to the couch where Kinger and Ragatha were sitting, she sat between the two like the average seating arrangements were. Zooble and Gangle sat together, Jax and Pomni sat together but distance between the two. It was kind of funny that they all decided who sat with who. Spindelle didn’t know how to start the conversation, she didn’t mind speaking to the others about her problems, but she normally never spoke out loud. Jax was the first to pry at her.
“So, Spinny! You look more nervous than usual! What's wronggg..” His tone was filled with mock and spitefulness. She just shifted her nervous eyes over, before looking back down at the ground.
“Nothing Jax.. You wouldn’t even care.” She whispered back, Jax raised an eyebrow.
“Yeesh, I was trying to ask what's wrong because you have that stupid soft animal look right now.” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as Ragatha squinted at him.
“Jax, she could just be tired from this morning!..” She stood up for Spindelle, huffing as Jax furrowed his brows.
“Oh, here comes Ragatha the Knight! Coming to save the day!” He exclaimed, scoffing.
“Shut it, Jax. Nobody wants to hear you.” Zooble spat suddenly. Jax snapped his head at them suddenly, squinting.
Before Jax could say another word, Pomni cleared her throat. “Spindelle does want to talk about something..” Now the spotlight was on Spindelle, which made her freeze with an eep.
“...It's just something stupid, I swear it's.. Nothing that important.” Spindelle’s voice got higher as she lied, it was very noticeable. Faintly, she felt a white glove wrap around her orange paw.
“You can do it!” Kingers absent-minded voice cheered, his eyes closed like he was smiling at her. It made her feel warm inside, as Ragatha's hand soothed over her back. “I’m sure it's very important, just like anyone else's input to any conversation..” She spoke, knowingly talking about Jax..
Spindelle inhaled and exhaled, nodding as she played with the yellow buttons on her dress. “Well.. Caine and I were talking..”
“Ohhh its about you and lover bot—”
“Jax, shut up!..” Ragatha shot a glare at him, which made him roll his eyes and scoff, “What happened to everyone's input mattered..” He muttered under his non-existent breath.
“...Well, I wanted to tell him something.. Rather embarrassing.. And I kept staring off into space, like I couldn’t keep full control of my brain at that moment. Caine caught on, asked me what was wrong, but kept only talking about the adventure, like that's why I was acting off.” Spindelle shakingly spatted out, now rambling on.
“I kept trying to tell him what I was trying to ask, but he kept going on and on about that adventure, and I yelled at him. When I looked at him, he looked so much like a shaken puppy it just!—” She fumbled with her hands, trying to find the word. “It just made me feel like I kicked that shaken puppy!..” A loud groan came from Spindelle, hiding her face into her hands as her elbows rested on her knees.
The others stared at her, some confused, others feeling sympathy. Jax was just annoyed, as always. Gangle spoke first.
“Spindelle are.. Are you crushing on Caine..?” Her voice squeaked out, half of her happy mask was covered with her sketchbook as Spindelle felt her face turn from orange to red. Oh it was clear as a window.
The others had all mixed feelings, a human crushing on the AI ringmaster that treated them all like bugs in a testing lab?
“Well.. that makes sense why you always hang around Caine rather than any of us..” Ragatha lightly laughed, a hint of awkwardness under her tone. Spindelle knew she didn’t mean anything bad by it though.
“Ohh! Aweee! So lovely!” Kinger sounded just like a proud father, hugging Spindelle tightly til she squeaked.
Pomni smiled, “That's actually.. Very sweet. I didn’t know you had a liking for Caine!” She cheered for their relationship, unlike Zooble, who seemed a little annoyed but a little more relaxed.
“As long as this keeps Caine busy with you rather than the stupid adventures he makes, I’ll support it.” Zooble leaned back against the couch, before peering over at Gangle's rapid sketching within her sketchbook. She was already at work, drawing Caine and Spindelle shipping art…
Jax stared at Spindelle, his face seemed blank with emotions until he let out a howling laugh, falling back against Pomni. “OH WOW! YOU’RE SERIOUS!” He wheezed out, holding his head as the other rested against his chest. Spindelle felt so many different emotions, so she just huddled up against the couch with her ears pointed low.
Before the next attempt of words came out of anyone, a loud poofing sound erupted, and Caine floated above them all, along with his little assistance, Bubble. “Why good morning my breathtaking beavers! How are we all holding up?” He joked with his normal performer performance. The others looked at him, then at Spindelle, wondering if he would pick up on her condition. To which, he didn’t at the moment.
“Are you all ready for an adventure??” He held out his cane to them all, spinning around as Bubble floated down to Spindelle, nudging her rather aggressively. She grunted, before suddenly feeling a long, wet tongue lick the side of her face.
“HHUTGH—” She suddenly sprung up, and off the couch, landing on all fours. The side where she was licked had her hair and fur standing all, like bubbles saliva was gel. The others kind of just peered at her, before Caine realized her, “Ah! Spindelle, my favorite fox!” He exclaimed, lifting her up in the air suddenly and having her beside him. Spindelle yelped loudly, holding her dress to keep anyone from below seeing up.
“C—Caine!” Spindelle yelped more, wiggling around in the air as Caine continued his normal talk.
“Today's adventure, you all will be going to Dice's Casino and Food! You all need to gamble until you reach your winnings, or come out dirt POOR! The one who gets the most winnings will get a very special prize! A florpindorp!” Caine held out a weird looking plush, it had many different animals mixed together, like a pig, a cow, and.. A hawk? It was weird looking.
“...A casino?” Pomni exclaimed before they were all quickly pushed into the portals below their seats by Bubble, with him winking at Caine before descending below with the humans. The portals closed, and Spindelle was left there in the air with Caine next to her. Which was normal, Caine didn’t allow her to go on many adventures that he knew he already planted dangerous things. He was protective of her for.. Some reason.
“..Caine?.. I’m uh..” Spindelle started, before she was pulled all the way to Caines office, being plopped down on a chair in front of the desk where Caine sat across from. This was their normal space where they would hang out when either Caine wasn't as busy, or when Spindelle just needed to get away. The feeling of sickness stood inside her for a second, before descending away from her. She's gotten used to the teleporting thing, thankfully.
“So! Spindelle!” Caine announced, his hands clasped together on top of the desk, his eyes looked at her with the huge pupils that he always looked at her with. “What would you love to talk about today?” He tilted his head, giving those same puppy dog eyes. This made Spindelle tense like, before humming.
“Can.. we talk about last night?” She asked, feeling a bead of sweat coming down her face. She noticed that Caine had fixed her hair too, which was rather sweet.
“What about last night?” Caine said, his expression and tone sounding so blank. It was like he turned off all of his emotions and went back to default settings on his hard drive.
“...I’m sorry for yelling at you, I should’ve just been more patient with you…” Spindelle sighed out, looking at Caine with softness, her eyes dilated without her realizing. “Just… please don’t poof away from me like that…” She whispered, the tiny beg is what made Caine realize something.
“Oh.. my dear..” Caine quickly floated up, and randomly scooped Spindelle into his arms as he slowly sat back down in his chair, so Spindelle was cradled in his arms. “It's alright, I was just.. What's the word..” Caine thought for a moment, looking away from her.
“..Upset?.. Scared?..” Spindelle tried to answer.
“Suprised.” Caine answered, his head now turned towards the fox lady he had in his lap and arms, like a bride. “I never realized I was overbearing like that, Bubble and I were speaking about what happened, and well..” He paused for a moment.
“I’m sorry as well, star.” His voice was soft, calm, and not like his performer voice he usually used. It sounded serious, and comfortable at the same time.
Spindelle stared at Caine, her eyes large and face rather reddening as she nodded, “It's okay Caine..” She whispered, before her face turned into his arm, nuzzling him. This caused Caine to slightly jolt, not being used to the physical touch again.
“Is.. this okay?” Spindelle asked, her voice slightly muffled as she untensed herself. Caine stared down at her, bottom jaw hanging like he was in disbelief. But he nodded, his teeth accidentally clacking together as little lines of pink appeared on top of his molars.
Spindelle smiled, before sitting up, looking at Caine gently. She sat on his lap, before laying her head onto his shoulder. She could hear his systems racing, shaking and heavy breaths coming from him, even though he didn’t even need air. Her head nuzzled more and more, just wanting to be close with him. Caine was.. Oddly quiet. It did worry her.
“...Caine?” Spindelle whispered, suddenly feeling Caine's hands rest on her back, and small whimpers came from him, which confused her.
“Caine? What's wrong..? Did I do something?” She asked quickly, pulling her head back and looking at his head.
He was crying, but not sad crying, rather happy cries. “I..I never had a human love being this c—close to me..!” He whined, looking at her like a soggy pup now, and it was making her heart melt.
“Awee..” Spindelle giggled quietly, before moving her head back to his shoulder, and let him just sob and hug her. He would gently here and there rock them back and forth. Just these quiet moments is what made her fall harder and harder for him.. Did he hear her talk about her little crush for him? Who knew..
Only Bubble knew. Of course.
“You two should really get dirty!” Bubble suddenly appeared, floating above them. Before Caine could explode and pop him, Spindelle already beat him to it, popping the rounded thing.
“Shh.. more cuddling..” Spindelle snuggled closer, which made Caine laugh a little, and pulled her closer. They continued to stay like that until it was time to bring everyone back from the adventure.
Zooble won by the way.