Work Text:
It had been rough, but things at the Circus were starting to settle down after...well, everything. Everyone was getting used to their new lives in the new Circus. Caine was actually integrating himself well with the humans. Everyone was actually happy here for the first time. Everything still wasn't 100% perfect, but they were making the best of things.
And Zooble in particular was doing much better than they'd been before. They were able to bartend at a little bar Caine had helped them put in. They'd been continuing to get closer to Gangle. Things were good.
But, when Zooble woke up this morning, they noticed something odd. They hadn't seen Caine all day and nobody else had either. Some of them had gone looking for him and even called out for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
This was the first time Caine had been gone for an extended period since he came back.
After a bit of looking through the hallways calling for him, Zooble was about to give up and try again tomorrow, when they suddenly could tell he was standing behind them.
"Oh, hey," Zooble greeted, feeling relieved, but also a bit worried, "You haven't vanished like that in a while. You doing ok?"
"Yes," Caine reassured, "Well, not entirely, but not for the reason you might be thinking."
"Um," Zooble stammered, "What do you mean?"
"Do you remember when I asked how I could make the circus more appealing to you," Caine questioned, "And you said you wanted to be able to have...sex."
Zooble certainly remembered that conversation well.
They'd just been so tired of dealing with Caine and the circus that they just said what they knew would make Caine uncomfortable. It's not like they were lying, but they wouldn't have admitted it so openly if they weren't trying to get a rise out of Caine. And Caine proceeded to ignore Zooble, glitch out, and then act like nothing happened.
At first, Zooble (and everyone else) assumed this was just part of Caine's efforts to keep the circus family friendly. But, since Caine came back, Zooble noticed Caine's aversion to this kind of thing remained.
Even after he got more lax on the child friendly filters, whenever somebody made the topic a bit too adult, like Gangle discussing one of her favorite mangas, Caine would make a noise like he felt distressed. Some of the circus members didn't notice, but Zooble did. He would even get a bit jumpy with physical contact without warning.
Honestly, Zooble was starting to suspect Caine's discomfort with the topic of sex might've stemmed from a more personal place.
"Oh," Zooble gasped, "Caine, you really don't have to worry about that. I was just frustrated and I knew saying that would get on your nerves and..."
"I figured it out," Caine interrupted.
Wait. What did he mean he figured it out?
"You," Zooble stammered, "What?"
"I figured it out," Caine repeated, "Now you can have sex."
Zooble was having trouble wrapping their head around what Caine was saying. What exactly did Caine do? Part of them didn't want to know, but...
"But," Zooble stuttered, "You..."
"And I hope this isn't too presumptuous," Caine continued, "But I based all this on you...engaging in these activities with Gangle."
Zooble was a bit surprised by that comment. They knew the two of them weren't subtle about how close they'd gotten, but they didn't think Caine would've picked up on it.
They should've been ecstatic about this, but they couldn't help but think about what Caine probably forced himself to go through to make this possible.
"Hey," Zooble stated, "I hope doing this didn't make you too uncomfortable."
"It's ok," Caine brushed off, "It's the least I can do after...everything."
"You're one of us now," Zooble countered, "That means your feelings and comfort matter just as much as ours."
Zooble's concern really meant a lot to Caine. Despite all the beings he'd made over the years, these humans were the first ones to ever show genuine concern for him.
"But, seriously," Zooble thanked, "Thank you."
"Of course," Caine responded, "Just promise me we'll never have to talk about 'that' again."
"Consider it done," Zooble agreed.
They then proceeded to run off looking for Gangle, leaving Caine behind. While Caine was glad to be closer to the humans now, this was an aspect of them he would never understand.