Work Text:
A huff of hot air escapes from Caine’s mouth as his head laid against the pillows, holding his sleeping Pomni in his arms as he traces his fingertips along her back gently. She was breathing quietly, absentmindedly snuggling closer to him in their shared room as he looks down at her with a saddened look in his eyes. And a guilty one on top of that.
“…Oh my dear…” Caine whispered quietly as he fixes her hair gently.
It was a hard day for her, an adventure that took a toll out of her physical wellbeing. He should’ve really considered giving everyone, her especially, breathing room during the whole thing but he genuinely forgot. And now here she was, passed out without even taking off her normal outfit which Caine had to snap his fingers to swap her clothes into comfortable sleep wear.
He was almost certain that she’ll be asleep for a long time, maybe sleep a bit past 8AM given how worn out she looked the moment she arrived back in his office. This alone made Caine feel even more bad for her, wishing he had just gone there himself and carried her away to bed like the Queen she is in his eyes. Still, he knows he can’t wallow in misery and self pity.
“…Hmm…” Caine hummed as he rubbed her back some more, and checks his internal clock.
From what he understands, it’s roughly 7:21 AM, which irks him because he hadn’t slept all night whatsoever because of his worry. But given that Pomni needs the sleep more, and that he’s stayed up far longer creating these adventures, he figures it’s no different as he hesitantly pulls himself away from Pomni. She groans in her sleep and huddles herself in a small ball, trying to cling to the warmth Caine left behind.
“Shhhh…” Caine shushes as he leans down and kisses her forehead, “…Keep sleeping, my dear…”
Pomni sighs in her sleep before she is tucked in by Caine as he leaves the shared bed, floating quickly out of their room and keeping the lights off. He doesn’t bother changing out of his pajamas as he soars out of the bedroom, through the hall, in his office, and out the doors to get into the main area of the circus.
“…Didn’t Gangle mentioned something about…”Breakfast in Bed”…?” Caine asks himself as he flies towards the kitchen.
He practically skids to a stop as soon as he arrives, planting his feet on the ground as he walks right inside. The kitchen was quiet, save for the hum of the fridge nearby, and the entire area was clean and crisp. Untouched, since nobody comes here too often unless they wanted to grab a quick snack or make something, but it seems it’s far too early for anyone to be awake to do any of that. Still, Caine wanders around the kitchen tapping his lower jaw with his finger tip.
“…Alright but what would Pomni like? Certainly something filling and tasty; but nothing extravagant so…no massive breakfast platter that’s for sure. But I can’t just give her cereal, that would be lazy…” Caine said to himself as he grabs one of the cookbooks on a nearby bookshelf.
The shelf that is lined with cookbooks, consisting from foods around the world from desserts and entrees to even beverages, with Caine grabbing one for breakfast meals. He sits on the counter, propping himself comfortably, and starts to read the book. His little feet kick the air slightly as he scans the book for anything that might be appealing to Pomni.
“…French toast with sugar powder…uhh…blueberry pancakes…” Caine says to himself as he flips the pages, “…Oatmeal? No….”
He keeps flipping the pages until he spots a recipe for an omelette, the fluffy golden yellow meal was seen decorated with chopped parsley and melted shredded cheese within the egg fluff. The sight of it alone made Caine drool, just thinking about how good it would smell.
“…This is perfect! Simple, yet I can tell this would be the best dish for her…” Caine whispers to himself before he hops down from the counter.
Propping the book up, he looks at what he needs for ingredients and tools at his disposal before hurrying to get to work. Grabbing eggs, butter, and shredded cheese in the fridge, he also grabs a flat pan, a bowl, and a whisk before setting everything down carefully on the counter.
“Let me see…ok…” Caine reads the book as he sets the pan on the stove, trying to follow the instructions, “…heat up the pan…add some butter…”
Caine grabs a butter knife and cuts it down, letting it drop onto the surface of the pan before he looks back at the book. He reaches out and cracks a few eggs in the bowl, then grabs some salt and pepper from the counter top and adds it in, before grabbing the whisk and attempting to whisk the egg yolks.
“How long and how much oompf do I put into…” Caine whispers to himself, putting too much oompf and splattering some yolk on the counter, “…whoops…”
Caine blinks in disappointment at the simple accident before he continues on with the whisking, albeit less aggressive. As he does it, he melts the butter across the pan properly as his eyes focus on every single detail of that book.
As it happens, Bubble is floating around being a menace as per usual, watching his boss cooking up the eggs he has on hand and trying to cook them. The smell of the beaten eggs being poured onto the cooked pan wafted in the air, catching Bubbles attention. And in his little greedy mind, he wants nothing more than to try and teensy sample.
Caine keeps a close eye on the eggs as he cleans up his station, grabbing the shredded cheese and adding a bit to the cooking eggs as he blinks here and there. Soon, he feels a presence and glances back to see Bubble staring at him.
“Hiya Boss! Whatcha cookin’ today?” Bubble asked as his beady eyes glanced towards the cooking omelette.
“I’m making breakfast, for my wife.” Caine said, his voice saying “wife” loud and clear.
“Sounds steamy! Can I have a small bite?” Bubble asks with faux innocence, something Caine knows how to spot.
“Absolutely not.” Caine says firmly as he folds the omelette to be cooked properly on the other side.
Bubble’s body trembles as he starts closing in on Caine, who is shielding the cooking cheese omelette with his life as he looks ready to pop Bubble the second he gets too close.
“I’m warning you Bubble, this is not for you! This is for Pomni!” Caine yells, looking genuinely unhappy and mildly cranky as he summons his cane in his hand.
Caine turns his back and goes back to cooking, but he knows better as his cane floats in midair by his control, ready to fend off against Bubble if gets a big idea. And with that, he continues cooking while trying to block off Bubble who is actively trying to bypass Caine’s cane.
“…And…There! That wasn’t so hard now.” Caine said in pride as he slips the omelette on a plate.
He gets an idea and goes to the fridge, opening it, and fetching a carton of orange juice before turning to see-
“NYOM!” Bubble explained with a loud chomp, devouring the cheesy unattended omelette and the plate it was on.
Caine’s eye twitched in irritation…
“…YOU PARASITE!” Caine screamed out in a rage before popping Bubble.
Once Bubble was gone, Caine huffs and goes to make a new batch, getting more butter for the pan just in case and more eggs for the bowl once again. He salts, he peppers, and he whisks with a grumpy expression.
“What is wrong with him sometimes…?” Caine grumbles as he keeps beating the eggs with the whisk.
Back on the pan, sizzling, cooking with new bits of shredded cheese, and Caine keeps cooking. As he does, his eye catches the sight of Bubble looming from behind the counter with a glint in his eyes.
Oh no.
“Don’t…you….dare.” Caine hissed through his teeth as he points a finger at Bubble.
But the tenacious Bubble blinked in response, watching as Caine crafts the second omelette as best as he can, before sliding it onto a plate. He grabs it quickly and holds it away as he goes to pour the orange juice.
“There…now I can- OW!” Caine howled out, suddenly in pain as he sees Bubble biting down on his hand.
Bubble latched on tight as Caine yanks his hand out, but was unsuccessful in saving the omelette and the plate. This makes Caine growl in frustration as he stomps his foot down and goes to make a third one.
By then it was already 7:49, when he should’ve been done so long ago, which makes Caine irritated as he beats more eggs in a bowl with a visibly agitated look in his eyes. He was absolutely seething as he pours the third batch onto the butter coated pan, adding the cheese and a bit extra for safe measure, and really cooking it up.
“Grrrrrr….” Caine growled out, his exhaustion doing little to help the matter as he can already sense Bubble was back.
In a matter of a minute, he had finished the third batch and slaps it onto a plate before grabbing it, the cup, and hurrying with that with the carton of orange juice floating alongside him.
“Booooosss, I’m having cravings…!” Bubble cried out from behind him.
“Get your own meal! Stop leeching off my wife’s breakfast!” Caine yelled, on the brink of snapping as he finalizes everything.
Caine turns and begins adding bits of veggies onto the omelette, already smelling the cheese melted inside the eggs, with hoping with how fluffy the eggs look adds to the tastiness. The thought of Pomni smiling at a hand made breakfast, by his hands alone, was what kept him going.
“…Yes, finally…” Caine exhaled with relief as he held the plate with the cheesy omelette, setting on a tray with the orange juice glass.
He was about to float and carry it out, carefully so, when he immediately collides with the counter and yells in pain. The tray falls out of his hands and hits the floor with a loud crash, leaving behind a mess which Bubble has no hesitation on “cleaning up” with a strike or his tongue against broken glass and spilled food.
“…uhhg…” Caine groaned out, eyes full of horror and sorrow as he falls to the ground on his knees and buries his face in his hands.
He looks back at the mess that was now staining the kitchen, the mess that was his station, in which there was no more eggs, very little butter left, and a pan that was way too hot to be useful. This left a hole in Caine’s heart as he quietly gets up, crying quietly as he starts cleaning up, feeling horrible that his act of clumsiness and Bubble’s interference ruined his plans.
Caine could easily snap the mess away and just go, but he takes the time to tidy up just as the clock shows it’s nearly 8AM. At that point, Caine sniffs as he just sets away the clean pan away, tosses the empty egg cartoon in the trash, the half bag of shredded cheese in the fridge, and other tools and necessities back where they once were. And in the end, Caine floats back to his room with a lowered head.
“…Ohhh…what am I going to do for her now…?” Caine asks himself as he returns to his office and goes down the hallway.
Opening the door to his bedroom, he sees Pomni still nestled in the spot where he left her, haven’t changed since he did leave. He stood there, realizing his clothes are now a mess from the turmoil, and the gap in his heart grows bigger as he snaps his clean, fresh, and stylish ringmaster suit on. But instead of waking Pomni up right away, like he normally does, he just crawls back into bed and watches her sleep.
“…Pomni, my love…I’m so sorry…” Caine whispers as he gently holds her sleeping face.
Caine traces his thumb along her cheek, tenderly stroking her face and her hair out of her eyes. He was falling head over heels for her all over again, and his shame was growing steadily as he feels he couldn’t even give her a simple gift. All because of Bubble and his “cravings” or whatever it was his excuse was.
With that he closed his eyes, feeling the adrenaline of forcing himself to make an omelette three times taking a toll on him on top of him staying up all night crash down. And for a while, he snored quietly as he laid beside Pomni.
That was until a familiar scent was drifting him awake, opening his eyes to see a familiar face smiling at him holding a tray.
“Morning, Bumblebee…” Pomni whispers and kisses the top of his head.
“My dear…? You’re awake…oh…what is…huh…?” Caine asked as he looks down at the played, a look of horror flashing in his eyes.
He sees a cheesy omelette, oozing with delicious cheddar cheese, the fluffy egg giving off a warm and inviting scent with parsley sprinkled on top. There was even a couple of bacon slices next to the meal, and two glasses of orange juice there. Pomni was holding the tray and giving a shy smile.
“Surprise…!” Pomni declares with a soft voice, giggling a bit as she sets it down in between them.
“Honey…what is this? How did you…?” Caine asks as he sits up, rubbing the top of his head.
“I…I’ve been trying to cook better for a bit, and I wanted to do something nice for you because of how much you’ve spoiled me. So…I made breakfast…!” Pomni says as she giddily looks at Caine, only to frown once she sees him tear up.
“I…my darling, I…that’s so sweet; but you were so exhausted from last night, you didn’t have to! I was…trying to make you this exact meal earlier but Bubble, he…ugh! He kept eating everything I wanted to make for you and…it ended up being a disaster.” Caine says with woe as he takes her hands.
“Oh Caine…” Pomni gently says as she reaches out and holds his face.
“…Honey, I’m so sorry I couldn’t accomplish what you did for me. I wanted to do something nice for you without using my powers…I wanted to make something wonderful like a husband would do for his wife. I love you and…I’m so sorry…” Caine says with guilt in his eyes, feeling ashamed.
“Don’t be sorry Caine, you tried your best…and…” Pomni says as she takes the fork on the tray, plucks off a piece of the egg, and holds it to his mouth, “…You being my husband and loving me is more than enough.”
Caine takes a bite of it, and his eyes widen. It was salty, yes, but the cheesiness and the fluffy texture of the eggs on his tongue is what made him melt and cry a little as he swallows it after savoring it.
“It’s so tasty…!” Caine cries out with a laugh as he rests his head against Pomni’s forehead.
Pomni laughs too as she leans in and kisses him, with him returning the gesture for a second before they got straight to eating together.
Feasting on the omelette on the plate, the bacon they feed each other by hand, and drinking the orange juice after clinking glasses. Pomni laughs as she takes a bite of the omelette, smiling at her improved cooking as Caine watched her with adoration in his eyes.
“Mmmm…Oh this is good…” Pomni says after swallowing her fill, “…By the way, why did Bubble start acting up like that?”
“Oh…well he claimed it was “cravings” or whatever it was…” Caine says as he takes a sip of his orange juice again.
“Cravings? That’s…huh…” Pomni says as she sets down the fork.
“Yeah…I tried getting rid of him but he kept coming back! Sheesh, he’s ungrateful I tell you!” Caine says as he swirls his drink.
It was then they heard a loud “BLEEEHHHH!” And a pop. Then, quiet, as Pomni and Caine look at each other wide eyes and focused.
“…That was him wasn’t it?” Pomni asks deadpan, eyebrow raised.
“Yup.” Caine said without blinking, “…and I don’t want to know right now.”
Pomni snorts seeing he’s doing his earnest to look serious, which Caine hears and snickers, before the two start laughing as they lean in close and shake their heads in exasperation.
“We’ll sort that out later…” Pomni says as she wipes a tear from her eye, “…Let’s finish eating ok?”
“Agreed…I’m still pretty hungry.” Caine says with glee as he takes the fork and tries another bite.
“Oh you…” Pomni softly teases as she leans in and kisses him on the cheek.
Caine’s face turns bright red at that, before chuckling softly and nuzzling close to her as they huddle up to finish their shared meal together. Whatever Bubble was going through, Caine considers it divine justice for being a menace.