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One afternoon, you decided to accompany Gangle in her room. Initially, you were never really able to talk with her—but after Caine opened up the circus, you were finally able to have one-on-one time with her more often.
You watched Gangle nervously flip through her sketchbook, your eyes scanning each page in reverence. You could tell she still wasn’t completely confident in showing her artwork to others—aside from Zooble, of course.
“T-they aren’t the best. Oh–and sorry if some of them are a little messy…”
You quickly shake your head, smiling softly at her reluctance.
“Nonsense! These are amazing, Gangle. I’m glad you were comfortable enough to show me.”
Gangle blushed, giggling at your words of reassurance.
“If you ever…wanted to draw with me sometime—I-I would love to!”
You beamed, nodding your head in excitement.
“Yes, I would love that! Though, you might need to give me some tips…I’m not the best at drawing.”
Gangle sat up with a prideful expression.
“Of course!
So, the two of you sat on the ground—the floor slowly being covered with sketchbook paper and other stationary supplies. Occasionally, Gangle would offer you some tips on how to draw a proper human form.
You huffed, crumpling up another piece of paper and tossing it to the side. Gangle looked over at your turmoil, stifling a gentle laugh.
“Still struggling?”
You groaned, hitting your head against the hardwood floor.
“It’s that obvious, huh?”
As she chuckled, she reached for your recent crumpled piece of paper and unraveled it. Before you could rebuttal, she unfolded the paper and let out a soft gasp.
“I know, I know…it’s bad.”
For a moment, she stared at it in awe—then shook her head.
“No!”
You blinked, surprised at her raised voice—which caused her to blush and adjust her volume.
“I-I mean—it’s wonderful! You’re such a quick learner.”
You chuckled, feeling an unfamiliar warmth cover your cheeks.
“Well—I was given some incredibly helpful tips from a very talented artist.”
Gangle quickly covered her face as a faint squeak left her mouth. You snickered lightly at her timidness.
You and Gangle continued to draw for what felt like hours. As the night began to overtake the circus, you heard a soft yawn come from her masked face.
“Tired, hm?”
She nodded, preparing to stack her drawings.
“Just a bit—I planned to hang out with Zooble by the digital lake early tomorrow. They said they had a little surprise for me.”
You smiled as you began to help her clean up.
“That sounds nice—tell me how it goes, yeah?”
“Of course!”
Once the two of you finished cleaning up, she walked you out into the hallway and to your bedroom door.
“Hey—wanna do this again sometime tomorrow?”
Gangle beamed.
“That would be great! I had a lot of fun—Oh! M-maybe we could invite the others?”
“Sounds like a date—good night, Gangle.”
She blushed, repeating your parting phrase.
“Good night!”
As you shut the door behind you, you plopped onto your bed with a satisfied sigh. As you begin to drift off into sleep, you start to feel a pair of eyes staring at you.
You were definitely familiar with these pairs of eyes. You smiled, stifling a laugh.
“Caine, I know you’re there.”
You turned and clicked on a lamp that was resting on your nightstand—and, lo and behold, was your ringmaster. He sat crisscrossed at the edge of your bed, rocking with noticeable suppressed energy.
“Hello, my dear! After I noticed that I didn’t check on you earlier—the guilt began to eat me alive! So, how are you doing? How are you enjoying the circus so far?”
You sit up, your expression amused, yet gentle.
“I’m doing wonderful, thank you for checking up on me. And the circus has been great so far—well, except for one thing…”
Caine’s jaws widened, swiftly hovering over you.
“What is it?”
You playfully sighed as you leaned against the headboard.
“It’s nothing too big…but it would make my time here so much better.”
You could almost hear Caine buzzing with anticipation.
“Oh, please tell me!—I can give it to you with the snap of my fingers! S-see?”
Caine quickly snapped a small bee plush into your lap, causing you to chuckle. He tilted his head at the noise, a concerned expression splayed across his face.
“No, Caine—it’s not something you can snap into existence.”
“It’s not?”
You huffed, finding his shenanigans utterly adorable.
“All I want is quality time with my ringmaster.”
He paused.
“Oh.”
Then, his irises widened with glee.
“O-oh! You want to spend time—with me?”
You nod, still entertained.
“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I?”
Caine slowly sunk down in front of you, fidgeting your comforter.
“After…all that I did?”
You frowned, gently grabbing his hand. Despite flinching at the touch, he didn’t resist it.
“Caine—I understand you still feel…guilty, but what happened wasn’t entirely your fault. It was just a…malfunction. That’s all.”
He nodded, realizing you shared these same words immediately after he came back from his deletion.
“You’re…very kind to me, my dear. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”
You lightly squeezed his hand.
“I’m sure you’d figure it out.”
The two of you sat in comfortable silence as he glanced around your room—when an idea suddenly popped in your head.
“Hey, Gangle and I are going to have a little arts and crafts night tomorrow—would you like to join us?”
At your invitation, Caine spun up into the air with great excitement.
“Of course I would, my sleepy s’more! Color me stoked!”
You chuckled tiredly at his quiet outburst. Noticing your half-lidded eyes, Caine gently patted your head with a parting phrase.
“Now you get some rest, my dear! I’ll see you two tomorrow night!”
And with that, he disappeared with a hasty snap.
You awoke from your slumber. Recently, you noticed all the humans began to actually became tired after a long day. Maybe it was something Caine added to make life in the circus more “realistic,” you thought. When you opened your eyes, you were met with Caine hovering directly above you. Caine was always one to watch over you while you awoke in the morning. Despite telling him no at first, you became accustomed to the routine—and were embarrassingly saddened when he wasn’t there.
This time, you held your arms out and jokingly pulled him into a bear hug—something you oddly never tried before.
As you did, he gasped softly.
“G-good morning, my blooming flower! How did you rest?”
You nuzzled against him, mumbling into his non-existent neck.
“Great.”
You squeezed him, insinuating him to hug back—and he did.
Once you felt him let go, you pulled away to get a better look at him.
And to your surprise, he had three lines of blush on each side of his “face.” When you looked at him teasingly, he quickly cleared his throat, swiftly flying back.
“So! Today is the day, my dear! Are you excited to spend time with sticky glue and safety scissors?”
You nodded in response as you sat up in your bed, amusement evident in your tone.
“Ready as I’ll ever be—I suppose you are as well?”
“I was born ready!
The two of you decided to spend the day together while Gangle and Zooble occupied the digital lake. The entire time you hang out with Caine, you wondered what Zooble could have possibly gifted Gangle.
Feeling the urge to spend some of your time outside, you asked Ragatha and Pomni if you were able to join them in their softball game—to which they enthusiastically agreed.
The entire day was a dream—yet, you couldn’t help but notice Caine’s odd behavior. Every so often, he would gaze at your form, then quickly avert his gaze elsewhere when you noticed. It was odd—but you didn’t let it bother you too much. Maybe he was just processing new information?
As the night rolled around, you and Caine met up with Gangle in her room. When she noticed your presence, she grinned.
“I see you brought a guest!”
You nodded, beckoning Caine to follow you.
“Yup!—I asked Ragatha and Pomni, but I believe they were going to watch a movie in the fort with…Uhm.”
Your voice trailed off, not wanting to accidentally bring the mood down.
“A-anyways! Let’s get to drawing, shall we?”
Gangle smiled softly, providing the proper art supplies for the two of you. Once you began drawing, you felt your mind explode with hundreds of ideas—but you couldn’t decide what to draw. As you looked up, you noticed Gangle was rapidly sketching and Caine was… staring at you.
“Are you...alright?”
He “blinked,” quickly covering his page with his gloved hands.
“Never better, my dear! Just…keep drawing. Don’t worry about your ringmaster!”
You craned your neck to see what he was drawing—which only caused him to cover it with his body.
“T-this is confidential! No peeking!”
Gangle looked between the two of you, a sly grin spreading across her face.
After a few minutes of pencil-sketching silence, you decide to ask the question that was plaguing your mind all day.
“Gangle?”
She hummed in response.
“So—what did Zooble give you?”
Gangle giggled in glee as she pulled the gift from behind her back.
“They made me this little pencil pouch—isn’t it cute?”
The pencil pouch was delicately sewed in the shape of a pink cat. Hanging off its side was a fish-shaped zipper.
“Wow—did they make that?”
“Yes! They really are good at everything, huh?”
You chuckled.
“You could say that again.”
The night continued with the occasional murmur of conversation, but it was mainly between you and Gangle. You noticed Caine would only join in if he was asked a question directly—so you made sure to involve him as much as possible.
However, you noted that he definitely looked at you more than he would talk, which was only slightly concerning.
Stifling a yawn, you decided to find a stopping point, placing your pencil back into the designated cupholder. Caine watched you in panic as you sat up and stretched.
“Well—thank you for letting me draw with you, Gangle. I had a lot of fun.”
She giggled—seemingly in a teasing manner.
“Oh, don’t mention it. I had a lot of fun as well.”
You shot her a puzzled smile as you begin to get up. However, before you’re able to, Caine quickly grabbed your arm, pulling you back down.
“Wait one moment, my dear! I’m almost done.”
You snorted, placing your hands on your hips.
“But I’m tired, Caine!”
“Just one moment!”
Feeling defeated, you playfully groaned and sat back down.
You then noticed Gangle watching you, that same sly smile spreading across her face. As she held her sketchbook to her chest, she hummed—pretending to act completely ignorant to the entire ordeal.
“Gangle—I’m not dumb! What are you hiding?”
Gangle giggled softly.
“Me? Hiding something? Never!”
You rolled your eyes at her obvious lie. However, you decided not to fight back.
A few minutes pass and you begin to become more and more exhausted.
“Okay, Caine, if you don’t—”
“All finished, my sparkling firework.”
You sighed in relief, preparing to get up.
“Thank goodness, I swear, I was just about to fall asleep—”
Caine suddenly presented his drawing to you, the same pink lines forming on his face. As you stared at it, your face began to feel hot as well.
“Wh–Caine!”
On the page was a drawing of…you. It was nothing too impressive, of course—but it was still you. You gently held the page, studying every detail. He captured your likeness perfectly.
“Gangle’s been giving me the ins and outs of drawing—so I had to test them out on my favorite subject—I-I mean…I hope you like it.”
You gave him a genuine grin as you looked down at the drawing.
“Caine—it’s beautiful!”
At your words of praise, he lit up—all of his bashfulness leaving him instantly. Due to his obvious excitement, he quickly pulled you into a tight hug, resisting the urge to spin you around.
“I’m so happy to hear that, my dear!”
As Gangle watched, she slowly revealed her drawing to the two of you. On the page was you and Caine—hugging each other. She chuckled at your surprised—and completely embarrassed—faces.
You tittered, slightly mortified—but also flattered.
”Gangle!”
She shrugged, feigning innocence.
”What?”