Chapter Text
It’s a few days later when he decides he needs to do it.
It’s breakfast when he actually commits.
He pushes his seat away from his plate containing a wholly uneaten entire roast chicken. “H… hey, everyone.” He floats gently above his seat, just barely hovering, as the rest of the table turns their attention to him. “I… uh…”
How does he even start this?
“Caine? What’s… going on?” Pomni raises an eyebrow and looks at him. He thinks it’s confusion, not fear. He really hopes it’s not fear.
“I…” He exhales. “There’s no easy way to say this, huh?”
Well, it’s still not fear, but half of them seem to be “concern” and the other half seem to be “worried”. Is there a difference between those? And then there’s Kinger, who is just looking at him encouragingly.
“I…”
“Just spit it out, Caine.” Zooble is as blunt as ever, but he can see the hesitation in their posture.
He sighs. “I’ve kept some things from you.” He sees them all start to shift, and hurriedly continues. “Nothing bad, or, at least, I think it’s not bad. It wasn’t meant to be bad!”
“Caine… We talked about this.”
He deflates. “I know. I… really didn’t mean to keep secrets. I just… didn’t know how to tell you.” He averts his gaze and places a hand on his arm. In his peripheral vision, he can see confusion return to their faces. He glances around the circus tent, some combination of stalling for time and working up the nerve to actually admit what he did. He buffers.
“Uh, Caine?” Ragatha reaches out towards him, and he snaps back into focus.
“Oh, yes. …sorry.” He squeezes his mouth shut, then finally decides to just say it without thinking about it. “I introduced your Macroverse versions to each other.”
He can see everyone else at the table sharing glances. Everyone except Kinger, who’s still looking at him encouragingly.
After a moment, Pomni breaks the silence. “What?”
Well, they all know now, so I might as well… “I… sent Ragatha—well, Ragatha out there—Pomni’s video about the… building. And I… made sure that when Zooble was looking for an artist, Jax saw Gangle—well, not Gangle but—Gangle’s comic so she could show them and they could meet, and…” At least they mostly look confused? “I… put them in those situations.” He fidgets uncomfortably. “I didn’t do everything! Jax and Ragatha and Zooble already knew each other! And… the Jax out there and one of Kinger’s daughters were already dating!” Kinger straightens up, looks at him, and blinks twice. At least now everyone else at the table is confused. “I didn’t introduce her to anyone. I just… put Pomni in Ragatha’s way. And put Gangle in Zooble’s way. And… would’ve kept doing it.” He slumps in on himself, deliberately not looking at anyone else. “And… I don’t think I get to keep that a secret anymore.”