Chapter Text
"GOOD MORNING, MY MAGNIFICENT MENAGERIE OF MERRY MISFITS!"
The inside of the tent erupted in multi-colored confetti.
You flinched on instinct as colorful paper rained over everyone's heads, while a brass fanfare blared from seemingly nowhere.
Floating above the center ring, Caine spreads his arms joyfully, his mismatched eyes darting at the humans below him.
"I hope everyone got plenty of rest because today we'll be venturing into..." He paused dramatically, snapping his fingers.
The walls of the tent vanished, replacing it with pointed rocks and moss.
"...THE CAVERNS OF PERPETUAL ECHOES!"
The floor disappeared beneath your feet, making you yelp in surprise.
Before anyone had the chance to protest, the world melted into brilliant shades of sapphire and violet.
Towering crystal formations stretched high above, catching invisible light and scattering it into thousands of shimmering reflections. Rivers glowed with liquid silver. Strange flowers bloomed from the cavern walls, humming softly whenever someone walked past. Moss coated the walls, covering the dull colors of rock and stone.
"...Whoa."
You smiled despite yourself, admiring the beauty.
Caine noticed. Of course he did, he noticed everything.
"Oh, good grief," Jax muttered irritably behind you. "Another cave."
"Can we just please have one adventure where nothing explodes?" Zooble asked with a sigh.
"It'll explode," Ragatha whispered quietly, her eye shutting for a moment.
"It always explodes."
Pomni stared upward, looking both impressed and exhausted at the same exact time.
"...It's really pretty."
"It is really pretty!" Caine beamed, spinning through the air excitedly. "Thank you, Pomni! Finally, someone appreciates my interior decorating!"
"I wasn't complimenting you.."
"You weren't?"
"No…?"
"...I'll just pretend you were then!"
He clapped his hands together.
"Now then! Somewhere inside these caverns lives the Crystal Choir, a delightful collection of sentient gemstones capable of singing every note known to mankind!"
A beat.
"Unfortunately, they've all developed stage fright."
Silence.
Jax blinked, as if processing whatever the hell Caine just said.
"...That's the plot?"
"The premise, Jax."
"That's not better, like.. at all."
"You'll help them recover their confidence before tonight's concert!" Caine continued, utterly ignoring him. "Along the way you'll solve puzzles, avoid perfectly harmless crystal bats—"
A shrill, ear-piercing screech echoed through the cavern.
"—who may or may not bite..."
Another pause.
"..But! Thankfully for you, they bite affectionately!"
…
The adventure was ridiculous.
Absolutely, utterly ridiculous.
One puzzle involved convincing a snail NPC that had a crystal as it’s shell to let them pass. They had to convince the snail that they were actually guests of the 'Crystal Choir'.
Jax tried crushing it, it did in fact not work.
Another required helping a giant find his “special stick.” that apparently could make music.
Ragatha somehow managed to get trapped upside down in a glowing vine. Not once, twice.
Pomni accidentally startled an entire colony of crystal bats, which as a result they had to run from without making the cavern cave in.
The bats broke Gangle’s happy mask.
You laughed, a lot. In fact, you laughed so hard that you nearly dropped the glowing lantern Caine had handed you.
"Oh, this is unbelievable," Jax groaned, holding his knees and leaning over to catch his breath.
"They're making fun of me!"
"They're making music, actually!" Caine corrected cheerfully, disappearing just as quickly he had appeared.
The bats squeaked in perfect harmony.
"...See?"
"They're mocking me in C major, then." Jax replied under his breath bitterly.
…
Hours later, everyone stumbled back into the circus tent.
The cavern dissolved around you in a shower of glittering polygons.
You stretched your arms over your head.
"...That was fun."
"That," Zooble declared, "was not fun."
"My feet hurt," Pomni mumbled.
"I don't even have feet," Zooble replied.
"Lucky."
Ragatha laughed quietly, fixing her dress.
Jax just kept muttering under his breath resentfully.
"I’m wishing death to those stupid [bleep] bats."
"They were adorable," you said lightly, shaking your head.
"They committed literal crimes all because Pom Pom woke them up."
"Fair, but they were still cute while doing it."
"They were felons."
"To each their own, I think they were just sleep-deprived."
Jax looked at you as though you'd personally offended him.
"You’re alone on that."
"I liked the little crystal snail too."
"You’re alone on that too, the little [bleep] wouldn’t die."
"I don’t think it can die, honestly.”
He threw his hands into the air.
"I can't with you right now."
Ragatha laughed quietly.
"You know..."
She started, smiling at you.
"I think you're the only person here who actually has fun on these."
You shrugged.
"I do."
Jax looked genuinely puzzled, a bit dumbfounded too.
"...How?"
"They're fun."
"They're exhausting."
"They can be both."
He stared for another second before shaking his head in disbelief.
"You're weird."
"Thanks."
"I wasn't complimenting you."
"I know."
…
One by one, everyone drifted away.
Zooble disappeared toward their room without another word.
Pomni wished everyone a tired goodnight despite it barely being afternoon.
Kinger wandered off mindlessly after what he insisted was a "suspicious-looking insect."
Eventually, only you remained beneath the circus tent, kicking an invisible rock quietly.
The tent grew quiet, for the most part.
Caine floated near the center ring, surrounded by dozens of tiny holographic windows only he and apparently Bubble could see.
Adventure metrics, puzzle completion, entertainment statistics, bat satisfaction and enjoyment.
Bubble was eating one, loudly.
"You can't eat analytics!" Caine scolded.
Bubble made a rude noise.
"They're crunchy!"
Caine shoved his gloved finger against Bubble, an audible pop sounding through the circus.
You walked over silently, your feet padding against the floor without a sound.
"...Hey."
Without looking up, he answered automatically.
"Hello!"
"...Thanks."
"So very welcome!" He responded, still typing with focus.
"...No, really."
His hands paused, every floating hologram froze as he looked away.
"...Really?"
You nodded.
"I had fun."
There was a strange pause.
"I..." Caine laughed.
"Well, naturally! It was expertly crafted entertainment! I spent approximately four hours designing those crystal reflections alone!"
"I can tell."
"...You can?"
"They were beautiful." You answered honestly.
His grin faltered ever so slightly.
It didn't disappear. It just... softened.
"Oh."
You shifted your weight awkwardly.
"I know everyone complains."
"Oh, constantly.”
"But..."
You looked toward the empty entrance of the tent.
"For a while..."
Your voice grew a tad quieter, hesitation lacing your tone before you continued.
"I forgot."
Caine tilted his head.
"...Forgot?"
"...Everything."
You smiled.
"Where we are, what happened, the fact that we can’t leave."
Another silence.
"They're good distractions from abstractions."
You laughed under your breath at your unintentional rhyme.
"I don't know if that's what you're going for."
"...Actually..." For a moment, Caine simply looked at you. He wavered for a brief moment, before replying.
"It is."
You looked back up at him.
"My adventures are designed to occupy everyone's minds."
He smiled, though it wasn't nearly as dramatic as usual.
"Distraction is... rather the point."
"Well." You said while shrugging.
"They work.”
Something inside him paused.
Not literally.
He didn't have a heart to skip, no lungs to lose their rhythm, no pulse to race.
Yet some invisible process seemed to stop entirely.
"They... work?"
"They work for me."
You smiled again.
A small, tired smile. But it was genuine.
"So..."
You gave him a little wave.
"Thanks, Caine."
Then you turned and walked toward the hallway, now out of sight.
…
Caine watched you leave.
The tent suddenly felt...
Quiet. Not empty. Just...
Different.
His eyes followed until you disappeared around the corner.
Only then did he finally blink.
"...Huh."
Caine flicked through another report he had suddenly spawned beside him.
Then he paused.
"...Bubble?"
"Yeah?"
"The human said she enjoyed today's adventure."
Bubble looked around, a bit dumbly.
"Which human?"
Caine opened his mouth, then stopped.
"..."
"...The nice one." He finally answered.
Bubble rolled his eyes.
"That doesn't narrow it down."
"...The one who said 'thank you.'"
"Oh."
Bubble nodded.
"Yeah."
"She always says thank you, though!"
Caine blinked.
A tiny menu appeared beside him.
Adventure Satisfaction Report
Overall Enjoyment: 37%
Complaints Filed: 14
Property Damage: Moderate
Jax and Zooble Complaints: 32
Positive Feedback: 1
He stared at the final statistic.
One.
His finger tapped the glowing number, as if touching it could help it make sense to him.
A smaller window opened.
Participant: Y/N
Verbal feedback detected.
"I had fun."
Another line.
"They're good distractions from abstractions."
Another.
"They work."
The recording replayed in perfect clarity.
He listened to it once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
"...How interesting."
Bubble leaned over his shoulder nosily.
"Is something wrong?"
"...No."
He closed the windows.
"...Just... interesting."
A blueprint unfolded in front of him.
Tomorrow's adventure.
He immediately began rearranging pieces, absentmindedly sketching ideas.
Floating islands, living storybooks, clockwork forests.
His pen stopped mid bee doodle.
She had mentioned the bats, so he added more harmless creatures. Friendlier ones, less nipping and biting.
"...Hmm."
He paused.
"...No."
One tiny bat.
Just one. For a comedic effect.
He smiled to himself, continuing.
"...She liked the scenery."
“Did she?” Bubble questioned, raising a nonexistent eyebrow.
“She did.” Caine replied, as he enlarged the forest, adding luminous flowers.
"The flowers were well received..."
"Were they?"
"...By one person."
"So?"
"...So..." Caine hesitated, pen hovering over the blueprint.
"...Maybe more flowers."
Bubble stared at him blankly.
"You're redesigning an adventure because one of the humans liked the flowers?"
Caine looked down at the blueprint.
“Am I?”
"..."
"...Well!"
He laughed a little too loudly.
"Good entertainment should always consider audience feedback!"
Bubble snorted.
"Sure, whatever you say, boss!"
"Precisely!"
He happily returned to sketching glowing gardens and oversized creatures, never once stopping to ask himself why one compliment had stayed with him longer than all the complaints combined.
Without realizing it, Caine spent the next hour designing an adventure that he hoped one person, in particular, would enjoy.
He never once asked himself why.