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Caine slowly followed the other Caine through the office to another side door, this one had a cartoony plaque with their shared face on it, just like the one of his bedroom door back at the other circus.
But as he entered, he found that was where the similarity of their rooms ended.
The theme of the room was obvious as he walked in. Honeycomb printed walls and floor, the bed was shaped as a bee, the headboard black and circular with two beady eyes as the head, and the rest as the round body, the duvet over top it black and yellow striped for the bee’s stripes. Around the room scattered was some usual furniture a bedroom would have, all bee themed. It had a couch which was yellow with bee and honeycomb pillows, a desk with black with a yellow top and a matching yellow chair and a few black shelves which held some random items, books and such.
It was his dream room and left him feeling a mixture of awed and jealous.
This Caine’s room was likely hand-made and altered to his personal interest. His room had been chosen by Bubble’s personality system which he hated
“Come on we can share.” His counterpart grabbed his hand, snapping him out of his admiring, ushering him over to the bed. “Or if it would make you more comfortable we could put some pillows in between us? O-Or I can conjure a separate temporary bed for you?”
“No, it’s..it’s okay.” He reassured the other with a small smile, quickly climbing into the bed once they reached it, scooting back away from the edge before crossing his legs criss cross applesauce in the middle. His rear sinking into the soft black and yellow striped fabric.
He felt a little awkward as he realised what was actually going to happen. He’d never shared bed with anyone before. Not that there had ever been an opportunity.
The other Caine floated and sat down beside him, knees resting beneath him, looking incredibly excited.
He found himself letting out a soft laugh at the sight. It was almost amusing. Seeing expressions that he himself usually performed, that he never got to see himself, on his counterpart’s face.
“Have you ever done this before?” He asked curiously as he couldn’t help but wonder.
“No!” The other him beamed, rocking back and forth. “Have you?”
“N-No.” Surprisingly none of the humans had ever had a sleepover in the circus, that he knew of, and not one he was invited to if so.
“Well, it’ll be our first time together then!” His counterpart grinned, teeth and gums curling upwards.
A small shy smile curled onto his own face. “Y-Yes it will.”
He couldn’t help but feel a similar excitement well up inside him. Even if they weren’t going to complete any activities a sleepover usually dictated other than sleeping.
“Now, a sleepover calls for comfy pyjamas! Would you like me to conjure you some?” The other Caine offered, slowly raising his hand, already raising in a clicking position.
It was times like these that he really misses his own conjuring powers. Once upon a time, he could do this himself with just a click of his fingers. Now he had to rely on others.
“…Yes please.”
Click.
Instantly with a click of the other Caine’s fingers, he found his suit jacket and trousers switched out for a pair of red and white striped pyjamas. Reaching up to the top of his head, he found his top hat also changed and replaced by a similarly patterned sleeping hat.
“Look we match!” His counterpart said cheerily and turning towards him, he found he was right. The other Caine sat there beaming, in a matching pair of pyjamas.
Yes they did.
He found himself beaming as well, his gums curling into a grin as a warmth settled in his chest.
———
While it wasn’t the most exciting sleepover, he found himself enjoying it thoroughly.
He and his counterpart lay by side under the black and yellow striped covers, heads rested against soft pillows as they stared up at the ceiling.
With the lights off, he found the room had another addition, one that helped to quell his phobia of the dark, a phobia they likely both shared and the reason for this addition.
Stars.
Across the ceiling sat hundreds and hundreds of golden, glowing stars.
They were so beautiful, and he couldn’t help but be in awe of them.
The positioning was one he recognised and was an almost complete copy of the stars outside the tent, but softer and brighter, not enough to lighten the room completely but enough to ease the pure black darkness into something more manageable.
According to the other Caine, it was a gift from the other members of his troupe when designing his room after learning of his fear. A gift that he learned meant a lot to his counterpart because it was the first acknowledgement to him that they had began to truly care for him as one of their own.
Now he and his counterpart lay together under these stars, talking in soft tones as they waited for sleep to take them.
And soon enough, it did, as they, almost in unison, slipped into sleep mode mid-conversation.
———
Hours later
A soft noise escaped him as his consciousness returned. He cracked open his teeth, giving them a few blinks before opening his mouth fully.
All that filled his vision in the dim light was red and white stripes.
Confusion filled him for a moment before he then registered warmth and then a pressure, located on his back and another on top of his head.
He eased his head away from the stripes a little to study his surroundings and instantly found his answer. Because as he looked up, his eyeballs were met with the closed teeth of his counterpart, who was slumbering away beside him emitting soft snores.
It clicked that the red and white stripes were those of the other Caine’s pyjamas and that the front of his teeth had been pressed into the other’s chest. And that the pressure on his head was the other Caine’s lower jaw resting on it.
Shifting a little bit, he also gained and answer for the pressure on his back. It was his counterpart’s hand, his palm resting on the dip his back and pulling him close, his arm snaked around his side.
They were…cuddling.
He felt his gums heat up in embarrassment. The urge to push his counterpart away surfaced for a moment.
It felt wrong. Not because of the action itself, but because he wasn’t used to it.
Only in the other circus had he ever received hugs, and even then they were very few and didn’t last long.
This was different.
It was..comfy. Warm.
He didn’t think anyone had ever held him this way in his life. He felt safe. Protected. Loved.
He never wanted to leave.
The urge faded and he found himself snuggling back into the other Caine’s chest again, his teeth sliding closed again. Not fully, leaving a small crack between them.
He didn’t intend to return to sleep but to savour this moment for he had no idea when he’d receive affection like this again, if ever.
He knew he would severely miss his counterpart when it was time to return to the other circus. His welcoming and kind counterpart who had been the highlight of ending up here. The only person he truly had felt comfortable with in a long time.
Was that narcissistic to say? Since they were the same person.
But technically, they weren’t.
Sure they shared a name, their appearances, their origin and such. That was where it ended.
Because at some point, their paths had diverged when it had once been the same.
They both had went through different experiences which then had shaped and changed them into different people.
He and his counterpart were not the same. Not anymore.
“Hngh.” He was broken out of his thoughts by a low purr that rumbled down his counterpart’s chest and vibrated against his teeth. He then found his body being shifted, being pulled closer in a squeeze, not an uncomfortable one though, as the other Caine’s arms wrapped tighter around him. The familiar pressure returning to his head as his counterpart resting his jaw there again.
He found himself trapped, held tight in the other’s embrace and yet he didn’t mind.
He could stay here forever.
Against his will, he found the lull of sleep appear again and didn’t bother to fight it.
His teeth slid fully closed again and he let sleep take him.
Because encased by his counterpart’s embrace and warmth. There was nowhere else he’d rather be.