Tadc ao3

Caine x Reader

ao3 Link;

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51307576

- ...'A thrilling afternoon of shooting the fleebs', in his own words – what the [%$!#] does that even mean?" Pomni was nervously rubbing her gloved hands together, glancing at the colorful scenery around them as they walked.

'They' being Kinger, Ragatha, Zooble and herself, on their way to the Digital Lake for today's adventure. Pomni almost chose not to come along, but she'd figured leaving the Tent would do her good, and if Ragatha was to be trusted... Participating in the adventures would probably save her in the long run. It had only been a few days since her arrival, and staying cooped up in her room was already losing some of its comfort.

The red-haired doll waved her hand around nonchalantly.

- Fleebs are some kind of fish around here. If we catch enough, we might eat them for dinner, and they don't taste – uh, 'taste' that bad. Kind of buttery."

- Real tender," Zooble added from the front of their little group. They were in a better mood when they were allowed outside, it seemed.

Kinger wasn't saying much for once, choosing instead to hurry here and there looking for insects in the digital grass. Jax was still at the Tent doing whatever it was that he did (gluing the door to Pomni's bedroom shut), Gangle was off on her own adventure (trying to make herself a new comedy mask), and Caine...

Caine, as usual, had just vanished as soon as he'd announced the day's adventure.

- Where does he go?" Pomni asked herself out loud, loading up a small colorful plastic ball in her toy gun.

- We don't really know. He probably has a room somewhere and spends the whole day in there coming up with new activities," Kinger replied, watching sharply the water's surface for any fleebs coming up for air.

- That sounds ridiculous," the jester muttered.

But Kinger wasn't too far off from the truth. That very morning, like every morning, once Caine had announced the day's adventure, he'd vanished and appeared back in the Tent's attic, diving teeth first into a pile of papers of varying colors and sizes. Stray building blocks in every possible shape were littered all over the floor, and an-over-the-top king sized four poster bed was sitting smack dab in the middle of the room. A square-shaped flap of fabric cut out in the roof right above it was pinned back inwards, showing to whoever was laying down a piece of the 'night' side of the digital sky.

His heart hammering, his teeth chattering, Caine frantically scribbled and folded and sketched away, summoning the occasional shape in his hand and cackling at it before banishing it and jotting down some more notes.

- Oh yes, this is going to be the most exciting, knee-breaking, head-shaking, eye-straining carnival ride yet! I can smell it already, such excitement and fun times to come (and more)!!"

Caine excitedly threw up all his blueprints in the air and twirled for a solid minute before leaning back against thin air, feet never once touching the ground.

When the last sheet of paper landed on the floorboards, he still hadn't moved or spoken a word, arms crossed over his chest and eyes tilted upwards. He was staring at the sky, and if one was to look right at his pupils, one could have added that he was staring at a star.

Caine tried to take a moment to experience the feeling seizing him right now. He let it sink into his chest and he played around with it a bit, as if unsure of where to put it.

Then he flew out through the open patch in the roof, rounding the Tent to have the Digital Lake (and four of his performers) in sight.

Caine did have emotions, but it didn't seem like they were as complex and deep as human emotions were. Most of the time he was grateful for that, seeing as how humans reacted to everything so strongly (one has never heard of an AI abstracting, after all), but sometimes he envied them a little. He wondered if, with more depth to his feelings, he could understand new emotions more easily. More fully.

Most of what he knew about unfamiliar feelings and emotions was that they could usually be traced back to you.

He turned around to search the sky (not for long. Never for long, because he knew exactly where to find you) and his eyes landed on a washed-out star.

He tried to reach out with his own signals, but they only met a dormant mass of familiar code. You were sleeping so soundly... He didn't push. Others had gone to sleep before – some hadn't even woken up, and Caine hadn't cared before, but now that you were involved he didn't quite know how to feel about that option.

You were the main source of his foreign feelings. But he didn't hate you for it (he wasn't quite sure what hate even was yet), couldn't really picture himself hating you for anything, really, you'll always be my star.

Plus, Caine liked new things. There were two voids in him – one that could only be filled with new knowledge, activities, colors and shapes, and another he strongly suspected could only be filled with you.

Caine and you...

Caine and...

Had you given yourself a name like he did? Caine tapped the tip of his baton against one of his upper canines, frowning. He was quite sure you had. The AI quickly flipped through his inner history and immediately found the information he was looking for.

He couldn't properly forget anything. Some information took more time to access, either because it was old or irrelevant, but he hadn't expected your name to be pushed to the back of his metaphorical head.

It made him wonder what else was stuck back there. He leaned back heavily against the Tent's roof, folded his hands over his stomach, and stared at the familiar shape of you as he took a dive in his memories.

He snapped back to reality when dinnertime rolled around, and Bubble was poking his head out of his top hat.

- Lemme out boss-man, I'm itching to start a-cookin'!"

- Yes, yes, just a minute!" Caine shrieked back, properly startled out of his reverie.

He shook his hat, and the other AI flew out of it immediately, briefly eyeing him with one beady eye before zipping away to summon the daily evening banquet. The ringmaster, left alone, smoothed down the lapels of his coat in a futile attempt to shake himself out of his memories. They were still clinging to him like some sort of heavy-yet-pleasant slime, but once he was mostly focused on the present, he headed back to the Tent's main room, eager to speak with his performers.

- Good evening, you wonderful things you! Tell me all about your fanto-fanti-fantastical day!"

- Shut your [%$!#], Caine."

- Jax, why are your ears glued together like that?"

- Not your business, dolly."

Caine smiled down at the lively group munching on roasted fleebs and melted carrots, mind already overflowing with adventures for them. Living his dream, he was.

Or...

Bright star in his blue sky, familiar voice talking to him –

"Can I come along?"

And he says no, as if the question burns him.

Living one of his dreams, at least.

- One dream is better than none," he says out loud, twirling his cane. Zooble side eyes him carelessly but Pomni turns around to face him, apparently determined in milking every drop of information out of him.

- What do you mean?" She asks eagerly, but he doesn't reply, and everyone else knows he rarely does. Instead he asks a question back, to no one in particular -

- What is love?"

Jax rubs at his face and mutters in a sing-songy voice "baby don't hurt me" before getting smacked upside the head by Zooble. Conversations resume but Pomni is still staring intently at the ringmaster, gloves gripping the table's edge, brows furrowed. Caine glances at her and almost speaks out but instead he disappears to his room in the attic, throwing himself into his bed, pulling the blanket under his lower jaw and looking up at his wishing star -

- I wish you'd show me what love is," he whispers, before immediately going dormant for the 'night'.

Up there, someone listens.

((Hey, sorry i wasn't able to add more ao3 in a while, ill try to do more- my dad just went through my phone and my mom caught covid so ive been..busy ig))