Work Text:
"I'm so glad you're joining us!"
Caine twirled in the air excitedly.
"Hey, I never agreed to join..."
Pomni huffed only to get interrupted.
"Oh wow Caine, who's your friend?"
Jax snorted, pointing at the two with an amused smirk.
"She's our circus' newest member!"
"That's...not set in stone..."
Pomni glanced around.
"This is Jax!"
Caine pointed to the purple rabbit then popped up beside the ragdoll, floating over her.
"This is our dearest Ragatha."
"That's Gangle."
He pointed at the ribbon-bodied comedy mask who waved nervously.
"This is our precious Zooble!"
Caine gave Zooble his best puppy dog eyes which in turn they scoffed and flipped him off, muttering something under their breath.
"And over in that tent is Kinger!"
Caine snapped his fingers, the pillow fortress disappearing into nothing as a white wooden chess piece in a purple robe and eyes clutched at his "head"
"My impenetrable fortress!"
"...and you already know me!"
Caine gestures at himself proudly.
"Welcome to our circus!"
Ragatha slid up beside Pomni with a smile.
"Are you feeling nervous?"
Gangle appeared on Pomni's other side.
"No need for being stale!"
Jax laughed, roughly nudging Pomni as she stumbled forward.
"You'll improve your skills here!"
Ragatha encouraged with a wave of her hand.
"Not including our fears..."
Gangle muttered with a sniffle.
"Okay- that just sounds concerning.."
Pomni pointed out.
Suddenly everyone was teleported to a boxing ring with Pomni sitting on a stool in the corner, across her was an orbsman who was being hyped up by what seems to be a mannequin with a cowboy hat that shortly disappeared? Everyone else was amongst the crowd, watching them prepare to fight.
"Time to try some new stuff!"
Caine was hovering behind Pomni, holding onto her shoulders.
"Don't be scared to use 'em."
Caine gestures to Pomni's boxer gloves before shoving her into the fight.
"We're cheering for you clown!"
A part of the crowd cheered, holding up encouraging signs and some of the mannequins were wearing an oddly familiar blue and red jester costume.
"GO POMNI!"
The fans cheered whilst Pomni dodged punches from a very angry orbsman.
Everyone was teleported again, now wearing aprons and uniforms inside a cozy looking kitchen.
"Or you could just do baking."
Caine scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically as Bubble appeared beside him.
"That doesn't sound so entertaining."
"Uhm I think I prefer this, actually."
Pomni chuckled, mixing the bowl of dough.
Ragatha glances over her shoulder through the doorway leading to the kitchen where Pomni stood with Caine at her side before looking back down at her hands.
"Maybe we're friends, maybe we're more. How could she love a simple girl next door? I'm just not the type she's looking for..."
Ragatha sighed only to clasp her hands over her mouth in disbelief of what she had just said. That wasn't like her at all!
"Hey, Ragatha. You doing okay?"
Zooble placed their hand on Ragatha's shoulder, pulling her away from her residual shock.
"I'm having a difficult day."
She reluctantly admitted.
"I'd say you seem pretty lonely."
Jax leaned in from behind, mockingly patting Ragatha's head which earned him a glare.
"I wish we could get out of here... All I want is things back the way they've been."
Pomni sighed to herself whilst Caine watched from a distance with Bubble.
"They're depressed and stressed and they're feeling blue."
Bubble tilted as they spoke before Caine clasped his hands together in determination.
"I know how to fix this, I always do!"
He snapped his fingers-
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST JUST CAINE!
"I'm so glad you're joining our circus!"
Caine guided Pomni along as she looked around, trying to gain her bearings.
"Wait!- What happened to R̴͇͌̀̆̍̽͝͠ͅ️â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽ğ̶̡͚̺̼̱̺̘̳̘̩͚̯͔̎̅̍͋̒́̔̈́̎̂͜͜â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽t̵̏͛̃̍́̈̚͜͝ȟ̸̨̯̲̝̳͓͎̭͖͊̄̔̽̓̂̋̇̋̀̕̚͜â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽?"
Pomni spoke up as she noticed the lack of the sixth member.
"Who?"
Kinger scratched his head in thought.
"There's no one here named that."
Jax spoke, although it was difficult to tell whether he was being sarcastic or not from the ever-present grin on his face.
Pomni slumped onto the couch only to be startled by Gangle's presence beside her when she suddenly spoke up.
"Manga is my passion!"
"Yeah, Gangle here writes- HGHK!"
Jax started only to be silenced by Zooble who aggressively chocked him, turning to face Pomni with a stoic face.
"Her writing's got finesse."
Zooble commented, causing Gangle to giggle shyly.
"Maybe you should borrow these until tomorrow..."
Gangle pulled out a hefty amount of books from who knows where, dropping them onto Pomni's hands before noticing how Pomni was struggling to hold them up.
"Didn't mean to cause distress!"
Gangle quickly picked back up a few books with an embarrassed giggle as Pomni let out a relieved sigh now that the majority of the pressure was gone.
"Let's go prank the hoo-ha!"
Jax suddenly grabbed Pomni by her arm, forcing her to drop the books and get dragged away in the direction of Kinger.
"What about R̴͇͌̀̆̍̽͝͠ͅ️â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽ğ̶̡͚̺̼̱̺̘̳̘̩͚̯͔̎̅̍͋̒́̔̈́̎̂͜͜â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽t̵̏͛̃̍́̈̚͜͝ȟ̸̨̯̲̝̳͓͎̭͖͊̄̔̽̓̂̋̇̋̀̕̚͜â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽?-"
Pomni blinked, a frown forming on her face.
"Let's talk about me instead!"
Jax's grin was oddly unnerving.
"I've been solving puzzles. And I've had fun thus far. And I can't get you out of my head."
Jax grabbed Pomni by one of the pompom's on her front, pulling her uncomfortably close with a crazed look in his eyes.
"Can't look away... My head is in knots. Where did I get these overwhelming thoughts?"
Caine turned away, clutching his hat close to his chest.
"They're sharp as a knife and twice the rush!"
He looked down as a knife appeared in his hand.
Pomni watched Zooble wrestle with Jax before Gangle popped up beside her.
"Yo! There's something I think you should know! I've never seen Caine so-"
"-SAnE aNd cHiLL ANd-"
Caine appeared in front of them only to get interrupted by Bubble.
"-Still very freaky..."
Caine growled as he popped Bubble before returning his attention to Pomni.
"And I don't mind cutting to the chase: I'm a fan of you and your cutesy face-"
Caine grabbed Pomni by her cheeks, squishing her face as he leaned in, inches from her face.
"That's a sentiment I will allow, so my dear friend Pomni, you are my favorite now!"
He spun her around in the air as she scrambled to hold on.
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST CAINE!
JUST JUST CAINE!
They both suddenly appeared in Caine's office as Pomni was dropped into his chair, her head spinning as she blinked a few times to focus whilst Caine floated in front of her, one hand behind his back, his other on his lower jaw.
"Could you have guessed? Maybe you knew? The others are next I'm abstracting them too!"
Caine closed the distance, boxing Pomni in with his hands on either arm of the chair.
"We don't need anyone or poems or tea. I only need your attention on me!"
Caine waved his cane as the last member disappeared into the cellar while Pomni watched in horror.
"Now...there's no one else in our way... So look at me and just say, right here, my dear, that you like me!"
Caine grabbed ahold of Pomni's shoulder, pulling her up beside him as he waved his other hand, a bunch of speech bubbles appearing in front of them with different scenarios of them both hanging out.
"And we'll stay right here 'till the end of time, 'cause I've earned this and you're finally mine! And I'm sorry what you've had to see. But it no longer matters, 'cause now you belong to me!"
Forever. (Just Caine!)
Forever. (Just Caine!)
Forever. (Just Caine!)
Forever. (Just Caine!)
FOREVER. (Just Caine!)
FOREVER. (Just Caine!)
FOREVER. (Just Caine!)
F̴̢̛̗̹̼̮̲̪̼͕̓͒̃̆̑̊̓̇̔̆̓͝O̸̙͙̺̰͚͎̙͔̦͇͗̒̋͛̄͐̓̽̄͛́͂̀̑̕ͅͅͅR̴͇͌̀̆̍̽͝͠ͅ️Ě̵̢̧̛̦̼̜̲͕͕͍̤̙͉͓́̅͒̽̍̐͋͜͝V̶̨̹̞͔͑̅͂͐Ě̵̢̧̛̦̼̜̲͕͕͍̤̙͉͓́̅͒̽̍̐͋͜͝R̴͇͌̀̆̍̽͝͠ͅ️. (JUST JUST CAINE!)