Chapter Text
"Hey uh... Pomni. You weren't planning on abstracting anytime soon, were ya?"
Pomni blinks, fighting down a yawn. Caine was sitting criss-coss on the end of her bed, lights turned on, and eyes wide.
"...No? No plans currently.." She says groggily, her mind trying to wake up and process what he just asked. Caines eyes dilate a tiny bit at this information.
"Okay, cool! Cool.." Caine reaches a hand up and flicks a non existent light switch as the lights turn off. Pomni's mind catches up with her as she realizes what he just asked.
"Wait, wait what? Caine?"
Pomni recongizes the few moments before he teleports out, and as easy as it is to call for him, catching him now would be easier.
Caine looks visibly shaken, almost comparably to moments before he was deleted... okay, maybe not that far, but he was clearly shaken up by something. He goes to turn on the lights again.
"Why... Why are you asking?"
He shifts nervously, shoulders raised and back hunched, his eyes avoiding hers. "I... I had a visual scenario play out while i was experiencing a temporary personal shut off... So in other words, what you glorious humans would call-"
"A nightmare."
"..."
"About... Me-"
"Abstracting. Yes." Caines tone is soft, something she had to grow accustomed to instead of his over the top boisterous voice. His mismatched eyes staring into her pinwheel ones, Pomni realizes that the nightmare affected him so deeply that it made him manually check up on her.
After a moment, she asks sincerely, "Are you okay?"
His demeanor changed instantly, his shoulders loosed up again and back straightened, as if Pomni fliped a switch.
"Never better my dear! Why would you- eh..." His Ringmaster voice momentarily replacing his quieter one until Pomni gave him a look. "Sorry... I just got so worried that I had to check in on you. It felt so real."
Pomni scoots to the edge of her bed, hanging her legs off it. "Yeah, that's what they do. They take your deepest fears and present them to you in the worst way possible."
Caine copies Pomni, and scoots to the edge of her bed. "Thats awful... You humans have to deal with that?
"Yup. Wait, was that your first one?"
"I never had a chance to 'sleep' as you would put it, I was to busy keeping you all active, planning adventures and all that."
"Sounds tiring."
"I mean, I enjoyed making them, but now that I... I don't know how I was able to do so much for all that time. I mean-" Caine was cut off by Pomni yawning, reminding him of how he woken her up. "Oh, I should probably... Sorry."
"No, no it's okay."
A few seconds of silence wedge betwen them. Both of them thinking of how they should say something to the other.
"Do you want to-"
"Do you mind if I-"
They both stop at each others words, Pomnis blush brighting up as Caines premolars start to turn pink.
"I mean-"
"You don't have to-"
They nervously laugh at themselves, This can't be happening right now, could it? Seriously?
"Yes."
"Sure."
Caine reaches his hand to the non existent light switch again as the room turns darker, as Pomni climbs back to her spot, only to move closer to the wall to make room for Caine.
Caine moves up and lays on his side, looking towards Pomni.
"G-... Goodnight Pomni."
"Goodnight Caine."
They share a smile before Pomni closes her eyes, Caine watches as she falls asleep. Her chest rising up and down in a rhythmic pattern before he decides to power down as well, Circus systems runing in his background.