Chapter Text
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This was unbelievable.
Caine’s hand tapped impatiently against the hardwood of his desk, muttering angered nonsense beneath his breath. It’s been what? Days? Weeks? Since he’d last had a real conversation with Kinger. And he’d never been this frustrated before. He slammed his fist against the desk, a resonating ‘boom’ echoing through his spacious office as he stood abruptly. “I don’t understand.” He murmured, more to himself than anyone else. But nevertheless, bubble almost instantly popped up next to him, his sharp-toothed grin widening knowingly. And he would’ve reacted if it wasn’t for the overwhelming exasperation and annoyance he felt.
“What seems to be the problem, boss?” He chirped, his artificially cheerful voice snapping Caine out of his thoughts. Caine stopped and stared at him for a second, trying to contemplate a response from his racing mind. Caine then turned away and started to pace around his office, but still gave bubble an answer. “It’s Kinger.” He started, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I truly don’t understand. We were doing just fine. Is it something I did?” He stomped his foot, his body tensing. “I try my hardest to give him whatever he desires. Yet he persists on insisting I don’t know him at all.” He clenched his fist, his hand fidgeting anxiously with his cane. He was about to continue his rant until bubble cut him off with obnoxious laughter.
“When have you ever been good at understanding humans?” Bubble taunted, his voice dropping to a lower octave that made Caine’s blood boil. Caine huffed, his body starting to show subtle signs of glitching. “Shut up.” He growled, turning away. Bubble always did have his way of making Caine feel worse at times, did he? “It’s funny, You’re failing at the one thing you were made for!” Bubble ridiculed him. Caine’s body was far from stable now, static and glitches spreading throughout his form and his office. His eyes were wild and wide, occasionally glitching blue and red. “I said, shut up.” He repeated, holding his head in his hands. The worst part was that Caine believed every word. Caine constantly told himself that he was failing everyone in the circus miserably. Especially Kinger. There’s only so much Caine can promise them with lies and fake promises. Could they see straight through him?
“You’re wasting your time trying to be good enough Caine.” Bubble teased, appearing on the opposite side of Caine. “There’s not much to expect from the lesser AI anyways.. how long do you think it’ll take before they’ve all had enough of you?” Bubble mocked, and Caine paused in his tracks. That simple statement did it for Caine. “ENOUGH!!” Caine snapped angrily, slamming his cane against the ground so hard he nearly broke it, the sound piercing the tense air. Bubble disappeared, and Caine’s surroundings glitched unsteadily. Caine’s breathing was fast and uneven, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His body trembled with the aftershocks of his outburst, his shaky hands moving to register on the nearest surface to lean over it. Caine struggled to calm himself, tears threatening to prick at his eyes as he leaned his elbows over the desk he loomed over, burying his face into his hands.
His eyes went lidded and dark, and he looked up through his fingers. “I won’t let Kinger ignore me.” He started with a low growl, pushing his still trembling body up off the desk. “Pft- does he really think he can avoid me? Thinks he can disregard my attempts of.. love?” He spat the word ‘love’ like it pained him to say it. He found out a way rewrite his own code to feel the capability to love a human such as Kinger, to love his own creator. Yet.. there he was, hiding away from Caine’s love like he wanted nothing to do with it. Therefore Caine’s idea of love was starting to twist into something far more ugly and dark, and Caine himself wasn’t even aware of it. Caine started to move with a newfound purpose, snatching his cane off the desk and starting to storm out his office. “If he truly won’t face me, then I’ll have to teach him how to love me properly.” He rumbled, a dark glint in his eyes as he snapped, heading exactly where he wanted to go.
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“Has anyone seen Caine lately?” Pomni’s voice broke the awkward silence consuming them, leaning back against the red couch cushions as she eyed the others, her brow raised. “No, I haven’t. It’s odd right? He’s never been this quiet in well.. a while?” Ragatha responded, crossing her arms as she leaned on a nearby pillar with the same expression. Jax’s head was leaned on his gloved hand as he lounged next to Pomni, eyebrows raised as he listened in on the conversation. “I knew I wasn’t the only one. He’s been acting weird. Well.. weird-er.” Zooble chimed in, their octave voice adding onto the discourse. They walked over to the couch gangle was perched on and plopped down next to her, the both of them sharing a concerned look. “I just hope Kinger’s alright..” Gangle’s troubled voice spoke. “He hasn’t come out of his fort in ages.” Gangle added, and they all nodded in agreement. They collectively turned to eye Kinger’s closed-off fort, curiosity in par with their concern. Why was Kinger being so distant?
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Kinger stared down at the checkered floor beneath him with lidded eyes, the darkness surprisingly not helping his racing thoughts ease one bit. He’s been avoiding the others in fear that they’d question why he’s been acting so off these past few weeks. Because even Kinger knows it himself. He knows he’s acting irrationally, but he couldn’t help it. Kinger’s been watching Caine’s behavior closely even before Queenie abstracted. The way he always visibly flush when Kinger complimented him, the way he’d secretly add anything Kinger even slightly implied he liked about an adventure repeatedly until he commented on it, how possessive and anxious he’d get whenever Kinger interacted with literal npc. There’d be times that they’d end up tangled in eachother’s embrace late at night, where exploring touches and experimental kisses went further than expected.
But the reality never really hit Kinger. Not until recently. He slowly started to realize the feelings he felt went beyond simple affection. And that scared him, terrified him even. He thought his wife would be the only person he could possibly feel love for, he never stopped to consider that his heart would yearn for something with Caine. He was an AI, he created Caine himself without the capacity for love. But the mere thought that Caine’s feelings for him were so powerful that he felt the need to change his own code somehow just for Kinger’s love made his heart soar. But a different part of Kinger’s mind told him this was wrong. That a sick love like this could never work. That Kinger’s life felt so unfulfilled and unachieved that he was trying to chase the feeling of being complete. And that part of his brain made him wonder if the feelings he felt for Caine were the rational part of himself at all.
He didn’t want to hurt Caine, he was never the reason he was pushing him away. It’s been so long since Kinger’s felt emotions so strong that even regulating them was a struggle. So here was, hidden away in his fort, hiding from feeling he was too afraid to face. Kinger looked down at his hands, lost in thought. Kinger was about to close his eyes until somebody suddenly appeared next to him out of thin air, a frightened yelp leaving Kinger as he started to realize who was in here with him with each blink. It was no other than Caine himself, the person he was working so hard to avoid. Just great huh?
“Kinger, my love!” Caine’s deceptively sweet voice sing-songed to him, his hands reaching out. Caine floated above him, staring down at Kinger’s kneeling form with what would’ve been affection if there wasn’t an undertone of.. control? Kinger looked up for a moment to simply acknowledge his presence, blinking and looking back down at his hands as if they were more interesting than staring at Caine. “Caine,” he rumbled, “Why are you here? I thought I told you I wanted to be in here alone.” He muttered, looking to the side. “You should go-“ Caine cut Kinger off with a low chuckle, coming down to sit next to Kinger. “Oh Kinger, you just don’t get it do you?” Caine’s chuckles turned to laughs, and those laughs turned manic. Kinger’s eyes widened, in surprise and a hint of wariness as he stared Caine up and down. Caine concluded his laughter with a slam of his hand against the floor, making Kinger go silent.
He stood up abruptly and paced around Kinger, his lidded eyes locked onto Kinger’s face. Kinger didn’t usually feel intimidated by Caine, but Caine was also acting different.. he looked almost predatory. “I can see straight through you, Kinger, your attempts at hiding from me are useless.” Caine lied. Deep down, it wasn’t true. Caine had absolutely no idea why Kinger was being so distant, but he felt like he wasn’t in control. And he hated that. He wanted, no, NEEDED to be in control of Kinger, in control of his emotions. “You always were the dramatic type, weren’t you?” Caine tilted his head, and Kinger looked almost hurt at his words.
“Dramatic? Don’t make me laugh Caine,” Kinger replied, but a hint of insecurity and hesitation slipped through his voice. Did Caine actually know what was going on? Is that why he was acting so.. odd? “I simply know what’s best for myself, and best for you.” He murmured, looking up at Caine’s pacing form. “I made a mistake, okay? What we had was.. a pastime. It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious.” Kinger sighed, his fingers fidgeting with the fabric of his dark purple robe. “It’s not.. love okay? It never was.” Kinger turned away, looking to the side. Kinger could only hope Caine believed him.
Caine’s eyes darkened impeccably further at his words, and a scoff left him before he could stop it. “Let’s not be dishonest here, Kinger.” He growled, taking a step closer to him, gripping the gold orb of his cane tightly. “You’re just not in the right state of mind, aren’t you?” Caine got closer and closer until he was inches away from Kinger’s face, the tension between them heavy. “You need me. And I need you.” Caine purred, reading out a gloved hand to trail down the wood of his face, feeling it warm up beneath his touch.
Kinger flinched at his touch for a second, but didn’t quite pull away. He didn’t realize how much he missed Caine’s touch, but he’d never openly admit that. “I.. don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kinger managed out, his voice carrying an undercurrent of want he refused to acknowledge. He felt Caine’s touch grow more exploring.. moving from his face, to the fur of his coat, to his chest.. Kinger placed a hand over Caine’s to stop him, Kinger’s hand pratically engulfing his. “Caine..” he sighed, avoiding his gaze. Because he knew if he so much as saw the look in Caine’s eyes right now he’d fold and give right in to his feelings.
Caine’s eyes went lidded, gazing at Kinger beneath the top of his teeth. Caine grabbed Kinger’s much larger hand in his and guided it to his own waist, shuddering with pleasure at the newfound warmth from his touch. Caine was severely touch-starved, he felt miserable whenever a day passed without the slightest touch from Kinger. “Don’t you see what you do to me?” Caine guided Kinger’s other hand to the crotch area of his leggings, letting him feel the prominent bulge. “You’re the reason I feel like this, Kinger.” Caine growled, leaning impeccably closer, Kinger being able to feel Caine’s breath on his neck.
Kinger’s face flushed, his fingers twitching as Caine controlled his hands, finally gaining the courage to look at Caine. He’d be lying if he said the way Caine was looking at him didn’t send a warm feeling throughout his body. Kinger grunted feeling Caine finally guide his detached hand to his crotch, his eyes widening for a split second. At Caine’s words, Kinger looked Caine up and down, but with a.. different energy than earlier. “Caine.. shut up.” He breathed, hoping and praying that Caine would listen for his sake.
Caine chuckled slightly, staring down at where Kinger’s mouth would be. “Make me, Kinger.” He murmured, their eyes lidded as they glared at eachother, the tension between palpable.
Before Kinger could stop himself, he leaned in and kissed Caine, pulling him flush against himself. Kinger’s eyes fluttered shut, and Caine’s did as well shortly after, his teeth moving in tandem with Kinger’s pace. Kinger’s hand trailed up Caine’s back, and Caine’s hand’s wrapped around Kinger’s neck. The both of them tumbled down onto the pillows beneath Kinger, Caine ending up on top of Kinger, straddling his waist. As they made out, Caine’s hips shuffled, making Kinger let out a low groan into the kiss. Kinger started to faintly glow from how intense and heated the kiss was, neither of them wanting to come up for air, small moans and grunts echoing throughout the fort. But eventually, Caine pulled away with a soft gasp, a saliva string connecting their mouths.
Caine’s eyes darkened as he leaned down, reaching out to push some of Kinger’s robe down to give him better access to his neck. Caine’s tongue lolled out from between his teeth, leaning down to lick a hot, wet stripe up Kinger’s neck. Kinger let out a shaky whine, his hips bucking up into Caine’s smaller form. As Caine licked and sucked at his neck, Kinger’s detached hands started to wander, dragging down Caine’s spine.. his arched pelvis.. all the way down to his ass. His hand rested on a globe, while the other fumbled with Caine’s bow tie. He was just about to go further..
Until.. He realized what he was doing. Fuck, he let himself be seduced by Caine. Again. And Kinger wanted to continue so badly, wanted to let Caine use his body till he cried, but it felt so wrong to Kinger. He knew he loved and felt something for Caine, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Kinger sat up, Making Caine pause. “That’s enough, Caine.” He murmured, his voice still low with desire. “We can’t do this. I.. can’t do this.” Kinger sighed, adjusting his robe back to how it was before. “Please Caine.. just go before you make me do something I’ll regret.” Kinger begged.
Caine just looked confused, frustrated, still aroused. His grip tightened on Kinger for a moment before reluctantly letting go, watching him pull away with an exasperated look in his now dark eyes. But that look melted away into amusement, observing every expression, every move Kinger made real closely. “You do know the more you resist the more fun it makes for me?” It was like you could hear the smirk in his voice, still in Kinger’s personal space. “I promise you I’ll find out what’ll crumble away your exterior that hides away the truth.” Caine rumbled, his voice dropping to a needy octave. “Don’t you worry Kinger,” he picked up his Cane and twirled it between his fingers. “You’ll learn to love me.” And with those final, mysterious words, Caine disappeared, leaving Kinger alone with his thoughts once again. Kinger let out a heavy sigh, burying his face in his hands.
Just what did Caine have in store for his dear Kinger? ᯓ★
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