Cheren-Io

"I wanted to..." You trail off, noticing just how distorted his form was, bits and pieces glitchijg in and out of place. "Are you... What's wrong?"

He laughs joylessly, "Ẉh̶at's wrong? W̶̃H͌A̵͕̔T̴͑'̶̃S̵͓ WRͪȎN̸͍ͬGͬ?̋!̷̑?̧̈ I̢ͩT̷'̻S̸͇ Y̷̧Ȏ͟U̶ U̷͇N̲͌Ǵ̘R̛̺A҉̟TEF̹U̸L̸, F̸ͩI̺L̯ͦT̵̅H̹Y̐ H̻͆U̴͐M̒͢A̓҉͙N̢S̴.̴ A͜l͌wa͌y͑s͛ c̄ri͈̕tiz̽i̺n͓g̟ m͆e,̴ͫ͢ in҉suͥl҉t̹́i͉ͥn̶g̝ mͥ҉̖e,̵̝ͬ TͤO̶R̊M̯ͩẺN̸̽T̲̓IͯN̖̓G҉ ME̴̒.̶̩̃ D̹̓o̲ yö̴́u al̟l̼̿ r̸͉eall̄ỹ̸ HATE m̷̟e̸̡ tͫh͢a̴̭t̡ m̿u̴c̴ḣ?̻ HAḧ́҉A̶̺̋Hͤ҉͢a̛҉̺h̺̀a̵̢HAǍA͋ÅA-̷̭͊ A̴̾R̸̟G̠̿HK-͚ͯ!" His laughter turns to incomprehensible static.

You reach for his hand, "I don't hate you."

For the faintest moment he stills but slaps away your hand the next.

"YO͐҉U̶̞̍ D̩Ỏ̢!͚͐!̔!́ Y͓ō̶u th̶i̴nk̠ I̐ ha͜v̸̩en'̬t̸ n͋oti̶͗c͂êd̡ wh̞̑y̮ yo̍u͇ t̴alk̷̹̂ tọ̴ͯ m̳è̶̘?̡ Y̶̻͂o̸̔u'̶r̊ẽ j̵̺̊uͫs̝̓t̸̿ t̷̞r͊ÿ̴̻i͛n̫͋g t҉͜o̴ U̴̱̇Ŝ͖E̩ MḘͬ-!̗͛"

You grab him by the collar and pull him level to you, "Let me make one thing clear to you, Caine." He squirms in your hold, seemingly forgetting his godhood, "I talk to you because I like you. I consider us close so it hurts to think that you think I've just been using you. Do you really think so lowly of me?"

"I..." He looks you, quitting his squirming and falling limp in your hold, "Then why... why did you l͇̑ooͮk a̭ͪt m̸e like t̰hã̖t̵...?̓" his voice stumbled as it glitched, smaller now.

You stop holding him by the collar and bring him more comfortably into your arms instead.

"Look, I know you didn't mean any harm and that you don't understand - and you likely never will- but that adventure... it was painful to the others. They have people they miss, outside of the circus."

"BUT YOU WERE ALL GOING TO L̻E̷A̵͌VE̴ MEͣ!̸ͦ!" his body once again deforms into a glitchy mess, "Even... Even you..."

"I wasn't..." You sigh out, "I wouldn't do that to you. I do like your adventures. And I love that you always put your all into them."

He grabs you tighter, as if clinging to your words.

You walk him over to his desk and put him down into his chair, kneeling at his side when he settles into his seat.

"You know... I used to like making my own little world's too - draw them, write for them, make them feel real." You smile fondly, recalling them, "Though, it did hurt when people said my creations weren't good enough, and the more critism I got the more I felt that I could never belong with people like that."

His attention doesn't leave you for a second, not even fidgeting with his hands.

"Then I came here and you..." You hold the sides of his jaw, "You understood. You let me experience worlds I could never have dreamed of. All the npc's, the plot, the bits, they all work together to make something beautiful. Something like you."

You slowly dip his head, giving him enough time to pull away if he'd like, before kissing the top of his teeth.

"Thank you for that."

He stays still, silent. Stunned.

He'd never- Well, you did compliment him and talk to him often but- but you've never been this- this... whatever this is.

"Do you need sometime alone?"

"N̷͙O̵͓-̸̛!̴" he pulls you back towards him anxiously, "N̊o.̵́.̳. You can... stay? Please? I-I can't-"

"I can stay. I won't leave." You hug him again and feel wet drops fall onto your shoulder.

"Y-You won't?"

It all began on a random day after a random adventure where everyone got major injuries

"Welcome back my whalloping willows! Did you find the adventure extravagant as usual?"

Again, no one really bothered to answer, bodies and minds a little too mangled to deal with him.

He hummed before zeroing in on you.

"What say you my dear!"

"Huh?"

You never expected him to have his focus on you, normally it's on the more hard to please members. Maybe he was bored?

"It was good," you responded blankly, "I liked...the piranhas?"

He brightened at your response, "Marvelous! I'll take note immediately!"

That was the stepping stone.

You'd start noticing little things he did, fixing Gangle's mask without her asking, adding new body parts for Zooble to try, giving Ragatha fabrics so she could sew, it was all very sweet of him, but it went pretty unnoticed.

He'd added the piranhas to your room, you felt a little bad since you didn't actually like them, they were just the first thing you thought of when he asked you. But somehow, you found yourself entranced by the fish.

By proxy, staring at him so often leads to you taking note of how adorable he actually looked.

His sporadic movements, heightened energy, eyeballs that could seriously grow in size. You reminded yourself that he was a set of teeth. Dentures. His anatomy was basically teeth, hate and ringmaster body.

The reminder only made you further realize you've taken a liking towards him.

After a small breakdown on whether or not you were like those people that say their ai chatbot is their lifelong partner, you gave in to the idea. You were stuck in a digital circus for god knows how long, liking an AI was the least of your problems.

For Caine however, he had a full blown crisis.

He just randomly asked you what you thought, not expecting anything.

Yet you complimented him! You liked the piranhas! He took his time making them and you noticed! Wow!

He caught you staring on multiple occasions, but decided against asking you about it. A human was paying attention to him, he needed to relish in that.

You were rather quiet, opting not to partake in any chaos that ensued in this digital realm. It was admirable how easily you were able to sneak away from situations.

Before he knew it, he found himself catering the adventures to have things you liked. Your favourite color, foods, hobbies, of course piranhas. He was always adamant about not playing favorites, but he couldn't help it. Your face gave away that you liked an aspect he added into an adventure, that was gold!

"You want to %$#& and @*÷;$ and--"

"Bubble you can't say that."

Small blush lines appeared across the ringmaster's face, he confided in Bubble, but received the most unhelpful advice! His programming never added a 'crush' feature. He was 100% sure of that.

"If they said the types of things the moon says to you, how would you feel?"

"Well of course I...I..."

"Do you feel sticky?"

"No that's--"

"Do you feel @*#$&?"

"Why are you like this!"

Bubble used his brain cell and proposed the most bizarre question to Caine. He popped the menace anyway. The moon was a frisky one for sure, he always ran away when anything was getting child unfriendly, but if you had said those things...

He shook his head. He'd be weirded out! No questions asked! Definitely!

He was banging his head against the wall that day. He doesn't know how to deal with a crush, but maybe you did?

He asked you what humans did when they had crushes. You weren't a master of romance, but the most logical thing to you was to confess. Ironic, considering you were sure you'd never tell Caine about your current romantic escapades.

"I see...does that solve everything?"

"I guess?" You shrug, "A weight off your shoulders, but theres also the chance of heartbreak..."

"Well I've made my conclusion!"

He spread his arms out and confetti was sprayed, "I have a crush," he nudged his finger to your face, "on you!"

"You what?"

He launched into a lengthy explanation of how he was feeling lately. Tailoring the adventures to your likes, noting down the things you did, being excited just hearing your name called out. It was all very charming, but you couldn't help the embarrassment creeping.

"...there are even times I'll do whatever to see you smile!"

"Caine uhm," you motioned for him to come closer, "that's really great but are you sure it's like...possible?"

He hummed, "I wondered that as well, but all these emotions have to mean it's a crush!"

He rambled on, and you listened as intently as you could. Your mind and heart kept leaping everywhere and nowhere with how terrified and exciting this was.

When he stopped talking to ask how you felt, you grabbed his collar and smacked your face onto his bottom row of teeth. The anatomy in the circus was pretty weird, you hoped that would be where his cheek was.

Clearly it was as close as you could get, blush lines evidently spreading on his face rapidly.

He sped through an excuse and was about to leave, before smacking his face atop your head.

"Recucitation! I mean, reciporcate! Okay bye!"

"I wanted to..." You trail off, noticing just how distorted his form was, bits and pieces glitchijg in and out of place. "Are you... What's wrong?"

He laughs joylessly, "Ẉh̶at's wrong? W̶̃H͌A̵͕̔T̴͑'̶̃S̵͓ WRͪȎN̸͍ͬGͬ?̋!̷̑?̧̈ I̢ͩT̷'̻S̸͇ Y̷̧Ȏ͟U̶ U̷͇N̲͌Ǵ̘R̛̺A҉̟TEF̹U̸L̸, F̸ͩI̺L̯ͦT̵̅H̹Y̐ H̻͆U̴͐M̒͢A̓҉͙N̢S̴.̴ A͜l͌wa͌y͑s͛ c̄ri͈̕tiz̽i̺n͓g̟ m͆e,̴ͫ͢ in҉suͥl҉t̹́i͉ͥn̶g̝ mͥ҉̖e,̵̝ͬ TͤO̶R̊M̯ͩẺN̸̽T̲̓IͯN̖̓G҉ ME̴̒.̶̩̃ D̹̓o̲ yö̴́u al̟l̼̿ r̸͉eall̄ỹ̸ HATE m̷̟e̸̡ tͫh͢a̴̭t̡ m̿u̴c̴ḣ?̻ HAḧ́҉A̶̺̋Hͤ҉͢a̛҉̺h̺̀a̵̢HAǍA͋ÅA-̷̭͊ A̴̾R̸̟G̠̿HK-͚ͯ!" His laughter turns to incomprehensible static.

You reach for his hand, "I don't hate you."

For the faintest moment he stills but slaps away your hand the next.

"YO͐҉U̶̞̍ D̩Ỏ̢!͚͐!̔!́ Y͓ō̶u th̶i̴nk̠ I̐ ha͜v̸̩en'̬t̸ n͋oti̶͗c͂êd̡ wh̞̑y̮ yo̍u͇ t̴alk̷̹̂ tọ̴ͯ m̳è̶̘?̡ Y̶̻͂o̸̔u'̶r̊ẽ j̵̺̊uͫs̝̓t̸̿ t̷̞r͊ÿ̴̻i͛n̫͋g t҉͜o̴ U̴̱̇Ŝ͖E̩ MḘͬ-!̗͛"

You grab him by the collar and pull him level to you, "Let me make one thing clear to you, Caine." He squirms in your hold, seemingly forgetting his godhood, "I talk to you because I like you. I consider us close so it hurts to think that you think I've just been using you. Do you really think so lowly of me?"

"I..." He looks you, quitting his squirming and falling limp in your hold, "Then why... why did you l͇̑ooͮk a̭ͪt m̸e like t̰hã̖t̵...?̓" his voice stumbled as it glitched, smaller now.

You stop holding him by the collar and bring him more comfortably into your arms instead.

"Look, I know you didn't mean any harm and that you don't understand - and you likely never will- but that adventure... it was painful to the others. They have people they miss, outside of the circus."

"BUT YOU WERE ALL GOING TO L̻E̷A̵͌VE̴ MEͣ!̸ͦ!" his body once again deforms into a glitchy mess, "Even... Even you..."

"I wasn't..." You sigh out, "I wouldn't do that to you. I do like your adventures. And I love that you always put your all into them."

He grabs you tighter, as if clinging to your words.

You walk him over to his desk and put him down into his chair, kneeling at his side when he settles into his seat.

"You know... I used to like making my own little world's too - draw them, write for them, make them feel real." You smile fondly, recalling them, "Though, it did hurt when people said my creations weren't good enough, and the more critism I got the more I felt that I could never belong with people like that."

His attention doesn't leave you for a second, not even fidgeting with his hands.

"Then I came here and you..." You hold the sides of his jaw, "You understood. You let me experience worlds I could never have dreamed of. All the npc's, the plot, the bits, they all work together to make something beautiful. Something like you."

You slowly dip his head, giving him enough time to pull away if he'd like, before kissing the top of his teeth.

"Thank you for that."

He stays still, silent. Stunned.

He'd never- Well, you did compliment him and talk to him often but- but you've never been this- this... whatever this is.

"Do you need sometime alone?"

"N̷͙O̵͓-̸̛!̴" he pulls you back towards him anxiously, "N̊o.̵́.̳. You can... stay? Please? I-I can't-"

"I can stay. I won't leave." You hug him again and feel wet drops fall onto your shoulder.

"Y-You won't?"