Just A Dream - A TADC Ficlet
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Caine fumbled nervously with his hands as he stared into his lap. The silence that hung in the air was suffocating, even to a being that didn't need to breathe.
He felt particularly small right now, for reasons he didn't know. Like everyone was watching him.
Probably because everyone was watching him.
"Sheesh! That sounds like one f%@#$ed up nightmare. I didn't even know you could have nightmares" Jax said.
"Meh" Caine gestured vaguely with one hand.
"Losing your temper like that and torturing everyone in the circus? That sounds like it'd be a nightmare for all of us" said Zooble, taking a step forward.
Caine said nothing.
There were another few moments of tense quiet before Ragatha chimed in. "Well, at least it was just a dream, right?"
A beat. "Huh? Oh... yeah."
"You don't look too good, Caine. It really must have gotten into your head."
"It felt so real..." Caine muttered.
He could feel the concerned stares surrounding him.
"But uh-" Caine shot up into the air, regaining his composure. "It was just a simple simulation in my off-mode cycle, nothing to worry about! You all know I wouldn't actually hurt any of you. Right?"
It was meant to sound like a rhetorical question, but it came out much more... fearful than he intended.
The players all glanced at each other, a silent conversation being passed between them.
"Alright Caine, get down here" Jax called.
Caine, though apprehensive, obeyed. "O-Okay. What for?"
Jax ignored him. "Okay guys, you know the drill."
Suddenly, Zooble was behind him pinning his arms away from his sides.
Why were they-
Caine straightened. "Wait- now, now, hold on guys! I didn't say you had to- You don't have to-"
Jax pressed a finger to the ringmaster's lips to silence him. "Up, up, up. You want this or not?"
Caine glanced to Gangle, who was smiling supportively from the sidelines, and Pomni, who was giving him a look like she was suggesting he accept the offer. She could probably tell he needed it.
He avoided eye contact, but gave a swift nod.
The crew accepted his answer. Gangle's ribbons feathered up and down his sides while Ragatha poked sporadically at his belly.
Caine erupted into raucous laughter, kicking out his legs reflexively.
"That's more like it" Jax said proudly. "Laugh it up, Teeth."
"Caine, we know you wouldn't ever hurt us" Ragatha tried to say above the noise. "You're not a bad AI. You care about us just as much as we care about you."
He appreciated her kind words, even though they were somewhat overshadowed by the ticklish jolts she was delivering to his torso. His laughter descended into what was more like bubbling giggles and titters.
A frankly embarrassing noise, if you asked him.
Zooble's playful voice came from behind his head. "You're one of us now, dumb%$#"
He supposed he really was, wasn't he? What a nice feeling it was: to belong.
Pomni's voice. "Don't forget his neck-thingy."
Annnd there goes that nice feeling.
Caine's giggles only grew more frantic as Ragatha moved her hands to pinch along the length of his shoulders.
"KEHEHEHEHE! Sto-hop it!" he snickered with a half-hearted swat.
"Oh, so you want more tickles, then?" Ragatha asked.
"That's nohot what Ihihi sahaid!"
"That's what I heard" Zooble nodded.
They had to be toying with him on purpose. They knew very well that he took pride in his carefully calibrated dialogue-production system! He only said what he meant!
"I didn't! I sahaid to stohop!" he protested, only for the sake of his ego. The thought of him making an encoding mistake was laughable.
"Stop what?" Pomni asked dumbly.
"Tickling me!"
"Who is?"
"You ahahare!"
"Are what?"
Caine threw his head back and laughed deep with frustration. Very much toying with him then.
"He still seems upset, guys, maybe we should take it up a notch" Zooble suggested.
The ringmaster wriggled a little more in their arms at what they knew was about to be ticklish purgatory.
Gangle quickened her pace. "Tickle, tickle tickle!"
Needless to say, Caine's nightmare was long forgotten.
