"Huh." -Smiles 2026

[Casimir sat on the stage of the circus, grumbling.]

[Casimir looked away from them, noticing Louve peeking out.]

[It looked over the stage, blinking and shrugging before looking at Yan]

[Yan blinked.]

[It started DYING of laughter]

[Casimir began coughing, red stuff already dripping from his mouth.]

[The hallucination sighed]

[Casimir turned toward them.]

𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟.

Wait.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠, 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡.]

[Casimir watched them before walking over and sitting beside them, grinning playfully.]

𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

Tell me about it.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ]

I see.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑑]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚]

….youve never been my second choice…

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚]

Look I….im really sorry…for…everything…I just…I love you so much, it makes me a little…crazy…

[They got worried. Did they say the wrong thing? He took his hand of theirs, looking away.]

...𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝐴𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑒? 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠?

[He tried to act confused, but inside he was screaming.]

𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑥 𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐.

….i see…..

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚]

NO!!! I- I mean, no! I- it’s okay…I want you to be happy, don’t date me if you feel forced…

𝑆𝑒𝑒! 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠!

[His eyes lit up, his chest aching as he stared at them. Red hearts popped up around him.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑]

[He stared at them, suddenly getting giddy.]

𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸𝐷... 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑢ℎ.. 𝑆𝑖𝑙𝑙.. 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎... 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒.. 𝐴 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑦... 𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑦... 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ?

[His “heart” thudded in his chest, he felt dizzy as he grew more and more happy.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔]

Of course!

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔... 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑... 𝑆𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔..]

Isn't the manager poly-?

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦]

...right...

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠]

....don't say that...your feelings are valid.

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡?

...I can do whatever I want.

𝐻𝑒.. 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤?

Just a little flip of a switch, I changed it like that!

[𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦]

[He hugged back almost instantly. He smiled softly.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓, 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔]

[Casimir began coughing, and he threw up Louve, Louve transforming into it's own body. Casimir grumbled, shaking his head.]

[Casimir stared at Louve, who grinned lazily. He stormed over to them and hissed.]

[The hallucination walked behind louve, smiling]

I think it sounds good!! Heheheh, they'll love us even more!!

[Casimir looked at them.]

[It grinned, stepping twords it]

YOU- YOU THINK- HAH- IM GONNA LISTEN TO THIS PERVERT!?!?

[Casimir sat on the stage of the circus, grumbling.]

[Casimir looked away from them, noticing Louve peeking out.]

[It looked over the stage, blinking and shrugging before looking at Yan]

[Yan blinked.]

[It started DYING of laughter]

[Casimir began coughing, red stuff already dripping from his mouth.]

[The hallucination sighed]

[Casimir turned toward them.]

𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟.

Wait.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠, 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡.]

[Casimir watched them before walking over and sitting beside them, grinning playfully.]

𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

Tell me about it.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ]

I see.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑑]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚]

….youve never been my second choice…

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚]

Look I….im really sorry…for…everything…I just…I love you so much, it makes me a little…crazy…

[They got worried. Did they say the wrong thing? He took his hand of theirs, looking away.]

...𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝐴𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑒? 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠?

[He tried to act confused, but inside he was screaming.]

𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑥 𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐.

….i see…..

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚]

NO!!! I- I mean, no! I- it’s okay…I want you to be happy, don’t date me if you feel forced…

𝑆𝑒𝑒! 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠!

[His eyes lit up, his chest aching as he stared at them. Red hearts popped up around him.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑]

[He stared at them, suddenly getting giddy.]

𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸𝐷... 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑢ℎ.. 𝑆𝑖𝑙𝑙.. 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎... 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒.. 𝐴 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑦... 𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑦... 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ?

[His “heart” thudded in his chest, he felt dizzy as he grew more and more happy.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔]

Of course!

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔... 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑... 𝑆𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔..]

Isn't the manager poly-?

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦]

...right...

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠]

....don't say that...your feelings are valid.

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡?

...I can do whatever I want.

𝐻𝑒.. 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤?

Just a little flip of a switch, I changed it like that!

[𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦]

[He hugged back almost instantly. He smiled softly.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓, 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔]

[Casimir began coughing, and he threw up Louve, Louve transforming into it's own body. Casimir grumbled, shaking his head.]

[Casimir stared at Louve, who grinned lazily. He stormed over to them and hissed.]

[The hallucination walked behind louve, smiling]

I think it sounds good!! Heheheh, they'll love us even more!!

[Casimir sat on the stage of the circus, grumbling.]

[Casimir looked away from them, noticing Louve peeking out.]

[It looked over the stage, blinking and shrugging before looking at Yan]

[Yan blinked.]

[It started DYING of laughter]

[Casimir began coughing, red stuff already dripping from his mouth.]

[The hallucination sighed]

[Casimir turned toward them.]

𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟.

Wait.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠, 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡.]

[Casimir watched them before walking over and sitting beside them, grinning playfully.]

𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

Tell me about it.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ]

I see.

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑑]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚]

….youve never been my second choice…

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚]

Look I….im really sorry…for…everything…I just…I love you so much, it makes me a little…crazy…

[They got worried. Did they say the wrong thing? He took his hand of theirs, looking away.]

...𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝐴𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑒? 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠?

[He tried to act confused, but inside he was screaming.]

𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑥 𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐.

….i see…..

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚]

NO!!! I- I mean, no! I- it’s okay…I want you to be happy, don’t date me if you feel forced…

𝑆𝑒𝑒! 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑚 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠!

[His eyes lit up, his chest aching as he stared at them. Red hearts popped up around him.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑]

[He stared at them, suddenly getting giddy.]

𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸𝐷... 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑢ℎ.. 𝑆𝑖𝑙𝑙.. 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎... 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒.. 𝐴 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑦... 𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑦... 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ?

[His “heart” thudded in his chest, he felt dizzy as he grew more and more happy.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔]

Of course!

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔... 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑... 𝑆𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔..]

Isn't the manager poly-?

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦]

...right...

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠]

....don't say that...your feelings are valid.

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡?

...I can do whatever I want.

𝐻𝑒.. 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤?

Just a little flip of a switch, I changed it like that!

[𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦]

[He hugged back almost instantly. He smiled softly.]

[𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓, 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔]

[Casimir began coughing, and he threw up Louve, Louve transforming into it's own body. Casimir grumbled, shaking his head.]

[Casimir stared at Louve, who grinned lazily. He stormed over to them and hissed.]

[The hallucination walked behind louve, smiling]

[Casimir sat on the stage of the circus, grumbling.]

[Casimir looked away from them, noticing Louve peeking out.]

[It looked over the stage, blinking and shrugging before looking at Yan]

[Access granted: Chat feature]

[Caine took this as a yes, tearing up.]

[They didn’t say anything, not even Kinger. Bubble laughed.]

Hate?! Why hate?! Hate bad!

He’s not worthy of love or respect or attention!! He’s bad. Horrible at what he can do!! Just let him leave.

Stop being a bully!!

Well, then be the bigger person and go after him then!!! Stop listening to me!

Here.

[ He slowly got up using the cane as weight support, slowly stepping forward using his right leg and trying his best to keep the cane parallel, sticking his tongue out. He looked over at the humans, then at kinger, then back at the humans, his voice breaking ]

[Kinger was silent.]

[ He looked confused, looking down at his cane ]

No! He- he uh..

[Ragatha put a hand on his head.]

[ He looked at all of them, how none were chasing after him, how strangely unbothered they were? He concluded that, yes, efficiency does change how people are treated. ]

[Bubble looked at him.]

I..

[Ragatha looked down at him.]

[He nodded, skedaddling to find Caine]

[He speed-walked over, flopping on top of him in what was probably a sad attempt of a hug]

[Caine yelped, pushing him off. He stared at him with wide eyes.]

Cause brother isn't lesser..?

….heh, your just saying that…

[ He tried making a bee, but it came out a scribbled mess and fell to the floor, clipping halfway through ]

….

But secret though?

[Caine giggled softly]

[He threw his hands up]

[Caine looked at him with a warm gaze before looking back down at the bee. His gaze darkened again, fighting back more tears again.]

They jelly.

…that bubble thing is mean…why does it keep calling me lesser…?

[ He played with his bow ]

….

[ He smiled, his tiny crown glistening in the light ]

….

[ He nodded, standing up and holding out a hand]

[Caine took his hand.]

Ringmaster!!

Nothing! And what’s a ringmaster without his king?

Nothing!!

[Caine hugged him tightly.]

[ He hugged him back ]

[Caine giggled.]

[He led him to the hall of rooms, looking around.]

[He nodded.]

[ Sable walked over and stared up at arkue, leaning slightly on his cane. Meanwhile the rosary hallucination gazed over arkue's shoulder, cooing ]

[Caine looked up at Arkue with big eyes.]

[ sable looked around, confused. Probably for another adult before looking back at arkue ]

[Arkue bent down and picked up Caine in his arms. Caine looked at him oblivious.]

[He dropped his cane, making the 'uppies' motion with his hands]

[Arkue picked him up, holding both of them in his arms.]

[Caine was playing with Arkue’s head, nawing at the corner pieces. Arkue winced but said nothing about it.]

[He looked around, making a few 2D copies of objects before starting to make flowers, smiling]

Aw…That for me?

Big brother isn't good at making a lot of things!

[Arkue looked at him.]

But it is bad- it's okay that it's bad! We all bad at SOMETHING! I can't make living things!

I understand you got good intentions, but it still can hurt.

[He gasped, holding his face]

Yeah, it can hurt feelings. When you say that, do you see his eyes grow small or big?

[He looked at Caine and hugged him, sobbing]

[Caine hugged back.]

[He sniffled, clinging onto his brother]

…because they hated each other…

Maybe imaginary friend?

I- uh…yeah….imaginary…friend…

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒅, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒊𝒕, 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒚?

…

[He looked around, pointing at a stress ball]

[Caine did so, handing it to him. He took looked around, finding a small Rubik’s Cube. He took it.]

[ Sable hugged the blue stress ball happily, his jaws closing in joy ]

[The name made Arkue’s eyes turn to pinpricks and the sound of broken glass echo.]

𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎?

[Arkue looked at Smiles, his eyes scribbles.]

Hmm..

[He flinched.]

𝑵𝒐, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆!

[Arkue instantly regretted himself yelling.]

[He sniffed, wiping away tears]

[He let out a weak sigh.]

We can be friends!

….yeah!

[He held onto his cane, opening every door he could]

[Caine opened a few doors.]

[He would feel sudden drops of tears fall onto his head as Arkue began to sob, hiccuping every now and then.]

[He hugged arkue's leg as rosary wrapped her wings around him]

[Caine walked over and hugged Arkue’s other leg.]

[he looked around concerned before taking a BIG breath, yelling at an alarmingly loud decibel]

[Caine flinched at the loud yell, and noticed when Ataro peeked her head out from inside a plant.]

𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏..

“Scared…?”

𝑺𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒆? 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚..

[Caine noticed his confusion.]

Why he sad?

[Caine looked at Arkue and Ataro.]

“Uh…Let’s just say he overheats and if he’s not calmed down he can hurt himself.”

[He nodded, picking up his cane]

[Caine looked at Arkue as the puzzle master continued shaking, but it was much more calm.]

[He walked over and joined in on the hug]

[Arkue hugged them tightly.]

[The hug went on a little too long at this point.]

Uh....

[Access granted: Chat feature]

[Caine took this as a yes, tearing up.]

[They didn’t say anything, not even Kinger. Bubble laughed.]

Hate?! Why hate?! Hate bad!

He’s not worthy of love or respect or attention!! He’s bad. Horrible at what he can do!! Just let him leave.

Stop being a bully!!

Well, then be the bigger person and go after him then!!! Stop listening to me!

Here.

[ He slowly got up using the cane as weight support, slowly stepping forward using his right leg and trying his best to keep the cane parallel, sticking his tongue out. He looked over at the humans, then at kinger, then back at the humans, his voice breaking ]

[Kinger was silent.]

[ He looked confused, looking down at his cane ]

No! He- he uh..

[Ragatha put a hand on his head.]

[ He looked at all of them, how none were chasing after him, how strangely unbothered they were? He concluded that, yes, efficiency does change how people are treated. ]

[Bubble looked at him.]

I..

[Ragatha looked down at him.]

[He nodded, skedaddling to find Caine]

[He speed-walked over, flopping on top of him in what was probably a sad attempt of a hug]

[Caine yelped, pushing him off. He stared at him with wide eyes.]

Cause brother isn't lesser..?

….heh, your just saying that…

[ He tried making a bee, but it came out a scribbled mess and fell to the floor, clipping halfway through ]

….

But secret though?

[Caine giggled softly]

[He threw his hands up]

[Caine looked at him with a warm gaze before looking back down at the bee. His gaze darkened again, fighting back more tears again.]

They jelly.

…that bubble thing is mean…why does it keep calling me lesser…?

[ He played with his bow ]

….

[ He smiled, his tiny crown glistening in the light ]

….

[ He nodded, standing up and holding out a hand]

[Caine took his hand.]

Ringmaster!!

Nothing! And what’s a ringmaster without his king?

Nothing!!

[Caine hugged him tightly.]

[ He hugged him back ]

[Caine giggled.]

[He led him to the hall of rooms, looking around.]

[He nodded.]

[ Sable walked over and stared up at arkue, leaning slightly on his cane. Meanwhile the rosary hallucination gazed over arkue's shoulder, cooing ]

[Caine looked up at Arkue with big eyes.]

[ sable looked around, confused. Probably for another adult before looking back at arkue ]

[Arkue bent down and picked up Caine in his arms. Caine looked at him oblivious.]

[He dropped his cane, making the 'uppies' motion with his hands]

[Arkue picked him up, holding both of them in his arms.]

[Caine was playing with Arkue’s head, nawing at the corner pieces. Arkue winced but said nothing about it.]

[He looked around, making a few 2D copies of objects before starting to make flowers, smiling]

Aw…That for me?

Big brother isn't good at making a lot of things!

[Arkue looked at him.]

But it is bad- it's okay that it's bad! We all bad at SOMETHING! I can't make living things!

I understand you got good intentions, but it still can hurt.

[He gasped, holding his face]

Yeah, it can hurt feelings. When you say that, do you see his eyes grow small or big?

[He looked at Caine and hugged him, sobbing]

[Caine hugged back.]

[He sniffled, clinging onto his brother]