Work Text:
Caine sat in his office, absentmindedly thumbing through his photos.
He loved these little things. He could stare at them for hours, analyzing every dot, every pixel, searching for anything that could give him even the slightest bit more information. They were his inspirations, his muses, his obsessions. As much as he wished for more, he never ran out of things to notice in them. Were those scribbled words marker or pen? Could there be more chairs and desks just out of frame? And what was the exact hue of that wall? So many little things for his brain to latch onto, he could get lost in it for days.
Strange, then, how his eyes now didn't focus on the page. How his mind wasn't mulling over the information he might be missing. Instead, he drifted to today’s adventure. Everything was going smoothly, at least as far as he could tell. He kept himself from listening in too closely to the conversations going on. He wanted to be as clueless as possible, to make his act more convincing.
He really wanted to check in on the humans, though. He wanted to see their reactions to the impeccable story he’d cooked up, to make sure everything was going to plan. This adventure was his finest work yet, and he couldn't wait to watch them press that bright red button and celebrate the fun day they'd had after.
He kicked his feet. Everything was planned perfectly, he was sure of it. He’d used every bit of information he’d scrounged up about the circus members to ensure that this entire adventure was exactly what each of them would have the most fun doing. Everyone had very specific roles he’d picked out just for them.
Kinger liked his pillow fortress, so Caine let him stay in there as long as he wanted; Zooble and Gangle liked hanging out with each other, so he gave them plenty of time to sit and chat; Ragatha and Pomni liked learning more about the NPCs, so he sent them on a long walk with Abel; and Jax…
Caine would never choose favorites in the circus, but if he had to, it would be Jax. Jax was clever, he was fun, he was vocal about his constructive criticism and what he liked and disliked, and he made making adventures with him in mind easy!
Even with the things Jax wasn't vocal about, it was simple enough to find out about them. Like that time, before Jax had even arrived, when Caine had hidden a bunch of keys to different doors around the circus as part of an adventure. When the adventure was over and the prize was won, Caine collected the keys and kept them on a ring as a little memento. Until he found them missing one day. Jax had taken them, and had fun doing it.
Caine was ecstatic. At first, the keys he made all went to something. Bedrooms, closets, secret hidden rooms, but he quickly realized that Jax never tried to unlock any of those doors beyond the ones in the main area. So, Caine started making dud keys, slowly placing them in inconspicuous spots for Jax to have, and it worked just as well.
Lately, Caine noticed that Jax had stopped stealing them when he left them out, but he was sure that was fine. Jax just needed something to get him excited again!
Lucky for Jax, today's adventure was exactly that: something exciting, made just for him. Well, of course, it was for everyone! Just mostly for Jax, to get his spirits up. Not winning the Favorite Character Awards must have been really heartbreaking for him to be this down in the dumps.
This would fix that. It had to.
Caine’s heartbeat jumped up through the roof when he heard his name from Jax’s mouth. He zipped there fast, almost too fast, but he was so eager he almost forgot to get into character first. Thankfully, he caught himself before he spoke.
“Hey, Jax!” he chirped, putting on his best, most charismatic voice. “I didn't know if you could ask if I was around like that. Good job!”
I'm so good at this, he praised himself.
Jax, it seemed, struggled with it a bit more than Caine. It was cute, the way he hesitated. His voice was strained, understandably so. It was hard to hold excitement back as much as he must have been. “You want to get dinner together?”
Caine felt tears prick at his eyes. This was going to be the greatest day of his life!
The meal went perfectly as planned. They got to the hobby question sooner than Caine had expected, but, thankfully, he did an impeccable job triggering the crash.
It seemed like less than a second to him, but time must have passed, because when he came to, Jax’s hand was deep in his throat. Perfect! This meant the dinner wasn't over yet!
Jax was close, so very close. He was all Caine could see. Those wide eyes, dark with focus, and that face scrunched in concentration. The way he was crouched over the table, leaning so heavily against Caine’s teeth. It was strangely captivating. Caine felt a very strange warmth well up inside of him. He couldn't recall ever feeling that way before.
“Whatcha doing there, Jax?” he said, cutting the moment short.
Jax froze up, his hair standing on end. His pupils constricted and locked onto Caine’s for one intense second. Then, that smile slid back into place, so very close. “Have I ever told you it's my dream to get eaten by you?” Jax’s breath brushed over Caine’s eyes, sending a shiver down his spine.
The warm feeling became a fuzzy, tingling sensation that bordered on burning. He nearly broke character. “That’s a weird thing to say and want.”
Their meal continued on, and the tingling would not go away. Even as Caine distracted himself with the images, every time his gaze flicked over to Jax's face, it returned and buried itself deeper in his gut.
It was fun, though, finally being able to share these thoughts with someone else. While the heat lower down was irritating, the warmth in Caine’s chest was nothing less than pleasant. He could have kept going forever, but his heart clenched when he noticed the tightness in Jax's eyes growing, that smile growing strained. He couldn't let this moment be cut short! He was having too much fun. Quick, what did humans like? Compliments! Talking about themselves!
“You know, Jax,” Caine began, “I really admire you.”
Jax recoiled, and his smile faltered. “What?”
“I admire you! You’re witty and clever. You always know what to say. You appreciate my adventures!” Caine gave Jax the brightest smile he physically could. “Now that we're alone, without the others listening in, I admit that I value your input more than anyone else’s when I'm making stories.”
Jax’s smile was gone, his pupils hardly visible. His ears curled in on themselves, unmoving. His chest was the only part of him that moved, deep and slow.
The spell broke the moment Jax seemed to realize what was happening. His pupils blew wide with determination. His hands moved to brace against the table. In an instant, Jax had crossed the space between them, and his lips pressed against Caine's lower teeth.
It was a mockery of a kiss, thanks to Caine’s inhuman features. Still, it sent shockwaves through his body all the same. Sure, Jax had just stuck his hand in Caine’s mouth, but, somehow, this felt far more intimate. The pressure of contact, the brush of fur, it was dizzying.
The crash was real this time. In an instant, the warmth of Jax’s body disappeared, and the rabbit was back in his chair, smiling smugly like nothing happened. “Anyway, I should probably get back now. The gang and I, we’re planning a surprise for a certain special ringmaster, and we should probably get back to it.”
Caine’s head was reeling so bad it hurt. He blinked a few times. “Oh. Right. Yeah. Sure.” He snapped, and Jax disappeared.
They were both supposed to be playing roles. Jax had probably only done that to achieve his goal. It wasn't like he actually wanted Caine.
So why wouldn't that warmth go away?