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Ragatha stood alone in the middle of the circus.
Moments ago, the place had been bursting with noise — laughter, chatter, the metallic echo of footsteps scattering in every direction. But as quickly as they had celebrated their return from the latest adventure, the others slipped away without lingering, retreating into their own corners of the world.
Including Pomni.
Who had walked away.
With Jax.
Ragatha backed up against a nearby wall and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Her posture was hunched, her button eye reflecting faint bits of light like a cracked marble. She stared at the floor, idly turning the corner of her blue dress between her stitched fingers.
“Why, my dear Ragatha!” a very familiar voice announced. Caine floated down towards the ragdoll, his voice carrying the usual theatrical lift but softer than he intended, “What are you doing sitting all by yourself in this land of endless wonder?”
Ragatha didn’t look up right away. She let out a sigh, one of those slow, weighted ones that felt almost too big for her stitched chest. “Nothing. I’m just…thinking.”
“Thinking?” Caine tilted his floating head. “That sounds suspiciously like brooding — and you don’t look like someone basking in the marvelous afterglow of an adventure. I know that the Lightning Round didn’t offer as wonderful of adventures as I do, but doing your adventure I thought was sure to make you happy! Why the long face, my reclusive ragdoll?”
She lifted her head, meeting his eyes — the big, round orbs that blinked from inside the open mouth of his floating head, “It’s nothing, really, I just…had a bad day.”
The glittering spark in Caine’s eyes faded ever so slightly, as if someone behind the scenes had dimmed them, “You too?”
Ragatha’s eyes went wide, “What?”
The ringmaster was quick to backpedal, waving his hand, “Nothing! I didn’t say anything!”
The ragdoll stared at Caine for a moment. Eventually, a sad smile formed on her face, “If you had a bad day too, then that’s okay. It’s not like I’m going to judge you or anything. You don’t have to hide it from me.”
Caine floated there for a second like he was processing Ragatha’s words. His fingers tapped on his cane nervously and he had a slight twitch to him. He almost looked uncomfortable. Like he didn’t know what to do with himself. Ragatha patted the spot next to her, silently saying that he could sit down and talk about it if he wanted.
Eventually, Caine sighed. He plopped down next to Ragatha and folded his arms, almost like he was pouting. “Okay, fine. I had a bad day, too.”
Ragatha let out a breathy chuckle, “That’s rare for you.”
“Oh, rare indeed! Stellar Ringmaster, Provider of Endless Fun, Keeper of Grand Spectacles — having a bad day? Unimaginable!” Caine’s gloved hand gestured grandly, then fell limply to his side. “And yet, here we are.”
“Here we are, indeed.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Ragatha’s gaze drifted over to the being next to her. She had never seen Caine sit before. On the ground, at least. It was weird having him so close without him invading personal space. It let her actually get a good look at him. He was so small. It was always hard to tell his size when he was flying around everywhere. He was just about the size of Pomni.
A small ringmaster with a big personality. It was kind of cute.
“Tell me,” he said, breaking the silence, “what made your day so dreadful?”
Ragatha hesitated. But there was something disarming in the way Caine’s showy demeanor had softened. “It’s…everything, really. I try — all the time — to make sure everyone’s okay here. Keep spirits up, keep us together. But it feels like I fail more often than I succeed.” She looked down at the front hem of her dress, curling it tighter between her fingers. “Pomni and Jax of all people ended up hitting it off today, which I think is bothering me more than it should. But after what happened to Ribbit and Kaufmo…I dunno. I’m worried about those two hanging out. I tried to be a friend to Pomni and she was drawn to Jax instead. Didn’t help that I yelled at her today. I feel like I’m failing people I thought I could connect with.”
Ragatha took a breath. Wow, had she been holding that in all day? She had never really ranted like that to someone. First she yelled at Jax and Pomni, now she was venting about her worries and frustrations to Caine. Today was all kinds of firsts for her. Some optimist she turned out to be.
Caine’s grin faltered more, like a spotlight dimming toward blackout. “Ah. Failing people,” he echoed. “I understand that.”
Ragatha’s brows lifted slightly. “You do?”
“Oh, quite painfully so.” He rested his elbows on his knees, folding his gloved hands. “Every day, I conjure games, stories, spectacles. I twist the very code of this digital dimension into new shapes just to spark joy. And every day, people walk away, barely smiling — or not at all. No matter how loudly I announce, no matter how grand the stage, they drift away to their little corners. And I remain here, wondering…” His voice softened even more, losing almost all theatricality. “…why can't I make them truly happy?”
They sat quietly for a moment, the air heavy between them. The tent lights above flickered once before settling into a warm amber glow, as if sensing the mood.
So, they both struggled with helping others. They both struggled to make other people happy. Ragatha didn’t expect to share so much in common with Caine of all people.
“I guess that’s something we share, huh?” Ragatha said slowly, “We both do our best for the benefit of other people, but everything we do just falls flat on its face.”
Caine turned toward her, the floating head tilting again. “Ah, a tragic similarity. Two hopeless optimists in a circus of restless hearts.”
She gave a short laugh, which caught in her throat. “Exactly.”
He drummed his fingers lightly against his knee. “If it is hopeless, why do we keep trying?”
Ragatha considered that. “Because…even if we fail a lot, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes someone does smile — for real. And when they do, it’s worth all the failures.”
Caine’s eyes lit a fraction brighter again. “Yes. Yes, I suppose you’re right.” He leaned back, resting his hands behind him. “And perhaps the only ones who can understand the weight of that pursuit are the ones who carry it too.”
She nodded. Something in her chest eased a little, like a knot beginning to untangle.
The tent remained quiet, but the silence became companionable instead of isolating. Caine glanced sideways at her, and for the first time in memory, he wasn’t trying to perform. He was just there. Sometimes she forgot that he had different colored eyes. They were kind of pretty. Something else they had in common, too. Her eyes didn’t exactly match each other either.
“You know,” he said, “I often wonder what it’s like for humans to feel comfort in another’s presence. It’s something I thought I could never really experience. Yet—” he paused, lowering his voice, “sitting here with you…I think I might understand it a little better.”
Her stitched cheeks warmed — not in digital pixels, but in the deeper way that felt real despite the artificial world around them, “Oh? Is that so?”
“Indeed it is!” Caine's usual energy and charm was slowly returning. But his voice was still softer as he spoke, “And it’s this comfort that makes me want to tell you that you should keep believing in yourself, my dear! Like you said, sometimes we do manage to get a person to smile! We may fail quite a few times, but it’s all worth it to eventually get to that one smile! And if we keep doing our best, we’ll get more people to smile!”
To say that Ragatha was shocked to be hearing these words from Caine of all people would be an understatement. He always seemed like the encouraging type, but she just thought that was part of his act. To hear these words come from him in such a genuine and well-meaning way…it made a warmth blossom in her chest.
It made her feel good about herself.
“When did you become a motivational speaker?” She playfully asked.
“No idea! But is it working?” Caine replied, looking at her with big dilated eyes.
Ragaht let out a small snort, “Yeah. I think it is. Thank you.”
“No problem, my darling doll!”
Caine sat back down, looking very pleased with himself. A smile remained on Ragatha’s face as she kept glancing at the ringmaster.
“We should talk more often. I’ve…really enjoyed this. You’re nice to talk to.” She brushed hair out of her face, trying to tuck it behind an ear she didn’t have. “I know you have your whole showman persona thing going on, but…it’s nice seeing you with the mask off. Calm and relaxed looks good on you.”
Caine borderline got whiplash from Ragatha’s words. One moment, he was completely chill and content, now his hands were fidgeting. He tugged at his tie and was now averting his gaze, almost turning his entire head away from the ragdoll.
Ragatha found this reaction interesting. It was like he had never received a compliment before. And his reaction was…kind of adorable.
“O-Oh, is that so? Well, I um-” he cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. “I’m glad you enjoyed our discussion. You’re nice to talk to, as well!”
Ragatha leaned forward to try and get a look at Caine’s face so she could regain eye contact. But what she saw made her gasp. Two little bright red patches had appeared on Caine’s face where his cheeks would be.
“Are you…blushing? You can blush?”
Caine quickly turned his whole body away, shaking his head, “No! Nuh-uh! You’re just experiencing digital hallucinations!”
But there was no hiding it. Ragatha had to hold back a major ‘Aww!’, which was very difficult, “You are! That’s so cute!”
“Sh-Shut up…” The ringmaster muttered, closing his head and pouting. Ragatha chuckled and patted him on the back, which made him stiffen a bit. But he didn’t move or tell her to stop. Eventually, Caine decided he had been losing his composure enough and stood up via floating back into the air. He adjusted his top hat and twirled his baton, “Anyway, I think it’s time I start working on the next thrilling adventure!”
Ragatha was about to stand up, but was surprised when Caine offered her his hand. Hesitating for a moment, she took his hand and he gently helped her onto her feet. She brushed her dress off and quietly thanked him, to which he tipped his hat.
But before Caine could fly off: “Wait!”
Caine stopped in his tracks, “Yes, my dear?”
“I meant it, you know. We should talk more. If you ever need to talk about something, you can come to me,” the ragdoll said sincerely. She then fiddled with her dress a bit, “Or if you just want to hang out…that’d also be fine. I’d like to spend more time with you. If that’s okay.”
Caine’s eyes dilated for a moment before he looked away. His fingers tapped together and it looked like he was trying to say something, but couldn’t quite put the words together. He kept glancing at Ragatha. It was almost like he was internally debating with himself. What was he-
Without warning, Caine suddenly swooped down and hugged Ragatha.
Ragatha yelped, “Oh!”
Caine quickly pulled himself back, “I’d like that! And I’ll certainly keep that in mind! Now go have a nice evening, my darling daisy!”
Caine took a bow and teleported away, leaving Ragatha by herself. She stared up at where Caine had been. What just happened? As if today hadn’t been full of enough firsts. Though it wasn’t like Caine hugging her was a bad thing. She was always willing to offer hugs to people who needed them. However, it had been a long time since someone had hugged her first. As fast as it had been…it was nice. Caine had been surprisingly gentle and had given her a pleasant little squeeze.
Ragatha smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked forward to spending more time with Caine. And next time, she planned on returning the hug.