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Caine teleports to the circus after the award show. He can’t believe no one voted for him. Has he not done everything his programming allows to make them happy? Are his adventures not good enough for them?
What Zooble had said about how no one likes his adventures flashes through his mind. He tries to slam his teeth together in hopes of blocking it out, but it doesn’t. Nothing can. No one likes your stupid adventure. Over and over and over and over again, on repeat.
“Caine?” The sweet melody of the Moon’s voice interrupts his spiraling thoughts.
“Yes?” he asks, trying to pretend everything’s fine. It’s just Zooble’s opinion. You’ll earn them over, in the end. It’s what you were created to do. And if you can’t do that, then, well, what’s the point of even trying anymore? He tries to tell himself reassuringly.
“Are you alright?” she asks. “You came back a lot later than you usually do.”
“I’m perfectly fine, my friend!” he tries to say confidently, though based on her face, she doesn’t believe him.
“Did you not win the award you wanted to?” she asks.
He turns his head away, which is apparently enough of an answer for her.
“We should go to the sky,” she suggests. “Away from prying eyes.”
Caine’s eyes widen. “That’s- I don’t-I don’t think we’re allowed to-to do that,” he stammers.
“Just to talk,” she promises.
“Um…sure.” Caine reluctantly agrees.
The sky is off-limits to the players. It’s where the Moon and Sun typically go when they’re not needed. It’s the only place where they have fully formed bodies rather than just their faces.
It has a furnished living room and two bedrooms, one with a yellow door and the other with a blue door.
The two of them stay in the main area, taking a seat on the couch.
“So, what happened?” she asks.
“Well, the award show was today. And-and-” he takes a deep breath to stop himself from crying. “No one voted for me.” He immediately bursts into uncontrollable sobs. Admitting it out loud makes it too real.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok,” she says comfortingly.
“It’s not!” Caine whimpers. “I do everything I can, and-and-and they hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” she says softly. “I could never hate you.”
“Why do you care so much?” he asks. “I’m so dismissive of you-why do you come back?”
“Because I know you are amazing. You do everything you can for them, and whether they appreciate all the effort you put in for them or not, I know I do,” she says affectionately. “One day, they’ll see it too. And even if they don’t, it’ll be OK.”
“How do you know that?” he asks quietly.
“Because, maybe, if they don’t like your adventures, they’re not the right people to be playing them. Someone out there is going to love your adventures. Maybe even some of the cast do, but they haven’t said it.” Moon argues. “Who told you you aren’t worth voting for?”
“The committee didn’t vote for me,” he answers.
“A group of NPCs who, frankly, don’t know anything about all the hard work you’ve done?” she asks. “Did they see any of the things you did throughout the day, or was it just your cast?”
“Just the cast,” he mumbles.
“So why should you trust their opinion over your own or mine?”
He doesn’t have a good answer for that.
“And who said your adventures aren’t good?”
“Zooble.” Even speaking the name brings back that one sentence.
“The one who never goes on them?”
He looks away and nods.
“Have you asked any of the other characters?”
He shakes his head, still not quite meeting her eyes.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” she says gently.
They sit in silence for a while, and Caine digests what she said. She’s not wrong on any points, and the more he thinks about it, the better he feels. Maybe Zooble is the outlier, and he’s not as terrible as he thought he was.
“Would you be OK with it if I gave you a hug?” Moon asks after several minutes of silence.
Caine doesn’t answer, instead throwing himself into her arms.
She holds him close and tight, and it feels good. Really, really good. To be able to trust her completely and feel her arms around him, an assurance that she isn’t going to leave him.
“You are good enough, even if you can’t see it,” she whispers. “I love you.”
“Thank you,” Caine whispers back. “And I love you, too.”