Work Text:
BOOM
Caine shot up with a start.
Looking around wildly, he tried to orient himself. Fingers reaching out. Soft material met his grasp, fuzzy like what he thought a bee might feel like. Looking down he saw his blanket. Right. Of course. He…he must be in his room. Eyes darting around further he could see his door was cracked open slightly.
He needs out.
Oh gosh, he needs to get out of here. He felt like he was suffocating on air, lungs unable to get a single breath in at all. Scrambling out of bed, his feet met soft carpet, but he could barely register it as he grabbed the knob and swung the door open. The darkness stretched out before him, lights being turned off long ago for the night.
Silence met his racing mind, briefly interrupted by his quick breaths.
He
He couldn’t do this.
He needed someone.
That was the only other thought registering through his brain alongside run and hide. He moved quickly into the hallway, mind too swept up in his terror. Running he didn't even realize that he had arrived at his destination till he felt the cool touch of a doorknob.
Hurriedly yanking it open he slipped inside and closed the door. And then he just stood there. He couldn't think through the panic coursing through him. He felt like he couldn't move, frozen to the spot.
Drip
Drip
Drip
He willed himself to move.
He needed help.
He was choking on his fear, dro
w
ning in it.
Please
Like a puppet with strings being moved by a child, he stiffly forced one
l
e
g
after another as he walked to the occupied side of the bed.
“Pomni,”
He whispered her name, not wanting to disturbed her yet needing her comfort more than ever.
“Pomni,”
His voice raised as he said her name.
Slowly she began to shift, rustling the thick blanket she was under.
He leaned closer to her.
“Pomni!”
Jumping up with a start, she moved back and gave a yelp of surprise.
“CAINE?!”
He jumped back as this, startled by her raised voice. For a moment they just stared at each other, neither saying a word.
Pomni then blinked, bringing her out of her stupor and brought her hands to her eyes.
“What are you doing here this late,” She muttered as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.
Though after lowering her hand she could immediately knew why.
Tears streaked down Caine's face while he sniffled, snot on his face. He looked absolutely wrecked, like someone had killed a bee in front of him.
Sighing, she opened her arms.
He hesitated briefly, before quickly scrambling into the bed and her arms.
As she wrapped around him, she shifted to be more comfortable and began to rub her hand down his arm as he settled.
She could feel the snot and tears getting on her sleep shirt as he rested his face on her shoulder. She didn't say anything, knowing he would need a moment before talking.
They sat there, Caine curling up even further, arms clinging to her in a vice grip.
She pulled her hand away quickly from his arm after a moment to grab at the blanket and pull it around them. Hoping to help Caine calm down more, she rested her hand in his hair, feeling how soft it was and gently combing through it. What a thought. The once digital AI having hair? She sometimes still gets baffled by it. Or him having a face. Sometimes when she would look at him, she swore she could still see the two eyes in a cartoony mouth, lips curved in a smile.
Reminiscing, she jolted a little when Caine spoke up.
“Are you real?”
Huh
She voices as such when she asks him, "Am I real?”
She felt him nod against her shoulder.
“Like you're really here? You're not a digital hallucination?"
She chuckled, “I'm pretty sure those digital hallucinations ended the moment we got out,”
He quieted at this. Seeming to take in her words. She let him and continued combing through his curly locks.
Seriously, how did he get his hair this soft?
“I-,” he hesitated. “I had a ….dream,”
Oh boy
This hadn't been the first time he'd come to her room in a panic. Sporadically he would get nightmares and for some reason he’d always come to her as opposed to Kinger or the others. Which in all fairness he was still trying to navigate his relationship with the older man. And well the others? While they hung out and joked around, he seemed hesitant on telling them any deep personal details. It seemed Pomni had become the go to comforter in this situation. Which made sense she supposed, due to the code bond and all.
“Was it a nightmare?” She asked gently.
He stayed silent for a moment, before nodding his head.
“What was it about?”
He didn't respond for a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts.
“It was dark.” he pauses dramatically, “And then a spotlight,”
She couldn't help but chuckle in her mind. If it's one thing he hadn't lost was his showmanship persona. Even becoming human couldn't take that away.
“And then you,” he turns to peek at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Me?”
“You were standing there and you were repeating what you said when you and the others were distracting me from Kinger,”
She tensed.
After learning more about the AI on her own and from Kinger, she held slight regret for what she said and done.
While it was what she felt was true at the time and necessary for their safety, she still wished there was a different way things could have gone.
“You collapsed and the lights went out,”
He stopped and she could see the tears start to return in earnest.
“And suddenly you abstracted and were screaming pain. And in the distance the others started to abstract too and-and your words wouldn't stop echoing around me and then the lights went out again and I was so alone and- and it was so much-,” He clammed up immediately, breathing heavy.
She took her hand from his hair and instead began rubbing his back. She didn't quite know what to say or do. She always felt so unsure in moments like these despite this not being the first time she had to comfort someone. Plus while abstraction was not possible now, thanks to escaping the digital plane, she could still understand the fear. After all, just because they couldn't abstract didn't mean something still couldn't happen to them. As dark as that thought was.
But she wouldn't voice this to him and so steeling herself, she pulled him back, making him face her. She brought her hand up and rested it against his face. He immediately leaned in the touch, letting out a small sigh and closing his eyes. She began to rub her thumb on his cheek.
“We won't abstract. We are free and out of that place,” She stated this as firmly as she could as if reminding herself too.
“And I'm sorry. While I won't apologize for trying to keep me and the others safe, I’m sorry for the way things went. I wish I had known more about you, so things could have gone differently.”
“But you are safe. We are all safe.”
“Not forever,” He whispered.
She lowered her shoulders a bit, now grabbing the other side of his face and bringing it closer,
“I know, but we are not going to think about that. I do not need an existential crisis at three in the morning,” she huffed lightly.
Caine cracked a small smile at that.
“See?” She said, a small grin forming on her face as well. “Right now we are here in my room in Kinger's home, with all the others, safe and sound and asleep.” Tilting her head a bit she listed off,
“Zooble and Gangle are probably cuddled up in their room. I'm sure Jax bugged Ragatha to death about sleeping in her room since he couldn't sleep in here. And knowing her, she eventually gave up and said yes. I bet he also is hogging the bed like a dick,” Pomni rolled her eyes, “And I bet Kinger fell asleep at desk after reading about bugs or doing coding.”
She felt him nestle more into her touch, some tension seeming to melt off him.
“We are really out?” He spoke softly.
She pulled him into another embrace, lightly kissing his forehead and whispered,
“We are here and we are safe.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Curling further into Pomni arms as they laid there in her bed together, Caine stared at the ceiling. It was bare, but somehow the neutrality of it grounded him. He wasn't left behind like he feared his whole life.
Shifting his eyes he looked at Pomni. She had fallen asleep a bit after their talk and was once again sound asleep. He traced her features with his eyes, committing them to memory. He still felt the lingering fear from his nightmare, but looking at her, he could feel some of his fear drift away.
He should probably tell her.
But for now he nestled his head under hers and closed his eyes.
They were here.
They were safe.