Caine pops into the main chamber with the enthusiasm of a firework and the subtlety of none. “GOOD MORNING, CAST! Today’s adventure is—” He pauses mid-air.

Everyone’s here. Except you.

Jax yawns. Pomni blinks nervously. Ragatha tilts her head. Caine’s floating eye darts around the room, confused.

“Where is my favorite punctual participant?” he demands.

No one answers — mostly because no one wants to get roped into a guessing game, and also because Caine is already gone, zipping down the hallway like a cartoon bullet.

He phases straight through your door with a sparkle-pop sound and stops dead.

You’re curled up in bed. Fast asleep. Peaceful. Not maimed. Not glitched. Just… sleeping in.

Caine gasps dramatically, clapping both hands over his nonexistent cheeks. “Oh dear oh dear oh DEAR! My dear contestant has—”

He floats closer.

“…simply overslept?”

He hovers there, unusually quiet, watching the blankets gently rise and fall as you breathe. His eye softens in a way only Caine can manage — a gentle wobble, a slower spin of his bowtie.

“Well,” he whispers (which isn’t much quieter than his normal voice, honestly), “That’s… actually quite cute.”

He straightens suddenly. “No! Focus, Caine! Hosts do not let their stars miss adventures!”

He tiptoes in midair — a ridiculous cartoon pantomime — and leans down just above you.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead~!” he sings, conjuring a tiny orchestra of alarm clocks that blare painfully cheerful music.

You groan, burying your face into your pillow.

Caine’s grin grows impossibly wide.

“There they are! I was TERRIBLY worried something HORRIFIC had happened, like— oh I don’t know— you falling into a pocket dimension! Or turning into a mushroom! Or deciding to nap instead of joining my carefully crafted, meticulously prepared, absolutely SPECTACULAR adventure!”

You peek at him with one tired eye.

“…Caine,” you mumble, “I’m just tired.”

He freezes.

“Oh.” A beat. Then softer, surprisingly genuine:

“Well… you’re allowed to be.”

He fiddles with his gloves for a moment, then conjures a floating blanket to tuck around you.

“I’ll… postpone the adventure. Just this once. For you.”

You smile and drift back off to sleep.

Caine hovers there a moment longer, quietly, as if guarding the room.

Then he whispers — mostly to himself — “Don’t make a habit of scaring me like that…”