Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“…ideas are not fun at all, and Caine’s ideas are much better!”

Their digital god’s voice rang through the circus as the gang made their way off of the softball field and through the portal.

The usual lurch hit them all at once, spitting them back into the circus grounds. Most of them stumbled toward the couch, buzzing with leftover adrenaline and exhaustion.

Jax made it a few steps before stopping cold. Something felt off. Too heavy. Too… frilly. He looked down, and sure enough—the stupid maid outfit was still clinging to him.

He gave the apron a sharp tug, expecting it to vanish with the rest of the props. Nothing. The bow at the back just pulled tighter.

His ears flicked back, and he gave the skirt a frantic shake like maybe it would just… fall off.

“What the?! …no, no, no, no.” He spun in a circle, trying to grab at a nonexistent zipper. “This is not funny.”

The others finally noticed.

Zooble snorted. “Oh, this is rich. Maid-boy’s stuck in cosplay hell.”
Gangle stood by their side, fighting back a flustered laugh.

Ragatha tilted her head, fighting a smile. “Well… it suits you… in its own way.”

Pomni stepped forward, blinking at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. She didn’t laugh. Her brows furrowed as she nailed him with her pinwheel eyes.

Before Jax could react, confetti rained from above.

“Well, well, well!” Caine’s voice boomed, cane in hand and grin… face? widened. “What a delightful twist! A permanent costume change! Why didn’t I think of that!?”

Jax’s ears twitched. He was irate. “This is YOUR doing?”

“Oh, don’t be silly, my boy!” Caine floated upside down, wagging a finger. “That’s the beauty of these adventures—sometimes the props decide to stay! Consider it… character development!”

Jax growled, a primal noise. He yanked the collar of the dress, nearly choking himself. “Take. It. Off. NOW.”

Zooble wheezed like they’d never seen anything funnier. Ragatha had her hand over her mouth, trying to muffle her giggles. Even Gangle, who normally shriveled under Jax’s gaze, was making a hiccuping sound that might’ve been a laugh.

Jax’s scowl deepened, ears twitching feverously. He gave the bow one more savage tug, snarl brewing low in his throat, and then spun on his heels.

“Yeah, hilarious,” he snapped over his shoulder. “Real comedy gold. Hope you’re all enjoying yourselves.” he stalked towards his room, froofy skirt swishing mockingly with every step.

Pomni stayed frozen, forgetting to breathe as her eyes followed the purple bunny’s retreating figure. The others’ laughter rang hollow in her ears. It was funny- she knew it should be funny- but the way his ears were pinned back, the sharpness in his voice, the look in his eyes… it made her chest tighten, her heart stutter.

Zooble was doubled over, wheezing so hard their shoulders shook. Ragatha had stopped even pretending to be polite, tears glittering at the corners of her eyes as she guffawed. And Gangle of all people even looked downright cheerful, despite lacking her comedy mask.

“Would you guys stop that?” Pomni’s tone sliced the laughter, uncharacteristically sharp.

Her fists balled at her sides, face hot. “It’s not funny. Can’t you see he’s actually upset?”

The laughter faltered, leaving a silence that pressed heavy against her chest. Jax was already disappearing down the hall, and for a split second, she thought his eyes flicked back toward her. His expression gave nothing away.

Ragatha cleared her throat at last, guilt softening her tone. “I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t have poked fun at Jax,” she murmured, dabbing at her eyes though a smile still lingered.

She didn’t look sorry to Pomni.

Zooble snorted and exhaled, steadying themselves and rising back to their feet. “Relax, Pomni. Bunny-boy dishes it out all the time. He can take a little heat.”

“Y-yeah, but-” Pomni stopped herself, wringing out her hands and cracking her knuckles. The words stuck in her throat.

Ragatha’s smile faltered. She glanced at Pomni, her voice softer now. “Hey… are you alright?”

Pomni didn’t answer. Her chest still felt tight, her pulse stumbling in her ears. Before she realized what she was doing, her feet were already carrying her after him.

Each hurried step, one tripping quicker into the next, echoed on the endless tiling of the circus floor. She toyed with the ends of her hair apprehensively, rehearsing what she’d even say when she finally reached his room. 

“Are you okay?” sounded… pathetic. He clearly wasn’t okay, even if he’d never admit it. “Nice dress?” would get her torn to shreds. Even if it was true… she added to herself silently. 

Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d just thought. 

What.

Pomni shook her head hard, as though she could scatter the thought. Focus. He’s upset. That’s what matters.

The hall stretched on forever, looping checkerboard geometry curling in impossible angles overhead. Finally reaching Jax’s door, she froze, barely daring to breathe as her gloves floated above the wooden door, poised to knock. From inside came a muffled curse, followed by the rip of fabric and a frustrated half growl, half scream.

Pomni bit her lip, then knocked softly.
“…Jax?” she breathed. 

There was a pause. 

Then his voice, low and rough: “Go away.”

Her throat tightened. “I-just wanted to check-”

“I said go away!” A thump followed, muffled behind the door, like he’d kicked something.

Pomni flinched but pressed her palm to the door anyway. “I can’t. Not when you’re—” She stopped herself, cheeks burning. She didn’t even know how to finish that sentence.

Silence. Then the faint shuffle of footsteps inside. The knob rattled once, and the door cracked open just enough for one amber eye to glint through.

Jax glared at her, ears flattened. He made it glaringly obvious with his stance that she was not welcome and that he didn’t want her to see him. “What part of ‘leave me alone’ don’t you get, Pomni?” he hissed, starting to push the door shut.

The already small gap narrowed.

Pomni’s chest lurched, and before she could second-guess herself, she wedged her foot into the frame. The door smacked against her shoe with a hollow, plasticky thunk.

Jax blinked down at her in disbelief, ears shooting upright. For a moment he looked less like a cornered animal, and more like someone who’d just been slapped with a fish.

“…Did you just… block my door?” His voice was halfway between incredulous and offended.

Pomni’s voice hitched as she swallowed. “I… yes?”

His eyes narrowed, suspicion wrestling with shock. “Since when did you grow a spine?”

Pomni bristled. “Since you started slamming doors in my face!”

Jax was stunned. He stared, mouth half open, as if he couldn’t decide whether to yell at her or laugh. The dress frills puffed around his arms as he tightened his grip on the doorframe, ears twitching like static.

Finally, his lip curled, his fangs glinting under the relentless circus lights. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Pomni.”

Her pulse skipped. Why? She was shaking, but kept her foot wedged firmly. “Then let me in.” 

Her lip quivered, and she couldn’t meet Jax’s gaze. It was abundantly clear to them both how much effort it took for her to stand her ground.

For a long, charged moment, neither of them moved. Then Jax’s expression shuttered, his glare hardening again.

The door slammed in her face, rattling the frame and echoing down the endless hall.

Pomni flinched, but didn’t step back. She pressed her palm flat to the wood, heart hammering. I’m not leaving.

After a moment of silence, she realized just how much she was shaking. Her legs wobbled and gave out under her, and she unceremoniously slunk to the ground.

Awkwardly, she shuffled back until her shoulders rested against the door. The surface felt so wrong—plasticy and splintery all at once, but she appreciated that it grounded her.

She drew her knees up, arms wrapping around them in tight loops as she buried her face. For the first time since arriving in this place, she didn’t care if she looked pathetic.

And still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Jax hadn’t moved away from the door at all, either.

Chapter Text

The floor was cold beneath her, patterned tiles pressing into the backs of her legs. Pomni hadn’t moved in what felt like forever, though she wasn’t sure if it had been minutes or hours. Time didn’t mean much here anyway.

Pomni told herself she’d only sit for a minute, just until her shaking stopped. But even when the adrenaline wore off, she didn’t budge. She didn’t know when her eyelids had finally shut. Her head lolled against her knees, arms once locked tight around them now lazily sagged to the floor. 

On the other side of the door, Jax sat slumped against the wall, fists still clenched in useless tufts of fabric. 

He’d tried ripping seams until his claws ached, growling like a rabid animal as if that’d help his case, but nothing had given way.

Then, between curses, he caught it. A faint sound through the door. Steady, quiet.

Breathing. 

He stilled, ears flicking toward the subtle noise. 

She was still there. 

Of course she was. 

Pomni never knew when to give up. 

He ground his teeth, trying to ignore it, but the silence of his room only made her presence louder. Every time he thought about shouting again, the thought of her stubborn little voice answering back, her stupid giant eyes filling with tears, her pathetic bells jingling as she cried… stopped him.

Minutes stretched. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He pushed himself to his feet, muttering under his breath, and yanked the knob.

The door creaked as it opened.

Pomni jerked upright instantly, head snapping up. Her pinwheel eyes blinked too fast and her hair a little mussed as she composed herself.

“…You’re still here?” Jax asked, ears tilted back. His voice came out harsher than he’d meant, threaded with disbelief.

“I told you,” Pomni said quickly, rubbing her eyes with her glove like it was nothing. “I’m not leaving.”

Jax narrowed his gaze, searching her face.

She still wouldn’t meet his gaze. 

Monster.

A scoff tore from his throat, the lace at his collar ruffling with the motion. “You’re stubborn, you know that?”

 “Maybe I am,” she said, softer than she intended but no less certain.

 “But… someone has to be.”

The words caught him off guard. His ears flicked, and his glare faltered into something unreadable.

Careful, jester. He thought bitterly.

With a sharp exhale, Jax shoved the door wider and stepped back, ruffles swishing sardonically. “Fine. If you’re so desperate to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, get in here before you glue yourself to the floor.”

Pomni’s heart gave a painful lurch. She hesitated only a moment before slipping past him into the dim light of his room.

Pomni faltered as she realized she was in his room. She barely dared to breathe, stopping just after the threshold.

It looked… untouched. The bed was made, corners tucked too sharp to have been slept in. The walls were bare and devoid of any personality, and his desk wasn’t any better. No knickknacks, no clutter, nothing that said someone lives here.

Like it wasn’t home.

Pomni blinked as she took it in. I thought he’d be here for a while. It looks like he just got here.

Her gaze moved around the room.

The carpet at the foot of the bed was snagged, tufts pulled loose in jagged lines. One wall bore faint scratches, as if claws had raked it relentlessly. A broken picture frame scattered glass in the corner.

Pomni’s chest tightened. It wasn’t that he didn’t live here. It was that he refused to.

“Quit staring,” Jax snapped, and she jumped as his voice took her out of a trance. He’d folded his arms across his chest, frills puffing stupidly around his shoulders as his ears twitched in irritation. “It’s a room. Big deal.”

Pomni turned quickly, words tripping over themselves. “I-I wasn’t!! I just… it doesn’t look like you…” She trailed off helplessly, the hole she’d dug herself in swallowing her whole.

His eyes narrowed, a sharp gold in the dim light. “Like I what?”

Pomni wrung her hands around her hat, bells chiming nervously. “…Like you don’t stay here much.”

For a beat, his glare didn’t waver. Then he scoffed, turning away with a flick of his ears. “Maybe I don’t.”

He collapsed onto the bed, the ruffles and frills of his dress swallowing him whole. He pushed them down, violence shining in his eyes.

“You… you don’t have to keep pretending it doesn’t bother you,” she said softly.

His ears flicked, and his jaw clenched. “Pretending?” A dry, grating laugh escaped him. “Clown, if I was pretending, you wouldn’t be in here.”

Pomni shifted her weight from foot to foot, hat twisting in her hands. 

For a while, the only sound was the rustle of fabric as Jax shoved the skirt flat against the bed. Then, without looking at her, he muttered, “Well, what then? You think this place is supposed to feel like home?”

Pomni blinked innocently as if she didn’t comprehend what he was saying.

Her and those stupid, big eyes.

 “…Well… yeah. Isn’t that what a room’s for?” She offered.

He glowered in return. “This place isn’t real, Pomni. None of this is real. Why bother?”

Pomni watched as he gripped his arms tighter, hugging himself into a ball of purple fur and white lace. “Then why do you protect it so much?” 

This simple question ignited a fire in his eyes. He pierced her with a withering stare.

Go on, do it.

Break her.

He shook his head slightly, and for a long moment he said nothing. Then he looked away, slumping back against the headboard. “Because it’s all I’ve got.”

Pomni’s throat tightened. She wanted to say something, anything, but her voice was stuck in her throat, collar choking her as she awkwardly tugged at it.

 Instead she just nodded, small and shaky.

Jax scoffed, like the gesture annoyed him, but he didn’t act. He just let his head fall back against the wall, golden eyes dim and half-lidded.

“Well? You planning on standing there all night?” he muttered.

Pomni hesitated, then shuffled a few steps closer. “…Can I?” she said hesitantly.

A bewildered expression stole his face, and he huffed a bitter laugh. “Do whatever you want. Not like you listen to me anyway.”

Pomni shifted her weight uncertainly, eyes darting around the barren space again before she hesitantly lowered herself to the floor. The room was silent other than the occasional jingle of Pomni’s bell or ruffle of Jax’s skirt

Jax didn’t acknowledge her at first. His claws drummed against the frills bunched at his arms, eyes fixed on nothing. The silence stretched, choking the air.

Pomni hugged her knees to her chest, stealing glances at him when she dared. She scoured the room, taking in every little detail of the juxtaposed tidy yet rampaged room. She wanted to ask him about it, to ask him about him, but her throat was still tight from the last time she opened her mouth. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

I would only make him worse. 

She screwed her eyes shut, mismatched lashes fluttering.

The silence yawned wide, swallowing the pair whole.

“You’re not subtle,” Jax muttered at last, dissipating the fog of silence that choked them. “All that staring. Drives me crazy.”

Pomni startled, fumbling with her hat. “S-sorry! I wasn’t--”

“Don’t apologize.” His tone cut sharp, then flattened. “Just… don’t expect me to play along with whatever pity thing this is.”

Pomni blinked at him, fingers tapping on her knees as she thought. It’s not pity, I just hate to see you hurting, she thought, but the words couldn’t form in her mouth. 

I care about you. 

The thought stopped her in her tracks.

I care, Jax.

Say something, idiot.

She shook her head quickly, throat dry as she forced the words out. “I just… didn’t want you to be alone.”

For a long time, Jax didn’t answer. His ears twitched, but he kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling, expression familiarly unreadable.

Then, with a tired exhale, he turned onto his side, back to her. “Tch. Suit yourself.”

Pomni clutched her hat tighter, the corner of her mouth twitching into the faintest, uncertain smile. 

Chapter Text

Jax had been staring. Against his better judgment.

She’d curled up on the floor sometime in the night, head tucked against her knees, hair a mess under that massive hat.

Her face softened in sleep, breathing slow. Cute.

He grit his teeth and looked away. 

Shut up, idiot!

The silence of the room gnawed at him, but the lull of her breathing grounded him.

Then Pomni stirred. Her eyes blinked open to the same dim glow that always buzzed faintly from the ceiling. Something slid off her shoulders as she sat up.

Her hands clutched at it instinctively—a blanket. Coarse, a little scratchy, and smelling faintly of dust. She froze, her pinwheel eyes darting toward the bed.

Jax was still there.

He sat slouched against the headboard, arms folded, ears twitching just enough to show he wasn’t asleep. The ridiculous skirt still fanned around him, frills wrinkled under his iron grip. He wasn’t acknowledging her, but he also hadn’t kicked her out. And the blanket…

Pomni swallowed, feeling butterflies. For…. some reason. “Did you—”

“Don’t,” Jax muttered, voice low and sharp. “You were shivering. I threw it. Big deal.”

Pomni hugged the blanket closer, her face warming despite the chill of the room. “…Thank you.”

One golden eye cracked open, tired and sharp. “You snore.”

Her whole body jolted. “Wha—I do not!”

That golden eye slipped shut again, the faintest tug at the corner of his mouth. “Pathetic little squeaks. Thought something was broken in here, I was about to call for Caine.”

Pomni clutched the blanket tighter, cheeks heating. “You’re making that up!”

Pomni pulled the blanket tighter around herself, sticking out her tongue with playful indignance.

Her eyes caught on the pattern stitched across it. Rows of fluffy purple bunnies were stitched into the fabric.

She blinked. “…Are these… bunnies?”

He slouched deeper into the headboard, jaw tightening. “Don’t.”

She continued to pinch the blanket, surveying the pattern with a mischievous grin. “They’re purple. And fluffy. With floppy ears.” She held up the corner like evidence. “They’re….cute.”

That got him. His eyes snapped open. “I didn’t pick it. It was there when I got here.”

Pomni’s laugh slipped out before she could bite it back, light and carefree and…

Adorable.

Jax glowered, drumming his fingers against his arm. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly, hugging the ridiculous blanket close. It was a bit itchy and dusty, she assumed from disuse, but she didn’t mind. Not when his ears were twitching like that. 

She played with the frayed ends listlessly, a silence falling over the room. Finally, before she could stop herself, the words slipped out:

“You’ve got a problem with cute stuff, huh?”

Jax’s head snapped toward her. “What kind of question is that?”

Her shoulders gave a tense shrug, but she held her ground. “I mean… you sound bothered. By the blanket.”

His claws flexed against his arm, fabric pulling taut. “They don’t offend me. They’re just…” His mouth closed with an audible click of teeth. He looked away. “...stupid.”

Pomni stifled another laugh into the blanket, warmth bubbling in her chest. “I think they’re nice.”

“Of course you do,” Jax muttered.

Pomni scrunched her nose, half tempted to fire back. The warmth bubbling in her chest refused to leave. 

She sank lower into the blanket, humming thoughtfully. Her fingers traced the stitched bunnies. “…You act like liking things is a weakness.”

Jax didn’t answer. 

Pomni’s throat tightened. Still, she pressed on, voice low. “I don’t think it makes you weak.”

He shifted against the headboard, turning his face away. “Tch. You really don’t know when to quit.”

Before Pomni could answer, the ceiling light flickered. Static hissed through the room, and then—

“Rise and shine, my delightful little disasters!”

Caine’s voice boomed from nowhere and everywhere at once, followed by a shower of confetti that puffed out of thin air. “Adventure day number one-hundred-fifty-seven-thousand-three-hundred-and-forty-two! Or is it one-hundred-fifty-seven-thousand-three-hundred-and-forty-three? Oh well, who’s counting! Chop chop, fun awaits!”

Pomni squeaked at the sudden unwelcome interruption. Jax, meanwhile, groaned low in his throat and dragged a hand down his face.

“Of course,” he muttered. “Can’t even sulk in peace.”

“Up, up, my little bunny and my precious jester! Adventure won’t wait for beauty sleep!”

Caine’s face betrayed nothing, as always. Pomni couldn’t tell if he was genuinely stupid or cruelly manipulative.

She cast an exasperated glance at Jax, still wrapped in the purple-bunny blanket. “Guess… that’s our cue?”

He rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the bed with all the enthusiasm of a condemned man. “Lucky us.”

Pomni trailed after him, blanket still wrapped tightly around her shoulders. The fabric dragged faintly across the floor as she moved, snagging on her heels. She paused at the threshold, torn between leaving it behind or… keeping it. 

Ridiculous. 

It wasn’t hers. 

When Jax glanced over his shoulder, she yelped and hurried after him, abandoning the blanket, her face scarlet with embarrassment.

The hallway beyond his door stretched on in its usual twisted geometry—tiles winding dizzyingly and walls bending outward like warped funhouse mirrors. 

Jax marched with long strides, the ruffles of his skirt swishing at his legs with every step. He didn’t acknowledge it, but the flare of irritation in his eyes made it clear he hadn’t forgotten. Pomni trotted to keep up, the bells on her hat chiming faintly.

By the time they reached the main expanse of the circus, the others were already there. Ragatha waved brightly, though her smile faltered when she noticed where Pomni had come from, and who she was with. Zooble, of course, didn’t bother hiding their amusement.

“Well, well. Look who decided to crawl out of Jax’s warren,” Zooble drawled. Their gaze flicked pointedly to the frills at his shoulders. “Didn’t know you were into… cosplay, Pomni.”

Pomni’s face went hot. “I—I wasn’t! I mean—it’s not—”

“Don’t,” Jax snapped at Zooble, his eyes a brazen fury, winged eyeliner and all. “One more word and I’ll staple your mouth shut.”

Zooble snorted. “Bold threat, considering I don’t even have one,” they quipped, lifting both hands in mock surrender.

Ragatha stepped in quickly, offering Pomni a sympathetic smile. “Don’t mind them. We were just worried about you. With, well…” she trailed off, awkwardly rocking on her feet and casting a wayward glance at the rabbit.

Before Pomni could answer, confetti exploded overhead

Caine twirled into existence with a whirl, followed by Bubble. “Ta-daaa! My beautiful kaleidoscopic cantaloupes, all present and accounted for!” 

“Kaleidoscopes make me taste colors.” Bubble chimed, nodding sagely.

“Uhh… Anyway, what a day we have planned! Today’s adventure will test your courage, your wit, and—most importantly—your entertainment potential!”

The floor under them trembled. Tiles shifted, fluttering like cards being shuffled, and rearranging into a vast spiral that pulled toward the center of the ring. Pomni stumbled back, clutching at Jax’s skirt with a terrified shriek. He didn’t have time to react, before the tiles buckled again.

Caine spread his arms, floating higher above them. “Step right up to the Maze of Mirrors! Reflections, distortions, doubles, and doppelgängers, oh my! What fate will await you when even your reflections turn against you?”

The spiral tiling collapsed, yawning into a pit glittering with shards of glass and rainbow light.

Pomni’s heart hammered as she clung tighter to Jax, eyes squeezed shut.

Caine tapped his cane against nothing. “Aaand—drop!”

The floor vanished beneath them.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The floor vanished.

Pomni’s scream snagged in her throat, raw and guttural, as she plunged into glittering dark. Wind tore at her hat, bells shrieking in her ears, until she hit the ground with a jarring crash—hard, but not painful. The glass caught her like a warped bouncy house.

She slid across the surface with a gasp before scrambling upright, heart hammering. Everywhere she looked was mirror. A thousand warped versions of herself blinked back.

Only then did she realize what she was holding.

Actually, holding was generous. It was more like a death grip.

On Jax’s skirt.

Her face went scarlet as she dropped the fabric. “S-sorry! I didn’t—”

Jax arched a brow, smoothing the crumpled lace with deliberate slowness. “Relax. At least one of us finds comfort in it.”

Pomni crossed her arms, trying to smother her embarrassment, though her army of reflections wasn’t helping.

“This is… new,” she managed, voice small.

“No kidding.” Jax’s narrowed pupils flicked around, his reflection multiplying his quizzical reaction into infinity. “Place looks like a funhouse puked on itself.”

Caine’s voice reverberated through the maze, magnified and warped and as always, bone-chillingly horrifying. “Step lively, my contestants! Many reflections flatter, some deceive, and some…” A pause, almost gleeful. “…don’t like being stared at for too long!”

Oh, if he could strangle a set of teeth.

Gag them?

Whatever.

Pomni’s pulse spiked. She hugged herself, shrinking under the distorted stares of her reflections. “D-don’t like being stared at? What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, Pom.”

Pom?! 

Oh god.

Thank god she’s distracted.

Pomni turned in a slow circle, not even hearing Jax. Every angle and every step she drowned in a thousand pinwheel eyes. They blinked when she blinked, flinched when she flinched, expressions lagging just half a beat too long.

“I hate this,” she muttered, voice shaking. “I hate this.”

Jax trailed a claw along one mirror, letting it screech down the surface. The sound reverberated through Pomni’s teeth, her hair standing on end. 

“Relax. It’s smoke and mirrors.” He bared his teeth in a grin, but not quite meeting her eyes. “Mostly mirrors.”

Pomni shuffled after him, embarrassment at clutching his skirt long since forgotten or cared about. She could physically feel every reflection looming around her. Some looked like funhouse distortions, her head stretched too big or her bells drooping long. One mirror made her vanish completely, only her hat left behind.

She froze, tugging Jax’s sleeve. “Th-that one! why don’t I—”

“You’re still here,” he cut her off, though his gaze lingered on it longer than hers. 

His reflection in the same glass glitched, grin twitching wider before snapping back in place. Jax’s ears—or maybe just the reflections of them—flattened. “It’s cheap parlor tricks.”

Pomni frowned, lip quivering. She wanted to argue, to point out how wrong it felt, but the words crumbled in her throat.

They kept walking. Or rather, Jax kept walking, with Pomni trailing after him, death grip on the ruffles of his dress. 

The mirrors seemed to press into their sides the further they walked, the floor beneath them curving like the inside of a giant bowl. Pomni’s footsteps echoed too loud for her liking, bouncing back at her from all sides.

She tried to distract herself, fidgeting with the bells on her hat. “You ever think Caine comes up with these just to… I don’t know… %#!$ with us?”

Jax snorted. “You imply he thinks.”

“…You don’t think he does?”

“Oh, he thinks,” Jax spat bitterly “Just not about us.”

Pomni’s heart sank. She cast her gaze to the mirrors again. One reflection of her lingered and glitched with colors of… abstraction. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, telling herself she imagined it.

The path forked, each way stretching into infinity. Pomni hesitated, bouncing nervously on her heels.

“W-which way?”

“Like I’ve got a map,” Jax muttered. He tapped one claw against the glass to their left, watching it ripple faintly. His brows furrowed. “Cute. Guess we’ll find out the hard way.”

Pomni swallowed and followed.

But as they turned, she couldn’t shake it. One of her reflections, the one she swore had… didn’t move.

Pomni kept her eyes trained on the floor, forcing her legs forward as she numbly stumbled forward. She was convinced that if she looked back it would still be there.

The mirrors pressed closer as they wound deeper into the spiral. 

“This place is a joke,” Jax muttered, breaking the silence. His claws clicked against the mirrored wall as he walked, dragging a finger along its surface. “Caine’s really scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

Pomni wrung out her hat. “Y-you think it’s just… illusions, right? L-like, like the ground earlier? It wasn’t real, it.. it just looked like—”

Her words cut off with a squeak. A reflection of her—tall, stretched, bells dragging the floor—twitched out of sync. One eye blinked too slow, the other not at all.

Jax noticed her freeze but didn’t stop walking. “Don’t.”

“But it—”

“Pomni.” His tone sharpened, piercing through her doubts. “Ignore it. That’s the trick. That’s how he gets you.”

She nodded quickly, but her wide eyes lingered. Just enough to see the warped Pomni tilt its head a second too late.

Pomni’s throat went dry. She bolted a step forward, closer to Jax, nearly tripping over his skirt’s ruffles.

He exhaled through his nose, low and irritated. “If you rip this dress and make it look any more foolish, I’m feeding you to the mirrors myself.”

Pomni’s cheeks heated, but she stayed close. Safer there, even if he pretended to hate it. 

She hoped he was pretending.

Her grip on Jax’s skirt only tightened, bunching the lace in trembling fists. She didn’t dare let go.

The corrupted reflection didn’t return to mimicry despite Pomni’s furious attempts to ignore it. It had turned fully to face them, head tilted in a horrifying, sadistic manner.

Only a whisper came through the glass, an uncanny interpretation of Pomni’s voice. It was slowed down and warped, as though her voice had been wound through a broken music box.

“Stay,” it said.

The word lingered long after the echo should have died.

Jax’s jaw clenched. His gaze flicked down at her hand fisted in his skirt, but he didn’t tell her off. His voice strained. “We don’t do what it says.”

The jester’s reflection smiled, unbothered. 

Pomni’s knees knocked together as they shook. She couldn’t move. Her whole body screamed to run, but her legs locked stiff. The only thing anchoring her was the fabric beneath her hands.

Jax shifted, claws flexing. He felt trapped, restrained, but he didn’t shove her off.

The quiet stretched too long. Mirrors weren’t supposed to breathe, even funhouse ones, but Pomni swore she heard a faint but steady exhale, fogging the glass from the other side.

Her head snapped up. The reflection hadn’t vanished. It leaned closer now, palms pressed flat against the pane, her own pinwheel eyes rolling too slow in their sockets.

Jax’s claws dug into his arms, lace wrinkling under the pressure. His voice was taut, controlled only by his will. “Don’t look at it.”

Pomni couldn’t help it. She met the reflection’s gaze.

The…thing’s  mouth moved again, lips dragging with all the wrong syllables. The voice was warped and broken, clawing its way out through her face:

“Run.”

The glass threatened to break, cracks growing with horrifyingly sick splinters.

Pomni’s grip on Jax’s skirt turned white-knuckled. Her throat worked uselessly, begging to scream, but no sound came out.

Jax snarled, low and dangerous, stepping between her and the mirror with his skirt still tangled in her hands. “Over my dead body.”

The warped Pomni pressed closer to the glass, its eyes alit with inhuman wickedness. 

But it wasn’t alone anymore.

Another figure peeled free from the mirror. Jax’s reflection.

It looked almost identical — the same sharp grin, the same pointed ears, the same ridiculous lace skirt. But where Jax’s eyes normally burned with irritation, this one’s glowed with hunger. 

Pomni couldn’t breathe. This Jax wasn’t just mocking her, there was no soft care beneath his biting tone.

This Jax looked like he’d tear her apart. And enjoy it.

The reflection leaned in, claws dragging down the mirror with a screech that rattled her bones. 

When it spoke, the voice was his… her Jax’s… but made of pure venom.

“Pathetic little girl. He should’ve let you break.”

Her heart thundered in her ears.

The real Jax stepped forward, shoulders squared, his scowl sharpened into something darker. “Yeah?” His voice came out in a growl. “I bet I could break you first, #$!%er.”

The glass shuddered, trembled, and…. cracked wide open.

Chapter Text

The glass split with a sound like nails on chalkboard.

Although it didn’t shatter like normal glass; it peeled back, folding like a door until two figures stepped through as if walking out of a portrait.

Pomni went rigid. The first thing out was her—only… not. 

The Pomni that crept forward kept her hat, bells, even the pompoms- but the jingle of the bells sounded hollow and soulless. She moved with slow, deliberate grace, bones cracking as she pinned them with hungry eyes. 

Her voice came out, and oh my god her voice.

To say it sounded like a %#!$ed up version of Pomni’s was an understatement.

“Don’t run, friends,” the reflected Pomni crooned, syllables dragging. “We haven’t begun to play.”

Pomni’s fingers tightened around the hems of Jax’s skirt.

Then Jax’s reflection stepped out.

Pomni never knew a bunny could look so much like a predator.

“Pathetic little thing,” it said, his voice was Jax’s but not. It was wrong. 

The words dripped in the thick air, slow and contemptuous. “He should’ve left you when he had the chance. Would’ve saved us the trouble.”

Pomni’s reflection sneered at this. “Come on then, Jax. Where’s the fun in that?” She turned her hypnotic gaze towards the pair. “Now we get to have fun with them ourselves.”

Real Jax’s body recoiled. He shook his head, as if he could clear the evil doppelgängers just like he could clear his mind. He growled and Pomni swears that she never heard such a sound from him. 

Unlike the evil clone’s noises, which were devoid of emotion, Jax sounded irate. 

 “You’re right, it would be fun” Reflection-Jax conceded with a laugh.

It studied the jester.

“So soft. So small.” Its eyes were ravenous. “Would you scream, little Pomni? Would he beg while I—”

“Get her name out of your #%!$ing mouth.” Jax snarled.

A sob choked Pomni’s throat. The reflected Pomni tilted her head and smiled. 

Was smiled the right word? 

Either way, she didn’t have time to think about it.

Reflection-Pomni circled the pair like a hungry shark, shamelessly eyeing Jax up and down.

"Don’t glare so hard, darling,” she crooned, voice dragging. “You’ll wrinkle that pretty face.”

Pomni flinched. That was her voice, twisted into something mocking, too sweet and too sharp all at once. But…

A cold thought stabbed through her- did it know? Did it know how she felt about Jax?

No. Not now. Not here.

Reflection-Jax’s grin spread wider, fangs flashing as it sidled up to Reflection-Pomni. It stepped forward, claws dragging with a screech down the mirrored wall. “Isn’t it cute? He thinks he can protect her. How brave.” It sneered.

Its gaze dropped to the real Pomni, slow and hungry and dripping with venom. “But you, Pomni? You’re a joke. A trembling, useless little thing.” 

It paused, leaning down until it was eye-level with Pomni.

 “You’d abstract if someone just looked at you long enough. Pathetic.”

Real Jax’s ears flicked back, his whole body going rigid. “I said,” his voice dropped to a gravelly growl, “get her name out of your mouth.”

The reflection only smirked, tilting his head in mock thought. “Pomni. Pomni. Pomni.” Each repetition dripped like poison. Daring him. Taunting him. “No, I don’t think I will.”

Jax snapped.

He lunged, claws slashing, and the sound that ripped out of him was more animal than anything else.

His reflection caught the strike with infuriating ease, their claws locking. Sparks skittered across the glass floor as they shoved against each other, the surface groaning under the weight.

Reflection-Jax didn’t even flinch at the barbaric display.

“That’s all you’ve got?” It drawled. “and yet still she clings to you. Pathetic, isn’t it? I suppose weakness loves company.”

Pomni’s stomach churned. Her reflection slid closer. “He’ll leave you,” it whispered in a singsong voice. “He wants to. You know he does.”

“Shut up!” Pomni’s fists balled in Jax’s skirt, knuckles white as she tried not to betray how much she was shaking.

Reflection-Pomni tilted its head, grin splitting wide. “You know I’m right.”

Jax snarled and lunged, forcing his double back into the mirror with a thunderous crack. The reflection’s smile didn’t break. “She’ll figure it out eventually,” it hissed. “You can’t protect her.”

“Liar!” Jax spat, driving his claws deeper, as if he could draw blood from the clone.

The mirror shuddered, shards raining over the fighting bodies. Reflection-Pomni let out a sadistic cackle, faltering as the cracks spread to its frame.

“Enough.” Jax’s voice was devoid of anything but pure hatrid. With one last shove, he slammed his reflection’s mirror, hard, and broke the frame. The doubles shrieked, noises that sounded more like a broken vinyl than anything human, as they crumbled into shards.

Finally, a horrifyingly loud silence.

Pomni realized she was still clinging to Jax’s skirt, and trembling. She felt sick to her stomach. The reflection’s words echoed in the back of her head..

Pomni swallowed hard, pulling the ruined ruffles from her fists, voice barely above a whisper. “…Jax?”

He didn’t answer. Her skin was pressed into his fur and she felt him… shaking.

Is he scared?

Why shouldn’t he be, dumb#%$?

You are.

The silence continued.

Pomni didn’t dare breathe too loudly, like the reflections might come back if she made a sound. The shattered glass on the floor dissolved into nothing, as if it hadn’t been there at all.

Her knees buckled, and she sank to the ground with far less than what could be considered elegance.

It’s over.

It has to be.

She blinked up at Jax, but he hadn’t moved. His hackles were still half-raised, shoulders tense, chest heaving like he’d just run a marathon. 

Pomni dug her nails into her knees in a desperate attempt to stop them from quivering, unable to do anything but repeat, ”Jax.”

He still wouldn’t look at her. Just dragged one shaking claw down his face, forcing his breathing into something steadier. “Figures,” he muttered, voice rough and heavy. “Even my reflection’s a pain in the #$%.”

Pomni almost laughed, but the dawning realization that his joke was a deflection shook her. How often…?

The walls groaned, cutting off her thoughts. All around them, the mirrors pulsed with a sickly light as the cracks stitched themselves shut. 

Jax paused, then wiped his apron like he could shake the fight out of the fabric, and stalked forward. He still looked shaken, but his gate once again exuded a sense of control— albeit forced.

Pomni trailed after him, still clinging closer than she’d admit. Every mirror they passed, she couldn’t help but glance, terrified she’d see her own face twitch wrong again. Each reflection stared back in perfect sync, but it didn’t ease the knot in her stomach.

The pair walked wordlessly, the only sounds being the quiet shuffle of Pomni’s boots, the click of Jax’s heels, his irritated huffing, and her occasional muffled sobs.

Finally, a glow appeared ahead.

Not the warped shine of mirrors that had become so normal, but real light. Warm, golden, glowy. It looked, and felt, like a halo.

Pomni almost cried with relief. “Oh, an exit! Jax, it’s-”

“Yeah, I see it,” he muttered, though his pace quickened and his ears perked up.

They stepped through together.

The circus snapped back into place, gaudy and bright and clashing as ever. But it wasn’t mirrors.

Thank god.

Confetti exploded overhead.

“Bravo!” Caine boomed, twirling his cane, grin so wide it nearly split his face. “Encore! What a spectacular performance from my marvelous little mishaps! Why, your ratings would’ve gone through the roof… if only we had them! Ha!”

Pomni flinched like he’d slapped her across the face.

Bubble floated lazily at Caine’s side, voice chipper. “Her reflection smiled prettier.”

Her stomach turned. She wanted to vomit.

“Shut it,” Jax snapped, voice wobbling. He didn’t even look at them, just stormed past.

Caine either didn’t notice or didn’t care. 

Probably the latter, Pomni thought bitterly.

He continued. “Onward! Rest, relaxation, whatever you need before our next delightful adventure! I’ll go check on your friends.” With a puff, he vanished.

The grounds fell silent.

Pomni stayed on the floor, arms wrapped tight around her knees. When she finally dared to look up, Jax was making his way towards his room.

She wanted to thank him. To say something. Anything. But the words stuck.

He’ll leave you.

He wants to.

She shook her head, hard, forcing herself to move. “Wait up!”

Her legs felt like jello as she struggled to catch up. She clutched his skirt again before she even realized what a habit it had become for her. Jax glanced down at her grip, but he didn’t say anything. 

His gaze… softened.

The two of them walked on in silence. The digital checkered floor stretched forever, harsh and dizzying, but at least it wasn’t mirrors anymore.

For now.

Chapter Text

The circus had never looked so mercifully normal.

Pomni staggered through the hallway behind Jax, boots dragging against the familiar checkered floor. She kept convincing herself that if she glanced at the walls, the mirrors would be back, her reflection would return to attack again. But every time she looked, the walls were the same red and gold plaster.

She shook herself out and forced a chuckle. “Isn’t it great? The halls don’t want to eat us anymore.” 

Stupid, why would you say that?

Like you did anything to help when they did.

Jax brushed past wordlessly, fists clenching and unclenching at his side. He looked like he’d rather set fire to the circus than be inside it. He huffed and quickened his pace, eyes set on his door.

Pomni’s heart clenched. 

Part of her wanted to let him go- just slink into her own room, curl up under the sheets, and pretend the day never happened. 

But the memory of his reflection’s voice haunted her, and the way Jax had fought was burned into her brain.

Fought for her.

To protect her.

And what did you do?

Coward.

“Jax—wait!”

The word leapt out before she could stop herself.

He froze, hand already on his doorknob. His shoulders rose and fell once, stiff. The eyeliner made his expression all the more unreadable. 

Finally, he glanced back, “What.”

Pomni fidgeted with the hem of her tunic. “Shouldn’t we… I don’t know, check on the others first? Ragatha, Zooble, Gangle… what if they’re—”

He stopped. When he turned, his glare could’ve sliced Pomni in two.

“They’re fine.” His voice came out low, controlled. “They’ve always been fine.”

Pomni faltered. “You don’t know that. What if the mirrors—”

“Then they’ll deal with it,” he snapped, ears twitching with annoyance. “I’m not babysitting.”

Pomni flinched at the bite in his tone. “That’s not fair, Jax. They’d worry about us if—”

“They’d worry about you,” Jax cut in. “Nobody’s losing sleep over me.”

“That’s not true,” she insisted. “You don’t have to keep acting like you don’t care. I-I…” she swallowed, cracking her knuckles. “I saw you back there. You—”

“Don’t.” His golden eyes glowed as they pinned her. “Whatever you think you saw, it wasn’t that.”

The ugly silence stretched. Pomni’s fingers twisted in her sleeves, heat prickling her face. 

You #$!% everything up.

Words tumbled out, faster and uglier than she intended. “Why are you always like this?”

Jax’s jaw clenched, teeth grinding. His gaze flicked down at the ridiculous skirt, the wrinkled lace Pomni had been clinging to for dear life. His laugh came bitter, hollow.

“Because, when I get stuck in this.” He tugged at the apron sharply, ears flattening. “They don’t care. They laugh at me.”

He crumpled the fabric under his own claws.

“They don’t care about me.” He reiterated.

Pomni winced. Ragatha’s backhanded smile, Zooble’s snort, the way Gangle had covered her face replayed in her brain. 

Her silence answered him. He shook his head, turning the knob. “Figures. Easier to be the joke on my own terms.”

The door creaked.

“I didn’t laugh.”

Jax froze. Just for a heartbeat, but she caught it—the faint stiffness in his shoulders, the pause in his breath. He scoffed without turning around.

“Congratulations. You want a medal for basic decency?”

Pomni flinched. “That’s not what I meant. I just… I don’t think it’s true, what you said. That nobody cares.”

Finally, he turned to meet her gaze, a tired smile plastered on his face.. “You really are new here, huh?”

Pomni hugged herself. “So what? You think if you keep being cruel first, it won’t hurt when someone else is? You’re just making yourself miserable.”

His face betrayed nothing. “Better me than them.”

Her eyes pleaded with him. “You don’t have to push everyone away. Not me.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. Jax’s ears twitched, and for a moment she thought- hoped- he might actually talk to her.

Instead, his grin curved viciously. “Adorable. You think you’re special.”

Pomni’s nails dug into her sleeves, fighting to stay calm. “I didn’t say that! I just—”

“You just what?” His voice interrupted scathingly. “Want to save me? Fix me? Hate to break it to you, Pomni, but you’re not that important.”

Her stomach dropped. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, heat stinging behind her eyes. 

“So save it.”

Pomni’s lip quivered, the words spilling before she could stop them.

“You’re proving it right.”

That made him freeze. For half a second, his smirk faltered. Then his eyes narrowed into furious slits.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her heart thudded so loud she swore he could hear it. She desperately hoped he couldn’t.  “I do. You’d rather tear yourself apart than admit anyone cares about you!”

The heat of the moment clouded her better judgement, and the words slipped out before she could stop them. “Well I do, Jax! I care. I care so much.”

Oh god.

Jax froze. 

Pomni’s chest heaved, heat crawling up her neck. She doubled down. “I-I know you’ll probably laugh at me, or-or twist it into some joke, but it’s true. You don’t have to believe me, but…” she awkwardly wrung out her hat. “I need you to hear it.”

The silence was unbearable. His ears stayed flat, his claws flexing like he didn’t know whether to rake them down the door or through his own fur or through her.

Finally, he scoffed. Quiet. Too quiet. “You’re out of your mind, Pom.”

Pomni winced. “Maybe. But I’m still here.”

Did he just call her Pom?

His golden eyes snapped back to hers, pinning her like a dartboard target. For a moment she thought he might tear her apart- destroy her the way his reflection had. 

Instead, he let out a sharp, bitter laugh and shook his head.

“You’re unbelievable.” His voice came rough, like gravel in his throat. “This place’ll eat you alive.”

Pomni shook and desperately wished she could cling to his skirt to hold herself up. “I’d rather care and get hurt than pretend nothing matters.“

She contemplated. Barely daring to breathe, she added:

“I-I don’t want to be like you.”

The hallway seemed to shrink around them, the only thing that mattered was Jax’s gaze. Furious and outraged, more than Pomni had ever seen. It was clear she struck a nerve.

Then, without warning, he yanked his door open. “Good. Don’t.”

And he slammed it behind him, rattling the frame.

Pomni winced, recoiling. 

The echo vibrated through her bones. She stood there in the hall, trembling, cheeks burning hot.

Tears blurred her vision. Her breath hitched, uneven.

He’ll leave you. He wants to. You know he does.

She shook her head feebly. “No… no, that’s not…” Her voice cracked.

Her knees gave out. She slid down the wall, curling in on herself. She pressed her palms into her ears, as if she could physically drown the words out.

And then the tears came— ugly, choking, painful sobs she couldn’t stop. She smothered her face in her arm, desperately trying to silence herself, but to no avail. The sound filled the hallway.

She was alone.

She gasped through the sobs, comically large tears spilling down her cheeks. Even breathing hurt.

Pomni curled smaller, shaking.

“Even if you don’t believe me…” she whispered, and she couldn’t tell if it was for herself or for Jax. “…I care.”

The words broke as she wept.

Chapter Text

Pomni didn’t remember when the sobs dulled into hiccups, or when the hiccups slowed into ragged breaths.

Her head sagged against the wall, eyelids swollen and heavy. She tried to fight it, tried to stay awake in case Jax came back out, in case he—

But he didn’t.

The hallway stayed silent.

Eventually, the tide of sleep won. Her tearstained cheek hit the cold plaster floor.

………

Footsteps. Light, careful ones.

“Pomni?”

The voice made her stir, but she didn’t wake. Ragatha crouched down, her bright bow tilting as she looked Pomni over. The sight of the jester slumped there, eyes swollen, cheeks still streaked with tears, made her chest tighten. She didn’t need to ask what happened.

“%$!#,” Zooble muttered from behind her, crossing their arms and shaking their head. “Bet he didn’t even stick around.”

Gangle lingered further back, her comedy mask drooping. “Oh no… she’s been crying this whole time?” Her voice cracked, and she wiped at her face like she could somehow stop her own tears.

“Shh,” Ragatha hushed, scooping Pomni gently away from the wall. The poor girl barely stirred, only mumbling something broken in her sleep. Ragatha’s frown deepened. She pressed Pomni close and stood. “Let’s get her out of here.”

Zooble sighed, but they moved ahead, coaxing Gangle forward.

Ragatha laid Pomni on the big couch, easing her down against the cushions. Pomni curled instantly, her body releasing tension even in slumber.

“She looks wrecked,” Zooble observed, caught between rage and sympathy.

“Of course she does,” Ragatha whispered back, brushing Pomni’s bangs from her damp face. “That’s the problem.”

Gangle sniffled. “She doesn’t deserve this. She’s so… so sweet, and she tries so hard, and he just—” Her voice broke off.

Ragatha stroked Pomni’s hair, soft and steady, shushing the jester’s sleep-sobbing. “She’s not alone. She’s got us.” 

She paused, voice barely above a whisper. “I just wish she knew that.”

For a long while, they just sat there. Zooble leaned against the couch arm, staring at the floor. Gangle perched above them on the cushions, distractedly playing with their head pieces. Ragatha stayed right beside Pomni, fingers combing through her hair tenderly.

Pomni twitched in her sleep, her mouth moving like she was whispering. Ragatha leaned closer, catching it: “…I care…”

Ragatha’s heart squeezed. She whispered back, voice almost breaking, “We know, hon.”

Time passed in the fickle way it always did in the circus, slow and fast at the same time, never adding up to anything that made sense.

Zooble shifted, rubbing the back of their neck. Finally, they muttered, “I don’t get why she even bothers with him. He’s… he’s just—” They cut themselves off with a sharp exhale. “Whatever.”

“He’s cruel,” Gangle whispered, glancing side to side as if he was in the room. “But she still… she still…” Her ribbon fingers twisted anxiously.

“She sees the good,” Ragatha said softly, not taking her eye off Pomni. “She always does. Even with him.”

Zooble scoffed, angry but not at any of them. “Yeah, well, maybe that’s the problem.”

Pomni stirred again, curling tighter against the cushions. Her lips pursed, another whisper slipping out between her breaths, too faint to make out. Her mismatched eyelashes fluttered restlessly.

Ragatha reached and adjusted the blanket draped over the back of the couch, pulling it around Pomni’s shoulders. She smoothed it down with careful fingers, like tucking in a child. “Oh honey,” she murmured.

………

The door slammed shut behind him, hard. Did he do that? The echo rattled in his bones.

Jax staggered a few steps before his knees buckled, dropping him heavy onto the bed. His elbows dug into his thighs, gloves trembling against his fur.

The fight wouldn’t stop replaying. His reflection, cruel. Pomni’s voice, cracked and begging and sobbing. The sound burrowed deep under his skin, and he couldn’t breathe.

And the dress—god, the dress—every shift of lace burned in his ears, every stiff ruffle scraped his fur raw. The noise of it followed him, louder, sharper, until it drowned out everything else. He clamped his claws over his ears, pressing so hard that outside this place it would’ve drawn blood. But it didn’t shut up. Wouldn’t shut up.

The fabric clung tighter. Too tight. Too much. He yanked at it, tore at it, desperate to peel it off, but it refused to relent, smothering him.

His heart hammered. There was no air, no escape.

“Stop,” he snarled in a frenzy, but it broke halfway out, a cracked, useless sound. “Shut up!”

At what? Himself? The god awful dress? Pomni? His reflection? 

%$!#ing idiot.

He folded forward, claws tangled in the skirts, fur bristling, breath tearing out in shallow gasps. His ears rang, a high-pitched static tearing through him. His whole body trembled, muscles flexing, instincts begging him to fight, fight, fight—

But there was nothing to fight. Just him. Just this stupid, suffocating body.

And he hated it.

He hated himself.

Chapter Text

Pomni woke slowly, like dragging herself up from the bottom of the digital lake. 

Her head throbbed, eyes heavy, skin stiff with dried tears. For a second she didn’t remember where she was, and then it hit her in a mortifying, sickening wave. 

Except… she wasn’t in the hallway anymore.

Her cheek was pressed into a couch cushion, a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her body had curled tight, arms hugged to her chest, but… there was a gentle hand caressing her hair. She whimpered, involuntarily flinching from the physical touch.

She shifted, blinking.

Ragatha was perched next to her, chin resting in her hand, watching Pomni with quiet eyes that opened wider when she stirred.

“Hey, hon,” she whispered, like she was trying to coax a scared kitten. “You’re alright. You’re safe.”

Pomni’s throat closed. When did… how did…?

Movement to the side caught her eye. Zooble sat slouched on the rug, gaze locked on the floor like they hadn’t moved in hours. Gangle was curled above them on the couch, her ribbons tied up in anxious knots, comedy mask tilted sideways.

They’d all stayed.

Her chest squeezed so hard it hurt. “Why…” The word broke, throat raw from crying. She swallowed. “Why are you here?”

Zooble finally looked at her. Their face was unreadable, but their voice was tender.

“Because you didn’t deserve that.”

Pomni trembled. Her breath shook.

Ragatha tucked the blanket closer around her. It reminded her of his blanket. Jax. “You don’t have to explain, Pomni. We saw enough. We know.”

That was worse, somehow. Because what did they see? How pathetic had she looked, sobbing in the hallway like a petulent child? Her reflection’s words buzzed at the back of her head. He’ll leave you. He wants to. You know he does.

Her stomach twisted. She screwed her eyes, shutting out the memory. “It’s not… it’s not like that.”

Ragatha’s hand lingered near her shoulder. “Sweetheart,” she said with so much sympathy it made her sick.

Pomni desperately tried to steady herself, willing herself not to cry. She didn’t want their pity. She didn’t want anyone looking at her like that.

Zooble dragged a hand over their face, breaking the silence. “Look, I know it’s none of my business, but… he doesn’t get to talk to you like that.” Their voice wavered between anger and restraint.

Pomni shook her head fast, clutching the blanket tighter around herself. “It wasn’t—he didn’t—” The words tangled in her throat. They sounded pathetic even to her own ears.

Pomni buried her face in the blanket. She wanted to scream that they didn’t understand, that Jax wasn’t just cruel, that there was more to him than the jabs and insults and cockiness. But her chest caved in on itself, and nothing came out. 

Because what could she say?

Ragatha shifted slightly closer, carefully. “Sweetheart,” she said again, quieter this time. “Nobody here thinks less of you. If anything, we’re worried because… because we care.”

Pomni froze.

Her pulse kicked hard against her ribs. That word. Care. It felt like she kicked a bruise. Or, rather, an open wound.

“I…” Her voice was feeble, trailing off.

Ragatha hesitated, then offered gently, “Do you… want a hug?”

Pomni’s body reacted before her voice could—she flinched, shrinking deeper into the cushions, clutching it so tight her knuckles whitened. The silence was answer enough.

Ragatha softened, nodding. “That’s alright, hon.”

Pomni’s chest squeezed. Shame prickled under her skin. She hated being touched, always had. So then why—

Why did I let Jax?

The thought stole her. She hadn’t just let him touch her—she’d clung to him. Voluntarily. Her fists had twisted into his skirt until the lace tore, and still she hadn’t let go. She’d stayed pressed against him like her life depended on it.

Her throat closed, tears burning hot in her eyes again.

Pomni swallowed hard, wiping at her face with the edge of the blanket like that could erase the evidence.

“I’m fine,” she lied.

“Sure,” Zooble said, deadpan but not unkind. “And I’m a supportive team player in all of Caine’s adventures.”

Gangle made a small, strangled noise. “You are!” She insisted. “You just… um… express it differently.”

Zooble shrugged a shoulder. “Look, I don’t have a degree in ‘feelings’—”

“You don’t say,” Ragatha murmured.

“—but if someone talks to you like you’re disposable,” Zooble finished, “they don’t get more of your time.”

The sentence landed like a weight. Disposable.

He thought she was disposable.

Pomni’s fingers knotted in the blanket. “He doesn’t—” she traveled off, not believing her defense enough to finish it. She heard the wobble in her own voice and hated it. “It’s not that simple.”

Ragatha gentled, eyes softening. “It never is.”

Silence pooled. The circus hummed its usual low, artificial hum, like a refrigerator that never shut off. Pomni fixed her gaze on a seam in the couch cushion and breathe like it was the first time having oxygen. Another thought jabbed at her.

You went to him. You held on. You chose him.

Ragatha shifted. “Pomni, sweetie… do you want tea? Water?”

“N-no. I—” She swallowed again. “Thank you.”

Gangle edged closer, careful to keep a respectful distance. “Do you want me to… sit right here? I can… be quiet. I-I won’t even look at you, I’ll just be drawing,” she offered tentatively.

Pomni nodded, a tiny movement. “Yeah. That’s okay.”

Gangle’s ribbons loosened, relief at feeling useful washing her face.

Eventually Pomni’s breathing found a rhythm that didn’t hurt. The puffy ache around her eyes cooled. The blanket was a cocoon. Safe adjacent.

Ragatha spoke first, voice low. “We can set boundaries for you, if you want. We can tell him to back off. Or we can just… be around more. You won’t have to be alone with him.”

Pomni’s heart lurched. She shook her head too fast. “No—don’t—please don’t do that.”

Three pairs of eyes flicked to her. The mixed but intense emotional reactions startled her. 

She muttered weakly: “he was fine, for a bit. Pleasant.”

Zooble only looked at her. “Until he wasn’t.”

She didn’t have a response for them.

Ragatha reached to adjust the blanket and paused, catching herself before she touched Pomni. She smiled instead. “Then we’ll follow your lead.”

Pomni let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d trapped. “Thanks.”

“Always,” Ragatha said.

Pomni tucked in her knees, eyes peeking over the blanket. 

The tension in the air dissipated as the conversation shifted from Jax to… just about anything else. Pomni felt calmed by the sound of Ragatha’s kind voice, Zooble’s chuckling, and the ever present scribbling of Gangle’s pencil. For a moment, she let herself believe she was safe. A smile tugged at her lips..

Then, footsteps.

Aggressive. Loud.

Pomni’s chest locked.

All four of them looked up at once at the disturbance echoing through the circus. 

Jax. 

Still in the ridiculous maid dress, lace crumpled, eyes sharp and feral. He froze halfway into the room, gaze flicking from Pomni to the others and back again.

The silence was suffocating.

Jax’s eyes found hers.

And the room went still.

Chapter Text

Ragatha’s voice cut through the air. “What did you do to her?”

Pomni jolted, chest tightening.

Jax froze in the doorway, lace hanging limply in tatters. His ears twitched, then flattened, his gaze darting between them all like a cornered animal. “Figures,” he muttered, low. “You all think it’s my fault.”

Zooble was up before Pomni could react, planting themself square in front of the couch. “Isn’t it? Look at her.” They gestured toward Pomni without turning. “Crying herself sick. You did that.”

Pomni shrank back, words clogging in her throat. No, it wasn’t like that. Not exactly.

She wanted to scream.

Jax’s jaw clenched, a weak laugh tearing from his chest. “Right, right. All my fault. As usual.” His claws flexed at his sides, restless, like they needed something to shred. His breathing was irregular and his eyes were panicked.

Ragatha rose too, stepping forward, hands on her hips. “If you don’t care about her, fine. But don’t you dare come back in here and act like it didn’t happen.”

Pomni’s nails dug crescents into the blanket. Stop, please stop—

Jax’s voice snapped, but it shook. “You don’t know a $#!% thing.”

His chest hitched, hackles standing as his eyes started around the room.

They thought he was angry, mean, evil.

Pomni saw him, though.

He was spiraling.

He looked like, well, a prey animal. Cornered. Writhing. 

Terrified.

And all she could do was sit there, heart hammering, watching it happen. Watching him unravel under their accusations, watching his tortured expression.

Zooble took another step forward, squaring their shoulders and squinting. “Then enlighten us. What do we know, huh? That you tear her down every chance you get? That you hide behind sarcasm and cruelty but ‘oh it’s not my fault’?”

Jax’s breathing hitched sharper, chest jerking like he couldn’t get enough air. He dragged a shaking claw down his face, laugh breaking high and thin.

 “Cute. Real cute. Go ahead—pile it on. You want a monster? Fine. I’m already the freak stuck in a god#%!$ maid dress. Might as well make me the villain too.”

Ragatha’s anger was laced with disappointment. “This isn’t a joke, Jax. She needed you. You abandoned her.”

Pomni flinched. No. That wasn’t what happened. That wasn’t—

Jax’s eyes flickered, wild, pupils narrowed into slivers. His gloves clawed at the skirt like he was trying to rip it off his body. “Shut up,” he rasped.

Gangle whimpered, her ribbons pulling tight as she shook her head. “See? He’s not even listening.”

Pomni couldn’t breathe. She saw every word as if it physically assaulted him, pushing him further into a spiral.

She was the only one who knew.

The only one who saw it.

Her voice tore out before she could stop it. “STOP!”

The room froze.

Pomni’s chest heaved, tears pricking her eyes.

The sound of her own voice rattled in her ears, louder than she meant it to be. Meaner. Her throat burned.

All three of them turned, startled, but she didn’t care. Her eyes locked on Jax, still clawing at the lace, chest heaving like he’d choke on the air if he tried to swallow it. His ears flicked toward her, shaky, like he wasn’t sure she was real.

“Stop talking.” Her voice trembled, but held conviction. “You’re not helping. You’re making it worse.”

Zooble began to move forward, but Pomni snapped her head toward them, glare made of daggers that stopped them in their tracks. Her fists clenched. “I told you—I told you to let me handle this!”

None of them moved.

Pomni turned back to the rabbit, heart hammering. 

Jax was still trembling, claws buried in the ruffles of his dress, but he’d stilled at her voice. His chest hitched, ragged, but he was looking at her now—wild, feral, yes, but looking.

She swallowed hard, forcing air into her own lungs like maybe if she managed it, he could too. 

“Jax,” she said softer this time. “Breathe. Just… breathe with me, okay?”

She put a hand on his fluffy chest.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. He inhaled, and his breath hitched. Pomni couldn’t tell if he would laugh, snarl, or collapse right there on the floor.

But his eyes stayed on her.

Pomni inhaled slow, shaky. She exaggerated it, so he’d see. Her lungs burned from holding too much air, but she forced it steady and let it out in a trembling rush. “Like that. In and out. Just… with me.”

Jax’s claws flexed. The lace snapped under his grip. His first attempt was sharp and useless, dragging too much air too fast. He wheezed, ears pinning tighter. He looked a bit like a wet cat. A scared, wet cat.

Pomni shook her head, desperate. “Try again. Please.”

The circus seemed to hold its breath, the only sounds were their breathing.

She didn’t take her eyes off of him.

The world was just them.

Finally, finally, Jax’s shoulders lifted in a slower drag of air. Shaky. Rough. But closer.

Pomni’s chest loosened, tears slipping down her cheeks. “That’s it. You’re okay. Just stay with me.”

Another breath. Not perfect, but slower.

Her relief almost toppled her. “Good. That’s good.”

Jax’s gaze flicked away, wild, then back to her, like the room was too much and she was all he could bear. 

“You’re not a villain,” she whispered, so quiet she wasn’t sure the others even heard it. Her throat ached, but the words pushed out anyway. “You’re just… you.”

His claws loosened their grip on the skirt. Just a little.

His chest seized again, but he dragged in another shaky inhale, trying to match hers.

Pomni nodded through her tears, whispering: “That’s it. I’ve got you.”

Jax’s claws loosened, finally falling limp at his sides. His gaze flicked down to her hand, then back to her, sharp edges dulled by exhaustion.

Pomni’s own body sagged with the effort of holding him steady. Her hand lingered against his chest a moment longer before she pulled it back.

“See?” she coaxed. “You’re still here.”

Silence pressed in. 

His ears twitched, but he didn’t argue. Didn’t crack a joke. Just breathed.

Behind them, Zooble exhaled sharply, like they’d been holding it in the whole time. “Pomni…” they started. “You—”

She snapped her head toward them, the words firm and final. “Don’t.”

Three pairs of eyes froze on her. For once, none of them looked smug or patronizing or pitying—they looked stunned.

Pomni’s voice shook, but she forced the words out anyway. “You think you’re helping, but you weren’t. You were making it worse. You don’t get it. You don’t see him like I do.” She shook her head. “You don’t see him.”

“Pomni—” Ragatha tried gently.

“No.” Pomni’s fists tightened around the blanket. “I told you to let me handle it. He doesn’t need all of you ganging up on him. And I don’t need you deciding for me, either.” Her chest heaved, but she couldn’t stop. “I’m not a child. I can take care of myself.”

The silence afterward was heavy. Zooble rolled their eyes, but didn’t dare speak. Gangle fidgeted, and even Ragatha’s painted-on smile faltered.

Pomni turned back to Jax. His ears were still pinned, but his eyes hadn’t left her since she spoke. She stood, knees trembling, and offered him her hand.

“Come on,” she said, voice still cracking but edged with kindness. “Let’s go.”

For a heartbeat, she thought he’d reject it—that he’d sneer, shove it away, shove her away. But instead, his clawed glove twitched and hesitantly closed around hers. 

His grip was awkward and uneven, like he didn’t know how to hold hands with someone, but it was there. Real.

Together, they moved past the others. The silence was painfully heavy but nobody spoke a word. Nobody dared.

And for once, her hand pulled them first.

Chapter Text

Pomni tugged Jax forward, desperately hardening her shaking knees. His hand was clumsy around hers, clammy and unsure, but he followed.

No one stopped them. 

Pomni didn’t dare look back. She didn’t want to see Ragatha’s sad eyes, or Zooble’s frown, or Gangle’s pity. 

She didn’t want to see anything except him.

Jax stumbled beside her, ears twitching but still plastered flat to his head. The skirt clumsily brushed her head a couple times, and each time he muttered a half-formed apology.

He’s apologizing? 

Pomni just squeezed his hand tighter and kept walking.

Her voice came out hoarse, breaking the silence. “Almost there. Just… keep going with me.”

When they reached her door, Jax hesitated. His breathing spiked again, sharp and ragged, but Pomni pressed her free hand against the wood and pushed it open herself. She guided him inside.

The door shut behind them with a dull click.

For a moment, Jax just stood there. His hand twitched in hers, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to pull away or hold tighter. His ears flickered across her room, glowing in the dim light.

Pomni’s chest tightened. He looked like he might bolt.

She tugged him gently toward the bed. “Sit. Please.”

Oh, he sat all right.

Instead of moving forward, Jax dropped straight down to his knees, right there by the door.

It wasn’t graceful by any means. It wasn’t even really sitting. More like his legs had just given out under him.

His knees bounced restlessly. The fabric of the dress swished noisily with the movement, and he raked his claws over it as if he could shut it up.

Pomni sat beside him, still clutching his hand. She wanted to tell him to stop, that it’s ok, that he’s safe with her. 

But her throat clenched and nothing came.

Instead, she breathed. Slow, deliberate. Exaggerated again. She didn’t instruct him again, but she leaned close enough so that maybe he’d catch her rhythm.

For a long minute, all he did was tremble. His breaths came jagged, shallow, scared. 

But then, slowly, unevenly, he caught one of her inhales and matched it. Then another. And another.

Pomni loosened her grip a little, only to squeeze again. “See? You’re… you’re here.”

Jax snorted, but his claws finally stilled in his lap. “Congratulations. You saved the damsel in distress.” He muttered with humor that rang hollow.

Her heart twisted. She didn’t answer.

Because if she did, she might scream at him. Or cry again. Or both.

Instead, she just sat there on the floor with him, their hands locked awkwardly together. Her thumb shifted against his glove, and it hit her that oh my god I’m holding hands with him im holding hands wi-

Shut up, brain.

Finally, she swallowed, her voice scraping out. “You don’t… you don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” His tone was dry, exhausted.

“Make a joke. Pretend it’s nothing. I’m not—” her throat tightened, awkwardly adding, “I’m not laughing at you.”

That earned her a glance. His ears flicked back, and his gaze darted away again. “Yeah, well. Everybody else is.”

Pomni’s chest ached. She thought of Ragatha, Gangle, and Zooble’s amusement. Caine’s insensitivity. And she thought of him, scared and vulnerable and so alone.

“I don’t,” she said softly. “I didn’t.”

Jax’s jaw tightened, like he didn’t know what to do with that. His claws twitched against the ruffles, then stilled.

Pomni let out a shaky breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “You don’t have to be this… bad guy. Not with me.”

For a moment, his laugh almost bubbled up, but it died in his throat. He stared at their intertwined hands instead.

The silence thickened the air. Jax’s claws twitched once, then went still again. He stared so hard at the floor that Pomni thought it might break.

Pomni shifted.  “I… I went to you, you know. When it got bad. I held on because I wanted to.”

The admission burned, humiliating and liberating at once. She clutched the blanket tighter with her free hand.

“You think nobody cares, but I do. Even if you hate that. Even if you hate me.”

Jax didn’t move.

For a second, she thought he’d pull away. But instead, his grip shifted.

He’s going to let go. He’s going to push me-

He grasped her hand even tighter.

He muttered, barely audible. “You’re an idiot.”

The words landed like a punch.

Pomni froze. Her chest squeezed so hard it hurt, her breath stalling in her throat. That voice—no, not his. The reflection’s voice. Coward. Idiot. Useless. The cruel chorus crawled back under her skin.

Her vision blurred. Her nails dug into the blanket and she began to tremble.

Jax’s grin faltered when he glanced sideways and saw her shaking, eyes wide, tears forming.

“…Hey, hey. No, I’m-.” His voice cracked. “I didn’t mean—”

Pomni shook her head fast, desperate, trying to block out both voices at once. His, theirs, all of it. “I know,” she rasped, but the voices grew louder. 

He wants to leave you.

You know he does.

Pathetic.

Guilt flickered across his face.

He stammered, desperate and uneven “Not like them. I’m…” he paused. “I’m sorry.”

Pomni couldn’t hear him. Her breaths came sharp and shallow as she shook. The reflections’ voices still rang in her ears.

Jax shifted beside her, fist clenching uselessly against his knees. He glanced at her once, then away fast, like the sight of her trembling was too much.

 “…Hey. Uh.” His voice cut, stumbling. “Remember what you told me? Back there? About… breathing?”

Pomni’s throat clenched. Her lungs felt like they’d collapsed.

“Yeah, well.” He dragged in a deliberately loud breath—messy and uneven. He let it out hard. “Do that. You know. Breathe. With me.”

Her attempt came out a broken hiccup, and his ears pinned tighter. “That’s… that’s fine. Just… keep trying.”

He tried again, another exaggerated inhale, and this one sounded so forced it almost made her laugh.

Almost.

But it was enough to pull her through another shaky exhale. 

Then another. 

The reflections dulled in her mind, just a little.

“You’re—uh. You’re doing good. Better than I was, anyway.”

Pomni’s eyes stung. She studied him, blinking away spots.

He scratched the back of his neck, muttering.  “You… you know I was joking, right? That whole ‘idiot’ thing. It’s what I do. I’m—” he let out a shaky snort, “—I’m the funny one, remember?”

The words landed clumsy, awkward, but… sweet.

Pomni let out a weak, watery laugh in spite of herself. It was music to his ears.

“You’re… really bad at this.”

He snorted, defensive. 

“Yeah, well, so are you. Guess that makes two of us.”

Another  shaky laugh slipped out.

“Idiot.” She whispered.

Chapter Text

The circus’s programmed sunrise crawled across the floor—pale, mechanical, and just shy of convincing.
Pomni blinked awake to static in her ears, and the quiet weight of someone beside her.

Jax.

They’d fallen asleep on the floor, slumped against the wall. His head leaned back, and hers rested on his shoulder. 

Jax’s skirt pooled around them. The daily refresh smoothed its wrinkles and tears to look as good as new, but it still clung stubborn and unremovable to his skin.

She didn’t move. Hardly even breathed. For once, everything felt… still.
She lost track of how long she sat like that, just watching him. His breathing came in soft little puffs, his fur stirring faintly with each one. The lace of his dress brushed against her cheek.

Eventually, his ear twitched. Pomni looked away like she’d been caught doing something nefarious. Her ears burned.
He stirred with a groggy noise.

“…You’re still here?” he mumbled, sounding somehow both grumpy and half-asleep.

Pomni chided him with a laugh. “You’re in my room.”

“Right.” He blinked blearily, the gears turning behind his eyes. For a second, he looked like he might argue the logic of that. Then he gave up. 

He exhaled, halfway between a sigh and a groan, rubbing a hand over his face. “Guess that’s my bad.”

Something close to a smile tugged at her, unexpected. The way he said it wasn’t quite teasing, and his voice was edged with more honesty and realness than she was used to from him.

“It’s fine,” she said finally, though she wasn’t sure what part she was forgiving.

He shifted upright, lace rustling faintly. Realization flickered across his face, and he flinched.

The space between them felt heavier with each breath, thick with tension. She opened her mouth, then shut it again. 

Finally, she managed, soft and cautious: “You’re okay?”
He nodded, then hesitated, the motion turning into more of a shrug. “Define okay.”

Pomni’s hand twitched against the floor, inches from his, and for a heartbeat he looked like he might reach for it.

“Thanks,” he muttered. “For… yeah.”
Pomni smiled faintly, not meeting his eyes. “You’re welcome.”

Another silence. Then, almost at the same time:
“I should—”
“Yeah, I’ll—”

They both froze. Pomni’s laugh came out small and breathy, halfway between a giggle and a squeak. Jax rubbed at the back of his neck. “Don’t make it weird.”
“I-I’m not!” she stammered, though her face burned anyway.

The room felt smaller now, every sound amplified; the hum of the Circus walls, the floor creaking beneath their weight, the soft rustle of lace, her breath catching unevenly in her chest.

He cleared his throat, knees awkwardly knocking into each other as he rose. “So… uh. You gonna keep staring, or…?” 

Pomni blinked rapidly, bells chiming as she whipped her head away. “I wasn’t!” 

He raised an eyebrow, grinning. “You kinda were~” 

“I was… thinking!” She insisted, growing more scarlet. 

“Sure.” His voice was teasing again, but lighter than before. Tentative. Like dipping your toe in a lake before diving in.

Pomni studied him. The way his shoulders had drooped, how the edge in his voice had dulled overnight. How human he looked, despite being a cartoon rabbit.

Jax dusted off the skirt with exaggerated distaste. “Never wearing this again.”

Pomni’s lips tugged into a smile. “You said that yesterday,” she ribbed.

“Yeah, and I meant it twice as much now!”

She snorted. “You look good, anyway.”

He glanced at her, startled. Was that a blush?

What did I just say?!

A charged quiet settled between them.

He groped backwards, finding the door handle without breaking eye contact. “I should, uh… probably go. Before I-” he stopped himself, ears flushing. “-say something dumb.”

Pomni let out a nervous little laugh. “Too late.”

He huffed, low and embarrassed. “Yeah. Kinda figured.”

When he glanced back at her, his scoff died in his throat. Her bubbly laugh, her twinkling pinwheel eyes, all of it too close, too much.

His gaze flicked less than discreetly from her eyes to her mouth and back again. Then he looked away. Fast.

“Don’t get sappy on me,” he muttered, a grin creeping back onto his face.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said with a small laugh. Her head felt fuzzy.

He snorted, shaking his head, and slipped out the door.
The click echoed. Pomni realized she was still smiling.

A strange flutter caught somewhere in her chest, as if her code had stuttered.

…What was that?!

_________________________

The hallway outside was already awake when Pomni finally gathered the nerve to leave her room.
Ragatha’s voice carried first, cheerful and forced. Zooble’s, lower, sharp. Gangle’s soft giggle behind them, and Kinger’s- slightly disconnected from them all.

Pomni hesitated at the corner. Her palms itched and she prayed her face had returned to the same ghostly white.
When she stepped into the main room, all four of them turned.

“Hey! You’re up,” Ragatha chirped, her smile a little too wide. “We, uh—didn’t see you after… last night.”
Pomni’s stomach dropped. “Yeah. I, uh… went to bed.”
Zooble’s single eye narrowed. “With company?”

Pomni nearly choked. “W-what?!”
Zooble shrugged, unfazed. “Just saying. Convenient timing.”

Before she could sputter something else—

“Don’t start rumors, Zoob. I was busy.”

Ragatha’s smile faltered at the sound of Jax’s voice. “Busy doing… what?”
“Contemplating war crimes. Against this outfit specifically,” he said flatly, tugging at one of the stubborn bits of lace clinging to his sleeve. “Real character-building stuff.”

Zooble snorted, and Gangle giggled. The air loosened just enough, as if everyone was ready to put the heavy events of yesterday on the back burner of the burning kitchen that was the Digital Circus.
Pomni risked a glance at Jax. He caught it.

For half a second, they held eye contact. It lingered longer than it should have.
Then Jax smirked. “What? Staring again?”
Her face went red instantly. Great. “No!”
“Sure,” he said, tail flicking behind him. “You kinda were.”

Ragatha looked between them, the edge of her smile tightening with something that wasn’t quite amusement. “Anyway!” she said quickly, clapping her hands. “Caine’s calling everyone to the main stage soon. A big announcement, apparently!”

Pomni’s head snapped up. “Announcement?”

Ragatha nodded. “Mm-hm! Something about a new act,” she added, her gaze brightening as it shifted from Jax to Pomni. “He wouldn’t say what it was, but he seemed pretty proud of himself.”

Pomni’s stomach turned.
Because of course there’d be an “announcement.”
Never a dull moment.

Her gaze found Jax again — who, for all his talk about staring, was doing so himself.
Her fingers twitched, remembering the rhythm of his heart under her palm. 

This time, he didn’t look away.

Chapter Text

The speakers crackled overhead, bright and too cheerful.
“Attention, my digital darlings! Gather your smiles and steel your hearts... the new act begins now!”

The floor dropped out beneath her before she could react.

The echo of Caine’s voice lingered in the air, warped by distance:

“Each of you will receive three lives—don’t waste them!”

Then static swallowed the rest.

Pomni barely had time to breathe before the ground recompiled under her feet. The brightness of the main room gave way to a sky that wasn’t quite a sky stretching overhead. Windless, still, too perfect.

Pomni blinked at the empty expanse. Across the clouds, holographic images of each avatar shimmered faintly, with three red hearts below each of them.

“Okay,” she whispered. “So that’s new.”

Her own voice sounded wrong. Even in the vast landscape, it  didn’t echo. It just stopped.

A shimmer flickered near her hand—a burst of confetti, and then the weight of something materialized in her palm. She looked down. A gun.

She turned it over, inspecting it with shock. Why do I have a gun?!

It almost looked like a toy- glossy plastic molded into pastel curves, stars embossed along the barrel. The handle was too smooth, the trigger too small, like it had never been meant for real hands. Yet when she lifted it, the shape fit her grip exactly, as if the world had measured her first. A perfect toy for a perfect little player.

She hated how natural it felt.

The safety hummed when she brushed it, like static against her fingertips. It felt harmless until she imagined it firing at someone she knew—Ragatha, Zooble, Jax—and suddenly it didn’t feel harmless at all.

A shot cracked somewhere in the distance, shrill and cartoonish, followed by a chime and a faint digital pop. Someone had already lost a life.

Far off, a single balloon burst into pixels—purple and blue; Zooble’s colors. The fragments drifted upward, dissolving against the white sky. Pomni’s gaze followed them until it caught on Zooble’s holographic portrait hanging above the clouds—only two hearts now glowed beneath their portrait.

Her stomach twisted.

The silence that followed was worse than the noise.

Pomni waited, half-expecting Caine’s voice to blare out again with applause or commentary, but nothing came. 

She started walking, though she wasn’t sure where to. The ground beneath her was made of something that looked like grass but felt like fabric under her shoes, too smooth and too clean. The sky stretched endlessly, soft gradients of pink and cream looping over and over like a painted ceiling that forgot where to end. 

There wasn’t anywhere to hide. Just wide, colorless plains broken up by distant carnival props: an overturned teacup, a Ferris wheel, the cracked mouth of a clown tunnel yawning open. All of it frozen, half-rendered, like the world had loaded just enough for her to exist in it and nothing more.

Pomni stopped, gripping the toy-gun tighter.

Another shot echoed, closer this time. It bounced wrong across the landscape, directionless, like the sound couldn’t decide where to come from. A flicker of red light flashed behind one of the paper cranes, then vanished.

She crouched instinctively, though there was nothing to crouch behind.

The air pulsed. A voice carried across it, faint but unmistakable — dry, familiar, laced with disbelief.

“Figures. Caine was quaking in his boots to put us in the Hunger Games.”

Pomni’s heart stumbled over itself. She turned toward the sound, already knowing.

He stepped into view, brushing confetti from his sleeve. Even here, the lace clung to him.

“Jax?” she called, voice thinner than she meant. She sounded as scared as she felt, and cringed at the sound.

He looked up. For a moment, both of them froze.

“Well,” he said at last, voice rough. “This is… new.”

Pomni tried to laugh, but it came out brittle. “You got dropped here too?”

“Yeah. Hallway vanished, lights went white—then boom.”

He hefted a weapon in his hands. It was oversized, bright yellow, and shaped like a child’s plastic machine gun, complete with a sticker that said SUPER BUBBLE SHOOTER 3000! across the side. “Apparently I won the heavy artillery.”

Despite herself, Pomni snorted. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Right? I was hoping for something subtle.”

She eyed him with a playful tease, “I doubt that.”

He gave the toy a dubious look. The barrel spun idly, whirring with an innocent chime before settling again.

Pomni eyed it warily. “Please tell me it doesn’t actually work.”

He tilted it toward the sky and squeezed the trigger. The gun emitted a cheerful pop!—followed by a blast that sent a cloud of confetti and digital dust spiraling upward, loud enough to make the ground vibrate.

Pomni flinched. “Jax!”

“Okay,” he said, lowering it, ears flat. “So it works.”

The echo of the blast rippled outward, chasing itself across the endless plain until it thinned into silence.
Nothing answered.

Pomni stood frozen, the toy gun still clenched in her hands. “You’re insane!” she whisper-yelled.

Jax grinned wider. “Yeah, probably.”

Pomni exhaled slowly, forcing air into lungs that didn’t technically need it. “We should move. Before someone decides to figure out where that came from.”

“Yeah, good idea.” He slung the weapon over his shoulder. The barrel bumped against his back with a cheerful ding! that didn’t fit the moment. “Pick a direction, any direction! Anywhere that isn’t here.”

Pomni scanned the horizon. The world stretched flat and colorless in every direction.

She pointed toward a stray Ferris wheel. “That thing's at least tall enough to see from.”

“Sure,” he said, starting forward. “Let’s go.”

They walked together through the artificial stillness, their footsteps leaving faint indentations in the not-quite-grass. Each print flickered before fading, like the world couldn’t remember they’d been there.

Between them, the silence was deafening with all the things neither of them wanted to say.

Every so often the sky would glitch—a smear of color across the horizon, a burst of static, a glitching prop. Once, a distorted laugh track echoed faintly overhead, then warped into feedback before cutting out.

Pomni shivered. “I hate it when he doesn’t talk.”

“Hm?”

“Caine. When he goes completely quiet like this. It’s worse than when he’s watching.”

Jax kept his eyes ahead. “Yeah. I mean, we know he’s there. He always is.” he paused. “I wonder if he’s… waiting for something.”

The thought was chilling.

Up close, the Ferris wheel was worse. Its seats were suspended in midair, some half-formed, others frozen mid-swing. The metal was painted in impossible colors—blue and yellow bleeding together, outlines flickering between two frames that never quite agreed. It groaned softly, though the wind never blew.

Pomni stopped at the base of it, staring upward. “You think it’s safe?”

“No,” Jax said. 

He set the heavy toy gun against the ladder and began to climb. The rungs creaked under him, not from pressure but from a seeming sound file itself, looping at irregular intervals.

Pomni hesitated before following. Her hands left faint glowing prints on the metal that faded as soon as she moved.

From this height, the plains looked both 2D and 3D at the same time; both shallow and incredibly deep.

Pomni swallowed hard. “It looks so… wrong.”

Jax glanced over his shoulder, ears twitching. “Did it ever look right?”

She didn’t answer.

They reached a seat near the middle—one that flickered but didn’t vanish when they touched it. Jax sat first, testing the weight. It held. Questionably.

Jax broke the quiet first, low and uncertain. “You think anyone’s actually…playing along?”

Pomni looked down at the plains. Somewhere, far off, a small flash of color blinked and disappeared—someone firing, maybe. Maybe not. “I don’t know.”

“Figures.” He leaned back, staring at the half-rendered sky. “He just...calls it a game, and we’re supposed to act like that makes it okay.”

She glanced sideways at him. “Does it ever stop being a game?”

He didn’t answer. 

Then—distantly—a gunshot. Sharp and final. Ragatha’s portrait blinked red above the clouds, one heart darkening out.

Pomni’s throat tightened. “Two hearts left,” she murmured.

Jax’s hands flexed against the railing. Neither of them spoke.
“She’s careful,” Pomni said thoughtfully, though the words came out more like a plea. “She wouldn’t get hit that fast. Maybe it was an accident.”

“Yeah,” Jax muttered. “Because that makes it better.”

Pomni’s throat went dry. The windless air pressed down, heavy and still. “I just—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I hate this. The… waiting.”

Jax tilted his head toward her, ears half-folded. “You think we’re supposed to kill each other?”

The question hung there, blunt and terrifying.

Pomni stared down at her gun, the childish gloss reflecting her distorted face back at her. She breathed, “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”

“Good,” Jax said quietly. “Let’s keep it that way.”

For once, it didn’t sound like a joke.

Pomni glanced sideways. Jax’s profile was sharp in the false light, ears drooped low, eyes trained on some distant nothing. He looked… different like this. And not because of the dress.

Her chest tightened. 

It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Sitting next to him on a broken Ferris wheel in a world that isn’t even real… but feeling something so painfully, stupidly human.

Maybe that’s the cruelest part of all. How real it still feels anyway.

She looked away, gripping the safety bar. “Let’s just… stay up here a little longer,” she said softly.

Jax didn’t argue. He moved closer, and that was answer enough.

The world below them stayed still.

Chapter Text

The world below them stayed still.

For a while, Pomni almost forgot what a #%!$ed up adventure they were on. Jax’s fur brushed comfortingly against her shoulder, and the gap between them seemed to get smaller by the minute.

I actually… like this.

Is this.. is he…?

Her thoughts were cut off as the Ferris wheel gave a slow, groaning lurch. Pomni’s breath hitched.

Metal squealed against itself, the sound shrill and deafening.  The sky flickered — a soft, rolling ripple that passed through the horizon and kept going.

“Tell me you felt that,” Jax muttered.

She nodded, shaking. “It…. The map… it’s changing.”

The ripple came again. 

Far across the plains, the fake props — the cranes, the teacup, the tunnel — started sliding inward. Not rolling or collapsing. Just… drifting closer, pushed by a holographic border that shimmered in the fake light.

The horizon followed.

Color drained from the far edges of the world, replaced by an encroaching white that swallowed everything it touched.

“The border’s closing,” Jax said quietly. 

Pomni’s stomach twisted. “Why?”

“Why anything?”

The Ferris wheel shuddered harder. Another ripple passed beneath them, closer now, and the air bent with it. The metal under their feet blurred. She squeaked and screwed her eyes shut.

“Down,” he said, gentle but firm.

Pomni’s mind blanked; all she could hear was the shrill metal lurching. She let out a terrified sob, briefly forgetting her shame.

The wheel groaned again, and she was convinced that every bolt was about to give way. Her hands flew to the ladder, fingers slipping on the flickering rungs.

Okay, okay, okay. just move. Don’t look down. Don’t think. Just move.

The world around her warped in pulses of light, too bright and too white. Her foot missed the next step; she gasped, chest clenching tight—

—and his hand caught her wrist.

“Hey. Hey—look at me,” Jax said. His voice was steadier than it should’ve been. “You’re fine. I’ve got you. Just… one step at a time, yeah?”

She wanted to scream.

 This wasn’t helping. I’m not fine. Nothing about this is fine.

But his thumb brushed her knuckles, a small grounding weight against the noise in her head

…I’ve got you?

Right. okay. One step.

She nodded shakily and forced her legs to move again, matching his pace until her boots hit the ground.

Her legs gave out from under her when she hit the not-grass. She allowed herself a brief moment to relish in her triumph over the Ferris wheel. 

However, the white had advanced halfway across the field. She sobered realizing that the cranes in the distance were gone. As quickly as she sat she got back up, not even needing Jax’s gentle tug.

Every few seconds, a soft ping broke the silence. Pomni looked up. Another portrait above the clouds had dimmed. Then another. Ragatha’s face, then Kinger’s. Each one disappearing into static before she could count how many hearts were left.

Jax slung his weapon over his shoulder. “Well. Looks like someone’s playing along.”

Pomni swallowed hard. “We need to move.”

He nodded, ears twitching toward the remaining landmarks. The clown tunnel loomed ahead, its painted grin frozen mid-laugh.

“My favorite place to hide. A creepy clown tunnel,” he said, exasperated. 

“It’s that or nothing.”

He started walking. “’Nothing’ is sounding better by the minute.”

By the time they reached the tunnel’s edge, the ground trembled beneath their feet.

They didn’t have to decide to go in; the white border nipped at their feet threateningly, like an ocean of static threatening to swallow them whole.

Pomni stumbled first, the floor tilting forward like gravity had changed its mind. Jax caught her by the arm before she could fall.

Pomni pressed her back against the nearest wall, chest rising and falling quickly. His hand stayed on her shoulder, thumb tracing a small circle like he was trying to calm her down.

It only made her pulse spike harder.

#%!$.

The tunnel light wasn’t dark, which would’ve been easier. Instead, it glowed an artificial in-between color. The painted grin above the entrance stretched longer the deeper they went, twitching faintly.

Pomni stayed close to Jax, listening to the squish of their footsteps on the padded floor. It was a disgusting squelching, as if they were stepping in rotten trash.

“Ugh, gross. Why does it have to sound like this,” she complained.

“Atmosphere,” Jax said. “You gotta respect the production value.”

She shot him a look.

He grinned. “What? I cope through humor, you cope through panic-attacking. We all have hobbies.”

Pomni tried an exasperated huff, but it came out more like a shaky laugh. He seemed to be learning how to make her smile more and more by the day.

The white border behind them grew louder, hissing as it swallowed the tunnel mouth.

“Think it stops?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Great.”

He glanced back. “Relax. I’m sure it’s only mostly lethal.”

“Jax!”

“What? I wish I were the one doing the killing. At least then I’d feel productive.”

Pomni groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “You’re unbelievable.”

He smirked. “Don’t act surprised.”

Suddenly walls rippled, jolting the rabbit and making his hackles stand on end. Up ahead, a faint carnival melody drifted through the static.

Pomni’s shoulders tensed. “You hear that?”

He tilted his head, ears perking up. “Yeah. Guess we’ve reached the part with epic boss battle music.”

Pomni’s stomach turned. “You think Caine’s watching?”

Jax’s mouth twitched, grin fading. “When isn’t he?”

The tunnel kept widening, the glow ahead deepening into a bruised purple. The hum underfoot grew stronger until it felt like a heartbeat beneath the floor.

Pomni slowed without meaning to. The air felt thicker here, wrong, suffocating. 

Jax peered at her, amber eyes glowing in the purple haze. “Keep moving,” he said, voice low. “You stop, you start thinking. Or in your case, overthinking.”

It wasn’t much of a reassurance.

How is he so calm?

Pomni glanced at him. Even in the flickering light, she caught it—the way his ears stayed flat, his hand tense around the gun. He was shaken too, though he’d never admit it.

She nodded and kept walking, pretending not to notice how he’d matched her pace.

Pretending not to notice the brief, steady weight of his hand on the small of her back.

A single spotlight blinked on in the distance, carving a circle of gold in the gloom. In its center sat a carousel, frozen mid-spin, its horses twisted and half-rendered. Their eyes followed the pair, sunken and hollow and horrifying.

Pomni stopped. “What is this place?”

Jax took a slow step forward. “A good reason to turn around.”

“Can we?”

He glanced back. The tunnel they’d come through was gone—just a flat wall of white static hissing quietly.

“Wait, scratch that. Sorry, Pom.”

The carousel shuddered once. A distorted laugh track fluttered overhead and cut out before it finished.

Pomni gripped her gun tighter. “You think someone’s here?”

Jax tilted his head again. “If they are, I hope they shoot first. Get it over with.”

She scowled. “That’s not funny.”

Pomni followed, fingers clinging to the ruffles of his skirt before she realized. The closer they got to the carousel, the louder the song became, warping until it was barely recognizable.

Halfway there, a figure flickered between two of the horses.

Pomni froze. “Wait—”

The music stopped.

Chapter Text

The silence was more horrifying than the distorted track itself.

Pomni’s grip tightened on her gun. The air felt warped and suffocating. Her chest fought her with every breath.

The figure between the carousel horses twitched once, twice, then straightened with a jerky motion that just… didn’t look right. The carousel lights stuttered back to life, throwing her face into view.

Pomni’s stomach dropped.

“Gangle?”

What stood there looked like her—same ribbons, same cracked mask—but something about her was off. The comedy mask was uneven,  cracked, and pulled into a manic smile. Her ribbons were tied too tight, pulled into rough bows.

And in her hands—god, of course—was a Tommy gun. Plastic and ridiculous, covered in stickers, but scarily lethal-looking.

“Oh, thank god,” Gangle said, voice too high, too bright. “I thought I was the only one left! Isn’t this fun? It’s fun, right?”

Pomni froze. “Gangle, what—what happened to you?”

“Oh, you know,” Gangle chirped, the smile in her voice not matching her trembling hands. “I died once! Isn’t that hilarious? so hilarious! Poof! Gone! But then I came back, so it’s fine!”

Her laugh cracked halfway through. The carousel lights pulsed in time with it.

Jax took one careful step forward, lowering his weapon but keeping his body angled between them. “Yeah, totally fine,” he said dryly. “You, uh, planning to share that joke with the class, or…?”

Gangle’s mask twitched. “Oh, you’ll get it soon.”

The gun spun in her hands, too practiced for how shaky she looked. “Caine says if we don’t play, we lose faster. So I’m playing!”

Pomni’s throat went dry. “Gangle—”

“Don’t worry,” Gangle interrupted, the grin splitting her mask wider until she was convinced it would crack. “I won’t shoot you. Probably! You’re funny sometimes, Pomni.”

She tilted her head toward Jax. “Him, though…”

Jax’s ears flattened. “Great. I’m flattered.”

The carousel creaked, suddenly bursting to life as the horses began to move in a circular motion. The sudden movement made Pomni nauseous. 

She took a small step back. “We should—”

Gangle’s gun clicked. “No one leaves the ride early!”

A shot cracked through the air.

Pomni didn’t even process it—just the flash, the burst of bullets, and the sound of something shattering behind her.

“Down!” Jax’s voice was too close, too loud. His hand caught her again, yanking her behind a carousel horse just as another round of bullets rattled past.

Pomni hit the padded floor, ears ringing. A high, broken cackling noise echoed from the spinning carousel.

“You’re not laughing!” Gangle’s voice rose, warped and sadistic. “You’re supposed to laugh!”

Pomni clutched her gun, shaking. “Jax—what do we do!?”

He peeked around the horse, muzzle of his ridiculous yellow rifle glinting in the light. “Preferably not die,” he muttered, then ducked back as another volley hit.

He looked at her. “You okay to move?”

She was frozen.

Jax leaned out again, firing a quick burst that exploded into a harmless spray of confetti against the carousel wall. “She’s toying with us,” he hissed.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Pomni snapped, pressing her palm to her ear as another round of gunfire shredded the air.

Something hot and sharp tore through her shoulder.

Pomni screamed. The sound came out strangled, half glitched, and full of agony. Her hand shot to the wound— black sludgey liquid poured from a hole in her shoulder. Her stomach knotted.

“Pomni!” Jax grabbed her as she collapsed. His pupils went wide, his voice cutting low. “Hey. Hey, it’s fine. You’re fine.”

Gangle’s laugh echoed from somewhere above the carousel. “Bang! Gotcha! See? It’s not so hard! We’re having fun!”

Jax’s head jolted toward the sound.

Something in him snapped. He growled, less like a rabbit and more like a rabid, bloodthirsty animal.

His toy gun roared, confetti bursting as he fired in every direction. Gangle’s laughter broke mid-note, twisting into a harsh mechanical scream before her whole body pixelated and evaporated.

The silence after was dizzying.

Jax didn’t move right away. Then, slowly, he let the rifle drop from his hands. It hit the ground with a hollow plastic clatter.

Pomni blinked through the static haze, pain still spiking in her shoulder. “Jax…” she winced.

He turned back to her fast, dropping to his knees beside her. “Don’t move. Don’t even—just stay there, okay?” His hands hovered uselessly near her arm, ears pinned back fearfully and eyes almost as wide as his face.

Pomni tried for a weak laugh. “You look worse than I do.”

“Shut up.” His voice cracked halfway through it. He took a breath, steadier. “You’re okay. It’s one life. Of three. That’s it.”

Her head felt light and airy. “You… killed her.”

Jax’s mouth formed a snarl. “Yeah.” His eyes didn’t leave hers. “Because she wasn’t gonna stop.”

Her chest burned. She tried to breathe, but the air came in sharp, glitchy bursts. “It—hurts—”

“I know. I know.” His voice was cracking now. “Just—look at me, Pom. You’re okay.”

But she wasn’t.

The static spread down her arm, crawling up her neck. Her vision dimmed, colors flickering in and out like a dying light. “Jax…”

He gripped her hand. “Don’t. Don’t you dare.”

Her fingers twitched once, then went still.

The light in her eyes flickered out.

She went slack in his arms—completely, terrifyingly still.

“Pomni?” His voice broke on her name. He shook her once, gentle, then harder. “Pomni, c’mon. Wake up. Hey.”

Silence.

“Don’t do this,” he rasped. “Not you. You don’t get to—”

The rest caught in his throat. His ears were flat, hackles spiked, eyes fixed on her still body like if he looked away she’d be gone for good. 

The carousel continued a twisted melody as Jax buried his head in her chest, a guttural sob coming from his throat.

Then-

A chime.

Soft, almost gentle.

Pomni reawakened with a gasp, clutching her chest, eyes wide and wild.

Jax stumbled back, ears snapping upright, a sound escaping him that was half a laugh, half a sob. “Jesus-”

Pomni blinked, dazed. “I-wha—?”

He didn’t answer. He was already pulling her against him, one hand still trembling in her hair, the other braced at her back like he wasn’t convinced she was real yet.

Pomni’s voice came out small. “I… died.”

He swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

“And you…”

“Yeah.” His breath hitched. “I thought you weren’t coming back.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. 

Pomni flexed her fingers, testing the space around her. The hole in her shoulder was gone, but the memory of it still ached.

Jax hadn’t moved from her side. His ears were down, eyes stuck somewhere between furious and terrified. His hand lingered near her shoulder again, trembling.

“I could feel it,” she said finally, with a shudder. “When it happened. I didn’t think you could really feel anything here.”

He couldn’t respond.

Pomni swallowed. “I didn’t think I’d come back.”

Jax let out a rough sound that might’ve been a laugh if it hadn’t cracked halfway. “Yeah, well, don’t test that theory again.”

Her lips twitched. “You’re mad at me for dying?”

“I’m mad at the game. I’m mad at Caine,” he said. Then, quieter, “And maybe a little at you.”

Pomni almost smiled. It hurt too much to try.

“No fair.” 

The carousel had gone still again, lights dimming to a low flicker. The air felt heavier, and smelled strongly of gunpowder and panic. Pomni winced, wrinkling her nose at the offensive smell.

Jax finally sat back, rubbing a hand over his face. “You scared me,” he said. The words came out low, vulnerable.

Pomni’s gaze softened. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, dropping his hand. “I know.”

Pomni laughed, soft and broken. “I hate this place.”

Jax didn’t disagree.

Chapter Text

It hurt to breathe.

She knew she didn’t even need to breathe, but her body wouldn’t stop trying. Each inhale scraped against her ribs, sharp and dry, like she’d forgotten how it worked. And maybe she had.

Jax’s hand was still on her shoulder, tracing circles where the bullet had torn through her body. She could feel the tremor under his fur, the way his grip kept readjusting like he needed to remind himself she was back, that she was ok again.

“Hey,” she muttered, voice hoarse. “You can let go now.”

He didn’t.

“Yeah,” he said after a beat. “I could.”

She leaned against his chest, feeling the comforting rise and fall of the purple fluff as he too regathered his wits.

They stayed like that for a while—neither speaking, both pretending the world wasn’t still falling apart around them. She curled up in his arms, looking like a blue-and-red peppermint.

The carousel had gone still, ceasing its deafening rattling and sickening movements. The silence that replaced it wasn’t any more comforting. 

Pomni’s voice came out rough. “What now?”

Jax didn’t answer right away. He stared at the empty space where Gangle had been, jaw tight. “We’re supposed to finish it,” he said finally. “Till there’s one left standing.”

Her stomach dropped. “You mean—”

“Yeah.”

Pomni’s throat went dry. “No. I’m not doing that. I can’t.”

He gave a weak, humorless laugh. “Good. I wasn’t gonna ask you to.”

For one horrifying second, her brain twisted the words wrong. She thought he meant something else. Her pulse spiked, fear clawing up her chest before she could stop it. 

She could picture it too easily: his silhouette, the sound of a toy gun that wasn’t really a toy. The light fading again. Being gone.

But the look on his face killed the thought just as fast. She didn’t think he’d ever looked so fiercely protective of anything, even himself. 

She hated how fast her head went there, how natural the panic felt.

He would never.

Not now.

Guilt washed over her as she shook her head of the thoughts.

You’re a monster. 

Pathetic.

Jax gently placed a finger on her forehead, snapping her out of her thoughts. “You’re thinking too loud again.”

Her heart did backflips. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He leaned back, looking at the floor. “Just means we’re both still here.”

Pomni followed his gaze. The floor was flickering again. The white border was back, and closer, slower, crawling across the edges of the carousel.

Her voice came out small. “What do we do?”

For once, he was quiet. 

Pomni hugged her knees to her chest, the gun resting limply against her leg. “I hate this,” she muttered. “The not knowing.”

“Welcome to the club.”

She tried to laugh, but it barely came out. Her reflection blinked back at her from the shiny floor in all smeared colors. Her eyes traced the glitch lines running through her disheveled hair. She didn’t look like herself anymore.

She only realized she was shaking when Jax reached over, wordlessly pulling the gun from her hands. “You’re gonna drop that thing and shoot us both,” he muttered.

“I wasn’t,” she protested, weakly defensive.

“Sure.” He set it aside, out of reach, and leaned back beside her. His lace skirt pooled around his knees, crumpled and wrinkled again. He lazily tossed his machine gun next to Pomni’s rifle, earning a yelp from her.

“Hey! Now who’s not being careful?!”

He shrugged and let out the smallest of chuckles.

The air between them felt heavy. The carousel lights kept ebbing and flowing, like the world couldn’t decide if it was real.

Pomni let her head tip sideways, back into Jax’s arms. “Feels like it’s getting smaller in here,” she murmured.

Jax gave a dry huff. “That’s because it is.”

“Not helping,” she said.

“Wasn’t trying to.”

She laughed. It slipped out before she could stop it, and for the first time since she’d come back, since she’d been with Jax, she didn’t immediately regret making a sound. It felt natural. It felt real.

Jax turned his head toward her, the edge of a grin threatening his mouth. “See? You’re still human enough to laugh.”

She frowned softly. “Barely.”

He shrugged, looking to the ground. “Barely’s better than nothing.”

Pomni studied him for a long moment.

He looked exhausted. Not just in the normal way they all did after a grueling adventure, but bone tired. 

She reached a hand out, hesitating, and then placed it gently over his glove. He didn’t move away.

 She caught herself staring far longer than she intended. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him quiet, but it was the first time he’d looked this… lost.

“Jax,” she said quietly, “what if we can’t stop it this time?”

He didn’t answer right away. His ears twitched once, then stilled.

Finally, he let out a tired breath that sounded like a laugh. “I don’t know. Then we lose, maybe.”

Pomni blinked. “Lose?”

He nodded once. “Yeah. Let the void take us. Screw his game.”

The hum deepened under their feet as the light crawled closer.

Pomni’s hand trembled around her useless gun. “We could run.”

“We could,” he said softly, with a helpless shrug. “But it’d just find us again.”

The static hiss grew louder, swallowing the edges of the world.

Jax stood and offered her a hand. “Come on.”

She stared at it, torn between disbelief and something else she didn’t want to name. “You’re actually serious.”

He shrugged, voice quiet. “You got a better idea?”

Pomni’s throat tightened. She didn’t.

So she took his hand.

They stood together in the dead center of the carousel, the border closing in from every side. The light brightened until their shadows melted into one.

Her voice came out barely a whisper. “I don’t want to die again.”

He came face to face with her and looked at her. Intensely. Real. “You won’t,” he murmured. With bitter helplessness, he grabbed her hands. “Not alone, anyway.”

The static hum crescendoed, the air trembling around them. Pomni’s chest ached, her pulse thrumming. 

Jax’s hand slid to her jaw, tentative. He didn’t look away.

Everything around them warped, but he was still. She could see every flicker of light in his eyes, every shaky breath.

She’d never seen him like this. She’d never seen how much he could care, but it seemed so obvious now. She drank him in. The droop in his ears, the unkempt fur, the hollow lines below his eyes.

And of course his eyes.

Golden, amber, aglow. There was so much in them it almost hurt to look—fear, anger, exhaustion, care, all tangled together and so intense. It was too much and not enough, like there was a whole world happening behind his gaze and she could only catch the reflection.

Pomni didn’t think. She just grabbed the collar of his dress and pulled him down, kissing him.

It was short, but not unsure. Honest in a way words never were. 

The kiss was awkward and human, and for a second, she forgot the world was ending. He briefly froze, like he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to touch her or not. When he finally did, it was careful, almost scared.

It was clumsy and desperate and over too soon.

His breath brushed against hers, warm and shaking. His golden eyes had gone wide, pupils dilated, the light catching in them like he was seeing her for the first time. They just stared at each other, breathing hard, neither saying anything.

And then the light hit them.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The light burned out, then nothing.

Then everything.

Pomni hit the ground before she realized she had a body again. The familiar bombardment of the tent filled her ears with entirely too much noise and light. For a second, she thought she was still glitching—until she felt Jax thud to the floor beside her.

They both just… stared.

Caine’s booming voice filled the air before either of them could say a word.

“Connnngratulations, my little champions!” he sang, entirely too proud of himself. “Wasn’t that fun? You played the game wonderfully!”

Around them, the others were shakily gathering themselves, faces flickering with exhaustion and fear. Pomni’s heart stuttered when Ragatha’s gaze fell on her and Jax. They were still too close. Way too close. His hand was still half on her arm.

She yanked herself upright, heat crawling up her face.

“I—uh—we—”

“Died,” Jax said flatly, dusting himself off. “Twice.”

Ragatha blinked.

Caine cut in, clapping his hands together. “And that concludes this round of Caine’s Carnival Carnage! Give yourselves a hand for surviving! …Well, some of you! Actually, none of you, that was the point!” 

He broke off into a manic cackle.

Pomni barely heard him. Her pulse hammered remembering the gunshot. Dying. Coming back. Him. The-

She shook her head hard. No. No, no, no. Not here. Not now.

Jax caught her eye for half a second, and that was all it took. Her heart felt like it would burst. His eyes flicked away instantly, but his tail gave a twitch.

“U-um,” Gangle piped up from a few feet away, clutching her ribbons tight. Her mask was still cracked down the middle, the comedy side barely hanging on. “I… uh… might’ve gone a little overboard back there.”

A long pause.

Ragatha looked at her. “You think?”

“I said I was sorry!” Gangle squeaked, voice pitching up. “I didn’t even mean to shoot anyone! It was just—” she flailed her hands helplessly, “—you know, when you’ve got a Tommy gun….”

Pomni forced a small smile, like she wasn’t remembering the bullet ripping through her shoulder. The searing hot pain. The light fading. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “I noticed.”

Ragatha groaned, rubbing her temples. “I can’t believe I got taken out first.”

“You were hiding in a teacup,” Zooble muttered.

“I didn’t want to kill anyone!” Ragatha sputtered defensively. “What was I supposed to do, just—just go feral like some of you?”

Her gaze flicked toward Gangle again, and she immediately wilted.

“Aw, don’t be so hard on yourselves!” Caine sang, hovering upside down over them with a wide grin. “You all performed beautifully! The audience loved it!”

“There’s no audience,” Zooble muttered.

“Not with that attitude!” Caine beamed.

Kinger was the only one who didn’t look shaken. He giggled, wobbling on his feet and dusting off his cloak. “I, for one, had a wonderful time! The paper cranes had such polite conversation!”

No one responded.

Caine spun a few lazy circles in the air, clearly pleased with himself. “Well! I suppose you’ve all earned some downtime before our next little adventure. Take a breather, hydrate, stare into the wall—whatever helps you charge up!”

And with a crackle of static and a tip of his tophat, he vanished into thin air. 

Pomni’s knees wobbled when she stood. She looked around at the others—Ragatha sitting up slowly, Zooble rubbing their head, Kinger talking to himself like nothing happened. Everyone was here. Alive again. Just like before.

Except it didn’t feel like before.

She felt phantom pain in her shoulder, and despite being reset, the trauma still felt palpable and real. 

She touched the spot out of instinct, half expecting to find the hole still there, half expecting to pull her hand back and be covered in static dark blood, half expecting to collapse to the floor and bleed out again.

Jax’s eyes followed her hand wordlessly.

Then they locked eyes for a second. And another. Pomni’s breath hitched, and she looked away first.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Ragatha clapped her hands together too loudly. “Sooo. Who wants tea?”

“Do we even have tea?” Zooble asked flatly.

“I can make pretend tea!” Kinger offered cheerfully, pulling a bent kettle from his coat… somehow. “It’s just air and imagination! Tastes incredible!”

Pomni sank onto one of the couches, trying not to stare at Jax across from her. He’d sat down too, legs stretched out, idly flicking at a piece of confetti still stuck to his glove. His expression was unreadable, a plastered grin and flat eyes, but his ears hadn’t stopped twitching.

Gangle lowered herself beside Ragatha, wringing her ribbons. “I just—still feel weird, you know? Like my hands are… buzzing.”

“That’s adrenaline,” Zooble offered. “Or trauma. Maybe both.”

Gangle made a small noise of distress and tried to sip from Kinger’s invisible tea.

Pomni’s throat felt dry. Every time she tried to relax, she caught a flicker of gold in her peripheral vision. Jax’s eyes. Always there, always finding hers for the briefest of moments before darting away. 

Kinger nudged Jax. “Oh! Are you two—uh—partners in crime now or something?” she asked brightly. “You were the last ones standing. Didn’t even lose a life until the bitter end!

Pomni nearly choked on the air-tea. “W-what? No! We just—he—uh—and I—-“

Jax cut in. “Yeah, it was real touching stuff,” he said dryly, inspecting his glove. “You should’ve seen us. The picture of teamwork.”

Ragatha’s smile tightened. “Right. Teamwork. Sure.”

Her tone was light, but her eye flicked between them in a way that made Pomni’s stomach twist.

Gangle let out a nervous laugh, fiddling with her ribbons. “At least no one’s mad, right? I—I kinda lost it back there…”

Zooble groaned. “You don’t say.”

Kinger giggled, affectionately patting her head. “Oh, nonsense! We all went mad! It’s good for the soul!”

“Okay,” Ragatha said sharply, cutting him off. “Enough about that. I think we’ve all had plenty of excitement for one day.”

She dusted off her skirt and turned toward their rooms. “Caine said we can rest. Let’s actually do that.”

Her voice was calm, but Pomni caught the stiffness in it. The faked niceties. The kind of too-bright politeness that only came out when Ragatha was annoyed.

As the others slowly drifted off, the room grew quieter. 

Kinger retreated into his pillow fort, muttering something about needing to feed his bugs. Zooble carried Gangle to her room after the adrenaline had wore off, and she’d fell asleep on the rug.

Pomni sat on the couch, cracking her knuckles anxiously, while Jax leaned back in his seat across from her. His posture screamed indifference, but she could see the way his ears twitched every time she moved.

Ragatha lingered at the entrance, glancing back once. Her smile dropped. 

“Don’t stay up too late,” she said curtly.

Pomni blinked. “We’re not—”

But Ragatha was already gone.

Chapter Text

The circus felt so much bigger once everyone had gone to their rooms. 

She told herself she was waiting for her legs to stop shaking.

She told herself she wasn’t waiting for him.

Pomni stared at the couch cushions like her life depended on it. She picked at a tear in the seams. “So,” she said, voice small, “that was… something.”

Jax hummed, leaning back in the chair across from her. “Yeah. Awesome battle royale.”

She shot him a look. “That’s your takeaway?”

He shrugged. “What, would you like for me to regale you in the tales of our plight?”

She rolled her eyes, but it loosened the knot in her chest a little. “I meant the ending.”

That got his attention. He went still, ears perking slightly. “Oh.”

Pomni’s face heated instantly. “Not like— I mean, the whole thing, not just—” She waved a hand vaguely. “That.”

A flicker of a smirk, quick and small. “Right. That.”

“Don’t,” she said, mortified.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Wasn’t gonna.”

“You were absolutely gonna.”

“Yeah.” He gave a breathy laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Old habits.”

Silence.

Pomni stared down at her gloves. “You, um. Remember it?”

Jax’s ears dipped a little, the tips flushing. “Hard to forget.”

Her heart skipped. “Right. Yeah.”

Neither of them looked up.

She tried for a weak laugh. “We’re, uh, not gonna talk about it, are we?”

“Do you want to?”

“No.” She hesitated. “Maybe.”

He smiled at that, a genuine little smile. “Yeah. Same.”

More silence.

Finally, he spoke again, voice quiet. “You scared me, y’know.”

Pomni blinked. “What?”

“When you—” He gestured vaguely toward her shoulder, grimacing. “You stopped moving. I thought…” He trailed off, ears flattening slightly. “Doesn’t matter.”

Her throat went tight. “Jax…”

“Hey.” He forced a crooked grin. “You’re fine now. Don’t make it weird.”

“I’m not—”

“You’re definitely making it weird.”

She huffed, crossing her arms. “You started it.”

Jax smirked, teeth flashing just enough to look like himself again. “Yeah, well. I finish what I start.”

Pomni tried to glare at him, but it broke halfway into a laugh. It came out smaller than she meant it to, shaky around the edges. “You’re impossible.”

“Thanks. I try.”

He leaned back, stretching, like he could shake off the weight in the air.

Pomni tried to focus on the patterned cushions—on anything else, really—but her brain wouldn’t cooperate. Every time she blinked, she saw the flash of light again, the border swallowing them, his hand on her jaw, grabbing his dress and—

Jax’s leg bounced, a quiet rhythm. “You’re staring again.” he said, not looking at her.

“Am not,” she lied immediately.

He gave a small, teasing hum.

Pomni sighed and pressed her palms together in her lap. “This is so stupid.”

Even more silence.

After a beat, she blurted, “You’re not gonna, like… bring it up, are you?”

His ears twitched. “Bring what up?”

Her stomach twisted. “You know what.”

“Oh.” He leaned back, pretending to think, tapping his forefinger to his chin.  “You mean that.”

Pomni groaned. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Say what?” His grin was back, infuriatingly smug.

She threw her hands up. “The thing! The— the stupid dying apocalypse border closing in kiss thing!”

Jax blinked, like he hadn’t expected her to actually say it. His mouth opened, then closed again. “Right. That.”

Pomni covered her face with both hands. “Oh my god. This is a nightmare.”

Jax scratched behind one ear, looking everywhere except at her. “For what it’s worth,” he said slowly, “it wasn’t… bad.”

Her heart jumped. “Wasn’t bad? Wow, thanks. I’m flattered.”

“I’m serious,” he paused, face turning from purple to beet red. “You didn’t, uh. Mess it up?” He offered.

Pomni dropped her head into her hands, face burning. “You’re grading me now?”

He smirked faintly. “Hey, you’re the one who brought it up.”

“I did not—”

“You did.”

She gaped at him, then laughed. Breathy, nervous, flustered. “You’re impossible.”

“I’ve been told.”

Jax rubbed the back of his neck, ears twitching again. “For the record,” he said, voice a little rougher now, “you kissed me.”

Pomni’s head snapped up. “What?”

He shrugged, looking at her with innocent doe eyes. “Just sayin’. I was standing there minding my own business—”

“Minding your—?!” She gawked at him. “You were right there! And— and you did that thing grabbing my face! What was I supposed to think you were doing?”

That got him. His grin widened playfully. “Didn’t think you’d actually go through with it.”

“Yeah, well,” she muttered, crossing her arms with an indignant huff, “Don’t act like you weren’t waiting for it.”

His ears twitched. “Fair enough.” He paused. “Next time though, I get to pick the timing. All the blood and death and void-swallowing-us kind of kills the mood.”

“Next time?” she echoed, then immediately wishing she’d said just about anything else.

He froze. “…Figure of speech.”

Jax fiddled with the ruffles of his skirt. “You’re gonna keep thinking about it, aren’t you?”

Pomni blinked. “What, the ‘figure of speech’ or the—” She caught herself. “The… thing?”

He smirked again. That damn rabbit. “Both.”

She groaned, pressing her hands over her face as it turned scarlet again. “You’re the worst.”

“Yeah,” he said softly, “but I’m right.”

She peeked through her fingers, unable to help the tiny smile tugging at her mouth. 

For a while, neither of them spoke. The tent was full of static that lingered in the air, the faint hum being the only noise in the fluorescent and colorful landscape.

Pomni played with the bells on the end of her hat. “It’s weird,” she said finally, almost to herself. “How real it felt. The game. Dying. Even… that. I didn’t know that Caine let us… feel things like that.”

Jax’s leg stilled. His golden gaze looked distant. “Yeah. Guess it sneaks up on you.”

Something in his tone made her chest ache a little. She wanted to ask what he meant, what he’d experienced before she’d gotten there, but she didn’t trust her voice not to shake. 

Although there was no indication of time in the circus, Pomni felt like it was the middle of the night. She exhaled. “We should probably, uh… get some rest.”

“Probably,” he said. Then, after a pause, “You go first.”

Pomni gave him a look, raising her eyebrow. “Why?”

He shrugged, leaning back like he didn’t care. “Just making sure you get to your room safe. Don’t, y’know, get shot.”

Her stomach flipped. “That’s not funny.”

“Didn’t say it was.” His grin softened. “Goodnight, PomPom.”

She hesitated at the door, fighting a smile. “Goodnight, Jax.”

The lights dimmed as she left, and neither of them slept much after that.

Chapter Text

Pomni awoke with a shriek to the ghost of a bullet tearing through her shoulder. The ache was still there, along with the tightness in her chest, and the echo of the light closing in.

And every time she closed her eyes, she saw him.

She exhaled hard and pressed her palms to her face. “Get it together,” she muttered.

She rubbed her eyes and hoisted herself up, already “dressed” for the day in her involuntary jester outfit. Outside of her room,, she heard movement. A faint shuffle, the creak of a door, a grating voice.

Jax.

Of course it was.

She exhaled and opened her door a crack.

Sure enough, he was there, leaning against the opposite wall, still in that stupid maid dress. The ruffles were crooked, one of the buttons undone, and his fur was mussed.

They stared at each other for a beat.

“Hey,” she said, voice small.

“Hey.” He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes flicking anywhere but hers. “You alive?”

“I think so.”

“Cool, cool.” He paused, rubbing his arm. “That’s… good.”

Pomni raised an eyebrow. “You sound shocked.”

“Wasn’t sure you’d get back up,” he said with a slight tease.

She smirked. “Please. You would’ve kicked my door straight down if I didn’t.”

That earned a small laugh out of him, paired with a playfully offended look. “Excuse me, I would’ve used a key!”

They started walking at the same time, awkwardly falling into step beside each other. Every brush of his dress against her sleeve made her pulse do little cartwheels. 

When they reached the end of the hallway, Jax stopped.

“You good?” he asked, not looking at her.

Pomni hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”

He eyed her up and down, unconvinced. Then he shrugged, letting out a sigh. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” 

With that, he turned and walked into the main room.

Pomni lingered a second longer, peeking around the corner. After a few heartbeats, she followed him in.

The smell hit her first- not real food, but the sugary, artificial scent of whatever Bubble called “breakfast.”

The others were already gathered around the long table. Ragatha sat stiffly beside Gangle, trying to eat something bright pink and vaguely shaped like eggs. Zooble leaned against the wall, half-engaged, while Kinger hummed to himself between spoonfuls of whatever was in his bowl.

Ragatha noticed her first. “Morning, Pomni! Feeling any better?”

Pomni hesitated. “I—uh. Sure.”

Zooble studied the jester. “Come sit, Bubble made breakfast.” They invited.

Pomni moved to the table and sat across from Ragatha, but didn’t grab a plate. The smell of whatever counted as food made her stomach turn.

Ragatha tilted her head. “Not hungry?”

Pomni shook her head. “Just… nauseous, I guess. After yesterday.”

“Ah.” Ragatha offered a small, knowing nod- sympathetic, but distant. “I think we all are.”

Across the room, Jax leaned against the wall, arms folded.

Pomni glanced up at him before she could stop herself. “You’re not gonna sit?”

Jax snorted. “Pass. I’m not putting anything that color in my mouth.”

Pomni retorted teasingly. “You think it’s poisoned?”

“Wouldn’t put it past him,” he said, nodding toward the fizzing pink plate. “You’re not touching it either, by the way.”

She shrugged. “I’m pacing myself.”

He smirked. “Yeah? Real disciplined of you.”

Pomni rolled her eyes. “I just don’t have an appetite.”

“That makes two of us.”

Something about the way he said it made her heartbeat trip.

Ragatha’s fork scraped sharply against her plate, interrupting Pomni’s thoughts. “Are you two done, or are you planning to argue about imaginary food all morning?”

Pomni blinked, caught off guard. “We weren’t arguing.”

Ragatha gave a thin smile. “Could’ve fooled me.”

The only noise at the table was Kinger chewing on a cereal-adjacent substance.

Pomni cleared her throat, desperate to cut through the tension. “Anyway,” she said quickly, “I think I’m gonna… step out for a bit. Get some air.”

Ragatha frowned. “Air? Where, exactly?”

Pomni gestured vaguely toward the door. “You know. Around.”

“Right.” Ragatha said, unconvinced. “Are you.. ok, Pomni?”

She tried to laugh it off, but it came out weak. “I’ll be fine.” Pushing away from the table, her chair scraped softly against the floor. “Just… need a minute.”

She didn’t look at Jax as she hurried out of the room, but she could feel his gaze follow her.

It felt good to move, even if she wasn’t sure where she was going. The hall stretched ahead in offensively bright color, endless and familiar.

She took a deep breath, but the peace didn’t last long.

Because a few seconds later, she heard footsteps behind her.

“Subtle,” she said, without turning around.

“Yeah, well.” His voice came easy, a little sheepish. “Didn’t want you stealing all the dramatic exits.”

Pomni sighed, but couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her mouth. “You really shouldn’t be following me.”

“I’m not.” He fell into step beside her anyway. “I’m just… coincidentally walking in the same direction.”

Pomni shot him a look. “You’re terrible at lying.”

He put a hand dramatically to his chest. “Me? Lying? Never!”

She giggled, elbowing him.

They walked for a while, with no particular direction. The only sound was their footsteps echoing through the empty corridor. 

Pomni’s gaze drifted to the patterned floor. “You ever think about how nothing in the circus smells right?”

Jax blinked. “That’s a weird sentence.”

“No, I mean—” she gestured vaguely, “the air. The food. It’s all too sweet smelling. Or just… weird. Uncanny.”

Jax hummed thoughtfully. “Huh. Guess I never thought about it.”

“You don’t notice it?”

He shrugged again. “I guess I stopped caring a long time ago.”

That made her quiet. She fiddled with one of her glove cuffs, suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was walking.

“Your shoulder still hurts?” he asked after a beat. It came out casually, but his ears flicked.

Pomni paused. “You— how’d you know?”

“You keep doing that little thing,” he said, vaguely motioning toward his own shoulder. “Like you’re trying not to touch it.”

“Oh.” She hesitated. “Yeah. A little.”

Jax nodded, and kept walking. 

“Guess dying’ll do that to you,” he said eventually, voice lighter than it should’ve been.

Pomni huffed out a weak laugh. “Guess so.”

He gave her a sideways glance, a faint smirk playing at his mouth. “You know, if you wanted an excuse to hold onto me again, you could’ve just said you were sore.”

Her face went bright red, realizing she’d been grabbing onto his skirt again. “You’re such a jerk.”

“Thank you,” he said simply, and she elbowed him again, harder this time.

Pomni slowed her pace, a laugh still caught in her throat. “You really can’t go five minutes without making fun of me, can you?”

“Five whole minutes?” Jax said with wide eyes, pretending to think. “I’m flattered you think I’ve got that kind of restraint.”

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head with another laugh. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned.”

They rounded a corner, passing one of the endless patterned walls. 

Pomni looked into his golden eyes, softer this time. “You meant what you said, didn’t you?”

He met her gaze. “About what?”

“When I stopped moving.” She kept her pinwheel eyes pinned on him. “You said I scared you.”

Jax’s smirk faltered. He looked ahead, ears twitching once. “Yeah, well. You did.”

She glanced at him, uncertain. “I didn’t think you’d actually— I don’t know—”

“Care?” he finished, his tone unreadable.

He sounds… remorseful.

Pomni hesitated, then nodded once.

Jax let out a breathy laugh. “Guess I surprised both of us.”

Her chest ached in a way that had nothing to do with her phantom pain. “You’re different when you’re not putting on a mask,” she said before she could stop herself.

“Don’t tell anyone,” he teased. “Wouldn’t want to ruin my reputation.”

God, he can’t help himself, can he?

Pomni smiled in spite of herself. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

They kept walking, side by side, their reflections stretching across the endless wall.

For the first time since she’d woken up, Pomni didn’t feel like she was falling apart.

Chapter Text

They’d been walking for a while, aimless at first. The corridors curved endlessly, looping back on themselves until even the patterns started to blur.

Pomni finally broke the silence. “So… what now? Just keep walking until Caine gets bored enough to reset us again?”

Jax slowed, pondering. Then he looked at her, something unreadable sparking behind his grin. “Wait.”

She frowned. “What now?”

“I have an idea.”

Pomni crossed her arms. “Those words have never once led anywhere good.”

He just grinned, picking up the pace. It turned into a speed walk that forced her into a jog to keep up. “Jax! Wait up!”

“Short stack,” he teased over his shoulder. “Like a little stack of strawberry and blueberry pancakes.”

“Jax!”

“What?” He said looking down at her, eyes full of mock innocence.

“You better not be dragging me into something stupid.” She huffed, half out of breath.

“Relax. This one’s not gonna kill us. Probably.”

“‘Probably?’” she echoed, exasperated.

He glanced back, smirking. “Trust me.”

He didn’t slow down, but he ever so gently grabbed her hand, tugging her along. She practically melted.

Oh my god.

“Are you gonna tell me where we’re going?” she asked finally, half breathless.

“That would ruin the surprise."

“Oh, great. Because surprises here always go so well.”

“Hey,” he said, reaching for a small, unmarked door, “no jump scares, no Caine, no spinning death traps. Promise.”

She eyed the door quizzically. It looked just about like every other door in the endless circus. Nondescript, meaningless, plain. She looked back to him.

There was excitement in his gaze, a glimmer of something she’d never seen swimming in the liquid gold of his eyes. For a moment, she forgot where she was.

“The door?” He interrupted her thoughts. She almost fell over.

Pomni was hesitant, but the way he watched her quelled any anxieties.

She gently pushed the door. Light spilled out, a warm incandescent glow cascading over the sterile circus lighting.

“What… is this?” she breathed. 

“Go see for yourself,” he said.

She stepped inside carefully, breath catching in her throat.

It was a clearing. Digital grass swayed gently under a fake breeze, blades rustling gently. Trees surrounded the space in a whimsical sweep, their leaves casting dapples onto the plush grass. And the air… the air didn’t smell of the same sickly sweet scent that perforated the rest of the circus. 

Jax leaned against the doorframe behind her, hands in his pockets. “Found it a while ago,” he said, voice casual but softer now. He sounded… proud. “Didn’t tell anyone.”

Pomni turned, still trying to take it all in. “You found this?”

He shrugged. “I wander. Sometimes you get lucky.”

She stepped a little farther in, the glow brushing over her shoes. She turned slowly, soaking in every detail. “It’s… beautiful.”

“Don’t say that too loud,” Jax said, finally moving to sit in the grass. “Caine’ll hear you, and he’ll do what he did with the last oasis.”

“What last oasis?”

“Exactly.”

Pomni looked around again. The static hum of the circus was replaced with an atmospheric birdsong, and it felt… safe. Comfortable. She barely dared to breathe.

“You really just found this and didn’t tell anyone?” she asked.

Jax plucked a blade of grass and twirled it between his fingers. “Didn’t think anyone would care.” he muttered, angst creeping back into his tone.

Pomni gave a small, incredulous laugh. “You’re kidding, right? This is the first place in here that doesn’t feel like a nightmare.”

Jax glanced around then, almost like he was seeing it for the first time too. His eyes rounded. “Yeah,” he said after a beat. “I guess it is.”

Something about the way he said it made her chest tighten. She looked at him, really looked at him, sitting in that stupid maid outfit with the soft light hitting his fur just right.

“You brought me here,” she said quietly, not really a question.

He glanced at her, then back at the fake foliage. “Yeah. Guess I did.”

Her heart fluttered. The idea that out of everyone, he wanted her to see this.

She sat down next to him, legs folding underneath her. The grass felt like a pile of pillows. “You know,” she said, trying for a teasing tone that came out soft, “you’re full of surprises lately.” 

He snorted, turning his head away, but his eartips were bright red. “Don’t get used to it.”

Pomni smiled, brushing a hand over the grass. “I think I could, actually.”

He gave a soft snort, lying back with his arms behind his head. “Careful. Start enjoying yourself and the place’ll probably implode.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” she said acridly. “Nothing good seems to last long here.”

He glanced over, one ear twitching. “You always this optimistic?”

“Only when I’m awake,” she said dryly, and he laughed. It sounded… different. It sounded like Jax in a way he’d never sounded to her before.

Something twisted in her chest. She looked away, pretending to study the fake sky. “You don’t laugh like that often.”

“Maybe I don’t get much reason to.”

The fake wind stirred the digital trees above them, leaves gently cascading down in looping waves.

After a moment, she said quietly, “Thanks… Jax. For showing me this.”

Jax turned his head toward her, his smile softening ever so slightly. “Don’t mention it.”

“I mean it,” she pressed. “You didn’t have to.”

“Yeah,” he said, voice dropping a little. “I know.”

They sat in that strange calm for a while, the fake birdsong and rustling trees making a peaceful ambiance.

“Can I ask you something?” She said, cutting through the silence.

“Uh-oh.” He side-eyed her, immediately coming to attention. “That tone never means anything good.”

She hesitated. “Why are you…” She bit her lip, searching for the word. “Like… mean. To everyone. Even when you don’t have to be.”

He flinched as if she’d slapped him.  “Wow. You don’t pull punches, huh?”

“Sorry! I-I didn’t mean it like—” she started, flustered.

He waved her off. “Relax. I get what you’re saying.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You wanna know why I’m an #%$hole.”

Pomni winced. “I wasn’t gonna put it like that.”

He gave a crooked grin. “Nah, it’s fine. You’re… not wrong.”

He huffed, breaking his eye contact to look anywhere but at her. “It’s… easier,” he said finally. “If you make fun of everything first, it hurts less when everything turns to #%!$ anyway. You make it into a joke before it gets the chance to make a joke of you. That way, when the next stupid game kills someone, or when Caine loses his mind, or when someone you thought mattered disappears again—”

He stopped, shaking his head.

“You’ve already told yourself it was a joke. So it doesn’t hurt as much.”

Pomni was quiet. She didn’t interrupt. Just watched him, eyes wide, like she was afraid to breathe too loud and break the moment.

Jax glanced up after a second, like he could feel her staring. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said softly. “Just… listening.”

Jax huffed, letting out a quiet laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well… that’s new.”

Pomni tilted her head. “What is?”

“Someone actually listening to me.” He looked down, playing with the skirt ruffles in his fingers. “Usually people just wait for me to say something awful so they can get mad about it.”

Pomni hesitated, eyes following a falling leaf. “Maybe they don’t really know how to listen to you.”

He gave a quiet, skeptical hum. “Yeah, sure. That’s the problem.”

Pomni frowned slightly. “Or maybe they’re just scared you’ll… I don’t know. Turn it into a joke. Hurt them first.”

His ears flicked, and for a second his expression slipped. It wasn’t an angry or defensive one, just… startled. He studied her. “You think that’s what I do?”

She met his gaze, steady but gentle. “I think it’s what you’re afraid you’ll do.”

The air was heavy and silent.

Then Jax exhaled, forcing a small grin. “You know deep talk’s not exactly part of the act here, right?”

Pomni bit back a retort about his deflection, and allowed a small smile. “Maybe it should be.”

He laughed a bit. “You’re weird, you know that?”

“Yeah,” she said, still grinning. “You’ve mentioned.”

He looked away, voice dropping low. “Kinda… strange… having someone not bail after dumping that.”

Pomni played with the bells of her hat. “Guess I’m not ‘someone.’”

Jax huffed a laugh through his nose, shaking his head. “Yeah? You’re definitely something.”

She giggled, and the sound of their laughter echoed through the clearing, strange but warm.
Eventually it faded, leaving the air thick with everything neither of them was brave enough to say.

Chapter Text

The clearing felt even softer now. The fake sun, thankfully not the Sun herself, spilled honeyed light across the grass. Pomni could almost trick herself into thinking it was real.

She shifted, drawing her knees up to her chest. “You know,” she said quietly, “it’s weird seeing you sit still. You always seem like you’re about to… I don’t know, explode or something.”

Jax huffed dramatically, throwing his gloved hand over his forehead in a fake show of dramatics. “Even I need a break- God, Pomni. It takes energy to be a bastard.”

Pomni blinked. “Wait- you can say that?”

He frowned slightly. “Guess so.”

They stared at each other, almost as if waiting for the censor beep, but nothing came.

Pomni tilted her head, then said experimentally, “Bastard.”

Jax grinned, eyes glinting. “Bastard.”

“Bastard.”

“Bastard.”

It became a childish back-and-forth until Pomni broke first, doubling over in laughter. “Oh my god, this place really doesn’t have a filter for that?”

Jax’s laugh joined hers. “Guess that one slipped through the cracks.”

She giggled, triumphantly adding, “I know what I’m calling Caine.”

He thought for a moment, before going. “Wait. Wh… %#!$@#? Nope. Ok, dang it.”

They laughed until their sides hurt, trying and failing to say multiple other less offensive profanities. 

Pomni tugged at her hat, toying with the ends. “Maybe this place isn’t all bad,” she said softly.

“Don’t say that,” Jax said, half out of reflex.

“Why not?”

“You’ll jinx it.”

She smiled faintly. “You believe in jinxes now?”

“I believe in bad luck.”

“That’s basically the same thing.”

“Yeah, but mine sounds cooler.”

Pomni snorted. “Okay, edgelord.”

Jax froze mid-grin, ears twitching. “Excuse me?”

Oh god, is he actually offended?

She opened her mouth to backpedal, but he suddenly shoved her shoulder just hard enough to make her flop into the grass.

“#%!$hole!” he exclaimed, smirking.

She propped herself up on her elbows, grinning. “You’re not denying it.”

He narrowed his eyes, mock affronted. “Because it’s beneath me to dignify that accusation.”

“Oh, so you’re definitely denying it,” she said, sitting up and brushing off her hat. “Let me guess— punk rock phase? Fishnets that you tore holes into for the aesthetic? Black eyeliner? You totally had a playlist called something like ‘I hate my life.’”

He looked personally offended. “I did not.”

She smirked smugly. “You hesitated.”

“I didn’t!”

“You so did!”

“Take it back.”

“Make me.”

“Bastard!”

“Oh, oh, is that your favorite word now? You kiss your digital mother with that mouth?”

Jax snorted. “What, you mean Caine? Or, oh god no, Bubble.”

She laughed so hard she almost fell over. “Ew! Disgusting!”

“It’s like he’s here,” Jax said, pitching his voice high. “Disgusting!”

“Oh god, don’t make me think about them!”

“You started it!”

They were both laughing too hard, the kind that left Pomni’s sides aching and her head light. It felt good. Real.

She fell back into the grass, giggling into her sleeve. “God, you’re such a loser.”

Jax dropped down beside her, skirt flopping upwards. “And yet you’re the one hanging out with me.”

“Yeah, well,” she said between breaths, “someone’s gotta make sure you don’t spontaneously abstract from ego inflation.”

“Ha. Hilarious.”

He turned his head toward her, amber eyes catching the fake sunlight. He grinned at her, but not in his normal cocky manner. This was a real smile, tugging the sides of his face. His ears twitched like he didn’t know what to do with it.

Pomni realized she was still smiling too. The sound of their laughter faded into the birdsong and foliage rustling.

“You ever notice,” she said after a moment, “how it almost feels real if you don’t think too hard?”

Jax looked up at the sky, at the pixels pretending to be clouds. “Yeah,” he said, voice low. “That’s what makes it worse.”

Pomni tilted her head toward him. “What do you mean?”

He was quiet for a long beat. “It’s like… every time you start to forget, the code… Caine… reminds you it’s fake. Like it waits for you to get comfortable, then #%!$s with you just to remind you you’re trapped.”

Pomni swallowed. “That’s… a really depressing way to look at a nice day.”

“Eh,” Jax said, smirking faintly. “Depressing’s kind of my thing.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

She hugged her knees again, watching the way his expression was slowly becoming more readable to her with wonder. She looked at him like he was all the stars in the sky.

“Still,” she said after a while, “you found this place. You could’ve kept it to yourself. But you didn’t.”

Jax’s ears twitched. “Don’t get all sentimental on me, Pom.”

“I’m serious,” she said, butterflies awakening in her stomach. “You don’t have to act like this doesn’t mean anything.”

He met her gaze for a second, then looked away. “Didn’t say it didn’t.”

Her chest tightened, and she felt like she might abstract. From… what even was this feeling?

Jax finally turned back toward her. “You, uh…” He hesitated, then gave a soft laugh. “You got some grass stuck in your hair.”

Pomni blinked. “What? Where—”

He reached over before she could move, brushing his gloved fingers through the ends of her hair. The contact was light, but her heart seized all the same.

Jax froze too, realizing it at the same time she did. His hand hovered in the air between them, suspended.

Pomni stared. Neither of them breathed. The world around them felt suddenly too still.

Then, slowly, he brushed the last bit of grass from her hair. Clumsy, almost hesitant. His glove caught lightly against her bangs before he pulled back.

“There,” he said simply, but with so much weight.

Pomni’s pulse was still hammering. “Thanks,” she managed, barely above a whisper.

A pause.

Her breath hitched. “Jax…”

He gave a quiet laugh that came out shaky. “What?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Me neither.”

He hesitated for a heartbeat, close enough that Pomni could feel the warmth of him, close enough to see the shift in his expression, his golden eyes like moons waning as his pupils dilated. 

Then he leaned in.

The space between them vanished in a single, nervous breath. His mouth found hers; unsteady at first, then firmer when she didn’t pull away. 

Pomni’s fingers curled into the grass as he gently cupped her face. Her heart raced and she melted into the touch, deepening the kiss.

He tasted like thistles and lilac. Sharp, stubborn, but sweet. And not in the sickly way like the rest of the Circus, but in a way that felt real.

She sighed contentedly, and felt him smile through the kiss, letting out a flustered little giggle before their lips connected again. 

Pomni’s heart was pounding, but she wasn’t scared. For once, she wasn’t anything except here.

Her mind was still. Quiet. Just him.

Chapter Text

Pomni’s head was still spinning.

Not from panic this time. From him. The heat of his hand still lingered on her face, the weight of what just happened sitting somewhere between her chest and her throat.

I just kissed him.

I just kissed Jax.

Jax hadn’t moved either. She swore she’d never seen his pupils so dilated, the yellow rims barely visible around the pools of black. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the words didn’t make it past his mouth.

So they just sat there.

The fake breeze brushed through the clearing, grass rippling in response like water. 

Pomni hoisted herself up and dusted off her perfectly clean costume, mostly to give her hands something to do.

“So,” she said finally, as the silence began to feel dangerous.

“…So,” Jax echoed. She couldn’t decide if there wasn’t a thought behind his eyes, or if there were entirely too many.

They both winced in the awkward quiet, like they’d stepped on the same emotional landmine.

Pomni narrowed her eyes. “If you make a joke about that, so help me god I will—”

“I wasn’t gonna!” Jax blurted, holding up his hands.

The tension was suffocating. They both just… stared at each other, barely daring to breathe.

After a few moments, Pomni cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders, desperately trying to shake off the jitters.

Jax cleared his throat. “You, uh… you’re really bad at sitting still, you know that?”

“I’m bad at sitting still?” she repeated, incredulous.

“Yeah.” He gestured vaguely toward her hands. “You’re like… twitchy. It’s distracting.”

Her face flushed. “Distracting? From..?”

“N-nothing.” he said lamely, tripping over his own words.

Pomni crossed her arms, nodding her head in mock understanding. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting your little zen moment?”
“Yeah,” Jax said, smirking. “You’re killing my mysterious, brooding vibe.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have that.”
“Sure I do.” He puffed out his chest, the gesture looking ridiculous in the maid outfit. “Just need a tragic monologue to really sell it.”

Pomni huffed a laugh. “You already have that one down, you just won’t tell me.”

“Right,” he said, smirking. “And you’re dying to know.”

Pomni tilted her head. “You make it sound like I’ve been asking.”
“You’ve been curious,” Jax insisted. “You get that look on your face every time.”
She gasped. “What look?”

Jax giggled, a new noise. Cute. “I wish I had a mirror! That one right there.” 

Pomni’s brain short-circuited. “Wh—I do not have a look on my face!”

“Sure,” Jax said, grin widening. “Keep tellin’ yourself that, Pompom. I can read you like a book.”

The nickname, the tone. God, this #&!%ing rabbit! Something fluttered in her chest, comfortably warm.

Externally, she crossed her arms, scowling at him in a pretend mood. His eyes rounded. “It’s cute.”

The words hit her straight across the head.

What.

The.

%$!&.

While she was internally panicking, Jax was tearing up the ground underneath him, ripping the grass to its roots. “Besides, it’s not that I don’t wanna talk about it,” he said after a beat. “It’s just—” He stopped, frowning like the words were getting stuck. “If you say something out loud here, it feels like… like you’re making it real. Making it exist. It’s all fake until it’s out of your head.”

Pomni’s stomach tightened. “Fake?”

He shrugged, still not looking at her. “To Caine, this is just a game. A simulation.”

Pomni sucked in air, his words hit like a punch to the gut. Because he was right. Everything in this place, good or bad, eventually got twisted, mocked, made into a gag.

“...I wouldn’t do that,” she said quietly.

He looked up, surprised. “What?”

She met his gaze, steady but soft. “If you told me something, I wouldn’t use it against you.”

He looked into her eyes. The red and blue swirls betrayed nothing but wholesome honesty that made his chest tighten.

The fake wind stirred again, scattering petals through the clearing. 

“Yeah,” he said. “I know.”

A pause.

“You ever think about it?” he asked quietly. “Who we were before all this?”

Pomni blinked. “Sometimes,” she admitted. “But it just… hurts. It’s like trying to remember a dream you already woke up from.”

“Yeah,” Jax said. “Except it sort of feels like the opposite, y’know? Like we are the ones in the dream, and our real selves are trying to remember us.”

She turned toward him, sunlight catching on his hair. “You sound like you’ve thought about it a lot.”

He gave a small, crooked smile. “Maybe. Doesn’t do much good, though. No point missing someone you don’t even remember being.”

Pomni looked down, fidgeting with her gloves again. “Still feels like there should be more than this. Sometimes traces come back, vague memories. I wonder if Caine is in charge of what we do and don’t remember.” 

She paused, her eyes stinging with tears that she fought back.
“I hope not. That is really…” she paused, finishing weakly “...scary. To think about.”

She pulled her knees to her chest again, a dry sob choking out of her. He scooted closer, hesitantly putting an arm around her.

She froze, startled, and for a heartbeat she saw fear flash across his face. But then she leaned into him instead, her hand sliding over his, thumb brushing over his knuckles in quiet reassurance. He sighed.

“Yeah,” Jax said finally. “That’s Caine for you. Can’t leave well enough alone. Gotta mess with the sensitive parts just to see what happens.”

Pomni wiped her eyes, sniffling. “You make it sound like he gets off on it.”

“Maybe he does.” Jax sounded annoyed, and angry. Then, inquisitive. “Or maybe he’s just… curious. Like a kid pulling the wings off a bug to see how long it lives.”

Pomni flinched. “That’s—”

“Yeah,” he said, looking away. “It’s #$!%ed up.”

The fake birds kept chirping, and she noticed they’d been looping the same notes. Pomni hated how peaceful it sounded over a conversation like this.

She hugged her knees tighter, her voice small. “You really think we’re just… his playthings?”

Jax picked another blade of grass, twirling it between his fingers until it broke. “Nah. Not anymore.”

She looked up. “Why not?”

He hesitated, then met her gaze again. “Because if it’s all fake, then none of this should matter. But it does.”

Pomni’s breath caught. “You mean…”

He shrugged, forcing a crooked grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “You. Me. This dumb clearing. And…the others, I guess.” He gestured around them, hand trembling slightly. “Doesn’t feel fake. Not when it’s like this. Not when this is happening.”

The ache in her chest softened. “That’s… actually kind of sweet,” she said, blinking her watery eyes.

“Yeah, well,” he muttered, glancing away again, ears twitching.

Pomni sniffed, wiping at her nose with the back of her glove. “You’re bad at taking compliments, you know that?”

Jax gave a low laugh. “You’re assuming I get enough of them to practice.”

She smiled faintly, lightly flicking his ear. “You don’t make it easy.”

Jax smirked. “Yeah, well, being unbearable’s kind of my thing.”

Pomni snorted. “Oh, I’ve noticed.”

“See? You have been paying attention.”

“Unfortunately.” She rolled her eyes, though her voice was soft and her face turned crimson.

He caught that, because of course he did. “What, starting to like me or something?”

Pomni made a sound between a scoff and a laugh. “Don’t push it.”

“Too late,” he said, flashing that same reckless grin.

Pomni looked at him for a moment, heart thrumming faster than she wanted it to. “You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”

“Not a clue,” Jax proclaimed triumphantly, mock-bowing where he sat.

That did it. Before she could talk herself out of it, she shoved his shoulder; not hard, but enough to throw him off balance.

“Hey—!” Jax yelped as he toppled backward into the grass, arms flailing uselessly before he landed flat on his back with a soft thud.

Pomni snorted, covering her mouth with her glove. “Oh my god, you’re so dramatic.”

He blinked up at her, ears twitching. “You just assaulted me.”

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “You’ll live.”

“I’m wounded, Pom!” he cried with feigned hurt. 

Pomni adjusted her balance, planting her hands on each side of him for support. She didn’t notice how near she’d gotten until he stopped fidgeting.

Jax’s grin looked positively mischievous. Hungry, even.

The world felt weirdly still again, like everything around them had hit pause. His ears twitched, eyes darting around her, and Pomni felt her breath catch.

Then he grinned again, because of course he did. “Aha! You fell right into my trap.”

She pretended to think, tilting her head. “No… I think you fell right into my trap. I’ve got you right where I want you.”

Pomni met his eyes, her hands still braced on the grass beside him. She hovered above him, so close that her bangs brushed his forehead.

He opened his mouth like he was going to say something… and promptly closed it again.

The narrowing space between them buzzed.

Chapter Text

Pomni was leaning over Jax, the fake sunlight catching in his fur, and making his eyes glow. She leaned in, and…

Suddenly, they weren’t in the clearing anymore.

Her knees hit solid ground. The smell of confetti and ugly sweetness hit her nose, and the world was suddenly too bright.

It took her a second to realize they were back in the tent.

The main tent.

And she was still on top of him.

Jax blinked, dazed, one ear twitching against the floor. “What the—”

Then the voice came.

“There you are!”

Caine’s booming cheer filled the air, so bright and loud it made Pomni flinch. His grin stretched across his face as he floated closer, arms open in gleeful welcome. “I was just about to send a search party! You’re late for group therapy!”

“Group—what?” Pomni managed, her voice strangled.

“Post-adventure decompression!” Caine said cheerfully. “Emotional regulation, reflective dialogue, team bonding—whatever you want to call it!”

Bubble popped into view beside him, trembling. “You were gone! Daddy Bubble was scared for his children!”

Pomni froze like a deer in headlights. “We—uh—I—”

Ragatha gasped somewhere off to the side. Gangle made a noise that might’ve been a strangled laugh, and Zooble definitely laughed.

That’s when Pomni realized just how close she and Jax still were.

Too close.

Her hands were planted on either side of him, her knees bracketing his hips. His hands rested on the backs of her knees. His ears flicked as they both registered the situation.

Jax blinked slowly. “Oh.”

“Oh,” Pomni echoed, mortified.

Caine clapped his hands together, utterly oblivious. “Oh! Look at that—you two are ahead of schedule! Physical proximity is an excellent indicator of trust!”

Pomni’s brain caught fire. She scrambled backward so fast she nearly tripped over her own feet. “Caine, what the #%!$!?”

He tilted his head, still beaming. “Language, Pomni! But splendid progress nonetheless—such promising emotional development!”

Ragatha spoke, clearly forcing niceties.  “Guess some of us are really getting along these days.”

Pomni froze. Her stomach dropped straight through the floor.

Caine gasped. “Ragatha! No need for envy, my dear! Emotional growth isn’t a competition— unless I make it one!”

“I’m not jealous!” Ragatha said a little too fast, face turning the same shade as her hair.

“Excellent!” Caine clapped his hands, delighted. “Then my work here is done. Everyone’s learning and bonding! What a day!”

“Wait—what?” Pomni blurted.

But it was too late. Caine spun his cane and vanished in a pop of confetti, Bubble following behind.

Silence.

Jax sighed, still half on the ground. “Great. Group therapy. My favorite adventure.”

Pomni groaned into her gloves. “You could at least pretend you’re embarrassed.”

“I’m plenty embarrassed,” he said, actually sounding dead serious. “I’d rather be shot again.”

Ragatha stepped closer, crossing her arms. “So… what were you two doing, anyway?”

Pomni’s brain combusted. “What? Nothing! We weren’t— Caine just—!”

Ragatha smiled. Too polite. Too sharp. “Sure looked like something.”

“Jesus, Rags,” Jax muttered. “Why don’t you ever just say what you’re obviously thinking?”

Gangle and Zooble stood off to the side, whispering feverently to each other. They weren’t even trying to be subtle.

Pomni scrambled up, tugging at her hat like she could disappear inside it. “It wasn’t—”

Ragatha tilted her head, voice still honey-sweet. “Relax, Pomni. Nobody’s judging.”

Pomni didn’t look at her. She could feel the judgement.

Her throat went tight. 

Jax pushed himself up with a groan, dusting fake grass off his sleeves. “Well, that was horrifying. Let’s never do that again.”

“Which part?” Zooble asked, smirking. “The position or the teleportation?”

Pomni felt her soul exit her body. “It wasn’t— oh my god.”

Gangle snorted, laughing into Zooble’s shoulder. They looked the jester and rabbit up and down. “Right, right, nope. My bad. It totally wasn’t anything.”

“Alright, show’s over,” Jax said flatly, shooting them both a look. “You vultures done?”

Ragatha folded her arms, her smile faltering just slightly. “You don’t have to bite everyone’s head off.”

“Maybe stop gawking, then,” Jax shot back.

Pomni wanted to disappear. Crawl into the cellar and abstract. She wished Caine had just left them in the clearing—#$!# it, even another “adventure” would’ve been better than this. She’d take a thousand bullets to the shoulder over this. Her hands twisted in her gloves, heartbeat still pounding in her ears.

Ragatha sighed, softening her tone. “I’m just saying, Pomni, maybe be careful. Jax isn’t exactly…” She trailed off, letting the sentence hang.

Pomni’s stomach turned, embarrassment suddenly turning to anger. “Isn’t exactly what?”

Ragatha hesitated, eyes flicking toward Jax and back to Pomni. The sympathy in her gaze made Pomni irate. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

Jax barked a short, humorless laugh. “No, please, finish that thought.”

“Forget it.” Ragatha turned on her heel, curls bouncing as she walked away. 

Pomni fumed. 

Who’s Ragatha to tell me what I can and can’t do? I’m a #%!$ing adult for god’s sake! I can take care of myself!

The retort didn’t make it past her lips.

Zooble whistled low, watching Ragatha storm away. “Awkward.”

“Zooble,” Jax warned, his tone sharp.

“Fine, fine,” they said, hands up. “Wasn’t gonna say anything.”

Before anyone could follow Ragatha out, the tent’s flaps slammed shut with a loud fwump. Confetti burst from the seams.

“What the—” Zooble started.

Caine’s disembodied voice echoed from above, chipper as ever. “Ah-ah-ah! No leaving until the group shares their feelings!”

Pomni’s stomach dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oh, come on!” Jax groaned, kicking at the closed flap. It didn’t budge. “You said your work was done!”

Caine’s laughter reverberated through the air. “A magician never reveals his secrets! Now, you’ll all stay here and share until you feel… emotionally regulated! Yes! Perfect!”

“Wait, what?” Pomni blurted.

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t listen in!” Caine said, as if that were reassuring. “I’ve got a new adventure to prep. You know how it is!”

She blinked. “No. No, I don’t.”

“Good! Keep it that way!” he said, already starting to fade. “Have fun, talk about your feelings, don’t repress anything! Bubble, take notes!”

Bubble shook his head. “I won’t!”

And then—poof. Caine’s disembodied voice was gone. Bubble vanished after him, confetti bursting in their leave.

Silence.

Zooble brushed a few pieces off their shoulder. “Well. That’s one way to have an intervention.”

Jax groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Trapped with you lot. Fantastic.”

Pomni was still frozen in place. “I can’t believe this. I literally cannot believe this.”

“Careful,” Zooble teased. “That sounds suspiciously like sharing your emotions.”

Jax shot them a glare. “You’re just about two seconds from being punted through the tent wall.”

Zooble gestured vaguely toward the sealed flaps. “Good luck with that. Door’s locked. Remember? It's therapy time.”

Gangle’s ribbon fluttered. “D-do we have to like… talk? Or something?”

“Oh god,” Pomni muttered, sinking into a couch. She wanted it to swallow her whole.

“I vote we don’t,” Jax said, crossing his arms.

Yeah,” Pomni muttered, voice muffled behind her gloves. “This is your fault.”

Jax tilted his head, mock offended. “My fault? You’re the one who tackled me.”

“I didn’t tackle you! Caine teleported us mid—mid…” she waved her hands vaguely. “Mid moment!”

Zooble perked up immediately. “Oh, so it was a moment. Noted.”

Pomni groaned, burying her face further in her hands. “I hate it here.”

Zooble smirked teasingly. “Aw, we love you too.” They slung an arm lazily around Gangle’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’d be one to judge.”

Gangle laughed nervously, who’s face was now turning as red as her ribbons.

Pomni peeked through her fingers, glaring. “You’re both the worst.”

“Dont complain,” Jax said flatly. “Theyre taking the pressure off us.”

At that, Zooble turned to him. “This is new, though. That maid outfit’s really doing a number on you, huh?”

“I want to kill you,” Jax said without missing a beat.

“That’s a feeling,” Zooble countered. “See? Therapy is working already.”

Pomni snorted before she could stop herself. 

Jax glanced at her, ears flicking, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Was that a laugh?”

“No,” she said too quickly.

Zooble grinned. “Oh, this is definitely progress.”

Pomni groaned. “If I have to spend one more second in this tent, I’m going to abstract.”

“Cool,” Jax said, leaning back against the wall. “Then I’ll get some peace and quiet.”

She looked at him, exasperated. “You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”

“Not a clue,” he said, almost proud.

Zooble whistled low. “Wow. Real gentleman over here.”

Jax shot them a look. “You got something to say?”

“Just saying,” Zooble grinned, “That’s no way to treat a lady.”

Pomni sputtered. “Who’s treating me— I mean— s-shut up!”

Zooble grinned wider. “Hit a nerve, huh?”

“Keep talking,” Jax said, “and I’ll hit something else.”

Pomni shot him a look. “Real mature.”

“Thank you,” he said with mock pride.

Zooble stretched, smug. “Caine would be proud. Look at all this vulnerability.”

Pomni buried her face in her hands again. “I hate all of you.”

Jax leaned back, smirking. “Aw, and here I thought we were bonding.”

She peeked through her fingers at him — at that stupid grin, those twitching ears, the faint scuff of confetti on his sleeve.

“Yeah,” she muttered, heart still pounding. “Sure we are.”

Chapter Text

By the time Caine finally released them, Pomni’s head was pounding.

The whole therapy session ended up being a string of awkward silences and mini squabbles, before Kinger came out of his pillow fort and distracted them with nonsensical tales for hours. They were all grateful for the distraction, even if he wasn’t aware. 

Eventually, the tent flaps burst open with a fanfare of trumpets and confetti, and Caine’s overly enthusiastic voice drowning out their complaints. Everyone scattered instantly—Ragatha muttering something about needing to “freshen up,” Zooble grumpily dragging a half-asleep Gangle out by the arm, and Kinger retreating back to his fort.

Pomni didn’t move at first. Her legs still felt shaky, like the floor might drop out from under her again.

Jax brushed past her on his way out, muttering attempted profanities under his breath that came out as a stream of censor bars.

Then he was gone.

She stayed there until the lights dimmed, before dragging herself back to her room. The door closed with a hollow click, sealing in the quiet.

For a while, she just sat on the edge of her bed, gloves still on, trying to breathe. Every time she blinked, the clearing flashed behind her eyes. The way he’d looked at her. The sunlight in his fur. His glowing eyes. His hands on her.

Her chest tightened.

“God,” she muttered. “What the #$!% am I doing?”

The room didn’t answer.

Her eyes welled with tears. She couldn’t tell if they were from frustration, anger, shame, or just the sheer effort of saving face in front of her friends.

Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed. 

She hugged herself, never having felt so alone. Which is stupid, because she’d always been this alone in the circus. Why was it different now?

She told herself she didn’t want to see him. That she didn’t want to hear his voice and look into his eyes.

That she wasn’t thinking about what might’ve happened if Caine hadn’t—

A soft knock.

Pomni froze.

Another knock. Quick, rhythmatic. Familiar.

Her heart climbed straight into her throat.

She didn’t move, but the voice came anyway, low and casual through the door:

“You still alive in there, Pompom?”

Pomni stared at the door.

Her throat went dry.

For a second, she thought about pretending she wasn’t there. Maybe he’d leave if she stayed quiet. She didn’t know if she wanted that or not. 

But then came the third knock.

Softer. Hesitant.

“Pom?”

She sighed, rubbing at her face. “Go away.”

A pause. Then: “Yeah. Thought you’d say that.”

She expected him to leave, to hear his footsteps fade back down the hall. But he didn’t.

The silence that followed pressed in, heavy, until she eventually sighed into her gloves.

“…What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he said, too quickly. Then quieter: “Just making sure you were.. yknow.” A pause. “Okay.”

Pomni groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Why is everyone asking me that?”

“Maybe because you don’t look okay?” He offered sarcastically.

That shouldn’t have made her stomach twist, but it did.

She hesitated a long moment before standing and cracking the door open. Jax stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets, leaning against the frame casually as if trying desperately to save face. 

“Congratulations,” she muttered. “You found me alive.”

“Barely,” he said. “You look like a kicked puppy.”

She gave him a flat stare. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” He shifted, glancing past her into the dim, empty room. “…You gonna keep hiding from me here all night?”

She frowned. “I’m not hiding.”

“Right,” he said, dry. “You’re just sitting alone in the dark for fun.”

Pomni crossed her arms. “What’s your point? It’s bedtime.”

He shrugged. “Circus doesn’t have time. We don’t need to sleep. My point stands.”

After a beat, she sighed and stepped aside. “Fine. Whatever.”

He slipped in with hardly masked glee. If Pomni weren’t in a bad mood, she’d have thought it was adorable. He quickly shut the door behind him, and the room felt smaller immediately.

Jax leaned against the wall, staring at nothing. “So. Group therapy went swimmingly, huh?”

Pomni grumbled. “Don’t start.”

“Too late. I’m traumatized. Thought we were supposed to process that together.”

She gave him a look. “You don’t believe in feelings.”

“I believe in pretending not to have them,” he said earnestly.  “It’s an art form.”

She let out a small chuckle at that, against her will.

Just let me mope in peace and quiet!

He looked over, smirk tugging faintly at his mouth. “There she is.”

Her heart damn near imploded.

He didn’t hesitate making himself comfortable in her room, flopping onto her bed.

“…You really came here just to check on me?” she asked finally.

Jax’s ears flicked. “Don’t make it sound weird.”

“It is weird. For you.”

“Then yeah,” he said, sinking down onto the edge of her bed without asking. “Guess I am.”

Pomni hesitated, eyeing the empty space beside him. He caught the look and patted the spot once, casual but careful. “You can sit, y’know. I don’t bite.”

“i don’t know if I believe that,” she teased, but still moved closer. The mattress dipped under her weight.

They sat shoulder to shoulder, quiet except for the faint buzz of the circus walls. Jax tapped his claws against his knee, and Pomni played with the bells of her hat.

He finally muttered, “You looked like $!#% earlier.”

“Thanks.”

“Just saying.”

She drew her legs up onto the bed, staring down at her gloves. “I didn’t think anyone noticed.”

“You kidding? It was hard not to notice,” he remarked.

Pomni huffed, not looking at him. “I was trying not to make a scene.”

“And you didn’t, but...”

He trailed off, and she glanced up at him. His usual grin was gone, brows furrowed in concentration, as if it took all of his effort to be transparent. He looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t know how.

Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Are you… okay?”

He blinked. “Me?”

“Yeah. You don’t look great either.”

He gave a humorless snort. “Yeah, well. I’m not exactly ‘peak male performance’ right now.”

Pomni managed a small smile. “You never were.”

That earned her a side-eye and a faint grin. “Watch it.” He warned.

She laughed softly, and for a second, her mind was back in the clearing.

The sunlight on his fur.

His golden eyes.

His hands. His-

Jax shifted, leaning back on his hands. “You look like a statue that’s somehow also having an existential crisis. It’s making me nervous.”

“What?” She defended. “I’m just thinking.”

“Liar,” he said easily. “C’mere before you… I dunno, implode, or something.”

Before she could ask what that meant, he tilted back further, making space. His tone was light, but the gesture wasn’t. An invitation.

Her stomach did a nervous somersault. “You’re serious?”

“Doctor’s orders.” He adding teasingly.

She hesitated another heartbeat, then shifted until she was leaning sideways. The movement felt ridiculous, awkward—until her head settled against the soft fabric of his lap.

Jax went completely still. She could hear his breath catch, feel the subtle tension in his legs. She was about to start regretting it when-

His gloved hand lifted. Slowly. Hesitantly. It brushed against her hair once, clumsy, then again—gentler.

Pomni’s breath hitched.

Her thoughts scattered instantly. He’s touching me. He’s actually—oh my god. Every instinct screamed to move away, but she didn’t. And she found that she didn’t want to.

They’d kissed twice, tackled in the grass, and somehow this was more intimate than any of that.

He’s touching me. 

He combed carefully through her hair, claws grazing so lightly it almost tickled. “You’re shaking,” he muttered.

“I’m fine,” she said, but it came out a little too fast.

“Pom, I can stop. Just say the word, I-“

Pomni squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head and burying it in his skirt. “No. No. I…” her face burned “I like it. I’m just not used to… this.”

“Used to what?” He replied, dumbfounded. 

She rolled her eyes. 

Men.

“People touching me.” She replied quietly. And added, barely above a breath “Someone.. touching me.”

He blinked down at her like she’d just spoken another language.

“Oh.”

Just that.

No joke, no grin, no teasing.

Pomni wanted to sink through the floor. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have—”

“No, no.” His voice came fast, sharper than he meant. Then softer: “Don’t do that. I just…”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “I didn’t know that was—like, a thing for you.”

“It’s not.” She swallowed. “Or it wasn’t. I don’t know.”

Jax went quiet again. His hand hovered uncertainly above her hair before settling back down, lighter this time, fingertips barely grazing. “It’s… ok, ok?.” He said awkwardly, as if delicately tiptoeing across ice. “You just tell me. No matter what.”

His claws drifted through her hair, toying with the ends delicately. Something in her chest loosened, and her brain stopped fighting her heart.

Her voice was smaller when she spoke again. “It’s weird. I didn’t think I could… want this. Any of it. I-”

She trailed off. The words caught in her throat.

Jax didn’t push. He just kept that same rhythm, brushing through her hair, occasionally catching a tangle and pausing like he was afraid to hurt her.

“You don’t have to explain,” he said finally. “I get it.”

She tilted her head just enough to look at him. “You do?”

He huffed. “Yeah. Someone hurts you enough times, and your body stops knowing the difference between a nice hand and an angry one.”

Pomni stared at him, quiet. He wasn’t looking at her anymore, his amber gaze fixed on one of the bells of her hat.

“Jax…”

He shrugged one shoulder, like it was nothing to him that he had just cracked open her psyche. “Don’t make me get all cheesy on you.”

“Too late.” She said, warmth creeping from her chest.

“Okay, fine, you win.” he admitted.

That made her laugh—small, real, and half-buried in the fabric of his clothes. 

They sat there for a while, talking about nothing and everything. 

Eventually, Pomni’s eyelids grew heavy, her thoughts floating and her brain fuzzy.

Jax glanced down at her, his hand still tracing lazy patterns through her hair.

“You’re gonna pass out, aren’t you?” he murmured.

“Mmmmmnno...”

He huffed a soft laugh, feigning exasperation. “Figures. Get comfy, Pompom.”

She mumbled something incoherent that might’ve been a retort, but was too tired to argue. 

He didn’t answer, just kept his hand gently on her hair. He looked down at her, now peacefully asleep, and smiled.

Chapter Text

Jax wasn’t thinking about anything.

His hand just moved, slow and steady through her hair, until her breathing evened out and the room went still.

A quiet enveloped the room.

He felt her weight sink a little heavier against him. Warm. Real. That alone was enough to make his stomach twist. The quiet proof that she trusted him enough to fall apart next to him.

He could handle her yelling. He could handle her anger, her fear, her tears.

This was different. This was—God, what was this?

The frills of his stupid dress brushed against his fur, lace soft and mocking. 

He swallowed, jaw tight.

Something had happened to him.

He wasn’t supposed to care. He wasn’t supposed to be sitting here scared out of his mind because someone trusted him enough to fall asleep on him.

That was weakness.

And the worst part was knowing he’d already let it happen.

Soft. Weak.

“Great,” he muttered, voice flat.

The sound broke the quiet like a snap. She shifted, murmuring something he couldn’t catch.

He froze. Waited.

When she didn’t wake, he exhaled; shaky, relieved, sick with it.

His hand lingered for one last second before he pulled it away.

Careful. Too careful. He shook out his hand like she’d electrocuted him. 

He slid out from under her slowly, the warmth fading from his lap as he stood. For a second, he just looked at her- small, soft, completely unaware of the battle raging behind his eyes.

Then he turned and left.

The door clicked shut behind him, and the room went still again.

____________

Pomni woke to the artificial morning glow and the faint imprint of fabric across her cheek. The room smelled faintly of bubblegum and… something else. She sat up slowly, disoriented.

Her hair was a mess.

Her heart was worse.

She stared at the empty spot beside her. For a second she wondered if she’d dreamed the whole thing. 

Then she noticed the faint indent in the blanket, and a small bit of purple fuzz caught on the pillow.

No dream.

He’d been here.

And now he wasn’t.

Pomni pressed her palms into her eyes, trying to steady herself. She inhaled deeply, and let out a shaky exhale.

She glanced toward the door. It was shut tight. No note, no trace— not that she’d expected one, she realized bitterly. He probably slipped out the second she’d fallen asleep. 

The emptiness in the room made her chest ache.

She shouldn’t care. She didn’t. 

Probably.

Pomni shook her head, trying to clear it. “Get it together,” she muttered. “It’s not like he—”

Her voice faltered.

It’s not like he what?

Outside, she heard movement — faint laughter, a door creaking somewhere down the hall. Jax’s voice, light and careless as ever:

“—No, really, Zooble, if therapy fixed anything, would any of us be here?”

Pomni’s stomach dropped.

He sounded normal. Too normal.

She sank back onto the bed, fingers curling in the blanket. The same one where she’d fallen asleep on him. The same one that still smelled faintly like him.

Pomni sat there until the air in the room started to feel too thick.

She stared at her gloves, her gaze intensely focused.

She could still feel it, the ghost of his claws in her hair, the steady rhythm of his touch. Every time she blinked, she saw the way he’d paused when she breathed too sharply, his caution and care with her. 

Care?

Did he care?

Her chest ached.

He’s not here.

“Doesn’t matter,” she muttered. “It doesn’t matter.”

The room stayed silent.

She stood, brushing off her costume and letting out another big sigh. It didn’t help to unclench her chest.

When she finally pushed the door open, the circus greeted her like always. Bright, chaotic, smelly, and loud in all the wrong ways. 

Jax was across the tent with the others, leaning against a pillar, mid-sentence. The same smirk. The same lazy posture. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve believed none of it had even happened. 

He noticed her. A flick of his ears, a glance, and then he looked away.

Pomni’s stomach tightened. She told herself she didn’t care. She told herself she didn’t want him to say anything.

Both lies.

She forced a small, brittle smile and stepped forward.

Pomni slid into the noise without really joining it, numbly sinking into a chair at the breakfast table. She nodded when Ragatha said her name, smiled when she was supposed to, laughed once because it was easier than explaining why she didn’t feel like it. 

Across the tent, Jax was still talking. Still performing.

Every joke landed just a little too fast, every grin just a little too sharp, every enunciation a little too loud. 

She could see the seams now.

When he finally wandered closer, Ragatha rolled her eyes. “You’re actually sitting for breakfast this time?”

“Can’t disappoint my adoring fans,” he said easily.

Pomni kept her head down, pretending to inspect her empty plate. 

The air between them tightened.

He leaned on the edge of the table beside her, tail flicking idly. “You sleep okay?”

Pomni’s stomach flipped. She looked up before she could stop herself.

He was smiling, same as always. Like it was just a normal, everyday question.

“Fine,” she said. Her voice didn’t sound like hers.

He blinked once, maybe realizing how strange the question had sounded out loud.

“Good,” he said quickly, tone light. Was that a flicker of relief under the smugness?

He looked fine. Perfectly fine.

And that hurt worse than anything he could’ve said.

She forced a polite laugh, eyes back on her plate. 

It all blurred together.

Caine’s voice echoed from somewhere overhead, narrating the day’s schedule. Ragatha laughed at a joke that wasn’t funny. Gangle was trying to eat without crying again. Zooble was trying to pop their arm back into place, and Kinger was helping them every time it fell back onto the floor.

Everything looked the same.

That was the part that made her stomach turn.

Pomni kept waiting for some sign that the world had changed overnight, that what happened in her room had left even a hairline crack in the painted set around them.

Nothing.

Just noise.

Just him, sitting a few seats away, laughing too loud at nothing at all.

Pomni smiled through their meal. She didn’t trust her voice enough to say anything else.

No one questioned why her plate was empty, why she wasn’t talking or laughing or looking at them. 

But she could tell they wanted to.

When she glanced up again, he was already turned away, his back to her.

Pomni exhaled slowly.

The air felt heavier here than it had in her room.

She pushed back from the table. “I’m gonna… go check something,” she muttered, not really to anyone.

Ragatha blinked. “What, again? We’re—”

But Pomni was already walking away.

Her ears blocked out any further protests, a static ringing building up.

She didn’t see Jax glance up mid-laugh, the smirk faltering for just a breath before he forced it back into place.

Didn’t see the way his eyes lingered on the empty chair she’d left behind.

By the time he looked again, she was gone.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Pomni had barely reached the corridor past the main tent when the lights flickered overhead.

Then came the voice.

“I hope it’s been a good morning so far, my dazzling delinquents!”

She stopped dead.

Caine’s sing-song enthusiasm ricocheted through the empty air, dragging her thoughts back into focus against her will.

“I hope everyone’s rested, recharged, and emotionally stable after that woooonderful therapy session!”

He paused for laughter that didn’t come.

“Today’s adventure tests your camaraderie: a three-legged obstacle course! Work together, reach the center, and win a prize that you’ll… never get to spend!”

Pomni dragged a hand down her face. “Oh, for god’s sake.”

She didn’t want to go back.

Didn’t want to talk.

Didn’t want to see him laughing like nothing had happened.

If she stayed out here long enough, maybe Caine would just skip her. Maybe she wouldn’t have to do this stupid adventure. 

After all, he’d done weirder things. And Zooble skipped them all the time. Hell, even Kinger had opted out once. 

She muttered something unprintable and leaned her head against the wall. Maybe if she stayed quiet, he’d—

The air shimmered.

“—Pomni!”

Too late.

A flash of entirely too bright colors, a sensation like falling sideways, and the hallway was gone.

She reappeared in the middle of the main tent with a loud pop, stumbling forward as confetti materialized around her. The others were already gathered—Gangle and Zooble chatting with each other, Ragatha beaming next to Kinger, everyone paired and ready.

Everyone except—

“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” Caine boomed, his voice echoing from nowhere and everywhere at once. “Well… I decided for you!”

Pomni’s heart sank.

Caine’s grin stretched wider. “And since everyone else is already paired, that means you and Jax get the honor of being partners!”

She narrowed her eyes, but the purple rabbit wouldn’t meet her gaze.

The floor split open with a cheerful pop. Two parallel obstacle courses slid into place: tire pits, rope ladders, swinging foam bars, all rounded and cutesy like it was straight out of a children’s show.

Caine flourished his cane toward a pile of fabric ropes near the starting line. “Each pair will be tethered together! Walk in sync, or fall to your digital deaths! Your goal is to make it to the end, together!”

Pomni stared at the ropes in disgust. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oh, I never kid,” Caine fibbed, eyes spinning like slot reels. “Now… partners, step forward!”

Pomni didn’t move. Maybe if she just stood there, the floor would swallow her whole and save her the trouble.

A sharp tug on her glove broke the thought. “C’mon,” Jax said quietly. “We’re up.”

She shot him a scathing look, but followed. 

The strap lifted on its own, snaking around her ankle and snapping tight. The matching end coiled around Jax’s. The fabric glowed faintly where it connected them.

“Ugh.” She tested the slack. “Feels like a leash.”

He gave a dry, nervous laugh. “Trust me, this wasn’t exactly on my to-do list today either.”

Pomni just blinked at him, irritated. 

His ears twitched as he cringed under her glare.

“I just—” he started.

“Don’t bother.” she interrupted.

Caine clapped his hands. “Allllllllright my players! When the whistle blows, it’s go time! And remember— don’t fall!” 

Bubble chimed sweetly. “Or do. I want to see blood~”

The whistle shrieked.

They stepped forward… and immediately jerked sideways when their timing didn’t match.

“Left,” she snapped.

“That was left.”

“My left!”

“Same thing!”

They stumbled through the first stretch like drunks on stilts, tripping over the tires, bumping shoulders, awkwardly fumbling forward. The strap kept pulling them back together every time they tried to create distance.

They climbed the first rope ladder in silence. Every time the tether tightened, it felt like it was pulling on her chest instead of her ankle.

At the top, they both grabbed for the same handhold. Their fingers brushed.

He hesitated this time- quiet, careful- before helping her up the last rung.

They reached the top, panting, course sprawling out ahead.

She jerked her hand free the moment he steadied her. She shot him another angry look, pinwheel eyes a blend of fire and ice.

“You don’t get to do that,” she snapped.

“Do what?”

“Be normal after doing all that. It’s confusing.”

He blinked. “Pomni, I—”

“Don’t. You made it really clear you don’t want to be near me. So stop acting like you do.”

She fought back the tears spiking behind her eyes. She wouldn’t let him see her cry.

Jax didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there, hand half-raised like he wasn’t sure whether to reach for her or step back.

Down below, Caine’s voice was still chattering, the others shouting and laughing somewhere in the noise. It sounded so far away.

“Pom—”

“No,” she said, quieter this time, but still angry. Hurt.

He nodded once, jaw tight. “Yeah. Okay.”

Pomni looked anywhere but at him. Her pulse still hadn’t slowed, and her chest still burned. 

“Keep moving,” she muttered, voice hoarse. “We’re wasting time.”

Jax hesitated, then followed as she started across the next platform.

They didn’t talk. The only sounds were the squeak of shoes against the padded beam, the rhythmic pull of the tether between them, and Caine’s distant commentary echoing overhead.

When they reached the midpoint, Jax caught her as she slipped from the ledge. He immediately let go, as if her skin were boiling water.

“Sorry.”

Pomni didn’t answer.

He looked down at the strap binding their ankles, then back at her. 

They were far above the clearing now, the bottom of the obstacle course a dizzying distance below. The other teams were making their way through the course with varying degrees of success, Kinger and Ragatha surprisingly breezing their way to first place while Gangle and Zooble seemed more interested in their conversation than in winning. 

 “I just—” Jax started, his voice strained. It didn’t sound like him, and that somehow made Pomni angry. 

Oh, so now you want to talk?

“I don’t…” He paused again, ears flattening to his head. “…know how to be around you right now.”

That made her finally look at him. He didn’t have that token smug grin plastered on his face. He was just looking at her, golden eyes swimming with exhaustion and emotion.

Her chest twisted. For a second, she almost believed him.

Then the floor tilted, and it brought her back to reality.

“Move,” she said, shaking her head and forcing her voice steady. “Before we both fall.”

He nodded, relief and regret flickering across his face. They started forward again, matching steps by instinct more than cooperation.

The next section was narrower—two beams running parallel with gaps between them. 

The circus grounds looked far down, and Pomni realized just how high up they were. She didn’t want to imagine how it would feel to fall. She tried not to look down.

“Step when I say,” she muttered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Jax.”

“I’m stepping, I’m stepping.”

He reached the first gap first, holding the rope steady for her. She didn’t want to take it—didn’t want to need him—but there wasn’t another option. Their joined ankle forced her closer until she could feel his breath against her shoulder.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Just go.”

They jumped together. The impact rattled her, the tether pulling them chest to chest for a brief, breathless second before they regained balance.

He didn’t move right away.

“Pomni,” he said quietly.

She didn’t look at him. “Don’t.”

“I’m not trying to—”

“Then don’t.”

They paused on the ledge, Pomni screwing her eyes shut against the cliffside while Jax peered into it curiously. Somewhere above, Caine whooped at another team’s victory.

Pomni exhaled sharply and set her foot forward. “Let’s just finish the stupid game.”

He followed without another word.

They hit the last stretch running. Not because they were working together, but because neither wanted to drag it out any longer.

The final platform rose up ahead, covered in fanfare and balloons.

Caine’s voice erupted before they’d even stopped moving.

“Marvelous! Sublime! A true display of devotion and teamwork! How inspiring!” He crooned, laying it on thick. 

Pomni rolled her eyes. “Are we done?” she asked flatly.

“Done?” Caine gasped, sounding offended. “Why, my dear Pomni, you’ve only triumphed! You and Jax have proven that—”

She yanked at the strap binding their ankles until it vanished with a snap of light. “Yeah. Great.”

Jax winced but didn’t argue. He rubbed at the spot where the tether had been, not looking at her.

“Congrats,” he said, tentatively forcing a laugh. “Third place. Out of three. Really killing it.” 

The joke fell flat halfway out of his mouth.

Pomni responded with a hollow chuckle to save face, before adding, “Save it.”

She stepped off the platform before Caine could start another speech, brushing stray bits of confetti from her gloves. 

Behind her, Jax called, “Pomni—”

“Don’t.” She didn’t turn around.

He didn’t follow.

Caine’s voice boomed cheerfully over the tent. “A dazzling performance! Though next time, perhaps a little more communication!”

Pomni didn’t answer. The tears she’d refused to let fall before came back with a vengeance, hot and blinding as she pushed forward.

Away from them.

Away from him.

Chapter Text

Caine’s voice swooped overhead, syrupy sweet. “Ah, but what about the power of team-building?!”

“Real cute, Caine,” Jax muttered, his grin tightening.

“Oh, come now. You two were electric!”

“Yeah?” he snapped, louder this time. “You get what you wanted?”

“Oh, you’ve no idea what I want,” Caine purred.

Jax kicked one of the confetti props hard enough to send a glittery burst across the floor. Everyone flinched.

“Whoa,” Zooble said. “Temper much?”

Before he could snap back, Ragatha stepped forward, hands clasped, voice sugar-sweet but eyes sharp. “Hey, maybe don’t break the Circus, huh? We’ve all got to live here, and some of us are actually trying to keep things running.”

He let out a brittle laugh. “Oh, right. Wouldn’t want to ruin the pretty little stage.”

“You could at least try not to make things worse.”

“Worse?” he echoed, incredulous. “You think I’m the one making things worse?”

“I think you hurt her,” Ragatha said, juxtaposed between a friendly smile and a scathing tone. “And you don’t even see it.”

That wiped the grin off his face. Then it came back sharper, crueler. “Please. She’ll live. You’re acting like she’s made of glass.”

“She’s not,” Ragatha said tightly. “She’s just human.”

He tilted his head, mocking. “You sure? Because she cries a lot for someone who’s supposed to be so strong.”

That made her flinch. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yeah?” His voice dropped to something low and bitter. “Maybe I do. Maybe I’m tired of everyone pretending she’s some fragile child that needs to be protected. Maybe she doesn’t need a babysitter, Rags.”

Her smile finally broke. “You’re an $&#!hole.”

“Yeah, and you’re a saint? I think you like that she’s broken. Makes it easier for you to swoop in and protect her, huh?” 

At this point, Jax was looming over Ragatha, casting her in a terrifying shadow. Her eye welled with tears and she tripped on her dress in an attempt to back away from him.

“What’s the matter, dollface? Not so easy to play the hero when someone bites back?”

For a heartbeat, the tent was silent.

Even Caine didn’t chide them on profanties.

Zooble muttered something sharp under their breath. “What the actual #$!% is wrong with you?”

Gangle’s mask cracked straight down the middle. “J-Jax!” she stammered, ribbons trembling. “That was— that was too far!”

Ragatha didn’t speak. She was still on the floor, hands shaking, tears streaking down her patchwork face. 

Jax’s chest heaved, his grin flickering in and out. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he barked, but it came out broken in a half-laugh, half-snarl. “Everyone wanted honesty. There it is.”

The silence that followed felt radioactive.

A beat later, Caine’s voice broke it, inappropriately gleeful.

“Wow-wee! That’s some emotional range! You two are really committing to the bit!”

No one laughed.

“Caine,” Zooble snapped. “Shut. The #%!$. Up.”

He froze midair, expression stuck in a too-wide grin that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Oh,” he said finally, voice an octave too high. “Tough crowd.”

He lowered a little, still smiling, but quieter now.

“Well then. Uh… we’ll call it a wrap for today, my players! Go cool off, hydrate, patch up your little emotional boo-boos!”

The static under his words bled into the air before he vanished with a glitch, and a pop.

Jax turned on his heel, muttering something that warranted several censor bars, and stalked off toward the edge of the tent. Confetti stuck to his shoes as he went.

The air he left behind was scorched.

No one moved. 

Zooble exhaled hard, muttering, “That guy needs a #!$%ing muzzle.”

Gangle was still frozen, ribbons trembling as she knelt beside Ragatha. “H-hey, it’s okay,” she whispered, voice cracking through her broken mask. “He’s just—he’s just being Jax. You know how he gets.”

Ragatha blinked hard, forcing the tears back, her stitched smile twitching back in and out of place. “Yeah,” she whispered, barely audible. “I know.”

She stood slowly, smoothing out her skirt with trembling hands, trying to reassemble the version of herself that everyone expected.

“I’m.. sorry.” she paused, clearly fighting an impossible battle to the tears in her eye. ”Let’s just…. clean this up,” she murmured. “Caine hates a mess.”

Zooble glanced at her, something uncharacteristically soft crossing their mismatched eyes. “Rags, maybe you should—”

“I’m fine.” Her tone cut like glass, but her voice cracked.

No one believed her.

From somewhere far above, the ceiling lights flickered once more. Even the confetti seemed duller. The tent felt smaller, colder.

Gangle fumbled for words, the ribbons of her hands twisting together. “H-he didn’t mean all of that,” she said again, like if she said it enough times it might make it true.

Ragatha didn’t answer. She bent to pick up one of the confetti cannons Jax had kicked. The glitter clung to her palms, a perfect mockery of the sparkle in her usual smile.

“Yes,” she whispered. “He did.”

The others stayed where they were, frozen in the debris of the scene. No one had anything clever to say.

The lights above flickered unevenly, caught between day mode and night cycle, as if even the system of the Circus didn’t know what was going on.

Ragatha’s forced smile had returned by then, but it was more eerie than comforting. “He’ll cool off,” she said softly, her voice cracking. “He always does.”

Gangle stared at her, ribbons limp. “And if he doesn’t?”

Ragatha paused, hands stilling over the half-swept confetti. “Then he’ll pretend he did. And we’ll let him. Like we always do.”

It wasn’t cruel, just matter-of-fact. The way one would talk about a wound they stopped expecting to heal.

The air in the tent felt staticky as ever, a heavy blanket of tension thrown over it.

Zooble sighed, rubbing the bridge of their nose. “I’ll, uh… I’ll handle cleanup. You two—” they gestured vaguely toward Gangle and Ragatha. “—just… take five, or something. Go get some rest.”

Ragatha shook her head resolutely. “No. I’m fine.”

But her hands wouldn’t stop shaking as she bent to gather more of the glittering scraps.

Gangle crouched beside her, ribbons trembling. “You don’t have to—”

“I want to,” Ragatha cut in, too quickly. She smiled again, the expression looking wrong on her tear streaked face and trembling limbs. “It’s fine. Really.”

Zooble watched her for a long moment, arms crossed. 

The only sound was the faint rustle of confetti as she brushed it into a pile, piece by piece, like she could fix the whole mess just by tidying it.

Gangle just stayed there, eyes wide behind her cracked mask. “Should we tell her?” she whispered to Ragatha.

“Tell her what?” Ragatha murmured without looking up.

“That he—” Gangle hesitated, ribbons wringing together. “—that he didn’t mean it?”

Ragatha stopped. Her smile faltered again. She looked at the pile of glitter in her hands, then let it fall back to the floor.

“Then she’d forgive him,” she said softly. “And that’s worse.”

The confetti she’d dropped scattered, dull colors catching dim light faintly.

No one answered after that.

Chapter Text

Pomni hadn’t left her room in two days.

It wasn’t hard to hide here. The Circus didn’t have clocks, and time had a way of blurring until it didn’t matter. She slept when her body gave out and woke when her mind refused to.

Mostly, she just… sat.

The first day, she told herself she’d leave soon. That she just needed an hour. Maybe two.

By the second, it felt safer not to move at all.

She didn’t really know what she was waiting for.

An apology, maybe. Or for Caine to reset the Circus again and wipe it all clean. Usually, that’s what happened after things went bad.

But it had never gone this badly. And this time, the world just… kept going without her.

She could hear it through the fabric walls- chatter, faint laughter, less faint screams. Caine’s voice sometimes carried from the distance, muffled and strained, but he never called for her. Not once.

That was the strangest part.

Normally, he’d drag her out by force if she stayed hidden too long; teleport her into the middle of some ridiculous “adventure,”, bright eyed and bushy tailed like he really was some sort of savior or god.

But two whole days passed, and nothing happened.

No pop of color. No sarcastic “Pomniii, my dear, where are you?”

Just quiet.

It should’ve felt like a relief. It didn’t.

By the third morning— if it even was morning— the walls started to feel too close.

Her room wasn’t much to begin with, but now it felt smaller every time she blinked. She tried not to look at the walls for too long. The longer she stared, the more they seemed to move, phosphenes swimming behind her dark eyelids.

Pomni pressed her palms to her eyes, breathing unsteadily. She could feel it creeping up again, a hum building ominously behind her thoughts.

It started as static. Then it crawled.

She’d heard of it happen to others—how fast it spread once you stopped talking, stopped moving, stopped pretending things were okay. How easy it was to slip.

You didn’t even notice, not until your reflection looked wrong.

She forced herself up.

Her legs felt stiff, her head light. “You’re fine,” she muttered under her breath. “You’re fine. You’re just— thinking too much.”

Her voice sounded thin in the quiet. It didn’t convince her.

She lingered by the door for too long, hands hovering above the plasticky handle.

If she left, she’d have to see everyone again.

If she stayed, she’d...

She shook her head. Neither option felt survivable.

Another moment passed, a toss up between ten seconds and two hours.

She stepped out before she could talk herself out of it.

The lights assaulted her, entirely too bright and colorful. She blinked until her eyes stopped burning and her nose adapted to the sticky sweet smell that seemed to rot her from the inside out.

Somewhere in the distance, she could hear Zooble’s low voice, Gangle’s nervous laugh, Kinger’s nonsensical babbling, even Ragatha’s carefully steady tone.

But no one said her name.

Pomni’s throat tightened. Part of her wanted to go back inside, crawl back into the dark where the world couldn’t look at her.

But the hum in her head had gone quiet the moment she stepped out, and that scared her even more.

So she started walking.

The corridor seemed to stretch longer than ever, and Pomni winced as she found her pace on legs made of jello. They felt especially shaky after a few days of neglect.

By the time she reached the main tent, her hands were shaking.

She hesitated at the flap, half expecting Ragatha to hold it open in cheerful welcome, or for Caine’s voice to boom out and drag her in with that awful artificial cheer.

Nothing happened.

Pomni pushed it aside herself.

Everything looked… normal. Too normal. Caine’s decorations sparkled in their usual, over-saturated cheer. 

Ragatha sat at the long table with Gangle and Zooble. There were cups in front of them, half-full of something that looked like tea, but wasn’t steaming anymore.

When Pomni stepped forward, the faint chime of her bells made all three heads snap up at once.

“Pomni!” Ragatha said, too quickly. Her voice was bright, too bright. “You’re— you’re up!”

Gangle’s ribbons clutched at her face. “Oh, thank god,” she whispered.

Zooble just stared.

No one moved.

Pomni hesitated. “…Hey.”

Her voice sounded small, hoarse from disuse.

Ragatha was already on her feet before she seemed to realize she’d moved. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re okay!” she said, her voice pitching. “You didn’t answer anyone! You didn’t— I mean, we thought—”

She stopped, swallowing hard. Her smile twitched and returned, smaller this time. “You really scared us.”

Pomni blinked, unsure how to respond. “I… didn’t mean to.”

“I know, I know,” Ragatha rushed, hands fluttering like she didn’t know what to do with them. “You just— you disappeared, Pomni. Caine said you needed space, but he wouldn’t say why.” She laughed, too fast, too high. “And you know how he gets when things happen, so we thought well maybe— maybe something—”

“Rags,” Zooble said softly.

Ragatha stopped, her expression freezing mid-sentence. She pressed a hand to her chest like she could calm herself down from the inside. “Sorry,” she said, quieter now. “You’re here. That’s what matters.”

Pomni’s throat felt tight. “Yeah.”

Gangle crept closer, her ribbons shaking. “We tried knocking,” she said. “But Caine said not to… he said he’d handle it.”

Pomni’s stomach turned. “He didn’t.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised.” Zooble said bitterly. 

A silence hung in the air.

Ragatha finally took a step closer, cautious. She looked like she wanted to smother Pomni in a hug, but instead clenched her dress in tight fists. “You’re okay, right?” she asked softly. “You don’t… feel weird?”

Pomni’s mouth went dry.

Weird.

She almost laughed.

Her mind flashed back to the walls closing in. To the way the static had crawled up her spine until it sounded like her own thoughts weren’t hers. To the colors flashing behind her eyes, that familiar edge of something waiting to swallow her whole, like a predator in shadow.

She remembered pressing her palms so hard against her face she swore she could feel the texture of her pixels shifting.

For a moment, she almost said it—

I think I almost did.

But the words caught in her throat. Saying them out loud made it real, and she couldn’t stand the thought of seeing it reflected in Ragatha’s eye, to hear her own voice echo the thoughts that seemed unreal until spoken aloud.

So instead, she just forced a small smile and shook her head.

“No. I’m fine.”

It sounded wrong, even to her.

Ragatha’s shoulders relaxed, but only halfway. “Okay,” she said gently. “That’s… that’s good.”

Pomni beamed a smile that she prayed didn’t look as fake as if felt. The others looked at her like she might disappear again if they took their eyes off of her. 

Ragatha hovered for a moment longer before turning back to the table, trying to look composed. Zooble muttered something to her, patting her shoulder. Gangle busied herself with wiping her mask. The world resumed, but slower.

Pomni just stood awkwardly. Her hands twisted in front of her. That haunting silence from her room still clung to her skin, refusing to shake loose.

She was alive. Fine, supposedly. So why did it still feel like something was crawling just out of view?

Then it hit her.

That hum—

That static.

The quiet.

If she’d been sitting in it that long, waiting for something to drag her out—

If Caine hadn’t—

If no one had—

Her stomach dropped.

She looked around the tent again. Kinger muttering to himself in the corner. Gangle and Zooble pretending not to be casting glances at her. Ragatha almost spilling her tea with shaky hands.

Everyone was here.

Except—

Pomni’s pulse stuttered.

“…Where’s Jax?”

The question came out small, uncertain, but it sliced through the air anyway.

Ragatha froze mid-sip. Gangle’s ribbons tightened around her cup until it cracked. Zooble looked away.

No one answered.

Pomni’s heart kicked hard in her chest. “He’s— he’s not here?”

Ragatha set her cup down carefully, too carefully. “He’s… fine,” she said finally. “He’s just keeping to himself.”

“Keeping to himself,” Pomni repeated, voice hollow.

Gangle’s tone was fragile. “Caine said he needed time.”

Pomni felt the blood drain from her face. “Time,” she echoed. “Like he said about me?”

Her pulse spiked. She was already moving before she realized it, backing toward the exit, breath catching sharp in her throat.

If she’d felt it—if she’d been that close—

Then what about him?

He’d been silent.

But that was normal for him, wasn’t it?

Except—no. Not like this.

He hadn’t come looking for her.

He always showed up eventually, even when she didn’t want him to.

Always had something to say. Some awful joke, some jab, something.

But this time, nothing.

Oh god.

Her vision tunneled. She stumbled for the door, hands shaking, the world narrowing in a disgusting blur of color.

What if Caine was just letting it happen again?

Ragatha stood halfway up. “Pomni, wait—”

But Pomni was already gone.

Chapter Text

Pomni ran.

She didn’t remember deciding to.

Her body just moved, legs stumbling over themselves, lungs clawing for air, mind catching up half a second too late.

Everything blurred. The floor, the lights, the corners, the corridors. All of it smeared together.

Her heartbeat and her ragged breath were the only sounds.

That, and the noise.

That awful, familiar hum.

It was faint at first, something she could almost pretend wasn’t there- but the closer she got, the more intense it became.

“Jax!”

Her voice cracked, breaking apart before it even reached the end of the corridor.

No answer.

She ran faster.

Her foot caught on something, and she hit the floor hard—palms burning, knees scraping painfully. She didn’t stop. 

She pushed herself up and kept going, half-blind, half-sick with adrenaline.

The air felt hot, electric. Wrong.

She knew before she reached his tent.

She could feel it.

The static wasn’t just a sound anymore, it was an ugly choking sensation that lingered too long in the chest and danced on the tongue. 

She practically ripped his door off its hinges. 

The noise hit her first.

A low, broken whine that broke the hum. It sounded alive.

Jax was on the floor.

He wasn’t moving much, just shaking, his head buried in his claws. The air around him radiated like heat off of asphalt. Pieces of him were flickering— glitching in and out, pastel purples and yellows bleeding into a sickly rainbow.

“Jax!” Pomni’s voice cracked again. She dropped to her knees beside him, grabbing his shoulders before she could think better of it.

The shock nearly sent her reeling backwardsThe energy ripping through his skin crawled up through her hands—an awful burning vibration that seared visceral pain through her entire body. 

Fuck.

He flinched, jerking away. “Don’t,” he gasped. His voice sounded shredded. “Just—don’t touch me. I don’t w—.”

Another ripple convulsed his body.

“Too bad,” she said, shuddering, trying to steady her breathing. “You’re not doing this.”

His head lifted just enough for her to see his eyes. The yellows of his eyes welled with raw agony. Static crawled through his fur like cracks in glass.

“Jax,” she said again, choking back a sob. God it hurt so bad. “Look at me.”

He tried. His gaze flicked to her, then away, like he couldn’t stand it. “It hurts,” he rasped. “I c-can’t, it—hurts so bad, P-Pom. It hu—”

The air split open.

A violent surge of noise ripped through the tent, so loud it didn’t sound like sound anymore—it was a physical thing, a tearing, shrieking that made her vision fracture. Jax convulsed, arching off the ground as a scream tore out of him—ragged, broken, inhuman.

It didn’t even sound like him.

It didn’t sound like anything a living thing should be able to make.

Pomni’s breath hitched, the noise clawing at her ears until it felt like her skull might split. The colors around them warped—sharp reds, purples, white-hot light strobing behind her eyes.

“Jax!” she screamed, but her voice was swallowed by it, dissolved in the static. She couldn’t even hear herself.

His limbs jerked uncontrollably, pixels splintering into raw code that moved in ugly blacks and vibrant colors at the edges of his body, scattering like glass shards. Every time he screamed, the room glitched. The wall flickered, floor falling away under her for a heartbeat before slamming back into place.

Pomni tried to reach for him, but the energy radiating off his body burned—an invisible force pushing her back, stinging against her hands like kindled sparks.

“Please—stop! Stop, you’re—” She didn’t even know who she was begging. Him. Caine. The world.

The noise swallowed everything.

Jax’s body jerked again, his claws digging into the floor as another scream ripped through him. The sound made her stomach twist.

Pomni’s hands hovered helplessly in the air, every nerve screaming at her not to touch him again. The last time had felt like being set on fire..

But he couldn’t hear her.

He couldn’t see her.

And if she didn’t—

She lunged.

The static hit her like a bullet, burning, biting, searing through every nerve in her body. 

For a second, she thought she’d gone blind. The colors distorted into a morbid prism of blinding light that stabbed into her chest until it felt like her heartbeat was glitching.

Everything broke. The world, her breathing, even the garish sounds.

Somewhere in the chaos, another guttural shriek split the air. This one was high and raw, sharp enough to rattle her brain. It sounded less like a voice and more like metal splintering.

It took her a moment to realize it was hers.

Am I screaming?

She couldn’t tell. The sound didn’t line up with her mouth, didn’t even feel human.

For a split second she couldn’t breathe. Her vision went white. But she didn’t let go. Her arms wrapped around him, locking tight around his trembling frame.

Tears streamed down her face, boiling hot and painful. 

He thrashed against her hold, glitching so violently it nearly threw her off. The heat bit into her skin. Fire would’ve been a mercy.

Pomni held on tighter.

“It’s me,” she gasped, the words barely audible over the static. “It’s me, Jax, I’m here. I’m here, I-”

Her voice broke, and she just held him harder, pressing her face into his shoulder.

The static clawed at her, but she didn’t care.

If it wanted her too, fine.

It could have both of them, or neither.

The digital rot clawed at her until it felt like it was under her skin, nestled into her bones, inside her very DNA. She couldn’t tell where it ended and she began. 

It burned, jaws of pure pain sinking its teeth into her from the inside, but she didn’t let go.

Jax’s body spasmed against hers, the rhythm of his convulsions jerky and wrong. Each jolt mangled her insides. 

Every flicker of color lit her vision like lightning, somehow more blinding than the searing white.

Pomni buried her face in his shoulder, choking on his fur and the smell of terror. “Come on,” she whispered, the sound barely more than air. “Come on, please.”

For a heartbeat, everything stopped.

No sound. No light. No movement. Just a single second of absolute nothingness.

Then, the noise broke. The static cracked apart like ice over a lake, bleeding out into silence. They plunged into the frigid depths.

The light dimmed from white to shades of gray, color slowly bleeding back in.

Jax went limp.

Pomni stayed there, frozen. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking, still locked around him. The silence that followed reverberated, shrill and unreal. 

It didn’t feel like reprieve, no matter that the pain had dissipated.

He was heavy. Too still.

The stillness was absolutely horrifying.

Then, he breathed.

A single, ragged inhale. Wet, uneven, pained, exhausted. All combined into one glorious breath that sounded like an angel chorus to Pomni’s ears.

Her breath hitched. She pulled back just enough to see his face. His fur was matted with sweat, glitching chromatic colors still crawling faintly at the edges. His ears drooped and his eyes were unfocused, clouded with exhaustion.

“Hey,” she whispered, her throat raw. “Hey, it’s— it’s over.”

No response. 

Her hands hovered uncertainly millimeters from his face that was uncharacteristically still. 

She wanted to shake him, wanted to hit him, wanted to never let go. She wanted to protect him in a snarling rage, and sob profusely in the safety of his arms all at the same time. 

She wanted to punch him, to scream at him for making her feel like this.

But she didn’t.

Not now.

He was too still.

Pomni’s breath trembled as she watched his chest rise and fall, shallow and uneven. It looked so painful.

“You’re okay,” she whispered. The words came out cracked and shaking. “You’re okay, Jax.”

It rolled off her tongue like a lie. 

Her voice sounded wrong, echoing in the quiet that had wracked the room, too fragile for how loud her heart was pounding.

He didn’t answer.

She bit her lip hard enough to taste blood. Her hands fisted in the fabric of his skirt.

“You don’t get to—” Her voice broke, a sob wracking her feeble body. She swallowed hard, forcing the words through her teeth. “You don’t get to do that.”

Silence pressed in. Every emotion she’d tried to outrun crashed back at once in an ugly wave that drowned her. The fear, the fury, the ache. It burned up her throat, but she couldn’t say any of it.

Not now.

Not when he looked like this.

So instead, she just pulled him closer.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” she whispered, shaking so hard it barely came out. “You don’t get to leave me. Not like that.”

Her voice cracked on the last word.

Tears hit him, hot and fast, vanishing into the soft violet of his fur.

The light around them flickered, as the hum faded to a low, broken whine.

Pomni was a statue.

Every part of her screamed to move, to breathe, to do something, but she couldn’t.

She couldn’t risk it.

He was warm. Barely.

Alive. Barely.

Her fingers tightened in his fur, desperate to memorize the proof of it. The proof of him here, with her. The proof that she hadn’t lost him, not completely.

“Please,” she whispered, “Don’t make me hate you for this.”

The room steadied. The noise died.

She stayed there, still shaking, still holding him.

And for the first time since she’d arrived in the Circus—

she was truly, utterly terrified of it.

Chapter Text

Pomni hadn’t moved.

Not for minutes. Maybe hours. Time didn’t exist right now; not in his room, not in her head. It was the least of her worries. 

The only thing that mattered was the sound of Jax breathing. Shallow, uneven. But breathing.

She’d dragged him onto his bed somehow. She didn’t remember doing it— just flashes of movement, her hands slipping under his arms, her knees bruising against the floor, the weight of him shifting wrong. Too light and too heavy at the same time.

She didn’t know how she managed it—adrenaline, maybe? But  eventually, the bunny was nestled in the mattress, almost looking normal. Like none of it had happened.

Except Jax had never looked normal. Especially not like this.

He looked small. Soft.

The sharpness was gone; the smug tilt of his grin, the restless energy, the constant need to be the loudest person in the room.

What was left didn’t look like Jax at all.

She draped the purple bunny blanket over him gently, and it immediately camouflaged him. The fabric smelled faintly burnt. She smoothed it over his chest anyway.

He didn’t stir.

Up close, Pomni could feel the heat radiating off him like a fire. It hit her in waves, hot enough to prickle her skin just standing near him. She hesitated before tentatively pressing her palm to his forehead, immediately pulling back. Too hot. Way too hot.

Her chest tightened. It wasn’t the kind of warmth from blankets or sleep or cuddling. It was feverish. Angry. 

Pomni smoothed the blanket over his chest again, eyes and hands darting around uselessly.

A glass of water sat by his bedside, half-empty, sweating a ring onto the wood. She’d tried to get him to drink earlier. His jaw had trembled, but he hadn’t woken enough to swallow. She hovered helplessly with the water in hand before setting it back on the bedside table. 

When that stopped helping, she tore through his things for something edible. Anything. She hated the thought of digging through his stuff, but she couldn’t leave him to go to the kitchen. Not even for a second.

She came up with a half-melted granola bar. Carrot flavored.

She placed it beside the water.

Her hands didn’t know how to stop. When they weren’t busy with a task to do, they started to shake.

She paced instead.

Back and forth, across the uneven carpet, her thoughts looping the same questions over and over. What if it happens again? What if it didn’t stop? What if it gets worse? What if he doesn’t wake up? When do I get Caine?

She shuddered.

She really didn’t want to see Caine right now.

Continuing her pacing, she dug her nails into her arms, anxiously scratching her pale skin raw.

“You really don’t make this easy,” she murmured, half to herself.

 “You disappear, leave me to wake up alone, and then—”

She cut herself off. Even alone, she couldn’t say the painful part out loud. 

A bitter laugh escaped anyway. “God, you’re exhausting.”

Then his ear twitched.

Barely.

Pomni froze.

Her breath hitched.

For a second, she thought she’d imagined it.

Then it twitched again.

“Jax?”

Her voice came out as a breath.

Nothing.

Just the faint sound of him breathing, ragged and strident.

She inched closer, each step careful like she might startle him awake, as if she hadn’t shaken him so hard she saw stars earlier in a desperate attempt to rouse him. 

She dropped to her knees beside the bed, her fingers trembling where they hovered over the edge of the blanket.

“Hey,” she whispered. “Come on. You’re okay. You’re—”

She stopped herself.

That word again.

Fine.

It clawed up her throat and died before it left her mouth.

Jax’s eyes fluttered, barely. A soft flicker of yellow broke through the haze of exhaustion.

Pomni leaned forward so fast the bed creaked under her hands. “Hey—hey, there you are,” she breathed, relief spilling out in a rush. “It’s me. You’re— you’re awake.”

He blinked once, slow, disoriented. His pupils didn’t quite focus. He looked past her, then through her, not quite registering where her voice was coming from.

“Pom…?” He rasped, sounding confused and scared and so not like Jax that it made her blood run cold.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.” She smiled through a tight throat, blinking back tears. “You scared the %#!$ out of me, you know that?”

His eyes drifted, unfocused. “Hurts.”

Her stomach twisted. “I know,” she said softly, reaching for the glass of now lukewarm water again. “Here— you need water. Just—”

He groaned, trying to move, and she stopped instantly, setting the water back down. “No, no, don’t— it’s okay, just—stay.”

His head lolled slightly toward her voice, fur sticking to his forehead in damp clumps. He looked absolutely ruined. His token grin was nowhere to be found.

Pomni swallowed hard, the lump in her throat almost unbearable.

“You shouldn’t…” she started, then faltered. “You can’t do that. Ever again.”

He tried to speak, but it came out as a breath. “Didn’t mean ‘t.”

Pomni let out a breath she didn’t remember taking in. “Yeah,” she muttered. “You do a lot of things you don’t mean to.”

It came out kinder than she wanted; thin, fragile, almost forgiving, almost excusing. She hated the sound of it. Hated that she couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice. Hated that any of this was happening the way it was.

Jax’s hand twitched under the blanket, claws dragging weakly across the sheets. His eyes fluttered open again, unfocused and glassy, pupils struggling to find her. “What… happened?”

Pomni laughed without a trace of humor. “You tell me,” she said. “I just need a couple days, and somehow in that time you…”

Her words trailed off. The end of that sentence felt too dangerous. And somehow you almost abstracted was a sentence she couldn’t form. It didn’t belong in the air. It didn’t even belong in her brain, and she violently shook her head.

A silence choked the room.

She swallowed hard. “You scared me,” she said instead, the words raw.

He blinked slow, dazed. “Didn’t think… anyone’d notice.”

The words hit her like a punch.

Her chest tightened. “Of course I noticed,” she said entirely too quickly, and a bit angrily. “How could I not?”

He didn’t answer. Just breathed, shallow and shaky.

Pomni reached for the glass of water, dipping edge of a blanket inside and wringing it out. She set it against his forehead, the heat beneath her touch nearly unbearable. “You’re burning up,” she murmured. “Just… stay still, okay?”

His eyes closed again, lashes trembling. “You… didn’t leave?”

Pomni froze. The question hollowed her out.

Her voice came out barely above a whisper “No,” she said finally. “I didn’t.”

Something loosened in his shoulders. “Good,” he breathed.

Pomni stared at him. The air was suffocated with silence, and her head was full of all the things she couldn’t say.

You left me first.

You don’t get to do this to me.

I didn’t know if you were ever coming back.

I hate that I care this much.

The words shook at the bars of the cage she kept them in.

Instead, she brushed a damp lock of fur off his forehead and whispered, “Just go back to sleep.”

He did.

Pomni sat there for a long time after, listening to the slow, uneven rhythm of his breathing. Her own heart wouldn’t stop racing. 

She wanted to shake him. She wanted to hold him. She wanted to cry. 

No, she didn’t want to cry, she decided.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to tell him all the thoughts that begged to leave her head. She wanted him to know how much he’d hurt her.

But she didn’t move.

She just stayed there, hands trembling in her lap, staring at his sleeping form.

A single tear traced her cheek.

Chapter Text

Pomni screamed.

She didn’t know why at first—just that Jax wasn’t breathing anymore.

He was standing over her.

Or something that used to be him was.

Color poured off his skin in jagged glitches, twisting into the air like smoke. A tar-like substance bubbled over his skin, smothering him until she couldn’t catch a glimpse of his violet fur. His grin stretched too far, sharp and hollow, his eyes  glowing hungrily as several more pairs ripped their way into his body and blinked open. 

“Jax—?”

Her voice cracked.

He twitched, lunging forward with jagged movements, limbs contorting into angular pitch black shapes. Every time he moved, the room bugged, the air glitching with it.

“Please—stop—” she choked.

He tilted his head. The sound it made was anything but natural. Breaking bones and wire. It clicked.

Pomni staggered, scrambling backwards in terror. “Jax,” she said, even though her voice barely made it out. “Jax, please, Jax—” she begged.

He opened his mouth.

The sound that came out wasn’t human, or even sound at all.

It struck her like lightning. Vibrations that strangled her, bleeding into her skull until her vision went white. The air convulsed, the floor bending and flickering underneath her.

She fell, her hands hitting the ground too late to catch herself. “Stop it!” she cried. “Stop!”

He didn’t stop.

His claws dragged through the floor like it was liquid, leaving bright, bleeding trails behind them. Every one of his neon eyes was aglow with voraciousness. 

“Jax!” she screamed, tears burning hot down her cheeks. “Please, it’s me—!”

He didn’t even blink.

Then he was right in front of her.

Too close.

Too fast.

She saw his claws before anything else—his arm tearing through the air and spraying glitches, shattering into color—

—and then it hit her.

White.

Nothing but blinding hot, searing white.

The world snapped.

Pomni gasped awake.

Her lungs dragged in air too fast, chest heaving like she’d surfaced from drowning. For a moment, she couldn’t see, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but hyperventilate.

Slowly her vision focused.

The room.

His room.

The blanket.

Jax.

Still asleep beside her, breathing deeply. His fur looked gray in the half-light, stirring faintly with every breath. He looked miles better than he had the night before. Miles better than how Pomni looked now.

Pomni stayed perfectly still.

Her pulse thundered so hard she could hear it in her throat. 

It wasn’t real.

Her mind had registered that.

But her body didn’t.

Her eyes stayed fixed on him, the steady rhythm of his breathing grounding her in the dark. Each inhale smoothed the terror that had choked her, bit by bit, until her hands slowly stopped shaking.

It was just a dream.

Her gaze trailed over him again, taking in every detail of him like she was cataloging proof of his very existence. That he was okay, that he was safe, that she hadn’t failed to protect him. She stared intensely at the way his chest rose and fell, the faint sound of each breath, the light fur shifting with each exhale.

He was real.

He was here.

And he wasn’t… that.

The image was still burned behind her eyes—the black tar crawling over his fur, the eyes splitting open one after another, the sound he’d made. God, that sound.

Her stomach twisted.

Pomni pressed her hands to her face, dragging them down slowly. A shaky inhale, a pause, and a somehow even shakier exhale.

The tent still smelled like sweat and singed fabric. It made her chest hurt.

She stared up at the ceiling for a long time, her heartbeat still racing. Every time she blinked she saw Jax, abstracted, behind her eyelids.

She wondered if this was how it started. The blurring between what was real and what wasn’t. 

She turned her head again, just to be sure.

Jax.

Breathing.

Alive.

The tension that seized her loosened its grip on her chest, but only somewhat. She leaned forward until her forehead brushed the edge of the blanket.

He stirred.

A soft sound, mixed between a groan and a sigh, broke the silence. Pomni froze. Her forehead was still pressed against the blanket, close enough that she could feel the faint heat radiating through it.

Then he shifted under it. Just slightly.

Her breath hitched. She didn’t move. Didn’t even blink.

Another breath from him, deeper this time. Then a low voice, rough and uneven.

“…Pom?”

It came out groggy, slurred, and oddly soft. But it was him.

His voice.

Pomni’s head snapped up before she realized how close she’d leaned in. Her forehead nearly brushed his. For a second, they both froze; her eyes wide, his half lidded and unfocused.

“Hey,” she said, breathless. The word came out small. “You’re—uh—you’re awake.”

He blinked, slow and bleary. His pupils tried to adjust to the light, his gaze flicking and not quite finding hers.

“…You’re close,” he muttered.

Pomni didn’t move. She wasn’t sure she could. The adrenaline hadn’t fully worn off and was back with a vengeance. She was trembling again.

“Sorry,” she murmured, pulling back a few inches but not far enough to break the air between them.

Jax blinked slowly, his voice still groggy.

“…and you’re shaking.”

Pomni flinched like he’d caught her red handed in a crime. Her arms snapped close to her chest, but it only made the trembling worse.

“I’m—” she started, but the word collapsed halfway out of her mouth.

I’m fine.

That was what she meant to say. That was always what she said.

Except this time, she couldn’t. 

The sound that left her throat was feeble and pathetic and broken, and then suddenly—

she was crying.

Not the quiet, held-in kind she was accustomed to, and not the kind that you can blink back if you plan your breaths wisely. This was raw and ugly, wracking her body in a storm of tremors.

Jax startled, his drowsy haze snapping like glass. “Hey, whoa—Pomni, what—”

“You stopped breathing!” The words tumbled out of her mouth, tangled between gasps. “You—you weren’t moving, and then you were—” Her breath hitched. “And then it was everywhere—that noise, and the light, and I thought—god, I thought you were gone, Jax, I thought I—”

Her voice broke clean in half. She pressed her fists against her eyes, only to jolt back when the image of his abstracted form flashed behind her eyelids again.

He blinked hard, the fog in his gaze clearing enough to show confusion, and then something close to guilt. His ears flattened and his hackles were spiked with alarm.

“Pomni,” he rasped, quieter this time. “Hey. I’m—”

“No,” she said through her tears, shaking her head violently. “Don’t say you’re fine. You’re not fine, and I’m—” She sucked in a sharp inhale, voice catching again. “I’m not fine. You scared me so bad I—”

She stopped herself before she could describe her dream- no, nightmare. Before she could tell him what she’d seen—how real it felt when he looked at her like she was prey, when he reached for her with those claws and—

Her breath hitched and she tried again. “You just—left,” she whispered. “After everything. You left me alone, and I thought—” She couldn’t finish that, either.

She let the sobs wrack her body, too exhausted to fight it any longer. 

There was only one sound in the room. Her. Somehow, it was deafening.

Then she felt something brush her wrist.

Jax’s hand, trembling and unsteady, closing over hers.

Pomni froze.

His fingers barely had any strength behind them, but they were warm. Much warmer than they should’ve been. It was such a small touch, but it stopped her crying. Her breath snagged in her throat.

“Hey,” he rasped. The word was frayed and full of so much emotion. “I didn’t mean to—”

She shook her head fast, hard, before he could finish his sentence. “Don’t.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t apologize. Just—don’t.”

The room was still except for their breathing. Hers came in quick, uneven, desperate gasps. His was quiet.

Jax’s thumb brushed against her wrist—an unsteady motion that felt clumsy, but comfortingly human. “You’re still shaking,” he murmured.

“I know.” She swallowed hard. “I can’t stop.”

He blinked with heavy eyelids, exhaustion dragging his tone down. “You shouldn’t’ve stayed,” he said. “Caine would’ve—”

“I don’t care what Caine would’ve done,” she interrupted. The bite in her voice surprised even her. “You think I was gonna just walk away? You think I could’ve?”

Jax’s mouth opened like he might argue, but after a moment of deliberation, he closed it again. Instead, his grip on her hand tightened.

She dropped her head, shoulders slumping as the adrenaline drained out of her all at once. Her fingers curled weakly around his, returning just a fraction of the pressure.

“I thought I was gonna lose you,” she whispered. “I really thought—”

Her voice trailed off as tears spiked her eyes again. 

He didn’t answer.

Pomni looked away first. “Go back to sleep,” she murmured. “You need it.”

He hummed softly. “You need it too.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, but she didn’t move. Neither of them let go of each other.

His breathing evened out after a while.

The room fell still, and the only sound was their synchronized breathing. 

She didn’t close her eyes.

Chapter Text

Pomni couldn’t sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, the memories ambushed her. The neon eyes, the black sludge crawling over his fur, the sound that tore through her like a knife. Every time she let her eyelids fall in exhaustion, it attacked her. 

So she kept them open.

The tent was too quiet. Even with Jax breathing beside her, the silence felt wrong. It pressed in on her, heavy and still, smothering her. She couldn’t seem to get a full breath of air.

She turned over. 

Then again. 

The blanket tangled around her legs, the pillow damp beneath her cheek. Her pulse wouldn’t slow down. It was still in the nightmare; still bracing for the noise, the light, the scream, the pain.

Beside her, Jax breathed in slow, steady waves. The rise and fall of his chest was the only thing keeping her from spiraling. It was a lifeline.

In.

Out.

Again.

Again.

Pomni watched him through the dark. He looked almost peaceful like this, if she ignored the tension still lingering in his furrowed brows and bags under his eyes. His fur had returned to its usual heathery hue, but was still a little singed at the edges. He was warm. So warm.

Jax breathed in again, and the sound pulled her like an invisible string.

Before she knew it, she was moving—slow, careful, the blanket dragging with her. The mattress dipped beneath her weight.

He didn’t stir.

Pomni froze halfway, her heart pounding loud enough that it felt like the whole circus could hear it. 

What are you doing?

 Her pulse hammered against her throat. 

What the hell are you doing?

But the warmth coming off him was magnetic. It felt safe, far safer than the nightmare that lived in her eyelids. And the longer she stayed still, the harder it became to keep from reaching out.

Her fingers twitched first. Then she moved again.

She inched forward until she could slip beneath his arm, curling into the crook of his torso. She fit there too easily, too perfectly; small enough to nestle cozily against his body. She felt the heat that radiated off of his body.

He shifted once, just barely, his arm falling back into place until it rested loosely over her shoulders.

Pomni stopped breathing.

For a heartbeat, she was certain she’d crossed some covert line. That he’d wake up and make some sharp comment, or laugh, or pull away and kick her out. That he’d see her for what she was—scared, selfish, stupid.

Desperate.

But he didn’t move.

His breathing stayed steady. Slow. Safe.

Pomni exhaled, a trembling sound that sounded more akin to a whimper. Her head came to rest against his chest, right over his heartbeat. Each steady pulse pulled her back down into her body, anchoring her.

The smell of him, like crushed violets and linen, wrapped around her like a vine. She breathed deeply and felt her muscles relaxing. 

Her hand found the edge of the purple bunny blanket and tugged it higher, wrapping them in a cocoon of well-earned exhaustion.

Her eyelids felt heavy. Her breathing finally matched his.

He shifted once more, unconsciously curling toward her. The movement was small, but she felt it everywhere.

Pomni’s pulse slowed. Her body stopped shaking.

Her eyelids fluttered closed,

and she saw nothing.

__________________________

Jax woke up to warmth.

For a second he didn’t recognize it. The Circus was never warm; it was cold, sharp, itching with that bone-deep exhaustion that never really left.

But this… this was soft. Too soft. His thoughts felt slow, like they’d been dragged through mud.

The first thing he saw were gloves.

Not his. Hers.

Pomni.

She was still asleep, but now tucked under his arm, her head resting against his chest. The purple bunny blanket had swallowed her almost completely. Her hand was balled up near her face, clutching a bit of his apron.

Jax stared.

For a moment his brain refused to catch up. All he could do was lie there, staring at the top of her head and trying to remember how breathing worked. 

His chest rose too fast, then too shallow, and he had to consciously regulate his heartbeat so that he wouldn’t wake her.

Oh my god.

She was so close. Her hair brushed against his chin with every exhale. He could feel the weight of her, light but solid, pressed firmly against him even in sleep. 

Every second that passed, his pulse got louder, until it felt like his own heartbeat was trying to wake her up out spite.

He didn’t budge. Couldn’t.

If he shifted, he might ruin it.

If he spoke, he’d break it for sure.

If he breathed too loud, she’d realize what she’d done and pull away, and he didn’t think he could stand that.

So he just lay there.

Her breathing was steady, slow, perfectly even against his ribs. He tried to match it.

Inhale. 

Exhale. 

Come on.

Inhale, and-

Easier said than done.

She smelled like poppies and hydrangeas, and breathing her in felt like springtime.

He let out a slow breath through his nose. The air stirred a loose strand of her hair where it brushed his collarbone. It tickled, but he didn’t dare move.

She looked so still. Not peaceful, she never really looked peaceful, but… unguarded. Her mismatched eyelids fluttered occasionally and her brows creased. 

His chest ached. Not the kind that came from pain or fear or deflection as it always did. This was a different kind, smaller but no quieter.

It felt like guilt. Guilt for the memory of everything he’d put her through. 

It hurt.

Jax swallowed hard, staring at the ceiling. The room was washed in pale morning, artificial as ever, but somewhat gentle. He could hear faint voices outside, the hum of the Circus slowly waking up. 

It didn’t feel real. 

None of this did.

He glanced down again. Pomni hadn’t moved, still tucked close like she was afraid the world would disappear if she didn’t hold on tight enough.

She probably was.

His throat tightened. He wanted to say something, even if she couldn’t hear him. 

Something stupid, probably. 

That she shouldn’t have stayed. That he was ok being alone. That she didn’t need to—

He stopped. The thought made his stomach turn.

Instead, he just watched her breathe.

He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the little pompoms on her tunic shifting with each breath. He tried to memorize it, every detail. The soft press of her hand, the way she pressed into him, the faint chime of her bells when her head tilted.

He realized, a little too late, that his hand had started moving.

Just barely — the lightest brush of his fingers against the edge of her hair. He froze halfway through the motion, fingers trembling in the air. 

He was caught between instinct and restraint.

She didn’t stir.

Jax let his hand drop back to the bed, careful not to make a sound. His heart was still beating too fast.

He hadn’t realized how afraid he’d been until now.

Of losing her.

Of her seeing him like that.

Of her seeing him at all.

He exhaled slowly, eyes closing for a moment.

“…You really shouldn’t be here,” he whispered, the words tangling in his throat and feeling entirely too raw.

Pomni murmured something unintelligible in her sleep, shifting just enough that her forehead brushed his collarbone.

Jax’s breath caught.

He stayed still, not daring to move a muscle, and let the moment swallow him whole.

The Circus could reset, glitch out again, wipe the life from the living like it always did. But right now— this very moment— was something it could never take away from him.

He blinked slowly, eyes unfocused on the ceiling.

“Didn’t think you’d stay,” he murmured.

The words hung in the air, light and heavy at once, and he didn’t try to take them back.

It wasn’t a joke this time. It wasn’t anything but honest.

Chapter Text

A warm sensation pulled her out of sleep.

She didn’t know what it was at first. 

Only that it moved when she did, grounding and steady, and that it wasn’t the most unpleasant sensation to awake to.

Her eyes fluttered opened.

Jax.

He was already awake.

Or had been for a little while, judging by the way his eyes were transfixed on her. 

When had he woken up?

He didn’t blink. His pupils were blown wide, nearly swallowing the gold from his eyes. His arm was still slung over her shoulder in an absentminded hug.

For one long, paralyzed second, they just stared at each other.

Neither of them moved. Neither of them breathed.

Pomni’s face went red as everything around her came into focus. Her head nestled against his chest, her fingers still tangled in the folds of his dress. His fur brushed her painted cheeks.

Jax blinked first. His pupils darted away, and a twitch of his ears gave him away before he spoke.

“…Morning,” he said with a scratchy voice, like the events of the day before had worn it down.

Pomni didn’t answer right away. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water as her heart tried to leap out of her throat.

She finally managed, “Were you… staring at me?”

Jax’s ears twitched. He coughed, entirely too casual to be casual. “What? No. I was just—awake!” He grinned. “Besides, you’re the one who fell asleep on me.”

“I—” She sat up too fast, clutching the blanket to her chest. “You could’ve moved,” she fired back, throwing his own deflection right back at him.

“I didn’t exactly want to move,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Didn’t really wanna wake you. And then you—uh—” He gestured vaguely. “You kinda… grabbed me.”

He didn’t want to move?

Wait.

Pomni froze. “I what?”

“Yeah,” Jax said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Right here.” He pointed at a wrinkle in his apron where her hand still rested, limp from sleep. “Real possessive, Poms. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

She groaned, face burning hot. “I hate you.”

His grin grew even wider. “Nah. You’re just embarrassed.”

“Oh yeah? Of what?”

“That you’re a cuddler.”

Her jaw dropped. “I am not—”

“Sure, sure.” His cheeks dusted a deeper violet, his smile becoming shyer. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever slept this well before.”

Pomni blinked.

He didn’t sound like he was joking. His tone was… genuine. Soft. Kind.

Pomni blinked again, and the words came out before she could stop herself.

“I forgot I’m still mad at you,” she muttered.

Jax’s ears twitched. “Oh. Uh—good morning to you, too.”

She narrowed her eyes, tugging the blanket tighter around her shoulders like armor. “Don’t act surprised. You earned it.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, without sarcasm. He scratched at the back of his neck, gaze sliding from her pinwheel eyes. “Guess I did.”

That threw her a little. No snide comment, no smirk, not even a deflection. Just… honesty. It was disarming.

“You disappeared,” she said after a moment, voice soft but pointed. “After everything, you just—” She stopped herself before the word left. She shuddered. It still hurt.

“I know.” His whisper barely broke the quiet between them. “I didn’t… mean to.”

He hesitated, then forced himself to look at her. His yellow eyes burned into hers. “I’m not soft. I don’t do emotions… very well. So I thought it would be easier for both of us if I just kept… not doing.. that.” He trailed off dumbly, frowning at the words as they tumbled out. 

Pomni blinked at him, thrown off by the admission and even more bewildered by his logic. 

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” 

“Yeah, well,” he said, a breath of an almost laugh escaping him. “Didn’t say I was smart.”

Her brows furrowed, as if she were debating whether this was an acceptable apology. “You really thought ignoring me would make me feel better?”

He shrugged, eyes darting down. “It worked in my head at the time.” 

Then, “Wasn’t exactly thinking straight after… y’know. All that.”

Pomni didn’t need him to finish. The memory of the clearing flashed behind her eyes before she shoved it down.

She shook her head, heat crawling up her neck. 

“I hate that you made me care,” she mumbled.

“I know,” he said again. 

She couldn’t get over how different he sounded. Soft and genuine, and unlike anything she’d ever heard from him.

 “I hate that I made you care, too.”

That caught her off guard enough that she looked back up— and he was smiling. Not that usual cocky twist of his mouth, but something fainter. Worn out. A little sad around the edges.

Pomni exhaled slowly, pressure easing from her chest. “You’re such an idiot.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t even try to deny it. “But I’m your idiot now, apparently. Since you’re—”

He froze. The words caught halfway out of his mouth.

His ears twitched, his face already starting to burn a deep violet.

Pomni tilted her head. “Since I’m… what?”

Jax’s pupils darted to the side. “Nothing.”

“Oh, come on,” she said, a smile creeping onto her face. “You can’t start a sentence like that and not finish it.”

“I can, actually,” he countered. “Just did.”

“Go on,” she teased, leaning forward slightly.

Jax blinked, immediately looking like he regretted every life choice that had brought him to this exact moment. “You’re—uh—really not gonna let this go, are you?”

“Not a chance,” Pomni said, smug now. “Besides, you owe me.”

He groaned. “You’re the worst.”

“Since I’m what~?” she pressed, drawing out the words in a sing-song voice that made him visibly wilt.

He pulled at his ears sheepishly, muttering something incoherent under his breath before mumbling, “Since you’re still here, alright?”

Pomni blinked. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” he said quickly. “Congratulations. You win.” 

She wasn’t sure if there was any purple under all that red in his fur.

She tried to hold back a grin and failed miserably. “Wow. Real smooth. You really had me on the edge of my seat there.”

“Hey, sorry I didn’t write you a sonnet, Poms.”

“Oh, please. Like you even know what a sonnet is.”

“I do too!” he shot back, indignant. Then, quieter, “…ish.”

Pomni laughed like she hadn’t in days. “Very convincing, bunny.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, tugging at his collar. His ears were practically glowing.

She grinned. “Is all that really why you’re blushing?”

“I am not,” he said too fast.

“You so are.”

He groaned, and she only laughed harder. “You really don’t quit, do you?”

“Not when I’m right.” She retorted smugly.

He huffed, ears flicking. “Yeah, well… maybe that’s why I… like you. Is what I was.. gonna say.” he trailed off meekly.

Pomni froze. “…What?”

Jax’s face somehow got even more scarlet. “I know you heard me.”

After a moment of deliberation, she leaned in close enough for him to feel the smirk in her voice. “Well no %#!$, Sherlock.”

His head snapped toward her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” she said, drawing it out, “that it’s not exactly breaking news, genius. We’ve kissed. Twice.”

His jaw dropped. “That first one didn’t even count!”

Pomni blinked, mock-offended. “Excuse me?”

“The world was ending! What was I supposed to think w-” he said, ears flattening as the color deepened under his fur.

“Oh, please.” She teased. “You kissed me back.”

He opened his mouth, closed it again, and for once he had no comeback.
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but nothing came out.
Then a quiet, breathless laugh, almost disbelieving.
“God, we’re both so screwed.”

Pomni grinned. “You’re just realizing that now?”

“Sassy!” he gasped. “I liked you better when you were asleep.”

“Liar.”

“Ok, yeah,” he admitted with another breathless chuckle.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. The laughter filled the air with the drumming of a pulse neither of them could quite steady.

Then Pomni finally flopped back onto the bed, muttering into the blanket, “You’re still an idiot.”

“Your idiot,” he said teasingly, correcting her.

She didn’t answer.
But the little twitch of her smile said enough.

Chapter Text

Pomni pulled her knees to her chest, absentmindedly toying with the bells of her hat. The room was quiet save for the chiming, and Jax stared at her fidgeting wordlessly.

“So,” she said, twisting a loose thread on the blanket, “I feel like I barely know you. Like, you, you. Not just Jax.”

He arched a brow. “You know I’m charming and handsome. What else is there to know?”

“Personality, for starters.”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “Obnoxious.”

She snorted. “Okay, seriously. What did you do… before all this?”

He blinked. “Before the Circus?”

“Yeah. There had to be a before.”

Jax went quiet. His smirk didn’t vanish, but it faltered if Pomni squinted. Which she did. “I think I was loud. Still am, obviously.”

“Shocking.”

He laughed under his breath. “No, I mean… loud in the way that gets on people’s nerves. Couldn’t really turn it off, though.”

Pomni’s smile faded. “You remember that?”

“Bits.” He picked at a thread of lace in his apron. “Enough to know I talked too much and said nothing that mattered.”

Pomni didn’t have an answer for that. She just hummed quietly and tugged the blanket higher around herself, the purple fluff brushing her chin. “I think I used to do the opposite. Stay quiet until people forgot I existed. A bit of a wallflower.”

Jax glanced up at her, eyes soft as he drank in the sight of her. “Hard to imagine now.”

“Tell me about it.” She smiled faintly. “The Circus kind of… changed me, I guess.”

“Maybe that’s not the worst thing,” he shrugged, glancing sideways. “For someone who’s new to it, you’re kinda good at taking up space.”

Her chest tightened. A flood of emotions washed over her. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

He snorted softly. “Yeah, well. Don’t let it go to your head.”

She giggled, a warm feeling bubbling in her chest that she finally had a name for.

For a while, the tent was still except for their voices. The silence between them wasn’t heavy anymore; it was light, careful. Patient, if you really considered it, like they were both testing out how to fill the gap between them. A bit of a dance.

Jax tilted his head back, eyes tracing the ceiling. “You ever think about what you’d do if we got out of here?”

Pomni’s heart skipped. “Sometimes.”

“And?”

“I don’t know.” She hesitated. “Maybe I’d just want to see something real again. Grass, real grass. A sky that doesn’t look like a painting.”

She considered.

“I really want to touch grass.”

He smiled faintly. “Sounds boring.”

“I’d kill for boring.”

Jax chuckled quietly, but his eyes betrayed the gears turning in his head. A moment of silence crept into the room.

Then Pomni nudged him with her foot. 

“So… what happens now?”

Jax blinked and tilted his head. “What, like existentially?”

“No, silly,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Like—us. This.” She gestured between them, vague and helpless. “Whatever just happened.”

He looked at her, a wry smile tugging at his mouth. “Oh. Yeah. Didn’t really think that one through before saying it.”

“You never do,” she teased, swatting at his ears. “So now what?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. We could ignore it until it gets awkward.”

“It’s already awkward,” she stated bluntly, a familiar heat crawling up her neck.

“For you. I have no shame.” He lied straight through his shiteating grin.

Pomni groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “Ja-ax.”

He leaned in closer to her, his shadow dropping over her as she squeaked. “What? You got a plan?”

Pomni quipped playfully. “Here’s one, stop being a smart%#$.”

“No can do. I think Caine programmed me specifically not to do that,” he said almost proudly, puffing out his chest.

“He can’t do that! That’s all you.” She miffed, emphasizing her point with a mock accusatory jab to his chest fluff.

After a moment she burst out into laughter, exasperated but smiling. “We’re so $!#%ed.”

“Yeah, duh,” Jax said, leaning back on his hands. “We’re dating in a digital purgatory run by a pair of dentures.”

“Dating?” she echoed, choking on the word.

He blinked, then flinched. “That’s—uh—not what I—”

Pomni stared.

He coughed, throwing his hands up. “I meant… metaphorically. Not literally. Or maybe literally. I don’t know! You started this!”

“I didn’t say dating!”

“You said ‘what happens now!’ That’s basically the same thing!”

She gawked at him. “How is that the same thing?”

“It’s exactly the same thing! You’re asking for structure, I’m providing structure!”

Pomni stared at him in sheer disbelief, face turning more and more crimson by the second. “That’s not structure! You’re just panicking!”

“I am not panicking,” Jax lied again through a nervous laugh, fur bristling as he averted his gaze.

She snorted. “Really? I find that hard to believe.”

“I am improvising.” he insisted, crossing his arms and letting out an indignant huff of air.

“Improvising what, exactly?”

He opened his mouth. Closed it again. “…Us?”

Both of them froze.

Pomni blinked. “Us?”

“Not— not like that,” Jax stammered as he backpedaled. “Just— y’know, the situation.”

Pomni deadpan stared at him. “You’re digging yourself deeper.”

“Yeah, well,” he muttered, rubbing his neck, “you asked!”

“I didn’t ask for that!”

He opened his mouth, searching for something to say, and nothing came.

After a moment, he shrugged. “Could’ve been worse. At least you didn’t deny it.”

Pomni blinked again, caught off guard. “Deny what?”

He smirked, recovering faster than she liked. “That you like me back. You’ve got terrible taste, by the way.”

She threw a pillow at him. He caught it easily, laughing.

“I’m serious, though,” she said, shaking her head as she remembered the point she was trying to get at. “What are we doing?”

He looked at her for a long moment. “I don’t know,” he said, his voice edged with an honesty that was still hard for her to get used to. “But for once… I don’t really hate that.”

She peered at him, sitting so close that she could see every twitch of his nose and slight flick of his ears. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He met her eyes. “I’ve felt alone in this circus for… I don’t even know how long. You’re the first thing in…” he paused, physically recoiling at something. A memory? “… a while… that’s made it feel a little less torturous here.”

Pomni’s stomach flipped. “That’s—” She caught herself, then laughed awkwardly. “God, that’s unfair. You can’t just say that.”

“Why not?” he said, immediately teasing after the sincerity that made her squirm. “Too honest?”

“Way too honest,” she murmured.

“Yeah, well,” he said, a smirk tugging at his mouth again. “You make me honest. It’s disgusting.”

She snorted. “You’re disgusting.”

He stuck his tongue out. “No you.”

He laughed, and she didn’t think she would ever tire of the sound. She wanted to tell more jokes just to hear it again. The air between them became lighter, and her heart soared.

Pomni sighed, running a hand through her hair. “This is gonna be a disaster.”

“Completely,” he agreed.

“We’re in a tent. Everyone lives, like, five feet apart.”

“I know.”

“They’re gonna notice.”

“Yup.”

She groaned. “Oh god. We’re so screwed.”

He smiled, leaning back against the bed frame. “Can’t say I’m mad, though.”

Pomni snorted. “You will be when Caine finds out.”

“Eh.” He smirked. “I’ll improvise.”

She threw another pillow at him.

He didn’t even try to duck this time.

Chapter Text

Pomni hadn’t realized how close they’d gotten until the laughter faded.

The air felt thicker, heavier- but not uncomfortable. A haze of fog that was intoxicating. Jax was still smiling, and her stomach flipped at the sight.

He looked different when he wasn’t talking. Softer. Gentler. Cute.

And then he opened his mouth. Because of course he did.

 “Be honest—kinda hard to keep your eyes off me, huh?” He said, an index finger pointing loftily at his chest.

He couldn’t help himself. It was infuriating. And, god help her, kind of charming.

He tilted his head slightly after a moment, studying her like he was trying to solve a puzzle. And he wasn’t very good at those. His voice went quieter. “You’re still shaking.”

She looked down. “I— I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.” He reached out, hesitating for half a second before brushing his knuckles along her arm. “See?”

Pomni’s brain stopped working entirely. The warmth of his touch short-circuited every reasonable thought she had left.

“Jax,” she warned, a breathy giggle escaping her lips.

He leaned in closer, his grin small but smug as ever. “Yeah?”

She exhaled shakily. “Stop doing that.”

He blinked. “Doing what?”

“That… staring thing. Makes it hard to think.”

He grinned wider. “Maybe that’s the point.”

“Jax!” she hissed again, shoving him lightly as heat crept up her neck. “Don’t say things like that!”

The laugh faded, and the air changed.

He was close enough now for her to see the flicker in his eyes like a gold rush; brazen, wild, impossible to look away from. Close enough that she could hear the small hitch of his breath. 

“Pom,” he said softly.

She didn’t answer.

His gaze darted from her eyes to her mouth and back again, and something in her chest tightened.

The space between them was charged with electricity. She felt it crawl down her spine until she shuddered.

He kissed her.

It wasn’t sudden this time, or desperate.

It was slow, and deliberate enough that she could’ve stopped him if she wanted to.

But she didn’t.

His lips met hers, careful at first, then steadier when she didn’t pull away. His hand found her jaw, thumb grazing the line of her neck, the faint drag of his glove making her pulse stutter. His touch was gentle, but in no way tentative.

She felt it everywhere; the pull in her stomach, the heat rising in her throat. His Midas touch melted her wherever his fingers went, every nerve catching fire under him.

The kiss deepened, slow but greedy. He still tasted like thistles and heather, now a little scorched around the edges, and something else she couldn’t name but knew was him.

Her fingers fisted in his apron, dragging him closer until the space between them vanished completely. The sound he made— quiet, rough, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh— went straight through her.

He pulled back just far enough to breathe, his forehead resting against hers. His breath hit her lips when he whispered, voice low and wrecked,

“Pomni…”

Her reply came out barely above a whisper, a shy laugh threatening the edges. “Yeah?”

But he didn’t answer. He kissed her again instead.

It was different this time. Deeper. Hungrier. She met him with reckless ferocity. 

Pomni couldn’t think straight, her brain a fogged mess. Just him. His laugh, his breath, the way his body trembled under her hands. She pressed closer, and he tilted his head, deepening the kiss again. 

It felt like drowning, but she wasn’t complaining. The world shrank to the sound of their breathing and the pull between them.

She crawled forward until she was between his knees, her fingers clutching his apron and pulling him closer as the fabric of his dress shifted against her. He froze for a beat, breath hitching, eyes darting up to hers. 

Her confidence hit her as fast as it scared her. Maybe it was adrenaline, or maybe it was just him— how he looked at her like he didn’t know what to do with himself. 

She kissed him again anyway, firmer this time, pushing until his back hit the post of the bed.

His hand caught her waist on instinct. The other slid up her spine, slow and testing and shaking. She felt him shudder and smiled against his mouth.

When she pulled back, just far enough to see him, he looked wrecked in a way that made her want to kiss him again.

Her fingers slid higher, caught at the back of his neck, feeling the heat under his pricked fur. His hands moved too; one flattening against her back, the other gripping the edge of her thigh.

She didn’t pull away. If anything, she leaned in harder, chasing the sound he made when her lips parted just enough to draw breath. The world tilted around her.

His laugh came out rough, broken against her mouth. “You’re—” he started, but didn’t finish.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “I know.”

He laughed again, softer this time, breathless. His thumb dragged slow circles into her hip, and she thought for a second she could live in this feeling forever. The air, the warmth, the gravity of it all.

Then—

knock knock knock

They froze.

Pomni blinked. Jax’s hand was still on her thigh. Neither of them moved.

“…You’re kidding,” he whispered.

Another knock. Louder. Urgent.

“Pomni? Are you—are you in there?” Ragatha’s voice cracked halfway through, tight with panic.

Pomni’s soul briefly left her body. She scrambled backward, tripping over the blanket, leaving a whiny protesting Jax behind.

“Yeah!—uh—one second!” she called, voice pitching embarrassingly high.

Jax muttered under his breath, tugging his apron straight. “I’m going to kill her.”

“Shut up,” she hissed, frantically smoothing her hair. “Do I look—”

“Yes,” he said flatly.

She glared. “You didn’t even look!”

“Didn’t have to,” he said, smirk returning, soft and dangerous.

“Jax! No!” She swatted at him, face burning.

“Pomni,” Ragatha called again, closer this time. Her voice cracked halfway through. “I know Caine said he had things under control, but your door was open, and you weren’t there, and—”

A pause.

“—and I figured you might be with him.”

Pomni froze.

The silence that followed was suffocating. Even Jax looked like he wanted to sink through the floor.

Ragatha’s tone softened, but it didn’t smooth out. “I just needed to make sure you were okay,” she said, quieter now. “That’s all.”

Pomni’s chest ached. She could picture her—hands clasped, smiling too wide, voice just a little too sweet. 

Jax muttered low enough that only Pomni could hear, “Oh now she’s worried.”

She shot him a look that could’ve killed a god.

She straightened her hat and shook out her body. “Yeah,” Pomni called back, forcing her voice not to shake. “I’m here, Rags.”

There was a long pause on the other side of the door. Then—

“Can I come in?”

Pomni’s blood went cold. She whipped back around to look at Jax.

He shot her a look that screamed, you’ve got to be kidding me.

She mouthed back, what do I do?

He gestured vaguely toward the door. Open it? he mouthed, equally useless.

She glared. “That’s your plan!?” she whispered.

Another knock. Softer this time. “Pomni?” Ragatha’s voice broke a little. “Please?”

Pomni inhaled sharply, turning back to the door. “Yeah,” she said finally, trying and failing miserably to smooth her voice. “Just—hang on a sec.”

Behind her, Jax whispered, “How long’s a sec?”

“Jax!”

He just smiled, lazy and infuriatingly proud of himself.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, somewhere between a groan and a laugh. “You’re actually the worst.”

He shrugged, ears twitching, eyes glinting with that infuriating smirk again. “What? I’m just tryin’ to plan my funeral.”

She rolled her eyes with exasperation, yanking the blanket back onto the bed and smoothing it out under her hands.

Another knock.

Pomni jumped, spinning back toward the door. “Coming!” she blurted, the words tumbling out too fast.

She shot him one last look over her shoulder— you better not say a single word, bunny— before forcing herself to breathe, straighten her hat, and grab the handle.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she pulled it open.

Chapter Text

Pomni hesitated with her hand on the handle, pretending to fidget with the latch just to buy herself a few more seconds of sanity.

Jax hadn’t moved. He sat on the edge of the bed, fussing with a strap on his apron. His ears twitched once, but his face stayed maddeningly calm.

She shot him a sharp look over her shoulder. “Not one word.” She scolded as if he were a petulant child.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. 

The picture of innocence.

We are so fucked.

Her reflection glared back at her in the metal of the door handle.

If the floor could open up and eat me right now, that’d be ideal.

Behind her, Jax was was poised, pupils following her every move. She wanted to throw something at him just to break the calm on his face.

“It’s fine,” she muttered under her breath. “She’ll just talk. I’ll answer. It’ll be a normal conversation.”

Her hand hovered over the knob with a slight tremor.

“You look like you’re about to defuse a bomb,” Jax whispered behind her.

“I am,” she hissed. “You’re the bomb.”

Pomni exhaled through her nose, steeling herself, and pulled the door open.

Ragatha stood outside. Her smile was too big, and more calculated than the code that made it. “Oh, thank god,” she breathed, the relief cracking through her voice. “You weren’t in your room, and when I saw the door open, I thought—” She stopped herself, shaking her head. “Caine said everything was fine, but I just— needed to check.”

Pomni’s mouth went dry. “Oh. Yeah. No. I’m fine! Totally fine.”

Ragatha’s gaze flicked past her shoulder before Pomni could stop it.

Straight to Jax.

He gave a small, two-fingered wave from where he sat. “Morning, sunshine.”

Pomni’s entire soul evaporated from her body.

Ragatha blinked. “Right,” she said, voice tight. “Of course.” Her smile didn’t budge, but her eye narrowed a fraction. “So this is where you’ve been.”

Pomni scrambled for words. “This isn’t—! I mean, it is, technically, but not—ugh, we were just talking! ”

Ragatha tilted her head, the kind of tilt that looked friendly if you didn’t know her. “Talking,” she repeated slowly, like she was tasting the word, like it was sour candy.

Jax, ever the masochist, decided to contribute.

“Yeah. Real intellectual stuff. I’m a changed man.”

Pomni groaned. “Do you ever stop talking?”

“Only when it stops being funny,” he said, grinning.

Ragatha’s smile twitched. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re… keeping each other entertained.” Her voice had that sugary lilt that made Pomni’s skin crawl. “I was just worried, is all. Your door was open, and—” She waved a hand vaguely, eyes still flicking between the two of them. “You can see why I was nervous.”

Pomni wanted to melt straight through the floor. “Yeah, well, it’s not—” She sighed, giving up halfway. “Never mind.”

Ragatha clasped her hands to her chest, her tone deceptively light. “Right. Of course. I’ll just… let you two get back to your conversation.”

Pomni flinched. “Rags—”

But Ragatha was already turning away. The door closed behind her with a quiet but deafening click.

Silence.

Jax blinked once. Twice. Then exhaled. “Welp, she’s gone. Can we get back to it now?”

Pomni spun on him. “What? No! Oh my god, Jax—she thinks we’re—”

He smirked like the smug bastard he is. “Right.”

“Not right!” she snapped, pacing in a small frantic circle. “She’s gonna tell Caine or… or… everyone, anyone! We have to fix this!”

He threw his head back with a groan, ears flopping. “Pomni, for god’s sake, we didn’t even do anything.” 

He sounded quite resentful at that fact. She could skin him for his pelt.

She shot him a look that was torn between embarrassment and frustration. “Get up!”

Jax slumped dramatically back onto the bed. “God #%!$ing #%!$it,” he muttered, dragging a hand down his face. 

Pomni groaned, pacing harder. “We have to go after her— explain, or clarify, or— or something.”

“Yeah, great plan,” Jax said, swiveling his head around to inspect his dress and brushing out the creases. “You’ll look way less suspicious chasing her down the hallway yelling ‘it’s not what it looks like!’”

“I wouldn’t say that!” she protested, mortified.

He peeked up at her through one half-lidded eye. “In a panic? You absolutely would.”

Pomni pointed at him, scandalized. “I would not.”

He chuckled at her, in no way convinced. “Can’t we just enjoy being falsely accused for five minutes? I was having a good time before Miss Fun Police showed up.”

Pomni sputtered, gesturing wildly. “You were having a good time?!”

He smirked, looming over her. “You weren’t?”

Her face had never gone from white to red so fast. “That’s not the point!”

“It’s a point,” he said, smug as ever.

Pomni grabbed a pillow and smacked him square in the chest. “You’re infuriating.”

He wheezed out a laugh, catching it before it fell to the floor. “You’ve mentioned.”

“Good,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “Just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget.”

Pomni took one more deep breath, as if that alone could prepare her against what was coming. Jax watched her like someone watching a car crash, equal parts horrified and entertained. No, actually, entirely more entertained.

She shook herself out like a wet cat before throwing the door open. She was already halfway to the door before he’d even stood up. “Come on!”

Jax blinked. “Where are you going?” He said, having the nerve to sound not only shocked, but disappointed.

“To fix this!” she hissed, fumbling with her hat. “What do you think?”

He groaned. “God, you’re relentless.”

“And you’re coming with me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you made it worse!”

He scoffed, following her anyway. “All I said was ‘morning, sunshine.’ That’s hardly a confession.”

“In your voice, it was.”

“My voice is charming!”

“Your voice is suspicious!”

They rounded the corner, her pace quick and uneven, his lazy and too confident. Her half-jog barely kept up with his walk, which only made her more flustered. She could practically feel his smirk without even looking, and it made her want to trip him.

“I can’t believe we’re doing damage control for something we didn’t even get to finish.” He complained.

Pomni jabbed his lower abdomen and rolled her eyes. “If she’s in the common room, you’re doing the talking.”

“Oh, great, because I’m known for my tact.”

“You’re known for being loud,” Pomni said, marching faster. “So use it for once.”

He grinned wider, teeth flashing. “Careful, Pom. That almost sounded like a compliment.”

“Don’t push it.”

They reached the end of the hall, the glow from the common room like a stage light. Pomni anxiously wrung out her hat, slowing to a stop.

Jax didn’t. He strolled right past her.

“Wait—don’t just walk in!” she hissed, grabbing his arm.

He looked down at her hand, then at her. “You sure? I thought the plan was to ‘fix it.’”

Pomni peered around the corner. Ragatha was there, of course, sitting stiffly on the couch with her hands folded neatly over her dress, the picture of barely-contained gossip. 

Pomni groaned quietly. “Oh god. She’s waiting.”

“For what?”

“For me! For us! For— whatever she thinks that was!”

Jax hummed. “Well, good news for her, bad news for me: it wasn’t whatever she thinks it was.”

Pomni turned, whisper-shouting, “That’s not better!”

He smirked, leaning down until they were eye-to-eye. “You sure? Because I could make it better.”

Her face went scarlet. “What do you even mean by that?!”

“Just trying to help.” he said, feigning innocence and throwing a helpless shrug. 

She inhaled swatting at his nose. “You are not helping.”

“Noted,” he said, completely unnoted.

Pushing his face with his stupidly huge bug-eyes away, she turned her attention back to the light spilling into the hallway. 

Jax leaned against the wall like he had all the time in the world. “Hey, get out of that big head of yours and quit stalling if you really want to save face. You’ll just make it weirder.”

“Weirder? You think this isn’t already weird?” she whispered, waving her hands like she could physically fan the tension and panic out of the air.

He shrugged again, and she thought she might actually strangle him.

She pressed her palms to her face and groaned quietly into them. “Okay. Okay. It’s not weird. Nothing weird happened. We were just—”

“Making out?” Jax supplied helpfully.

“Talking,” she snapped. “We were talking.”

Before she could talk herself out of it, Pomni squared her shoulders and marched into the room. Ragatha’s head snapped up immediately.

“Pomni,” Ragatha greeted, syrupy-sweet. “And Jax.”

She smiled at them, gaze flicking from down to Pomni, up to Jax.

Pomni sucked in air, realizing that Gangle, Zooble, and Kinger populated the couch as well.

Great.

Chapter Text

The silence dragged.

Pomni could feel four pairs of eyes on her, each a different shade of judgment.

Zooble was the first to speak. “You two look… odd.”

“Define odd,” Jax said, too casually.

“Like caught-doing-something odd.”

Pomni’s brain short-circuited. “We weren’t—oh my god!” she sputtered, hands flying up in exasperation. So Ragatha had said something.

This is going swimmingly.

If you count drowning as swimming.

Ragatha’s tone was sugar-coated. “Relax, Pomni. No one’s judging.”

Sugar-coated poison.

Her eye flicked toward Jax. “Though I can’t say I’m surprised. You’ve always been… well, impressionable.” 

The second the word left her mouth, she seemed to hear it too. Her smile faltered. “I-I mean— I didn’t mean it like that,” she added quickly, waving a hand like she could smooth the sting. “I just… didn’t expect him, that’s all.”

Pomni froze. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Ragatha said quickly, voice like honey again as she gripped her dress underneath her hands. “It’s just— well, after everything, I didn’t expect him to be the first person you’d run to, that’s all.”

Pomni’s stomach twisted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ragatha blinked, caught. “Nothing! I just meant—he’s not exactly the… comforting type.”

There was a nervous laugh at the edge of her voice, like she’d felt that she’d said too much.

Zooble chimed in, apparently forgetting how to read a room.  “Yeah, no offense, Jax, but you’re not really a ‘feelings’  kind of guy.”

Pomni winced.

“I could be,” Jax retorted, mock-offended.

“No, you couldn’t,” Zooble and Gangle said at the same time.

Gangle fidgeted with her ribbons, voice barely above a whisper. “We were just… surprised, Pomni, that’s all. You scared us. We didn’t know where you went.”

Pomni’s throat tightened. “So you assumed I couldn’t handle myself?”

Zooble’s mismatched eyes darted away, refusing to meet her gaze.

And there it was.

Something in Pomni’s chest coiled tight, heat of a different kind crawling up her neck. Her pulse pounded in her ears.

Ragatha raised her hands in a placating gesture, like she was trying to deescalate. “I just mean that it’s nice to see you smiling again. Really! Even if it took… unconventional company.”

Something in Pomni’s brain snapped.

“Oh, now you care?” The bite in her voice surprised even her. It was brittle and just so angry. “You didn’t care when we almost abstracted, but this— this is what suddenly gets your attention? Because you assumed something was going on?”

Ragatha’s eyes widened a fraction, but she didn’t back off. “That’s not fair, Pomni. You know how worried we were—”

“Worried?” Pomni let out a laugh that didn’t sound amused. “You mean the worry that only kicked in after three days of silence? When you didn’t bother to check on either of us?”

Her voice rose further, irate and shaking. She was feeling all of the emotions over the past couple of days hit her at once in a drowning wave that crashed over her. “You didn’t care when I was gone. You didn’t care when he was gone. But the second it looks like we might’ve been together, suddenly you’re all concerned?”

“Pomni—” Ragatha started.

“No,” Pomni cut her off, the words spilling faster now, her finger shaking as she jabbed it accusingly toward the ragdoll. “You know what? Forget it. I’m sorry I didn’t play the perfect little circus clown while everything was falling apart. I’m sorry I didn’t keep smiling while everyone pretended not to notice that he was falling apart, too.”

Her voice trembled, sharp and furious. “Yeah, he’s a jerk sometimes— so what!? You all treat him like one even when he’s not! Maybe if everyone talked to me the way you talk to him, I’d act out, too!”

Ragatha’s painted smile had long since disappeared, and Gangle and Zooble wore expressions of mixed shock and shame. Pomni didn’t stop.

“God forbid someone’s nice to him for once,” she went on, breath hitching. “God forbid he gets treated like a… a person instead of the punchline to some #%!$ed up joke!”

Ragatha’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Pomni’s voice cracked even sharper. “And you know what else? You’re not even mad about me! You’re mad because it’s him! Because no one in this #%!$hole gives Jax an ounce of credit or even half a reason to try!”

She was shaking down to every bone in her body. She couldn’t stand the way they all looked at her. She saw red, the words tumbling out of her in a jumbled, white-hot rage.

“You all act like he’s this big problem you have to fix, but you never stop to think that maybe he’s just… trying to survive, like the rest of us! That maybe the reason he’s such a pain is because none of you ever give him a chance to be anything else! And now, the second you see me with him, suddenly I’m the reckless one? Suddenly I’m the bad decision?”

Her hands were trembling so hard that she couldn’t do anything with them but form fists. “You’re all so terrified of looking bad that you forget we’re stuck in the same god$&!# cage!”

The words echoed through the tent, heavy with the pent up rage and anguish she’d never dared to speak of before. She hadn’t even realized half of them were out until it was too late.

Ragatha had tears in her eyes. Zooble was rubbing her back, expression still wide-eyed and shocked.

“Pomni—” they tried.

“No,” Pomni said, shaking her head. “You don’t get to ‘Pomni’ me. You don’t get to act concerned after ignoring me for days.”

Her voice was rough with exhaustion now, more than the anger. “Caine told you not to worry about it, right? That everything was fine, that he had it under control.” She laughed— a short, bitter sound. “And you were happy to believe it.”

Her gaze flicked back to Ragatha, hardening again. “But the second it looks like I was with him? Suddenly that doesn’t matter anymore. Suddenly everyone’s real invested again.”

No one said anything.

The silence that followed was stunned and tense. Even the normal static of the circus felt lower. Or maybe the ringing in her ears was just too loud.

Ragatha’s mouth opened and closed again. Whatever excuse she’d been ready to give died on her tongue.

Pomni stood there, chest heaving, still shaking. Every muscle in her body felt ready to fight.

She was so angry. She wanted to.

The worst part was that none of them argued. Not even Jax.

He just stood a few feet behind her, ears low, eyes flicking between her and the others like he couldn’t decide what to do with himself. 

Ragatha finally spoke through tears, voice small. “Pomni, w-we didn’t… we thought you needed space.”

Pomni let out a broken, disbelieving laugh. “Right.” 

Ragatha looked down. Zooble squinted. Gangle twisted her ribbons so tight they squeaked.

And then— quietly, almost too quiet to hear, Jax said, “Pomni.”

Her name

It felt soft, grounding.

She whipped around, adrenaline still too high and pulse thundering. “What!?”

“Let it go.”

His voice had none of its usual smug ease; just steady, soft, almost too calm.

Pomni’s breath hitched. She met his gaze, and for once his eyes weren’t mocking or amused. They were steady, curious, and edged with something that looked a lot like… protectiveness.

It was enough to bring her down.

She swallowed hard. “Yeah,” she muttered. “Fine.”

Pomni exhaled, the fight leaving her body all at once. The massive expanse of the tent suddenly felt claustrophobic, and she couldn’t bring herself to look at any one of the circus members.

“Let’s go,” Jax murmured, already stepping past her.

She didn’t argue. She just followed, the sound of her footsteps echoing as she numbly dragged her feet forward.

Away from them. 

To him.

Again.

Chapter Text

The tent flaps whisked as Pomni stormed through them. She didn’t stop walking.

Her steps were uneven, brisk, as if her body was trying to outrun itself. Every nerve in her body was on fire. The static in her head spread to her chest until it hurt to breathe.

“I can’t believe them,” she spat, more to herself than him. “Three days. Three days of nothing, nothing, and that’s what gets their attention? Me standing next to you?”

Jax didn’t answer. He followed a few paces behind, quiet, unreadable.

Pomni threw her hands up sharply. “It’s pathetic! They don’t care unless it’s easy, or dramatic, or convenient. The second things get messy, they vanish! But god forbid I make a choice they disapprove of, and suddenly they’re all so concerned!”

The words streamed out like an angry river, the adrenaline still clawing up her throat. She could feel her pulse in her jaw, her palms, the back of her neck. It was unbearable.

“And you—” she spun toward him, bells clanging from the aggressive movement. “Apparently I’m not even allowed to make up my own mind about you. They’ve already decided what you are, so I guess that’s supposed to be enough for me too, right?”

Still nothing.

Pomni stopped dead, chest heaving, anger sitting like lead in her stomach. “Well?” she snapped, voice breaking. “Say something!”

He blinked slowly. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, even. “You were right.”

She paused.

He shifted his weight, arms folding loosely, gaze softening. “You didn’t need me jumping in back there. Would’ve just made it worse.” He paused. “It wasn’t my fight to pick.”

Pomni’s breath came shallow and uneven. Her whole body still shook with leftover rage that had nowhere to go. She couldn’t meet his gaze.

He rubbed the back of his neck, awkward, ears twitching. “Still. You didn’t have to… say all that. About me.”

“I know,” she muttered, throat tight.

He nodded once, quiet. “Yeah. But you did anyway.” A pause. Softer, he added, “Thanks.”

Pomni exhaled hard, the fight finally draining from her limbs, muscles sore from how wound up she’d been. “They just make me so—” She stopped herself, shaking her head. “Never mind.”

Jax’s mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. “Yeah,” he said, voice gentler. “Trust me. I know.”

For a while, neither of them said anything. The hallway felt too big and too small all at once. 

Pomni’s head was still spinning. The adrenaline had left, but her body hadn’t gotten the message. Her hands were still trembling, and her throat still ached from yelling.

Jax shoved his hands into his pockets, ears tilted back. “You should sit down before you pass out,” he said finally. His golden eyes were soft.

“I’m fine,” Pomni said automatically. It came out weary and thin.

He didn’t move or protest, just studied her for a second. Her legs trembled and she was desperately clutching her own arms for balance. She had all the grace and balance of a ballerina with two left feet. “You sure?”

“Yes,” she snapped. Then, a beat later, “N— I don’t know. I—” She cut herself off, words collapsing under the weight of everything in her chest.

He sighed. “Can I help, or are you gonna bite me if I try?”

She blinked, thrown off. “What?”

He gestured vaguely, looking almost sheepish. “You look like you’re about to collapse, Pom. Just— say the word.”

She opened her mouth to protest again, but the ground tilted a little under her. “God #%!$ing $&!#mit,” she muttered.

“Yeah, that’s a yes,” he said, stepping forward before she could change her mind.

Her breath caught as he scooped her up, one arm under her knees, the other around her back.

“Jax!” she yelped, grabbing his apron on instinct. “Put me down!”

“I would if you could walk straight,” he said simply, tone maddeningly even.

“I was fine!”

“You were about to tip over,” he countered. “Figured I’d save you the concussion.”

She wanted to yell at him, hit him, something— but she was too tired, too wired, too everything. The anger fizzled, leaving her hollow and shaking. Her head fell against his shoulder before she realized it had.

“See?” he murmured, not teasing this time. “Told you so.”

“Shut up,” she muttered, but it came out soft.

For once, he did.

He didn’t say where he was going, and she didn’t ask. The hall stretched endlessly, the sound of his footsteps echoing the checkered tile.

Pomni let her eyes fall shut. Everything still buzzed, but her body had given up on fighting it. She snuggled closer, breathing in his chest fluff.

When he finally stopped, she realized he’d taken her back to his room.

“Why am I not surprised,” she mumbled.

He kicked the door open with his heel. “Could’ve gone to yours, but last I checked, you left it unlocked like some sort of horror movie victim.”

He set her down gently on the edge of the bed, hands lingering for half a second longer than they needed to.

Pomni’s pulse jumped. “I could’ve walked,” she muttered.

“Sure,” he said, stepping back.

She stared at the floor, hands gripping the fabric of her hat until her knuckles went pale. The room felt too still.

Jax leaned delicately on the bedpost, watching her carefully. “You did good back there.” He spoke in a hushed tone, almost like approaching a scared animal.

Pomni frowned. “Yelling at everyone until they cried?”

“Standing up for yourself,” he corrected. “And… for me too.”

She looked up. His usual smirk wasn’t there, and he looked so… different.

Why can’t the others see him like this?

She shook her head.

I don’t want to think about them right now.

“I didn’t do it for you,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to,” he replied, eyes soft. She watched him, her pinwheel eyes a blend of exhaustion and intrigue.

“You needed to say it,” he shrugged lightly. “Even if it wasn’t for me. Especially if it wasn’t. You owe it to yourself.”

Her throat tightened. The adrenaline was gone now, leaving only exhaustion and the faintest ache in her chest. 

Pomni swallowed hard, staring at her hands. “You make it sound like I did something brave.”

“You did,” he said. “Not everyone can stick up for themselves properly—” He paused, a mischievous glint in his eye. “—and still look that cute doing it.”

She groaned. “There it is.”

He smirked faintly. “What? It’s true.” He defended himself. “I had to.”

She almost laughed despite herself, but it just came out as a shaky exhale. The tension in her shoulders finally started to melt the ice of her rage.

“Don’t do that,” she muttered.

“Do what?”

“Make it sound easy.”

“It’s not,” he said simply.

She looked up again. He wasn’t wearing that token shiteating grin. He was just… watching her.

Pomni tried to speak, but nothing came out. Her body felt like she’d run a marathon. She pressed a hand to her face. “God. I’m so tired.”

Jax’s voice dropped even quieter. “Then sleep.”

“I don’t think I can.”

He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “…Could try what helped last time.”

She blinked up at him, bleary. “What, you being annoying until I pass out?”

He huffed out an embarrassed noise, ears twitching. “No. You know…”

Pomni’s chest fluttered. “Oh.”

He shifted closer, cautious. “O-only if you want to,” he assured almost too quickly. “No pressure.”

She hesitated, pulse loud in her ears as her heart did backflips— then moved over just enough to make space beside her.

“…Yeah,” she said softly. “Okay.”

Jax climbed in slowly, the mattress dipping under his weight. Before he could even get comfortable, Pomni shifted closer, fitting herself against him in one smooth, instinctive motion. He stilled, startled by the warmth of her and how quickly she’d moved. He let out a shaky breath and relaxed, delicately running a hand over her waist.

Her breathing started to even out. His, too.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, already half-asleep.

He looked down at her, eyes soft in the dim light. “You’re welcome,” he said quietly. “Anytime.”

Chapter Text

Pomni was running.

She didn’t know from what, just that she had to move. The tent warped around her, colors and textures smearing together in a kaleidoscope of panic. Voices bled through the fabric of the tent walls.

“She can’t help herself.”

“Bless her heart.”

“She'll break herself trying to fix him.”

She tried to shout back, but her voice broke apart in her throat. The floor clung to her feet like wet paint and she tripped, her face slamming into the ground so hard she felt like it should’ve broken her nose. Laughter rippled behind her, hot against her ear.

Then came the hands. Grabbing. Pulling.

“Pomni—”

Her eyes shot open, pinwheeled irises wild.

For a second, she didn’t know where she was. The darkness choked her. Then her vision adjusted to the purple walls. She heard the steady rhythm of someone breathing beside her.

Jax.

He was still asleep, curled against her side, one arm resting heavy around her waist. His face was turned into her shoulder, and he made a slight twitch at her sudden movement.

Pomni’s pulse still thundered. Her whole body was trembling, sweat cold against her neck.

She sat up slowly, careful not to wake him. The nightmare clung to her, leeching into her skin, every echo still ringing in her ears. She needed air. Space. Something.

She slid one leg off the bed, then the other, feet hitting the cold floor with a soft thud. The tent outside was dim, illuminated only by faint flickering lights. She slunk out with barely a breath, twisting the handle as quietly as she could.

She didn’t know where she was going, until the drone of the circus was joined by another sound.

Voices. Faint, familiar, bleeding down the hallway like light through a crack in a door.

Ragatha. Zooble. Gangle.

Pomni froze halfway into the corridor, her stomach turning.

She shouldn’t. She knew she shouldn’t.

But her feet wouldn’t listen. She moved, pressing her ear against the wall.

“—I’m just saying,” Ragatha’s voice carried, quiet but strained, “she’s not thinking straight. She gets attached too easily, and he—he knows that.”

Oh.

They were talking about her.

Ragatha wasn’t even using that sing-song voice she always saved for Pomni; the one that made her feel like she was five years old. Hearing her drop it now, talking so plainly to the others, made something twist in Pomni’s chest.

Her breath hitched. She shoved her body against the wall, ears straining.

Zooble scoffed. “Oh, come on. You think Jax has some evil master plan? He’s barely holding it together for himself. I mean, look at him.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Ragatha said, louder this time, the edges of her voice fraying. “He doesn’t think. He just does whatever he wants, and people get hurt.”

Pomni’s nails dug into her legs. She wanted to rip the tent fabric.

Gangle spoke next, timidly. “I think he’s been nicer to her. He doesn’t tease her as much anymore.”

Ragatha’s sigh was brittle. “Oh, he doesn’t. He does this sometimes. For a while.”

There was a pause. A weight. “But it always ends the same. Like with...”

She trailed off.

Pomni frowned, confused, but the reactive gasps from Zooble and Gangle told her that whatever she meant was bad.

Zooble made a noise somewhere between a groan and a wince. “No, Rags. Don’t go there. That’s not fair.” They said firmly.

“I didn’t mean—“ Ragatha said, voice softening instantly, guilt threading through the words. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just— I can’t watch her get hurt like that.”

Gangle’s voice was fragile. “Pomni’s not him, Rags.” Pomni could hear the faintest crack as her mask broke under the pressure.

“I know,” Ragatha said quickly. “But you can only make excuses for Jax for so long. He wrecks everything he touches. And she’s too naive to see it.”

Pomni keeled over like she’d been punched in the gut. 

Zooble sighed. “She’s gotta figure it out for herself. You can’t hold her hand forever.”

Ragatha’s voice sharpened with emotion. “Maybe not. But I don’t have to watch her walk off a cliff, either.”

Pomni’s throat tightened. Blood roared in her ears.

She took one shaky step back—

and froze when the floor creaked under her heel.

The voices cut off.

For one horrible second, Pomni thought Ragatha had heard her. Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard it hurt.

But then the conversation picked up again— quieter and more muffled this time, almost drowned out by the rush in her ears. She couldn’t make out the words anymore. Maybe that was better, but it felt worse.

Her stomach churned. She didn’t know if it was from anger, or shame, or both. Her emotions tangled into a thorned vine around her insides, and she felt like she was going to throw up.

Of course they didn’t trust her. 

She knew this from the way they treated her.

So why did it sting so much?

She felt her vision blur.

Pomni turned, fast, and nearly collided straight into—

him.

“God— Jax!” she gasped, clutching her chest and trying to keep her voice down. “Do you ever make noise when you walk?”

Jax blinked down at her, completely unfazed. “I didn’t want to interrupt your little espionage mission.”

Pomni’s face burned. “I wasn’t spying.”

He tilted his head, one ear flicking. “You were definitely spying.”

“I was listening,” she hissed. “Which is different.”

“Uh-huh,” he said dryly. “And how’s that working out for you?”

Pomni’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked away, eyes stinging. “They think I’m an idiot.” She choked out.

For a second, Jax just stood there, looking at her in the half-light. His amber eyes glowed, flickering from the light spilling from the hallway to the broken jester silhouetted in it. 

“You’re not,” he said finally.

Pomni let out a small, humorless laugh. “Sure feels like it.”

“Yeah, well,” he said, glancing back down the hallway, “they say a lot of things they don’t mean.”

“Didn’t sound that way.”

He sighed through his nose. “Well, that they don’t understand.”

She blinked fast, throat tightening. Her arms wrapped around herself. “They think you’re gonna hurt me.”

“Would you believe me if I said I’m not?”

She looked up at him with glossy eyes. “I already did.”

Something flickered in his expression, brief and gone before she could name it. 

She didn’t move. “They hate you,” she said softly. “They really do.”

He shrugged one shoulder, too casual. It broke her heart. “I’m used to it.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

He glanced at her again, golden eyes catching faint light. 

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The circus air buzzed as the muted conversation echoed in the air behind them.

Then Jax said, quieter this time, “You aren’t gonna find anything good standing here, Pompom.”

Pomni’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t even know why I care,” she whispered. “They’ve always treated me like I’m gonna break. Like I’m some… stupid kid who needs their parents.” She let out a shaky breath, staring daggers at the floor. “And now it’s like they’re mad I stopped letting them do that.” 

Despite her anger at being compared to a child, she couldn’t help but add, “It’s not fair.”

Jax hummed low in his throat, stepping closer. “They’re scared,” he said. “You finally started thinking for yourself, or at least voicing it, and it doesn’t fit the story they built in their heads.”

Pomni’s mouth twitched like she wanted to argue, but the words didn’t come out. “And you?” she asked softly, barely above a whisper. “What story do you have about me?”

He looked at her for a long moment. “The one where…” he paused, guiding her chin up so that she’d meet his eyes. Her watery gaze met his, firm and kind. “...you stop caring what they think,” he said finally, tentatively. “And maybe sleep through the night for once.”

Pomni’s throat felt tight. “I don’t know how to make it stop.”

Jax glanced at her, quiet for a beat. “You can’t. You just learn to live with the noise. And then it’s easier”

That pulled a breathy laugh out of her. “Right, okay. I’ll get on that.”

“Attagirl.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t step away when he brushed a gloved hand into hers, fingers intertwining.

“Come on,” he said quietly. “Before they actually catch you standing out here eavesdropping.”

Pomni hesitated, then nodded, letting him pull her back to his room.

She found a faint smile tug at her lips.

Chapter Text

Pomni woke up before the lights came on.

For a minute, she didn’t move. The air was quiet, and tinnitus hummed in her ears. Her body felt caught between being exhausted and wired.

Beside her, Jax was still asleep.

His arm was draped over her hip, ears twitching once in his sleep. 

She watched him longer than she meant to, her thoughts an amalgamation of contradicting emotions. It should’ve felt strange. Maybe it did. But despite having just woken up, she was too tired to untangle it.

Carefully, she slipped free, peeling his hand from her side. The air outside the sheets bit cold against her skin, and she shuddered.

She straightened her hat and smoothed the pompoms on her costume until they looked right. Pointless, maybe, but something to do with her hands.

“It’s okay,” she muttered under her breath. “It’s going to be okay.”

Her reflection blinked back at her from the curve of a metal pole— someone she almost recognized.

She stared into the stranger’s matching pinwheel eyes.

Behind her, Jax groaned, voice low and raspy. “You always talk to yourself first thing in the morning?”

Pomni jumped. “Jesus—”

He cracked one eye open, smirking faintly. “Nah, just me.”

She exhaled, letting out a chuckle as she reached over to tussle his fur. “Caine’s gonna start the day soon. You might wanna look like you didn’t just sleep through a storm.”

He stretched, making an indignant noise. “Then why are you messing it up more?” he complained.

“You’re just too soft!” she teased.

Before he could fire back, the tent lights flickered, followed by a blinding flash of color.

And then—

“Gooooooood morning, my chipper chestnut chocolates!!!”

Pomni’s eye twitched.

Caine’s voice rang through the tent, deafeningly enthusiastic. Pomni suddenly realized how long it had been since she’d heard him summon them.

“It’s been eons since our last adventure!” he continued, chipper and booming. “And I can practically feel the morale dipping!”

Jax groaned quietly beside her.

“So! In the spirit of fun and productivity, we’re kicking things off with a mandatory breakfast! Fuel up, team! We’ve got a big, big day ahead of us!”

His voice fizzled out with a pop.

Pomni stared blankly at the ceiling for a second, her brain still catching up. “…He’s joking, right?” she said, already knowing the answer.

Jax mumbled into the pillow, “You think Caine knows what a joke is? That’s just like… his constant state of existence.”

“We don’t even need to eat.”

“Yeah, but he does. So how else will he feast on our misery?”

She groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “I can’t do this today.”

Jax sat up halfway, hair and fur sticking up in about twelve directions. “Relax. We’ll get through it. Can’t say I’ve never had an awkward meal or two here.”

Pomni shot him a look. “Can’t say I’m suprised. How’d those go?”

He shrugged. “Depends. Usually ends with someone crying. Or throwing toast.” He chuckled, brushing off his dress. “Usually I make Ragatha cry.”

“That’s not reassuring.” She pushed herself off the bed with a sigh, rubbing at her face. 

Outside, she could already hear faint movement. The others, probably. Ragatha’s bright, forced cheer carried even through the tent walls.

Jax swung his legs off the mattress, watching her intently. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

She glanced back at him. “Caine said it was mandatory.”

He smirked. “Aw, where’s your rebellious spirit, Pom?”

She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “I’m trying to pick my battles.”

“I believe in you, Pom. You can win all of the battles,” he teased, dragging himself upright. His ears flicked, messy and crooked in the light.

“You’re a bad influence!” She cried, shoving him back down.

He made another noise that muffled when his face hit the blanket.

Pomni adjusted her hat, staring down at her reflection in the bedpost again. “Besides, if I don’t go, they’ll just talk about me again.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it, eyes softening. “They’re gonna do that either way,” he said finally.

The tent lights brightened. Pomni flinched, eyes watering.

“Come on,” Jax said, pushing himself to his feet with a sigh. “Might as well get the suffering over with.”

She snorted, crossing her arms. “You make it sound so fun.”

“Oh, it’ll be a riot.” He said, deadpan.

Jax then stepped ahead of her, grabbing the door and sweeping it open with a mock flourish. “After you, m’lady.”

Pomni blinked, caught completely off guard.

He even bowed; one hand pressed to his chest, ears bent low in exaggerated grace.

She stared at him for several moments too long. “You’re—” she stammered, flustered. “—an idiot.”

“An idiot with manners, thank you,” he said easily, smirking without looking up.

Her face went hot. It was ridiculous, stupid, and yet… something about the fake gallantry tugged a laugh out of her anyway. 

Pomni brushed past him, trying to hide the blush under her hat. “Thanks.” She said shyly.

Jax straightened back up, the grin still lingering. “Anytime.”

They walked in silence, the sound of their footsteps echoing on the checkerboard floor.

The dining tent felt colder than usual.

Even with the fake sunbeams spilling from unclear vanishing points, the air had that still, pressing, heavy quality that made Pomni want to turn right back around and hide under Jax’s covers. 

They’d all already gathered when Pomni and Jax walked in.

Ragatha looked up first, smile ready, brittle around the edges. “Oh. You made it.” 

If the ragdoll was shocked or bothered by them showing up together, she didn't let it be known.

“Yeah,” Pomni said, voice smaller than she meant for it to be. “Mandatory, right?”

Ragatha laughed too quickly. “Right. Mandatory.”

Zooble didn’t look up from their plate. Gangle, right at their side, seemed more interested in her sketchbook than her plate of untouched food. Kinger mumbled about ants in the syrup, and even that somehow felt more comfortable than the silence pressing in between them.

Caine floated overhead, absolutely oblivious. “Wonderful! Everyone’s present and accounted for! What a sight for my sore, all-seeing eyes!”

Pomni sat down slowly, acutely aware of every chair scrape and clatter of silverware.

Even without turning her head, Pomni could feel Ragatha’s eyes on her; quick, nervous glances that still felt like standing under a hot spotlight.

Jax didn’t seem bothered. He slouched into the seat beside her, balancing his chair on two legs and snagging a piece of toast like it was any other morning.

“Nothing says team bonding like hostage breakfast.” He said loftily.

Pomni kicked him under the table.

Across from them, Ragatha cleared her throat. “So,” she said, her smile tight but practiced, “how’s everyone feeling today?”

“Mentally? Spiritually? Existentially?” Zooble asked without looking up. “Bad.”

“Hungry,” Kinger said, still inspecting his syrup for ants.

Gangle’s ribbons fidgeted as she murmured, “Tired.”

Pomni wanted to disappear. Every answer felt intentional and deliberate, waiting for her turn that she had no intention of taking.

Ragatha’s gaze flicked from face to face. She kept fidgeting with her napkin, smoothing the same crease over and over…

…before her eye landed squarely on Pomni. “And you?” she asked too gently. “You doing okay?”

The question would have normally been a casual nicety, but in context carried the same sharp edge as glass.

Pomni froze, fork halfway to her plate. She could feel every pair of eyes shift in her direction, waiting for the wrong answer.

“Fine,” she said quickly. “I’m fine.”

Ragatha smiled sweetly, but the gesture didn’t quite reach her eye. “Good! That’s… good.”

Jax snorted, and everyone looked at him. He leaned back in his chair, still on two legs, lazily chewing his toast. “Riveting conversation.”

Pomni exhaled, glad to have the attention off of her.

Zooble arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, real lively start to the day,” they muttered, stabbing at what might’ve been eggs.

Gangle’s ribbons drooped. “Maybe we should, um… b-be grateful? It’s nice that Bubble made breakfast for us.”

Zooble didn’t even look up. “He didn’t make it. He willed it into existence. Out of spite.”

Ragatha’s smile flickered. “Okay, come on, guys. Let’s just—” she gestured vaguely to the table “—eat. Together. Like normal people.”

Jax tilted his head, eyes glinting. “We stopped qualifying as ‘normal people’ the second we got stuck here, sweetheart.”

“Jax,” Ragatha said sharply, her tone cracking in the middle.

Pomni tensed. The sound hit her square in the chest, a sound she’d heard before; Ragatha trying too hard to hold everything together. 

She hated how much it still made her want to apologize, even now.

She reached for her fork again, realizing her hand was shaking.

Caine hovered a few feet above them, still wearing that broad cartoon grin. “My, my! What a chipper bunch! You’re practically radiating joy! Or is that anxiety? Hard to tell sometimes!”

Pomni squeezed her eyes shut. Please stop talking.

“Now then!” Caine clapped his hands together, a burst of confetti puffing out. “Once we’re all fed and happy, I’ve got a thrilling surprise in store! A brand-new group adventure  guaranteed to boost morale!”

Zooble groaned. “Define ‘boost.’”

“Define ‘morale,’” Jax added.

Caine laughed a manic chuckle that made Pomni’s skin crawl. “Oh, you’ll love it! Nothing says teamwork like a little friendly competition!”

Pomni felt her stomach twist. “Competition?” she echoed quietly.

Caine spun midair, his grin widening as his eyes locked on her. “Oh, yes! Something light! Something fun! Something to shake off all that moody-broody energy you’ve all been stewing in for some reason!” At this, his eye twitched.

“Maybe because, I dunno, you locked us in here for eternity?” Jax offered with a mutter under his breath.

Caine either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. “I’ll be back soon to explain the rules! Eat up, my digital darlings!”

With that, he burst into a puff of color and static, confetti raining onto their food.

Silence rushed in to fill the space he left.

Ragatha finally spoke, and Pomni could tell it took effort on her part. “Maybe this’ll be good for us. You know. A reset.”

Zooble groaned. “I’m not in the mood for some stupid adventure.”

Pomni swallowed hard, her throat tight. “Yeah,” she said quietly, eyes on her untouched plate. “Me either.”

Chapter Text

Pomni’s fork hadn’t even touched her food when Caine reappeared, wholly uninvited.

“Well, wasn’t that a delightful breakfast!” he sang, spinning lazily in midair. “Everyone thank our head Bubble chef!”

Bubble floated at his side. “You wouldn’t be thanking me if you knew what I put in it.” He said cheerfully.

Zooble groaned. “Can we leave?”

“Not quite!” Caine chirped. “Because now, my little landlubbers, it’s time for your next grand adventure!”

Pomni froze. “No. No, not right after breakf—”

“Oh yes!” he said gleefully, cutting her off. “A journey across the briny blue! Adventure! Teamwork! The potential for horrible, horrible tragedy!”

Caine snapped his fingers, and the world split open.

The dining table evaporated with a pop. The floor rippled under Pomni’s feet, gravity tilting sideways as her stomach lurched and she was glad she hadn’t eaten. She heard Gangle yelp somewhere in the chaos, and a scream from Ragatha.

Then, a splash.

Cold hit her first. Not real cold, but the uncanny simulation of it. She gasped, blinking hard against a blinding brightness.

The world steadied, and suddenly she was sitting in a small wooden boat bobbing on an endless, glittering ocean. The water stretched infinitely in every direction; a bright cyan, reflecting a too-perfect sky. A looping seagull cawed above them, glitching every few seconds.

Pomni pressed a trembling hand to her forehead. “Oh, for the love of—”

Something shifted beside her.

Zooble sat slouched against the opposite bench, one mismatched leg dangling over the edge. “I’m going to throw up.”

Pomni stared at them. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hi,” Zooble said flatly. 

Caine’s voice thundered overhead.

“Welcome to The Great Nautical Expedition! Three boats, and three teams! One glorious prize… the Golden Lifesaver! Find it, and glory will be yours!”

Pomni blinked, disoriented. “Teams?”

Two boats bobbed nearby on the looping water.

To the left, Ragatha and Jax; Ragatha gripped the oars white-knuckled while Jax lounged across the bow, smirking up at the sky. They were clearly in the middle of an argument already; she gestured sharply with one oar, and he mimed applause.

Farther off, Kinger and Gangle; she was already crying into her hands while Kinger waved a flag made from a napkin.

Pomni’s shoulders sagged. “Oh god.”

“Guess it’s us, then,” Zooble said, adjusting the joint on their arm until it clicked into place. “Could’ve been worse.”

“How?”

“I could’ve been stuck with him.” They nodded toward Jax, who was now dramatically shouting.

Pomni pinched the bridge of her nose. “He’s going to die.”

“By his own volition.”

Pomni let out a weak laugh despite herself.

Over the water, Gangle’s wavering voice carried: “Zooble! Are you okay?!”

Zooble’s eyes softened. “Yeah! I’m fine!” they called back, raising a hand. “Don’t freak out, alright?”

From Gangle’s side, Kinger raised a spyglass to his face and shouted, “Land ho! I can see the ants from here!”

Pomni looked out at the fake horizon. The sky looped too perfectly, the same five or so clouds lazily repeated across it. “Why is it always like this?” she muttered. “Why can’t we get, I don’t know, a knitting simulator or something?”

Zooble dipped their oar into the water experimentally, watching the ripples stretch. “Because that would be merciful,” they said. “And he’s not.”

To their left, Ragatha and Jax’s voices carried across the water, sharp and overlapping.

“Would you please stop rocking the boat!” Ragatha snapped.

“I’m testing stability!” Jax called back. “It’s called science.”

“It’s called suicidal!”

“That’s offensive to scientists.”

“JAX!”

Pomni flinched at the volume, clutching her oar. “They’re going to kill each other before Caine gives us any clues.”

Zooble didn’t even look up. “Good. Less competition.”

She snorted. “That’s dark.”

They gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I’m a realist. Realistically, he’s impossible, and she’s about five seconds away from committing murder.”

Across the fake ocean, Gangle’s voice carried, shrill and nervous. “Zooble! I think something’s wrong with our boat!”

Zooble cupped their hands around where their mouth would be as if that would help. “Then tell Kinger, Gangle! He’s the one on it!”

“I did! He told me to man the cannons!”

Zooble groaned.

Pomni couldn’t help the quiet laugh that slipped out. “She’s sweet.”

Zooble’s mismatched eyes flicked over, softer for a second. “Yeah. She is.”

The other boats had started to drift, their shouting fading into the hum of the ocean. Ragatha’s voice broke off mid-rant, Jax’s laugh thinning into the distance. Within minutes, the only noises were the looping gulls and lapping waves.

The pair were left in silence.

Pomni looked down at her reflection in the water. The surface glitched when she blinked, her image fracturing and rebuilding again.

Zooble’s oar dipped again, slicing cleanly through the jello-looking water. “You’ve got that look,” they said.

“What look?”

“The one that says, ‘I’m fine,’ but you’re obviously not,” Zooble said. “You’ve got a real tell, y’know.”

Pomni huffed, crossing her arms. “But I am fine.”

“Sure,” Zooble said easily. “You look thrilled to be here.”

She shot them a glare, but it didn’t have much heat behind it. Her throat was tight, and she mulled over her next words carefully. 

Her voice cracked when she said, “You really think I’d still be talking to any of you if I had a choice?”

Zooble didn’t bite back. They just turned the oar over in their hands, the joint in their wrist clicking faintly. “No,” they said after a beat. “I think you’d still talk to me, though.”

Pomni blinked, startled. “What?”

“Your hearing’s fine. Don’t make me repeat it.”

She gawked at them, taken aback and a bit offended. “Why would you assume that?”

“Because you’re doing it,” Zooble said simply. “You’ve barely looked at me like I’m radioactive. That’s a step up from, well, Ragatha.”

Pomni’s mouth opened, then closed again. She looked back toward the water, watching a wave flicker and change through hues of blue.

Zooble gave a small, knowing tilt of their head. “I could hear you, you know. In the hall.” They tapped one of the antennae on their head. “These things pick up everything. Lucky me.”

Pomni sank lower in her seat, mortified. “Oh god. That’s embarrassing.”

“Eh.” Zooble shrugged. “If it helps, I thought you handled it pretty well.”

“That’s not—” She groaned into her hands. “I wasn’t trying to listen. I just—”

“Needed to know,” Zooble finished.

Pomni’s silence was answer enough.

For a while, all they heard was the simulated oceanic ambiance and Ragatha’s distant shrieking at Jax, or Jax’s distant shrieking at Ragatha. 

Then Zooble leaned back and said, “Ragatha’s not a bad person, Pomni. She’s just… terrified of losing control. You scare her a little.”

Pomni frowned. “Me? Why?”

“Because you make your own decisions,” Zooble said plainly. “And because you like him.”

Pomni’s stomach dropped. “I—” She blinked rapidly. “I don’t—”

“You don’t have to lie,” they said, not unkindly. “But you do have to be honest with yourself about what you’re getting into.” They rested an elbow on the edge of the boat, eyes flicking toward the chaotic blur that was Jax and Ragatha’s boat. “He’s… not easy. You know that better than anyone.”

Pomni’s chest twisted. “You sound like her.”

“No,” Zooble said, voice gentle. “She thinks he’s beyond saving. I just think you need to be careful. You can’t fix somebody who doesn’t want to be fixed.”

Pomni looked at them sharply. “You think that’s all this is?”

“I think you… care about him,” they said slowly, deliberately. “And that’s enough to get you hurt if you’re not careful.”

Pomni swallowed hard, words choking her throat. “I’m not… stupid.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“Then what are you saying?”

Zooble gave her a long, level look. “That I’ve been here long enough to know what this place does to people.”

For a second, Pomni didn’t have an answer. She stared back out at the horizon, the looping sea swallowing itself again and again. “You make it sound pointless.”

Zooble’s voice came low, thoughtful. “It’s not pointless. Just… dangerous.”

She turned toward them. “Dangerous how?”

“Getting attached,” Zooble said. “Forgetting this place isn’t real.”

Pomni shook her head. “Maybe it’s not, but we are.”

Zooble let out a quiet laugh, bitter and fond all at once. “Exactly. We’re real enough to get hurt.”

Pomni blinked at them. “And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Who’s dangerous for you?” she asked teasingly.

Zooble cocked an eyebrow, following a glitched seagull overhead with their eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Pomni rolled her eyes, but her smile was small and genuine this time. 

The fake ocean shimmered around them, waves catching the sun in a dazzling display of blues and whites.

Pomni looked out across it, feeling something in her chest loosen.

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

Zooble didn’t ask what for.

Chapter Text

The sea had gone still.

Not calm— still. 

The silence was jarring, and felt wrong. The hair on the back of Pomni, neck tingled in apprehension.

She frowned, scanning the horizon. Even the looping gulls overhead had frozen in place. “Zooble?” she said quietly. “Did it just—”

The boat convulsed.

It was abrupt and jagged, the ocean snapping them sideways, sending her careening into Zooble’s shoulder with a startled yelp.

“Careful!” they grunted, steadying her by the arm.

“I am being careful,” she said, clinging to the edge. “It’s the stupid ocean that’s not cooperating!” Her voice began to rise.

Zooble squinted out over the rising waves, watching as the clouds brewed an ugly storm. “This is why I hate Caine’s little field trips,” they muttered. 

Another wave slammed the side, soaking both their feet. The sky darkened so suddenly it made her sick with anxious foreboding.

Zooble groaned, bracing one hand against the bench. Pomni squinted through the rain, gripping the oar so tight her knuckles went white.

“Do you think—” Something wet hit her face and she shrieked, spitting and flailing. “Oh my god— what was that?!” She shook her head violently, spitting a few more times for good measure. “Ugh— Zooble! Do you think Caine planned this?!”

“Caine plans everything,” Zooble said, disgust and hatred filling their voice as they grabbed their own oar. 

The next gust of wind nearly bowled Pomni backward, but her hat stayed perfectly in place. She grabbed for it instinctually anyway.

“Sure,” Zooble muttered, watching her. “Save the hat.”

“Oh, sorry, should I be saving the boat instead?!”

“If you could, that would be great!” they remarked, before adding. “Pretty sure that thing is surgically attached to your head anyway.”

Another wave rocked the boat hard enough to send the oar spinning out of her hands. Pomni gasped, lurching forward onto her feet before Zooble caught her by the wrist.

“Whoa— hey— sit down! Unless you wanna swim back!”

“I wasn’t exactly trying to fall!” she shot back, hair plastered to her face.

“Could’ve fooled me!”

Pomni’s chest tightened. Her breath came fast and shallow. The boat jolted again, and she let out a strangled sound somewhere between a gasp and a whimper.

“Oh god— oh god, this is it,” she sputtered, clutching the side of the boat so hard her fingers ached. “We’re gonna flip, and I’m gonna drown, and it’s gonna be so embarrassing because I can’t even swim—”

“Pomni,” Zooble said sharply.

“—and then Caine’s gonna make it some stupid lesson about perseverance, and then he’ll—”

“Pomni!” They yelled, louder this time.

Her head snapped toward them, eyes wide.

Zooble leaned forward just enough to steady her shoulders. “Breathe.”

Another wave slammed into the hull, coating the pair in seaweed. Pomni shrieked and clung to Zooble’s arm.

“Okay, okay, we’re not sinking yet!” Zooble grunted, digging their oar back into the relentless waves. “You’re alright. Just hang on, yeah?”

“I’m trying!”

“Good. That’s all you’ve gotta do.”

The rain came down in sheets now, stinging their skin. Pomni’s arms burned, her whole body hurled around with the boat’s movement. Every time she thought she’d found a rhythm, another wave threw her off.

Zooble’s voice cut through the chaos, half-yelling, half-pleading. “You’re rowing against the current!”

“I don’t know what direction the current is!”

“It’s the one trying to kill you!”

“Everything’s trying to kill me!”

“Focus!”

Pomni let out a guttural sound, something like a growl and a sob, throwing her weight behind the oar. The motion sent another splash of seawater straight into her face. “This is pointless!”

Lightning split the sky, flashing so bright it turned everything white for half a second. Pomni blinked hard, her heartbeat loud enough to drown out the wave of thunder that followed. The boat pitched again, tipping precariously to one side. She screamed, screwing her eyes shut.

Zooble’s hand found hers immediately, gripping tight. “Hey! Eyes on me!”

Pomni looked up, soaked and shaking.

“We’re fine,” they said; firm, steady, and clearly lying through their nonexistent teeth.

“No we’re not!”

“Not yet, but we could be!”

The boat lurched again. This time it didn’t come back down. It hung there for a second, balanced on a crest, before slamming back into the trough with a splash that sent water surging over the sides.

Pomni squeezed her eyes shut. “We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die.”

“If it helps,” Zooble said, panting, oars lost to the sea. “I’d rather die than listen to Jax and Ragatha argue again!”

Pomni actually laughed in the absurdity of it all. “That’s… that’s actually fair!”

Another wave crashed, harder this time. The bow lifted, tilting, and for a second, she really thought this was it. She could feel the boat flipping, feel her stomach drop. She screamed, bracing for it—

And then, just like that, it stopped.

The rain softened. The wind eased. The boat glided gently and rocked once, twice, then leveled out.

Pomni’s breath came ragged. She stared out over the now smooth ocean, no evidence whatsoever of the nightmare that had just ensued. “What the #!%$…”

A voice echoed faintly across the water; far away, but unmistakable.

“Eureka! Victory! The ants have guided us to treasure!”

Pomni’s head snapped up. “Was that—”

Zooble heaved a sigh of relief. “Kinger.”

Sure enough, in the distance, a small glimmer of gold flashed against the horizon. Gangle’s high-pitched cheering carried faintly across the still air.

Pomni stared, jaw wide open in shock. “He won?”

Zooble rubbed their arm. “Somehow.”

“But— how?!”

“He’s Kinger,” they said simply with a shrug.

Pomni slumped back in her seat, water dripping off her hat. She was too tired to wring it out. “This place sucks.”

Zooble exhaled, nodding. “Yeah.”

They floated there a while longer, the waves finally calm around them. The horizon glowed hues of bright oranges and pinks as the fake sun began to set.

Pomni tilted her head back, closing her eyes. Her voice came small and tired, but almost amused. “If I ever see another boat again, it’ll be too soon.”

Zooble leaned their head back too. “At least we didn’t drown.”

“Yet.”

Zooble cracked an eye open. “There’s always next time.”

The fake sun dipped lower until the horizon glowed, enveloping their world and painting everything gold. For a second, everything felt warm, almost peaceful. Then— 

Caine’s voice boomed overhead, cheery and deafening.

“Splendid work, my soggy sailors! I see one team found the treasure, and the rest of you… well, you certainly participated!”

A magnetic pull tugged at the hull. Pomni barely had time to grab the edge before the sea warped again, dragging their little boat across the water like a fish being reeled in for a catch.

“Wait—wait, no, no, I’m not ready to—!” she yelped.

Too late.

They skidded to a stop beside the other two boats, bumping against Jax and Ragatha’s with a heavy thunk.

Ragatha looked ready to commit homicide. Her curls stuck out in frizzed, damp tufts; one button on her dress had popped off entirely. Jax, somehow, was lounging with his arms crossed, drenched head to toe but grinning like he’d enjoyed every second of her misery.

“You,” she hissed.

“Me,” he said pleasantly.

“You almost killed us!”

He let out a little laugh, a devilish grin set across his face. “Correction— you almost killed us.” 

“You think this is funny?”

“I think you yelling is funny.”

“I swear to god, if you say one more thing—”

“One more thing.”

Pomni rubbed her temples, casting an exhausted glance at Zooble. They wore a similar expression.

Across the water, Kinger’s boat glided in like a parade float, a golden lifesaver clutched proudly in his floating hands. Gangle sat beside him, still sniffling but smiling wide. Her comedy mask gleamed uncracked in the light.

“I found it! I told you the ants would lead us to victory!” Kinger proclaimed, bumping Gangle affectionately with his shoulder.

Gangle wiped her eyes. “We won!” she said weakly, then looked down. “My mask didn’t even break this time.” She added with a smile, and a shy glance to Zooble.

Zooble lifted a hand, waving toward Kinger and Gangle’s boat as it drifted closer. “Nice job, you two,” they called.

Gangle’s ribbons fluttered, the tips curling shyly. “Th-thank you!” she said, her voice trembling between pride and relief.

Zooble was looking straight at Gangle, fondness in their eyes. “Knew you had it in you.”

They lingered on her a moment longer than they meant to before looking away, pretending to adjust their arm joint.

Pomni watched the exchange, something in her chest finally easing. She took a deep breath of the salty air, her hands finally easing their grip on the sides of the boat.

Ragatha and Jax were still bickering beside them, and Pomni wondered how they had any energy left to be so hostile.

“I wouldn’t have yelled if you’d just listened—”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault you can’t handle a few waves—”

Pomni rolled her eyes, too drained to intervene.

Ragatha swatted his arm, water flicking off her sleeve. “You think this is funny? You could’ve gotten us both killed!”

Jax’s grin faltered, just slightly. “You’re fine, aren’t you? We can’t even die, really.”

“That’s not the point!” she snapped. “You never think about anyone but yourself—”

Her voice cracked mid-sentence, teeming with frustration.

He didn’t fire back. Just looked away, jaw tight and ears flicking irritably, eyes finding Pomni instead.

She met his gaze, surprised at how clear it was now. She used to think he was impossible to read, but the grin didn’t fool her the way it used to.

“You good?” he asked, barely loud enough to carry over the water.

His fur was unkept and sticking up in about a million different places, and the dress was plastered to his lanky frame. 

Pomni hesitated, then nodded once. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I think so.”

He smiled at her. She smiled back.

She held his gaze for a long while, and then gazed out to the horizon. It was beautiful.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The tent smelled like saltwater; a sharp, artificial tang. The floor squelched under Pomni’s shoes as she followed the others inside.

“Marvelous work, everyone!” Caine sang, floating in lazy circles above them. “A riveting display! I haven’t seen teamwork like that since… well, ever, honestly!”

She rolled her eyes. He said that after every adventure.

Zooble dropped into a chair with a wet slap. “We almost drowned.”

“Exactly!” Caine beamed. 

Bubble was feverishly taking notes next to him, holding a pencil in his mouth to a floating notepad. 

“Motivate… Kinger… With…. bugs….” He muttered as he wrote.

Kinger lifted the golden ring high like a trophy. “I don’t remember what this is for!” He exclaimed.

Pomni half-smiled, still shaking out her gloves. Gangle clapped timidly beside him, her comedy mask still miraculously intact. Zooble gave her a small nod from across the table, and Gangle brightened immediately.

Ragatha, meanwhile, sat with her arms crossed tight. The curls of her hair were still damp and frizzed, and her expression was unlike any Pomni had seen from her before.

Jax leaned casually against the table near Pomni, pretending he didn’t notice the daggered looks she kept shooting him. Somehow it felt like she was more angry about it than he was.

Caine clapped his hands. “Now! Group reflection time! What did we learn from this delightful demonstration of cooperation? And didn’t we love Caine’s lovely ocean simulation? It was… so immersive, right?”

Zooble groaned. “Yeah. Real immersive. I’m pretty sure I still have saltwater in my eye sockets.”

“I learned not to get on a boat with Ragatha,” Jax said.

“I learned not to get on a boat at all,” Zooble added.

Caine’s mouth stretched into that too-wide grin, eyes buzzing slightly. “Excellent feedback! Though I must say, Miss Pomni, your performance was especially inspiring! You’ve come so far with your, ah— emotional composure!”

Pomni blinked, thrown. “My what?”

Caine’s voice swelled theatrically. “Such poise under pressure! Such heart! Truly, the glue that holds this delightful circus of insanity together!”

Pomni’s face heated. “I— um—”

“Aw, she’s like the glue that keeps rats stuck in a trap. Cute.” Jax said, smirking faintly.

Pomni shot him a look, heat crawling up her neck. 

Did he just call me cute? In front of everyone?

No— no, that’s not what he meant. Obviously.

Right?

Say something, Pomni!

 “You’re one to talk about holding anything together.” She blurted, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

He grinned wider, and what was under that damn smirk. “Hey, I held onto the boat.”

“Barely,” Zooble said under their breath.

Ragatha hadn’t said a word.

She sat too still, her hands laced tight in her lap, plush knuckles straining white. 

Pomni tried to catch her eye. “Hey, Ragatha—”

“No, Pomni,” Ragatha said too quickly. Her tone was light, brittle. She lifted her head with a smile that looked rehearsed. “You don’t have to… it’s fine.”

Pomni frowned. “I just wanted to—”

“Please,” Ragatha cut in, still smiling. “Let’s not make a thing out of it.”

Pomni studied her, the smile had long since tricked her. The memory of their argument echoed in her skull.

The tent went quiet, the air heavy in that suffocating way that made Pomni want to crawl out of her own skin. Even Caine, hovering overhead, had turned into a statue.

Pomni sat back, her heart a little too fast. Jax was beside her, leaning against the table and pretending to be relaxed, but she could feel it. The stillness. The tension radiating off of him and the pricking of his hackles.

Ragatha finally looked up. “You did great out there, Pomni,” she said, her voice carefully smooth, like she’d ironed out any wrinkles of negative emotions. “Really. I mean, of course you did. You always do lately.”

The compliment felt so wrong. Forced.

They hadn’t even won.

Pomni blinked. “Uh… thanks?”

Ragatha’s gaze flicked between her and Jax; the way he stood just a little too close, how he wasn’t saying a single word. Pomni silently thanked a nonexistent god for that. 

Her smile wavered. “Glad you’re alright,” she said. Her eyes landed on Jax for a heartbeat too long before she added, “Pomni. I’m glad you’re alright.”

Pomni felt the words land somewhere deep in her chest. What is happening right now?

“Thanks,” she said, barely above a whisper, almost as a question.

Jax didn't speak.

Zooble leaned back in their chair, the squeak slicing through the silence. “So. Can we all go dry off now?”

Caine made a noise like a deflating balloon. “We could share feelings—”

“No,” Zooble, Ragatha, and Jax said in unison; three different tones with the same exhaustion.

Ragatha’s chair scraped the floor as she pushed it back too fast. “I just—” She stopped, voice catching halfway. “I just need a minute.” Her breath caught. “I’m sorry.”

She stood before anyone could answer. The flap swung open, spilling bright artificial light into the tent before it fell closed again.

Silence caught the room.

Zooble drummed a knuckle once against the table. “That’s not on you,” they said quietly.

Pomni stared at the spot where Ragatha had been sitting. 

She didn't respond.

Jax still hadn’t said anything. He just watched the tent flap, his ears angled back, water still dripping from his dress. The quiet looked strange on him.

Pomni glanced at him. She half-expected another smirk, joke, something cutting to slice the tension. But when his eyes finally met hers, there was no bite.

For once, he didn’t hide behind the joke. 

Caine cleared his throat. “Well!” he said, voice pitching up an octive, like a host of a party no one wanted to be at. “I’d call that a success, more or less! Great work, everyone! I’ll, uh… let you debrief!”

He popped out of existence with a faint fizz.

Pomni fidgeted. The sound of the tent flap swinging shut echoed in her ears. She could feel her pulse thrumming.

What is this? What just happened? 

She wanted to stay mad, to stick with the rage that had fueled her screaming. Damnit, I deserve to be upset!

Zooble said something, but she didn’t catch what. The words blurred.

Then, suddenly, she was standing.

“I’ll— I’ll go check on her,” Pomni said, not really waiting for anyone to stop her.

No one did.

She wasn’t even sure why she said it. I’m still so angry.

But sitting there pretending she wasn’t worried, too, felt worse. Somehow.

Outside, the tent walls loomed around her, offensively bright yellows and reds. Ragatha wasn’t in sight, but Pomni knew her well enough to guess where she might be.

She turned towards one of the unused side rooms stuffed with props and half-forgotten sets. When Pomni pushed aside the curtain, the first thing that hit her was the smell: old fabric and the omnipresent sweetness, like powdered sugar.

And there she was.

Ragatha sat in the corner, surrounded by a pile of oversized stuffed animals. She was half-buried in them, knees drawn up to her chest. Her eye was glassy, shining in the darkness, but she wasn’t crying. Yet.

Pomni hesitated at the doorway, stomach twisting. For a moment, she almost turned around. 

She hesitated at the doorway, forcing herself to speak. “Hey.”

Ragatha startled a little, then tried for a smile. “Oh. Hey, Pomni. Sorry. I, uh… needed to be somewhere…else for a minute.” She gave a small, strangled laugh and patted the bear beside her. “These guys don’t talk back.”

Pomni’s voice came small. “I get that.” She stepped inside, careful not to trip over the plushies littering the floor. “You don’t have to apologize.”

Her own words stung. Not for that, anyway. Not when there were bigger things Ragatha hadn’t even looked her in the eye over yet.

And yet, Pomni was the one standing here trying to make her feel better. Figures.

Ragatha gave a tired laugh. “Sorry.”

“You kinda do that a lot.”

“Do what?”

“Apologize.”

For all the wrong things, she added to herself.

“Sorry.”

Pomni stared at her. “…Yeah. Like that.”

For half a second, Ragatha’s real laugh broke through, quiet and small. “I didn’t mean to make a scene.”

“You didn’t.”

“I think I did.” She picked at a loose thread on a stuffed cat’s ear, throat making a choking noise. “Everyone went all quiet.”

Pomni wanted to tell her that it was okay, that it didn’t matter, but it did. And she couldn’t bring herself to lie.

“They just didn’t know what to say.”

“Yeah.” Ragatha hesitated, eyes flicking down again. “Me either.”

The air was quiet. Pomni’s chest was tight; she hated not knowing what she was supposed to do, the pressure to fix something she didn’t understand, something she shouldn’t even need to fix. 

She was furious at Ragatha, rightfully so, but the thought of Ragatha being angry back made her stomach twist.

“Are you mad at me?” she blurted.

Ragatha’s head snapped up. “What? No! Are you mad at me?”

“What? No!” Pomni’s voice cracked halfway. “Why would I— you just looked—”

“I wasn’t looking anything! I was thinking!” Ragatha said defensively.

“About what?”

Ragatha froze. “You and Jax.”

Pomni blinked. “Me and—? What?!” Her skin blazed with embarrassment and ire.

Ragatha’s hands flew up. “Not in a weird way! Just— I’ve noticed you two talking more lately, and he’s usually such a pain, and now suddenly he’s— I don’t know— smiling? He’s being nice?”

Pomni blinked, heat crawling up her neck. “He’s not just nice to me,” she corrected. “I’m just… not mean back.”

Ragatha let out a breathy laugh that didn’t sound amused. “That’s basically the same thing.”

“No, it’s not,” Pomni said, a little sharper than she meant to. “He—he wasn’t always like that with me. He used to be awful, and I didn’t… react the way he wanted. I think it threw him off.”

Ragatha’s brow furrowed. “Threw him off?”

“I don’t know,” Pomni said helplessly. “But that first day with the dress. When it got stuck. Everyone was laughing at him.”

Ragatha’s expression flickered, unsure whether to defend herself or not.

Pomni kept going, not giving her the chance to interrupt. “Everyone just laughed,” she repeated, shaking her head. “Like it was nothing. But I could tell it got to him. He acts like he doesn’t care, but he always does. That’s the part no one else seems to notice.”

Pomni anxiously cracked her knuckles, catching her breath as she waited for Ragatha to speak.

She finally said, with genuine perplexity, “And that’s what changed him?”

Pomni shrugged helplessly. “Not right away. But I didn’t leave, even when he was being a jerk about it. I just stayed. And that’s what… what got him, I’m pretty sure. I don’t think he knew what to do with someone who was willing to stick around.”

Ragatha’s hands tightened around the stuffed cat in her lap. “You make it sound like it’s easy.”

“It wasn’t,” Pomni said softly. “He made it really, really hard. But… I don’t think anyone ever tried.”

Ragatha’s voice came quiet. “You really care about him.”

Pomni opened her mouth, then shut it. 

Why am I always the one who has to explain myself?

She blinked. “I— I don’t—”

Ragatha sighed, still not looking at her. “You do. And that’s fine. It’s just…” She hesitated. “It’s complicated. He’s complicated.”

She paused.

Yeah, Pomni thought. He’s not the only thing that is.

“It’s complicated,” Ragatha said again. “Everything with him is. It always feels like there’s some game he’s playing that he understands and you don’t.”

Pomni stared at her. She wondered what her own expression looked like.

“I don’t mean that to sound… mean,” Ragatha said, her voice trembling at the edges. “It’s just… he makes people think they’re getting somewhere, and then the second you start to believe it, he pulls away. Or makes a joke. Or does something awful.” She looked down. “You start wondering if you imagined all the nice parts.”

Pomni’s throat went tight. “Maybe that’s what he’s scared of. People thinking he can be nice.”

Ragatha tilted her head, studying her. “You really believe that?”

“I don’t know,” Pomni admitted. “But when I’m around him, it feels like… like he’s trying not to fall apart, trying not to let anyone in. And I think the only way he knows how to do that is to hurt everyone else before they can— uh… hurt him.”

Like you did.

Ragatha let out a quiet hum. “That sounds exhausting.”

“It is,” Pomni said. “But…” She paused, her eyes meeting Ragatha’s. “I feel like he’s been changing. For the better.”

Ragatha’s eye searched her gaze. “You think you’re the one who can fix him?”

Pomni hesitated. “No. He needs to do that himself. But.” She paused, determination creeping into her voice. “I’m the one who is going to give him the chance to.”

There was a heavy, testy silence between the two of them.

Ragatha smiled faintly, and looked away. Her eyelashes batted and she returned to picking at the seams of the plush cat in her lap “You’re sweet, Pomni. You really are. That’s probably why he likes you so much.”

Pomni blinked hard. “He doesn’t— I mean, he doesn’t—.”

Well, I can’t deny it.

Not when we’ve—

Ragatha tilted her head again, voice gentle. “He’s different around you. He looks at you like… well. I’ve seen how he looks at you. Especially recently.”

Pomni didn’t know what to do with that. She anxiously threaded her fingers through her hair. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. I’m supposed to still be mad. “And you think that’s a bad thing?”

Ragatha smiled faintly; small and sad, but for once, honest. “I think it’s dangerous,” she said softly. “Because when he starts to believe you, and it falls apart—” 

Pomni opened her mouth as if to protest, but she continued, 

“—and it will, because he doesn’t know how to hold onto anything.” She exhaled shakily. “You’re the one who’s going to feel it.”

Pomni frowned, the words lodging in her chest. “You sound like you’ve already decided what’s going to happen.”

Ragatha’s eye flicked up, the faintest spark of guilt in it. “I think he’s predictable.”

Pomni lowered her gaze, fingers twisting together. “I don’t think he’s going to ruin it.” She hesitated. “Whatever this even is.”

Ragatha shifted, drawing her legs under her and smoothing her dress. “Yeah. I used to say stuff like that too.”

Pomni blinked. “You and him—?”

Ragatha shook her head fast. “No. Nothing like that. I just mean…” She trailed off. “I used to think he’d get better if someone tried hard enough.”

Pomni’s throat felt tight. “And you don’t anymore?”

Ragatha looked down at the stuffed cat’s crooked stitches. “I think he’s the kind of person who only changes if he wants to. And that’s the part that hurts. You can’t make someone want to change.”

Ragatha didn’t answer, and Pomni didn’t push.

Something deep in her chest eased, just a little. She hoped Ragatha felt it too.

It wasn’t an apology, but it was a start.

Silence stretched between them, broken only by the quiet jingle of Pomni’s bells and the flutter of fabric as Ragatha shifted.

Then a familiar voice drifted faintly through the curtain.

“Pomni?”

Jax’s voice came from just outside the curtain.

“Pom? Are you in there?”

Pomni froze, pulse quickening. Ragatha didn’t move, just stared down at her hands.

“I should probably—” Pomni started.

Ragatha nodded without looking at her. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

“You sure?”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, too quickly. “Really.”

Pomni lingered for a moment, wanting to say something that would make it better but not knowing what that even was.

“Okay,” she said finally. “I’ll see you later?”

Ragatha smiled, sadness sparkling in her eye. “Yeah. Later.”

Pomni stepped out through the curtain. The light of the main tent hit her, Jax’s tall figure silhouetted against it.

Behind her, the room fell still again. Ragatha reached for one of the stuffed bears and pulled it against her chest, pressing her face into the soft fabric. She let out a soft sob.

Chapter Text

Jax barely had time to blink before Pomni grabbed his wrist.

“Whoa— hey, what—”

“Come on,” she said, already walking.

He stumbled after her, tripping over his own paws as she dragged him down the hall. The warped corridors flashed by in dizzy streaks of red and yellow. Her grip was small but unyielding.

“Where are we going?” he asked, voice somewhere between lazy and uneasy.

“Just—” She shoved open the curtain to the main tent, “—come on.”

The vast space swallowed them. The puddles from earlier still glistened across the floor; the air smelled like salt-water taffies.

When they reached the table, Pomni stopped abruptly and let go. Jax rocked back a little, rubbing the spot on his arm where she’d left an indent.

She turned to face him, squaring her shoulders. “We need to talk.”

He blinked, ears tipping sideways. “Oh, that’s never good.”

“Jax.”

He raised both hands, in surrender. “Alright, alright. Talking. Proceed.”

She patted the couch. “Sit.”

He obeyed without thinking, landing with a soft thud. She took a seat across from him.

She exhaled, trying to steady herself. “You’ve been different lately.”

He shifted his weight, bouncing his leg. “Different how?”

“You’re not… picking fights as much. You still make fun of people, but not like before.” She hesitated. “And you’ve stopped going for me completely.”

Jax tilted his head, one corner of his mouth twitching. “You want me to start again?”

“No.” The word came out sharper than she meant. Her bells chimed as she gestured, flustered. “That’s not… I’m saying I noticed.”

He watched her, arms crossing loosely over his chest. “And that’s bad because…?”

“It’s not bad,” she said quickly. Her fingers twisted together. “But everyone else thinks you’re faking it.”

He let out a low whistle, glancing off to the side. “Ouch.”

“They do,” Pomni went on, insistent. “They think you’re pretending to be better just to mess with me. To hurt me.”

He looked back at her, the grin shrinking. “And what do you think?”

She hesitated, bells trembling faintly. “I don’t agree with them. I think you’re actually trying.”

He blinked. “Trying?”

“Yeah.” Her arms crossed, mirroring him before she realized it. “You’re still an #%!$hole, but you’re… different now.”

That earned a breath of a laugh. “Different, huh? That’s generous.”

Pomni’s pinwheel eyes bored into him. “They’re mad at you, Jax. All of them. And I hate it. Because when they act like that, it’s like they’re saying you can’t change.” 

She frowned, wringing out her hat as she struggled to formulate her thoughts. “...And maybe you can’t— I don’t know. But I hate that they decided that for you. I hate that they’ve… given up on you.”

She paused, voice dropping to a near whisper. “I hate that they hate you.”

Jax’s ears stilled. He studied her. “You hate that?”

“Yes!” Her hands flared out before falling uselessly at her sides. “Because you’re trying. I can see it.”

He dropped his gaze back to the floor. “You think you’ve got me figured out, huh?”

“No,” she said quietly. “But I think I’ve seen enough to have a pretty good idea.”

He toyed with the lace on his apron, eyes fixed anywhere but her. She wished he’d look up, even just once, so she could tell what he was thinking.

“Pomni…” he said finally, rubbing at the back of his neck. “You know they’re right about me, don’t you?”

She frowned. “No.”

“Yeah.” His voice came low, almost an echo. It was hollow. “You just don’t want to admit it yet.”

He didn’t look up. “You don’t have to lie to me.” His voice was quiet, almost calm in that infuriating Jax way; like this was just an everyday fact to him. Like the weather, something inevitable. “It’s sweet, really. But I know who I am.”

Her jaw tightened. “No, you don’t.”

“Sure I do.” He gave a short laugh. “Everyone else does, too. Saves us all the time.”

“Stop that.” she said with conviction.

“Stop what?”

“Acting like you’re some big… joke everyone’s in on. You’re not.”

He tilted his head, still not meeting her eyes. “You really think I care what they think?”

“Yes!” Her bells chimed hard as she threw her hands out. “God, yes, Jax, that’s the problem! You act like you don’t, but you do! And you’re so used to everyone expecting you to screw up that you don’t even give yourself a chance not to!”

His smirk faltered. He blinked once, slow. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I do!” Her voice cracked halfway through, frustration bleeding into it. “I see it! Every time you push someone over, every stupid joke, every awful thing you say. You think you’re protecting yourself, but you’re not! You’re just proving them right!”

Jax finally looked at her. His eyes were guarded, brazen. “And what, you think you’re the exception? That you’re gonna fix me or something?”

Pomni’s throat felt raw. How many times… “No, for the love of—!” She threw her head back in exasperation. “I don’t want to fix you, I can’t fix you. I just—” She broke off, letting her head fall again. “I just want you to see yourself the way I do.”

The two sat staring at each other as the silence spoke louder than anything they could say.

He shook his head in disbelief, a quiet laugh slipping out. “You shouldn’t be looking at me like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t deserve it.”

Her voice rose an octave. “Would you stop that!?”

He flinched.

“I’m not lying to you,” she said, voice trembling. “I don’t do that.”

Jax’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. His fingers tightened in his lap, claws catching on the lace.

“You keep saying I don’t know who you are, but you’re wrong. I do. And you hate that, don’t you? Because if I see you for who you really are, and you can’t hide behind that mask anymore.”

The tent was choked with tension.

“Pomni,” he said finally, his voice flat, “you really think all this—“ he gestured around himself “—is gonna change anything?”

She blinked, thrown. “What?”

His leg bounced faster. “You don’t get it. This isn’t me being dramatic. I’m just being realistic.”

He gestured loosely at himself. “I mess things up. I hurt people. That’s the pattern. I’m not gonna sit here and pretend it’s something else just because you’ve decided I’m… worth saving, or whatever.”

Pomni’s hands clenched in her lap. “I never said you needed saving.”

“Sure sounds like it.”

“I said I believe you can change.”

He met her eyes, trying for a smirk that didn’t land. “Didn’t figure you for the gullible type.”

Something in her snapped. “I’m not!” she shot back aggressively. “I’m not some stupid kid who doesn’t get it, Jax. Maybe I haven’t been here as long as everyone else, but I’m not blind. I’ve heard things. I know what you’ve done.”

His eyes widened and he fell back onto the couch.

“You trust me when I tell you how to solve a puzzle,” she pressed, voice trembling. “You trust me when I tell you to jump, or when I’ve got your back in the middle of an adventure— so why don’t you trust me right now?”

Jax stared at her, lips parting like he wanted to answer. He didn’t.

Pomni leaned forward, pulse hammering. “You can think whatever you want about yourself, but don’t sit there and tell me what I see. You don’t get to do that.”

Silence settled again, tense. Jax dropped his gaze, hands flexing uselessly in his lap.

He muttered, almost too quiet to hear, “You shouldn’t care this much.”

Pomni exhaled. “Yeah, well,” she muttered, the edge gone from her voice. “That’s my problem, not yours.”

The lights above buzzed faintly, and that cloying, candy-sweet smell still hung in the air. It made Pomni’s stomach twist.

Finally, she stood. Her bells chimed softly as she did.

“I’m not giving up on you,” she said quietly. “You can hate that all you want.”

Jax didn’t answer. He just sat there, staring past her at nothing.

Pomni turned to leave. She didn’t look back, but she felt his eyes follow her until the curtain fell closed behind her.

Chapter Text

Jax didn’t move until her bells finished chiming down the hall.

The curtain fell back into place and the tent went quiet again.

He stared at the spot where she’d been standing. Then at his hands. Then at nothing.

He should’ve said something. Anything.

Instead, he just sat there like an idiot.

“I’m not giving up on you.”

Stupid line. Stupid girl. Stupid heat in his chest.

He lasted maybe thirty seconds before he stood. If he sat there any longer, he was going to start thinking more.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, catching on a bit of lace. Then he bolted.

Out through the curtain. Past the doors. Down the warped corridor that always leaned like a funhouse. He didn’t think about where he was going, legs moving before his brain could catch up.

Door after door. He took a corner too fast, skidded, and regained his footing. He made for the plain, nothing-looking door that he knew all too well.

He paused a half second with his palm on the knob, realizing that he was shaking. The worst part of his brain muttered, Seriously? Flowers? What are you, twelve?

He went in anyway.

The meadow breathed at him, artificially welcoming. Code pretending to be air and a sun pretending to be warm. Birds pretending to be alive looping songs that hung in the air.

It still hit him in that small, traitorous spot under his ribs.

He didn’t walk so much as fall into the grass. His wobbly knees hit the soft, synthetic green. He dug both hands into it, tearing it up by the roots anxiously.

He was surprised Caine even thought to give the blades roots. For how much he despised the guy, he was dedicated to his craft.

“Okay,” he said to no one. “Okay. Come on, Jax.”

He sucked in a lungful of the floral air and scanned the clearing like he was about to disarm a bomb. Blue bells that reminded him of the little bells on her hat, little white star-things that reminded him of her massive eyes. Clovers, because he needed some luck right about now. And thistles nestled by the treeline, of course. He hated that he noticed the thistles first.

She’d said he tasted like them, in their late night talking. Thistles and lilac. He’d laughed it off then. It was lodged in his head now, stuck like a splinter.

He started picking before he could decide not to.

A handful of white. Another of blue. Something pink, does she like pink? He moved fast, ripping and arranging at the same time. The bouquet grew in his hands, lopsided, chaotic, stupid. He kept adding to it.

“Apology,” he muttered. “Right. Try that again.”

He tried on lines the way he tried on smirks. Except this time, he wanted it to hurt the least it possibly could.

“Look, earlier, I was being realistic.” 

No. That sounded like him.

“Okay, so maybe I’m not a lost cause.” 

Too shallow.

“I don’t deserve you.” 

Absolutely not. His face flushed scarlet. He could already hear her; “Would you stop that?!”

He snorted under his breath. He could hear her voice easier than his own some days. That was new. And... alarming.

He veered toward the treeline for a splash of color and took a thistle stem straight to the palm. The needle went right through the glove.

“Son of a—” He flinched back, sticking his finger in his mouth on reflex. He glared at the thistle, then snapped two clean blooms anyway. “Fine. You win.”

He wove them into the mess.

He didn’t tie it, because he didn’t have anything to tie it with—then remembered the loose ribbon at the edge of his apron. He tugged a strand free. The lace unraveled with a soft whisper, fraying in his hand. He wrapped it around the stems and knotted it badly. The bow held. It looked ridiculous.

Good, he thought. She’ll make fun of it. She’ll make fun of me. 

He sat back on his heels and stared at what he’d made. It was horrendously ugly. 

The colors clashed, oversaturated reds fighting with flashy blues. Half the petals were already folding in on themselves, wilting from how tight he was gripping the stems. The thistles stuck out haphazardly in every direction. 

He loved it. 

He hated that he loved it.

The apology lines kept chewing at the back of his mind, latching sharp teeth on his thoughts. 

I’m not worth the way you look at me.

And she’d say, “You don’t get to tell me what I see.”

He had laughed when she said it then, because laughing was easier than listening. He wasn’t laughing now. 

He remembered the way she’d trusted him when he led her here in the first place. He remembered the look on her face the first time she’d seen it. He remembered kissing her, and how his hands had forgotten every mean thing they’d ever done.

“Okay,” he said again, to the grass, to the birds, to whatever watched. “Fine.”

New line. They’re just words. He mouthed it once, twice, until it sat right in his mouth.

You were right about me trying.

He swallowed. That one felt like pulling teeth.

“And the rest,” he said. He didn’t want to say it out loud. He did anyway. “You were right that I care. There. Happy?”

The birds looped their melody. He took that as a yes and stood, bouquet iron-gripped in both hands.

The door to his own room tugged at him. Go leave it at her door, put it somewhere she’d trip over it, flee and be a coward. 

Problem solved. 

No eye contact. No room for her to say no. He could already see it; dropping the flowers outside her door, making a joke when she found them. Running away.

He stayed where he was.

If she can do hard things, his brain said, unhelpfully. So can you.

He looked at the path back, at the little plain wooden door. The grass whispered behind him. The ribbon bow fluttered like a trapped butterfly.

“Fine,” he muttered.

He left the meadow.

The corridors swallowed him. He moved faster now that he had the weight of something to carry. 

The bouquet couldn’t have weighed more than a few feathers, but it felt like he was carrying a sack of bricks. 

Halfway down the main hall, Bubble drifted past, mumbling something about “cataloguing emotional debris.” Jax hugged the bouquet behind his back, sucking in a tight breath of air, and kept walking. Bubble didn’t look up.

He pictured her face while walking. Frustrated. Stubborn. Kind. Those eyes that—

“Okay,” he told himself. “Here’s the plan. You hand her the stupid plants. You say the line. You don’t run.”

He tried the other lines on again, just in case.

I don’t deserve it. 

No.

I’m a lost cause. 

Absolutely not.

I’m trying. 

Yes.

He squeezed the stems until the thistles stabbed at him again. He winced, and mentally set one rule: no jokes. Unless she starts it. No jokes unless she wants them. You can do that for five minutes. You can do that for her.

He turned toward the corridor with their rooms and took three steps, then stopped dead.

What if she doesn’t want to see you? What if she’s with Ragatha? What if—

He dragged a gloved hand down his face, irritated at himself. He was exhausting. Even to himself. Especially to himself.

He thought of turning around again, turning tail and running back to the meadow, burying the bouquet, pretending none of this had happened and never would. He didn’t move.

“Go,” he told his feet. They listened.

Down the corridor, past the side rooms. He paused for a brief moment beside the room she’d been in with Ragatha, only to hear silence. He continued.

He found her door and stopped abruptly. The bouquet felt even heavier. He lifted a hand to knock, saw his own laced glove, and dropped it again.

Coward, he thought, and then raised it again to knock anyway.

No answer.

He stood there, inspecting the bouquet like it might have turned into a bomb in the last two seconds, and tried again.

Still nothing.

He leaned his forehead against the wood and let out a shaky breath that he wasn’t aware he’d been harboring. “Okay,” he murmured. “Plan B.”

He set the bouquet down gently against the frame—then hesitated, because leaving it and vanishing was the thing Old Jax would do. Easy. Safe. Lazy. 

Old Jax, he decided. And he wasn’t going to be Old Jax anymore. 

He picked it back up.

“New Plan B,” he said, because he needed to physically say the words to keep him from sprinting. “Wait.”

So he waited.

He slid down the wall to sit on the floor outside her door, knees up, his grip on the bouquet never wavering. He stared at the bow he’d tied, at the petals of bright colors, at the thistles wrapped around them.

He practiced the line one more time under his breath, barely there. “You were right. I’m trying.”

It sounded… small. Honest. Vulnerable. Uncomfortable. 

Good.

He rested his head back, shut his eyes, and pictured the meadow again. The shimmering light on the grass, birdsong that looped, the way she’d laughed while saying bastard like she’d found a secret loophole. He felt something in his chest leap.

Footsteps approached, careful and light.

His eyes snapped open. He stood too fast and almost dropped the bouquet. 

When the footsteps turned the corner, he lifted his chin, trying to be more brave than he felt. He caught her shape in the washed-out light, and forced himself to do the thing he was worst at.

“Pomni,” he said, holding the flowers with shaking hands. “Can I—”

He swallowed.

“Can I talk?”

Chapter Text

She stopped a few steps away. The light from the corridor washed her in that artificial glow that always filled the circus. Her eyes dropped to the bouquet, then back to his face. 

“You waited?” she asked. Her voice was careful. Not cold, but not warm either. Careful.

“Yeah.” He hated how fast it came out. “I—yeah.”

He thrust the bouquet forward like it might explode if he held it another second. She reached for it automatically, then paused. After a moment, she gently took it.

It looked less like a bouquet and more like a children’s craft gone wrong at this point. Petals and leaves stuck out haphazardly, and the bow that tied it together was frayed and falling apart.

He braced for her to laugh at him.

She didn’t.

“You picked these?” she said, inspecting a flower between two of her fingers.

He shrugged, trying to look like he hadn’t sprinted halfway across the Circus to do it. 

His stupid tongue wasn’t forming the words, so he simply nodded.

She glanced at the lace bow, then at his apron. “Did you mug your own outfit, too?”

“It had it coming.”

Her mouth twitched. Then she noticed the pinpricks on his glove and the tiny snag where the thorn had gone through. A few splatters of black sludge dotted the porcelain white glove. “You’re bleeding,” she said softly.

“It’s not real blood,” he shrugged, and immediately hated how dismissive it sounded.

She looked at him for a beat longer, then eased the bouquet against her chest and stood up straighter. “Okay,” she said. “Talk.”

Right. 

The line. 

The line he’d practiced.

For someone who seemed to never shut up, his throat sure picked a great time to die on him. 

Every instinct screamed at him to backpedal, make a joke, hell, just flat out run.

He forced the words out anyway.

“You were right,” he started. His throat threatened to close up. “About me. Trying.”

Her brow knit, just a little.

“I’m not good at this,” he said, quieter now. “At saying things. T-that actually matter. I get too loud, say the wrong thing, turn it into a joke. And earlier I did it again.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, ears twitching down. “It felt like if I hated myself first, I’d beat everyone else to it. Hurts less that way, I guess.”

Pomni didn’t move, just watched him. She didn’t look angry, or pitying. She was just… waiting. 

He exhaled. “But that’s not fair to you.”

Her bells gave a faint jingle as she shifted, but she still didn’t interrupt.

He took that as permission to keep going.

“And the way I am with everyone else… the way I talk to them, mess with them—” His voice wavered, unsure how the words were landing. “I know it makes things harder for you. They see me for who I am, and then they see you around me, and it just—” He exhaled. “It’s not fair. You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

Pomni’s expression was unreadable to him, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at it for long.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel like you had to defend me. And worse, make you look stupid for doing it.”

He swallowed again, throat feeling raw. “I’m sorry. For that part. For all of it.”

A quiet unfroze between them.

Pomni looked down at the bouquet again. One of the thistles had bent sideways, barely hanging on. She straightened it gently with her thumb. 

“You really picked these?” Was all she said.

“Yeah.” He tried to sound casual. “They’re for you.” He added lamely. 

As if she couldn’t put that together, dumbass.

Her eyes flicked up, startled for half a heartbeat before she looked away again. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“I know.” His voice came small. “Y-You don’t have to say anything. Back. About it.”

You’re really fucking bad at this. His inner voice mocked, entirely unhelpful. He pushed it away to listen.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t.” She hesitated. “I just don’t know what to say yet.”

He shrugged, though it came out more like a flinch. “That’s fine.”

The silence that followed was quieter now, and didn’t make Jax want to rip his own fur clean off.

Pomni shifted her weight, glancing toward him. “You know,” she said, cautious but sincere, “I never wanted you to stop joking. Not completely.”

That pulled his attention. “No?”

She shook her head. “Half the time it’s annoying. But…” She hesitated, a nervous little laugh slipping out.

Jax’s ears twitched. “But what?” His tone was sharp, defensive by habit.

“It’s so corny,” she admitted, trying not to grin. “And you hate corn.”

He blinked. “Not that kind of corn. Come on.”

She shrugged, lips twitching but still not saying anything.

He tilted his head, smirk tugging back to life. “Spill it, Poms!”

Pomni groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Ugh. Fine. It’s… part of what made me fall for you.”

The rabbit was too stunned to speak.

Eventually, he tested; “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

“Would it matter if I was?”

He let out a small, crooked laugh. “Yeah. It would.”

He paused before adding; “… that was really corny.”

Pomni scoffed, and stamped her little foot. Her bells jingled angrily from her little fit. Cute. “Careful, bunny, or I’ll ask Caine to make our next adventure a cornfield maze.”

That pulled an actual gasp out of him, shocked and bewildered. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I absolutely would.”

He put on his best look of genuine offense. “That’s evil.”

She shrugged. “Gee, I wonder where I get it from.”

She rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth betrayed her.

He glanced down at her gloves, at the way her fingers fidgeted against the frayed bow of the bouquet. He wanted to say something, anything, to keep himself from thinking too hard.

“So,” he said finally, “you fell for me, huh?”

Pomni froze. He loved to make her blush like that. “You’re really gonna make me regret saying that, aren’t you?”

“I mean,” he said, grinning wider, “I’d be stupid not to.”

“Too late.”

“Wow.” He feigned offense. “Didn’t even hesitate.”

She shook her head, smiling. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

The lights above buzzed faintly, but it didn’t sound quite as harsh tonight. For a long second, neither of them said anything. Just the faint, awkward rhythm of their breathing, and the occasional rustle of clothing. 

Jax’s grin faltered. “Hey,” he said, quieter now. “That thing you said earlier… about me being different lately.”

Pomni’s head tilted, making the bells of her hat chime. “Yeah?”

He hesitated, then looked at her intently despite the heat burning his ears. “Does it… bother you?”

She blinked. “What? No.”

“I mean—” He gestured randomly, fumbling. “You’re used to me being a jerk. I’m not a real person, so— I’m just saying, maybe it’s weird, maybe it’s—.”

Pomni interrupted him, shaking her head. “You are a real person, Jax. You just… hide behind a fake one.”

He stared at her, speechless.

She fidgeted with the hem of her glove, expression unreadable but earnest. “And maybe I shouldn’t say this,” she added, “but… I like the real one better.”

That knocked the breath right out of him. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, or the pounding in his chest. Or the fact that he wanted to call her stupid girl, but he didn’t think she was stupid at all.

Pomni held his gaze for a moment too long with that steady, unreadable focus that made him feel like she saw right through him.

Jax’s ears flicked once, uncertain. “You really mean that?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

He huffed a quiet laugh, though it came out more like disbelief. “You’ve got a bad habit of believing in the wrong people, Pompom.”

“Maybe,” she said, tilting her head with thought. “But I don’t think I’m wrong about you.”

Pomni shifted the bouquet in her grip, brushing her thumb against one of the bent thistles. “You should probably get some sleep,” she said finally, her voice softer now.

“Yeah,” he echoed. “Probably.”

Neither of them moved. 

She let out a slow breath, the bells of her hat giving a single, tired chime. “Goodnight, Jax.”

He nodded. “Night, Poms.”

She turned to open her door, pausing as it clicked open. “And Jax?”

He looked up.

She smiled, pinwheel eyes soft. “The bouquet’s not as ugly as you think.”

Before he could find a reply, she disappeared, the door shutting quietly.

He stood there a long while, the quiet feeling louder without her.

Then he looked down at his hand, the one that had brushed hers when she took the flowers, and flexed it once, testing the ghost of warmth still there.

Chapter Text

He stayed in the hallway long after she disappeared. 

After all, there was nothing incriminating about standing in the hallway, right? 

Not like he had a big bushel of flowers in his hands anymore.

The silence nagged at his ears. He could still hear the echo of her door clicking shut, could still see the faint reflection of his own stupid face in the polished plasticky wood.

He flexed his hand again. It still felt warm.

“Great,” he muttered under his breath. “Real smooth, Jax.”

Okay, maybe it hadn’t gone horribly. Which was already more than he deserved.

Not that he should be giving himself credit for it.

He started pacing.

Down the hall. Back again.

He couldn’t stand still; it was like if he did, her voice might catch up to him. 

I like the real one better.

What the hell did that even mean?

He tried to scoff it off, except the laugh that came out wasn’t even close to funny. 

He pushed his door open and slipped inside. The same purple walls that matched his fur, the same ones he’d ripped to shreds out of sheer frustration countless times until Caine gave up resetting it.

The door shut behind him, and the quiet came back in full force.

He hated it.

He’d always hated how loud silence was.

He sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees as his leg thumped restlessly, ears drooping low.

His glove still had a faint smear of black where the thorn had gone through. He stared at it.

“It’s not real,” he said to the empty air.

The words didn’t sound right now. Not after she’d looked at him like that. She’d been acting like it was real, or at least worth pretending it was.

Was she just trying to make him feel better?

He didn't need her pity.

He ran his hand over his face, frustrated. “You’re losing it.”

He fell backward onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling light.

It flickered. Buzzed.

He thought about her laugh, that little nervous thing she did before her words caught up to her mouth. She was so expressive, and he could practically see the gears turning behind her eyes. He lingered on the way he could tell when she was nervous because she always fidgeted with the hem of her gloves. The little chime of her bells when she talked, and… the way she said his name.

And then the thought hit him.

She’d said she fell for him.

His stomach twisted. He sat up too fast, fur spiking.

He stared at the floor, at the faint reflection of himself in the scuffed plastic.

He didn’t recognize what he saw.

He snorted softly, shaking his head. “Unbelievable.”

He checked the spot where the thorn had pricked him. There wasn’t even a mark, but he could still feel it all the same. 

He flexed his hand once, then twice.

And then looked away, trying not to think about it. Any of it.

A glass sat on his nightstand, half-empty from who-knows-when. The light overhead caught on its surface. He picked it up, stared for a second, then finished what was left. It was lukewarm and barely tasted like water.

He set it back down and watched the last few drops slide down the side before they seeped into the nightstand.

“Not real,” he said again, quieter now. “Sure.”

The lights hummed overhead. It sounded a lot like the meadow.

_____________

The door clicked shut behind her.

Pomni stayed there for a moment, back against the wood, breathing in the air and feeling glued to the spot. The faint lull of his voice was still there in the rhythm of her pulse, in the little pauses between thoughts, behind the blink of her eyes.

She looked down at the bouquet. It was much bigger in her hands than in his.

The ribbon was frayed where he’d torn it from his apron, its edges rough against her gloves. The stems were still warm from his grip, petals crushed in places where his hands had gripped too hard. The colors clashed as they fought for attention; bright red against jarring blues, mixed with greens and violets. The cherry on top was the thistles thrown in that absolutely refused to stay put.

It was clumsy, imperfect, but alive.

And it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

Save for the one who picked it.

She set it carefully on the desk. The fake petals brushed against each other with that soft, plastic sound that Caine thought sounded organic. It reminded her that it wasn’t real.

None of it was… right?

But she’d seen the way he held them. The way his hands shook.

He was. They were.

Pomni sat on the edge of her bed, her bells chiming faintly as she did. The room felt so small.

He’d actually apologized.

She turned that thought over in her head, the thought hitting her over the head like a frying pan. Jax, who never meant anything he said unless it was hurtful, had stood there. Stammering and stuttering, sure, but vulnerable and honest, and... 

He’d been waiting for her.

She tried to picture him in the meadow, hands full of flowers, muttering to himself while he picked them out. His dress and soft purple fur blowing gently in the breeze, golden eyes glowing and brows furrowed in concentration. The image made her chest tighten. 

She could see it. She could hear him complaining under his breath, making fun of himself, pretending not to care but caring entirely too much.

Her gaze drifted back to the bouquet. One of the blossoms had started to droop again. She fixed it, gently coaxing it back into place with a delicate finger.

“Idiot,” she whispered softly, but the word came out warm.

Her eyes caught on the glass of water sitting on her bedside table that was leftover from earlier and half-full. She stared at it for a second.

She stood, grabbed the glass, and carried it to the desk. The flowers barely fit, their stems bent awkwardly against the rim, water sloshing as she adjusted them.

Pomni stepped back and crossed her arms, a small smile growing on her face.

“There,” she said quietly. “Good enough.”

The hum of the Circus buzzed faintly through the walls; the drone that always filled the silences and never quite faded into obscurity.

It wasn’t enough to drown out her thoughts this time.

She wanted to tell herself it didn’t mean anything. That this was just another strange, confusing day in a place built on strange and confusing days. But she couldn’t.

Not when she could still feel the echo of his hand brushing hers when he gave her the flowers.

It brought everything else with it; the mirror maze, her fingers twisted in the edge of his skirt and he’d just let her. The way he’d held her on the merry-go-round, when the bullet tore through her and the light drained out and everything went cold. They had both been so terrified for the same reason, but opposite sides of it. The meadow, his breath against hers, the kiss that didn’t feel fake no matter how much this place was. And the ones after that. The night when they stayed awake too long laughing and talking, his voice so human in a world that wasn’t.

They blurred together until she couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. 

All she knew was that every one of them hurt to remember, and hurt worse not to.

“Trying,” she murmured under her breath. The word felt heavy in her mouth.

She hoped with every fiber of her being he was.

Then again… she didn’t doubt it one bit.

She sat there a long while after that, the bouquet catching in the artificial light from above.

Eventually, she slid the glass closer to her bed, just close enough to see when she woke up.

And somewhere, in another room, Jax turned off the light.

Chapter Text

Pomni woke up slower than usual. No jolting upright, no clawing panic or echoes of abstraction screaming behind her eyelids. Just quiet.

It was the first time in a week she hadn’t dreamed about dying. 

Her body still tensed out of habit, bracing for it, before easing again when nothing came. 

She let out a slow breath and pushed herself upright.

Her room looked the same as always; sterile, still, but feeling emptier than normal. She ran a gloved hand along the edge of her desk, tracing the faint ridges of the plastic until her fingers brushed the bouquet.

She caught herself smiling before she realized it. 

She lingered there a moment before shaking herself out of it. Time to get on with whatever passed for “morning” here.

At the door she paused, glancing back once more at the crooked stems and stubborn thistles jutting from the makeshift vase. The sight tugged a small smile from her before she drew a steady breath and stepped out.

The main tent was already awake.

Gangle was hunched over her comedy mask again, tears spilling into the cracks as she held it close.

Kinger was pacing in frantic figure eights, narrating something about quantum collapse to no one in particular.

Zooble had claimed a chair at the dining table, balancing it on two legs while lazily flipping a card between their fingers.

And then there was Jax.

He was leaned against the far end of the table like always, except he wasn’t talking. He wasn’t even pretending to focus on the others, eyes scanning the edges of the room.

When Pomni walked in, his ears twitched and his pupils dilated before she even said anything.

Subtle. Obvious. Both.

Their eyes met for half a second. Long enough for her pulse to start skipping again.

He gave a faint nod and a genuine smile. 

“Morning,” Ragatha said from her seat, a little too eagerly.

Pomni returned it. “Morning.”

Zooble tipped their chair further back. “Caine hasn’t shown up yet. We’re all just… hanging.”

She started towards the table.

“Coffee’s decaf,” they added a second later, voice flat. “Not that caffeine would give us any energy here anyway.”

Pomni’s mouth opened automatically. “Thanks, I—”

But Jax cut in first, pushing off the table to reach for one of the empty cups.

“She doesn’t like coffee,” he said, grabbing a clean glass instead and filling with a water pitcher. “Here.” He slid it across the table. 

Pomni blinked, surprised. “You… remembered that?”

He shrugged one shoulder, casual. “Kinda hard to forget someone gagging like they’re being choked out over some beans.”

Her cheeks heated. “That was one time.”

“Yeah,” he said, smug grin creeping back onto his face “And I almost had to mop you up.”

Zooble snorted into their hand. “Oh great. We’re flirting before breakfast now.”

Pomni sputtered immediately. “We are not—”

“Flirting?” Zooble asked dismissively, not even looking up from their card. “Sure sounds like it.”

They were absentmindedly flipping one of Caine’s old props between their fingers; a tarot card probably left over from some challenge months ago. 

The gold edges caught the light as it spun, landing just long enough for Pomni to catch the image. The Lovers. 

Her face went hot immediately.

Pomni gawked. “What—? No! He’s just—”

“Right here,” Jax interjected, entirely too calm. “You can just say charming.”

Pomni whipped around. “That’s not what I was going to say!”

“Relax, Poms,” Jax said, far too casual. “You’ll make the water boil.”

“Can we not do this right now?” Pomni snapped, though her voice came out more flustered than angry.

“Who’s stopping you?” Jax said lightly. “I’m just over here enjoying the show.”

Across the table, Gangle sniffled and held up her mask, half-mended. “I think it’s… sweet,” she offered shyly. “That you two… talk more now.”

Ragatha’s smile stiffened ever so slightly. “Yeah,” she said, stirring a cup of what must’ve been 2% coffee and 98% creamer. “They sure do.”

Jax just stared at the two, eyes narrowing and ears falling back. 

Pomni couldn’t tell if she was more shocked or relieved that he didn’t bite their heads off.

Kinger, who had been pacing near the corner, stopped abruptly and pointed at them. “You see? It’s beginning!” he announced, eyes wide. “The bond forms, the cycle shifts—”

Zooble sighed. “Kinger, buddy, no prophecies before nine.”

“We don’t have a nine,”  Pomni muttered under her breath.

“Exactly!” Kinger said triumphantly.

Ragatha shrugged, and Pomni could tell she was making a visible effort not to come across as upset. “They’re right, though. You’ve been different lately,” she said pointedly before she could stop herself.

Jax looked up, eyebrows raised. Pomni interjected. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “Just… different.”

Zooble hummed, leaning back in their chair. “Different’s one word for it. Unnerving’s another.”

“I’ll take unnerving,” Jax said easily. 

Zooble gave an exaggerated yawn, their joints clicking. “Better than loud, too, but we can’t all win.”

He shot them a look. “You want me to go back to loud? Because I can.”

“God, please don’t,” Pomni muttered, rolling her eyes.

Ragatha’s spoon clinked softly against her cup. “I don’t know,” she said, smiling just enough to sound pleasant. “I kind of miss it. You were… consistent, at least.”

Jax’s ear twitched. His fur bristled, almost imperceptibly. “You say that like I’m unpredictable now.”

Ragatha met his eyes over the rim of her cup. “Aren’t you?”

The air between them tightened. Jax’s jaw twitched. A low, involuntary growl rumbled out of him, sharp enough to make Pomni jolt.

“Okay!” she cut in, her voice pitching. Her voice cracked halfway through. “You know what’s predictable? This! Every morning. We all sit here, Caine eventually drags himself in with Bubble, and we pretend it’s a normal breakfast before getting thrown into another death trap.”

The tension cracked like glass. Kinger mumbled something about entropy. Gangle sniffled. Zooble just kept spinning their card.

Jax exhaled and leaned forward, chin propped on one gloved hand. The fur along his neck finally settled. “You know,” he said after a beat, tone lighter, “for someone who claims not to like chaos, you fit right into it.”

Pomni blinked, startled by how fast he’d switched tones. Or maybe just by how easily he’d let it go.

Her head snapped toward him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He grinned. “Means you’re practically one of us now. Congratulations.”

“Wasn’t I already?” she asked, incredulous.

“You were,” Zooble said, “but it’s like watching a feral cat finally stop hissing at the rest of the strays.”

Pomni stared. “Thanks?”

“Take the compliment,” Zooble replied.

Jax chuckled quietly under his breath. Pomni caught it, and it made her heart jump in a way that she wished she had more control over. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Just… you’re easier to mess with now.”

“That’s not something to be proud of.”

“Not saying it is,” he replied, “just saying it’s true.”

Ragatha’s smile thinned. “Wow,” she said lightly. “How romantic.”

Jax’s ear flicked, but he didn’t rise to it this time. “You jealous, Rags?” he asked, tone playful but with a strange restraint.

He’s not even denying it!

Ragatha’s spoon clinked against her cup again. “Hardly.”

Zooble groaned quietly, dropping their card flat on the table. “God, can you two knock it off? It’s too early for all this.”

Ragatha looked indignant. “He started it!”

Jax met her tone mockingly. “No, Zoobs, she started it!”

Pomni groaned and put her head in her hands. “Unbelievable. Both of you.”

Ragatha looked genuinely upset, but Jax looked unperturbed. He leaned a little closer, voice low enough for only her to hear. “You say that, but you’re smiling.”

Her head shot up. “I am not.”

He smirked. “You are now.”

And she was.

Before she could bite back, Kinger suddenly gasped and pointed toward the ceiling. “The air shifted! Our god stirs!”

Zooble didn’t even look up. “Caine’s here.”

“Wonderful,” Pomni muttered.

As if on cue, the air shifted with the ominous buzz that always came a few seconds before he popped in. Static prickled against the back of her neck.

Pomni sighed. “Here we go.”

Chapter Text

Pomni barely had time to sigh before the tent exploded into confetti and circus lights.

“Goooood morning, my little microwaved marbles!” Caine’s voice boomed through the air. Bubble floated in behind him.

“Today’s adventure,” Caine continued, “is a tasteful exploration of that ever most delicate human ritual… fine dining!”

Zooble groaned. “Please tell me you’re not making us eat pixelated caviar again.”

“Of course not!” Caine said, his grinned face stretching wide. “You’ll be making the meal! A five-star, one-night-only dining experience for the ages!”

The gang, per their usual synchrony, had mixed reactions.

“Wait— cooking?” Gangle asked, casting a nervous glance at Jax. “With— with knives?”

Ragatha clapped her hands together sweetly, looking genuinely pleased. “Oh, how fun! I used to host dinner parties all the time wi—” She cut herself off, smile tapering to a grimace. “With my mom. Before here.”

“You’ll all be working together,” Caine pronounced proudly, pacing excitedly like a deranged maître d’. “Chefs, servers, sous chefs, and hosts. All of you preparing a meal for two very special guests!”

Pomni sighed, bracing herself. “So what are we supposed to do, cook?”

“Precisely!” Caine sang, twirling his cane. “A test of creativity, and culinary… ah, chemistry!”

Jax snorted. “You mean chaos. You want chaos.”

“Oh, my dear rabbit, chaos is chemistry!”

Pomni crossed her arms. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

Zooble nudged her. “That’s the spirit.” They said teasingly.

Beside her, Jax smirked. “You know, if I burn the kitchen down, I still technically cooked something.”

“Oh god.” Ragatha groaned.

Caine clapped his hands again, waving off their comments. “Positions, everyone!”

The lights flared white.

For a split second, Pomni felt the world tilt with that weightless lurch right before the Circus yanked them somewhere new. She squeezed her eyes shut against the flash.

When she opened them again, she wasn’t in the tent.

She was sitting at a small candlelit table, a pristine white tablecloth spread beneath a silver place setting. The air around her smelled faintly of roses and savory herbs.

She blinked. Once. Twice.

“What—” she started.

She looked down.

Her jester’s outfit was stripped away, replaced with a sleeveless red dress that shimmered like glass under the light. Her heart stuttered. Her voice came out in a whisper. “What the—”

Across from her, Jax blinked at her in similar bewilderment. His usual smirk was gone. He was wearing a black suit, sharp and tailored, collar crooked. His tie matched her dress.

He looked…

He stared at her. Then at the candlelight. Then at the rose petals scattered across the tablecloth.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he said flatly.

Pomni’s stomach dropped. “Caine,” she said, slow and deadly. “What did you do.”

Caine’s voice rang through the room, far too pleased with himself.

“Why, my darling duo,” he sang, “you’re tonight’s guests of honor! Bon appétit!”

Their blush lit their faces far more thoroughly than the candle flames. Somewhere in the walls, the sound of a begrudgingly lovely string quartet began to play.

Pomni and Jax just stared at each other.

The silence dragged, humming under the music. It felt too soft, as if the air itself had the audacity to be romantic.

Jax blinked first. “Okay,” he said slowly. “We’re dead. This is hell. We’re in hell. Makes sense now.”

Pomni’s voice came out thin, mouth gaping open and shut. “We’ve been in hell.” She finally managed.

“Yeah,” he said, gesturing around the candlelit table,“—but look, this ring’s got a dress code.”

She wanted to roll her eyes. Really, she did. But her brain was too busy catching up to the part where he looked like that.

The black suit shouldn’t have worked on him—it was too clean, too polished for someone who spent most days playing with metaphorical fire—but somehow it did. The collar sat unevenly on his combed down fur, like he’d already tried tugging it loose. His tie was crooked too, but still hanging stubbornly in place. His fur looked softer in the glow, and speaking of the glow..

His eyes were the worst part… or maybe the best. That impossible gold caught the candlelight and went molten, soft and burning all at once. Reflections danced in them when he blinked, and when they landed on her she forgot how to breathe.

God help her, it worked.

Pomni was lost, fidgeting with the gold cuffs around her wrists. All of it was making her dizzy.

“Hey, uh… you good over there?” Jax’s voice cut through the haze, low and uncertain.

Pomni startled, realizing she’d been staring for way too long. “I’m fine,” she said too quickly, gaze darting away. Her hands were still fidgeting with the cuffs, twisting them until the metal caught the candlelight. “I’m… perfectly fine.”

“Yeah,” Jax said dryly. “You look it.”

She shot him a glare, but it didn’t hold. His smirk was back, but didn’t quite reach his eyes; like even he didn’t know what to do with himself.

Before she could think of a response, a door creaked open somewhere behind her.

“First course!” Zooble’s voice rang out, far too delighted.

Pomni’s stomach sank.

Zooble strode in wearing an oversized waiter’s vest and a bow tie. Behind them, Gangle wobbled forward, carrying a tray twice her size. “C-careful— careful— oh no—” she squeaked as the tray tilted dangerously.

Ragatha followed close behind, balancing two glasses of champagne that fizzed delicately. She was grinning like a shark. “Don’t mind us,” she practically sang, setting the drinks down between them. “Just making sure our guests of honor are well taken care of.”

Pomni blinked, absolutely horrified. “You’re kidding.”

Zooble leaned in conspiratorially, elbows on the table. “Caine said it was ‘a night of romance and refinement,’” they said, barely able to keep a straight face despite having no mouth. “So, you know. We’re really committing to the bit.”

Jax snorted, absolutely mortified but looking the slightest bit amused. “You’re enjoying this.”

“Immensely,” Zooble said. “Say cheese.”

A bright flash went off. Pomni flinched. “Did you just—?”

“Photo for the scrapbook,” they said, tucking the tiny camera back into their vest. “Don’t worry, we’ll print it out for you. Two copies.”

Ragatha leaned against the back of Pomni’s chair, syrupy-sweet smile in place. “You both look adorable, by the way,” she breathed, letting out an airy giggle. “Who knew you could clean up so well?”

Pomni’s whole face went red. “Ragatha.”

“What?” she said innocently. “Is the wait staff not allowed to compliment their esteemed guests?”

Pomni’s face was bright red. “You guys are the worst.”

Gangle peeked out from behind the tray, eyes wide. “Um… should we bring the soup now?”

Ragatha didn’t miss a beat. She was really enjoying this. “Yes, sweetheart. And make sure it’s extra steamy. Sets the mood.”

“RAGATHA!” Pomni yelped.

Jax was laughing now, actually laughing. He covered his mouth, but it didn’t help.

“Unbelievable!” Pomni gaped, crossing her arms as Ragatha and the others retreated, all of them whispering and giggling behind the curtain.

The door shut. The music swelled again.

And then there were two.

Pomni stared at her glass as it bubbled, trying not to look up. Jax shifted in his chair, ears twitching.

Finally, he said, “So… guess we’re really doing this, huh?”

He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. “Would it, uh… totally ruin the moment if I asked if this counts as our first date?”

Pomni looked up, the corners of her mouth twitching despite herself. “…Apparently.” was all she managed to whisper.

Jax’s grin softened just enough to be dangerous. “You do clean up nice, Poms.”

Her hand jerked, the rim of her glass clinking against the table. “Wh—what?! No! You can’t just say that!”

Jax tilted his head, amusement flickering across his face. “Why not? It’s true. And ‘apparently’, we’re on a date.”

She tried to glare at him, but her eyes betrayed her; tracing the line of his tie, his collar, the gleam of gold in his eyes. She caught herself halfway down and snapped her gaze back up.

He caught it.

“No compliment for me?” he said, voice low and teasing. “How sad.”

Pomni’s throat went dry. “Compliment? You want a—” she sputtered, words tripping over each other. “Oh my god, Jax.”

Every time she thought her face couldn’t feel any hotter, she was proved wrong.

Jax tilted his head, grin tugging lazily across his face. “Fine. The way you’re looking at me’s compliment enough anyway.”

Her brain flatlined. “I— I wasn’t—!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Mm.”

“I wasn’t!”

He only smiled wider. “Keep telling yourself that, Poms.”

Pomni slumped back in her chair, muttering something under her breath that sounded a lot like a death threat. He laughed, entirely too pleased with himself.

The music carried softly somewhere behind them, the candles flickering in at the table for two.

She refused to look at him, and he refused to stop looking at her.

And that’s exactly when the soup arrived.

Chapter Text

A soft knock, and then the swinging door rustled.

Pomni stiffened so hard her spoon rattled.

Gangle shuffled in first, wobbling under a tray half her size. She was shaking so badly the broth almost sloshed out. “S-soup,” she squeaked.

Behind her, Zooble reached out lazily and steadied the tray with one hand. “Careful, ribbons. You’re gonna spill it on the lovebirds.”

Pomni nearly choked on air. “We’re not—”

“Sure,” Zooble said flatly, not looking at her. They slid one bowl in front of Jax haphazardly, then placed the other in front of Pomni with exaggerated care.

Ragatha followed, adjusting her apron and smiling in a way that Pomni recognized to be dangerous. “If you two need anything, just let us know,” she said sweetly. “More water? More candles? A bigger table? …Smaller table?”

Pomni stared at her. “Ragatha, I swear to—“

“Enjoy your meal!” Ragatha chirped, already backing toward the kitchen again. 

Zooble leaned in at the last second, voice low. “Try not to be freaks about it,” they said with a smug wink, then vanished as the door swung shut behind all three of them.

Silence spilled back in.

Pomni stared down at the bowl. Steam drifted up in slow, gentle curls, and she hated to admit that the smell was making her mouth water.

Jax didn’t touch his spoon. He just drummed a gloved finger once against the table, eyes flicking between the soup and her.

“Okay,” she murmured. “This is fine. It’s soup.”

“Uh-huh.”

Jax finally picked up his spoon, turning it between his fingers cautiously. “Definitely just soup. Totally normal. Nothing weird happening at all.”

Pomni shot him a look. “Can you not—”

“No, really,” he cut in, tone edged with excitement, “this is the least humiliating thing that’s happened to me all week.”

She blinked. “How— how is this less humiliating?”

Jax tapped the spoon against her forehead, earning an indignant squeak from his date. “Poms. I’ve been stuck in a maid dress since the softball adventure.”

He gestured down at himself with both hands, as if to say look at me now. “You think I’m not taking the win where I can?”

Pomni sputtered, heat crawling up her neck. “Jax—”

“What? I look… presentable for once.” He shrugged, trying for flippant, but the edges were soft. “Nice change of pace.”

Pomni’s mouth moved before her brain caught up.

“I mean— you looked pretty in the dress too, so—”

Jax froze.

Pomni froze harder.

Her soul left her body.

“What was that?” he said, ears perking like a radar dish.

She immediately buried her face in her hands. “I didn’t— I wasn’t— oh my god that’s not—”

“No, no, hold on,” Jax said, leaning forward, grin stretching slowly across his face. “Run that back for me. I looked ‘pretty too’?”

Pomni made a strangled noise. “I was just saying—”

“About my maid outfit.”

“That’s not—!”

He sat back in his chair, smug and practically glowing. “So you liked the dress.”

“I’m going to drown myself in the soup,” she said definitively.

“You liked the dress,” he said again, delighted.

“Jax.”

“Poms.”

“Please.”

He was full-on grinning now, golden eyes blazing in the candlelight. “Well. Good to know.”

Pomni’s face was redder than the rose petals that scattered the tablecloth.

Jax’s grin lingered triumphantly, and he had the audacity to look her up and down. 

After he was done basking, he finally, finally let her off the hook.

“Alright,” he conceded, ear flicking. “Truce. For now.”

Pomni slumped forward in relief.

Jax took a breath, then dipped his spoon and tasted the soup. Slowly. Cautiously. His eyelids fluttered closed as he sipped.

“…Huh,” he murmured. “That’s actually… good?”

Pomni risked a sip of her own. Warm, savory, surprisingly rich.

A blend of roasted red pepper and something velvety… cream? basil? unfurled across her tongue. It was absurdly good.

“Yeah,” she admitted quietly. “It is.”

Jax leaned back in his chair, watching her over the rim of his bowl. His posture was relaxed in theory, but his eyes kept flicking to her dress, then away, then back again. Away and back again.

Her fingers tightened around her spoon.

“Can you—” she stammered, nervously brushing a finger through her hair, “not look at me like that?”

He blinked, ears perking. “Like what?”

She flailed her free hand in a vague, agonized gesture. “Like I’m… like you’re— I don’t know!”

She could see the understanding click in his eyes. His grin crept slow and warm across his cheeks, soft in a way that made her stomach flip.

“Sorry,” he said, and he actually sounded sincere. “It’s just… you look…”

He couldn’t help his eyes flicking down her dress again.

“…beautiful.”

Pomni’s breath tripped over itself.

The dress was beautiful; sleek and sleeveless, a deep crimson red accented with glitter that sparkled hues of blue in the candlelight. The halter neckline dipped low, fabric hugging her waist before falling smooth over her hips. Beads of gold threaded through the hem like stardust. Her gloves were replaced with delicate gold cuffs at her wrists, accenting a matching stunning necklace and earring set.

And for once, her signature hat was gone.

Her hair had been swept into an elegant updo, gathered neatly at the back with a gold hairpin, with a few deliberate strands framing her face. Her bangs curved neatly across her forehead. They highlighted her eyes, her cheeks, the faint flush on her skin.

She did look beautiful. Unmistakably.

Pomni’s brain stalled so completely she almost forgot how to swallow. Beautiful.

Nobody had ever called her beautiful. Not in the Circus, and… as far as she could remember, not before it either. The outside was a blur, but she doubted the word had ever belonged to her.

And he sounded like he meant it.

Her fingers twitched against the tablecloth as she fought a losing battle to form a coherent sentence. “I— that’s—”

She couldn’t look at him, but her eyes kept drifting anyway. Back to the crooked line of his tie. The glint of gold in his eyes. The way the candlelight softened the angles of his face and made his mouth look so soft.

This was unfair.

All of it.

He’d seen her at her worst, and she’d seen him at his. He’d watched her cry, panic, scream, die. And now he was looking at her like—

“Hey.”

His voice slipped through her spiral, gentle and quiet.

“Earth to Pomni,” he murmured. “Stay with me here.”

Pomni blinked hard, heat climbing her neck again. “I’m here.”

“You were zoning out,” he said, leaning closer to her. “Your face did that thing where you look like some kind of scared mouse.”

“I do not—!”

“You do,” he said softly, shrugging. “It’s kinda cute.”

Her heart launched itself into her throat. She gripped her spoon like a lifeline. “Jax, you can’t just… say things like that!”

“Why not?” he murmured. “You said I looked pretty.”

Her entire soul left her body. Again. “That was— ok, but that’s actually true!”

“Mhmm.”

She wanted to throw her spoon at him. She also wanted to crawl under the table and abstract.

He exhaled, eyes rounding again. “Just saying. If we’re doing the whole… date thing…”

His ears twitched.

“I wanna do it right.”

Pomni forgot how to breathe for a full three seconds.

Jax cleared his throat, ears folding. “So… anyway, yeah. That’s kind of the long answer to why I’m looking.”

Pomni nearly melted into her chair. “Jax. Please,” she squeaked.

“Please what?,” he said teasingly.

He simlly would not stop. Her face could not catch a break, flushing evermore red.

Another spell of quiet fell between them.

Jax exhaled lightly through his nose, glancing around the room. “You know,” he murmured, softer now, “as far as Caine’s nightmares go… there are worse ways to spend a night.”

Pomni swallowed. The soup suddenly tasted like nothing.

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess… there are.”

Jax nudged his bowl with one hand, expression thoughtful, almost shy if he could be such a thing. “Still not over that stupid maid dress, though,” he muttered. “I swear if he puts me back in that thing—”

Pomni’s lips twitched. “He will.”

“Don’t.” Jax pointed at her. “Don’t curse it.”

Pomni laughed, a melodic sound.

The moment held.

And then, somewhere behind the kitchen door, someone loudly dropped a pan.

Both of them jumped.

Jax winced. “They’re definitely watching us.”

“They’re definitely enjoying it,” Pomni corrected, heat rushing back into her cheeks.

He smirked meekly, shrugging. “Yeah. But… so am I.”

Pomni stared at him, heart thudding uncomfortably loud.

“Yeah,” she said. “Me too.”

The music swelled again, low and warm.

Chapter Text

The door creaked.

Both of them flinched.

And then in a burst of absolutely unjustified confidence, Zooble kicked the door open with their toy leg.

“Main course!” they announced, sounding entire too proud of themselves.

Behind them, Gangle teetered forward, struggling to balance a tray filled with two plates.

Ragatha followed close behind, poised with a smaller tray holding two glasses of red wine, the candlelight pulling a ruby gleam from the liquid. It matched her hair with the same deep, velvet red.

Pomni’s eyes slid to her champagne flute, then widened.

Empty.

She hadn’t realized she’d been sipping it just to keep her hands from trembling.

Pomni sank lower in her chair, hands half-covering her burning face. “Guys. Please. Spare me.”

Zooble arched a brow as they set her plate down. “Spare you from what? Doing our jobs?”

“This is not your job!”

“It is tonight,” Zooble said. “We’re your staff. We’re here to make your date goes smoothly.” They lingered on the word before ading: “And to bully you lovingly when the opportunity arises.”

Gangle giggled behind her. “Mostly the last one.”

Ragatha leaned in close to Pomni’s ear, whispering with her breath hot on her neck, “Posture, dear. Shoulders back. Smile a little.”

Pomni nearly combusted.

Jax’s reaction was instant and visceral.

His ears snapped flat, expression going feral. “Okay— NO. Absolutely not.” He pointed at Ragatha like she’d crossed a federal line. “Back it up. WAY up.”

Ragatha looked smug. “What? I was helping.”

“And now you’re done,” Jax said, herding them with one sharp gesture. “Exit the premises. Go. Shoo.”

Zooble snorted, already dragging Ragatha away by the elbow. “Easy, Romeo. We’re leaving.”

Gangle waved timidly. “I—I hope you like… it’s.. risotto with—sorry—okay—I’m going—”

And with that, the three of them retreated back through the door, whispering and snickering with absolutely zero shame.

The door swung shut.

Pomni groaned softly. “They’re awful.”

Jax was still staring at the door that Ragatha had just disappeared through. “…She whispered. On your neck.”

“Jax.”

“I didn’t like that.”

“Jax.”

“I really didn’t like that.”

Pomni lifted her head just enough to peek at him through her fingers. He was still staring at the door like he could set fire to it with his mind.

“Jax,” she said gently, “you need to relax. She was just trying to get on your nerves.”

“She succeeded,” he shot back without hesitation. “Congratulations to her. Gold star. Ten points to House Ragatha.”

Pomni’s lips twitched and she fought back a little giggle. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“No,” he said, ears flattening again, “I’m being correct.”

She stared at him.

He stared back, jaw tight, eyes narrowed with this unguarded, unmistakably jealous edge that made her entire chest go warm and stupid.

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “You’re actually upset.”

“I’m not upset,” he snapped, then immediately added, “I just didn’t like it.”

“Jax—”

“She was practically breathing down your neck, Pomni. That’s— that’s not waiter behavior. That’s—” His hands flailed vaguely, flustered and angry. “That’s flirty ninja behavior.”

Pomni pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh. “She was messing with you.”

“More like trying to mess around with you,” he corrected sharply. “I’m collateral damage.”

Her shoulders shook with quiet, helpless laughter.

Jax glared at her like she’d betrayed him. “Don’t laugh. I’m— I’m attempting a boundary.”

“Oh, is that what this is?”

“Yes,” he insisted. “A very serious boundary. No whispering. No leaning in. No neck proximity.”

Pomni raised an eyebrow. “From Ragatha?”

“From anyone.”

Her laugh died in her throat.

He went still when he realized what he’d said, ears flicking nervously as he tried to read her reaction.

“…oh,” Pomni breathed.

He looked away fast, clearing his throat, ears flushed a deep violet. “Yeah. Well. You know. General rule.”

“Uh-huh,” she said softly. 

Jax refused to look at her.

And she refused to stop looking at him.

Finally, she nudged his foot under the table. “Jax?”

He grumbled, still not facing her. “What.”

Pomni nudged his foot again, gentle this time. “Jax… I’m not trying to tease you,” she said quietly. “If something bothered you, you can just tell me. I want to know. I’m not gonna bite.”

His ears twitched.

She hesitated, heat prickling her cheeks as she added, barely above a whisper:

“…unless you want me to.”

Jax froze.

His eyes widened a fraction, gold brightening like a struck match. His ears flicked up, then folded down halfway in an overloaded kind of way. An almost disbelieving laugh puffed out of him.

“Oh,” he said, voice dropping half an octave. “Okay. Wow. So that’s… that’s where we’re going?”

Pomni instantly regretted it. “I uh.. I mean—“

“No, no, don’t walk it back now,” he said quickly, leaning closer, intrigued. “That was—”

He swallowed.

Hard.

His ears twitched again. “And in public, too! Have you no shame, woman?”

Pomni covered her face with both hands. “I hate this. I hate you.”

“Hey, you said it, not me, Poms.”

Jax kept laughing quietly to himself; a stunned, breathy noise that felt too close to a shiver.

“God,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “You really can’t just drop lines like that on me.”

“I didn’t mean to say it!” Pomni hissed through her fingers.

“Yeah, well,” he said, leaning back in his chair but still watching her like she was something incendiary, “Ya did.” Was all he managed, smug smile wide across his face.

She groaned.

Jax finally picked up his fork, probably to stop himself from saying something absolutely depraved.

“…Anyway,” he said, recovering enough to smirk again, “risotto’s getting cold.”

Pomni lowered her hands an inch. “I’m never speaking again.”

Jax huffed a laugh at her empty threat and finally took a bite.

He blinked. “…Huh.”

Pomni prodded her own suspiciously. “…What. Is it bad?”

“It’s stupid good,” he said, already going in for another bite. “Like— annoyingly good. I’m mad at how good this is.”

She tasted hers.

And oh. Oh it was good. Creamy and buttery, with little bursts of roasted mushroom and truffle oil. It felt like the culinary equivalent of a hug. It was ridiculous. Unfair, even.

A tiny “Mmm..”  slipped out before she could stop it.

Jax’s fork paused midair. “Good?”

Pomni nodded quickly. “Yeah. It’s… it’s really #%!$ing good.”

Something softened in his expression as he watched her.

“Good,” he said. “That’s… good.”

Silence settled again as they tore into their food. Any pretense of “fine dining etiquette” vanished instantly. The food was too good to bother pretending.

Pomni slowly twirled her fork through the risotto, realizing, belatedly, horribly, where exactly she was. Not the adventure itself, not the restaurant itself or the stupidly good food.

But the table set for two.

The candlelight.

The roses.

Jax across from her in a suit.

The date.

Her stomach did a somersault.

Jax nudged her foot under the table.

Not hard, or teasing.

Just… there.

A quiet check-in.

“You doing alright?” he asked quietly.

Pomni swallowed. “Yeah. I’m just… overwhelmed. A little.”

His ears flicked. “Me too.”

She whipped up to look at him, and he looked away fast, like he hadn’t meant to admit that.

Silence.

Then, with painful casualness, he said, “You can… talk to me, you know.”

Pomni blinked. “…About what.”

“Anything.”

His tone was simple, steady. 

Not flirty.

Not joking.

Her heart was hammering.

She swallowed. “Okay.”

Another silence.

Then Zooble’s voice, muffled:

“—no, shut up, they’re totally touching feet under the table—”

Pomni’s face burned up more.

Jax dragged a hand down his face. “I’m going to kill them.”

Her first instinct was to yank her foot back like it’d touched fire. Her toes curled, ready to retreat her heel back under her chair.

But she didn’t move.

She sat there, heart pounding so loud she swore they could hear it all the way in the kitchen, and made herself stay exactly where she was.

Her foot stayed against his.

His gaze stayed on her under the candlelight, pupils wide and dilated. “Pomni… are you..?”

She swallowed hard. Her throat felt tight. “I, um— I heard them. Yeah. But I… I don’t wanna—”

She couldn’t finish the sentence. It was toomuch.

Her heel pressed lightly into his dress shoes instead. Their ankles brushed.

Jax’s breath stuttered.

He nudged her foot back. Gently. Carefully. Intentionally. “Then don’t,” he murmured.

She let out a shaky breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding in. “Okay,” she whispered. “I won’t.”

Silence wrapped around them again. 

Neither of them looked away.

Neither of them pulled back.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Pomni tried very, very hard to focus on her plate.

It wasn’t working.

Her pulse still hadn’t settled from the foot thing, and her face felt permanently flushed. It didn’t help that Jax was pretending to eat while blatantly not doing a great job at not staring at her.

The air between them was light but also heavy. Strange.

And of course—

The door swung open again.

Zooble poked their head through the gap.

“You two decent?” they asked flatly.

Pomni groaned. “I’m begging you—”

But Zooble stepped in anyway, pushing the door with their shoulder. “Relax. I’m not here to ruin your… whatever-this-is. We have dessert and Ragatha said if I drop it she’ll cry, so keep your… you-ness to yourselves for fifteen seconds.”

Jax blinked. “That’s… surprisingly reasonable.”

“Don’t get used to it,” Zooble warned.

Gangle followed behind them with intense, trembling focus carrying a singular plate.

Ragatha trailed last, clutching a lighter and a tiny metal pitcher shaped like a bugle.

“We made a special one!” she whispered excitedly.

Gangle placed Pomni’s with an adorable lack of confidence. “S-strawberry chiffon… with um… sugar glass? It’s fragile. Please be careful.”

Jax squinted. “Why is there only one?”

“Because we made one.” Zooble said matter-of-factly.

Ragatha stepped forward and flicked the lighter.

“Don’t—” Jax warned, hand flying up.

She poured the warm sauce in a thin stream over the sugar glass.

The sugar glass cracked in a perfect spiral, melting in on itself like a blooming flower.

Pomni gasped. “Oh—”

“It’s cute, right?” Ragatha beamed. “Like you.” Her gaze darted from Pomni to Jax.

He actually snarled under his breath.

Zooble clapped their hands once. “Alright, before he bites someone— cmon.”

Ragatha smirked, ushering Gangle out. Zooble followed last, muttering profanities under their breath that were apparent from the stream of censor bars. The door swung shut behind them.

The room dimmed a touch.

The candles flickered.

And then they were alone again.

Pomni’s gaze drifted to the single spoon resting beside the shared plate.

“Oh,” she whispered. “Of course.”

Jax took the spoon and stabbed the cake absentmindedly. “…You okay?”

“Yes,” she said too fast, too high. “No. Yes. I—”

She cleared her throat. “I’m fine.”

Jax’s mouth twitched like he didn’t believe her.

Then—

“You don’t have to hide when you’re embarrassed, you know.”

His voice was gentle and entirely too perceptive.

Pomni’s fingers hovered above the spoon. “…I’m trying not to.”

He looked at her, golden eyes flitting from her eyes to her quite stunning dress.

“Yeah?” he asked softly. “How’s that going?”

Her tiny, shaky laugh answered for her. “Terribly.”

“Thought so,” he murmured.

She finally picked up the spoon. Her hand brushed his.

Accidental. Not accidental.

Pomni hesitated, heart catching in her throat.

She scooped the bite carefully, the sugar glass splitting with a soft snap.

The chiffon dissolved as soon as she tasted it—airy, sweet, almost weightless.

A surprised breath escaped her. “Oh. Wow.”

Jax perked, leaning in a little. “Good?”

She nodded, a real smile tugging at her mouth. “Yeah. I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore.”

He didn’t look at the dessert, eyes only for her.

“Good,” he said quietly.

He nudged the plate toward her again. “Another bite.”

Pomni’s face burned as she handed it back. “We can… share, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” he said, meeting her eyes as he took the spoon from her fingers.

And that quiet, warm contact under the table returned; his dress shoe nudging her heel ever so gently.

She inhaled slowly, cheeks hot but shoulders loosening.

She didn’t pull away.

“Okay,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. “I’m… okay.”

Jax’s voice was warm and steady. “Yeah. You are.”

Jax let the spoon rest between them, tapping the handle once against the plate like he was thinking about something he wasn’t sure he should say.

Then he said it anyway.

“…You want the next one,” he murmured.

Pomni blinked. “What—?”

He pushed the spoon a little closer, eyes flicking to her lips for half a second before he caught himself. “You liked it more than I did. I can tell.”

She glared at him. “You haven’t even tried it!”

He shrugged, lazy and unbothered. “Not a big cake guy.”

Pomni scowled. “Okay, well, you need to try this one. It’s—” she gestured helplessly at the plate, “—just try it.”

He smirked. “Alright, alright. For you, my little Pompuff.”

She almost threw the spoon at him. Her face resumed its natural state of catastrophic red.

Instead, she handed it to him with shaking hands.

He dipped it into the cake himself this time, taking his first bite.

His eyebrows raised. “Okay. Jeez.”

Pomni leaned back, crossing her arms triumphantly. “Good?”

“Yeah,” he admitted, leaning back in his chair. “It’s… obscenely good. I’m mad about it.”

She snorted. “Told you.”

Jax took another bite—small, cautious, like he still didn’t trust the food. He frowned thoughtfully.

“Okay but seriously,” he muttered, “there is no universe where Zooble, Ragatha, and Gangle made this.”

Pomni blinked. “You don’t know that.”

Jax pointed toward the side of the room without even turning. “Pomni. My chair faces the kitchen door. I can see in there.”

“…Oh.”

Jax pointed at the door. “Yeah. They have been plastered against that doorway for the last hour like a bunch of pervs watching a nature documentary.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it. 

“That… tracks.”

“Zooble hasn’t touched the stove,” Jax continued, counting off on his fingers. “Gangle nearly dropped the tray three times just walking in here. And Ragatha—”

He stopped and visibly shuddered.

Pomni leaned forward. “What happened?”

“I heard Gangle squeaking and then Zooble yell, ‘WHY ARE YOU SETTING THE SOUP ON FIRE?!’ Next thing I know Gangle is physically pushing Ragatha out of the kitchen like she’s a ticking bomb.”

Pomni slapped a hand over her mouth, laughing hard. “She tried to burn our soup?”

“She almost succeeded,” he said darkly. “Kinger had to put it out with a pot lid.”

Pomni blinked. “Wait. So Kinger was cooking?”

“Oh yeah.” Jax nodded solemn and assured. “This has Kinger written all over it anyway.”

“But he was a computer scientist,” Pomni argued weakly.

“Exactly,” Jax countered. “Hyperfocus. Precision. No concept of time. No instinct for self-preservation. They’re very similar, no?”

Pomni wheezed. “Jax, that makes zero sense!”

“It makes perfect sense,” Jax said stubbornly, crossing his arms. “Look at this presentation. Look at the texture! That man just made the best #%!$ing risotto I’ve ever had my life.”

Pomni doubled over, laughing so hard her jewelry shook.

Jax softened; barely, but unmistakably.

Pomni finally calmed down, wiping at her eyes again. “Okay… okay, yeah. Definitely Kinger.”

Jax hummed. “I told you.”

A quiet beat settled.

Pomni nudged the plate between them. “Here,” she said softly. “You can have the next bite.”

Jax arched a brow. “Generous.”

“Don’t make it weird,” she muttered, cheeks flushing again. “Just… eat it.”

He leaned forward, taking the spoon from her hand. His fingers brushing hers on purpose for a few seconds longer than he needed to.

Pomni forgot how to breathe.

He tasted the bite, paused, and shook his head. “Okay. Yeah. I’m… actually pissed! I don’t like cake!”

Pomni laughed under her breath. “You do now.”

Jax tilted the spoon back toward her.

“Your turn.”

She hesitated, then leaned in and took the bite from the spoon.

It was soft, sweet, and perfect.

And when she looked up, Jax was already watching her.

Her throat tightened.

It was too much and not enough all at once.

She forced a tiny laugh. “I can’t believe we’re sharing dessert like this.”

Jax shrugged, eyes still locked on hers. “Yeah, well. Blame Caine.”

Pomni swallowed. “I kind of do. But blame isn’t the right word.”

Jax’s ears flicked up at that. 

“Oh?” he asked lightly. “Then what’s the right word?”

Pomni opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Her brain tripped over every possible answer.

She tore her gaze down to the chiffon, poking at the melting edge with the spoon. “I don’t know,” she muttered. “Not… blame. Just… something.”

Jax watched her for a beat, gold eyes steady. “Something,” he echoed. “That narrows it down.”

She shot him a weak glare. “You know what I mean.”

“Well…,” he said, leaning back in his chair with a small, breathy huff, “…yeah. I think I do.”

The air tightened between them again.

Jax tapped the spoon against the plate once. “I mean… I didn’t expect to end up here either.”

“With me?” Pomni said.

It just slipped out.

Immediately she wished she hadn’t.

Jax blinked, startled. Then his mouth curved into the softest grin she’d seen on him all night. Honest. A little shy.

“Yeah, Poms,” he said quietly. “With you.”

Pomni’s breath caught in her throat.

She scrambled for composure, a joke, or anything. “W-well— I didn’t expect to end up here with you either.”

“Oh good,” he murmured. “Would’ve been awkward if it was just me.”

He nudged the plate a little closer to her side of the table. “Eat more before I take the rest.”

She almost smiled. “What happened to hating cake?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t eating it,” he corrected. “I said I’m mad about it.”

Pomni snorted, tension easing just a little. She took another bite, letting the sweetness melt on her tongue.

Jax watched her again, this time less intense and more… thoughtful. Like he was trying to memorize something.

She swallowed. “What?”

Jax blinked, caught. “What, what?”

“You’re staring.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

He paused.

Then, with zero shame:

“…Yeah. I am.”

Pomni’s face burst into flame. “Why?!”

Jax shrugged helplessly, ears flicking again. “Because you look like you’re finally relaxing.”

She froze.

He said it so simply, like it mattered to him.

Like he cared.

Pomni swallowed, voice barely above a breath. “I… haven’t felt like myself in a long time.”

He didn’t tease her or turn it into a joke like he always did when things got a little too real.

He just met her eyes.

“Well,” he said. “You look like yourself right now.”

The words hit her so gently they almost hurt.

Her pulse fluttered. “You don’t know what ‘myself’ looks like.”

“Maybe not,” he murmured. “But I know what you look like when you’re scared out of your mind. And I know what you look like when you’re miserable. And I know what you look like when you’re lying.”

She swallowed again, throat tight. “And right now?”

He held her gaze.

“Right now,” he said, “you look like you’re… doing good. All things considered.”

Pomni’s chest ached.

She wasn’t sure if it was a good ache or a dangerous one.

Maybe it was both, and maybe that was okay.

He nudged the spoon toward her again.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and dipped the spoon back into the chiffon.

Somewhere behind the kitchen door, a voice whispered loudly:

“No, I saw! They are SO into each other.”

Pomni dropped the spoon.

Jax slammed his hands on the table.

“That’s it,” he barked, standing up halfway. “I’m ending them.”

Pomni reached out without thinking and caught his sleeve.

“Jax,” she said, breathless and flustered, “sit down.”

He didn’t sit at first.

Just stared at her hand around his wrist, pupils dilating shamelessly.

Pomni froze, only then realizing what she’d done.

Slowly, Jax eased back into his chair.

Her hand slid off him, trembling.

Pomni swallowed hard. “…Sorry.”

Jax shook his head, settling back into his chair. “Don’t be.”

Pomni drew her hand back to her lap, cheeks still hot. “…Let’s just… eat the rest of our dessert,” she muttered.

Jax nodded, voice low. “Yeah. That I can do.”

Chapter Text

The last of the chiffon was scraped up between them, the plate now a mess of pink crumbs and melted sugar glass. 

The candle wax had burned low, and the same faintly corporate sounding music was looping again for what was definitely about the twentieth time.

Pomni set the spoon down carefully.

“…So,” she murmured. “Do we… leave? Or…?”

Before Jax could answer the kitchen door slammed open.

Zooble marched in holding a little black booklet between two fingers.

“Here.”

Thwap.

They dropped it squarely between Pomni and Jax.

“The damage.” They said, already striding away.

Ragatha peeked in behind them, beaming. “Have a magical evening!”

Gangle waved shyly before getting yanked back out by Zooble.

The door swung shut.

Jax stared at it. “Absolutely not.”

Pomni blinked. “Is that the check?”

“It’s extortion is what it is,” Jax muttered, glaring at the booklet with disbelief. “We’re prisoners. Why are we being charged? This isn’t even a real restaurant! Who are we paying?”