Chapter Text
The bus ride to the restaurant was quiet.
The two sat opposite each other, neither doing much talking, both in their heads thinking god knows what about the other.
Jax occasionally chimed in with meaningless small talk (his means of small talk being ridiculous questions in the "would you rather" format), but mostly they kept to themselves on the rather short ride.
Pomni sat with her face against the window. Staring outside it and watching the pretty lights and flashy buildings fly by were the only things keeping her mind off of the man sat in front of her. Every time she caught him sneaking a glance at her, she would overthink it. She couldn't help but wonder what he really he was thinking those few seconds his eyes would slowly trail down her legs or quickly leave her face before their eyes could meet.
The cynic in her believed he was still expecting something else from her after this dinner with the entire "just wanting to talk to her" thing being a ruse to charm his way into her bedroom. But the hopeful part of her wanted believe that Jackrabbit was being sincere about his intentions and that they could truly be on better terms afterward. His explanation did sound sincere after all. Weird and ramble-y, but still sincere.
Sincere or not, it didn't change the fact that he's always had his eyes on her since she got here. Searching eyes that went from her throat down to her thighs. She's always noticed it, too.
She pressed her eyes shut and suppressed the urge to bang her head on the glass of the window. It probably wouldn't break if she did.
The bus finally stopped after the longest seven or so minutes of Pomni's life.
Jax quickly hopped off and waited for Pomni at the door with one hand held out and the other in his jacket pocket.
"M'laaaady." he grinned with that stupid yellow smile.
"Woooow, such a gentleman." Pomni rolled her eyes, stepping pass him off of the bus. Jax guided her toward the door with the hand hovering behind her. They both stopped at the doors of the restaurant and stared ahead.
The situation was starting to sink in now that they were here.
He wasn't kidding; the restaurant was very "fancy schmancy".
The entrance had long hanging plants by the doors and window with fairy lights tangled in between them. There were a few small tables in front which had little potted plants in the centers of them. The large windows allowed her to view inside; beautiful square shaped light fixtures hung from the ceiling on an intricate pattern of wooden planks. The tables had a white cloth over top and the chairs not attached to booths looked to have some fancy swirly pattern on them, but she couldn't make out that much.
There was a much, much larger looking building connected to the main restaurant. The doors and windows were several feet taller than the ones Jax and Pomni stood in front of. Several of the buildings on this side of the city were formatted that way to accommodate for the larger fighters.
Pomni stepped forward on the tips of her toes and squinted to read the lettering on the sign hanging above the door. The letters twisted and curled in impossible, nonsensical ways normal cursive letters simply could not. She could barely make out what any of the letters were even meant to be. There was definitely an R in there. Maybe a T? Or a really fucked up looking F? With a defeated huff she planted her feet back on the ground and gave up on the puzzle. It's just gibberish, probably.
She heard the snickers of the Jackrabbit standing off to the side of her.
"It just says 'Fancy Restaurant' in a really dumb cursive font that tries really hard to look like French." he spoke up.
"Pfft, really? How can you tell?"
"Because I know my French—and that shit is not French."
Pomni put her hand to her mouth and failed at covering her chuckle.
"You ready to head in? I'm starving like crazy."
Pomni had seen this place when she got her tour of the map, but she never bothered with going inside after learning how expensive it was. It was not a casual dinner spot—this was a "you have to make a reservation before you get here and wear the tightest red dress and a necklace made of real pearls straight from the ocean" looking spot. Reservations weren't an actual requirement. If they were these two did not make one. The fancy attire looked to be the uniform though, as she could see the NPCs inside looking rather dressed up.
She looked down at her outfit and pouted.
"…Should I go home and change? I don't feel like I'm dressed for the occasion eheheh." Pomni joked with a crooked awkward smile.
She wore a bright yellow cropped leather jacket on top of her black bodysuit that was part of her rookie fighter gear. Her legs were mostly covered by her long dark socks stockings, though the absolute territory certainly caught Jax's attention. Complete with her mismatched platform sneakers (one red, one blue, like most of the clothes in her default wardrobe), the outfit did not fit the type she had in mind for a place like this. Nice for the event that she came from, not great for a surprise dinner date to the most expensive restaurant in the digital world.
"Dude, I'm literally wearing cargo shorts. You're way more dressed up than me." Jax said with a shrug.
His outfit was much more lax than hers. A black jacket with a bunny shaped zipper that she saw him wear often with long dark green tattered cargo shorts, gold chains hanging off the belt loops, a few big gold rings for his big ass hands and bandages going down his legs to his rabbit feet. The style suit him nicely, she thought.
She was honestly glad he was wearing such casual clothing. If he'd been in something fancier then it really would've felt like a date. The idea of Jackrabbit in a suit made her want to burst into laughter.
"You uh… you look really nice by the way." Jax cut into her unserious thoughts.
"Uh-um oh uh yeah- I- I MEAN uh thank you." she horrendously stuttered.
Jax's shy smile quickly morphed into a Cheshire grin.
"When you're about to leave the house do always pick the sluttiest possible options?"
Pomni's own smile dropped in an instant. Of course he had to ruin it.
"I swear every time I see you you're like half naked or something. I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything that goes past your thighs. I'm not complaining, though. I like the view."
Jax stepped back and tilted his head in the direction of her rear and Pomni quickly spun around and put her hands behind her back to cover herself.
"Nope. First rule of the night—do not do that. Don't be weird about my body. Ever. I don't care if you're joking or not." she stated, the heat of anger present in her speech.
Jax froze. His face went pink.
Pomni never took shit from anyone. Jax knew this. She was quick to put her foot down when a line was crossed or if she felt her boundaries were overstepped. But when it came to things of this nature, she was always too nervous to say anything. It was such an uncomfortable conversation she didn't want to have even though it was the most important one. Tonight she put aside her nerves. If he wanted to know more about her so badly he was going to learn her boundaries first.
The looks at her were one thing—everyone looked at her. She's even caught Ragatha checking her out before. But the comments were another and she was not going to tolerate them anymore.
"Are we clear, Jack?"
"Yeah alright." he said in defeat and walked to the door, opening it and holding it for her.
"Go inside. Walk ahead of me. I don't want you sneaking any looks." She pointed toward the door but kept her eyes on him.
"Sorry." He muttered, barely audibly. Pomni didn't acknowledge it as she watched him walk in and reluctantly followed him inside, now uncomfortable in her skin.
The beauty of the interior eased her annoyance slightly, but the discomfort still infested her insides.
Pomni already hated her new body. The way her peers and even NPCs ogled over it didn't make her feel any better. It just made her feel worse. It didn't help that her body was the most human aside from her shiny porcelain glass face and ball jointed limbs that she tried to hide with jackets, long sleeves, and pants whenever possible. Her default wardrobe barely came with any, so she had to buy them herself. The perks of being a woman trapped in a video game created most likely by men.
She dissociated as a host NPC came up to Jax and talked to him. After a few brief words, the NPC guided them to their table. The walk allowed Pomni's brain to slowly drift back down to earth and focus on her surroundings. She could now clearly see the swirly pattern on the backs of the wooden chairs and noticed a pretty lace pattern at the hems of the table cloths. There were more plants inside, both hanging from the ceiling and big potted ones on the floor. Walls that weren't covered in windows dawned paintings of women in big poofy dresses, vases of delicate flowers, or some that contained both. She wondered if they were based off real paintings or were made by an artist specifically for this game.
Just as the unpleasant reminder sprung into her mind they had reached their table. Jax pulled out the chair for her and gestured to it with a soft, nervous smile. She sat into it without looking at or acknowledging him.
"A waiter will be here with you shortly." the NPC stated with a bow before walking off and only then did Pomni noticed it had an accent. It sounded like an American doing a not so great impression of a French person. Did they think only French people worked at French restaurants?
They sat in silence for a few minutes, the tension heavy in the air like a one-hundred pound dumbbell. It was suffocating. Jax was the first to try and lift it.
"Hey listen, I'm sorry, I- I shouldn't have said that to you outside." The words sounded like it hurt him to say them.
"I really don't like it when you do that." Pomni sulked. "That's not even the first time, you know. You've been making weird comments about my body since I got here." She furrowed her brows and fiddled with the menu. Her nerves bubbled in her throat and she felt she could cry. She did not want to talk about this at all.
"I really didn't mean to make you uncomfy I was just-"
"Well you did." she interrupted. "Joking or not, it really made me uncomfortable. So apology not accepted. That's twice now." She snatched the menu off of the table and started looking through it.
"Could you maybe consider forgiving me for the scaring you thing so it can only be one?" he laughed awkwardly and pointed a finger gun at her.
Pomni shot up a glare at him from the menu before she went back to looking at it without a response.
"Gonna take that as a nooo." he said under his breath and picked up his own menu. At least he tried.
Pomni couldn't focus on the menu for the life of her. The letters blurred together, turning into complete gibberish while the pictures were just smears of colors instead of the food the were mean to be. Any time reality became too much she would battle the urge to dissociate. Sometimes she'd win, sometimes she'd lose. Now with reality not even being real anymore, her brain was constantly trying to escape to anywhere else. Losing these internal quarrels had become more of a daily routine than an occasional issue.
A new NPC appeared at the table and startled Pomni, forcibly bringing her back to earth which caused her to jump slightly out of her seat and drop the menu on the table. Little did he know his interruption saved her brain from flinging itself into the stratosphere.
The NPC wore a typical waiter-esque outfit with a goldfish bowl for a head. The bowl had a very long curly mustache stuck to the front of it. There was a goldfish swimming around in the bowl. The goldfish also had a curly mustache.
"Bonsoir madame and monsieur, I will be your waiter tonight, oui oui baguette." said the fish bowl man.
This one also had a weird, terrible, French sounding accent.
Oh god. Is he gonna talk like this all night??? Pomni sunk slightly in her seat at the annoying thought. This night is taking a turn for the worst. So much for having a good time and hating Jax less. So far neither of these things were happening.
"Could I get you two started with drinks?" he pulled a pen and paper from behind his back.
"Uhh yeah, I'll just take some champagne." Jax answered quickly.
Fishbowl scribbled into his notepad and then turned to Pomni who hadn't yet figured out what the hell she was going to get. She was barely looking at the menu, she was just using it to distract herself from the rage and discomfort that were hate-fucking her insides.
"And for the mademoiselle?"
"Uh- uhm I'll uuuhhhh-" she struggled to pick the slippery menu off the table and flipped the the drinks section. She stared at it, not registering a single thing she was looking at.
"I'll take- get the thing- wine thing he's having!" she replied loudly and pointed to Jax with a forced smile.
"Very good, oui oui." the waiter nodded and scribbled into the notepad again. "Are you already ready to order or would you like some more time?"
"More time please and thanks. And hey, you mind grabbing us a basket of bread sticks while you're out there French Fry? Merci." Jax smiled and propped an elbow on the table, waving him off.
Fishbowl—who had a name tag but it was just as legible as the writing on the sign outside so Pomni didn't bother figuring out what it said—nodded to Jax and walked away into an area that was presumably the kitchen.
"At least I'm not the only person you give those dumbass nicknames to." Pomni muttered and adjusted herself in her seat, now properly studying the menu.
"Frenchie's my paaal, my buddy! He doesn't mind. Anyway, what'cha gonna get Pomsy? See anything that catches your eye?"
Now that she was actually reading the menu, there were some tasting looking dishes she caught herself nearly salivating at. The rendered paintings instead of pictures made the food look absolutely gorgeous. It's not like the food on her side of the city was terrible, but it surely didn't look like this.
"You can get whatever you want and however much of it you want. I really don't mind." Jax clarified. He rested his chin on his hand and struggled to look her in the eyes.
"I'm not gonna get a lot, it's super late. I'll probably go to bed when I get home."
"Mmm, makes sense."
"What are you getting, by the way?"Pomni asked, finally calm enough to at least try and talk to him. Simple questions first, information later.
"My usual." he answered as if she already knew.
"Which is…?" she craned her neck in annoyance.
"A steak. Medium well. Mashed potatoes and gravy with some roasted veggies. It's got that green stuff on it. I think it's…Parsley? I dunno, but it makes me feel rich. You know, like, bougie."
"Are you not rich?"
"HA! I am, aren't I? You should try it someday, it's awesome!" he cheesed as her eyeball twitched.
Pomni turned away as her nonexistent ear caught the sound of clinking glasses coming closer. Fishbowl returned with a basket of breadsticks in one hand and their wine glasses in the other. The two went on and ordered their food, Jax getting the steak he mentioned and Pomni settling on a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs since it was simple enough and something she could actually pronounce. The waiter walked away after a few more words of gibberish shared with Jax.
Then they were alone again.
There were various unique NPCs sitting at the tables around them blabbering about nothing. Even though their chattering lit up the room, to Pomni it felt as if her and Jax were the only people there—which technically wasn't far from the truth. The impression of tension, embarrassment, and a general unpleasantness stained the air circling them, and Pomni couldn't help but feel it was all her fault.
Jax snatched up a bread stick and in tore apart with his sharp teeth. He finished it in two bites and immediately went for another. He did his best to act like the awkwardness didn't affect him, but deep down she could tell he felt it too.
She watched for a second, her mind trying its best to wander out of the restaurant while she struggled to drag it back in to keep herself from dissociating again. The road for where to go from here was unclear as the path to possible conversation starters was shrouded in a dark gray fog of misery and confusion. A fog that followed her everywhere she went.
She felt she soured the mood already and opening her mouth again would make things worse, but giving him the floor to start the conversation sounded like a recipe for an even bigger disaster.
"So…" she took a small, shaky sip of the wine. It wasn't terrible. Nothing like a real glass of champagne, but that probably wasn't an easy taste to replicate in code.
"What is it you wanna know so badly about me? You haven't really asked me anything, which was the entire point of this right?"
"Well for starters, I wanna know why you're such a raging bitch." Jax said before tossing a half of a breadstick down his gob talker. "Breadstick?" he offered the second half to her.
She wanted to take one of the full sticks and shove it down his throat like how a sword swallower in a circus act would—except he wouldn't have the skill to not choke on it.
"You might be walking on the worlds thinnest ice, Jackass."
"Okay fine I'm sorry, that was mean. Jeez, this might be the most apologies I've said in a night! I'm still getting used to this whole being nice thing so be patient will ya?"
"You know what—" Pomni aggressively placed her wine glass on the table. A few droplets of red spilled onto the the silky white tablecloth.
"I think I'm finally starting to see your problem."
Jax pushed his chair back slightly from the table and leaned back into it lazily and tossed an arm over its top rail.
"Oh really? I think I am too." he said after dropping the rest of the breadstick in his mouth like a grape.
"No you're not, Jack. You think people care about whether or not you're kind or whatever, but it's not about that! It's not about being kind. People don't like you because you don't respect them! And then you wonder why no one here deals with you. You're such a dick!"
"I feel like I haven't been thaaaat dicky tonight aside from that one thing—which I apologized for, by the way."
"After doing it multiple times before I said anything. This isn't even the first time I've shown I don't like it! Like, can you not read the fucking room?"
"Look, I'm only playing my part in the narrative Pom Pom." One of his large feet tapped rapidly under the table as he spoke.
"Oh yeah? And what part are you playing, exactly? The perverted jerk that no one likes?"
"I'm the boss!" he held out both his arms as if showing off all his glory. "And the boss is always the bad guy."
"That's so fucking stupid. You can just be the boss and still be a decent person."
Jax hunched back over the table again and folded his arms onto it.
"Psh, Where's the fun in that?" he said with a sly expression.
"Besides, ya can't have a good story without conflict, right? I'm just providing one for us all to enjoy the game a little more. It'd be pretty boring if we were all the heroes, don't you think?"
"Heroes? The bad guy? Are you hearing yourself right now?" she laughed in disbelief.
"Does that not sound ridiculous to you?"
"You know what else is ridiculous, Rookie? Getting sucked into a fucking video game."
She couldn't argue with him on that one. She pursed her lips shut.
"I'm confused on how you guys don't get it!" His voice cracked. "You're only hurting yourselves by acting like this is all real!"
Pomni calmed as his words started clicking into places in her mind.
Whether he realized it or not, he had given her a small peak into the puzzle that was his mind. Little by little, piece by piece, the final product was coming together.
This fictional word was just that to him; fiction. A creation made by man for other man to enjoy. A story mode in a video game for someone to play, not a life for someone to live. He saw himself as nothing but a character, an asset to move a story along instead of a human being. Worst of all, he saw himself as the character that everyone was supposed to hate—the villain.
Her heart broke for him.
Pomni was certain no one else saw him that way. She surely didn't. Not anymore. She saw a very sad man who was terrible with coping with his new reality. She couldn't really blame him either. Her means of coping weren't any better, but at least her methods only hurt herself and not the people around her. As if that's truly the better option.
"We don't have to be villains or heroes, Jax." she reached her hand across the table and put it next to his arm but didn't touch it. No need to push.
"We can just be people. We can be normal. Or at least try to, right?" she tried to smile, but it faltered. She couldn't tell if her words were doing anything to him—or to herself for that matter. This world was just as fake to her as it probably was to him.
"We stopped being people the moment we stepped in this world. I'm the only one brave enough to face that fact." he took a sip of his wine, a sad look in his dark, lifeless eyes. Pomni moved her hand closer but he took is arm off of the table. Her hand lingered for a second before she brought it back towards her.
"Person or not, you're still not a bad guy. You are a fucking moron though." she said with a small sincere smile.
"You just don't get it yet. But you will. Once you've been here as long as me you'll get to see the harsh truth about this place."
"But I already get you Jax!" she panged her fist on the table.
"I get that you're like just like the rest of us. You're scared a- and you're confused and angry and you need some sense of control over your life. And this argument is just proving that I'm right! You gave yourself that title to try and make sense of it all, but it doesn't make sense, and that's okay too!"
"This conflict is proving that I am right, actually. We came here to have a nice dinner but oh no, we're fighting. Gosh, I can't wait to see how this'll contribute to your story arc!" he sat upright slapping both elbows on the table and propped his head in his perched hands. Pomni scoffed and flapped backwards in her seat. There was no getting through to him.
Unluckily for him he wasn't the only stubborn one at this table.
"You're never gonna be the bad guy. No matter how hard you try. You're always just gonna be a pathetic idiot." Pomni finished and snatched a breadstick from the basically empty basket in front of them.
Jax's smile widened like he knew he had just won, though to her he hadn't.
It wasn't a win or loss, it was just an end. Neither of their arguments got through to the other. However, the argument wasn't a complete waste of time.
At least now she knew more about him than she did when she walked in. There was still so much of the puzzle that needed piecing together. She wasn't even sure if the pieces she had were all in the right spots.
"Tch. Ya know if this weren't a spur of the moment thing I would've thought you rehearsed that little speech for me." Jax cocked his head to the side in interest as he watched her annihilate the breadstick.
"Not all of us spend every waking second of our lives reciting invisible scripts and playing make believe like you do." she said quietly, but loud enough to make sure he heard.
"Oooo wooooow, you're such a poet. You're so big and smart and clever." he took his chin from his hands to clap them sarcastically.
"You were right! You've seen through all my tricks! Congratulations! Is that what you wanna hear, huh Socrates?"
Jax leaned into the table more, getting as close to her as he could from his spot. His long body nearly went over the entire length of the table as he did.
"You gonna be my hero? You gonna save the poor, misunderstood villain?"
"No! That's not what I want!" she pleaded.
"You're not a fucking VILLAIN!" she screamed in his face but he didn't budge. He only smiled wider.
"I'm not trying to fix you and I don't think you're broken! I'm just trying to show you your thinking is flawed and the only one misunderstanding you is YOU."
Jax stared for a second, his face unreadable. His eyes flooded with black as he stared into her seething red face. Then without warning he flung back into his seat so hard she heard the chair scrape against the floor as it moved under his weight. He went back to sitting lazily like nothing of substance was said.
"You done yet?" he said with a faked yawn. " I think I get the picture you're painting. Its ugly. Not gonna sell very well at the auction."
Pomni frowned. With a bored sigh she decided to accept defeat for now. The waiter was approaching with their food anyways. Finally.
Fishbowl returned with two large trays. He placed one in front of Pomni and the other in front of Jax and dramatically took the tops off to reveal the meals.
"Dinner is served." he announced in his dumb accent.
"Bon appetit Pom Pom~" Jax wiggled his fingers excitedly like a cartoon character and snatched up his silverware.
"I cant wait for the day I get to punch your teeth in and make you eat all your words." Pomni said while she unwrapped hers as well.
She stared at the spaghetti. It smelled and looked amazing. The way it was rendered made it look like a painting. She poked it with her fork and to her surprise it was in fact a 3d object. She stabbed a big meatball and twirled some pasta around it. The meatball was so large she wasn't sure how to eat it. After examining it from multiple angles, she ungraciously shoved it all in her mouth. Her face lit up instantly as it hit her taste buds and she let out a quick Mmph! of pleasure. It was the best thing she had tasted in months.
"Is it gooood?" Jax beamed from his side of the table. She hadn't even noticed he was watching her eat instead of taking a bite of his own food. It was hard for her to determine if that was weird or kind of cute.
"Shu uhfp." she chewed through the words. Jax chuckled and cut into his steak.
"That can be sooner than later y'know." he said before plopping the freshly cut meat into his mouth.
"Whu?"
"The punching in my teeth thing. We could spar sometime if you'd want."
She contemplated the offer as she finished chewing. "No, not yet." she declined.
"Why, because you know I'd crush you to a cute little Pommy pulp?"
"Because it wouldn't be a fair fight at all. I need more practice. I'm not…I'm not strong enough to fight you yet." she sulked slightly and pushed away the thought by taking in another fork full of spaghetti.
"Sparring is practice though. Trust, if you practiced with me you'd learn way more than you have so far with that old Hagatha."
Pomni snorted at the nickname, coughing up some of her food and nearly choking on it. Jax noticed and tried to hide his own laugh behind his hand.
"I promise I wouldn't go too hard on ya. Not early on at least. If I killed you too soon we wouldn't be able to go on a second dinner." he said with a confident smile but Pomni swore she could see his cheeks turn ever so slightly pinker. He tossed more food into his mouth when he noticed her looking.
"Whait-" she quickly swallowed. "You're enjoying this? You actually wanna do this again? All we've done so far is argue."
"What was it about the whole I like conflict thing did you not understand? And you, baixinha, are a walking, living, breathing conflict."
Pomni froze. Suddenly, she was melting. It was hot. She was melting. Like ice.
"W- what did you just call me? And what language was that? Portuguese, right?" she asked, trying to ignore the fact that he just blatantly alluded to liking her while also trying to ignore the butterflies that grew in her stomach after hearing that Spanish accent come out of absolutely nowhere.
"No. Its French. Means 'short ugly dumbass'." he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "Really popular slang in Quebec."
"It's literally not." she was fighting a smile and losing so very hard.
"Yes it is. I'm from France you know? Born and raised baby."
"Quebec isn't even in France you dumb fucking liar." Pomni stabbed another meatball with her fork. She furrowed her tiny brows again, feeling the smile take over her face. How was he able to change the vibe so effortlessly?
"Where are you from then hm? Since you got your degree and you know everything about France."
Seems like the talking has finally started.
"Wruhsha." The mouth full of pasta was working against her.
"Heeeh?"
She swallowed another huge gulp and cleared her throat. "Russia."
"Whaaaaaaat!? For reeeeeal?" he became very animated all of a sudden. Like Russia was a place he only heard about in fairytales.
"Wait, where's your accent!?" he looked genuinely shocked as he asked.
"I've never really had one. Not a strong one, at least." she used her fork to stab mindlessly at the pasta while she spoke.
"I've lived in America longer. My friends have told me it comes out when I say certain words though." The mention of her friends made her stomach drop. She pushed it aside and changed the subject.
"Where are you from? Like, actually, no bullshit."
"Quebec. Which is totally in France by the way." he responded and popped a couple of veggies in his mouth.
"No seriously! C'mon I wanna know!"
"What's your favorite color?" he ignored.
"JAX!"
"Hey, I'm the one asking the questions here. This is about me getting to know you, remember? Now tell me, is it blue or red?"
"You're so annoying, Jax."
"You're so adorable, gatinha."
It was even darker out now. Stars sparkled in the darkness like speckles of white paint on a pitch black canvas. The street light lamps lit up the sidewalk with their yellowed glow, making perfect little spotlights on the ground. Shops that were still open helped with a little extra light shining through their windows.
Jax held open the door for Pomni as she walked out first. They started the small trek to the bus stop walking side by side in a comfortable quiet. They were close Pomni bumped into to him multiple times.
Pomni couldn't finish her plate because it was so large (she completely underestimated how large a large was and Jax didn't say anything about it as to not deter her from getting it) and ended up getting a to-go box. Meanwhile Jax had cleaned his plate completely. It wasn't heavy or an inconvenience for her, but Jax still insisted he hold it.
Walking down the side walk, she admired the city as best she could. The truth about this empty, soulless world usually clouded her mind every time she tried to find beauty in it, but tonight when her eyes caught a clump of skyscrapers in the distance, she didn't see them assets, but as a work of art.
At the bus stop Pomni slumped into the seats again except instead of it being due to borderline malaise, it was to being too full. Jax's long form leaned against the top of it beside her. After a brief stretch, she sat upright and leaned on the glass edge. The tip of her platform shoe pressed up against his foot.
"…So you're from Brazil or something?" she spoke up first, looking up at him.
"I told you Pommard, I'm from France!" he answered playfully. "Oui oui mon ami cwoissant baguette. See! I'm literally fluent in it."
"OH MY GOD would you cut it out with the stupid French thing!" Pomni giggled as she leaned over the panel to slapped at his arm. "Its so not funny!"
"But you're laughing." he cut in quickly.
"I'm laughing because it's funny that you think its funny."
"But you still laughed therefore I win."
Pomni scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Fine whatever you 'win'." she put up air quotes. "You want a cookie?"
"Aw, shoot," Jax snapped his fingers and clicked his tongue. "We did miss out on desserts didn't we? Damn, guess that means we gotta come back here next time so you can try some."
"You really want there to be a next time, Jax?" she asked nervously, almost a whisper.
"Only if you'd like." he responded, matching her quiet voice.
Pomni pressed up against the glass panel to be closer to him, her foot grazing his more.
"…Maybe I would like." she said, even quieter now.
"Maybe I'd like it if you'd like."
The cheeky smile she heard in his voice warmed up her insides. She gave him a shy laugh and a gentle nudge of his foot.
"Then I guess we'll see."
The conversation died peacefully and the calming silence of the night returned until the whirring of the city bus' arrival entered it.
Jax stood up straight but didn't walk towards it until Pomni was in front of him and walked on first. She sat down in the same spot she had when she was on earlier, and Jax sat in his same seat across from her.
The bus door sat open for a few seconds longer. In those seconds Pomni contemplated.
And contemplated.
And contemplated some more.
Until she stood up out of her seat, stepped over to the seats Jax's long legs were taking up, and sat next to him.
The doors closed. The bus started to move. And she was sitting beside Jax.
He didn't say anything, which surprised her. She was sure he would have opened his mouth and croaked out some dumb little quip—but no. He softly hummed to himself and moved his legs to make more room for her on the seat. It felt almost more like an invitation than a kind gesture. A silent movement that said "you can move closer to me".
Oh the things she'd do to know what he was thinking about her.
She side eyed the little gap between them for a few seconds before making it smaller by scootching closer. Her hip just barely touched his thigh. She wanted to sit close enough to touch, but was afraid it would be too much too fast. She kept her head down and turned away from him so he couldn't see her burning red nervous mess of a face caused by the boldness of her last few movements. It didn't work.
"You look like a fat head tomato." he blurted randomly. No one is surprised.
Pomni snickered and shielded her face with her hand. "A tomato? Why a tomato?"
"Your face is so red dude." He chuckled and Pomni hid her face more as if it were doing anything in the first place. She was practically glowing at this point.
"I don't mind. You can sit here, it's okay. I'm not gonna bite 'cha." He said kindly, not facing her.
"Unless you ask nicely." He turned to her and winked but quickly his smirk dropped.
"Oh wait, is that weird to say?" he asked, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.
"I said don't talk about my body. I don't care if you make innuendos." she shrugged and her shoulder made contact with his jacket.
"You know you're gonna regret giving me permission to do that, right?" his mischievous cadence returned.
"Mmm yeah, I know."
Pomni curled up her legs onto the seat and let her head fall onto him.
It was strange.
Strange how a night that started off so questionably—Jax basically begging Pomni to come out to dinner with him so they could "talk"—is ending with the two sitting next to each other on the bus with her head gently pressed against him and his body positioned in a way where she could sit comfortably.
She would've never thought that Jackrabbit's presence could be so…comfortable. He was usually such a pain to be around that she almost forgot that this man she was sitting with was the same man who she once overheard him refer to her as "worthless rookie trash" and bullied her into oblivion nearly on a daily basis.
To some, it may seem shameful to even give someone like him a chance after everything he'd done and everyone he'd hurt. Not to Pomni. To her it was the right thing to do.
Pomni knew she could come off as harsh sometimes. Cruel, even. Especially when her anger took the wheel in her brain. But she truly cared about people and she felt it was fair for everyone to be given a chance. She nearly wrote off Jax as nothing but the one note asshole he wanted people to believe that he was until she pushed her biases asides and heard him out—lent him an ear after everyone else had long stopped listening.
Everyone had given up on him. He bothered her so much because he was alone and she put up with it. And the last thing she would want is for anyone to suffer in this world alone.
She was now hopeful that this really could be the start of an unlikely pair of friends.
Could it even be…?
No.
Nope.
Not going there.
It was one nice night with him. Sort of nice, anyways. Minus the uncomfortable sexual comment directed at her the second they reached the restaurant and the argument that took up a large majority of the dinner. Afterward they were able to hold a somewhat civil converstaion as they ate. Well, as civil as you can be when talking to someone like Jax.
Ignoring those things, it was a successful first dinner not-date.
She didn't get a hell of a lot of tangible information about him or the world, but she could get behind his behaviors now that she knew what was causing them.
She also now knew that he might've been Brazilian or at least could speak Portuguese, which was the most surprising thing she had learned tonight. Typically only white men dared to have the sort of audacity that Jax carried in all his actions.
"Don't get too comfy." Jax's sudden speech opened her eyes. She didn't even catch herself drifting off. "We get off in like five minutes."
"Then wake me up in five minutes." she mumbled. She nuzzled her head into his jacket and let her eyes fall shut again.
Pomni stuck close to his side as the two walked down the hall leading to her apartment. She walked slowly, her head down and her eyes barely open. It helped that she walked this hall enough times to be able to memorize the right turns that would lead to her door.
"Uugh god I'm so tired. Can't wait to go to bed" she grumbled and rubbed her half lidded eyes.
"Didn't mean to keep you out so late." Jax chimed in.
"It's fine. I had a good time."
He slowed down and bent over to look at her more clearly like he couldn't believe what he just heard. "You did?"
"Yeah, I did. Somehow."
"So you hate me less now, correct?" He hovered over her with a big dumb smile she couldn't help but giggle at.
"I hate you…." she held out her hands in front of her diagonally and moved one an inch closer. "…this much less."
"I'll take that. A win is a win." he said and stood upright again.
"Wait." Pomni paused in the middle of the hallway and looked around, spinning in a little circle like an idiot. "Where the fuck is my door?"
"We walked passed it like three doors ago." Jax pointed in the direction behind them with his clawed thumb.
"YOU FUCKIN'-" she cupped her mouth shut to stop the yell from finishing. It was far too late in the night to be hollering. Think of all the sleeping NPCS! And Ragatha downstairs.
"You fuckin' dick! You weren't gonna say anything!?" she opted for a good ole' whisper-yell instead.
"I wanted to see how long it would take before you noticed."
"Do you want me to hate you again?"
"You can't hate me anymore. No takesies backsies. That was the deal."
"That was not the deal." she seethed through her teeth.
"Yes it was, I just forgot to mention it."
Pomni groaned and spun on her heel. She backtracked her steps—not waiting up for him—until she reached her door. Above the peephole was a big golden nameplate that read "POM".
"Sigh, I guess this is where our adventure ends." He said and leaned next to the door when he caught up to her and handed her the to-go box of spaghetti that was definitely cold now.
Wait did he just say sigh?
"Yup." tired and full of meatballs, she was running out of responses for his nonsense.
Pomni shoved her free hand into her tiny jacket pocket and pulled out red and blue striped key. Hand on the doorknob, she twisted it. Instead of opening it right away, she turned to him. Jax stood there looking down at her, his arms crossed, his head tipped against the wall and his tall ears drooping from his weird little hood holes. He also appeared to be tired.
"Hey um, Jax?"
"Mhm?"
"I almost forgot to say uh…thank you for this. I really did have a good time and um I- I wouldn't mind going out again sometime. I promise I'll try to pay you back sooner than later."
Jax sighed. He fluffed his hair under his hood.
"I told you I don't want your money. Besides, I already got exactly what I wanted anyways."
"Really?"
He wanted an argument?
"Yeah—I got a date with the hot new rookie in town before anyone else did."
Pomni nearly dropped her cold spaghetti the way the statement physically affected her.
" I- IT WASN'T A DATE! WE AGREED ON THAT!"
So much for not causing a fuss.
"I literally never agreed to that. It was always a date. Anyways I gotta head out. Au revoir!" Jax cutely waved her off and skedaddled down the hall before she could argue any more.
"IT WASN'T A DATE ASSHOLE!" she yelled out to him.
"Goooodniiiiight Pomniiiiii!" he called back from the end of the hallway. One second he was there, the next he was gone. Pomni scrunched her face at him even though he couldn't see her anymore. She swung open her door and sunk into her apartment, a little laughter following her inside.
Home at last.
Ungodly amounts of reds and blue blinded her once she flicked on the nearest light switch. A sight that she still hadn't gotten used to. It got a little easier everyday.
The cold wooded floor touching her feet again after kicking off her platforms by the door sent a pleasing chill up her body. Feeling the ground again after walking on tiny stilts all night was always her favorite part. Her body got knew that this meant it was bedtime, and she let the drowsiness she'd been fighting all night take her over. She moved slowly through the living room to reach the kitchen where she plopped the box of cold spaghetti into her barren fridge. She groaned at it and mumbled a reminder to get groceries the next day.
After a very quick shower (she didn't feel like taking it but felt too gross to not take one), Pomni laid up in her bed, reminiscing the events of the night and trying to make sense of it all.
How did we even get here?
A replay of the entire night ran through her head like a flashback sequence in a TV show.
Of course it was a date. It was date from the start and she knew it. He spent the whole damn night flirting with her and she let it happen, even leaning into some of it. He flat out told her he liked her and she pretended not to hear it. But she did hear it. She just didn't know what to do with it or what it meant—so she ignored it.
He wasn't looking for a friend in her—he was looking for a fling. At least that's what it Pomni saw. Or maybe he was actually interested in her?
None of it made any sense.
All Pomni was for sure of was this man was scrambling her brain like eggs and she hated it. Kind of. Part of her was enticed by this new development, excited to see where they go from from here.
They had a good time, she hates him less. That was the deal. But now she wanted more.
The little movie in her head reached the end and she was nearly asleep until she reached the final line of dialogue.
Goooodniiiiight Pomniiiiii!
"Pomni." she whispered into the cool darkness of her room. "He called me Pomni…?"
Not Pavlov or Panini or Pringle.
Pomni.
The butterflies were back. Rushing into her intestines and coded bloodstream they swam around in her stomach and up her throat and made her choke on nothing. Pomni rolled over onto her stomach and buried her hot face into her pillow and screamed into it.
Why was she getting so bothered about him saying her name?
Bothered. That wasn't the word.
Flustered?
That's even worse.
"mmmmmnughhh fuuuuuck…"
Out of everything going on in her life at the moment, gaining a crush on the 8 feet tall purple rabbit with permanently yellow stained teeth was the least strange, yet it happened to be affecting her the most. It was oddly refreshing.
Getting isekai'd and forced into becoming an amateur boxer in a video game was a lot more mind boggling of a situation than realizing you might have a crush on the guy that has been bullying you for months. It wouldn't be the first time anyways. She always fell for the shittiest guys. She couldn't help it; they provided her with a rush and a thrill that she loved to chase after. Though the relationships always ended with her being hurt, she'd somehow always end up in another shitty confusing maze with another shitty confusing man.
This wasn't any different. Deep down in her heart she knew that.
Still, it was a small dose of something real for her to cling to—and oh was she going to cling to it like her life depended on it.
This wasn't going to end well.