Chapter Text
– Pomni’s POV –
Pomni was quite simply exhausted. It wasn’t that the questions were hard, most of them were relatively easy. But the day had already been eventful, her legs hurt from standing, and she was still admittedly mad at Caine.
Not to mention one can only tolerate being quizzed on bee facts so many times in one sitting.
“Question nineteen,” she heard Caine start.
Pomni let his voice become background noise. Kinger was getting most of the questions - all of the bee ones anyways - so there wasn’t much point in trying to answer.
She didn’t seem to be alone, either.
In fact, Kinger was the only one still paying attention.
Ragatha was leaning on her podium.
Zooble was looking at Gangle, silently checking in with her.
Jax was staring, his gaze locked on something in the crowd. His eyes were wide, his mouth a small frown.
Pomni looked into the audience, but found nothing of interest there. She returned her focus to the rabbit.
He glanced over at her, looking away quickly.
“Your final question is,” Caine announced.
Thank god. It was almost over.
Pomni sighed with relief, stabilizing herself with the podium.
Kinger raised his hand. He was the only one.
“Yes, Kinger.” Caine twitched.
Pomni closed her eyes, resting them from the harsh lighting of the stage.
Kinger responded with his answer, something about bees and biting leaves.
Applause. Kinger was in a spotlight.
Pomni shot upwards. She must have fallen asleep briefly.
“Thanks for coming, everyone!” Caine thanked the audience energetically.
The portal opened.
“Thank f[&$#]ing god.” She heard Zooble whisper.
Pomni walked towards the portal when a hand grabbed her shoulder.
“Wait.”
Pomni turned to see a red mannequin, his figure tense.
“I just wanted to let you know,” The mannequin spoke softly. “that Ja-”
He disappeared.
She turned and walked through the portal, her thoughts beginning to spin faster.
What was he trying to say?
Was he about to say Jax?
– Jax’s POV –
Jax straightened his posture as he walked towards the others.
Pomni was the last one through the portal back to the circus. She looked over her shoulder, before her head turned to look at him.
He turned away. He didn’t want to look at her, to deal with the consequences of his actions.
To care more than he already did.
He could hear the others talking behind him, a conversation he had no intent on joining.
He didn’t think about where he was going. He didn’t need to. His feet moved automatically, walking towards his room and away from the others.
“Jax.” The voice behind him sounded steady, but something behind it was unsure.
He stopped. Not that he wanted to, but continuing to walk away would be suspicious.
At least, that was what he told himself.
“Do you wanna…talk,” Pomni chose her words carefully. “With us?”
Jax let a grin slip onto his face, as if something was amusing. “Why would I?”
Pomni hesitated. “Well, we just- after yesterday, we should…figure out what to do about Caine. Where to go from here, really. And-” She took a breath, preparing to defend herself, probably from him. “You didn’t show up last time.”
Jax had to suppress his confusion. What last time? It had only been a day.
He scoffed. “Because that’s boring. Why would I want to sit around and talk about feelings all day?”
“Jax, I know the fake exit hurt you. You got your hopes up like the rest of us.”
“And I got over it.”
It wasn’t a lie, really. He hadn’t thought much about the fake exit.
He just had other problems to deal with.
Pomni was glaring at him, looking as if she were about to protest. She never spoke.
Jax took that as a sign she was done, turning around dismissively.
“Wake me up if you suckers do anything interesting.”
The hallway echoed in silence as he walked towards his room.
He glanced at every door as he walked past. Not intentionally- they simply caught his attention, filling him with a nervous void as he passed each X-ed out door.
Part of him wanted to. He knew it was peaceful. That it would make everything stop if he let it. That it was an escape, in its own way.
At the same time, the thought scared him.
She still cared. And of all the things he had been able to do to them, of all the harm he did without even blinking-
He couldn’t put her through that, could he?
He opened the door to his room, met with a figure staring back at him. He flinched backwards, and the figure disappeared into scribbles.
From the glance he got, the figure seemed somewhat humanoid, but the exact shape was unclear.
Not that it mattered, it clearly wasn’t real.
He walked into his room, closing the door quietly. He stood there, barely in the room, unmoving.
He looked at his right hand. It was shaking violently, trembling with a fear he didn’t fully feel.
He couldn’t quite place the feeling inside him. It felt good- not in a healthy way- but in a satisfying way.
He drew a long, shaky breath. Letting his hand drop down to his side once more, he walked to his desk, sitting down in the chair.
The silence crept towards him, surrounding him. Every part of him wanted to scream, to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out.
He stayed quiet, the paranoia consuming him.
Memories of the night prior floated to the front of his mind, somehow both hazy and vivid at the same time.
Pieces clicked into place. The irrationality. The figures. The confusion.
It made no sense. He understood it perfectly.
He smirked. Laughed. Not because anyone was around. Not because he needed to hide anything.
Because it was funny.
He was right. He couldn’t put her through that. He couldn’t abstract, not if Pomni still cared about him.
So he’d just make her hate him.
It was quite simple, really.