Chapter Text
“I should go talk to him!” Ragatha gasped standing up the moment Pomni returned to the group.
“If you reopen your stitches I'm sure as shit not re doing them” Zooble hissed, pulling the doll back onto the bench she had been resting on.
“No, Ragatha, I think he just wants some space.” Pomni comforted her, knowing the last thing Jax would want was Ragatha seeing him like that.
“Should someone bring him over here? I wouldn’t want him to feel left out” Gangel glanced over to where Jax was just barely visible behind a gray column.
“I don’t know” Pomni mussed knowing that Jax didn’t want anyone seeing him but also not wanting to abandon him.
“Kinger, was there any kinda fail safe in the circuses programing?” Zooble asked, their question being met with silence “What?! We need to find a way out”
“That’s not important right now!” Ragatha huffed “Everyone is hurt! Pomni is missing an arm, Jax has no skin, gangle got run over, and I’m missing an eye and a hand! Escaping is impossible”
“Don’t say that! Caines gone! It worked! There has to be a way out! Fuck, why are we all just sitting here!?” Zooble stood up whirling to look at Ragatha and then the rest of the group.
“Zooble-“ Gangle started only to be cut off.
“No! We need to find a way out” the desperation in Zooble's voice surprised them all. Their eyes looked wild with tiers bubbling in the corners.
“Don’t look at me like that” Zoobles voice cracked as they visibly deflated. “I just need some space to process, ok?”
“Zooble come back!” Gangle stood up, her ribbon hands reaching for the departing human only to be stopped by Pomni.
“It’s ok, Gangle. Just give them space. They will be back when their ready”
“Who knows what Caine did to them”
[Jax POV]
Relief flooded Jax now that he was finally alone. The gaze of Pomni had been suffocating, even if she claimed she was just trying to help.
Jax slowly reached to touch his destroyed face. It felt so strange. The plastic that had once been inside him was hard and smooth. Like bones but more fragile, echoing with a strange hollowness like a toy. His gloved hands felt so large in comparison. His fur had been somewhat soft. A squishy substance that would stretch and warp in alliance with cartoon physics.
They were small ridges where his mouth had been. He traced the skinny lines absentmindedly, his hand rising up further. He hit a small black dot he realized were the remains of his eyes. They were small black dots that didn’t even move when he touched them. They didn’t feel anything different and if it weren’t for the placement, Jax might have thought them a scar or pimple.
“Fuck, you look like shit”
Oh great
“What, no snarky comeback?”
Jax could feel Zoobles eye on him. He waited for more mockery. Bracing himself for their sharp words only to be surprised when he felt them sit next to him.
“I never thought the little shit would go full psycho on us. He was always pretty unpredictable though” Jax couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Zooble was barely talking to him and he wasn’t about to play therapist.
“You seem pretty torn about it,” Zooble laughed. Their bitter tone dug under what was left of Jax’s skin and he turned away from them.
“Oh, come on” Zooble mocked his voice, standing up over him. “It was funny. That’s all that matters, right? We’re all just having fun.”
Zooble sighed. They took a step back, irritated but seeming to calm down. “Everyone’s worried about you”
Jax tried to hide the way his breath got caught in his throat but couldn’t.
“After everything you did, every stunt you pulled, you still get all the sympathy. You deserve this Jax,” Zooble drew close again, voice cold and bitter. “You deserve everything he did to you. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Jax could feel tears run down his face. They felt weird and foreign coming from his tiny eyes. A small bit of relief filled him as he heard Zooble walk away. He wondered if they had seen the tears. He desperately hoped not.
They were right though. He knew it.
He deserved to be like this.