Chapter Text
Pomni swung her legs as she watched Gangle and Caine draw. She couldn’t help but smile. Seeing them bond over drawing was the cutest thing ever.
She watched over them from Gangle’s bed, like she was overseeing a kingdom of scribbles and masterpieces. The two artists exchanged pencils and pastels as they drew, dutifully following Pomni’s request.
Ever since her first visit in the aquarium, she’s made it a part of her daily routine to go with Kinger. In the cloak of ambient darkness, it was so easy to talk to him. She hid nothing and let out every messy, unsure feeling. He listened to every word, nodding along and offering his thoughts.
They talked to Queenie each day. Not Jax, though, or anyone else. At least not yet.
Today, Pomni thought it’d be nice to bring some drawings. She couldn’t draw herself, nothing beyond absent-minded doodles when she was bored, so she enlisted the help of the circus’s resident artists. Caine pretty much only drew bees, but the gesture was still nice. Gangle had full-on profiles of multiple different insects, far beyond what Pomni asked for.
Some of the close-up details, like little hairs and veins on wings, totally freaked out Pomni. But she wouldn’t mention that, because Kinger and Queenie would probably love it.
A knock came at the door. “I got it!” Pomni exclaimed, leaping to her feet. She swung open the door and was greeted by the one and only Kinger.
“Hey, Pomni! You’re not that good at hiding, you know that?” Kinger joked, wagging a finger towards her.
“I guess I’ll just have to try harder next time. Anyway, look at what Gangle and Caine made.”
Pomni stood back as Kinger conversed with the artists. Gangle started rambling about her drawing of termites, which she explained, “Mate for life, like you and Queenie, so I thought it’d be cute!” Occasionally, Caine would shout, “Look at this cool bee I drew!” then go back to sketching like nothing happened.
They stayed for a few minutes, then gathered all of the drawings to go show off. Gangle gave Pomni a gleeful smile, resting a ribbon hand on her arm. “Let me know if you need anything else. Good luck today.”
“Thanks.”
“I hope you’ll be able to talk to him soon.”
“Yeah…me too.”
“When you do, let him know that he’s the biggest %@?#&!* in the history of forever. And if he wants a commission, he’ll have to give me a massive apology.”
“Noted,” Pomni said with a giggle. Looks like Caine put the censors back on after all.
She left the room, pausing outside beside Kinger, watching Caine walk away. He had a bounce to every step, like he was still resisting the urge to fly. He was doing a good job; on the surface, he could be any other human cast member. Deep inside, Pomni couldn’t help but be a little bitter that he was deleted and somehow still here, unlike the abstractions.
“Ready to go?” Kinger asked.
Pomni nodded, mostly for herself. With Gangle’s words, she had a renewed sense of hope. But she had to keep her expectations low, or else she’d be disappointed.
They walked off through the hall of revamped bedrooms. As each person rebuilt their room, they conjured up what they would really want to have. Gangle’s was an art studio, Ragatha’s had a built-in stable, and Pomni’s was built for comfort and socialization, full of plush seating and quirky decorations. Of course, she couldn’t help but wonder what Jax’s own room would look like. Probably a shooting range, or a gaming hub. Maybe she’d incorporate that stuff into her room.
Since they were in no hurry, they stopped at Zooble’s bar for a drink. Kinger continued his tradition of ordering something completely random (this time was “blue bonnet bourbon”) and Pomni always replied, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
Zooble glanced at the stack of drawings as they worked behind the bar. “Gangle’s really branching out, huh?” they commented in an amused tone.
“Oh, yeah, I asked her if she could draw something for Queenie.”
“That’s cool. I wonder how she’d draw Queenie herself. Her Kinger design is actually insane.”
Pomni winced, and to their credit, Zooble immediately picked up on it. “Poor choice of words, my bad. Anyway, here’s your…bonnet bourbon. Or was it blue bonnet bourbon? Whatever it is, here you go. Should be a good balance flavor-wise.”
“I sure do love a good balance,” Kinger said, picking up his drink. He added a quick “Cheers!” and clinked glasses with Pomni. After all this time, she never understood how he was able to eat or drink. Somehow, he made it work.
After the drinks, they made a beeline for the aquarium. No time for distractions, Pomni thought, putting more urgency into each step. Today was the day that she would see him. It’s been long enough.
They spent nearly every waking hour together in the tent, but as soon as he was transferred to the tank, that apparently went out the window. She reminded herself again to think from his perspective, but it was hard when she projected her own thoughts onto him.
Is it so bad to want to say, “I love you”? To want him to say it back? To need him to say it back?
“Wow!” Kinger suddenly exclaimed, pulling Pomni from the abyss of her mind. “This termite looks just like me!”
“Heh, pretty sure you look a little bit better than that.”
“Aw, you’re just trying to be nice. I appreciate it.”
“Sure thing?”
Pomni clutched the drawings close but smiled, happy to have Kinger’s easy and silly conversation. Like every time they entered, they were fully enclosed in a comforting darkness and were cushioned with a soft carpet. They walk to the main area was become as familiar as…well, as familiar as breathing, back when that was an instinctual necessity instead of a habit that only came out in extremely distressing moments.
Just like when I lost Jax…when I touched him for the last time, even though it was all in his mind. Or all in my mind. Just like my feelings for him.
They made it to the main tank and their bench, both taking a seat to reset themselves. Kinger closed his eyes first and Pomni followed, vowing not to get tangled up in her inner voice. She had enough of that. It was time to focus on Queenie.
It’s that time of day. He took a little longer than usual, but that’s alright.
He brought his friend again. I wished I was around long enough to get to know her.
I wish he could touch me.
He’s got something else with him. I’ll have to come see what it is.
Just like that, when Pomni opened her eyes, Queenie appeared. Though it was still difficult to differentiate between abstractions, Queenie had a hint of a crown on the top of her head. The outline glitched on and off, so she had to squint at first to see it.
Kinger leaped off the bench and dove right into a monologue of love and devotion. Pomni sat back, watching with a sad, longing smile, occasionally handing Kinger more drawings to show off.
“Look, honey! Termites! You remember, of course, that they mate for life. Well, Pomni figured that out, too, and she got one of our friends to draw this.” Kinger held up the paper super high, and Queenie nodded in approval. Kinger turned back towards Pomni. “You really do listen, huh?”
“Yeah. I do my best.”
Pomni stood up and stepped towards the glass, displaying the swarm of bees from Caine. “I don’t know exactly what he was like when you were around,” she started, “but he’s getting better. He had a crazy god complex for a while, but now he’s…normal. Like us.”
“He can even walk! And he’s really good at it! Much better than me,” Kinger added.
“You also don’t have legs, so don’t beat yourself up too much.”
“Huh. True. Maybe I’ll ask Caine for some legs. Or I’ll just do it myself!”
Pomni cackled at the image of Kinger with legs, and seconds later, that image was a reality. Two wooden legs peek out beneath Kinger’s regal robe, and even Queenie seemed to be too full of amusement to function. The abstraction closed her many eyes and curled into a ball, and Pomni laughed and laughed and laughed and it felt so good.
For extra flair, Kinger stuck out a leg and rested his foot on the bench, lunging back and forth like some kind of supermodel. Pomni had to clutch her stomach to stop herself from bursting at the seams. She copied Queenie and curled up, falling backwards. She was quite literally rolling on the floor laughing.
“I think I’ll keep these. The reception far exceeded my expectations,” Kinger enthusiastically declared. Alas, he changed back to normal and helped Pomni to her feet.
As she regained her footing, she looked up at Queenie. It felt like throwing a goofy glance at a friend because of a joke that no one else understood. Pomni felt so close to Queenie in that instance, despite the glass and the wrong timing and the fact that they’d never be able to have a real conversation.
It was bittersweet, to say the least. Gut-wrenching in a way that made her beam.
But that wasn’t all. To her surprise, Queenie wasn’t alone. Beside her was another abstraction, seemingly appearing from nothing. The one who mattered the most to Pomni.