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“ GAH! They’re everywhere- everywhere! I’m being bombarded on all sides!”
“No no- they’re just peltin’ yah from one side. If you stick your head outta that dingy little fort of yours, you can actually check for yourself.”
“Kinger, don’t listen to him. Jax’s just being a *BLEEP* right now.”
“Ohhh… nevermind Kinger, you’re all safe! They’re all going for Zooble now, for some reason.”
“Don’t you *CENSORED!* dare!”
Pomni could only watch on with a wince as Zooble let out a slew of non-audible curses as their body burst into pieces, a Blark having gone careening through their torso at unreal speeds. The culprit, obviously, was the neverending thorn in everyone's plans that was Jax.
Today's adventure had seemed really tame on the surface- an infestation of ‘Bouncy Blarks’ had moved into the tent house and were currently running amok in halls near their rooms. Blarks, supposedly, weren’t at all dangerous creatures- just being circular, rubbery balls with giggling blowholes that propelled themselves every which way and endlessly bounced around the area. All of their jobs were to catch each and every Blark and shove them into the Blark disposal unit- a hole in the ground with a big flashing sign designating it so. A hole that, they all knew for a fact, only accepted Blarks. They’d found out that was the case after Jax attempted to shove Gangle into one, only for her to be shot back out as a loud buzzer rang, breaking her happy mask in the process.
…Pomni by this point had stopped questioning the absurdity of what asinine adventures Caine presented to them and just tried to get them over with as fast as possible. Something that was a lot easier said than done considering how slippery and bouncy all the Blarks were.
That and the fact one of the people here was actively throwing Blarks at other people as opposed to actually helping.
“Wow, what an odd looking Blark… must be defective.” Jax mused with the click of his tongue as he picked up the lone head of Zooble, their other body parts rolling toward them in an attempt to, probably, seriously harm Jax.
“When I get my hands on you .” Zooble hissed, eyes narrowed onto him as Jax shrugged with as carefree a smile as ever.
“Ahh- whatever, a Blark’s a Blark! Better toss it in the hole!”
“D-don’t do that to Zooble!” Gangle cried.
“Jax- start helping and stop antagonizing… and put Zooble down!” Ragatha bemoaned.
“ AHHH! MY HAND! MY HAND FELL- oh, this is Zoobles! Phew…” Kinger suddenly screamed for all but a moment, busting out the side of his pillowed fort as he clutched Zoobles dislocated limb in horror, only to mellow out.
Pomni herself, after recovering from the heart attack Kinger almost gave her, just watched on without a word. Partly from exhaustion, partly from exasperation. She had nothing coherent to say as Jax loomed over the disposal hole with Zoobles head in his hands.
“When I get my hands on you I’ll *THAT’S NOT VERY FAMILY FRIENDLY…*-” Zooble warned in a dangerous tone for all but a second before-
“Whelp, in it goes!~”
“*UH OH!* *NADA!* *OH GOD THAT’S VULGAR…* JAX YOU *CUT IT FROM THE SCRIPT!*”
Zoobles bleeped out speech faded softer and softer as they fell down the hole, Pomni letting out a soft gasp as Ragatha let out a more irritable “Jax!” as she scowled at him. The trickster rabbit just shrugged, looking as innocent as could be.
“What? I’m helping just like you said.”
Seconds later, Zoobles head was ejected from the hole at high velocity with them yelling as they were sent spiraling towards the other side of the room.
“Oh- I got it, I got it!” Kinger gasped, partially tripping over his own robe as he scampered into position and put his hands up in the air.
Zoobles head crashed against the ground unceremoniously not a second later, rolling up against Kinger’s robe. Kinger himself had just caught a completely unrelated Blark, staring curiously down at Zooble.
“Oh, Zooble! Where did you come from?” Kingler bent over to pick up Zooble’s head with his free hand. “It might delight you to know this, but for some reason your hand-”
“ I know .” Zooble cut him off curtly, glaring daggers back at Jax- the rabbitoid cackling to himself… at least up until Zoobles hand finished sneaking up behind him and began strangling him.
Ragatha, from Pomni’s side, just sighed with the shake of her head and picked up one of Zoobles legs- walking back over towards Kingler and Zoobles head as Gangle did the same. Pomni jumped as she felt something collide against her heel- only to turn and find Zoobles torso.
Trying best to not think about the logical elements of holding the severed torso of someone else, she hesitantly bent over to pick it up and bring it over to Zooble. It was the least she could do… probably.
Approaching the group huddled up with different parts of Zooble, she awkwardly presented her own, receiving a surprised side glance from Zoobles head in reaction.
“Oh- there it is. Thanks Pomni.”
“Yeah- yeah of… uh… course…”
Pomni trailed off awkwardly, still not at all used to Zoobles parts moving on their own as their torso rolled out of her hands, plopped down onto her legs, and connected back together with a satisfying ‘pop!’ sound. Their right arm crawled up their leg and back into its socket as Kinger diligently put Zoobles head back on their body.
He received an exasperated half scowl from them the moment after…Mostly because he put it on the wrong way.
“Oh- that’s right! Righty tighty, lefty loosey… Sorry about that Zooble!” Kinger sang lightly to himself moving his finger along to the incompatible jingle as he popped Zoobles head back off and turned it around. “
“Yeah, sure, thanks.” Zooble huffed out. The moment after they meandered over towards Jax, hobbling as she normally did. She seemed to be in no rush to stop their other arm from strangling him for a moment longer, standing and watching for a bit before finally grabbing back their arm.
With Jax left wheezing for breath on the floor they turned to the rest of them, their expression a scowl.
“I’ll be in my room. Keep these things- and that *PG-13 INCOMPATIBLE!* away from it.” They said, gesturing from a nearby Blark and then over towards Jax before waddling away- and Pomni could do little other than watch with an odd nervousness she couldn’t place…
She’d seen Zooble come apart, at least in some form or fashion, half a dozen or more times by this point- it wasn’t exactly a surprise to see anymore, or at least it shouldn’t have been. And just as frequently she’d seen the odd way their limbs popped in and out of place and moved about whenever they moved around… So Pomni wasn’t quite sure what was off putting her so much about it.
Maybe it was the fact it was becoming normal to her, and that was the last bit of her sanity trying to inform her it was leaving the building.
“O-okay- we’ll… I-I’ll try Zooble…” Gangle’s voice brought her back to attention, with her meekly calling out as Zooble walked away, clearly not having all too much confidence in herself to succeed. All the while Ragatha just shot Jax a deadpanned look.
“Why do you always have to be such a jerk?”
With a thump to his chest and a slight cough to catch his breath, Jax was back on his feet and smiling easily enough in no time- flashing Ragatha a smug look.
“What? I’m just keeping things lively is all- your lives would be sooo boring without me. C’mon, you know you love me!~”
“I… don’t k-know if I’d use that word to… describe it…” Gangle’s hands- or… the ribbons Pomni assumed were supposed to be hands…? Whatever they were, they nervously entertained as she wrung them together.
“I wouldn’t.” Ragatha crossed her arms, pursing her lips.
“Here you go, Gangle!” Kinger spoke up suddenly, either uninterested in or distracted by the conversation as he offered Gangle the Blark he’d caught earlier. She blinked in surprise, backing up a little.
“Oh- u-uhm… you… you don’t have to give it to me, y-you can just put the Blark right in the hole.” She offered unconfidently, glancing around nervously after. “Unless you really w-want me too…?”
Kinger said nothing, wide eyes glancing between Gangle, the hole, and the Blark.
He suddenly let out a cry that had Gangle recoil back with a small yelp of her own.
“GET IT AWAY- GET IT AWAY! IT’S GONNA GET ME!” Kinger cried out as he haphazardly threw the Blark away, and Pomni could only watch with a sense of dread as it giggled maniacally as it flew through the air- ready to bounce all about the place in chaotic fashion as it hit the ground.
Before it hit the ground, however, Jax caught it.
This did not help Pomni’s sense of dread.
“Oh- nice throw Kinger. And nice idea about passing them along! Here- we’ll make a delivery line.” Jax smiled wide, staring right at Ragatha. “You take it next, Rags, you’re closest to the hole.
“N-no I’m not- you’re- you’re the one right next to the hole!” She backed away, holding up her hands. “Don’t throw that at me! You know I can’t-”
“Oops- hand slipped!”
Ragatha let out a panicked yelp as a Blark was sent flying right at her, holding out her hands in a desperate attempt to try and catch it. Pomni herself went rigid by Ragatha’s side, veering back slightly in fear the Blark might end up hitting her with just how fast it was flying toward them.
The Blark sailed right by Ragatha’s arms, her hands completely missing in an attempt to grab it out of the air as it bounced off her head- sending her falling back down to the ground as the Blark ricocheted off her and back into the air.
Desperate to not let that thing cause any more chaos, Pomni quickly ran under it, barely catching it in time as she nearly stumbled over her own two feet. The moment after she realized she had, in fact, successfully caught it- she made a mad dash towards the hole and tripped over herself to shove the Blark down it as fast as she possibly could.
The the Blark sent down the hole successfully she let her head plop onto the ground in exhaustion, the small bells on the ends of her hat jingling in the process. Jax let out a half cooed ‘awww’ after the fact.
“Way to ruin the fun Pomni, that was our last Blark.”
“LAST BLARK?”
Pomni jumped up with a startle as a loud, booming voice suddenly came from behind her- spinning around on her heel she was quick to see Caine had suddenly appeared in the room. His eyeballs spun around the room, as if analyzing.
“GREAT SCOTT YOU’RE RIGHT!” Caine clasped his hands together excitedly, throwing them apart moments later as a bust of confetti flew out from them. “AMAZING WORK MY LITTLE SUPERSTARS- YOU CLEARED OUT ALL THE BLARKS IN RECORD TIME!”
There was nothing short of silence in response, with Kinger still cowering away in fear of the Blark he’d thrown, Gangle off trying to pick up the broken shards of her happy mask now that she had the time, Jax just glancing at his fingers in supposed boredom- and Pomni herself was busy walking over towards Ragatha in an attempt to help her friend back up onto her feet.
“T-thanks Pomni…” Ragatha smiled lightly as she wobbled onto her feet, free hand rubbing her head.
“Are you okay?” She couldn’t help but ask, even if Ragatha appeared fine. Call it guilt, or protective instinct, or just genuine well placed concern- but considering what happened during her first adventure here in the digital circus, Pomni always felt the smallest bit nervous whenever Ragatha got hurt.
Which, incidentally, seemed to happen quite a lot more often than she or Ragatha seemed to like.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine… Jax is just- being mean, like always.” She pursed her lips, glowering at the rabbitoid as he struck up an innocent grin. “He knows I’ve got no depth perception and just wanted an excuse to throw something at me….
Pomni blinked slowly, staring up at Ragatha at the sudden admission.
“What?”
“What… what?” Ragatha responded, staring curiously at her.
“You… don’t have any depth perception?” She asked cautiously
Ragatha herself looked almost confused at the question for a moment before offering a light smile, brushing some hair back that lingered in front of her button eye.
“Oh- oh yeah, but it’s not that big a deal! I manage-”
“EXCUSE ME, MY DEARS.” Caine interrupted, suddenly flying in between them as they both startled back. “MIGHT I FINISH MY SPIEL?”
“Oh- yeah, sure Caine! Sorry- sorry…” Ragatha was quick to back down with an embarrassed smile, though Pomni did not share her sentiments and wasn’t so happy to be interrupted.
“Hold on, we were just-”
“GREAT!” Caine bellowed out enthusiastically, completely cutting her off as her shoulders shrunk back and she watched him fly off in mild annoyance, suddenly summoning a clipboard in his hands with the snap of his fingers. “AND GREAT JOB TO ALL OF YOU FOR SUCCESSFULLY CLEARING THE FIRST INFESTATION OF BLARKS…” Caine trailed off, checking off something on his clipboard with a pen. “...OUT OF 24!”
“Out of 24?! ” Pomni’s eye twitched, her mouth hanging slightly agape.
“Oh… I don’t think we c-can manage doing that 24 more times…” Gangle’s expression soured as she looked down glumly.
“I don’t know… to me it almost sounds a little low.” Jax chimed in, hands tucked behind his head.
Caine seemed to glance between all of them, privy to the dissatisfaction with the day's activities- even in those who hadn’t spoken up, like Ragatha who looked a little exhausted at the prospect of so many more Blarks to catch, and Kinger who was…
…Playing rock paper scissors with Gangle, for some reason? Pomni did know why and was not going to ask, and neither was Caine from the looks of things.
“...ALRIGHT, I CAN SEE THERE’S A BIT OF HOLD UP ON TODAY'S ADVENTURE.” Caine scratched the side of his top jaw. “THAT MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE FACT EACH AREA WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO TAKE YOU ALL 15 MINUTES, BUT THIS ONE ALONE TOOK YOU…” Caine clicked his tongue, glancing down at his whacky watch. “...1 HOUR, 8 MINUTES AND 38 SECONDS.” Caine paused. “39 SECONDS. 40 SECONDS- 42 SECONDS?! OH I KNEW I NEEDED THIS THING FIXED!”
Waving his hand dramatically and clearing his throat, Caine glanced back at all of them.
“ALRIGHT, CHANGE OF PLANS! WHILE I PREPARE A TONED DOWN, MORE BITE-SIZED ADVENTURE FOR YOU LOVELY LACKADAISICAL LARKS- YOUR REWARD FOR CLEARING THE FIRST AREA OF BLARKS IS… A 27 MINUTE BREAK!”
“...27 specifically?” Pomni blinked.
“27 SPECIFICALLY!” Caine reiterated with enthusiasm.
A slew of thankful sighs came from them all.
“JUST… DON”T LEAVE THE THIS HALL DURING THAT BREAK.” Caine’s eyes shifted around nervously. “I NEED TO FIX UP THE ADVENTURE AROUND THE REST OF THE TENT SO… STAY PUT UNTIL THEN! OTHERWISE- GREAT GOING SUPERSTARS!”
With a thumbs up directed their way, Caine was quick to disappear as fast as he'd arrived- teleporting out with a ‘blip!’ as the Blark disposal hole shrunk up upon itself and disappeared with him. The hall fell into silence thereafter.
“...Welp. That’s that.” Jax slipped his hands into his pockets, beginning to meander off, fetching a golden key out of his left one as he twirled it around his finger. “Call me when the fun stuff starts back up! Till then I’ll be in my room!”
“I- i-isn’t your room the other way?” Gangle spoke up meekly, glancing behind her towards the other end of the hall, then back at Jax.
Jax, naturally, responded only with a snide little laugh as he walked on without a care in the world. Gangle let out a reserved sigh, shaking her head.
“I-I’ll go make sure he doesn’t do anything… that and f-find a way to fix my mask…probably h-have to ask Caine again…” She looked miserably down at her shattered mask, Kinger moving to her side the moment after as he put a hand on her… shoulder ribbon?
“Oh your mask is broken Gangle! Hey- actually I’ve got lots of porcelain stuff in my room! You can use that to make a new one!”
“You… you do?” Gangle blinked in surprise.
“Oh yeah, lots of good materials- I’ve got a collection of them. It’s all in a royal vault! Jax himself asked me for some gold a little while back for something, so you’re welcome to whatever you need Gangle!”
“...Oh…” Gangle cringed a little, but ultimately didn’t comment on her realization as she began to walk off with Kinger.
And that, in the end, that just left Pomni with Ragatha.
“...Well, I guess that explains the whole key situation.” Ragatha drooped with a sigh, shaking her head. Seeming to dismiss it soon after, she turned back to Pomni with a soft smile. “But, uh, anyways! Are you heading back to your room too? Or were you wanting to hang out? Cause I don’t have anything I’m doing now!”
Pomni couldn’t help but purse her lips, staring up at Ragatha as the silence in the hall now gave her time to hear herself think and actually focus back on what had…
…Disturbed her? Upset her? Something along those lines.
“Uhm… yeah, yeah that’s- we can do that.” She nodded along slowly. “But can I… ask you something first?”
“Oh, yeah, sure! Whatever you wanna know!” Ragatha clasped her hands together, looking delighted.
“It’s kind of personal, I think…” She amended with a meek smile, to which Ragatha just waved her hand.
“I don’t mind- probably. I trust you, so… yeah! Ask away! I’m all ears!”
Pomni glanced at Ragatha, catching the ragdolls gaze as her smile drooped a little- her eye catching onto the giant button sewed into Ragatha’s right socket. Thinking over what she actually wanted to ask in her head, Pomni thought best how to tactfully word herself.
“...Well, uhm, not exactly my question- but it’s kind of a prerequisite, but… you… can’t see out of your button eye… right?”
Ragatha blinked, seemingly surprised by the question- as if it was somehow nothing she’d ever considered. She raised a hand to gently touch her button eye for a moment, before then smiling easily enough with a shrug.
“Oh- that! Yeah… I mean- yeah, as in- no, no I can’t. Kinda why I’ve got such bad coordination with catching stuff.” She waved her hand around sporadically in front of her own face, letting out what sounded to be a self-depreciating laugh to Pomni. “Not a hint of depth perception here! Or, well… least not a lot .”
“...Sorry.” Pomni found herself spilling out suddenly- guilt and empathy welling up in her chest. Both from the new fact she’d just learned (and probably should’ve realized a lot sooner) about her friend… but also the fact it only made her want to ask her real question all the more.
“Oh don’t worry about it- it only really bothers me when Jax takes advantage of it. I’m all good with it otherwise!” Ragatha gave her a set of two thumbs up, as if to signify just how ‘good with it’ she was. “Thanks for being considerate though! But… you had another question?”
“Haha, yeah… yeah…” Pomni scratched her cheek, a weary smile spreading across her face. “Do- do you… uhm…”
She struggled with her words, feeling increasingly intrusive for wanting to ask- all the while Ragatha just stared at her curiously, an understanding and inviting smile spread across her face.
“Yeah?” Ragatha prompted lightly.
“...Do you remember if…” Pomni stumbled over herself, pausing for a moment. “Back in the real world, did you have… both eyes? Or is- did you only have one there too…?”
Ragatha’s smile fell.
She furrowed her brows, glancing off to the side- seemingly uncomfortable as she raised a hand to her chin.
“Oh… uhhhhhmm…” Ragatha trailed off, pursing her lips.
“You don’t-” Pomni winced, shaking her head. “Sorry, that was insensitive, just forget-”
“No- no no no, you’re fine Pomni!” Ragatha was quick to assure with an anxious laugh. “It’s fine- not a bad question! Just… ahh… one I… don’t think I know the answer too? I’m trying to think about it…”
Ragatha trailed off, eyebrows creased as she concentrated heavily- and Pomni understood the struggle. She herself had been here far shorter than any of the other residents, and even she barely remembered much of anything about herself and was still trying to adjust to this… new digital life.
It hadn’t been much a point of contention in her mind up until today, wherein she had the sudden realization upon seeing Zooble’s torso in her own hands that… this wasn’t normal .
Or… okay of course it wasn’t normal, but- more so in the sense that there was no way that such a thing could be normal for Zooble, who was as much a human as Pomni was.
And to someone who was human… what did all of this feel like? How did Zooble manage mismatched body parts like that? How did they feel about their body? And Gangle- Gangle’s body being composed only of a bunch of ribbons… was that something she regularly thought about? Was it something that bothered her day to day? Just… the idea she had no real tangible limbs or ‘insides’ to speak of in the digital realm- how did she cope with that?
And of course- what of Ragatha? The girl with a button for an eye, strings of spool like hair and patchworked skin…
It made Pomni wonder about if she was the only one dwelling on her old body- that and if everyone was actually as okay with themselves as they appeared to be…
“...Uhm…” Ragatha spoke up eventually, catching Pomni’s attention quickly. She had an abashed, guilty look to her as she rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry if this is unsatisfying, but I’m really not sure? I don’t remember much of… you know … and- uh, I don’t dwell on it much either! Plus, this body isn't so bad, so… why would I dwell on it?” Ragatha shrugged with an easy going smile, quick to push past the subject.
Pomni though just frowned, shooting her friend a worried look.
“...It- isn’t so bad, or… it isn’t bad?”
“Isn’t- isn’t bad , meant isn’t!” Ragatha nodded along quickly, putting her hands on her hips. “Really! I’m fine with how I am!”
“A-are you? Really?” Pomni insisted, wringing her hands together as she glanced down at them. “I- you’ve been here longer then me, a lot longer, but- I mean I’m still mostly humanoid and even then I don’t…”
Pomni had her problems with her own body, despite how unfair a comparison it really was between her and her friends. She had an abysmally short stature in comparison to everyone else, and her cheeks were permanently dusted with a reddish blush that sat atop makeup that just… wouldn’t come off. She could scratch and rub and wash at it all she wanted- but her skin was always the same ghostly white hue.
And… just… her skin . The unnatural squash and stretch her skin, like she was now made of rubber - how was she supposed to get used to that? It was unnatural, and weird, and… uncomfortable! All of it was stuff she had much difficulty adjusting too, and all of it was stuff she knew her real body probably didn’t have… things a real body probably shouldn’t have.
“Hey.”
Ragatha’s firm, albeit soft, voice pulled her from her thoughts as Ragatha’s hands came to rest atop her own- blocking her view partially. She raised her gaze up to Ragatha, who was offering her a sweet smile.
“It’s… a hard adjustment, I’m sure- and it’s totally fair if you’re not all happy about your new body, even if I am- which, I am, by the way! Really- I’m not upset about it, or your question!” Ragatha was quick to clarify, though quickly steered back on topic with the clearing of her throat. “But… I get if you don’t feel the same way. But, just so you know, nobody thinks less of you for how you look. We’ve all been there, done that- we get it, really we do!”
Pomni couldn’t help but glance down back at Ragatha’s hands, unable to quite look her in her button eye as she frowned.
“...I shouldn’t be complaining though, I- I mean compared to all of you .”
“It’s not a contest, Pomni.” Ragatha assured, squeezing her hands softly. “You’re allowed to feel as good or as bad about your body here as you want…” Ragatha paused. “I mean- I’d rather you feel good about it, but, you know- don’t make yourself feel good if you don’t! It’s been best for us to all try and adjust to the digital world but- you know… it’s important to not force it! Gotta work through your feelings bit by bit and get used to everything! Healthy adjustment! So… it’s okay if you’re not used to it yet.”
Pomni let out a soft, slightly quivering sigh as she continued to stare at Ragatha’s hands- her hands that didn’t even have all 5 fingers.
“And… you’re really used to this? You’re okay with it?” Pomni looked back up at Ragatha, asking almost desperately as she winced. “I mean you- you don’t even have all your fingers …”
“I’m used to it by now.” Ragatha shrugged, a soft, assuring smile on her face. “Really, it doesn’t bother me, and I mean hopefully your body won’t always bother you either. Cause I think you look great!” Ragatha paused after, smiling falling for a second as she blinked. “Not that what I think should- uh- override how you feel, I mean. Just throwing it out there that I think you look fine is all! That’s what I meant- you-”
“I… I get it, Ragatha.” She laughed weakly, genuinely, with the light shake of her head and a soft smile- feeling the smallest bit assured. “Thank you. For… everything, I guess. But… more specifically the compliment, and answering my question.”
“Anytime! Like I said- I’m all ears! If you’ve ever got a question- I’m here to reassure and answer!” Ragatha put her hands on her hips proudly, and Pomni couldn’t help out but let out another half stifled laugh.
“But you don’t have ears either…”
“Well… I mean most of us don’t!” Ragatha let out a soft laugh of her own. “And neither do you- soooo it must be in style!”
“Wait I don’t?” Pomni said quickly, suddenly putting her hands to the sides of her head and- oh god she didn’t-
“Uhhhh… h-haha! Hey- forget that, we were going to go hang out together right? Lets get to doing that before Caine comes back!” Ragatha was quick to jump in, putting a hand on her back as she guided Pomni along down the hall towards their rooms. “How about my room? Huh? Yeah- yeah lets do my room!”
Before she could spiral any further, Pomni found herself sufficiently distracted by Ragatha as she walked her along down the hall- already beginning to babble on about a completely unrelated subject. Pomni knew it was just a means of distracting her, but…
It still kind of worked, and she was thankful either way.
Both for the distraction, and for such a good friend to help her adjust to all this.