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“HEY POMNI!”
The scream which she let loose was nothing short of terrified as she shot up and scampered back towards the far end of her bed- gripping the sheets for dear life as her head veered around as fast as it physically could towards Caine. The same Caine who, just a second ago, was not in her room right behind her.
Which, all and all, was just a lengthy way of saying he’d scared the ever-loving *BLEEP* out of her.
“WOW- LOVE THE ENTHUSIASM MY DEAR! I TAKE IT FROM A RESPONSE LIKE THAT YOU’RE UP AND READY FOR ANOTHER FANTASTICAL ADVENTURE TODAY?” Caine spoke joyfully, moving his arm side to side as he pumped his fist.
Pomni just stared at him, eye twitching as her mouth twitched into a thin smile.
Just seconds prior she’d been sound asleep, and she’d been rather enjoying her time asleep. Yesterday's adventure had been long, arduous, and physically taxing- so much so that most of them had been a little exhausted in the aftermath. And she meant most - because even Ragatha, who normally kept up so well with the ‘healthy and stimulating’ adventures she always encouraged Pomni to go along with, looked horribly worse for wear by the time they finished and retired to their rooms.
Pomni hadn’t the slightest idea how long she’d been sleeping for, but she did know she would’ve been more than happy to keep doing so. And even if she had already been awake- she most definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be snuck up on with such a loud voice out of nowhere .
So, no, she wasn’t very pumped for the adventure today.
“...Nnnnoooo?” She spoke slowly, tired smile twitching that little bit more as she desperately hoped her dissatisfaction and apprehension would be apparent to the crazed ring leader.
It was not.
“OH BUT EVERYONE ELSE IS ALREADY OUT AND AWAITING FOR THE FUN TO START! WE’VE GOT A GREAT IN-HOUSE ADVENTURE TODAY- MUCH MORE HOMELEY THAN YESTERDAYS!” Caine insisted, throwing his hands up in the air as boldface letters appeared above his head in grandiose fashion. “IT’S CALLED ‘EMBARK WITH A FINNARK’! THE GROUP OF YOU WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A LOVELY DETECTIVE MARSUPIAL WHO WILL HELP YOU SOLVE-”
“Can I not participate?” Pomni interrupted hastily, holding her hands together pleadingly.
Caine went quiet for a moment, moving a hand to rub at his bottom jaw as he eyed her.
“...AS IN NOT RIGHT NOW?” He said with a raised… jawline? Her eye twitched again as she gestured her hand forward.
“ At all .” She clarified. “I… uh- I’m tired today and would really rather… not do- whatever it is you said you wanted me to do…”
Caine seemed to deflate a little.
“OHH… BUT TODAY’S ALREADY GONE SO AMUCK- SO MUCH TIME WASTED WITHOUT AN ADVENTURE, AND A THIRD OF YOU AREN’T EVEN THERE FOR THE EXPLANATION…” Caine shook his head.
“...A third of us?” Pomni spoke up slowly, furrowing her brows.
“RAGATHA’S A NO SHOW TOO- AND EVERYONE ELSE WAS SO SLOW TO START!” Caine gripped the sides of his jaw dramatically. “PLUS ZOOBLE ISN’T EVEN INVESTED IN TODAY’S ADVENTURE! I’VE GOT A BOUNDLESS IDEAS FOR GREAT ADVENTURES- BUT I CAN’T DO THEM WITH HALF THE CAST! MY CREATIVE OUTLET IS BEING STIFLED!”
“Well, maybe we wouldn’t all be so…” Pomni tried to find a word that described depressed, exhausted, exasperated and insane all in one- or… at least a word that better reflected everyone, and not just her. “... demotivated if we didn’t do adventures like yesterdays.”
“WHAT WAS WRONG WITH YESTERDAYS? THAT ONE WAS A REAL SHOWSTOPPER!” Caine gawked, putting a hand to his chest.
“Trapeze parkour isn’t any of our specialties, I don’t think.” Pomni let out a half nervous, half crazed giggle- she was still sore from it all. “So, uhm… maybe you can not do adventures like that and we can all have a break today?”
Caine went silent, drumming his hands against his bottom jaw as he seemed to seriously consider the offer.
“NOTED!” He exclaimed loudly after a few moments, startling her briefly. “I’LL KEEP THAT IN MIND FOR ANY FUTURE ADVENTURES!-”
Pomni let out a sigh of relief.
“-BUT I STILL CAN”T CANCEL TODAYS! I’VE ALREADY GOT EVERYTHING SET UP!”
Pomni bit back a scream.
Seeming to notice her thinly veiled emotional outburst, he was quick to float over and pat her head.
“BUT NOT TO WORRY, MY DEAR POMNI- YOU’RE WELCOME TO SIT OUT TODAY! I’LL JUST GO AHEAD WITH ALL THOSE WHO’VE ALREADY DRAGGED THEMSELVES OUT OF BED. NO USE IN LETTING ALL THAT EFFORT GO TO WASTE, AFTER ALL!”
And she let out another sigh of relief, thank god…
“Thanks…” She said half genuinely.
The room faded into uncomfortable silence as Pomni sat curled up on her bed, staring at Caine expectantly- awaiting him to poof out of her room and back to the madness he had planned far, far away from her.
He did not.
“...Sooo… You can leave now, right?” Pomni spoke up with a nervous laugh.
“OH? OH YES YES- I DO NEED TO DO THAT! I”VE GOT THE REST OF MY STARS TO TEND TO!” Caine threw his hand up excitedly.
“Oka-”
“JUST- ONE SMALL FAVOR TO ASK OF YOU BEFORE I LEAVE!” Caine interrupted quickly, floating down to face her. “I PERSONALLY CHECKED ON YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE THE NEW RECRUIT- BUT RAGATHA’S HOLED UP IN HER ROOM TOO! SINCE YOU’LL BE HANGING AROUND HERE ANYWAY, GO TRY AND SEND HER DOWN TO JOIN THE REST OF US WHILE I TEND BACK TO EVERYONE ELSE! ALRIGHT?”
“...Wha-” Pomni shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows. “But you- you can teleport… Can’t you just go and grab her really quick?”
“YES… BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO EXPLAIN THE WHOLE ADVENTURE TO HER AND REPEAT MYSELF, AND IF I DON’T GET BACK TO THE OTHERS THEY MIGHT’VE TRY AND PLAY HOOKY AS WELL! PLUS, EVERY MINUTE SPENT DALLYING IS MORE PAY I HAVE TO SET ASIDE FOR THAT SLEUTH OF A WEASEL… HE’S NOT A CHEAP RESERVATION, YOU KNOW.” Caine shook his head dejectedly, upturning his empty pockets for emphasis, before suddenly brightening up and giving her a big thumbs up. “SO, YOU EXPLAIN IT TO HER FOR ME AND SEND HER DOWN WHERE SHE NEEDS TO BE WHILE I GET THE BALL ROLLING! YOU GET YOUR BREAK AND I GET MY SHOW STARTED! EVERYBODY SCORES A BINGO!”
Pomni blinked slowly, just barely absorbing half that spiel before she raised a finger to speak up.
“But I don’t even really know what’s-”
“THANKS POMNI YOU'RE A REAL RAGTIME GAL!” Caine tipped his hat to her before teleporting out in the blink of an eye without another word.
Pomni stared at the puff of smoke hovering up and away where he once stood, deadpanning.
“...That’s not even- doesn’t make any sense …”
Pomni muttered pettily under her breath, shifting out of her bed dejectedly and towards her door. She knew better by this point than to even attempt arguments of sound reason and logic. Really- she was just better off telling Ragatha and just going about her day as normal after… she’d probably just sleep more, honestly.
Slipping out of her room and dragging herself down the hall, Pomni eventually ended up standing before Ragathas room. She reached forward, giving the door a few firm knocks.
“Ragatha?” She mustered up as awake and apologetic a voice she could manage. “It’s Pomni. Caine… he kinda wanted me to come let you know there’s some adventure going on at-” Pomni blanked, blinking slowly.
Caine didn’t even tell her where the hell they were even having the adventure!
With a groan and the slight bang of her head against the nearby wall, she let out a low groan.
“-god I don’t even know. It’s somewhere in the tent- he didn’t even tell me… Sorry for bothering you about this. He just- you know… wanted me to let you know so you could go join everyone, or something… I-I’m sitting this one out, but… uh… yeeeahhh...”
Pomni shifted awkwardly in front of the door, awaiting a response.
She received none, even after waiting a good 30 or so seconds.
It was only now dawning on Pomni how weird this was. Usually Ragatha was the first and most excited of them to be there when a new adventure was announced… She knew Ragatha liked to sleep and keep routine, sure, but that routine usually got her up and out of her room, ready for the asinine things Caine introduced daily well before anyone else.
Had yesterday's adventure really wiped her out that much to where she was still asleep?
“Uhhh…” She hesitated for a moment before she tried again, knocking a little harder. “Are you awake? Or… even in there?”
Pomni listened close for any sort of movement, or rustling, or a subtle little response- and after a few seconds she swore she heard something.
It was barely audible- but to her it sounded like a groan, almost…?
“Ragatha…?” she tried again, tilting her head towards the door to try and get a closer listen- only to startle as Ragatha’s door pushed open a little.
Apparently, it seemed to be unlocked.
And even more apparent now that it was cracked open was that groaning was coming from inside the room.
Nervously, Pomni poked her head in, eyes widening in response to what she saw.
Half strewn out of bed, one hand over her eyes, the other gripped onto the sheets of her bed- was Ragatha, who at this point was more or less lying on the floor.
“R-Ragatha?!” She said a little more urgently, quickly moving into the room as she rushed over. Had Ragatha fallen out of bed and hurt herself or something?!
Upon closer inspection she was granted little to no clarity. She couldn’t see any obvious injuries on Ragatha… though, Ragatha certainly sounded like she was in pain. Her expression was wisted with discomfort with her eye screwed shut and soft, pained grunts escaping from her mouth as she shifted about ever so slightly- her arm still laying across her forehead and button eye.
Pomni was quick to panic, kneeling down by Ragatha as her fingers curled and she struggled to rationalize what to do- because even back when Ragatha was attacked by Kaufmo she was nothing like this!
“C-can you hear me Ragatha?” She asked hurriedly, though received no direct response. Looking around in a panic as she let out a series of unhelpful ‘uhm- uhm- u-uhm!’s under her breath, she failed to see anything that could help her assess the situation.
As Ragatha’s eye peered open ever so slightly, however, she took her best shot.
“Ragatha! Hey- it’s- can you see me? It’s me, Pomni!” She moved in front of Ragatha’s peripheral, biting her lip as Ragatha just squinted with a low grunt.. She wasn’t responding still, but she was kind of looking in Pomni’s direction- Was that a good sign? It… it probably was, wasn’t it?
“Uhm- h-here! How many fingers am I holding up!” She asked quickly, holding up two.
“ONE IF YOU DON”T COUNT YOUR THU-”
“AHH!”
“AHHH!”
Pomni quickly turned around with a scream, startling Caine enough to make him scream.
In return, Ragatha just let out a whimpered whine as she, futally, attempted to roll away from all the noise.
“Wha-” Pomni’s eye twitched as she glowered at Caine. “What is wrong with you?!
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?” Caine asked, aghast. “YOU SHOULD BE ASKING WHAT’S WRONG WITH HER !” He insisted, gesturing to Ragatha.
“That’s what I was trying! -” Pomni seized, pausing as she took a moment to suck in a deep breath, quell her anger, and thinly smile. For Ragatha’s sake- she needed to calm down.
“Why are you even here ?” She hissed under her breath.
“...WELL. YOU WERE TAKING A GOOD WHILE AND I’D JUST FINISHED SETTING UP TODAY'S ADVENTURE! I HAD A MOMENT SO I FIGURED I’D COME CHECK ON YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE DOING ME THAT FAVOR..” Caine peered around Pomni, tilting his head. “AND WOAH , GOOD THING I DID! YOU SURE NOW HOW TO CAUSE A RUDE AWAKENING KID. YOU TOOK MY PLEA TO HEART!”
“What- no! N-no no- I didn’t do that!” Pomni insisted quickly, shaking her head feverishly. “I found her like this!”
“OH? IS THAT SO?” Caine seemed surprised, moving to hover over Ragatha as he peered down at her speculatory.
“What’s wrong with her?” Pomni asked quickly, nerves heightened at the fact even Caine seemed surprised by what was going on- which was never a good sign.
“...IT LOOKS AS IF DEAR RAGATHA’S COME DOWN WITH A BAD BUG!” Caine put his hands to the side of his head dramatically- an act Ragatha weakly attempted to mimic in an attempt to cover her non-existent ears. “OH THIS HASN’T HAPPENED IN A GOOD WHILE!”
“I-is it serious?!” Pomni practically squeaked out.
“WHAT? NO- NO OF COURSE NOT.” Caine waved his hand nonchalantly. “JUST THE RESULT OF ONCE IN A BLUE MOON DIGITAL DISEASES RUNNING AMOK ON THE CIRCUS GROUNDS! NOTHING WORSE THAN THE COMMON FLU, MY DEAR!”
“...What?” Pomni gawked, shaking her head. “How- how are there diseases here?! We don’t need to eat, drink, or sleep but we can get sick ?”
“I WOULDN’T KNOW- I CERTAINLY HAVEN’T PROPAGATED ANY PLAGUES AND SPREAD THEM AROUND… THAT WOULD GO AGAINST OUR T.O.S!” Caine insisted. “IT’S PROBABLY JUST A RESULT OF OVERSTIMULATION!”
“ Overstimulation? ” Pomni repeated, dumbfounded.
“WE’VE GOT ALL SORTS OF TRANSMITTED SIMULATIONS RUNNING THROUGH YOUR DIGITAL MINDS TO FAKE ALL THOSE SQUISHY, FRAGILE HUMAN FEELINGS!” Caine pointed right at her forehead. “THAT’S INCLUDING PAIN AND EXERTION! SHE PROBABLY JUST PUSHED HERSELF TOO FAR AND OVERHEATED SOME PROCESSOR MANAGING HER DIGITAL BODY- SHE’S SURE TO COOL OFF IN A DAY OR TWO.”
“Wait- wait wait wait- no- no! Y-you can just fix her now , can’t you? You’ve fixed her before!” Pomni insisted.
“NO-HO-HO- I DON’T DEAL WITH THOSE PARTS OF YOU!” Caine was quick to decline. “I’M AN ENTERTAINER, A SHOWMAN, A COMEDIAN AND A DANCE INSTRUCTOR- NOT A SURGEON. IF I CAN’T SEE THE PROBLEM ON YOU AND DON’T KNOW THE DIRECT CAUSE, I’M NOT QUALIFIED TO FIX IT!”
“C-can’t you at least try ?!”
“OH- I HAVE BEFORE.” Caine spoke grimly, gesturing out Ragatha’s open door towards the other end of the hall. Pomni’s eyes widened as she caught sight of another cartoonish face on the room across the hall- the fuzzy appearance of some worm-like creature she’d never seen before with its picture X’d out on the door.
“...Did you kill someone?” She spoke slowly, terrified.
“WHAT? OH HEAVENS NO!” Caine shook his head feverishly. “I JUST TRIED IT BEFORE AND… YOU KNOW… IT WENT HORRIBLY! OLD SQUIZZLUM ABSTRACTED NATURALLY IN A COMPLETELY UNRELATED INCIDENT OF INSANITY.” Caine waved off her concern quickly.
Letting out a breath and trying her best to completely ignore the morbid fact he’d just shared, Pomni passed him a worried glance.
“...But what can we do to help her now then?” She said worriedly, casting a glance over at Ragatha- who was rolled over away from them shivering on the ground.
“A GREAT IDEA, POMNI!” Caine spoke up suddenly, pointing at her with his cane as she lurched back. “YOU CAN HELP HER NOW!”
“ What. ”
“I’M FAR TOO BUSY AT THE MOMENT- BUT SEEING AS YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING ANYWAY, I’M SURE YOU’LL DO GREAT IN GETTING RAGATHA BACK ON HER FEET AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!” Caine assured with the swing of his arm, and now Pomni was panicking.
“B-but I don’t know how to help with this! I’ve- I don’t have any experience!”
“HUMANS DEAL WITH ILLNESS ALL THE TIME- I’M SURE YOU’LL DO FINE!” Caine dismissed, tipping his hat as Bubble flew out with a toothy smile. “BUUTTTT… JUST TO BE SURE- I’LL EVEN LEAVE MY HEAD ASSISTANT BUBBLE TO HELP YOU OUT. HE’S A TRAINED NURSE IN… SOME CAPACITY!”
“Nnnyeeahhh… I’ve got a doctorate.” Bubble half slurred happily, shaking around excitedly.
Pomni’s eye twitched.
Caine snapped his fingers, and Pomni startled as Ragatha suddenly disappeared from the floor and appeared above her bed- flopping back down on it facedown with a loud groan.
“GOOD LUCK TO YOU BOTH- I’M SURE YOU’LL DO GREAT!” Caine said with a wave before disappearing unceremoniously in another puff of smoke- leaving just her, Bubble, and a half conscious Ragatha in the room.
The silence that followed was deafening. Pomni was pretty sure in the week or two she’s been here, she’s never so much as spoke a word to Bubble- and with the way he was floating by her, staring at the side of her head with that shark tooth grin, she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“...Ooookkayy…” She said slowly, turning to face Bubble with a plastered smile. “So, uhm- how about we… split up the work!”
“Split up the work?” Bubble echoed, blinking one eye at a time.
“Yeeeah! Like, I can stay here wit-”
“How?” Bubble interrupted.
“...I’m, uhm, getting to that.” She said with a strained laugh. “I can stay here and look after Ragatha, maybe… uhm… try and make sure she’s comfortable. And while I do that y-”
“And what do I do?” Bubble inquired quickly.
Pomni’s eye twitched, and her smile spread a little wider across her face.
“...You go and find… things! To help her! Like… an ice pack! Stuff I don’t know where or how to get!” Pomni said, clasping her hands together as she stood stiffly. “Stuff that will probably have you… you know… not standing in this room with me! Because that would probably not be productive!...”
Bubble started on at her, unmoving for a few seconds.
“... At all .” She added on with a bit too high strung a tone and a nervous giggle.
“Righhtt! I can do that!” Bubble nodded along quickly. “I’m on it not boss!”
With that the sentient abomination floated out of the room and away, and Pomni let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back against the wall.
Okay- now she didn’t have to worry about… Bubble … now all she had to worry about was Ragatha!
…
Actually that was a big thing to worry about, now that she thought about it, because she had next to no idea how to tend to Ragatha or what the *Nnnnnope! Bad word!* she was supposed to do in a situation like this!
It wasn’t like she had much past experience to call on, after all, considering more or less all of her memories were just- gone! Kerpoof! And she doubted this insane digital space had something simple to fix the issue, like some over the counter medicine for a fever! And even if it did - she didn’t have any idea how to acquire it!
She wasn’t lying when she told Bubble he would know more about that stuff- because she couldn’t even begin to fathom where she might find something like a thermometer, or an ice pack, or even a freaking trash can! And it wasn’t like she was much good to Ragatha with her bare hands!
A drawn out dreary groan from Ragatha, who was still face down on her bed sprawled out like a murder victim, made her feel like she had to do something though…
Pomni nervously inched towards the ragdoll, hovering over the side of the bed as she anxiously glanced around- as if the sudden answer for what to do would just magically show up somewhere in the room.
Of course, of all the things that seemed to magically show up around her- that wasn’t one of them, so Pomni had to improvise.
“...Uhm…You- you’d probably feel better if you were… not lying on your face? D-do you want to maybe flip over to get more comfortable?” Pomni asked meekly, offering Ragatha an apologetic smile.
Ragatha, naturally, didn’t respond- it was as if everything she was saying went in one ear and out the other. Ragatha hadn’t responded much to anything that was happening- aside from the occasional loud noise.
Which meant she must really be sick.
“Oh god…” Pomni winced under her breath, shaking her head. “Uh- okay! I’m just gonna… roll you over and maybe… check your temperature real quick! Yeah- yeah that’s… that’s probably a good idea… but- uhm- this’ll only take a second, okay Ragatha?”
Ragatha, again, obviously didn’t respond- the poor girl just continued to breathe shallowly as she let out the occasional uncomfortable groan.
Taking a breath to steel her nerves, Pomni pushed against Ragatha’s side to try and flip her over onto her back- which Ragatha essentially offered no resistance too, just sprawling her arms out like they were dead weight as she ended up on her back.
It was as if Pomni was pushing around a lumpy bag of rice instead of a person.
Awkwardly Pomni reached over, putting a hand onto Ragatha’s exposed forehead- both she and Ragatha winced at the contact, and it only made her feel all the more guilty for making her friend uncomfortable.
“Oh jeez that’s… pretty hot… p-probably feels a whole lot hotter for you.” Pomni pulled her hand back after a few moments, to which Ragatha sluggishly rubbed at her forehead and murmured out the word ‘hott…’ under her breath in a half slur.
“Okay- uh- think! Think think think… ” Pomni knocked her knuckles against her forehead as she began to lightly pace around the room. She needed to figure out what else she could do- there had to be something! She just… had to do it step by step was all! One problem at a time!
So… Ragatha’s forehead was hot! That was probably really uncomfortable. That wasn’t too hard a fix- an ice pack would help that! She’d just… have to wait for Bubble to probably bring it back… right…
…Okay- Ragatha was shivering too! That didn’t… really make any sense to her. Shouldn’t she be sweating if anything? Maybe it was from pain?
The thought Ragatha was in pain like that just made her feel all the more guilty at how useless she was being- because her mind's next best guess of how to deal with pain like that without medication was just… more ice.
Which, you know, nothing but ice packs didn’t sound like a great solution in her head!
Maybe some water would make Ragatha feel better- but then again, Ragatha barely seemed coherent! And their bodies didn’t even need water, right?
So what the heck was she supposed to do here?!
Pomni gripped the sides of her face as she stared at Ragatha, biting her lip. The one thing she could maybe do something about was how Ragatha was lying- because she was sure being laid out like a corpse wasn’t the most comfortable position.
Maybe Ragatha would appreciate being propped up a little…?
“...H-here! This’ll probably make you feel better…” Pomni was quick to grab one of the few pillows skewed about on the floor, fluffing them briefly as she stacked up 2 behind Ragatha. She carefully lifted up Ragatha’s head, apologizing profusely under her breath as Ragatha let out a discontent whine, and quickly stuffed the pillows under her neck for support before laying her back down.
A few minutes of awkwardly nudging around Ragatha’s limbs later- and the ragdoll was fully in bed now, huddled up in a much more comfortable position with her head propped up properly… though she still hardly looked happy, shifting about and continuing to let out the occasional whine- she even began to let out some weak, wheezed coughs.
At this point, Pomni was at a loss for what else to do- and she felt all the worse for it. This would be so much easier if Ragatha could just- tell her what she needed… But that wasn’t even entirely fair on Ragatha!
It would be infinitely easier if Pomni herself was just- capable! Getting Ragatha the bare necessities shouldn’t have been any problem at all- but here she was! Sitting awkwardly by the bedside twiddling her thumbs because she had no idea where anything was and was too worried to leave Ragatha’s side and bumble about aimlessly.
But at least that would be doing… something productive to help alleviate her friend's pain! She felt so helpless it was infuriating! There had to be something more she could do, like maybe she could-
Creaaakk-
Could…
…
Pomni stared dumbfounded, having turned around quickly at the sound of the door creaking, ready to close it to stop any irritable noises that might make Ragatha uncomfortable.
Instead she was now staring at Kinger, who was standing in the doorway staring back at her without a word.
“...What-”
“ AHHH! ”
Pomni cringed as Kinger jumped back and let out a yelp, eye twitching as Ragatha whined and slurred out a hoarse ‘loou..dd..’ as she rolled onto her side away from the door.
Pomni wasted no time in shoving Kinger out of the room as she closed the door partially behind her, all the while he looked back at her curiously.
“Oh! Pomni- you startled me! How-”
“What are you doing here?!” She half demanded and half cried under her breath, practically at her wits end.
“Well, it’s a funny story-”
Bubble floated over from across the hall before Kinger could go on, floating by Kingers side as Pomni stared between the both of them.
Bubble had nothing with him, and Kinger had gone silent.
“...What’s the story?!” She hissed out, gripping the sides of her head before glaring to Bubble. “And where’s- where’s anything ! You were supposed to go get- stuff! For Ragatha!”
“Stuff for Ragatha?” Kinger questioned, raising a hand to scratch his hand. “We aren’t doing a white elephant exchange, are we?”
“A white- What?! WHAT DOES THAT-”
Pomni took a breath through her teeth, fingers curled against her scalp as she held the breath in her chest for a solid 5 seconds before letting it out. She needed to stay calm .
“ Bubble .” She emphasized with a wobbly smile. “Where’s the stuff to help Ragatha???”
Bubble stared at her long and hard, gaze shifting after a few seconds to look Kinger up and down as silence droned on through the hall.
“Oh yeah.” Bubble half giggled, nodding along before turning around and floating away around the corner without another word.
Pomni’s eye twitched.
“You seem more crazy than usual.” Kinger noted, scratching the top of his playing piece head. “You haven’t finally lost it, have you?”
“No!” She cried out desperately as Kinger let out a sigh of relief- though to be honest, at this point she might as well have. “I’m- I’m in the middle of something really important and I have no idea how to go about it ‘cause Caine put me up to it on a whim and Bubble was supposed to go grab stuff to help with the situation and he game back with nothing and everythings going wrong and whatareyouevendoinghere?!? ”
Pomni’s chest heaved as she finished her proverbial word vomit, all the while Kinger just kept scratching his head.
“Well- before I came here I was looking around the kitchen for clues to find where the missing barstool went. The detective Caine prepared for us insisted the evidence was within some kind of meat-based sandwich… but I only found vegan wraps in the fridge-”
Pomni dragged her hands down her face, biting back a maniacal cackle as she listened on.
“I was having no such luck solving the mystery… and then Bubble showed up and ended up eating ice out of the freezer door before floating back here. I followed him thinking he had some sort of lead.” Kinger leaned forward, looking at her intensely. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Wordlessly, Pomni shoved face into her hands, thumped back against the wall, and sunk down to the floor.
“This is all so hopeless…” She whispered into her hands with a whimper, pupils scratchy and staticy as her mind buzzed with exhaustion and exasperation. Kinger, lingering by her, leaned over and tilted his head at her.
“Oh I wouldn’t say that… I mean- it seems like me and you are very bad at this, so, maybe it actually is for us… But someone else’ll solve the mystery I’m sure.”
“No!” She cried, rubbing at her face as she curled up her legs. “It’s- R-Ragatha’s sick as can be and I’m- I don’t know what to do- I want to help but- it’s- I-I don’t-”
“Oh, she’s sick?” Kinger said quizzically, shifting over towards her door as if to go inside. Pomni caught a glimpse of him and shot up quickly, panicked.
“D-don’t make it worse! She needs quiet and- and- I-”
Kinger opened the door, peering inside.
“ Kinger! ” She hissed under her breath, futally attempting to block him from walking into the room- all to no avail.
He meandered up by Ragatha’s side, peering down at her as Pomni stood twitching by the door.
“...Oh wow, that does look bad.” He scratched his head as he peered down at her. “I haven’t seen someone this sick in forever. It’s like she doesn’t even know we’re here.”
“I- she’s not super responsive, all she responds to is noise… I-I think.” Pomni half stuttered, moving to his side as she attempted to guide him away from the bed. “Which is why you shouldn’t be talking around her- just-”
“She’s shivering like crazy .” Kinger commented, unmoving as he glanced Ragatha down head to toe.
“I… I know- but I don’t-” Pomni tried to take a deep breath. “I’ll figure it out, just- please don’t-”
“Well why didn’t you cover her up then?” Kinger asked genuinely, moving a hand to grab at the bed sheets in an attempt to drag them over Ragatha.
“Because she’s got a fever ! I think she’s just aching and I…”Pomni trailed off, watching with furrowed brows as Ragatha immediately clung to the sheets tossed over her- sluggishly pulling them around herself instead of kicking them off. “...What?”
“Oh, no- she’s probably just cold.” Kinger waved his hand before glancing back at Pomni. “When you’re this out of it with sickness your brain goes crazy and tries to convince your body it’s not warm enough. Her mind’s probably lost it and keeps telling her she’s freezing.”
Pomni pursed her lips, having no idea how to respond to that- especially considering Ragatha almost seemed to… not hate having a blanket thrown over her? Though she was still shivering.
“Must not be heavy enough.” Kinger noted with a hum, hands moving to de-robe himself as Pomni instinctually covered her eyes- because why wouldn’t she at something like that ?!
Peering through her fingers however, she was relaxed to see Kinger was just a standard chess piece from head to toe… which actually just raised a million and one questions in her mind- but all of that was superseded with the fact Kings robe was now laid out over Ragatha like a blanket.
And for some reason she seemed a lot less restless?
“There we go.” Kinger nodded with a hum, turning back to Pomni. “What do you suppose she’s thinking about? A game show- maybe?”
“A… what? No- I don’t…” Pomni trailed off, finger on her chin as she stared worriedly at Ragatha. “I-isn’t she going to overheat with blankets on her like that…?”
“Probably not- her head’s the thing that’s on fire. And it’s not like we actually have body temperature anyway.” He raised a finger. “It’s all just sensations anyhow- she just feels like she’s boiling in a crock pot.”
“...R-right…” Pomni felt the smallest bit relieved, even if still weary- because right , this… Technically Ragatha wasn’t in any real danger, even if she probably felt like hot garbage. “Well- is there… what else should we do for her to help?”
“Have you tried prayer? I think that used to be a pretty popular cure all.” Kinger turned to her and asked.
She stared at him, unblinking.
“Ice could also work, assuming there is no god.” Kinger raised a hand as he began shuffling towards the door- moving along the black and white tiled floor like a chess piece.“I’ve got some in my room we could try.”
“I- yes! Yes that option please!” Pomni insisted.
Within a minute Kinger had returned, having left to grab ice and having returned with a pouch of it… Literally so. From what she could tell he’d just grabbed a sack and stuffed it full of what she could only assume, or hope, was ice.
Ragatha sucked in a tense breath the moment it was placed on her forehead, which made Pomni herself tense up all the same- though her body relaxed as Ragatha let out the breath soon after and relaxed back into her pillow- now still and quiet.
Pomni moved back and slumped back exhausted into a chair near the door- finally able to relax a little as she rested her head on hand. Kinger shuffled over to her, gesturing to the seat beside her.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“Oh- uh… no.” She shook her head, blinking after a split second as her mind rewound to think about the question she’d half just brushed over. Had she said that right? “I mean- yes, yes you can sit down , I mean. I don’t-” she paused, shutting herself up as she threw her head back. “...I’m tired .”
“Me too… It's been a long day of being bad at everything.” Kinger moved to plop down beside her, his chess piece body bending into a slouched position as if it were made of elastic. “It sure is exhausting, isn’t it?”
Pomni, ignoring the technical insult, just gave Kinger a puzzled look. Without prompting, he elaborated, looking down at his lap as he fiddled with his hands.
“I mean don’t tell the armadillo this- I took the oath of truth, after all, but I wasn’t actually looking for clues in the kitchen. I just didn’t want to participate…” He averted his glance. “I’m no good with murder mysteries…”
“...I thought- wasn’t the adventure something about a barstool going missing?” Pomni spoke up, already completely lost.
“Oh- yes. But that was just the weapon the murder used… Were you not there for the briefing?”
“No?” Pomni’s voice took on a nervous edge as she sat up straight. “I- nobody actually got murdered , right?”
“Nobody but a separate sentient barstool.”
Pomni just stared disbelievingly at Kinger, searching for any hint of irony or a crack in his expression.
There was none.
“Riggghtt, of course. That… that makes perfect sense.” She laughed along awkwardly.
“Oh it does?...Well at least it does to one of us.” Kinger scratched his head. “Like I said, I’m no good at these things.”
“...Oh.”
The room faded into silence, Pomni glancing away as she awkwardly swung her legs around on the chair, shifting the odd glance at Ragatha, who seemed to be fast asleep by now, and Kinger- who was staring off into space unblinkingly.
Eventually though, her curiosity got the better of her and she shifted over to better face Kinger.
“Hey, King-”
“ AHH! ”
Pomni’s hands curled into fists as she shrunk into herself and quickly looked at Ragatha, eyes widened- thankfully the most Ragatha did was shift under her covers and turn away from the two of them.
Pomni let out a breath before giving Kinger a deadpanned look as he put a hand to his chest.
“You really have to stop doing that, Pomni…” He breathed out.
“...Right.” She sighed, speaking softly to avoid disturbing Ragatha anymore. “But- uhm… anyway- how did you know how to… do all that?”
“Do all what?” He responded, tilting his head.
“The- all that with Ragatha.” She clarified, frowning to herself. “I mean- you… you made it look so… easy . I was freaked out the whole time about what to do…” She paused after, moving to hug herself as she rubbed her shoulders at the thought that it probably was that easy… She just was so incapable even Kinger made it look simple by comparison.
“Oh don’t be too hard on yourself- at least not for that.” Kinger waved his hand. “It just comes with seeing it happen a couple times- you’ll figure it out faster after the first few.”
Pomni sincerely hoped not, since that would imply this was going to be a recurring thing- though that only made her more curious.
“You’ve had to deal with this a couple times before?” She shifted in her seat to completely face Kinger.
“Yeah, half a dozen times or so… the new guy always ends up being put on caretaker duty.” Kinger suddenly stuck his hand out at her. “That’s you now, by the way. Thanks for taking my spot…” Kinger paused. “And Zoobles… and Gangles… and Jax’s… and-”
“I thought you were the oldest one here?” Pomni interrupted, half because she got the point and half because she was genuinely confused.
“Right now I am, but… you know… there’ve been plenty before me, maybe even a couple after me and before you guys. Lots that have come and gone.” Kinger twiddled with his thumbs. “I got roped into sick duty a lot- I didn’t really mind though. It was a great time to work on my insect collection.”
Pomni couldn’t help but stare, unsure of what exactly to say as her mouth hung open slightly.
How long she’s been here was something that haunted her almost daily- sometimes it was easy to forget just how much longer everyone else had already been here… It made her feel kind of guilty for being so annoyed by someone who’d clearly been through more of this hell then she probably could ever stand.
“...That sounds terrible, Kinger…” She said softly, genuinely, leg bouncing a little as she glanced away. “It’s- easy to forget you’ve been here that long…”
“Don’t worry- it surprises everyone.” He assured eagerly with the nod of his head. “Most go insane after a few years… 3 or 4, usually.”
Pomni hugged herself a little tighter at the prospect- both at the idea of spending years here and at the fact Kinger supposedly had been here much longer than that- she really couldn’t judge him with all he’d been through.
“...Sorry…” She murmured in a meek, roundabout apology- unable to quite look him in the eye.
“Oh you don’t have to be- people deviate from the average sometimes. If anything I’m sorry you’ve gone insane rambling on about that ‘exit’ so much faster.” He patted her shoulder in an attempted comfort, and she just barely stopped herself from giving him a deadpanned look- remembering the sympathy she’d just taught herself.
“I’m- I’m not insane, okay?’ She sighed, lightly shoving off his hand. “I know I saw an exit door, okay? I even…” Pomni trailed off, wincing a little at the memory of what was within as she shook her head, mind fuzzy. “I know I did.”
“Everyone always says something like that.” Kinger nodded with a hum. “I’m sure you’ll get over this obsession with leaving soon enough though! You seem stable enough to keep your head.”
Rubbing her temple, Pomni leaned over with the shake of her head- the fight in her gone… not that she really wanted to fight Kinger in the first place. She’d rather been ‘insane’ than an *INCORRECT BUZZER* -hole. “Right… thanks… I guess .”
“No, no I mean it- I’m sure you can do it. People have come back from the deep end before! Not many, sure, so maybe the odds aren’t in your favor…” Kinger instated, as if trying to be helpful in encouraging her to give up all hope.
“ Kinger .” She started, exasperated and unable to help but let a small bit of irritation leak out into her tone.
“But still some- Like Ragatha! She’s done it! And you even remind me of her when she first got here… so you’ll probably be just fine!”
Pomni blinked slowly, suddenly sitting up at full attention as she peered over to Kinger- exasperation all but evaporated.
“Like- like Ragatha ?” Pomni repeated, staring at him skeptically. “What do you mean? She’s… most of the time she just talks to me about accepting that there’s no exit and that things aren’t that bad here.”
“Oh yeah, she’s really good at that.” Kinger nodded along. “She used to be really bad at it though- the worst, actually. She was completely bonkers in the brain about leaving before.” Kinger made a crazy motion with his finger, gesturing to his own head. “I thought she’d Abstract for sure back then- she was adamant she had to get out of here for a while.”
“...S-she was?” Pomni said softly, turning to glance at Ragatha as her heart sank a little in her chest.
“Sure- I was worried she’d be the fastest one to go I’d ever seen… I mean- maybe not as fast as you , but you held out.” Kinger nodded along, either ignoring the slight stink eye she’d given him or not seeing it. “She had a complete freak out one day during an adventure about it, Caine ended up putting it on hold and pulled her aside. Must’ve helped her back to her room or something, because I didn’t see her for the rest of the day.”
“W-was she okay?” Pomni asked quickly as she looked up to Kinger, holding her hands up against her chest. She sobered quickly after realizing Ragatha was quite literally right across the room, feeling like an idiot, albeit still concerned with what she was being told. Kinger, thankfully, didn’t notice.
“Oh yes, thankfully. Next time we saw her was the next day, and it was like she turned over a new leaf! Changed her perspective on trying to leave and about doing the adventures and trying to be happy here… it was real reliving to see her in such spirits. She’s gotten real better since then too!” He nodded, quickly turning to glance at her. “Maybe you should try talking to her about it sometime Pomni- she could probably help you get past your delusions so you don’t end up like Kaufmo.”
Pomni couldn’t even find it in her to actually get mad at the half-insult this time- cause it was clear to her Kinger wasn’t being malicious. He was just… worried. Worried in his own weird kind of way, sure, but… worried still- cause he’d seen this before from the sounds of it.
Even more upsetting to hear was that apparently Ragatha had gone through this too and had given up on hope… was that what she’d meant before when she rambled about reaching a breaking point? Was that why she’d pivoted so hard into trying to convince Pomni things could be okay here?
Either way- she figured at the very least most of the people here just wanted what was best for her. They’d been through the same, after all, even if she wasn’t here to see it.
“...Thanks, Kinger.” She offered him a tired smile, weary smile. “I’ll… uhm… I’ll think about it. Talking about it with her- I mean… that…”
“Oh that’s good- because I’m no good at talking about it.” He sighed out, and Pomni almost had to stifle a laugh at that.
Quickly after he moved to stand, gesturing towards the door.
“Well, I’m going to head out and go catch a game show. I think it’s usually on this time of week. You wouldn’t mind telling Ragatha to bring my robe back when she wakes up for me, would you?”
“Oh- uh, yeah! Yeah I’ll… I’ll probably just bring it back myself.” She smiled nervously. “But- yeah… yeah I’ll do that soon as I can.”
“Great- see you later then Pomni!”
“Bye Kinger.”
Kinger shuffled out of the room, leaving the door open a crack behind him. Pomni remained, slouching back into her chair with a sigh as a wave of exhaustion hit her all at once- both from all she learned and from the fact she finally had a moment all to herself to try and relax… which was really all she wanted from the start.
She didn’t want to leave Ragatha’s side though- just in case she needed anything, so she sat rooted in her chair near the door, lingering nearby just in case anything were to go wrong.
Her eyelids lulled little by little the longer she sat there, with her eventually deciding she’d close them- just for a minute. Ragatha was asleep after all, it wasn’t like she’d mind if she just… shut her eyes for a moment.
Just for a moment…
Bubble floated down the hall- teeth gnashing against the handle of a small kart. Half melted ice pooled in a dish tray as he pushed it down the dormitory hall, approaching Ragatha’s room.
As he reached the room he released his toothy grip on the kart, licking his lips of the metallic taste as he brushed the door open and sung out a light ‘Room serviceeee~’
Upon entering the room, however, he found no response. The ragdoll was fast asleep in her bed, unresponsive- and the Jester was all the same in a chair by the door, snoring softly.
After a second of glancing between the two, Bubble silently slipped out of the room and shut the door with a click, gnashing back at the metal handle of the kart as he rolled off somewhere else. More than ready to eat the half melted ice he was now entitled to for a job well done.