Chapter Text
Tick tock, tick tock. The grandfather clock in Ragatha’s room ticked and ticked. It was by no means an accurate measure of time, it’s hands seemed to just do whatever they wanted. She wasn’t upset though, the constant ticking provided a comforting background noise while she spent time in her room, be it for simulated sleep or patching herself up. Yes, Caine could and usually would fix any and all injuries to her form, but sometimes she just preferred taking it into her own hands. The small bodily autonomy it gave her was a nice comfort.
She sat in her rocking chair, cautiously threading a needle and string through her left hand. While trying to help Gangle fix her broken comedy mask after a *certain purple bunny* broke it, she cut herself on the ceramic shards. Now she was sitting there quietly, listening to the endless ticking and tocking of the old, wooden clock. She usually drowned out the noise to sleep, but it was rather comforting to hear while she was fixing herself. It was a nice, comforting near-silence she had while fixing herself, giving her a break from the mania of the circus and the constant barrage of music and other sounds (like Jax being choked by Zooble)
She could feel the needle and string pass through her hand, it was a strange and slightly painful sensation, but she had gotten used to it after doing it over and over again on herself. She was almost finished, when the sound of a knock took her out of it. She decided to stick the needle into her hand to hold it in place for now. She was curious to see who had knocked, not mandy inhabitants of the circus had the courtesy to knock. When she opened the door, she could see a shaky, hunched over little jester girl, who's eyes were wide open as usual. Her eyes weren't scribbles, so that was….Good, Ragatha supposed. She and Pomni hadn't talked much since her first day, the Jester had either been avoiding her or the opportunity never really arose.
"Oh, Hey Pomni, what can I do for you?" She asked, happy to see the clown girl reach out to her. Pomni's eyes darted around shortly, her brain looking for words to say.
"I- Uhm… I… Can I stay in your room? Mine is creeping me out…" Pomni said, being surprisingly forward.
"Oh, sure. Make yourself comfortable." Ragatha stepped aside, revealing her home to Pomni. It was all cozy and rather cutesy, with a pink dollhouse aesthetic. Pomni nodded and stepped inside, looking around.
"The rooms are all adjusted to each of us, what's yours like?" Ragatha asked as she closed the door and sat down into her rocking chair.
Pomni stared into nothingness for a moment as she sat down on a stool near the rocking chair.
"Clown themed. Dangerous." She muttered quietly, wincing as she thought about some of her furniture.
"I mean, I've got a tightrope, a cannon and a balloon pump- It's all made just to fit… THIS!" Pomni gestured at her body.
"But this isn't who I am! I'm not some jester, I don't know how to balance on a tightrope or tie a balloon or jump from a diving board onto a trampoline- I don't want this to be me! I- I-" Pomni gripped onto her jester cap's tails and started pulling, in a motion similar to pulling one's hair. Small tears formed in her eyes and her pupils turned to scribbles as she did so. She started hyperventilating and it felt like everything was spinning-
Until she felt something soft wrap around her, taking her out of it. She looked to see Ragatha had gotten up and hugged her. Both arms were slung around Pomni's torso, one of them petting and stroking her head.
"There, there…" Ragatha said, trying to comfort Pomni. “Let it all out, bottling things up isn’t a good idea.”
At that point Pomni began to quietly sob into Ragtha’s dress, wetting it with her tears. ”It’s going to be okay. You're okay...”
The two spent some time just being together in an embrace, as Pomni tried to calm down and was comforted by the taller doll girl. It was difficult to tell how long it had been, but to Pomni it felt like an eternity and she didn’t ever want the strange warm feeling welling up in her chest to go away. She wiped away what remained of her tears and smiled slightly.
“Thanks Ragatha, I- I really needed that. You’re really good with others…” Ragatha smiled back.
“No Problem Pomni, just glad to be helpful. If you want, you can stay here. I was going to start working on a scarf for Kinger. There’s no winter here but you know, it’s the easiest thing to make-”
“I think I’d like that…” Pomni said, looking at the one-eyed Ragdoll girl who sat back down in her rocking chair and grabbed a ball of yarn and two large needles and began knitting, her needles clicking whenever they made contact. She didn’t notice Pomni watching her with big eyes, or slowly scooting her stool over to watch, until a certain Jester’s cap was leaning against her side. Ragatha didn’t mind though, it felt oddly nice and comforting to have someone by her side like this… And so they sat their, as the clock quietly ticked away...