Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I recently watched the pilot for this awesome series and fell in love! My faves are Pomni, Jax, and Ragatha, so expect plenty of stories with them! Enjoy!

Also anytime a character swears it will be replaced with a sound effect like in the show because that is hilarious imo. It'll look like this:

[BOING]

Okay, now on with the stories!

Chapter Text

Pomni groaned and sank to the floor in the hallway. It had only been a few days since she had arrived in The Amazing Digital Circus and so far, it was not amazing at all. She wanted to go home, but everyone said she was trapped. Caine promised he was working on an exit, but the toothy ringmaster didn’t seem all that concerned about it.

Ragatha comforted Pomni, which was nice and the ragdoll seemed to be the least insane character of the group, but the others were all pretty odd. Gangle never seemed to stop crying and Kinger was- well, he was Kinger. Zooble tended to keep to themself and Jax was irritating as [HONK].

And after the whole incident with Koufmo the clown (he used to be such a nice guy before he abstracted according to Ragatha), Pomni was terrified she would suffer the same fate. Which was why she was sitting here now, wallowing in her pity. Sniffling, the jester girl began to cry, hiding her face in her knees so she didn’t bother anyone. Pomni may be stuck in a digital world, but she didn’t have to like it.

~~~

Jax laid in bed staring up at the ceiling. He had lost count of the days he had been in the Circus. Besides, time worked weird here. For all he knew, one day could have been weeks, months, or even years since he’d been in the real world. Jax quickly shook his head. It was thoughts like those that caused characters to abstract like Koufmo. Jax would really like to not do that bull- [SQUEAK]. Sighing, he ran his hands down his face. Sleep was eluding him. Not that he actually needed it in this digital world, but still. It would be nice to not think for a few hours. He was drawn by his inconsiderate thoughts by the sound of crying outside his room. Groaning, the purple rabbit pulled his pillow over his head.

Probably just Gangle again. She should toughen up a little. Huffing, Jax rose from the bed and got up to go tell Gangle to [BOING] off and cry elsewhere, but when he opened his door, he faltered. It hadn’t been the drama character, but the new kid, Pomni. She had her face in her knees and was crying her eyes out. Crossing his arms, Jax cleared his throat, making the girl jump.

“J-Jax! Oh my god, I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to wake you!” She quickly stood, looking terrified. 

“Geez, kid, I don’t bite, relax.” Jax said with an eye roll. Pomni relaxed the tiniest bit, but still seemed very uneasy. Jax was frustrated and he knew he should tell her to get over it, but maybe he was feeling nice, or maybe he just pitied the kid with tear stained cheeks and a trembling lip. Maybe that was why he didn’t immediately tell her to leave. 

“Kid, you’re fine. I couldn’t sleep anyway. And from the looks of it, I’d say you can’t either.” He remarked, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Pomni made a miserable sound and nodded.

“Y-yeah. I’m sorry, I’ll leave you alone Jax.” She turned to leave, but Jax stopped her.

“Pom-Pom, I never told yah you had to leave. What kinda guy do I look like?” The rabbit asked. Then he frowned. Since when did he care about this mopey girl anyway.

“But hey, if you wanna wander aimlessly around until morning, that’s fine. Just watch out- Koufmo likes to roam at night.” He added with a cheeky grin. So what if he had just fudged the truth a bit about Koufmo. Apparently it was enough for Pomni and she scurried back over to Jax.

“Y-You’re really okay if I stay?” She asked, fidgeting with her gloves nervously. Jax shrugged.

“Like I said, I don’t really give a [CRASH] what you do, but if you’re up, I wouldn’t mind the company.” Pomni shifted from foot to foot nervously before scuttling into Jax’s room.

“Yeah, sure kid. Just come on in. Without an invitation.” The purple bunny said sarcastically. Pomni turned and glared at him.

“Y-You literally just said I could come hang out with you!” She argued. Jax smirked.

“But I never said you could come into my room.” 

Pomni groaned and rolled her eyes. Good. Irritated Pomni was better than crying Pomni. 

“Do you want me here or not, Jax.” Jax shrugged again.

“Your call, kiddo.” He said as he plopped onto his bed. Pomni shuffled around a bit before hesitantly sitting on the very edge of the bed, keeping her distance from Jax.

“I’ll stay.” She mumbled in a small voice. Jax was surprised at the small flicker of relief he felt.

God-[BLEEP] it. I think I’m going soft. Ragatha can’t know about this.

Jax shifted so he could face Pomni.

“So kid, what’s with the crying tonight?” Pomni bit her lower lip.

“You’ll laugh at me if I tell you.” She said. Jax made a noncommittal noise in his throat.

“I can’t promise that I won’t, but I’ll try not to.” The jester stared at him with her 2 colored eyes for a few moments before sighing.

“It might help to tell someone.” She decided. Jax grinned and scooched closer.

“Exactly. Lay it on me Pom-Pom.” He said, while Pomni glared at him.

“Don’t call me that. And FYI I’m older than you, so don’t call me ‘kid’ either” She argued, while Jax snickered.

“Right, sure, whatever you say.” Pomni huffed before sagging.

“Jax, do- do you ever get homesick, for like the real world.” Jax was caught off guard.

“I mean, I don’t really remember what the ‘real world’ is like, so I can’t say I have. Why?” He asked, genuinely curious. Pomni let out an awkward laugh.

“I-it’s dumb, but I think I might be feeling homesick. I miss my friends, my family, my house. I don’t even know how long I’ve been here.” She was gonna start crying again, Jax could tell.

“Well, time works differently here than back there. You could be here for weeks and only a few hours would pass back in the real world.” He said, hoping to be comforting. 

“That might be true, but I still miss home.” Jax sighed and awkwardly put his arm around Pomni in a sort of side hug.

“Kid, I’m not sure how else to tell yah. This is your home now. Until Caine can figure out an exit, you live here. And let's be honest, Caine doesn’t seem too worried about gettin’ back.”

Pomni’s chin wobbled and her eyes filled with tears, but to Jax’s surprise, she kept it together.

“I know. And maybe if I’m here long enough, I’ll just forget and I won’t feel homesick anymore.” She said, scrubbing her eyes with her fists. Jax grinned at her.

“See? That’s the right attitude. You’re tough Pomni, you can handle this change.” He said, pulling the girl into a headlock. She cried out and wriggled.

“Jax! Lemme go! If this is your way of making me feel better, it’s not working!” She managed to find the rabbit's side and shoved him roughly. Jax was caught off guard and went tumbling off the bed, somersaulting cartoonishly until he hit the wall. From his disoriented state, he heard Pomni gasp. And then, she started laughing. Not the maniacal, insane laughter she was prone to, but genuine, happy laughter. Jax righted himself and saw her clutching her ribs and howling, the bells on her hat jingling all the while.

“O-Oh my god! Jax, I am so sorry! Are you okay?” She giggled out, holding out a hand to help the bunny up. He brushed himself off, and stood trying to play it off.

“Yeah, never better kiddo. Glad my pain is so amusing.” He said, although he was finding it difficult to keep himself from laughing. Pomni giggled a bit more before calming down.

“Thanks Jax. I needed that.” She said, wiping tears of mirth from her large, buggy eyes. Jax waved it off.

“No problem, sweetheart. Glad you feel better.” Pomni smiled at him.

“Who knew you were such a softie, Jax. I bet Ragatha would love to know that.” She teased.

“Hey, Dollface absolutely, under no circumstances will you tell her about tonight, got that? Or else I’ll feed you to the Gloink queen!” Pomni snickered, feeling a bit more at home now.

“Sure, bunny boy. Can’t have that big, bad reputation of yours spoiled, can we?”

Jax crossed his arms indignantly.

“Ey, watch who you’re teasing, Missy. You’re in my room remember?” He retorted. Pomni giggled and yawned, curling up in the middle of Jax’s bed.

“Yeah, and I think I’ll stay tonight.” Jax wanted to argue and kick her out, but by the time he had a response formulated, Pomni was fast asleep, snoring quietly. Shaking his head, Jax dropped a blanket over her and curled up into his chair instead. Who would have thought he’d find a friend in this goofy, slightly crazed jester.