Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a particularly easy day for the characters in the digital circus, it was an inhouse adventure where Caine made them go through an obstacle course. Probably the hardest one was the foam square pit they had to cross. Zooble lost 2 of their parts in it and bubble had to go retrieve them. After they completed it, Caine let them have their digital dinner and go to their rooms to prepare for the next day. Ragatha on her way to her room, spotted Gangle and Pomni talking to each other. Gangle was talking about something called Warrior cats. Pomni just went along with it. Nodding and pretending to be as knowing as Gangle. Kinger passed by and brought facts in, talking about how the cats didn't do that in real life and it wasn't real. Gangle and Kinger began to bicker about whether or not this would happen in real life as Pomni managed to slip away. Ragatha was still watching and saw the whole scene. She just shrugged it off and went back to what she was doing.

In the middle of the night. Ragatha laid in bed, her thoughts eating at her. She never slept at night because it wasn't necessary but still having time to themselves was nice. She got up out of boredom and paced around the room. Unable to keep still due to boredom. And it was the middle of the night, who would be up for them to talk to? Then there was a knock at Ragatha's door. She fixed her hair and brightened up her mood as she opened the door to see who it was. There stood a small scared Pomni. Looking around frantically as if someone was watching them.

“Hey pomni. Are you alright?” Ragatha spoke with a hint of concern.

“Well.. I was in my room and then under my bed, there were a bunch of.. spiders.” Pomni shuddered at the word. Ragatha rolled her eyes. It was probably another prank from Jax as he had keys to everyone's rooms.

“Do you want to stay in my room for the rest of the night? Then tomorrow we can tell Caine and he can get rid of them.” Ragatha brought up. Pomni looked at Ragatha and gave a small nod and she let her in.

Ragatha’s room wasn't that special. There was some sewing materials on the desk and the room was quite clean. Other than that, it looked the same as the other rooms. Pomni awkwardly stood in the room near the closet as Ragatha shut the door and then sat on her bed.

“You can sit down if you want.” She told Pomni, noticing her standing there. Pomni was fidgeting with her hands anxiously as she sat in the desk chair across from Ragatha. There was an awkward moment of silence as Pomni looked around the room avoiding eye contact and whatnot. “Do you want to play cards?” Ragatha suggested, breaking the silence. Pomni nodded and they migrated to the floor to play more comfortably. They decided on Go-Fish.

“I win!” Pomni exclaimed several rounds later, Ragatha had won 5 games, and Pomni just won her third. Ragatha let out a small chuckle.

“Wanna play again?” She asked. But Pomni yawned.

“I'm actually quite tired. Maybe we should sleep.” Pomni began to put the cards up as Ragatha got a little confused by the statement.

“But we can't sleep?”

“What do you mean? I've slept almost every night since I came here.” Pomni was a bit confused herself now. Ragatha took the cards from Pomni and put them away into the box.

“No, we can't sleep because it's a digital world. I've never fallen asleep here.”

“Then what do you do at night? Do you just lay there and pretend?” That was exactly what Ragatha did every night. As a matter of fact, she never actually tried to sleep now that she thought about it. It wasn't necessary.

“Yea, that's really what I do.” She confirmed it verbally.

“Well, do you want to at least try and sleep, together perhaps?” Pomni said the last part a bit quietly as a small blush came upon her face. Ragatha froze a bit but she had to give her answer.

“S-sure! There's no harm in trying, is there?” Ragatha followed it with an awkward smile. She stood up and lent a hand to help Pomni up. She then flicked the light off and got into bed. Pomni was already laying down waiting for Ragatha. They both got comfortable. Ragatha luckily had two pillows, but only one blanket. And Pomni didnt bring anything with them.

“Well, goodnight Pomni.” Ragatha said quietly. Pomni yawned again.

“Goodnight Ragatha.” Pomni replied. And in a few minutes she fell asleep. Ragatha for the first time in awhile began to feel drowsy as her eyes drooped and she fell asleep next to her.

Chapter Text

In the morning, Caine as usual sent Bubble to wake up everyone. Bubble was given a horn and he would parade down the hall blowing it causing everyone to wake up. Pomni woke up groggily and saw Ragatha and her were snuggling close with each other. Ragatha slept quietly and her hair was tangled slightly. The horn blaring down and up the halls didn't bother them. Pomni didn't want to move because she didn't want to wake her up, but they had to start the day. She nudged Ragatha slightly but there was no reaction.

“Ragatha? You.. awake?” Pomni quietly questioned. Ragatha then woke up. Squinting her eyes and looking at Pomni. She stretched out and sat up.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Pomni questioned. Ragahta looked relatively refreshed from the sleep she got. She nodded in response. They then heard a knock on a door and both girls looked at the door then each other.

“Ragatha, Pomni isn't answering her door, you awake?” It was Jax’s voice. He liked to wake everyone up as well and sometimes play an airhorn to get them up. Both girls had the same idea. Hide. Ragatha got up, letting Pomni out of bed and then helped her hide under her bed. Ragatha straightened her dress out, fixed her hair, and opened the door to Jax.

“Good morning Jax. How can I help you?” She questioned.

“Y’know where Pomni is?”

“No. I haven't seen her this morning. Maybe she's still asleep.”

“Whateves, can I borrow something of yours dollface?” Ragatha paused and shifted her eyes to the side.

“Maybe not, my room is a mess anyway-” Jax let himself in. Pomni on the other hand was trying her best to be quiet. She saw Jax enter and covered her mouth to not let sound out. Jax went around the room searching through stuff.

“Could you please leave? I need to get ready for the day and whatnot.” Ragatha was already ready for the day. Jax went around and kept searching.

“I just want your deck of cards, that's all.” Jax rolled his eyes. Ragatha kept all her games under the bed. The place Pomni was hiding. Ragatha went over to the bed and pulled out the box with everything in it. It was nicely organized as well.

“Here you go!” Ragatha smiled showing Jax the box.

“What else have you got under there?” Jax bent over to look under but Ragatha moved over so he couldn't see under. But it was too late. He spotted the red and blue colors of Pomnis' hat and moved Ragatha aside. He dragged Pomni out and looked at both of them. Pomni froze not knowing what to do. Jax then took the cards and dropped Pomni on the floor. As he reached the door he left with one word.

“Queers.” He shut the door and both girls exchanged a look. Both acquired a not so subtle blush. Pomni got up and headed towards the door.

“I'm going to get.. Um.. breakfast..” She left without saying another word and Ragatha snapped back to normal after a moment. She put the box away and headed towards breakfast. Meanwhile Pomni, even though there were spiders under her bed, she rushed to her room and shut the door behind her. She got to the ground with her knees to her chest wondering how to respond. Why was she having these feelings? She never was in a relationship before. A million thoughts rushed through her head at once until a spider crawled up onto her. Pomni yelped and swiped it off of her, she left in a hurry to find Caine.

Chapter Text

Ragatha walked towards the table they all sat at, a glitching square was the only out of the ordinary thing she passed. She took her seat next to Kinger and started to eat her food. She looked over and saw Pomni wasn't there, Kinger was rabling to Ragatha about the dream he had. Supposedly he had Ragatha in his dream and they were all in a fish tank. He then said Ragatha was a blue fish, Kinger himself was an orange fish. He began to list off all the fish they were in the dream. Ragatha tried to listen but ended up zoning out during all of this, she finished her plate and excused herself from the table. Ragatha decided to see where Pomni was, however she was stopped by Gangle.

“Hey Ragatha! Are we still hanging out later?” Gangle questioned. Ragatha totally forgot about that. She turned around to face Gangle with a delighted look on her face.

“Ah yes! I'll be there later, I promise.” Ragatha told Gangle. Gangle smiled and then remembered something.

“Oh! Zooble is coming as well. They said they were free today.” Ragatha tilted her head over to see Zooble looking over in their direction. As soon as they saw Ragatha, they put a peace sign up and went back to what they were doing.

“I'm fine with that, I'll see you both later then!” Ragatha then waved goodbye and left to continue her journey to find Pomni.

It was almost time for her to go and meet up with Gangle and Zooble in Gangle’s room and she still didn't know where Pomni was. She searched high and low and questioned everyone. That was except for Caine. She hadn't seen either of them and had been dying to ask them. She turned a corner and there was Bubble doing their thing. Ragatha took her chance and ran up to Bubble.

“Hey, do you know where Pomni is?” Ragatha questioned

“I was just looking for you. I wanted to see if you thought apple or cherry pie is better? Obviously it's both but I wanted to ask.” Bubble said, completely disregarding the question.

“Bubble, do you know where Pomni is?” She repeated to Bubble.

“Oh yea! She was-” A paper airplane came and popped Bubble. It landed on the ground and Jax was the only one in the area.

“Jax! What's your problem?” He didn't even seem to be paying attention as he turned around.

“Yea dollyface?”

“What do you mean yea? You just popped Bubble.”

“No I didn’t! I wasn't even paying attention to you.” Jax rolled his eyes and walked off. Who could’ve popped Bubble then? Ragatha then realized she had to get going or else she’d be late to Gangle’s hangout.

When Ragatha arrived at Gangle's door, she knocked and politely waited for a response. Zooble answered the door and let her in. Gangle's room had the same layout as Ragathas, everyone had the same layout. The only detail was the drawings posted on the walls and the bed was messy. Gangle was sitting on the ground and was sketching something up. Ragatha sat down near gangle and so did Zooble.

“Hey guys, what did I miss?” Ragatha immediately questioned

“Not much, we just drew and talked.” Zooble replied.

“Yea, do you like my newest drawing? It's my OC for My Hero Academia. She can fly and talk to animals.” Gangle held up the drawing of the character. Ragatha smiled.

“I think that's really cool Gangle. Zooble what did you draw?” Zooble held up some sort of abstract piece all in pencil. It was like a mosaic art piece but only in pencil.

“I just drew a bunch of shapes until they made something.” Zooble explained.

“Wow, that's super unique of you!” Ragatha reached for a piece of paper and a pencil. “I don't know what I might draw.” She thought to herself. She then realized what to draw. She started off with the head. She would add details later, then the body, that was really easy, then four legs and hooves. Finally a small tail. She also put a little bow around it. After some detailing and shading, it was finished. A little lamb with a bow around its neck. She showed it to the others.

“Wow! It's really cute!” Gangle complimented. Ragatha set it down and signed her name on it in cursive. Zooble also seemed impressed but was busy with making origami with the paper. So far they made a dinosaur and 3 butterflies. They were making a ninja star this time and they were nearly done with the first half. Gangle was also making another piece of art. It looked like a cat. Soon it became night and it was time for them to leave. Ragatha thanked Gangle for inviting her and left. Her room wasn't far as she walked up to the door. She then saw Pomni.

“Pomni!” She called out to her. Pomni jumped at the sound of her name and scurried into her room and the door was closed fast. Ragatha sighed. She decided to leave her be. Ragatha went into her room and laid in her bed. The darkness of the room was slightly comforting as the light outside of the room crept in through the bottom of the door. She laid to her side thinking to herself. Was she the problem? That night was a sleepless night for Ragatha. A sleepless night of overthinking.

Chapter Text

Pomni looked outside her door, trying to see if Ragatha was in sight. She didn't see her. Pomni decided to go seek her out. That was until she ran into Caine. She had been meaning to talk to him.

“Caine- could you help me please? Jax put spiders under my bed and I just want them out.” Pomni questioned shyly. Caine turned around to Pomni.

“Ah of course! But I do need your help with something in return.” Caine replied. Pomni was hesitant at first but nodded. Caine grabbed Pomni by the wrist and dragged her to her room. He then went inside and instantly saw the spiders. With a snap of his fingers he made them all disappear. Pomni sighed.

“Thank you Caine. Now what did you need help with?”

“Oh it's just a small thing! It will hardly take any time!” He then grabbed Pomni once again and they teleported. Their destination was the Digital Lake. However, there were birds flying in the water? “The grounds had a small glitch in the system and now the birds are flying in the water! I just need you to get them out for me and they'll fix themselves.” Caine handed Pomni a fishing net to catch them with.

“Oh, this shouldn't be too hard right?” Pomni told herself, trying to hype herself up. She walked over to the water and extended the net into the water. The birds were either flying in place or in the same general direction. When Pomni finally got the net over one of them, it stopped. It then started to panic as the bird pulled Pomni. It was like real fishing. This caused her to lose grip of the net and fall into the lake. Now in wet clothes, she had decided to try and grab the birds without the net. The net did float nearby though. Pomni swam up to a bird and grabbed onto a wing. It froze and tried to escape. It then shot up into the air like it fixed itself and shook Pomni off. She fell from the sky and back into the lake. It didn't hurt however. So she decided to try again with the net. This time she moved the net underneath the bird and it worked better than last time. They would shoot up back into the sky when they got into the water.

Wet and exhausted, Pomni walked up to Caine with the net. She collapsed on the ground tired.

“I finished the job.”

“Good job Pomni!” He said. Bubble came up to Pomni and licked her, causing her to become fully dry somehow. They then all teleported to the table where the remains of breakfast was already cleaned up. Before Caine left, Pomni just had one more question.

“Uhm.. Caine?”

“Yes Pomni?”

“Is it possible to feel love in the digital circus? I know this is a digital world and it seems like a dumb question. Actually nevermind I shouldn't have asked.” Pomni rambled. Caine just floated there. Bubble was far off doing something of their own.

“Well, I guess it is possible to. I can't control your human minds so I guess so. Why do you ask?” Caine asked curiously. Pomni hesitated, Caine seemed like someone she could perhaps trust.

“It's.. Ragatha.” She quietly said. Caines eyes spun around

“A LESBIAN? IN MY CIRCUS!?”

“Shush Caine!” Pomni panicked and saw Kinger. Kinger and Pomni stared at each other for a moment and Caine joined in as well.

“I heard nothing!” Kinger said as he ran off. They watched him run away. He tripped over but was fine. It was just Pomni and Caine now.

“Sorry about that. I didn't mean to react that way. But we need to keep this place age appropriate. So perhaps keep it to just friends alright?” Caine explained to Pomni. They then heard a distant voice.

“Hey, do you know where Pomni is?” It was Ragatha’s voice. Pomni looked scared up to Caine and he came up with the idea. He threw a paper airplane he made at Bubble, popping them. Pomni sighed.

“Thanks Caine.” She made a -w- face now calm. But it wasn't safe still. Caine decided to teleport them again. This time to the stage behind the curtains. He took his hat off to let Bubble regenerate as they popped out.

“Hi boss! Do you think apple or cherry pie is better? Personally I think both.”

“I like cherry pie.” Pomni responded.

“I've never had pie so neither.” Caine replied with a shrug. Bubble decided to leave for more opinions on the topic. Pomni looked over at Caine for advice.

“So what do I do now?”

“I recommend trying to tell Ragahta you just wanna stay friends because we like to keep the circus family friendly.” This got Pomni curious.

“What's not so family friendly about.. you know, us in a relationship?” She questioned Caine. He paused for a moment to think.

“How about you just stay as friends alright?” He didn't really have a reason to make them stay as friends. His excuse was just to keep it family friendly. “Now it's been a long day, how about you go back to your room and do whatever you usually do.” Caine told her. Before Pomni could say anything else, he teleported off. She decided to do as he said and go to her room. She passed Kinger making a fortress for himself to hide in later.

She finally reached the hall of rooms. As she passed by Ragatha’s door, she heard another door open. It was Gangles and out came Ragatha. Pomni looked at Ragatha until she was spotted. In a panic she ran to her room once again as she did before. She realized how much of a mistake it was as she leaned against the back of the door wondering what to do. Pomni decided to go and apologize to her finally. She opened the door to her room and didn’t see Ragatha. She didn't want to disturb her so she quietly shut her door and began pacing around the room. She thought of a good idea. She would write a letter to Ragatha and give it to her- no. That sounded cliche. Pomni decided to get some rest as she laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling.