Chapter Text
" I don't know how much more I can take of this." "Why has no one wakened me up from this nightmare yet?"
The young jester finds herself lost within her thoughts after spending what feels like days in the digital realm, she now finds herself in. A whole new, unfamiliar, and scary world that she still could not fully understand. Everything looked awfully colorful and bright, but it could not hide that this place was a hellscape she would have to endure. With people or things that she thinks are all insane for acting the way they do. This place was far beyond uncomfortable for Pomni. She is forced to participate in activities against her will when she would rather seclude herself from all this extravagant nonsense. She found little to no comfort with others. Until one came along, Pomni would agree that she found comfort in this one compared to the others.
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Pomni and Gangle's first introduction could have gone better. Pomni had become more focused and determined to find a way out of the digital circus on the first day. Pomni had practically lost her mind after trying to find that exit and maneuver through a seemingly endless maze of bleak corridors, office spaces, and an infinite void that almost broke the jester's mind. It was when the ringmaster, Caine, had to pull her out and bring her back into their space. It was then and there that Pomni realized that she might not be able to find a way out and might as well call this place her new home. Later that night, all the circus members came together for dinner and feasted on the electronic meal that had no weight. While the members can simulate the action of eating and taste, they cannot actually feel hunger or satisfaction of eating. Due to this, Pomni decided not to bother with eating since it was irrelevant to her at this point.
Pomni began to stare blankly at the plate in front of her. There is nothing in particular that she is looking at; her eyes are glued onto the plate, but at the same time, nothing. Her body is seen shaking. Two members sat next to her at the table that night. On her left was the tall, purple rabbit named Jax. On her right was a white mask called Gangle, connected by a long red ribbon that circled around the air to form her body. Pomni was disassociated that everything around her was blocked out and that she was unaware of her surroundings.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think I introduced myself yet- "
A voice from the void rang out to Pomni that put her back into cognizance, and the sudden awareness made her jump out of her seat. It made her turn her head violently towards the sound and yell at it with an impressive yell.
"OH GOD!!"
"EEP! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Gangle was taken back hard at the way that Pomni reacted towards her. She only tried to introduce herself but was met with an intense response. She felt like Pomni was going to do something to her. She excessively apologized as she dug her mask into her thin ribbon hands, and pixelated tears began to shoot from her entirely black eyes.
Pomni realized what happened and tried to calm Gangle down. "W-wait, I didn't mean to yell…"
But it was too late. The ribbon girl faced away from the jester and continued to cry as she left the dinner table, leaving her plate full. Pomni can only feel guilty that she scared someone off like that. She also felt the weight of embarrassment as everyone turned in her direction after the altercation.
"Jeez, newbie," the purple behind Pomni began to speak, "first day here, and you're already making crybaby run away like that."
"I-I didn't mean to…"
"Hahahaha..." laughed the rabbit, "Way to go! I haven't seen her cry like this since I tied her up to the tent pole." Jax laughs through his teeth as he is humored by this. "I think you and I might get along after all."
Pomni cringed at the idea of being close to someone who found this any way to be funny, so she got up from her seat and backed away from Jax. Pomni wanted to apologize to Gangle as she did not mean to be so intense with her, especially when she was trying to be nice to her.
"But I did not mean to yell at her like that. I was…thinking, y'know," explained Pomni.
"It's okay, Pomni," the raggedy doll, Ragatha, comforts Pomni, "Gangle is a sensitive soul, and you surprised her. You must understand that today has been too exciting for her." Ragatha explains to Pomni that Gangle is more reserved than the rest of the group when she does not have her comedy mask and prefers to do some of the slower and calmer activities. It only made Pomni feel worse as she now understands how Gangle must feel. The first day had also been too exciting for her, as she had experienced much today.
"What was all that screaming about?" asked the walking chess piece, Kinger.
“Um, it was Gangle, Kinger.” Said Ragatha.
"Oh, Gangle, speaking of which, where is she? Did she not come to dinner tonight?"
Ragatha just chuckled at Kinger's cluelessness.
"Y'know Pomni," chimed in the mixed-matched character, Zooble, "if you don't want others to think you have completely lost your sanity already, then you probably should keep that thing squared away and let others know you're not going to snap at every time someone looks your way."
"Zooble is right though, Pomni," responded Ragatha, "we all have ways of dealing with this situation we find ourselves in. Some of us have a 'questionable' way of coping." Ragatha glared towards Jax after this remark. Jax rolled his eyes with a sarcastic flair. "But it helps us stay grounded and sane enough to get through this in one piece."
"Yeah, but some in other pieces," joked the rabbit, "am I right Zooble?" Jax chuckled at his quip but was immediately choked out by Zooble as they did not find it that entertaining.
"Y-yeah, but Zooble is saying that yelling at others like that won't help at all for yourself and others. We all want to get out of this, but until we find a way, we must keep a clear mind and positive attitude, okay?" the raggedy doll said calmly. Pomni felt like she was never the one to cause harm to anyone directly or indirectly. She knew what the others were discussing and decided to take their advice to heart.
"Also, Pomni," Zooble adds, continuing to grip Jax's throat, "you should probably let Gangle know that you're cool with her, like right now. I fear this might be a 'tipping' point for her."
"Oh geez," said Ragatha, "we better go check up on her then; come with me, Pomni; she is probably holed up in her room right now." Pomni, with a sad face, looked up towards Ragatha and nodded. "And Zooble, can you please let go of Jax?"
"Alright, fine." Instead of loosening their grip, Zooble would toss Jax aside like a ragdoll, crashing into an undisclosed part of the circus.
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"What did I ever do?"
The red ribbon girl sat in the corner of her room, contemplating her time in the circus. Gangle had felt like she was always alone with this cast in the circus. She used different kinds of masks she had always worn when she first started in the circus to express other emotions. But as time went on, most, if not all, of her masks, were constantly breaking because of how fragile they were, and all of the adventures they always had were very active and exciting. The anxious and nervous mask had become her default as she wanted to express her sincerity for wanting to have a listless adventure. The other mask she always kept fixed and repaired was her comedy mask. She figured out a while ago that without her comedy mask, she would lose her sense of joy and constantly feel sorrow and perturbation. It made her feel weak, sick, and hopeless. That it will make her lose purpose, no motivation to continue, that she should just let go and be thrown into the abyss with those who have been left behind…just like her….
Suddenly, a knock came to her door.
"Gangle, honey, are you in there?"
Gangle could make out the voice was Ragatha's; she knew that Ragatha would be the one who would come check on her whenever she was down. Those were the times that Gangle appreciated the most. However, there were other times when Gangle believed that Ragatha's concerns were empty and that she did not understand some of the internal struggles that Gangle was going through.
Gangle slowly approached her door and answered softly, "Y-yes."
"How are you feeling dear?"
"O-Okay…" sniffled Gangle.
"I have someone here to see you. They would like to say something to you."
Gangle's white mask peeked outside the door to see the doll and jester standing outside her door. Pomni, standing next to the semi-tall doll, had a face of guilt as she looked towards the floor, thinking about what to say to Gangle. Pomni slowly looked up to the door to make eye contact with Gangle. She began to lift her arm and wave slowly towards her.
"H-Hi…"
"Um…hi..." Gangle felt hesitant at first seeing Pomni at the door.
"I want to apologize to you about what happened earlier," said Pomni, "I was in a haze and didn't mean to scream at you like that. Y-You just caught me by surprise." Pomni weakly chuckled to try to lighten the mood. "I-I didn't want to make you think that I was going hurt you; it's just that everything seems…"
"Intense." Responded the ribbon girl.
"Yeah," replied the jester, "I-I am just so sorry about this, and don't let us get off on the wrong foot here. You think we can start over again?"
At first, Gangle didn't find Pomni's apology legit and believed she was forced to apologize because she got an earful from Ragatha. Until she really looked into Pomni's expressions and body language. With nonverbal cues like maintaining eye contact, her hands held together tight, and her relaxed expression showed genuine concern. Gangle understood that Pomni felt bad about yelling at her earlier, so she forgave her.
"Uh…yeah, okay," Gangle said softly but with a hint of relief. Pomni gave Gangle a warm, little smile and slowly reached her hand out towards Gangle.
"I'm, uh, P-Pomni?" At this point, Pomni was still trying to get used to her new name. She would try to remember her real name but had to stick with what she was given.
"Heh..." giggled Gangle, "I-I'm Gangle." Gangle reached out a piece end of a ribbon that was supposed to represent her hand. Pomni then reached out to shake her hand (or ribbon). The two connected, and both were taken aback by how each one of the other felt. Gangle felt Pomni's gloved hand was warm and more cushioned than she expected. She wanted to wrap it around and hold it tight but kept it simple and light. Pomni was fascinated by how weightless Gangle's ribbon was. She did not want to squeeze it too much; she feared that she might crush and wrinkle her hand. Upon inspecting it better, she noticed her ribbons were made from a silk fabric that shined flawlessly and had a soft touch. To her, it felt friendly and comforting to hold it.
"Hey, uh, you two, okay?" Ragatha interrupted the two and snapped both back into reality. Realizing that they had been holding each other's hands for an indeterminate amount of time, they quickly let go out of awkwardness but also felt slightly sad that they had to let go.
"Y-y-yeah, heh, uh, we are g-good," stuttered Pomni, "r-right, Gangle?" Pomni quickly threw her hands behind her back and gave a crooked smile.
"Uh, y-y-yep, everything is, um, good, yeah, hehe…heh…yea," Gangle also nervously stuttered.
Ragatha was confused at the interaction between the two but noticed the slight glow forming on the red cheeks drawn on Pomni's face. Also, Gangle's white mask started showing a subtle shade of pink as she rubbed her hands together. She might know what was going on here.
"I see," Ragatha said with a slight smirk, "well, I am just happy to see that you two might get along with each other after all. I might return to the main room and let the others know you're doing better, Gangle." Gangle stood in silence, staring off at Pomni, while Pomni stared back, not breaking eye contact.
"Sorry, Pomni, but you have to come with me too; Caine has this end-of-the-day commencement for newcomers, and he would need you to be a part of it." Ragatha lied as this was just a way for her to Pomni and confirm some of her suspicions.
"O-okay." Pomni sheepishly agreed. Ragatha escorted Pomni from Gangle's door. However, Pomni and Gangle still held eye contact until Pomni was out of Gangle's field of view as soon as she got to the end of the hallway. After this, Gangle slowly closed her room door behind her. She leaned her back against her door and slid down until she sat on the floor.
“OH…MY…GOSH." exclaimed Gangle as she put her ribboned hands up to the side of her mask. "Was…was she always that…pretty?! Her hands…her hands were so…nice…I just wanted to…" As Gangle had a moment to herself, a rush of emotions went off in her head, ranging from confusion, anxiety, comfort, and…tenderness. "I think…I might…"
Meanwhile, Pomni felt confused and did not comprehend what had happened just a minute ago. It was when Ragatha confronted her about what had just happened.
"So, Pomni," said Ragatha, "what did you really think about Gangle?"
Pomni finally acknowledged her feelings for Gangle and tried to play calmly and composedly about it.
"Wuh-what did I think? Ithinkshesuhprettycoolandniceandthatshehasanicetouchanduhyeahyeah…” Pomni rambled on. Until she stopped and looked up towards Ragatha with a smile, one eyebrow lifted, and her arms crossed. Pomni can only feel embarrassed as she realizes she just spilled a lot about how she felt about Gangle. Pomni took a deep breath and calmly said,
"I guess what I am trying to say is that…"
"…I like her."
"…like her."