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Whoever created Caine must’ve been a #%^$ing maniac. Pomni had been on her fair share of scary, dangerous, or outright cruel “adventures” but this one takes the cake for combining all three. For some reason, Caine decided it would be a great idea to cut off everyone’s heads and have them watch as their bodies ran through an obstacle course from afar. Something about “understanding what our poor Zooble goes through.” Well, Pomni understood it alright, and she was pretty sure the experience had cut her remaining sanity in half.
The jester emerged through the portal, gripping her head tightly as if it might fall off. Everyone had finished far before her, but of course Caine insisted that she finish the adventure herself instead of ending it with her in last place, so it was no surprise to see everyone already at the dinner table chowing down. Pomni watched as Zooble’s face lit up slightly at her return. Their look almost made her smile, but she was too physically and mentally exhausted to even do that.
There was definitely some sort of connection between the two. Neither one had admitted any feelings for the other, so they didn’t label themselves as anything more than friends. But friends don't sneakily hold hands under the dinner table, do they?
Despite wanting to sit down next to Zooble and chat for a little bit, the thought of food made her stomach churn, so Pomni shuffled her way past the dinner table and towards her room. Too tired to even close the door behind her, the jester fell face down into her bed. Who cares if Jax came by and pranked her? It’s not like a locked door would’ve stopped him.
Pomni slowly felt herself drift into unconsciousness, but was quickly jerked back awake by a knock at the door. She muttered some half-awake gibberish and turned towards the door to see Zooble standing there. They typically liked to spend the time after an adventure alone in their room, so she was surprised to see them in her’s.
“Hey Zooble.” The jester said quietly, pushing herself up into a sitting position and motioning for them to come in. Zooble obliged and stepped inside, locking the door behind them and joining Pomni on her bed. “Not doing too well, I see.” They replied.
Pomni snickered and rolled her eyes. “Gee, what gave it away?” She sarcastically asked. Her mind wandered back to the shock and horror that overtook her as Caine lifted her head from her body. Feeling the base of her neck with her hands, somewhere that should never be touch, watching her body move around on it’s own, getting pummeled by every obstacle there was-
“Pomni!”
Pomni jumped and whipped her head back towards Zooble, who’s hand was now in her shoulder. “You’re shaking.” They said.
Pomni looked down at her hands and sure enough, she was shaking pretty bad. “S-Sorry, I just-I um...” The jester closed her eyes and planted her hands onto the bed in an attempt to ground herself. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, deep breath out.
She felt Zooble shift on the bed and shortly after felt their arms wrap around her torso. She opened her eyes to see that Zooble was now sitting behind her, and she was basically sitting in their lap. Pomni looked up right as Zooble laid their head atop hers.
She wasn’t upset about this in the slightest. She usually had an aversion to touch, but it was never really triggered by Zooble due to their plastic-y complexion. No, she was confused because she knew Zooble hated being touched. They could tolerate hand holding, but anything more than that and they started to get uncomfortable. Zooble seemed to sense the girl’s confusion.
“You need this more than it bothers me. So shut up and enjoy it, okay hun?” They said. Pomni blushed at the pet name, but smiled and nodded. She moved one hand up to rest on their coiled leg, and Zooble let out a quiet grunt of approval. Pomni leaned back slowly, gently resting her head against their chest. She was still exhausted, but maybe she could stay here like this for a while.