Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     Pomni shifted her stance as she gained her consciousness from the dark. She slowly began to open her eye, stinging from looking at the bright lights. She was starting at the inside of the circus tent where the theme song took place. But the air or… the feeling just felt different. She know as soon as she spotted a bit of her jester hat in the corner of her eye, they way it moved. She was in that dream again.

     She took a sharp breath, trying to keep her gaze away from the arm(that was already feeling a bit fuzzy) she knew was abstracted because if she looked at it she knew would she would start too freak out. She looked around, trying to spot if the eye in the doorways where there. As she spotted them, the eyes started to blink close… well, that was weird. All of her dreams before this had never had that happen.

     Maybe this wasn’t one of the nightmares she’s been having. Maybe… she looked down to her arm… and it was abstracting. She breathes became more erratic by the second. Her legs started moving without her permission, as if they had to start moving these dream along. She tried to knock some sense into herself by using some of the breathing exercises Ragatha has taught her about.

     She had told Ragatha about her dreams, well everything except the doppelgänger of Ragatha herself in these dream. Caine, Jax, and Ragatha were all there, saying different mean things to her as she fell getting progressively worse after each nightmare. She felt if she told Ragatha that, the doll would probably think the jester thought of her as mean. When she was exactly the opposite.

     As she mind started to slow, her pace started to slow with it. But it didn’t help her that much as the tips of her shoes started to slip off the side of the hole in the floor. The darkness that all the abstracted monsters stayed in. Her arms spun in circles in the air as she tried to steady herself. But as she fell down ever more, a hand grabbed her glove hand. She was twisted around and she hung off the edge of the hole. The contact made her flinch, but she wasn’t complaining about being saved. She looked up to she who had helped her from her tumble.

     Ragatha.

     Or the weird shadow Ragatha.

     But this doll had a kinda genuine smile on her face. Far from her mean smirk that she usually shared with the Jax doppelgänger. Her bright white eye was half lidded, an expression that she could see on the real Ragatha.

     “You need help~” she said in a tone that was more dragged out than usual. Pomni’s eyes widened, this doppelgänger was helping her? S-she thought that these clones were like evil or at least mean. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could speak… the shadow Ragatha took a step, sending both of them plummeting into the celler. The jester let out a scream, looking down to the nonexistent ground of the hole. She looked back up, staring at the face of the rag-doll falling down right beside her. Her smile grew wider as Pomni looked up at her with the fear in her eyes. Pomni’s site was beginning to waver as she slowly lowered her lids, getting ready for impact.

——————

     Pomni’s eyes opened, expecting to be in her bedroom, in her red and blue uncomfortable bed. But instead she was in a dark, not blindly bright colored room. She looked side to side, the room looked more and more familiar by the second. The pale wallpaper, the wooden floor, and the different shelves touching the edges of the walls. It was Ragatha’s room.

     “What-“ Pomni muttered in confusion, she raised her non abstracted hand to her face. As she started into the room, she felt something behind her. But before she could turn, a set of plush hand rests on her shoulder. She jumped from the sudden sensation. She know who’s hands were it, but it just confused her even more.

     “Hey Pom,” the dark version of her rag-doll cooed. Pomni took a sharp breath, this wasn’t her Ragatha. The Ragatha she knew, the Ragatha she trusted, the Ragatha that would ask her a million and one times before she even layed a finger on her. But as the shadow Ragatha’s hands dug deeper into her shoulder, she started to thrash around, trying to escape her grip.

     “Where do you think you going?” The doppelgänger laugh, lowered her head to rest her chin on the top of the jester’s cap. That made her shake even more, the itchy feeling she got from being touched felt as if it burned her. “It just me, Ragatha~” The doppelgänger said with a wide smile and narrowed eyes. After a little while of shaking, the jester finally was able too get out of the shadow doll’s grasp.

     “Y-you’re not Ragatha,” Pomni rubbed her shoulders, trying to get the itch from the unwanted touch away. “T-this is j-just a dream!” She shut her eyes, covering them with her hands. But she jumped back as her abstracted hand touch her eye lid, a spark flashed in her vision as her eye started to glitch too.

     A laugh filled the air in the dark room, Pomni good eye widened as she looked down to her bad arm. It was crawling up her shoulder to her chest and neck. Pomni’s eyes turned to scribbles as she shrieked.

     “He-help! Someone help,” she screamed, her voice cracking as she layed her eyes on the rag-doll in front of her. She knew there was no chance that this Ragatha would help her, but she wish that her mind could have given her some of the Ragatha she knows unwavering kindness.

     “Why would I help?” The shadow woman asked, placing a hand on her chest. “You didn’t help me when I needed it,” her grin grew larger as she walked towards the tiny jester.

     “I- The real Ragatha had already forgiven me-“ Pomni said looking up at the doll. After a few day of being in the circus, when Pomni and Ragatha had been alone, she had apologized about twenty times even though Ragatha had already forgiven her the day right after the incident. Her mind had to have known that… so what was with this. The dark doll tilted her head with a small smile on her fabric face.

     “But-“ the shadow Ragatha reached into her dress pocket. “-aren’t you scared that I was lying to you,” 

     Pomni would admit that the thought had crossed her mind after the time she apologized to Ragatha but she trusted Ragatha. Her eyes laid on a shiny object that the doll was pulling out of her pocket. One of Ragatha’s cleaver…

     Pomni stepped backwards, her screams echoing in the room. The shadow launched at her, over powering the tiny jester. The small girl was pinned to the wooden floor, looking to the cleaver that was raised up into the air.

     Pomni!

     She squinted, a tiny voice echoed through out the once cozy room. The rag-doll over her raised her head, her mouth turning from a smile to a grimace. She looked down to the jester, slowly lowering her knife under her chin.

     Pomni!

     “Well, see you tomorrow~” The shadow Ragatha whispered, a small smile crept back on her face.

     Pomni!

     Her eyes were filled with black as she was slowly waking up back in the digital world.

Chapter Text

     A scream filled the small red, blue, and yellow room. Ragatha flinched awake, the knitted blanket wrapped around her fell off as she jump. The doll looked all around her, realizing that she had accidentally fallen asleep in Pomni’s room while the two were hanging out together. She turned her head around to see Pomni laying on her bed, screaming in her sleep. Ragatha stood up as soon as she got her legs untangled, staring down at the flinching jester.

     Pomni had told her about the nightmares she has been having but… she never said that they were this scary. She lowered her self to sit down on the edge of the bed. Ragatha moved her plush hand to shake Pomni awake but before she touch the jester, she stopped herself. She really wanted to make sure Pomni was okay but she didn’t want to make it worse by pushing her boundaries. She shut her eye, taking a shuddering breath as she reached one of her hands out and placed it on the jester shoulder. She shook the jester, and leaned down just a but closer for Pomni to hear her.

     “Pomni… Pomni… Pomni!” She whispered, gradually raising her voice after each time she said it. She tilted her head back up, looking down to the jester as her thrashing started to slow down and Pomni’s eyes fluttered open just a bit. Ragatha almost sigh as the jester finally opened her eyes fully- Pomni jumped up with a yelp, shuffling to a corner of her bed.

     The jester stared down her with scribbled eyes, shaking like a wet puppy. Ragatha resisted the instinct to try and calm her down with physical contact, she knew she had to use another way to comfort her jester. So she had to pin down exactly what the problem is.

     “Oh I’m sorry Pomni,” she said, trying to fill her voice with all the calmness she could with how nervous and shocked she was. She slowly lifted her hands, make sure Pomni know where her hands are she she didn’t have any worries.

     “Was it one of you nightmares?” She whispered, her eyes filled with concern and questioning. Pomni slowly started shaking less and less, she shook her head yes.

     “…do you usually… scream?” Ragatha questioned, never taking her eye off of Pomni’s frame. Pomni shook her head again, no this time.

     So, something different had happened in this nightmare. That made the stuffing in Ragatha’s chest turn in a way that expressed how nervous she was. Ragatha slowly shuffled to the opposite side of the bed, in front of the jester. Still far enough that the jester’s nerves can be at ease.

     “I-if you don’t mind, could you tell me what happened in it?” She tried to keep up a little smile but she knew it had to look forced. Pomni’s eyes widened again and she looked down to her lap, gently placing her hand on her knee. Ragatha opened her mouth to try and tell Pomni she didn’t have to tell but Pomni got to it first.

     “J-just please don’t think of me any differently after this,” Ragatha could she tiny tears pecking out of the corners of the jester’s eyes.

     “Well, I kinda never mentioned th-that…” Pomni stared fidgeting with her hand, wringing them together nervously. “You were in these dream before,” Ragatha’s eyes widened with surprise. S-she was in these dreams, why didn’t Pomni tell her this before.

     “But in this dream, ‘you’ actually interacted with me this time and-“ then Pomni started to explain these dream, Ragatha just trying to process what Pomni was telling her. She listened to the faint words of the nightmare, the sound just barely reaching the rag-doll. As Ragatha stared, a thought popped up in her mind, what did ‘J-just please don’t think of me any differently after this’ mean. For a second, the dolls eye flicker away from the jester as she finishes examining the dream. Well… it was certainly very different from Pomni’s other times with these nightmares.

     “So um-yeah… I-I-I’m sorry” Pomni whispers the last part, the tears starting to fill in her eyes cartoonishly.

     “Sorry? About what dear?” Ragatha muttered, placing her hands on her knotted chest.

     “About not telling you you were in these dreams before,” Ragatha almost melted after hear the jester say that. It was just how she said that, or how much she wanted tell her it’s ok but Pomni started talking again. The jester wiped her eyes, looking back up to Ragatha.

     “I just want to say that, I don’t think of you like that, like ‘mean’ or something-“ the tear started streaming again but she tried to blink them away. “… I think you are… the best,” Pomni almost shrank in on her self, Ragatha paused for a second but she snapped out of it. She couldn’t help Pomni if she was distracted.

     “Hey, don’t worry about that-“ She raised a hand to her face, wondering what to start with to help calm Pomni down. After a moment or two of thinking she finally thought of something to say.
 
     “I just want to clarify something,” Ragatha said, looking over to Pomni again making sure that the two made eye contact. “I will always respect and accept your boundaries, I just want to make that even more clear.” She gave Pomni a gentle and genuine smile. Pomni’s face light up at that but then went to a different expression.

     “That not the issue- well- th-thank you so much for that but!” Pomni grabbed her face, a groan escaping her mouth, her fangs bared in frustration at herself. “Why is it so hard to say!”

     “Hey,” Ragatha interrupted her jester’s anxiety fest, she raised a hand and slowly moved it forward. She paused as she extended her arm out half way, her soft mitten hands expressing a silent invitation.

     “Is it ok if…” Ragatha didn’t have to finish the request, the two both now what it meant. Pomni’s breath went from rapid to more steady than before, she lowered her hands from ripping at her face and jester hat to her sides. She slowly nodded after a moment, raising her hand and slowly moving to meet Ragatha’s. The pair was both shaking at this point, Ragatha scared that Pomni was just doing it to please her and Pomni nervous to make physical contact after that nightmare.

     They two’s hands finally met in the middle, slowly interlocking their fingers. It was kinda awkward, especially with Ragatha only having 3 “fingers” but they made it work. Ragatha tilted her head slightly to get a better view of Pomni.

     “Are sure you’re ok with it,” Ragatha whispered, trying not to startle the girl. Pomni stared at the rag-doll, her eye as wide as possible. Without warning, Pomni burst into tear, the face painted dripping down with her tears. Ragatha face wilted to shock, why did she do this. As she tried to pull away her hand, the jester held on tighter. She looked down to both of their hands and then back up to Pomni’s wet cat face.

     “You’re too nice to me!” The girl wailed, her grip on her dolly’s hand tighten. 
     
     “You’re so respectful and nice, and she thing of me feels before your own.” Her sniffles interrupted at different points in her sentence.

     “Wh-why would you want to do that after I left you for dead…” Pomni whimpered quietly, her head resting on her knees. “I don’t deserve you…” she whispered.

     Ragatha’s grip suddenly tightened on the hand hold the two shared. Pomni looked up to she the rag-doll’s smiling face.

     “Pomni, I already forgiven you.” She calmly said, her smile slightly growing. But before Pomni could reply, Ragatha gently giggled.

     “But… if you need to hear it again… I forgive you,” she leaned her head closer, her smile making the jester’s figure relax. All she wanted was to put Pomni’s worries to rest. She could feel just a bit of burning sensation on her linen skin as she thought of what she was going to say next.

     “And you deserve everything,” she muttered, the rag-doll knew it was sappy but she fully believed in it. She studied the jester in front of hers face, Pomni’s expression being totally blank.

     “…”

     “Pffft HAHA!” The jester’s tears fell as she shut her eyes tight, tilting her head back in laughter… genuine laughter. Ragatha could only remember Pomni laughing went something terrible happened, and she was having a meltdown. Butterflies fluttered around the fluff in Ragatha’s stomach. Pomni’s real laugh was so cute but not in a giggle way, it was more like a witch’s cackle. It slowly died down as she tilted her head back down and wiped her cheek.

     But as the two finally made eye contact again, the tears finally came back, but slower. Ragatha felt as if she was about to cry along side her little jester. Pomni’s snuffing started getting quieter and quieter, but the tear kept falling from her eyes.

     “You… you really mean it,” Her small voice was wet with emotion, and Ragatha smiled down to her and nodded. The jester’s face was now a tiny smile, but it started the fade away back to a regular small frown. 
     
     “What wrong?” Ragatha asked, her voice soft and sweet as she spoke it.

     “I-I guess I’m just scared for my next nightmare,” she admitted.

     Ragatha nodded understandably, slow reaching her other hand out as another invitation to the jester. Pomni’s hand reached out and clutched it as hard as she held Ragatha’s other hand. The tiny girl looked down to her lap, Ragatha rubbed her thumb gently over Pomni’s knuckles.

     “If your that scared,” Ragatha smiled to herself. “I could stay with you tomorrow night.” She blinked her gaze back up to Pomni, making sure that the girl wasn’t getting uncomfortable by her holding both her hands. “I-if ok with you-“ she added fast but stop as she felt the jester squeeze her plush hand.

     “Yeah,” she sniffed, looking back up to the rag-doll. “…I’d like that”