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Jax was teasing everyone like usual, until he was teasing Ragatha and ended up pushing her into Gangle as a “joke,” resulting in Gangle’s mask being broken again. What Jax didn’t know was how pissed Ragatha already was at him. Gangle already had a panic attack earlier in the day and tried confiding in Ragatha, and even if Ragatha just did the same thing she did with everyone else and comforted Gangle in the same way with just a simple pat on the back and some comforting words which didn’t make Gangle feel special in any sort of way, Gangle was desperate for any sort of prevention of getting abstracted from the emotional anguish she was feeling. Ragatha was already mad at Jax. She didn’t need him just making her angrier.
She stared Jax dead in the eyes.
“Jax. Stop it.”
Jax laughed it off, although the slightest bit shaken up.
“Cmon, are you kidding? I didn’t mean for her to mask to break. She just needs to stop being so whiny.”
Ragatha quickly snapped back at him, getting pissed.
“Jax, you’re being obnoxious. This is all your fault.”
Jax quickly tensed up and got defensive, raising his voice.
“I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean for her to get hurt! Are you seriously not going to believe me?!”
Ragatha got angrier, raising her voice as well, quickly becoming careless of keeping up her nice and calm demeanor.
“Why would I ever believe you?! Jax, no one likes you! God, are you dumb?! Everyone would be happier if you just abstracted!”
Jax quickly went quiet, looking at her with an unreadable expression.
“…Everyone does it. It’s… it’s just a… like, a coping mechanism, or… or whatever.”
Ragatha glared at him.
“I don’t care if everyone does it. I don’t care about your stupid “jokes.” You’re stupid, you’re obnoxious, you’re rude, no one likes you. Do you not understand that?!”
Jax went quiet and looked around for a moment, noticing Gangle staying quiet in the corner and trying to distract herself. Jax was still quiet and he looked down at the floor. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t expect Ragatha to actually snap.
Ragatha looked down at him. Suddenly Jax felt so much smaller compared to her. It felt like he was seeing another side of her, and definitely not in a good way.
“You’re pathetic, Jax. No one likes you. Just accept it.”
Jax looked up at her, tears welling up in his eyes, his expression still unreadable.
“I didn’t… I don’t want anyone to get abstracted. I-I didn’t mean for Gangle to get her mask broken again. I… look, just… just trust me!”
Ragatha looked down at him, her eyes filled with all the pent up anger she’s held against him.
“Are you kidding? You’ve made everyone’s lives awful ever since you put on that stupid headset.”
Jax looked up at her, still in slight fear. He didn’t want another Kaufmo incident.
“No, I.. I just don’t…
He looked down at the ground, the tears cascading against his face. For once he felt shame.
“It’s just a joke…”