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“So, you gonna shoot me or what?” Jax made a finger gun with his glove, pointing it at his head crudely before his hands back to his pocket.
Pomni shook her head, backing away.
“W-what would you do if I abstracted tomorrow?”
Jax turned towards her, with a widening smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
“I would move on. And probably forget about you.”
Pomni froze, her eyes going wide before she turned away from Jax with shaking hands.
“Ok. Ok, I understand.”
Pomni looked at the gun in her hand, staring at the trigger as she heard Jax's feet shuffle from behind her.
“Oh come onnnnn, can't take a joke? Are you gonna shoot or w-”
“Y-you don't mean that.”
“Huh? Who says I don't, you?! The insecure little jester who's still convinced there's a way out?”
Pomni whirled around angrily, Jax had no right! But even angry, she could tell he was unnerved. And the way he stared at his hand after she hugged him stuck out in her mind.
When was the last time someone tried to touch him? The other members of the circus tried to actively avoid him, when would someone have actually.....?
Ok. Pomni had decided. They may not have much choice in this circus, but Pomni didn't have to give in to whatever game Jax was playing.
She could play games too. She didn't have to be the helpless little jester.
“Fine. You win Jax.”
Pomni stepped forward, pointing her gun at Jax's head.
Jax grinned, his pupils dilated and his smile unnaturally wide. It was unsettling.
“Fiiiiinally, you sure took your sweet time huh Pompom. Now get your evil on and pull that trigg-”
Pomni flipped the gun towards herself, spinning it on her index finger as she watched Jax’s eyes widen, his hand twitching out of his pockets and forward. “What do you thin-!?”.
She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.
-
Pomni appeared in a dimly lit room with a banner saying “loser corner”.
“Pomni!” Pomni turned to see Ragatha rushing over to her, wearing…..cat ears?
Meh, she's seen weirder, moving on.
“Oh Pomni, I'm so sorry! Did Jax betray you when you won? I should've just teamed with him!-”
Pomni raised a hand to stop her “No. It's fine!" Pomni gave a shaking smile. “I- it's fine. I don't regret teaming with him! He wasn't bad actually, it was…. surprisingly fun? And he didn't betray me!” At Ragatha's- and Zooble’s, who seemed to be listening in from the side of the room- disbelieving stares, Pomni paused, stuttering and fiddling with her gloves before she regained her confidence. “He really didn't betray me. So it's fine. We're good.” Pomni shot a nervous thumbs up to Ragatha.
“O-ok. If you're sure. Just, uh, don't forget what I told you, okay? You can always talk to me, and you don't have to cover for Jax you know-”
“I know, thanks Ragatha. I think I can handle this one though.” Pomni crossed her arms, suddenly annoyed “ And it's rude to assume he did anything. You too Zooble.”
Zooble looked angry at that, while Ragatha gave a hurt, and little surprised, look. Pomni didn't give them another chance to respond as a door appeared in the corner of the room, and she left, passing Ming with a nod, who was on their way in.
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Pomni made her way to the awards show, already feeling over it, but knowing if she skipped Caine would probably force her back in the freezer.
Ughhhh, never again.
Entering the building, Pomni immediately ran into Ragatha, who looked sheepish.
“Oh Pomni! Hi! Uh, so I wanted to uh, say-”
She didn't have a chance to stutter out her sentence before she was shoved out of the way by a flash of purple.
Pomni looked up to meet Jax’s eyes. He had an unsettling grin, but his eyes stared forward at her, unmoving, and certainly not matching his smile.
Pomni smiled at him. “Oh hi Jax! What's up?”
Jax’s smile cracked, starting to slip and the edges, eyes twitching.
Ragatha took that moment to stand and push her way between them. “Jax! Leave her alone! Haven't you done enough?!”
“Aww, still trying to protect her from ‘getting corrupted?’” Jax scoffed, a snarky smile on his face. “Get out of the way dollface, this doesn't involve you.”
Pomni moved forward, gently directing Ragatha towards the ceremony hall.
“Pomni? What are you-?”
“Don't worry! I'll be in soon, okay? Don't wait up!”
Ragatha looked hurt for a moment, but after a moment, she sighed and turned towards the hall, hesitating a few times before fully leaving the room, finally leaving Pomni and Jax alone.
Jax started as soon as Ragatha left the room, fist clenching and unclenching at his sides. “What- Why- WH-”
Pomni tilted her head curiously, the picture of innocence.
“Is something wrong Jax?”
Something in him seemed to snap “Did you actually LOSE IT OR SOMETHING ?! Why the @#%@ did you pull that?! What game are you trying to play here?! What, were you trying to see if I CARED or something?! You think that offing yourself would make me WORRIED?! DID YOU THINK I would really care?! You can't actually die! Why would I give a @!%@ about you shooting yourself?! You accomplished nothing from that! Did you think I would have a change of heart?! ‘ Oh Poooomni I can't live without you, your my beeeesssttt frieeenddd, I’m sooo sorryy!’" His voice went shrill. "HA as if I’d EVER! I hate you, we aren't friends, and we aren't partners!”
Jax was pulling at his ears during his speech, panting and pacing the floor in front of Pomni by the end of it.
Pomni propped her arms on her hips, head tilted. “You done?”
When Jax stood in front of her, just panting and staring, she continued.
“You're my friend. I didn't want to shoot you, so I didn't. I didn't want to fight you, so I didn't.”
Jax stepped forward, face inches from hers. “So you decided to just shoot yourself?!”
Pomni shrugged as Jax backed up, returning to his pacing. “It's like you said. We don't stay dead. But the difference is-”
Pomni took a step, closing the gap “-If I shot you it would mean I agreed with you. No matter how much you deny it after the fact, we are friends. You are my friend. What we talked about was real! No matter how much you want to pretend it wasn't. If you refuse to treat me like your friend, that's fine. But I care about you, and YOU don't have the right to tell me how I get to feel! If I want to care about you, I @#$!%@ WILL!”
Pomni, now panting, grabbed the neckline of Jax's overalls and pulled him to her level. “And friends don't shoot friends. That's why I made the choice I did-.” She released Jax's clothes, backing up a few steps. “I think that's why you wouldn't shoot me either.”
Jax looked shell shocked, the only tell of how he was feeling was his twitching eye. His face kept filtering through different expressions as Pomni started to turn, heading to the ceremony hall.
“We should team up again, today was fun.” Pomni smiled nervously at the still rabbit, before fully leaving the room.
If he didn't want to talk today, that's fine, Jax was a complicated person. She would figure out what was going on with him somehow. Pomni wasn't going to give up that easily. There was always tomorrow. And the day after. And after.
And every day after that.