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Chapter Text

Ragatha woke up in her bed, forcing herself to sit up and stretch. It was another day she needed to stay strong for her friends. Everyone was doing their best, and she needed to try too.

She looked at the tidy blankets and pillows folded on the floor.

Zooble and Gangle never came to her room last night for their sleepover. They had been planning it for weeks. It was a small tradition they had picked back up since Zooble had joined the digital circus. They arranged for whose room to sleep over in and spend the night sharing their favorite moments from the previous days. It was Ragatha's turn to host. 

But when the time came for the members of the circus to head to bed, no one came. 

Ragatha readied herself for the day, checking her bow and dusting off her dress. She knew it barely made a difference, but the effort she put into her appearance, even in this circus, gave her a sense of routine. A sense of independence. One thing she could do herself. 

She continued her morning routine, making her bed before the circus did it for her. The doll focused on the minor details, fluffing her pillows. folding the corners of her bed cover, smoothing out the blankets.

She used to hate making her own bed. Her mother would scold her for not tidying up right away. Now, after all these years, it felt like a small sense of comfort. 

With nothing else to do, Ragatha finally stepped out of her room. Soft chatter could be heard from the Ground Area. Slight laughter carried through the air as she made her way where everyone else was.

Just as she predicted, Zooble and Gangle were talking to each other. Gangle covered her mouth as she let out another loud laugh. Zooble shrugged when Pomni asked them what they were laughing about.

“Good morning, everyone!” The laughter paused when Ragatha came up to them. Gangle offered her a small smile.

“Hey, Ragatha. Sleep well?” Zooble tilted their head to look at the doll.

Ragatha tensed her shoulders. It didn’t seem the pair noticed anything wrong, or at least weren’t behaving awkwardly. They most likely forgot. In their defense, whenever the hangouts were scheduled in their rooms, Ragatha was the one who reminded them by showing up at their doors the minute the moon rose.

“I slept…fine. It was nothing special.” 

Gangle flapped her ribbon hands, her attention away from Zooble and now on Ragatha, “Last night, I finished the manga panel I’ve been working on.”

Ragatha nodded along,“Oh, that’s great, Gangle. What was it about?”

“It was about–”

“Boring!”

“Jax!” Ragatha crossed her arms, “Don’t interrupt Gangle!” 

The lanky rabbit let out a deep yawn, stretching his arms obnoxiously. He hit Zooble on the back of the head.

“What? Aren’t you three just talking about the boring sleepover you guys do?”

Zooble rolled their eyes, “What are you talking about, Jax?”

“You know, the pillows and the…” Jax blinked, now confused himself. The leftover sleepiness in his expression was replaced with a puzzled look, “When I went through Ragatha’s room this morning–”

“What were you doing in my room?” Ragatha frowned at him, trying to move the topic away from the cancelled sleepover. She didn’t want her friends worrying about it.

Jax put his hand up to her face to shush her, “The blankets and the pillows on the floor, weren’t those from the sleepover you three usually do?”

Zooble crossed their arms, “We didn’t have a sleepover last night?”

“Oh no, I forgot!” Gangle waved her ribbon arms frantically, “I didn’t realize the sleepover was last night! It slipped my mind–”

“Aw, sh-[redacted.png]. Did we really forget that?” Zooble cringed. “I’m sorry, Ragatha. I didn’t even realize.”

Ragatha could feel the embarrassment on her cheeks. Why did Jax have to bring it up in front of them? It was bad enough she could see their guilty expressions, but now she also felt embarrassed knowing everyone else knew she was stood up. Even if it was accidental. 

“You shouldn’t be going through people’s rooms in the first place.” The ragdoll faced Jax, her expression frustrated with the situation he created.

Jax frowned right back at her, “Why are you getting mad at me? I’m not the one who stood you up!”

“Oh, really? Never?” Ragatha muttered, earning an uneasy stare from Jax.

Gangle whimpered, tugging on Ragatha’s sleeve, “Please, Ragatha, don’t be upset with us. I really did forget!”

It took her a moment to think. She wanted a calm day, and already so early in the morning she was feeling an overwhelming amount of negative emotions. But what use was it to admit she was upset? Jax was already mad at her, Gangle was on the verge of losing her happy mask after she tried so hard the day before to keep it intact, Zooble was tense as a stick, and Pomni…

The poor girl was watching the situation carefully. Her wide eyes filled with anxiety. What good would it do if Ragatha escalated the situation?

After a moment, Ragatha let out a soft sigh.

“Gangle,” Ragatha slowly turned to the ribboned girl, “It’s okay. I’m not mad at you. I get it, it was a long day yesterday, and we were all tired. Don’t stress about it.”

“Yeah, but–”

“Zooble,” Ragatha shrugged and gave them a calm smile, “Calm down, alright? It was an honest mistake.”

The jumbled up toy relaxed slightly, “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Ragatha bumped their arm playfully. The two shared a friendly look.

“Pomni,” Finally, the anxious jester looked up at Ragatha.

“Yes?”

Ragatha bit her lip, feeling guilty. Logically, she knew she didn’t do anything to upset the circus’s newest resident, but she still felt responsible, “Take a deep breath. Nothing happened, ok?”

Pomni blinked up at the other woman, before she took in a deep breath and nodded. Ragatha might not have been the best support system Pomni needed, but now that she knew what the younger woman needed, she was willing to try.

“No kind words for me?” Ragatha frowned at the sound of the bane of her existence. She tilted her head to get a good look at him. Jax had crossed his arms and was tapping his foot impatiently, as if he was the one who was inconvenienced by the entire situation.

Ragatha furrowed her brows, "Absolutely not! You’re the one who was going through my room for no good reason and caused this whole moment.”

“Hey, at least I checked up on you.” Jax rolled his eyes, “I’m not the one who stood you up.”

Gangle squeaked, “I said I was sorry!”

“Beat it, arts and crafts!”

“Jax!”

“What?”

Ragatha was pinching the bridge of her nose–triangle? She already had enough of Jax instigating for the day. Hell, she had enough of him for the week. Make it two.

Jax narrowed his eyes, “Oh, come on, Dollface. You seriously can’t be mad at me for this.” He picked his ear and wiped it on Gangle’s masked face. She squealed in disgust. “It wasn’t like I did this on purpose.”

“Just…” Ragatha smoothed out her hair, “Drop it.”

“But I didn’t even do anything!”

“Drop it.”

The both of them kept their eyes on the other. 

Pomni coughed, attempting to break up the tense moment. Jax glanced at the others. They all looked at him expectantly. Whether it was anticipating a joke from him or another claim of innocence, he wasn’t sure. 

With a huff, he waved everyone off, “Whatever. Have fun getting stood up again by these spineless sad sacks.” Jax shoved his hands in his pockets and dragged his feet as he left.

“Is he upset with us?” Pomni pursed her lips, feeling a strong worry for her newest friend in the circus. Every day she was here, she was developing more of Ragatha’s characteristics–from checking in on the others to wiping her mouth with a folded napkin at dinner. 

Zooble shook their head in response, “Don’t worry, Pomni. He will be over it in ten minutes. He always is.”

Ragatha watched Jax leave. Just like Pomni, she was worried too. Seeing him walk away dejected and separated from the group pulled at her heartstrings. She thought of apologizing, but decided against it. Jax wasn’t the same scared rabbit he was when he first joined the circus. He had been settled in for years now. He should understand how the circus and its residents behaved. And especially with Ragatha’s constant scolding and Zooble’s continuous threats, he should be aware of the consequences he would receive due to his actions. 

Yes, she had been coddling him. She has been coddling everyone. But after she spoke with Kinger in the ‘loser corner’, she realized it needed to stop. She had to stop coddling everyone and let them experience their consequences from the other members without Ragatha defending them every chance she got. That included Jax.

“Um, Ragatha?”

Ragatha spun around to look at Gangle shyly rubbing her hands together.

“I really am sorry for forgetting the sleepover. We have been doing it for so long, I have no idea how it slipped my mind.”

The doll lowered herself to Gangle’s height. Oh well, maybe coddling the sweet girl wasn’t that bad, “Hey, I said it was okay. Time here is weird, and things slip our minds. I’m not upset with you or anything.”

Gangle nodded slowly, “Maybe…we can reschedule it for tonight?”

“That’s a great idea, Gangle.” The doll outstretched her arms, offering Gangle a hug. The ribboned girl hesitated for a moment, then lunged into Ragatha’s welcoming embrace.

 Ragatha straightened up, slowly letting go of the fragile girl, “Zooble, do you want to reschedule the sleepover?”

Zooble slumped against Gangle, the two resting against each other as if their comfort was based in the other, “Yeah, that would be fine.” Then they turned to the shortest member, “Pomni, wanna join us?”

Pomni puffed out her cheeks in thought, “What exactly is it?”

“It’s a sleepover!” Ragatha smiled at her, “A small tradition that started years ago. It can get a bit lonely and quiet in the circus, so we have sleepovers once in a while to spend time together. It’s a wonderful way to make memories while also checking up on each other." 

Gangle raised her hand to speak up, “We convinced Caine to let us make hot chocolate from scratch one time.”

Zooble raised a brow, “Don’t forget the time we pierced ourselves.”

“You guys pierced yourselves?” Pomni scanned their bodies, “...Where?”

Ragatha crossed her arms, “Forget about that. What do you say, Pomni? Wanna join us?”

“Oh, please do! It’s so much fun!” Gangle clapped her ribbons together.

“You know what, yeah! Why not?”

The girls–and Zooble–happily chattered. Eventually, Kinger joined in. Everyone was getting along, cracking jokes and telling Pomni old memories of past adventures. Ragatha felt warm at the sight.

“So, you three have sleepovers every month?” Pomni was becoming more comfortable with the group, smiling curiously as she asked Zooble her question.

Zooble shrugged, “At least every time the moon is full. It is what we assume is a month.”

“Alright,” Pomni tilted her head, “How did the tradition start?”

“It started–” Zooble cut themselves off. “Oh. I don’t know.”

The group settled into silence.

Zooble shook their head, “I joined the circus and Ragatha and Gangle just asked me to join. Gangle, how did the sleepovers start?”

Gangle looked between Zooble and Pomni, “I don’t know.”

Pomni waved her hands around dramatically, “You don’t know either? Gangle, how do you not know?”

“I don’t know! I joined the circus and Ragatha told me how it was a tradition she did.”

Zooble raised her claw, “It was a tradition before you were in the circus? I always thought you and Ragatha started it together.”

“No, it was a tradition before I joined.” Gangle rubbed her porcelain cheek, a habit she picked up from Ragatha when thinking. Maybe the others were picking up more of Ragatha’s habits than they thought. “Ragatha, how did the tradition even start?”

All eyes were now on her.

Then she caught a glimpse of Jax.

He wasn’t that far away from the group, just silent enough to go unnoticed. Ragatha felt bad for a moment, but she brushed it off. He may not have meant to start an argument, but he shouldn’t have been in her business anyway. And the silent glares he was sending her way definitely didn’t help his case. 

“They started when…” Ragatha glanced one more time at Jax. He squinted his eyes back at her, as if daring her to say anything. She gulped, “Just an off-hand adventure I had with earlier members. I liked the memories.”

The group seemed satisfied by the answer and moved on. Jax turned away from everyone to focus on Kinger talking about different coding techniques.

Of course the peaceful moment had to be interrupted by Caine.

“Greetings, my lovely wedding goers!”

Pomni reacted first, “Wait, what did you say?”

“Glad you asked, curious interloper!”

Pomni blushed when everyone groaned exasperated, mainly Zooble yelling along the lines ‘I thought I taught you not to respond to him!’.

Caine adjusted his bowtie, “Folks, today is a happy day–yes! But also a bittersweet one!” The circus residents watched his dramatic monologue begin. Ragatha politely nodded along to his speech. “Today, my eldest daughter, the one who has been with me for ages that I can barely recount how my adventures were without her cheerful encouragement, must grow up! And take the last step of starting her own life!”

Gangle raised her hand to interrupt, “Caine, what are you trying to say–”

“Oh, the sorrow! My lovely, sweet, kind, and eldest daughter will experience the happiest day of her life!” Caine threw his cane into the air, the top half exploding into rose petals that fell on top of the circus members.

“Today, Ragatha gets married!”

“I get what?!”

“She gets what?!”

“It will be such a big and beautiful wedding! Go on now, watch your fellow circus member get married off to the one–the only–Orbsman!”

“Objection!” Caine froze. He hadn’t expected that. All eyes were on Zooble now. The triangular avatar did not look pleased…at all.

Caine tugged at his collar, “Oh my, Zooble, usually injections come out during the vows..”

Zooble rolled their eyes, “Caine, is this even an adventure? And most importantly, did you even check to make sure Ragatha is okay with all of this?”

“Oh…” Caine wrung his hands nervously, “No, I suppose I didn’t.”

Ragatha blinked in shock. He considered her the eldest daughter? Was it because of her age outside the circus or because of how much longer she had been in the circus compared to Gangle and Pomni. And–

The doll went red. Did Caine make sure the adventure would be appealing to her by making Orbsman, the first NPC she had ever interacted with in the digital world and had developed a small friendship with before realizing he wasn’t a real person, the groom? Was he even aware of what he did or was it randomly selected? And why did he choose her?

Ragatha looked up, instantly locking eyes with that damn purple bunny. He looked bothered by all of this. 

“I’ll do it.” Pomni gawked at Ragatha’s confirmation. The poor girl was pulling her hair, comically stretching her already large head. It honestly almost made her laugh.

“Ragatha, you can’t be serious!” Pomni continued to act shocked.

Gangle tilted her mask, “You want to get married to Orbsman?”

The blushing doll laughed, her elbows tucked into her sides to keep some of her composure, “Yes, I think it can be fun. Besides, I don’t think Orbsman would be too bad of a husband.”

“But why him?” Ragatha tensed her shoulders when she heard Jax. His ears were pressed flat against the back of his head.

Caine pulled out a monocle, “Orbsman is a rich man in the country of Orbsland.”

Zooble sighed, “If Ragatha agrees, then it’s fine by me.”

Gangle squealed, “Oh, I love weddings!”

Kinger and Pomni glanced at each other.

The only one who didn’t seem happy was Jax.

Chapter Text

Rose petals fell all around them, exploding suddenly to transport the circus group into a grand venue. They had been placed where Pomni assumed was where the reception dinner would take place. The dining room had grand windows to overlook the yard, letting the circus members view the freshly mowed lawn and the large wedding setup. It was a grand estate from what she could tell.

Ragatha gasped. It was perfect.

The doll was looking around, taking in every detail she possibly could. Her eye crinkled as she whipped her head back and forth repeatedly, like a kid in a candy store. 

“Jeez, Dollface. You’re going to make your head fall off if you keep moving it like that.” Jax crossed his arms, looking at the venue with distaste. Ragatha completely ignored him, excitedly rushing over to the window.

“Oh, look! How did Caine know I always wanted an outside wedding?” Ragatha had her cheeks pressed up against the glass. Kinger mimicked her.

Gangle groaned as she rubbed her eyes, letting them adjust to the new scenery. Zooble was patting her back to help her adjust, brushing off a few stray rose petals that got stuck in Gangle’s ribbons. Pomni was still looking over the decorative tables and organized chairs out on the lawn, leading to the wedding arch set up. 

There was the altar.

“Hey, everyone! I have a paper!” The team turned to look at Gangle holding up a letter, neatly folded with a wax insignia on the back. Jax grumbled instantly.

“Are we playing Clues?” The purple rabbit swiped at Gangle, “Give me that!”

Zooble swat his hand away, “Enough! Let her read it, it’s her letter.”

Jax ignored the abstract avatar, attempting to swipe at the tragedy mask once more until he felt a nudge on his side. He looked down to see Pomni giving him a look–one that she definitely had picked up from Ragatha. He scoffed at her, but gave up trying to steal the letter.

Gangle excitedly read, “It is a letter from Caine! It says, ‘Dear circus freaks!’ -oh, that’s us! ‘Today is a special day for my special doll. You each are given tasks to keep the day going smoothly.”

Pomni tugged at her hat, “What does that mean, Gangle?”

“I’m getting there!” The ribboned girl cleared her throat, “The following jobs are assigned to each circus member as instructed–”

“Zooble.” At the mention of their name, the colorful mismatched toy looked at Gangle, “You are given the task of catering. Make drinks at the open bar and serve the food during dinner.”

“Seems easy enough.” Zooble nodded along, entertaining Gangle’s enthusiasm. She rarely looked forward to adventures, let alone be this excited for one. Zooble did not want to ruin it.

Ragatha pressed a hand to her cheek, “Open bar? So, my fiance really is rich.”

“Calm it, toots. It’s not real.” Jax earned a glare from everyone around him…except Kinger. Kinger was watching an ant carry a leaf right outside the window.

“Pomni,” Gangle continued, “You are the wedding officiator!”

Pomni tensed her wiry limbs, “B-But I don’t know how to officiate a wedding!”

“Don’t worry, Pomni. You’re going to do great.” Ragatha smiled at the little jester. The two girls were getting closer as the days in the circus passed. It was a nice pair, Ragatha would calm Pomni down and Pomni would bring out Ragatha’s genuine laughter.

“Kinger, you may walk Ragatha down the aisle as her father!” The girls (and Zooble) all broke out into a choir of ‘aww’s and looked at Kinger. 

The older man seemed to be somewhat aware, as he put his hand over his heart, “I will do my best to give my girl her special day.”

“Gangle–oh wait, that's me! My job is to…make sure everything goes smoothly and–” Gangle squealed, “I’m the Maid of Honor!”

Zooble caught the letter when Gangle threw it in the air. Their girlfriend leapt for Ragatha and laughed when the doll picked her up, spinning her in a princess twirl. The two girls squealed in excitement, talking over each other as they cheered about the bridal party.

Jax crossed his arms, “Seriously, ladies, calm down. What even is my job?”

Zooble looked down at the letter, “Jax, your job is to be the Best Man of none other than the sophisticated Orbsman.”

“Great, I’m so excited to be the best man of some bumpy NPC that can’t talk.”

Ragatha covered her mouth to hide a small smile, “Watch yourself. That’s my fiance you’re talking about.”

Jax snapped his head to look at her, frowning at the giggling doll.

“But watch out, some obstacles may arrive.” Zooble continued the letter for Gangle, “Will it be happily ever after for the happy couple, or will someone crash the party? Good luck, partygoers. And congratulations to the newly wed couple.” 

Kinger still had his hand over his heart, closing his eyes to focus, “I still remember my wedding day.”

“What was it like, Kinger?” Gangle let go of Ragatha’s arm, giving the doll her space. Ragatha tilted her head around Gangle, the overly excited girl kept blocking her view but she wouldn’t make a fuss about it.

“I’m surprised he can even remember.” 

“Cut it out, Jax.” Pomni nudged him again. The jester kept imitating Ragatha’s behavior, too annoyingly similar for Jax’s liking. He decided to take matters into his own hands.

Pomni squealed when Jax shoved her hat into her face, “Cut the act, Jingles. You’re going to make me burn this place to the ground.”

Zooble rolled their eyes. 

“Jax!” He stopped strangling the poor woman with her hat when Ragatha finally intervened. The doll pursed her lips but moved her attention back to Kinger, “Kinger, how was your wedding?”

“It was perfect.” Kinger lowered his head, cupping his eyes to either shield the light from his face or hide tears. The group couldn’t quite tell which he was doing. 

Gangle sat next to Kinger, giving him an encouraging smile, “Really? How did it go?”

“My wedding…” Kinger continued to be uncharacteristically somber, “My wedding had to be the happiest day of my life. My wife looked gorgeous in her dress. Her veil had butterfly markings on it.”

Pomni sat on Kinger’s other side, “That sounds really pretty.”

Kinger sighed, “Yes, she was.”

Jax narrowed his eyes. All the girls were flocking to Kinger to listen to him recount his wedding day, leaving Jax with Zooble. The pair was stiff as they stood next to each other.

 Zooble didn’t look entirely comfortable being present while Kinger had his heart to heart with the girls. Jax wasn’t either.

One shared look.

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Eh, sure, why not?”

The unlikely pair walked off to explore the rest of the estate while Kinger and the girls had their heartfelt moment. Zooble was eyeing all the fancy decorations littering the grand manor.

“Hey, I know it might not be my place…”

“Stay in your place.” Jax picked up a decorative candle and tried to sniff it, “Why do rich people collect useless stuff? This one isn't even scented.”

Zooble watched him for a moment longer, “You got a lot more upset than I thought you would get this morning.”

Jax groaned and threw the candle behind him, “How else is a man supposed to react when he is being accused of snooping through someone’s room?”

“But you were.”

“Not the point.”

“Then what was?” Zooble watched the candle roll down the hall. 

The purple rabbit kept his eyes lowered as they continued.

The mismatched avatar stopped walking when the duo approached a large set of doors. Jax opened it for them, having to pull with both arms due to the weight.

He slipped into the room, almost letting the door fall right onto Zooble, “It’s just, I guess, Ragatha said nice words to everyone but me, you know? The one person she actually got mad at. If anything, I deserved an apology.”

“You wanted an apology?” Zooble crossed their arms as the two of them continued to explore. His voice was uncharacteristically soft.

Jax found a mini gold statue of Orbsman, “Not necessarily an apology. But a ‘thank you’ would have been nice.”

“You wanted Ragatha to thank you? For snooping in her room?”

“What? No! I wanted her to thank me for at least looking out for her when none of you did.”

“So…” Zooble’s eyes narrowed. Despite having no mouth, her teasing tone let Jax know they were smirking. “You were looking out for Ragatha. How unusually domestic of you.”

“No! I wasn’t looking out for her! Shut up!”

“Then what were you doing?”

“I-I was just…Whatever, why am I even talking to you about this?” Jax turned away, his ears pressed flat against the back of his head.

“I’m just saying, you never got this upset about Ragatha before. Not when she gets mad at you or when she’s the center of attention for an adventure.”

Jax rolled his eyes, his gloved fingers picking uselessly at the golden figure in his hands,, “You stick your neck out for some people, and they just shoot an arrow right into it.”

Zooble gasped, “No f-[redacted.png] way! Is that why you got mad at me and Gangle for forgetting? Is that why you got upset when we accidentally stood her up?”

Jax glared at her, holding the mini orbsman statue tight, “What are you talking about?”

“Now it makes sense why you weren’t so happy about getting yelled at by Ragatha this morning.” Zooble let out a snort. Jax was getting more frustrated.

“Why are you laughing?” The rabbit was trying to stand taller to intimidate Zooble. It didn’t work.

“This is adorable!”

“What is?” Jax looked more confused now, stomping his feet frustrated like a kid who was told no in the middle of a toy store.

“You care about Ragatha!”

Jax’s face flushed instantly, “No, I do not! It’s just- I- Drop it, Zooble!”

“Aww,” Zooble poked his arm with their claw, “You got mad when we forgot her sleepover.”

“Because it was a rude thing to do!”

“Since when did you care about being rude?”

Jax pushed their clawed hand away from him, “Since when did you? Last time I remember you being willing to attend an adventure was when you just joined the circus. Now, you keep jumping at every opportunity you get just to team up with your lame girlfriend.”

Zooble furrowed their brows, “Mad I stole your team partner from you?” 

“Don’t forget that you are just as replaceable as your limbs!” Jax threw the statue of Orbsman past Zooble. Unsurprisingly, the other already expected him to throw a fit once they retaliated in the teasing for once. 

“Oh? Seems I touched a nerve there.” Zooble walked off without Jax, slightly tilting their head to glance back at him, “Careful, I might just steal Ragatha too. It wouldn’t be too hard, especially after this morning–”

“Stay away from her!” 

Jax lunged at the mismatched toy. Zooble screamed and ducked out of the way. They clawed at each other, one attempting to attack and the other to defend themself. Jax was heaving as he popped off Zooble’s leg, using it to crane their neck back and tilt their triangular head the opposite direction.

“You little jealous s-[readacted.png]!” 

Zooble snapped off their arm to choke out Jax, giving them spare time to pop their leg and head back into place. They kicked Jax off of them, scrambling to stand up. Jax tore their dislocated arm off of his neck, glaring at the rip-off potato head.

“You…you seriously attacked me. You attacked me because of a joke?!”

“I warned you to drop it.”

His audacity made Zooble scoff. They examined his face for any hint of sarcasm, but he genuinely looked upset with them for simply teasing him. Unbelievable.

“You really are a jealous little s-[redacted.png].” The rabbit turned away from the other circus member. Zooble waited for him to respond, but when he didn’t, they continued, “Where did this petty jealousy get you? No where! She still ignores you. She still argues with you. She still does not invite you to our sleepovers. And now? She’s getting married off to Orbsman.”

Jax didn’t reply. Zooble stepped closer, “And she’s excited for it. Don’t ruin it for her.”

Jax focused on the miniature statue he threw on the floor, “She did invite me to the sleepovers.”

“And you didn’t go?”

“You don’t get it.”

“Stop throwing a pity party for yourself, actually explain what you mean, and maybe I just might understand whatever crisis you’re having.”

Jax remained silent. Zooble sighed.

“I’m going to prepare the open bar. You know where to find me whenever you get over yourself and want to talk.”

“Pfft. As if I would need to go talk to you about my feelings.” Jax looked back at Zooble, his smile strained.

“Clearly you need it. See you later, Jax.” 

He watched them leave through the large doors. Zooble looked back at him one last time before shaking their head and walking off, leaving him alone in the silent hall.

He stood still in the hall after being left alone. 

“What do they know..” Jax continued to explore the estate. The large property was strangely quiet. It looked unlived in. “They don’t know anything. They don’t know me. They don’t even know themself.”

Jax picked at his teeth, wiping leftover food from last night’s dinner on some curtains, “They don’t even know Ragatha.”

He continued to grumble, dragging his feet down the lengthy halls. The walls were covered in prestigious portraits of Orbsman. Each picture felt like a subtle mockery against Jax. The NPC in the photos was taunting him.

“No one knows Ragatha.”

Jax knocked over a vase full of roses.

“No one understands Ragatha.”

He kept wandering around the estate.

“No one understands Ragatha like I do.”

The end of the hall led to a spiral staircase. He didn't think twice before going up them. The rabbit tilted his head up , trying to see how high the stairs go. They seemed to go up about three levels. Oh well, he needed to kill some time before he was made to stand supportively next to a bumpy NPC that reminded Jax of a bulbous adult toy he wasn’t allowed to reference.

“I bet he doesn’t even know her favorite flower.”

The stairs felt like they went on forever.

“He probably doesn’t even know her favorite food.”

His hand gripped onto the railing, “Orbsman doesn’t even know anything about her! He’s never seen her lose her cool, or get excited over the small details Caine puts in adventures, or the way she used to cut the crust off my sandwiches, or–”

Jax jumped when a gloink ran down the stairs, almost pushing him down. The red gloink giggled, “Sorry, sir! My brother and I are playing hide and seek!’

He watched the gloink kid run away, rolling happily as she looked for a place to hide.

“I have got to calm down.”

Jax walked to the top of the staircase, the door slightly creaked open. Soft chatter was heard inside of the room from where Jax stood. He unceremoniously pushed the door open, peeking inside of the room.

Orbsman was standing in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie. The NPC noticed Jax in the corner of the mirror, speaking in his unintelligible dialogue and waving Jax over.

He could not wait for this adventure to end.

“Hey, Orbs. How is your last day of independence going before being tied down to a witch like Ragatha?”

Orbsman seemed more snotty than usual in this adventure, answering Jax’s questions with the bubbly sound effects Caine programmed him with. Jax eyed the ridiculous colorful tie the NPC wore.

Even if this day was going the complete opposite of how Jax wanted, he could still help make the day special for Ragatha.

“You know, your fiancee prefers bows, not ties. She loves to match.”

Chapter Text

“So, you’re a lot older than I thought.” Ragatha raised a brow at the purple rabbit, thumbing the tear on his torn up overalls as he went through her drawers. He shrugged when he couldn’t find anything, “Eh, I guess it is pretty obvious.”

Ragatha just shook her head, “What is?”

“Your age.” Jax sat next to her on her bed, looking over her shoulder to watch her sew his clothes back up. The moment was calm, a huge difference between the never ending adventures Caine forced them to do. 

The poor rabbit just joined the circus and was still adjusting. Ragatha had quickly gotten to work helping him settle.

“Thirty, huh?”

“Are you going to call me a grandma again?”

Jax shook his head, smiling widely when Ragatha chuckled at his antics, “I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“Oh? What would you like to know?” The two went back to silence as Ragatha snipped her thread. The lanky rabbit stared at the ground deep in thought.

“What was your life like?”

“Will I get to ask you that too?”

“No.”

Ragatha sighed. The man was obviously not going to open up to her, but he had been in the circus for only six months. She didn’t mind much. 

“Will you answer?” Jax twirled one of her yarn curls between his fingers. Ragatha smiled at him, doing her best to hold back a giggle and not ruin her joke.

“No.”

He blinked at her for a few moments before scoffing, “Yeah, yeah, I see what you did there.”

The doll laughed, fanning herself to calm her fit of giggles. Jax wasn’t amused. He tilted his head to get a better look at her red face.

“It was not that funny.”

“It was to me!” Ragatha continued to giggle to herself. Jax sighed. She was thirty, of course a sarcastic answer was the funniest thing she could think of.

“You stole that answer from me. If anything, it was my joke that made you laugh.”

The doll calmed herself down after a minute of gasping for air. She straightened up, starting her first stitch, “I admit it, you are the funny one.”

“The funny one?” Jax stretched his arms and tucked them behind his head, “I guess that makes you the cheery one.”

“The cheery one?”

“Yup,” Jax pinched her nose, “Always smiling and laughing at my jokes.”

Ragatha went back to sewing, “Glad you see me as the ‘cheery one’.”

The duo once again went silent. Ragatha seemed to enjoy the calm moment with her new friend, understanding the balance of peaceful and wild moments while in the circus. Jax did not.

He swung his legs bored, “Were you married?”

Ragatha frowned at him, continuing to sew, “What are you talking about?”

“On the last adventure, I remember you bringing up a fiance.”

The doll tensed up, her hand tightening around the small sewing needle enclosed in her fist. Jax waited for an answer from Ragatha.

“I do not remember saying that…”

“You did.” Jax crossed his arms, “When Bubble gave you roses covered in saliva, you said–and I quote! ‘Better than what my fiance ever did.’”

Ragatha pursed her lips. She was so used to the circus only being her and Kinger, she forgot she had to watch what she said now, “How is this important?”

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying to learn more about his friend.” Jax kept his eyes on Ragatha, watching her put a hand to her cheek and close her eyes. She always did that to calm herself down.

“I was engaged, but I never got married.”

His pupils dilated. 

“Why not?” Ragatha furrowed her brows at his simple question. His voice was more serious than usual, but he didn’t look concerned. If anything, he seemed to be more zoned out in his own thoughts. 

“I joined the circus.”

“Oh.” Jax looked her over, “Did you like him?”

He jumped when Ragatha groaned, “He never let me plan anything for the wedding! Not the cake, not the venue, not even my own dress!”

“What–”

“I wanted an outside wedding! Maybe even on a farm? My home? But no, he wanted a big city wedding inside of a hotel casino.” Ragatha turned to him, “The cake. Do not get me started on the cake! Jax, the cake!”

He leaned back when she leaned forward, “The cake?”

“The cake! Hours spent yelling cause he wanted pistachio and I accidentally ordered almond. It’s not like I mixed it up for chocolate or something. Almonds are still a nut!”

“So nutty.”

“And my own dress? He picked it out! Some tight mermaid dress that had an open back–I always hated open back dresses. It had a giant slit up my leg and a deep plunge right down the chest! With fake crystals that poked me all around my body–”

Jax cut her off, “What dress did you want?”

Ragatha blinked back at him. She looked down at her hands that were folded neatly on her lap, “It…It’s stupid. What’s the point of talking about it? It’s not like I’ll ever be able to–”

“Come on, Dolly. Didn’t you say it was good to have distractions in this place?”

The ragdoll bit her lip, “Yes, I did say that.”

“So?” Jax leaned closer to her, mimicking her earlier reaction, “Tell me. What is your dream wedding dress?”

“It…” Ragatha rubbed her arm, “I always wanted a nice, big ballgown. And a veil. Especially the ones I used to see in the movies. Oh! And bows– I love bows!”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” He rolled his eyes with a short laugh. She didn’t pick up on his sarcasm.

“I do! I would have loved a bow right on my back where the skirt is. Like a princess!”

“Well, that is wildly different from what your fiance picked.”

Ragatha smiled at her newest friend. The two continued to joke around with each other until Ragatha finally finished sewing up his previously torn overalls. When Jax yawned, Ragatha carefully folded his stitched up clothes and placed them on her dresser.

“Alright, funny guy. You should head to bed.”

Jax rubbed his eyes, “I’m not tired.”

Ragatha sighed, gently guiding him to lay his head down on her pillow, “How about you get comfy here instead of walking back to your room? It can be a little sleepover.”

“I am not having a sleepover with Kinger!” He tried to keep his eyes open, but the adventure they had just been on that afternoon took a lot out of him. Ragatha tucked him in.

“No, don’t worry. Kinger won’t join us. It will just be the two of us. Our own little secret, how does that sound?”

“It sounds dumb…” Jax rolled over and snored. 

Ragatha put her hands on her hips, “Sure it is. Sleep well, Jax.”

________________________________

Ragatha put her head in her hands, staring at herself in the mirror. At first, this whole opportunity to have the wedding she was never able to have seemed incredibly exciting. But now?

“Oh, this just won’t do!” 

Now, she was just stressed.

Gangle scurried back and forth between the room, holding a pot of baby’s breath, “My bride deserves roses!”

The ragdoll sighed, brushing through her hair to tame the wild curls of yarn. Gangle wanted to make sure she had a blank canvas to decorate, so Ragatha was told to take off her bows and dress. She was wearing a white undergarments as Gangle hurried through all their wedding dress options. Gangle herself had exchanged her red ribbon for baby blue, wearing a blue floral dress over it.

“Ragatha! What do you think?” The doll tilted her head to look at the dress Gangle held up. It was sweet of her to do, doing her best to pick what she thought were stunning dresses– and Ragatha agreed to an extent. They were very pretty. But…

Her heart squeezed as she gave Gangle a grimace, “Oh, Gangle, the sweetheart neckline is beautiful.”

“You hate it!”

“I didn’t say that!”

“You didn’t have to!” Gangle screamed as she tried to tear the dress, biting the sequins of the dress off. 

Ragatha stood up instantly, “Woah, woah! Hey, it’s okay. Maybe we can look at the dresses together?"

Gangle huffed as she looked at the bride, growling when Ragatha tried to take it.

“Gangle, no! No, Gangle, drop it. Drop it! Don’t growl at me–Hey! Don’t bite me!”

Ragatha yelped when she successfully tore the dress away from Gangle. Gangle pouted at the older woman when the dress was taken away from her.

“I’m sorry, Ragatha. I really did try…” Gangle dragged herself over to the closet, “What else can I pick out for you?”

The bride sighed as she followed Gangle, “What about this one?” Ragatha pulled out a dress with a plain design, just a simple draped look. Gangle screamed.

“No no no! This is not the dress!”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re not in love with it!”

“Gangle!” Ragatha groaned as she sat back down in front of the mirror, “It is just a dress.”

“No, it isn’t.” Gangle followed Ragatha, playing with her hair, “Ragatha, you only get married once! Especially in this world, who knows if Caine will ever do something like this again?”

“We could always ask?”

“Not the point!” Gangle grabbed a white bow from the vanity setup, “This day is all about you.”

“What about my fiance?”

“What about him?”

Ragatha tensed her shoulders. During her own wedding planning back in the real world, she was always concerned about what he wanted. Here in the circus, it seemed like the opinion of her ‘fiance’ didn’t matter. It was all up to her. 

One single day, all to herself. No fiance that she had to share the day with. No mother scolding Ragatha for being upset when he chooses all the options she doesn’t like. No crying over a wedding she didn’t want.

She got to choose this wedding. It was her own.

“You’re right, Gangle.” Ragatha could feel Gangle pulling her curls back, using clips and hair ties to keep it up, “Today is about me…”

Gangle clipped the bow onto the top of her hair, “What do you think? Do you like it?”

Ragatha gasped when she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The ribboned girl had arranged the doll’s hair into a low bun, placing the large white bow right above it. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to get her hair wrapped up like this in the circus. Did Caine let her hair grow an inch since she last tried?

“I…I..” Ragatha raised a hand to cover her mouth.

“You love it! I’m so happy you love it! That is the look I was waiting for!” Gangle shook Ragatha by her shoulders, “But something is missing.”

The doll gently patted her hair as if to take in her new hairdo. 

“A veil.”

“Yes! How could I forget?” Gangle rushed across the room, digging through the tiny box filled with random accessories. “A veil is exactly what you need in order to complete your wedding look.”

Ragatha remained fixated on her reflection as Gangle kept searching for a veil. The ribboned girl came back with a short veil, tying it into the bow. The edges of the lace were curved and had little embroidered bunnies lined up on the edge. 

“There, it’s perfect.” Gangle took a step back to admire her work, “I did it.”

“Gangle, you’re doing amazing.” Ragatha let the veil drape over her shoulders, playfully squirming to watch the lace flutter. She pursed her lips at the bunnies on her veil. They were subtle enough to go unnoticed.

“Hey, maybe we can do white glittery eyeshadow?”

“You want glitter?”

“Yes! My mom didn’t allow me to wear glittery makeup when I lived with her, so I never really got to try it out.”

Ragatha excitedly straightened up in her chair when Gangle picked up the eyeshadow palette. Gangle leaned closer to examine her makeup, “What about after?”

The doll closed her eyes and remained perfectly still for her maid of honor as she began to dust her eyelids with the glitter, “What do you mean?”

“After you moved out. You didn’t try glitter makeup when you lived on your own?”

Ragatha pursed her lips. The thought of experimenting with new makeup always crossed her mind after high school, but she was already working for her real estate job. Her coworkers already didn’t respect her, and anything unprofessional received a warning.

One time, she suggested to her fiance that she could try wearing glitter in her perfume or makeup, but he had called her childish.

“It never crossed my mind.”

Gangle continued Ragatha’s makeup, “Then I’m glad I can do it for you. You know, I tried to wear glitter makeup to my job one time, but it fell into the food.”

The sudden confession made Ragatha burst into a fit of giggles, scaring Gangle for a moment. Then, she started to laugh too.

“Did you get in trouble?”

Gangle smiled, glad the stressed bride finally was having fun, “Not exactly. No one noticed, but I was so scared that I would get fired for breaking the rules. I never wore it to my job again!”

The two girls continued to laugh over stories Gangle told Ragatha about working in fast food. Ragatha never got to have the chance to work in essential service jobs, so hearing Gangle’s stories entertained her while Gangle worked on Ragatha’s makeup. 

Eventually, the maid of honor put down the brushes, “There. All done.”

Ragatha turned to the mirror, blinking at her reflection. Gangle had given her the glittery eyeshadow as promised. Her usual purple eyelid was a shiny white but Gangle also took the liberty to give her a smoky eye. 

Nothing too crazy, but it really brought out her blue eye…and button.

“You said you didn’t really experiment, so I assumed you never did a glam look before either.”

“Gangle…”

“Yes, Ragatha?”

“I think…”

The doll curled up on herself, collecting her thoughts before whipping her head towards the ribboned girl, “I think I’m going to cry!”

“Oh [redacted.png]! Don’t cry, do you hear me?! Do. Not. Cry! Everything will smear and you’ll ruin your makeup!”

Gangle fanned Ragatha as the doll kept rambling, “You are so sweet to me! This is seriously one of the nicest things anyone has done for me in the circus!”

“Stop crying!”

In the end, the makeup smeared. Ragatha apologized profusely as Gangle wiped off the ruined look and started the smoky look all over again. Luckily, Ragatha only had one eye. 

After redoing the makeup, Gangle continued to make Ragatha laugh. She definitely did not want to do all that work all over again.

“Alrighty! Time to pick out the dress!”

Ragatha sighed, “This feels like the most difficult part!” 

“Come on, you don’t feel excited to look over your options before you have to walk down the aisle and marry Orbsman?”

“Right…To Orbsman.” Ragatha let her hand run over the embroidery on her veil.

“Ragatha, you’re not going to find the perfect dream dress if you just stand there. Get over here and look!” Gangle waited for Ragatha to walk over before throwing open the closet doors. Inside were racks of wedding dresses from ceiling to floor.

“Oh, god! How rich is my fiance supposed to be again?” 

The duo walked into the closet, looking over the racks. Gangle excitedly picked out a handful right away, showing Ragatha each one. The doll only responded with nods and nervous smiles. Gangle then threw the dresses on the floor in frustration.

After the eleventh rejected dress, Gangle sighed, “That’s it! You have to work with me here, Ragatha. Did you ever dream of your wedding as a kid?”

“I guess a couple of times?”

“Great! That is great, so, what was your dream dress?”

Ragatha shrugged and looked away from the stressed bridesmaid, “Whatever you would like.”

“No no no!” Gangle covered her face, “You have got to work with me here! Remember, this is your dream wedding. Literally! No budget, no realistic standards– Think! I know for a fact you have a dream dress, Ragatha.”

The doll jumped when Gangle grabbed her by the shoulders.

“What. Is. Your. Dream. Dress?!”

Ragatha squealed, “I always wanted a ballgown! A big ballgown!”

“There we go!” Gangle let go of Ragatha and began searching, “No wonder you hated all of my suggestions. I was in the completely wrong style.”

Gangle started going through the dresses once more, throwing the poofy gowns over her arm as she collected more. Ragatha nervously smiled at all the options.

“How will I know which one is the right one?”

The ribboned girl threw two more over her arm, “You’ll feel it.”

“Uhh, okay. I trust you.” 

“I’m serious, Ragatha.” Gangle wobbled over with a pile of gowns overflowing in her arms, “You will know the right choice when you see it.”

“What if I don’t?” Ragatha took some of the gowns from Gangle to relieve the poor girl from almost being crushed.

Gangle tilted her head, almost making Ragatha laugh from how the others were picking up her quirks. She almost didn’t believe Jax when he told her she was rubbing off on the others.

“You’ll know. Even if you aren’t entirely sure, you’ll know deep down what is the right choice.” Gangle smiled and ran back to the main room, “I have an idea! We should gather all of our friends to watch you try on dresses.”

“Oh, I don’t know if we should go that far!”

“You don’t want them all in here?” Gangle turned to look at Ragatha, before realizing the doll most likely didn’t want all their friends to see her in a white bra and underwear, “Oh.”

Ragatha giggled as Gangle blushed.

“Maybe you are right on this one, Ragatha. But it can’t just be me here! This is you picking your dream dress! Your friends and family should–oh!”

Gangle threw all of the dresses she was carrying onto a chair, “I have another idea!”

“Where are you going?!”

“Just trust me!”

_________________________________

Ragatha stood awkwardly behind the closet door in a frilly wedding dress that had crystals sewn onto the hem. They were digging deep into her armpits.

“I’m not so sure about this, Gangle.”

“Come out already!”

Ragatha frowned at Gangle’s insistent enthusiasm. She refused to comment on it though. The younger woman was so excited for this wedding and her comedy mask had stayed in perfect condition the entire time.

Gangle felt a strong duty to be the perfect Maid of Honor and keep the wedding running smoothly. The doors opened in two hours, so this dress choice had to go fast. In order to be the most efficient they could be, Gangle asked for the help of the one person she deemed fit for the job.

The father of the bride: Kinger.

He told Gangle to dim the lights in the room until the knob was adjusted to the medium setting. She didn’t understand why, but she needed him to judge the dresses with her so she obliged.

“Come on out, sweetie! I’m sure you look great.” Kinger sat on a large sofa with Gangle, waiting for Ragatha to step out of her large closet.

Without any more chances for Ragatha to chicken out, she stepped out from behind the door and walked over to her two supporting party members. Gangle gasped and clasped her ribboned hands together. Kinger put a hand to his chest.

Their admiration was replaced quickly when they saw Ragatha’s face. She was awkwardly squirming and adjusting the top of the dress.

Gangle waved her off, “Atrocious! Go take it off.”

Ragatha gawked when Gangle seemed to change her opinion suddenly, “But I just saw you liking it–”

Kinger snapped his fingers, “Young lady, do not make Gangle repeat herself. Go change into something else.”

Ragatha blinked surprised. She felt like she was dress shopping for prom with her parents all over again. Except this time, instead of getting scolded for choosing a dress she wanted, she was getting scolded for just choosing a random dress.

Once Ragatha dragged herself back into the closet, Kinger turned to Gangle, “How did I do?”

“You’re doing great!”

After the two of them sipped three flavors of champagne, Ragatha came back out with a new dress. It had a lace top with an open back.

“How about this one?” 

Gangle watched Ragatha’s expressions for a few seconds, “No no no! Ragatha, go put on another dress!”

“I haven't even done a twirl yet!”

“Go!”

Ragatha sighed and left to go change again. 

Kinger tutted, “The nerve of that girl, picking a dress she doesn’t even like.”

Ragatha came out after nine minutes. This time it was a dress that looked like it had fifty layers of frills. Gangle groaned frustrated.

“Ragatha, you clearly do not like that dress.” The ribboned girl stood up and crossed her arms, “Why do you even have it on?”

The ragdoll went to tug her hair, but stopped herself when she remembered her hair had been styled into a bun, “I thought we were just picking a nice dress.”

Kinger placed his hands on his lap, “A nice dress you think you would like or a nice dress we would like?”

“A nice dress that you guys would like?”

Gangle put a gentle ribboned hand on Ragatha’s arm, “Let’s try this. What do you like?”

“I..” Ragatha sighed, “I’m not sure. I always picked whatever other people enjoyed.”

“Hey, we can do this together.” She nudged the doll gently, “Remember the glitter eyeshadow? You weren’t sure about it, you just wanted to experiment. But you ended up loving it.”

Ragatha folded her hands over the other, “So what should I do now?”

“How about we just experiment? Don’t think about it, just look for something that catches your eye and put it on. Then we can keep going from there.” Gangle watched Ragatha think about what she had just said.

“Yeah, okay. I can do that.”

“There we go! Now, get back in there and put on your perfect wedding dress!”

Ragatha bit her lip before excitedly rushing back into the closet with newfound confidence. Kinger wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. 

Gangle jumped a bit surprised, “Kinger, are you crying?”

“My little girl,” Kinger sniffled, “I watched her enter the circus as a scared insecure girl who had no one. Now she has friends and is getting out of her comfort zone.”

Gangle blinked at him, “Woah, you actually make sense right now.”

“Thank you, it’s the wedding. They always make me nostalgic.”

The both of them looked over at the closet door when Ragatha stepped out without announcing herself. She looked more nervous than the last few times, clutching the front of the skirt. Her new dress was simpler than the last few. It had puffy sleeves that hung off her shoulders with light lace trim along the hem, matching her veil. Her skirt was smoothed out with a long train following behind her.

Ragatha smiled softly, “What do you guys think?”

Gangle gaped at the dress she had chosen. It was so simple, yet so Ragatha. 

Kinger stood up, “You look amazing, sweetie.”

Ragatha went red at his words, turning to Gangle, “Is this it? Is this the one?”

“It is.”

Gangle whimpered as she looked over the dress one final time before throwing herself at Ragatha and sobbing, “I can’t hold it in anymore! You look so beautiful!”

Ragatha laughed and put a careful hand on top of Gangle’s masked head, “Hey hey, easy now. Why are we crying? Are you alright?”

“I can’t believe it, Ragatha!” Gangle continued to sob, “We have been friends for so long! And I have seen you grow so much more confident in yourself ever since I joined the circus and we lost so many people together throughout the years but you stayed! And even though it’s not real, I can’t believe I get to be your maid of honor and watch you get married! I want everything to be perfect for you!”

Ragatha hummed as she comforted Gangle, “I love you too, Gangle.”

The masked woman finally let Ragatha go after a few moments, looking over her one last time.

“Is it just me or is something missing?” Gangle wiped away her tears, her smile brighter than before with a bittersweet glint in her eye. In all fairness, Ragatha knew she would most likely cry if Gangle ever got married.

Ragatha walked to the mirror, giving Gangle and Kinger a slow spin, “Now that you mention it, it does feel like something is missing.”

“Oh! I got just the thing!” The girls watched Kinger walk into the closet. He remained there for a few minutes.

Gangle rubbed her hands together nervously when the silence went on for too long, “Is…Is he coming back–”

“I knew it!”

“Ahh!”

Gangle jumped when Kinger popped up behind her. He didn’t seem to notice as he went over to Ragatha and grabbed her by the shoulders to position her straight in front of the mirror.

“Here you go, just the thing…” Kinger held a white ribbon in his hands and wrapped it gently around Ragatha’s waist. The doll watched him confused as he tied it. “I knew at least one dress in there had to have an extra ribbon we could use.”

“Kinger? What are you doing?”

The chess piece ignored the ragdoll’s question, tying the ribbon gently to avoid squeezing her too much. He pulled at the ribbon for a bit until he took a step back and crinkled his eyes. 

Gangle rushed over and gasped, “Oh, Kinger! You are such a genius!” 

Ragatha twirled in the mirror and looked over her shoulder to see what he had done. Right on her back was a comedically large bow. The same one that she had dreamed of whenever she was alone in her room playing with her dolls. The same one she wished Caine had implemented into her digital avatar. 

The exact same one she told Jax about all those years ago.

“Kinger, how did you…”

The older circus member closed his eyes, “You always talked about how much you loved bows in the real world when you first entered the circus. How could I forget that on your special day?”

Ragatha looked between her two friends. They were here supporting her before the wedding began, and she had even more friends that were preparing for the event so she could feel special. 

Her cheeks felt warm and her eyes burned, “Gangle?”

“Yes, Ragatha?”

“I’m going to cry again!” Gangle squealed as she began to fan at Ragatha, trying to protect the bride’s makeup from getting ruined a second time. The action made the ragdoll laugh the tears away.

Kinger opened his eyes to look at Ragatha, “You look perfect, sweetie.” 

Ragatha smiled as she stepped forward. He was her oldest friend in the circus, and even now he stayed by her side. She leaned forward and gave him a tight hug, “Thank you, Kinger.”

The chess piece closed his eyes as he hugged back, running his hand over the bunny embroidery on Ragatha’s veil. It felt just like the butterfly embroidery on Queenie’s own veil from all those years ago.

“No problem. You look just like a princess.”

Chapter Text

“Pour me another!” 

Zooble was counting the cups provided at the open bar. They were in charge of providing drinks during reception and food for the after party. Everything had to be perfect for Ragatha’s wedding.

“I know you can hear me.”

Gangle stressed about how important this day is for the ragdoll– especially since the both of them forgot about the trio’s sleepover. Zooble really didn’t want to let their girlfriend down. 

“Zooble, come on!”

Zooble continued to ignore the jeers thrown their way. Gangle told them to keep the bar ready for service whenever the doors for the wedding open and to keep the chefs in check. So far, all the planning was going according to schedule. 

They had the chefs preparing the reception dinner, the cups and liquor were organized, and they had even designed a signature cocktail of the day: ‘The Raggy Rose’.

“Stop ignoring me and pour me another–”

“Oh my god, Jax! Shut the f-[redacted.png] up!”

The purple rabbit held up an empty cup, waving it in slow circles. He had a small pout on his face.

Zooble made the mistake of letting Jax try out ‘The Raggy Rose' after he volunteered, and practically begged them when they said no. After five minutes of the rabbit pestering them for a glass, they gave in. However, at that moment, they completely forgot how much of a lightweight he was.

Jax frowned when he got yelled at, cradling the cup to his chest, “Zooble, that was mean.”

“Good. Go vomit before the doors open and the guests arrive.”

Zooble went back to designing the menu.

“Zoobie.”

“No.”

“Zoobs!”

“Go away.”

Zooble felt him throw cherry stems at them. This really took them back to when they were a bartender in the real world. Although, not many of her clients were drunk purple rabbits seemingly pining over a ragdoll.

“Zooble!” A nervous jester ran over to the bar, her pupils little scribbles, “So many of these words are in Latin and they are spelled weird and they make no sense!”

There was the other usual client. They usually got clients that were stressed with whatever crisis they were facing at the moment. Although, once again, not many of those clients were short bicolored jesters.

Zooble tapped their clipboard, “What has gotten you so scrambled?”

Pomni did a little hop to sit on top of the stool, holding onto the counter to steady herself. The woman sighed loudly, “I have to be the officiator of this wedding and I need to get this speech down before the wedding begins. But the words are in Latin and I only took sign language in high school, not Spanish!”

Jax tilted his head to look at her, leaning over the counter, “Why don’t you just read it when you’re standing at the altar?”

“I would do that, but like I said–the words are in Latin!”

Zooble furrowed their brows, “Wait, all of them? Not one word is in English?”

The anxious jester dug into her imaginary pocket, digging around in her hammerspace– a trick Jax taught her to do during their gun shooting adventure– before pulling out a golden scroll with a prepared speech.

Jax and Zooble leaned in to read it.

“Uh, Pomni?” Zooble narrowed their eyes, “I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that is not Latin.”

“What?!” Pomni turned the scroll back to herself, her eyes scanning over the scribbled lines. 

Jax snatched the scroll from Pomni. The corner of his lips twitched into a snarl, “Hold on a second, I recognize this…”

“You do?”

Zooble shook their head, “Don’t listen to him, Pomni. He’s just drunk.”

Jax thumped his foot, “I’m serious, I recognize this!”

“Sure you do.”

Jax glared at the cluttered avatar, “I might be drunk, but I have been on way more of Caine’s adventures than you have.”

Pomni raised a brow at Jax. He seemed to be agitated with everyone today. The jester looked over the plastic booklet Zooble laid out, gesturing to the bartender a yellow drink on the menu. 

Zooble looked over the order for a moment before grabbing bottles behind the bar counter, “What does that have to do with anything, Jax?”

The rabbit thumped his foot again, “It means I recognize these words!”

The wedding officiator looked between the two of them warily. When Jax caught her stare, he scoffed, “If you don’t believe me, then why should I bother translating this stupid paper. You should just give up on it Pomni–”

“No, no!” 

Jax raised a brow at the jester’s nervous reply, crossing his arms defiantly. She sighed to herself, deciding to hear Jax out.

“How do you recognize them?” Pomni put her arms on the countertop, leaning onto them as she waited for her drink.

Jax stared at the scroll again, “Caine likes to reuse his old stuff from older adventures when he wants to make a callback or he assumes we forgot about it.”

“Which one is this one?”

Jax blinked, “A callback.”

The bartender shook their mixer above their head, “A callback to what exactly?” 

The rabbit rolled his eyes, hissing in disgust, “Orbsman.”

…

“Pfft–Why did you say his name like that?” Zooble snickered to themselves, throwing a cleaning rag over their shoulder. Even if Pomni didn’t understand, she couldn’t help but laugh at the way Jax had an unexplained hatred for the NPC.

“Shut up! I didn’t say his name like anything.”

Pomni covered her mouth to hide a smile, “You did say his name kind of upset.”

“No, I didn’t. You’re just having another digital hallucination.”

Zooble poured Pomni’s drink, “Relax, Jax. There’s no need to get your little cotton tail in such a twist just because you’re jealous of some NPC.”

“I am not jealous of an NPC.”

“You’re jealous of an NPC?”

“No!”

Pomni put a finger to her chin, voicing her thoughts out loud, “Why would you be jealous of an NPC?”

“I wouldn’t be, because I’m not!”

Zooble gently placed Pomni’s drink down in front of her, “Oh? You’re so sure that this jealousy has nothing to do with the bride?”

Jax glared at Zooble before silently looking over the scroll again. Pomni looked between the two, squirming at the sudden tension exuding from the groom’s best man. 

“Do…do you want to talk about it?”

“I’m trying to decipher some AI language. What do you think?”

The trio went silent once again as Jax examined the golden scroll. He rubbed his eyes annoyed, ‘The Raggy Rose’ hit him a lot harder than he thought it would. His chest felt warm but his hands felt freezing. Is this what being wasted felt like? He was probably being overdramatic again. But he assumed it would be more thrilling–or at least enjoyable.

That would have explained why people in the real word seemed like they couldn’t put it down. Now, he just felt more confused than before. Why would people like this?

“Feeling alright over there?” Zooble put a hand on their hip, looking at the stressed bunny. Jax pinched his brows together when he threw her a glare.

“It’s nothing. I just…am having a hard time translating what this stupid scrolls says! Jeez, Zoobs, what did you put in that drink?”

Pomni sipped her own drink, “Tastes pretty sweet to me.”

“Not that one.” Jax rubbed his head as he groaned, “That stupid ‘special’ drink.”

The jester looked at the bartender. 

Zooble shook their head, “He means the drink I made for the reception dinner on the special menu: ‘The Raggy Rose’.”

“Seriously, Zooble! What did you put in that drink?!” 

“Alright, calm down!” The other two watched Jax tug on his ears, groaning loudly. Zooble dug around the bar’s minifridge, “Don’t worry, I’ll whip up something to sober you up quickly.”

Jax stomped his feet, “My head hurts like some tumor is growing in there!”

Pomni giggled at him, “Well, screaming won’t help.”

“But it hurts!” Jax dragged out the words as he rubbed his forehead, slumping against the counter, “Can’t believe Zooble convinced me to drink that stuff.”

“'Convince you’– You literally begged me to let you try it!”

“Whatever.”

Zooble threw random ingredients into a blender, cramming spinach, garlic, egg, and soy sauce down into an already full cup. Pomni grimaced as they blended up the mixture, watching as Zooble decided to add mayonnaise halfway through.

“What is that exactly?”

“Something to help Jax with whatever he has got going on.” Zooble carelessly poured the dark green drink into a cup, “Drink up.”

“I don’t like green food.”

Zooble threw a blueberry on top of the chunky drink. 

Jax sighed as he reluctantly grabbed the cup and lifted it to his face, sniffing the concoction. He scrunched his face before slowly sticking out his tongue–

“Oh, gross!”

“Drink it, you wuss!”

Jax sniffed it again. He looked at Pomni, searching for any encouragement from the short jester. A few seconds passed until Jax took in a deep breath and shoved the drink into his mouth. 

He instantly gagged.

“[Redacted.png]!” Pomni squealed when Jax ran past her, bumping into her stool, “Woah, are you–”

“There he goes.” Zooble puts their claw on their hip while Jax clutched his stomach and gagged. The both of them watch the rabbit run to the nearest restroom. 

Pomni turned back to the empty bar stool next to her, looking over the half drunk smoothie, “That is supposed to help sober him up?”

Zooble stared blankly at the other circus resident.

“No.”

“Zooble!” 

The abstracted avatar sighed, “It will make him vomit at least, and get that stuff out of his system quicker.”

Pomni narrowed her eyes, “That is so gross.”

“That is the point.” 

“I guess…” The bicolored jester circled her finger around the rim of her cup. Zooble glanced at the quiet woman, slipping the rag off of their shoulder. They began to wipe at the already clean counter, thinking of what they could say. 

The two of them never really spoke much before besides the bar adventure they had gone on during Caine’s flash round. This time wasn’t much different except for the fact that they were alone now.

“What’s on your mind, Pomni? Talk to me.”

“What?”

“Your face always reveals what you’re thinking. That– and I was a bartender. I know when a client has a problem going on.”

“You got a lot of experience in this then. What was it like?”

“You’re dodging the question.”

Pomni slumped in her chair, “I don’t exactly…know how to explain it.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense to me. All it has to do is calm your mind.” Zooble waited for Pomni to continue, “Just know I’m willing to listen.”

Pomni laughed softly, “You sound like Ragatha.”

“Well,” Zooble shrugged, “She’s a sweetheart, that’s for sure. Maybe that’s why she is the one getting married.”

She smiled at them, “Would you want to get married?”

Zooble straightened up instantly, their pink cheeks flushed, “What? I– You’re deflecting again!”

“Don’t deny it, Zooble! You and Gangle have been getting pretty serious lately, huh?” Pomni wiggled her eyebrows at them.

“So what? It’s not like we can get married in this digital hell!”

“Why not? Ragatha is.” The soon-to-be wedding officiator giggled, the bells on the tip of her hat jingled in sync with her laugh, “The next wedding could be with you and your new girlfriend.”

“Hey! Let’s not forget this is supposed to be about what is bothering you.” 

“Awww, a wedding with you and Gangle! That would be so cute.” Zooble narrowed their eyes at the jester, their triangular head now a darker shade.

“I’m not letting this go, Pomni. You always hear everyone else out, now it’s your turn to let go of some feelings.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to ruin the happy mood with my nervous thoughts.”

Zooble closed their eyes and took a deep breath, “You sound just like Gangle when you say that.”

“Thinking about her again?” Pomni tried to tease the younger circus member, but quickly dropped it when Zooble gave them a disappointed glare. It weirdly mirrored the usual look Ragatha gave them when they argued with each other.

Pomni shrugged, “I guess, I don’t want to mess this up. Everyone is working so hard for this to be Ragatha’s perfect day, and now the speech is in some language only Jax can translate. And he’s too sick to even focus!”

Zooble nodded along, allowing Pomni to express herself. So far, this was the longest conversation the two have ever held.

Pomni continued, “Ragatha has been so welcoming and accepting of me since I joined this…place. I want to be able to repay her in some way.”

“I can understand that.” Zooble grabbed the discarded smoothie from Jax and dumped it into the sink, “But whatever happens tonight, you need to remember, it isn’t your fault. No one told Caine to put the wedding speech into some unknown AI language.”

“Thanks, Zooble.”

“No problem, Poms. It’s all in being a bartender.”

The jester smiled at them, “You’re a really good friend.”

Zooble blinked surprised, scratching the back of their neck, “Thank you, Pomni.”

“Yeah! Thank you, Pomni!”

“Oh, god-[redacted.png]...”

The both of them turned to see Jax returning from vomiting his guts out in the bathroom. He wiped his chin lazily, smiling at the duo in front of him, “What? Not glad to see me?”

“Are you feeling better, Jax?” Pomni furrowed her brows when he took a deep breath.

“Everything is all better, Pom-Pom! That stuff is out of my stomach and I am completely ready to translate this stupid scroll.” 

Zooble leaned over the counter to get a better look at the rabbit, “Seriously, Jax, are you alright? You can take a moment to relax if you still feel a bit under the weather.”

Jax picked at his ear, one of his eyes squinting from the feeling of his finger wiggling around in his ear, “Nah, I’m fine. A little upset stomach isn’t enough to stop me from helping out my best friends out.”

Pomni sipped her pineapple flavored drink, “Actually, I talked to Zooble about it and..I’m sure Ragatha wouldn’t mind if we change the speech around. It’s not like it’s a real wedding anyway.”

…

“I’m going to translate that scroll.”

Zooble threw the rag in the sink, “It really isn’t that big of a deal. We can try to come up with something else–”

“It’s not like I have anything else better to do.”

The other two avatars curiously watched Jax. He sat down on the bar stool right next to Pomni, grabbing the golden scroll on the counter and ran his finger over the lines of AI code. His mouth formed little vowels as he muttered potential translations to himself, shaking his head when certain words didn’t fit.

Pomni glanced at Zooble. Zooble cringed at Pomni.

The bartender tilted their head, “How is it going so far?”

“Perfect.” Jax grumbled as he continued to look over the scroll, scrunching his face as he muttered baffled, “Just perfect. So far, I was able to decipher a sentence about two bodies becoming one.”

“Oh, gross!”

He glared at Zooble, “How do you think I feel?”

Pomni smirked. Since joining the circus, she had grown a lot more comfortable with her new digital family, “Reading about Ragatha being with her future husband is making you feel things?”

“Wha– No, I just don’t want to read this stupid speech!” He rubbed his temples frustrated, “Seriously, Pomni, just give up on the speech.”

Zooble hissed at him, “Absolutely not! We are doing this for Ragatha.”

“This entire wedding is a mistake and should have never even been created to begin with!”

“Gangle is excited for this, and you’re not going to ruin today.” Zooble rolled their eyes, “We all have our eyes on you, especially since that letter earlier said you might crash the wedding.”

“First of all, it never said I would be the one to crash the wedding, it just said someone random might.” Jax pushed the scroll away from himself, “Second of all, while we’re discussing this whole event being ruined– We should just go ahead and cancel the whole thing.”

Pomni crossed their arms, interrupting the bickering duo, “Why? So Ragatha doesn’t marry Orbsman?”

Zooble snickered, “Yeah, want her to marry you instead?”

“Shut up!”

The jester snapped her head to Zooble, her jaw dropped, “No way! That is what this is all about?!”

Jax glared at her, “No, it’s not! Ignore Zooble!”

Zooble put a taloned hand over where their mouth would be, “Someone likes the bride!”

Pomni gasped, “How did I not notice?”

“Zooble is a liar! Ignore whatever they say from now on, Poms!” He huffed when the other two circus residents high fived each other, “Ugh, we need more men in the circus again. You both suck!”

“No wonder you have been so upset all day.” Pomni turned to face Jax, “This whole adventure must be horrifying for you.”

Jax forced a strained smile, “Please! The only horrifying thing in this adventure is the fact that Ragatha, out of everyone, is the center of attention.”

“Are you upset you aren’t the only one with eyes on her?” Zooble and Pomni broke into fits of laughter as they continued to tease Jax.

Jax rubbed his eyes frustrated, “Jeez, you sound just like the guys…” 

He looked between the smug bartender and giddy jester, tugging on his ears.

“I want to kill both of you guys right now…”

Zooble glanced at the entrance doors. Distant chatter could be heard, meaning the doors would open and the wedding would begin any moment now. 

“Save it for the after party, bunny boy.”

_____________________________________________________

“Jax?”

The group laughter died down when the ragdoll interrupted them, looking between each member of the friend group. They had been sitting on the couches in the main area, most of them being men in the circus. She rubbed her arm nervously, smiling softly at each circus resident.

Jax scrunched his eyes at the woman, noticing her usual day dress was replaced with a white nightgown. He put his hands on his hips and elbowed Ribbit, “Seems the ladies can’t get enough of me.”

Ribbit raised their brows at him, laughing with him, “Shut up, a-[redacted.png].”

Ragatha frowned when the group began to talk amongst themselves again. The members were laughing about the adventure they had just gone on that day, specifically how Ribbit had attempted to eat an entire bowl of flies.

“Jax, can I please talk to you real quick?” 

“Not now, Dollface!” Jax remained on the couches with his friends, rolling his eyes at her, “She always is such a nag.”

The doll put her hands on her hips, furrowing her brows when the other circus members laughed at Jax’s joke. She raised her voice to get his attention again, “Jax, I need to talk to you.”

The other circus members stopped their conversations to look at Ragatha. One blue dog smirked at Jax, “Go on, Jax. The Mrs. is calling for you.”

Jax tensed at the jokes, blushing at the group’s jeers. Some of them made kissy noises while others teased the rabbit. 

The only man who didn’t make any jokes was Kinger, who stared straight ahead and sat in the middle of the couches. When the chesspiece noticed the plush doll standing near the group, he gasped, “Oh! Hello, cuddlebug!”

Ragatha acknowledged his greeting with a soft nod.

Jax slowly turned to face the ragdoll, glaring at her. 

The doll pursed her lips at his reaction, “Oh, no, I just wanted to ask…”

“Hold on, guys. I will be right back.” The group dismissed Jax when he stood up from the couches. 

Ribbit narrowed his eyes at Ragatha as Jax made his way over to her, gesturing with two of his fingers that he was watching her. She cringed as the other men continued to tease the younger rabbit.

Ragatha looked away from Ribbit when Jax got closer to her, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into a large tube to keep the others from seeing them talking, “I didn’t mean to cause anything, I just wanted to talk to you.”

He sighed loudly, hunching his shoulders as Ragatha frowned at him. She looked around the corner back at his group of friends who were continuing their cheery conversation before she had interrupted them.

“What do you want?”

She rubbed her hands together, smiling nervously at him. 

Jax had been gaining confidence in the circus as he settled into the digital world. He even reached out to others and made his own friends. But now that he had his own friends, it felt like he was purposefully distancing himself from her. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your fun hangout.” 

He dropped the tense smile, looking down at her, “Yeah, well, you did.”

Ragatha put a hand on her cheek, “I’m sorry, Jax. I just wanted to remind you about the sleepover tonight.”

She tilted her head, watching Jax turn his eyes away from her. Ragatha pursed her lips, rocking gently on her feet as she waited for his answer. When he remained silent, she gave him another nervous smile.

“You know, you kinda skipped the last two sleepovers we planned, and I was just wondering if you had just forgotten. I know you have been hanging out with your new friends and I completely understand–”

“I’m not gonna be able to make it tonight.” 

The two digital avatars stood awkwardly in front of each other. Ragatha straightened up at his words, blinking dumbly at his answer. Jax scratched the back of his neck as the silence went on.

“Oh. Okay, that’s alright. Can you tell me why?” Ragatha crossed her arms, standing tall as the men from the couches tried to glance over at them. They didn’t know what the two were arguing about, but the way Jax walked away from them caught their attention. Ragatha scrunched her nose frustrated when he refused to speak up, “Did you make plans with the others for tonight?”

Jax crossed his arms, looking back at the other circus members, “Let’s not do this here.”

“Do what? I’m just asking you a question.”

“Look, Dollface,” Jax pinched where the bridge of his nose would have been, sighing as if the conversation had already drained him, “We can talk about this later.”

“Why can’t we talk about this now?”

“Because you are making a scene right now.”

“How am I–” She caught herself raising her voice slightly, rubbing her arm to soothe herself, “How am I making a scene?”

Jax stared at her blankly, “I’m going to go back to the group.”

The doll prickled at his dismissive tone, “Why?”

The bunny looked down at her, furrowing his brows confused. He rubbed the back of his neck again, feeling awkward from the entire interaction.

“I was in the middle of talking with them when you called me over–”

“No!” Ragatha moved to block his path, “Why do you prefer them over me?”

He groaned, making Ragatha more frustrated, “Seriously. Let’s not do this right now.”

“It’s not like we can talk tonight! Because you’re ditching me for a third time in a row!”

“I don’t want to talk about this with you right now.” Jax waved her off, stepping around her to leave her in the tube alone. 

Ragatha jerked to the side, stopping him once again. She scrunched her face in confusion from his reaction, “Just talk to me! I don’t understand why you’re avoiding me!”

He stiffened up. She looked him over as his eyes refused to meet hers.

“I was right… You are avoiding me.”

“Go away, Ragatha.”

She stepped in front of him again, puffing up her chest to look intimidating, “No. You need to tell me. What did I do?”

“How many times do I have to say just drop it?” He pushed her to the side, walking out of the play tunnel.

“Just be honest with me!” Ragatha lunged to grab his wrist–

“How honest can I actually be with you?!” Jax yanked his arm away from her, glaring down at the ragdoll, “What can I say without you forcing me to act happy and that all of this is fine?”

Ragatha stood completely still. She took in a careful breath, “I don’t force you to pretend all of this is fine.” 

“Oh, please. No one can say anything negative near you. God forbid someone is upset because they are trapped in this digital hell!”

“I don’t force you guys to do anything! I-I just try to help you guys and be positive–”

“That’s just it!” Jax stepped closer to her, forcing her to step back, “How are you positive all of the time? How can you act happy all of the time when we are literally stuck in these endless adventures with some insane AI and these stupid bodies!”

The doll pressed her hands to her chest, looking up at him with a wide eye, “I just wanted to help.”

“You’re not.”

The bunny avatar looked over the doll, trembling under his gaze. The hands on her chest tightened over the gentle lace on her nightgown’s hem.

“I’m so tired of you.” Jax turned away from her, beginning to walk away. Ragatha held her breath when the lanky rabbit looked over his shoulder back at her, “Don’t expect me tonight. Don’t bother waiting for me at all.”

He walked out of the tunnel and back to his group of friends.

Ragatha remained in the tunnel slide, holding her hands together as she thought over the interaction between her and Jax. She was his first friend, but it seemed her attempts at connecting with him only pushed him away further.

She was in the tunnel for a while. The doll wasn’t sure for how long– She heard the distant chatter of the men in the circus until they had died down and all turned in for the night. 

Even as they retired to their bedrooms, Ragatha couldn’t bring herself to leave her hiding spot. Their rooms were right next to each other, and what if she ran into him on the way? What if the others overheard Jax’s confession? Or he told them? Or–

“Raggy?”

Ragatha turned her head to see the black and white clown, Kaufmo. 

He looked concerned as he walked closer, smiling gently, “Hey, Ragatha. What are you doing out here all alone?”

“Oh, nothing! I…” Ragatha stared blankly at the clown. The dark lighting made her narrow her singular eye to see him better, “I lost track of time.”

Kaufmo put a hand on her shoulder, “Are you ok?”

The both of them settled into a fragile silence. Ragatha shook her head gently.

“Wanna talk about it?”

The redheaded doll scrunched her face until she shoved herself into Kaufmo’s arms, holding back tears.

“Kaufmo, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

He patted her gently on her back, “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I think everyone in this circus hates me!”

"I think everyone in this circus are a-[redacted.png].”

Her soft cries were littered with gentle giggles. He nudged her back to see her face, wiping her tears, “You know, I was having fun singing in the shower until I got shampoo in my mouth.”

Ragatha tilted her head.

“Then it became a soap opera.” The clown watched the woman’s nose scrunch as she processed the joke until she snorted. Her shoulders relaxed as she laughed, her tears calmed down until she was smiling up at Kaufmo.

“There is our sweet dollie! Come on, let’s get you to bed.” Kaufmo gently guided Ragatha through the circus halls, “I heard Caine is planning a major adventure for tomorrow.”

Once they reached her bedroom door, Ragatha sighed, “Oh, Kaufmo, what will we do without you?”

The clown waved her off, “I’ll always be here, Ragatha.”

The doll opened her bedroom door–

“Just one more thing!” Ragatha turned to look at Kaufmo. He threw her a thumbs up, “Do me a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Always keep smiling.”

Ragatha let a beat pass between them before she gave him a soft smile, “Thank you, Kaufmo.”

“Good night, Ragatha.”

The doll stepped into her room, now more relaxed than before. Her breath caught when she saw the sleeping bag on the floor that she had prepared for Jax. She lifted her thumb to her mouth, gently biting her thumb.

She sat on her bed, waiting until she heard the final circus resident’s door close and the hallway lights turned off. 

Jax wasn’t coming tonight. It was obvious.

Ragatha tucked herself into her bed and went to bed.

Maybe the two of them can make up, and he will go to her next sleepover.

Chapter Text

In the years before she joined the circus, if someone were to tell Ragatha she was going to be excited for a wedding that was planned for her, she would simply smile along and say how grateful she was for such an involved mother like hers.

Now she could genuinely agree.

“It’s almost time!” Gangle fussed over Ragatha, fluffing her large skirts. After trying to smooth out her veil for the fifth time, she stepped back to finally look at all of her hard work.

“How do I look?”

Ragatha smiled nervously at the duo in front of her. She held her bouquet of roses close to her chest, waiting for the silent stares to end. 

Kinger wiped his eyes, “You look extraordinary, cuddlebug.”

The doll straightened up, looking at the mirror next to her. It was a pretty accurate way to describe how they dressed her up–everything was extra. 

Her dress was large, white ribbons cascaded down her backside as the large bow on her back fluffed up as large as Gangle could possibly make it. Her veil was delicately placed over her shoulders, forming the small train to mix with her skirts. Her makeup was more dramatic than usual, the glitter shining brightly on her normally dull eye. 

“You look just like the perfect bride, Ragatha.” Gangle put a ribboned hand over her chest. 

Ragatha laughed softly, “All thanks to you.”

“I still can’t believe it…You are getting married.”

Gangle put her hands over her chest, taking in the sight before her. The woman had been there years before Gangle ever joined the circus, and she most likely would be here for years to come. Special occasions like these were never even mentioned between the circus members, unable to put into words the melancholy that would come over them when they realized they would never be able to experience weddings, graduations, baby showers–only funerals.

But here she was. Ragatha stood nervous in her large wedding dress, prepared to carry flowers to the altar and ready to put a ring on her plush finger.

“I can't believe it either.” The doll fully turned to the mirror, cocking her head to the side to look over her neatly tied hair again, “I thought I would always look like some frumpy ragdoll in this circus. I never thought I would be able to see myself as a bride again.”

Gangle and Kinger looked at each other. 

Kinger stepped closer to Ragatha, “Are you ready to walk down the aisle any moment now?”

The bride continued to look over herself in the mirror. Her chest tightened at the sight in front of her. Suddenly, everything was a lot more real.

“Oh my god.” Ragatha turned to the other two, “Oh my god! It actually is happening! It is my wedding day!”

Gangle squealed when the bride suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, “I am actually getting married! Gangle, I am getting married!”

“I know! I know!”

Ragatha gasped, gliding across the dressing room, “I am getting married! I always dreamed of getting married!”

The bride continued to sway around the dressing room, giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush. When her dress brushed against Kinger, he offered his hand to the woman, guiding her into a gentle twirl. Ragatha giggled to herself, throwing the bouquet of roses carelessly behind her.

Gangle caught it.

The older man danced with the doll, leading the both of them in a slow dance, “You are, Ragatha. You’re getting married today. I can hardly believe it as well.”

Gangle watched the two dance happily, now holding the roses to her own chest. She let herself finally relax after fussing over the wedding preparations for hours on end.

The doll spun again, closing her eye as she sighed dramatically, “I’m getting married!”

“To Orbsman!”

The gentle twirls stilled. Ragatha opened her eye and faced the ribboned girl, who was smiling widely at her. 

“Right…to Orbsman.”

The ragdoll tensed her shoulders when she noticed Kinger narrow his eyes at her–as if he could see right through her. Since when was he able to focus on anything longer than a minute? Where was his vacant look? Why did it actually look like there was somebody home?

“Gangle, I think the guests are coming in.” Kinger turned to the tragedy mask, “Can you go check up on them?”

Gangle tilted her masked face, “Oh, now? But what about–”

“Come on, Gangle. Everything here is ready and perfect for the wedding. Out there? Who knows what chaos is waiting for us.”

“But it hasn’t started–”

“Exactly. You don’t want to start the wedding only to find out everything out there is a disaster!”

Gangle rubbed her neck, “I guess not.”

“There you go!” Kinger waved her off, “Maid of Honor duties await!”

The ribboned woman shook her head at him. She walked up to Ragatha, putting a comforting hand on her arm, “You’re going to do great, Ragatha. I’ll make sure everything is perfect for you.”

“Thank you, Gangle.”

Satisfied with the ragdoll’s answer, Gangle nodded and walked to the door. The ribboned girl placed the bouquet of roses down gently on her way out. She gave them a final wave before leaving the dressing room. 

Now it was just Ragatha and Kinger.

“Young lady, you better start talking.”

“Huh?!”

“Don’t play this off. I saw the way you looked whenever Gangle mentioned you being married off.”

“But I want this wedding!”

“With Orbsman?”

…

Kinger sighed, stepping closer to the silent bride.

“Cuddlebug, what’s up?”

“I…” Ragatha put her hand to her chest, feeling the stuffing in her tighten, “I don’t know.”

The two continued to look at each other. Ragatha’s lip quivered, “I don't understand any of this– I’m so confused. I thought I was over it. I thought I could handle this. But–now that it’s here.”

The room went silent. The ragdoll bride rubbed the hem of her veil, staring outside the small window letting in small douses of sunlight in. It was almost sundown.

“Ragatha?”

The doll turned to Kinger, her eye narrowed with thin tears threatening to spill. She put a careful hand to her mouth, taking in a sharp breath. Kinger opened his arms to receive her.

Her breath caught in a hushed whisper, as if the words themselves didn’t want to come out, “I wanted it to be him.”

“I know.”

The ragdoll stepped forward and slumped in his arms, taking in a deep breath before letting out a soft sob. 

Kinger gently smoothed out the top of her head, “I know, honey. I know.”

“Gangle is going to be so upset that I ruined the makeup again.”

“Don’t worry about that right now.”

“The wedding–”

“-Can wait.” 

Ragatha sniffled into Kinger’s chest. Her shoulders shook with a small tremble, jumping with small hiccups. The older man allowed the ragdoll to continue to cry in his arms, rubbing her back in a soothing motion.

He didn’t rush her or push for her to speak, just let the woman take her time. Kinger rubbed soothing circles on her back, leaning to the side to let her hug him more comfortably. 

After the quiet moment, Ragatha let out a small sigh. 

She looked up at the chesspiece, using the back of her hand to wipe her nose.

“Everyone worked so hard to make this wedding happen.” Her voice was small. Even in the grand wedding dress she was wearing, she still looked like the shy girl who joined the circus all those years ago. 

Kinger pushed back a stray yarn hair that fell from the bun, “Do you want this wedding to happen?”

“I agreed to it.”

“But do you want it?” 

Ragatha lifted a nervous hand to her mouth, gently chewing on her plush thumb. She looked up at Kinger with wide eyes, “I thought I did. I liked the adventure at first–But now everything feels too real. It’s not an adventure anymore, it’s…”

Another sob interrupted her words. Kinger patted her back to comfort her. Once she was able to breathe somewhat normally, he pulled her back.

“Ragatha, answer me honestly.” Kinger put both of his hands on her shoulders, bringing her attention back to him, “Do you want this wedding?”

The bride kept her eye on him. Her shoulders tensed for a moment until she took in a deep breath–She shook her head.

Kinger looked over the ragdoll for a moment, taking it all in. His little girl, the one who brought back just a little bit of his sanity, looked so scared. Just how she would look when Caine’s adventures became too hard for her or Jax’s teasing became too much. 

“Then you don’t have to do it.”

Ragatha hiccuped, “But everyone worked so hard for this. I can’t go back now.”

“Yes, you can.” The sun was setting now. Strong rays of orange light peered into the room, illuminating the chesspiece and doll. Kinger squinted, lowering his head to avoid the light in his eyes. “No one can force you to do this, Cuddlebug. You know what is best for you.”

The bride chewed on her thumb again. She clearly wasn’t entirely convinced. Kinger sighed and put his hand on her cheek, “And, hey! At the end of the day, if you really do not want to get married, I’ll support you.”

Before Ragatha could respond, a small knock sounded from the door. Gangle’s high voice was muffled from the outside, "Get ready, you two! The sun is about to set, and the wedding will start in twelve minutes.”

Ragatha furrowed her brows, staring at the door deep in thought. Everyone was waiting outside. Waiting for the wedding to begin. Waiting for her.

“Ragatha, look at me.”

The doll turned her head to Kinger once again. His blue eyes squinted against the orange hue from the sunset outside, but he looked determined to keep them open. No matter how much he got distracted, he did his best to stay focused on the scared woman in front of him.

“I will go out there and get ready for the wedding.”

“But you said–”

He lifted his hand to interrupt her, “Think about your choice. If you are ready for it–not because you feel pressured or feel like you need to, but because you want to–then I will be ready to walk down the aisle with you. If you decide you don’t want to do it, then…”

Ragatha looked down. Kinger lifted her chin gently.

“I will support whatever you decide.”

She hiccuped again, giving the older man a shaky whimper, “Thank you, Kinger.”

“Of course, Cuddlebug.”

Kinger brought the ragdoll into a tight hug, her plush body squeezed until she hung on his arm like a child’s limp teddy bear. Ragatha melted into the warm embrace, letting herself relax for the first time during the adventure.

The older man let go of Ragatha, looking her over one final time.

“You look beautiful, honey.” 

She smiled up at him, wiping away some of the smudged makeup on her cheek, “All thanks to you and Gangle.”

He sighed softly, closing his eyes to think, “I’m going out now. Think about it, Ragatha.”

With that, Kinger patted her veil one last time, running his fingers over the bunny embroidery, and walked out of the dressing room, leaving Ragatha alone.

The bride stood still in the now empty dressing room. She looked at her reflection again, her perfect appearance now smudged. Her eyes traveled over her appearance, taking in her styled hair and smudged glittery eye, her lavish wedding dress being decorated with bows and lace, her veil tightly secured into her bun.

Her eyes landed on the bunny embroidery once again. She shook her head.

“Come on, Ragatha. The past is the past.” She noticed in the mirror the roses by the door left behind by Gangle. They were bunched up together and tied with a bow, “Everyone is waiting for me.”

_________________________________________________

“Come on, you lazy a-[redacted.png]! The wedding starts in one minute!” Zooble shoved a groaning rabbitoid to the front of the wedding venue. All the guests were already seated and now chatting with each other before the wedding began.

Pomni looked over the translated speech one last time, “Ugh, don’t remind me! I’m already nervous as is.”

Zooble sighed, looking over the full venue, “Don’t worry, Pomni. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Yeah, Pomni, you’ll do great.” Zooble glared at Jax as he lounged on the floral decorations. 

The abstract avatar crossed their arms at him, “Did you even finish translating the speech?”

“Pomni has it in her hands, doesn’t she?” Jax watched the bartender grumble to themselves frustrated, “Geez, Zoobie, you’re gonna blow your head off if you don’t calm down.”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it from you–you vomited all over the clean glasses!”

He shrugged, “I couldn’t make it to the bathroom in time. Blame your little hangover cure.”

“Maybe if you could hold your liquor.”

“Maybe if your drinks were actually good!”

“You were literally begging for more–”

Pomni squeaked when the manor’s doors swung open, leading to the outside venue. The jester officiator scanned over the translated speech one last time before taking in a deep gasp, her cheeks already swirling into a green tint, “It’s time, guys! Get in your spots!”

Zooble cursed under their breath, being censored by a dog bark. They rushed off the altar space, returning to their spot from the open bar. Jax straightened up in his spot. He was standing where the groom should be with a shit eating grin, agitating Zooble even more.

Soft music began to play in the yard. All of the NPCs hushed themselves to turn towards the doors. The sun was on its last sliver of light before night would officially take over, the whole venue being draped in an orange hue. 

Jax looked over the area for the first time since the adventure began. It really was Ragatha’s dream wedding. Everyone was able to make the perfect wedding for their ragdoll.

His cocky smile twitched, mumbling through his yellow teeth, “Let’s see if these idiots were able to get the dress right.”

Pomni turned her head from the aisle, “What?”

“Nothing, pom-pom.”

Before the jester could continue asking any more questions, a violin joined the music. Jax narrowed his eyes–of course Orbsman got Ragatha a live orchestra for her wedding.

The live music began to pick up their volume, turning into a rather intense group of wooden musicians. Jax and Pomni looked at each other awkwardly before the music completely cut out. The guests were completely still, waiting for the next surprise. Then the music began again in a softer tune.

Gasps erupted when the first person began making her way down the aisle, the bridesmaid. 

Gangle walked slowly, keeping her masked face calm. The aisle was white with red rose petals thrown to make a pathway to the altar. Her usual red ribbon was replaced with baby blue, delicately covered by a blue floral dress. 

Jax looked over to the open bar, where Zooble was staring at the tragedy figure in complete adoration. The entire time Gangle walked to the music, Zooble watched longingly after her.

Gangle stepped to the side of the altar, narrowing her black eyes at Jax. She whispered to the two circus members next to her, “Isn’t that the groom’s spot?”

He flashed her a wide smile, “Just keeping it warm for Dollface’s soon to be husband.”

Gangle tried to scold him, but Pomni cleared her throat. When the masked woman looked at the jester, Pomni cocked her head to the side, signaling for Gangle to look over. When she did, her pinched expression relaxed into a soft smile. 

Zooble jumped when Gangle looked at them. The two lovebirds waved at each other.

“That’s so gross.” Jax grumbled to himself, earning a glare from Pomni.

The next person down the aisle was Orbsman himself, proudly wearing his bowtie. All of the NPCs started a soft chatter as the bulbous character took his time to walk down the aisle. His eyes narrowed at the purple rabbit standing on his spot. 

Jax took the hint, shrugging as he stepped off the podium, “Sorry, Orbsie! Just keeping it warm for you.”

The NPC rolled his eyes, but took his spot on the podium. 

Everyone looked to the doors at the beginning of the aisle. The music picked up, building up the tension with every strum of their string. The chatter died down as almost every AI character leaned over themselves to attempt to catch sight of the upcoming bride through the grand doors.

Jax’s own smirk slowly shifted into a small frown; his own breath got caught. It was hard to believe after all of these years being stuck in the circus with interchangeable rosters of people, he was finally going to be able to see Ragatha in the wedding dress she once dreamed of.

 The instrumental reached its climax. The violin cut itself off quickly, allowing the piano to deliver the final note. The deep sound stretched on as everyone waited for the bride to come out.

…

Pomni cleared her throat, “Um…Isn’t the bride supposed to come out yet?”

“Kinger, where the f-[redacted.png] is the bride?!”

Kinger stepped out of the grand doors, unfocused and distracted by whatever floated past him in the air, “Sorry, may you repeat that, Gangle? I didn’t quite catch that.”

Jax’s ears twitched when Gangle screeched, pulling at her dress, “Where is the bride?!”

Kinger put a hand to his chest. He spent a minute thinking about Gangle’s question. All of the guests remained dead silent.

“Come on, old geezer. Spit it out.” Jax hissed, crossing his arms. 

Pomni frowned at him, “Give him a moment.”

The old chesspiece called out suddenly, “Oh, right! Now I remember–The bride cancelled.”

Gangle stared at him in disbelief, “What…THE F-[REDACTED.PNG], KINGER?!”

The venue erupted into complete chaos. The guests stood and shouted with each other, Orbsman was panicking, and the sun had finally set. Now the yard was dimmed as the moon took her spot in the sky.

Zooble quickly ran over, raising their hands to comfort Gangle, “Hey, hey. Everything is still alright! Maybe she just got a little nervous, nothing to worry about.”

“None of this makes sense! She was so happy, Zooble–”

“Babe, take a deep breath.”

Zooble stroked the ribboned woman’s back, guiding her through taking deep breaths. Pomni looked at the raging crowd around them, her pupils shrinking into scribbles, “So is the entire wedding called off?”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Gangle and Jax turned to each other. 

The rabbit crossed his arms, bending down to be face to face with the masked woman, “No? Ragatha flaked on us. What do you mean the wedding isn’t off?”

“She was happy before I left her room!”

“Was she? Or was she just getting caught up with whatever you guys suggest like she usually does?” 

Zooble stepped in front of Gangle, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, please!” Jax rolled his eyes at the couple, “Don’t pretend like she isn’t known for going along with whatever anyone else says just to make them happy.”

Zooble scoffed, “That’s with you! She doesn’t do that with us.”

Jax raised a brow, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“What about the time you and Gangle convinced her to let you pierce her belly button?”

Pomni clicked her tongue, “You pierced her what?”

Jax hissed, “Congratulations, Pomni. You learned what happened at the last sleepover.”

Gangle whimpered, “How do you know about that?”

Zooble shook their head, “She always wanted a belly button piercing, and I made sure she was okay with it beforehand!”

“And she always wanted to get married! That doesn’t mean she isn’t scared!”

Gangle brought her ribboned hand up to her mouth, “I mean, she was a bit nervous when we were dressing up…”

His eye twitched, “The wedding is off.”

“But–”

“It. Is. Off.”

Jax walked away from the group, going down the aisle himself as the wedding guests were panicking amongst themselves. 

Everything the circus members had worked on for the entire adventure had gone to waste. All because of the doll deciding at the very last minute-no, last second, that she didn’t want to go through with the wedding anymore.

“Stupid Dollface…With her stupid cold feet.” 

He took in the scene around him. Orbsman was at the bar as three gummy bandits fanned him with paper plates, the Gloink Queen was trying to settle all of her rowdy children and stop them from stealing floral decorations, and Kinger–Jax instantly picked up his pace. 

If he went after Kinger, he was sure the ragdoll would be close behind.

Kinger was looking around at the wedding venue that was now in shambles. He then hurried back into the manor before anyone could stop him. Jax quickly followed. The old man led him down a short hallway and up a staircase until they reached a set of double doors. He stood outside the set of doors, knocking gently and calling out.

“Ragatha, are you in there?”

Jax was about to step forward until he heard the soft sound of the doll’s voice from inside the room, “I don’t want to talk right now!”

Kinger wrung his hands nervously, “Cuddlebug, what’s wrong?”

“Go away!”

“Okay!”

Kinger didn’t seem hurt from Ragatha’s harsh tone–but he did turn suddenly. He stood tall now, guarding the double doors that kept Jax from the bride. Jax knew he needed to get Kinger away from those doors. Welp, time to work his charm.

“Hey, Kingsley!”

The chesspiece went stiff. 

“You should go back outside. The bride doesn’t want to see anyone.” 

His voice was more stern than usual. Jax shrugged off the slight chills, “Can we at least get an explanation for why the bride got last minute jitters?”

Kinger looked at Jax, looking unsure of himself, “I’ll be honest, Jax. I don’t know why.”

The rabbit blinked, “You don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” Kinger sighed as he saw Jax’s unimpressed look, “But it was her choice, and I promised her that no matter what, I would support her.”

Jax kept standing dumbly in the same spot, trying to figure out what the old bat was trying to say. After a moment, he frowned at him, “Let me in.”

“Go back outside.”

The rabbit tried to make a run for the door, lunging past the chesspiece. Next thing he knew, Kinger had lifted him by the waist and shoved him back.

“Kinger–”

“Outside.” His blue eyes softened when they looked into Jax’s yellow ones. “Please. She has had a long day. Ragatha just needs a moment.”

The two of them stared the other down until Jax relented, “Fine…But only because I don’t think she is worth all the trouble.”

While he walked, he heard Kinger sigh. He ignored whatever makeshift wise saying the chesspiece was muttering. Jax was too annoyed to try to decipher whatever the loony king said.

Coming out of the manor, the sky now dark and littered with tiny stars, the guests were still in uproar. Gangle was attempting to salvage the situation by standing on a chair and shouting out orders–

But a gloink kid ran by and bumped into her chair, causing her to fall. Right before the masked woman hit the ground, Zooble caught her using her clawed attachments.

“Are you okay, babe?”

Gangle squealed, “Is my mask okay?!”

The two lovebirds sat down next to each other in the midst of the chaos. Zooble gently turned Gangle’s face slowly, side to side, to examine her, “Let me see…Your gorgeous eyes are still perfect…Your mask is still smooth…Oh!”

“What? What?!” Gangle patted her cheeks, searching for whatever caught Zooble’s attention.

Zooble pulled her face closer, “Something is missing!”

“What is?! Zooble, tell me! What is missing?!”

The abstracted avatar pecked the masked woman right where her nose should be. Gangle jumped in surprise, her porcelain white face flushing into a light pink.

“There it is!” Zooble put their paw to Gangle’s cheek, “There is that gorgeous smile.”

Zooble watched Gangle cover her face, “Zooble, stop it!”

Jax watched the entire situation with a scrunched face, “Hey!”

The two lovebirds looked over at him.

“You two need to get a room!”

“Oh, f-[redacted.png] off!” Zooble lifted their hand to him, where a censor bar quickly covered their gesture.

Pomni came over to where Jax was watching the couple be sappy, “Leave them alone, Jax. They aren’t bothering you.”

“Are you joking?” Jax’s ears pressed down against his head, pressing a closed fist to his mouth to prevent a gag, “Watching that entire thing play out was so scary.”

The jester rolled her eyes, but let out a small laugh anyway. He took this as a small victory.

Jax walked away from the loud crowd demanding to know where the runaway bride was. A little farther away from the setup venue was an empty yard with a single bench. Pomni followed after him.

“I saw you run after Kinger.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Did you figure out where she is?”

“Yup.”

“Did you ask him why she cancelled?”

“No.”

“Did you ask if Ragatha was okay?”

“Why would I do that?” Jax sat on the bench.

Pomni sat down next to him, her eyes lighting up when a small swarm of fireflies fluttered from their movements, “Because…you care about her?”

He looked at the tiny jester, “Your jokes are getting better.”

“At the bar, Zooble brought up you getting jealous.”

“Well, Zooble is wrong.”

“Were they?”

Jax turned away from Pomni. A firefly landed on his ear, causing it to twitch. Pomni swung her legs awkwardly for a moment.

“You know,” Pomni stuck out her hand, letting two fireflies settle on her palm. Looking closer, she realized Caine didn’t bother actually making the bug’s body. Instead, they were simple glowing balls, “You seemed to care about making today perfect for Ragatha earlier.”

“What could have possibly given you that impression?”

“You spent an hour translating code.”

Jax smiled wide at her, “I had nothing better to do.”

“You aren’t that good at hiding what you feel–even if you think you are.”

No one said anything for a moment. Pomni waited a few moments for Jax to respond to her, but when he didn’t show any signs, she decided to continue.

“This morning, you got upset when Zooble and Gangle forgot to go to their sleepover.” He still didn’t answer. The jester watched the two fireflies on her hand fly away, “I don’t know about you, but to me, that seems like someone who cares.”

“You’re ridiculous.” 

The two of them continued to sit in silence. The fireflies settled when the two of them didn’t move for some time. Jax watched a pair of fireflies flutter around each other for a moment before landing on the same flower. His eye twitched.

“Pomni, what was that thing that Kinger said earlier?”

The jester lifted her head to look at the bunny, “Huh? What thing?”

“The thing.” Jax sat up, turning to look at the short woman, “The-the thing he mentioned earlier today. You know, something about butterflies and his own wedding?”

Pomni straightened up, “Oh! His wife!”

“Yes! What did he say about that?”

The woman looked suspicious of Jax’s random question, “His wife had butterflies on her veil. He told me once she was really into entomology.”

Jax didn’t react for a moment–not until a firefly landed near his foot. He slowly turned his head to look at the glowing bug, his pupils slowly dilating. Pomni tugged on her jester hat nervously.

“Um...Are you okay–”

“I have an idea.”

_______________________________________________

Pomni and Jax made their way over to Zooble’s bar. They came up with a plan–well, Jax did. Pomni gave him some pointers. 

They were going to get a glass cup from Zooble, then they would catch a firefly. With the firefly, Jax would release it into the hallway and wait for Kinger to get distracted. 

Pomni asked him about the rest of the plan. He told her not to worry about it.

They were closer to the bar now, listening to Gangle complain to Zooble about the now ruined wedding.

“I mean, when Caine’s letter said someone would crash the wedding, I didn’t think it would be Ragatha!”

Zooble offered their girlfriend orange juice, “I know. If anyone, I assumed it would be Jax.”

“Me too!”

Pomni held back a giggle. Jax shook his head at her. 

Jax slipped behind the wall, making Pomni roll her eyes.

Gangle sadly whined into her cup of orange juice, “The wedding was so perfect too…”

Pomni poked her head over the counter, “I think the wedding was perfect too!”

“Jesus Christ!” Zooble narrowed their eyes at her, “Where did you come from?”

“Unimportant!” Pomni struggled for a bit to climb onto the bar counter. The couple in front of her was casually standing on the inside of the bar, leaving Jax completely out of their sight, “We have come for a favor.”

“We? Who–f-[redacted.png]!” Gangle screamed when Jax poked his head into the bar. 

Zooble waved him away, “Why do the both of you love scaring us?”

“I wasn’t trying to scare you.” Pomni mumbled to herself. Jax ignored her defensive comment.

“Hey, Zoobie. I need a cup.”

Zooble rolled their eyes, grabbing an empty glass and turning to the drink selection, “Alright, but only because tonight has been stressful for all of us.”

Jax tutted, “No, just the glass.”

“A glass of what?”

“Of nothing.”

Zooble stared at him blankly. Pomni shifted on the counter, “He needs it for–”

“You know what?” Zooble put the empty cup on the counter, “I don’t care. Just go.”

Jax swiped the glass quickly, smiling widely, “Thanks, Zooble! You’re the best!”

The three circus members watched the rabbit in a black suit run off from where he came from. Pomni tried to jump off the counter to follow, but gave up halfway. 

Instead, she sat on the counter, “Pass me a beer.”

Zooble and Gangle looked at each other for a moment before shrugging.

Pomni watched the two of them work together behind the bar. When Gangle passed the large glass to the jester, Pomni tilted her head to the side, “You two really are a cute couple.”

Gangle smiled at Pomni, “Thank you, Pomni!”

Zooble raised a brow at Pomni. Pomni winked at Zooble, whispering dramatically like a horrible wingwoman, “I got you.”

____________________________________________

Jax jumped uselessly in the field, waving the cup around. He grunted when he missed a firefly…again.

“Come on, just get in the cup!”

He shoved the cup toward a swarm of fireflies. They all flew away. 

“No no no–ugh!” Jax rolled over, laying down on the grass. He stared straight up at the night sky, taking in all the twinkling stars and full moon. It looked like a stock image. 

Yet, after all of his years in the circus, he couldn’t complain. It was rare for them to have moments of privacy like this–especially on an adventure. From farther away, he could hear the wedding guests loudly chattering. They weren’t angry anymore, now just interacting with each other. But even with their loud partying, it was quiet.

In its own way, it was quiet in the field. 

He rolled his head to the side, watching the grass sway with the night wind. The glass cup was on its side, near a bush of flowering daisies. What season would that make this? Where would they even be located? The air felt cold outside but it was perfectly green. Did logic even matter in the adventures? How–

He sat up immediately, slamming the cup upside down. There, a singular firefly was flying around.

“Yes yes yes!”

Jax shoved his gloved hand under the cup, bringing it to his chest. He raised it to meet his eye level, grinning wildly at the finally caught bug. 

The rabbit man wasted no more time outside under the moonlight. He cradled the glass cup close to his side, rushing down the field and back to the wedding venue. Orbsman was on the podium, sharing a sob story of rejection as NPCs nodded along and wiped their tears.

Freaks…

Jax quietly stepped into the manor, retracing his previous steps down the hall and up the stairs. Once he reached the top, he peered carefully around the corner. 

There he was, the crazy king still standing guard. It was now or never.

Jax shook the glass cup, removing his gloved hand from the top, “Don’t disappoint me.”

The firefly took a second to move. It shifted around near the bottom of the cup before crawling to the rim. The end of the bug flickered for a moment until it finally glowed, flying from the glass cup and down the hall.

His breath hitched once the bug flew by Kinger. He waited for the chesspiece to react.

Kinger’s blue eyes were focused straight on the wall ahead of him. Then they followed the slow firefly. 

The old man shook his head, softly laughing to himself, “No no, Kinger. You need to focus.”

The firefly buzzed around the old circus member. Then it landed on Kinger’s forehead. His eyes were solely focused on the bug now. Then it flew away.

“Come back, you glowy thing!” Kinger chased after it, running down the hall and attempting to catch it.

Jax took the chance to sneak from behind the wall and to the now unattended doors. He reached for the door knob–

“What are you doing?”

The two men stared at each other. Jax looked at the door then to Kinger, “I guess I was sneaking in.”

“Oh.” Kinger stared blankly at him, holding the faint glow of the digital firefly in his hands, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

They entered an awkward staring contest. Jax slowly nodded.

“Okay…I’m going in.”

“Okay.”

The rabbit didn’t bother with him any longer. He turned the door handle and creaked the door open, just enough for him to slip through. Before the nut case outside could change his mind about allowing him in, he shut the door.

“Alright, Dollface, time to explain yourself–”

Jax stopped any other words about to leave his mouth.

Ragatha looked up from where she was sitting on the floor. There she was, her dream wedding dress puffed around her as she cradled her bouquet of roses. Her veil was draped over her back and shoulders, blending in with the long ribbons trailing down her back until it met the train of her dress. Her soft blue eyes were outlined with harsh black smudges, following the trail of tears running down her face. 

Her voice broke with a gentle whisper, “Jax?”

She looked like an absolute tragedy. A beautiful tragedy. 

He walked over to her, his eyes bound to the glitter brushed on her cheeks, “What are you doing here?” 

The doll looked up at him as he got closer. She didn’t reply.

“You have to answer me at some point.” Jax stood over her, nudging her dress with his foot, “Get up.”

She took a quick breath before huffing, “I couldn’t go through with the wedding.”

“I figured that out after your little fiance was left all alone at the altar.” Jax smiled at her, hoping to cheer her up a bit. He should have known it wouldn’t–especially as she wiped away more tears. 

The doll continued to cry, covering her face with her bouquet. The roses had started to wilt.

“I called the wedding off for you.” 

Her sniffling stopped, “...You did?”

Jax groaned. He never liked dealing with emotions, but he couldn’t avoid it–not this time. 

The rabbit lowered himself to the floor, sitting himself next to the heartbroken bride. He looked her over again, noting the small bunnies on her veil.

“Gangle was hoping there was still a chance of saving the wedding. I shot her down.” When Ragatha turned towards him with wide eyes, he quickly added, “Not actually! I told her it wasn't happening.”

Ragatha’s lip quivered, “I feel horrible for doing this.”

“Yeah, who knew you had it in you to stand someone up?” The bride whimpered at his joke. Jax slumped forward, glaring at the ground. Now clearly wasn’t the time for jokes, but the tension in the room felt too awkward.

Why was he even here? 

The ragdoll lifted her hand to her mouth, chewing softly on her plush thumb. Jax tilted his head to see her better.

“What’s going through your mind, dollie?” The rabbitoid watched her run her hands over her face, smudging the glittery makeup over her forehead. She was glowing under the dim light in the room.

“Gangle worked so hard to make all of this happen.”

He ran his finger over the soft silk on her back, “It isn’t too late to go out there.”

Jax played with the ribbon on the back of her dress. She didn’t protest, watching him silently as he messed with the limp bow.

“But I don’t want to.” 

His fingers twitched at her answer. His pupils were wide and now completely focused on her face. 

Ragatha looked down at the roses bunched up in her hands, tied neatly with a bow. Everything was falling apart so quickly.

“Ragatha?”

She lowered her head, refusing to look at him again. The silence settled over them once again. He felt a bit awkward next to his…God, what should he call her? Ex friend? Ex…situationship?

“It was about time.” Jax put a hand on her shoulder, feeling her shudder under his touch, “How many times have you been stood up by someone else? I think it’s good you finally stood up for yourself…even if it was by standing someone else up.”

She slowly lifted her head to glance at him, her brows pinched together in worry.

Jax shot her a grin, “Am I wrong?”

Ragatha smiled back, laughing softly, “This whole thing is ridiculous.” 

“That’s why I’m here!” She squealed when he grabbed her shoulder and brought her into a sidehug, “No matter how stupid this circus gets, I’ll always be here.”

“You stopped coming to the sleepovers.”

He raised a brow at her, “Yeah, I did.”

Ragatha frowned, “Why?”

Jax dropped his smile, looking around the room. He didn’t let her move away from him, keeping her in a tight sidehug. Anytime she tried to shift, he rubbed his hand over her shoulder.

“I hated you.”

Ragatha leaned into him, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jax felt her put her head on his shoulder, “I got mad whenever the guys would tease me about you. You were an angel in their eyes, and I was the slob you hung around.”

The bride chewed her thumb, “What about your eyes?”

He put his head on top of hers, “I saw you as an angel too.” 

The two of them stayed together on the floor, cuddling each other as the moonlight peaked in through the dressing room’s window. It had been a long time since the two of them were peaceful in private. 

Ragatha smoothed out her dress’s skirt, “Is everyone mad?”

“Of course not. Maybe a little confused, but not mad.”

She didn’t seem so assured by his words. 

Jax leaned into her side, “Come on! Who can be mad at a little doll like you?”

The doll let out another sigh. It was like she was always holding onto at least a little bit of air so she could let it out in disappointment later. They stayed together a little longer. When she tried to move away from him, he would just drag her back into his side, rubbing his thumb roughly over her shoulder.

Ragatha pursed her lips, “This doesn’t change anything.”

“It might.”

“Maybe.” The doll felt him squeeze her closer, her plush shoulder squishing under his hand, “But we would need to talk about a few things first.”

Jax moved his hand to mess with her bun, “Alright. Go ahead. Talk your heart out.”

“You’re mean to me.”

“Yeah, I am.”

The two of them went silent again. Ragatha crossed her arms upset, crumpling the roses in her hands, “This isn’t going to work if you don’t open up.”

The rabbit grumbled to himself. He removed his hand from around her, reaching his other hand to grab her shoulder and pull her away from him.

“I am open, Dollie.” Jax clicked his tongue, “Whatever you want to talk about, whatever issue you want to discuss–I am here.”

“What if you leave again?”

Jax sighed, letting go of her shoulders. He finally allowed her some space as he looked around them. He noted the discarded bouquet next to her. Jax dragged his finger over the soft ribbon tying the roses together. 

Ragatha gasped when he broke the ribbon, “Jax! What are you–oh!”

She put her hand to her mouth as he held up her left hand, tying the ribbon around her plush finger. He used his sharp teeth to cut any excess, then tied the rest around his own finger.

“There. It’s not as fancy as your ex-fiances but…”

The doll stared at the tattered ribbon tightly woven on her hand, “No no, I like it.”

Jax rubbed a hand over his face, “Alright, Dollface. Spill whatever has been brewing in your guts.”

Ragatha lowered her head, letting the thin veil cover her, “I miss our sleepovers. And how we would talk to each other like real friends–going over whatever adventures Caine sent us on.”

“I miss those too.”

“Do you?” She bit her lip, as if not sure if she should continue. With a shake of her head, she gathered up a bit more of her confidence, “Once he came along, you were different.”

The rabbit tensed at the mention of their old friend. Ragatha ran her finger over the ribbon on her finger.

“I won’t apologize for saying that, because it’s true.”

“Good.” Jax focused on the floor, “You shouldn’t apologize.”

“You always pushed me to the side when new people came. When you made new friends, you dismissed me.”

His ears twitched, letting her know he was still listening to her. Ragatha wrung her hands together.

“I…I do not want to be your last choice anymore. I was here first. I helped you before anyone else knew you.” She took in a breath, “If this time is going to be different, I need to be your first option.”

Jax turned his head to look at her, “I know.”

Ragatha looked him in the eye. The tension in her body relaxed, “I’m glad we could talk about this–”

“We’re not done here.”

“What?”

“I have my own things I want to talk about.”

His eyes were dilated as they stared at her. Ragatha smoothed out her dress, shifting slightly in her spot.

“That’s only fair, I suppose. What is it you want to talk about?”

Jax moved his legs, leaning closer to the runaway bride, “If we do…whatever this is, I want you to be completely honest with me. At all times.”

Ragatha went to protest, but Jax grabbed her hand again. He pressed her plush palm onto his chest, “If you’re upset about anything, tell me. If you’re mad, come to me. If you feel like you have no one to talk to, you better bang my bedroom door until I open it.”

“That seems a bit excessive.” 

The bunny avatar huffed at her dismissal. He responded to her by holding up his own left hand and pointing dramatically to the torn ribbon. The ragdoll burst into laughter.

“I’m serious, Raggy. You better start opening up more. Not just to me either, but to everyone else.” He watched her calm herself down, little giggles escaping her as she tried to stay serious. Jax gently smiled back at her.

Ragatha grabbed his hand, intertwining her plush fingers with his gloved ones, “What are we?”

Jax rubbed his thumb over hers, “What can we be?”

“I’m not sure.” She let him nuzzle her hand, “We aren’t as wholesome as Gangle and Zooble.”

“Definitely not.”

“But we are committed.” Her blue eye looked up at him nervously, “Hopefully?”

The man nuzzled their intertwined hands against his snout, “Definitely. I never want to see another NPC all over you.”

Ragatha giggled again, “I never even spoke to Orbsman today.”

“Doesn’t matter.” His ears pressed against the back of his head, “Working on some wedding for the two of you all day was horrible.”

“Oh, how romantic.” She rolled her eye. Jax reached over to wipe some of the smudged mascara from her cheek.

“Ragatha, I never want to see you engaged to another man again.” He seemed proud of himself when she laughed again. Her eye crinkled as she looked at their hands together. 

“I promise.” The doll booped his ‘nose’ with her free hand, “Not in this digital world or in the real one.”

The two of them moved until they were leaning on each other again. This time, Ragatha was more open to his attempts of comforting her. The bunny drew her into a hug, letting their chests press up against each other. He could feel each time she drew in a breath. 

The two of them hadn’t been this close to each other since their last sleepover–where Jax snuggled up close to her, where they joked about their friends, where Ragatha got bold, where they shared their first kiss. The kiss that ruined everything between them.

“I miss our friends.” 

Jax held her tighter. 

“I miss them too.”

The reconciled duo stayed silent. Any more words didn’t feel necessary to add, and any jokes Jax thought up died right on his tongue as he felt the doll relax further. Maybe he could let her enjoy the quiet moment a little longer. From there, they could figure everything out together later. 

The doll perked up when a commotion was heard outside. Loud chattering got her attention away from the tight hug. Jax tried to keep her close, but when she resisted his hold, he let go. 

Jax sighed, pulling himself up before offering his hand to her. This time, she took it. 

Ragatha dusted herself off, trying to smooth out any wrinkles in her dress. Jax gently straightened out her veil. He eyed the bunnies on the delicate lace. The bride rushed over to the window to see what was going on outside.

“Oh, look!” He joined her in stalking all of the NPCs out in the venue. They were all leaving the cancelled wedding. The Gloink Queen scolded some of her children for stealing flowers, the gummy gators protested the failed wedding by stealing chairs, and Orbsman cried as he followed behind them.

Ragatha’s candy heart melted at the sight, “Poor Orbsman.”

Jax cleared his throat next to her. She rolled her eye, hiding a smile.

“If all of the extra NPCs are leaving, do you want to join the others outside?” 

The woman thought about it for a moment, tugging on the frayed edges of the makeshift cloth ring, “I’m nervous to see the others right now. What if they are upset that I ruined the whole wedding?”

“No one is upset with you.” He grabbed her hand again, “And if they are upset, then I will talk with them.”

“No, you won’t. You’ll probably argue with them and threaten Zooble again!”

“You know it, Dollie!”

She squealed when he delivered a rough kiss to her arm, making a loud smooch sound. Ragatha giggled again. Her tears from earlier had dried up and were replaced by a bright smile.

Jax dragged her by the arm, opening the doors of the dressing room. He continued to pull the doll bride through the hallway and down the steps. Ragatha lifted her skirts with her free hand, doing her best to keep up with the rabbit. The pair ran out to the venue, looking like a groom and bride on the run.

Ragatha looked around the yard. Small clusters of fireflies hovered near different corners of the venue. Some chairs were knocked over, flowers dug up from the ground–most likely from the gloink children. The moon was high in the sky, replacing the previously orange lighting with a soft blue. 

Her voice came out in a soft whisper, “So this is what the wedding would have looked like.”

She squeaked when Jax pulled her again.

He led her over to the remaining chairs where Pomni and Kinger sat. 

Jax dropped himself in the chair next to Pomni, “What did I miss?”

“You have been gone a while–Woah.” Pomni jumped when she saw Ragatha standing next to them. Her dress was still in perfect condition, the only evidence of her previous distress being the smeared eyeshadow on her cheek and the stray yarn that fell from her bun. 

Pomni gulped, “Ragatha, you look beautiful.”

Jax snapped his eyes to Pomni, “Watch it.”

Ragatha smiled gently, “Thank you, Pomni…Hello there, Kinger.”

Kinger focused on the firefly still trapped between his palms, only acknowledging the woman with a grunt.

Jax helped the doll sit down by holding her hand steady as she moved her big dress around. Pomni raised a brow at the pair, puffing her cheeks when she saw the torn ribbon around their fingers. 

Ragatha settled herself on the fold up chair, taking in the sight around her. She straightened up when she noticed them–

“Hey, guys, look! Gangle and Zooble are dancing!”

It took him a moment to drag his eyes away from the doll in front of her. He turned his head to see where she was pointing excitedly, seeing the maid of honor and the bartender practice slowdancing. 

Jax snorted, nudging Ragatha’s side, “Aw, look at those two. Two freaks dancing away the night.”

Pomni crossed her arms, “You’re an oversized cartoon bunny.”

“Shut up, you knockoff clown.”

“Oh, yeah? Wanna hear a real joke?” Pomni leaned forward to look at Ragatha, “You know Jax spent an hour translating a scroll written in AI code just for the wedding?”

The bride gasped dramatically, joining in on the teasing, “Oh really?”

“I had nothing else to do!” Jax’s foot thumped against the ground.

Ragatha giggled at the banter between the two. Her soft laugh cut through the calm atmosphere of the abandoned venue.

As Zooble spun Gangle with a gentle twirl, the joyful sound of the ragdoll’s laugh made her open her eyes. The masked woman’s eye got caught on the bold red of yarn hair, “Ragatha!” 

Zooble grumbled when their girlfriend ran away from their romantic private dance , but they followed after her anyway. 

Gangle squealed when she ran over, “Ragatha, are you okay?!”

“Of course I–ah!” The runaway bride grunted when the ribboned woman wrapped her wiry limbs around her waist and squeezed.

“I was so worried when you didn’t show up when the music began and you didn’t walk down the aisle or when you didn’t come out after the wedding and everything was cancelled! Kinger told us you didn’t want to go through with the wedding! I felt so bad!”

Ragatha offered a comforting pat on the back, “I’m sorry for cancelling at the last minute.”

“Jax said we pressured you!”

The doll blinked in surprise, “Jax!”

The bunny avatar rolled his eyes when Ragatha went back to her usual scolding. He crossed his arms, flashing her a wide smile, “What? I can’t defend my dollface?”

Gangle nuzzled her face into Ragatha’s chest, “I’m so sorry, Raggy!”

“Gangle, it’s okay!” Ragatha laughed as the ribboned woman continued to stress over her, “Everything came out so perfect.”

Gangle looked up at her with a bright smile, “We all worked very hard.”

Pomni swung her legs as she stayed seated, “No offense, but it is kind of sad to see it all go to waste.”

Jax straightened up, another idea filling his head. He covered Zooble’s mouth, kicked them in the back of the knee, and snapped his fingers to get Ragatha’s attention.

The doll gasped and covered her mouth. She instantly understood, resting her hands on Gangle’s shoulders and gently guiding her to turn around, “Maybe all of it doesn’t have to go to waste.”

“What do you–OH MY GOD!” Gangle covered her mouth in shock. Zooble looked shocked themself, staring up at Gangle as they kneeled in front of the woman. 

Jax rolled his eyes. Zooble really was helpless on their own. He reached into his pocket, searched around in his hammerspace, then pulled out a rose. 

Zooble jumped when Jax shoved the rose in their hands. The jumbled up toy stuttered for a moment, “U-um, Gangle, you–”

“Yes! Yes, I do!”

“But I didn’t ask yet.”

“Okay okay–go ahead.”

Zooble nervously raised the rose towards Gangle, “Gangle, I have–”

“Yes! Oh my god, yes!” 

The couple collapsed onto the ground when Gangle tackled their lover. Gangle continued laughing as the other circus cheered them on.

Ragatha stepped around the two to stand next to Jax, “That was a very kind thing to do.”

He huffed defensively, “Yeah yeah, whatever. Don’t look too deep into it. I just didn’t want to waste all of my hard work. I spent an hour trying to translate straight gibberish!”

Pomni hopped off her chair and walked over, “So the wedding is back on?”

Gangle screams from where she is littering Zooble’s triangular face with kisses, “The wedding is back on!”

_______________________________________________

Gangle was running around the dressing room in circles while screaming. She squealed in excitement, diving head first into a pile of dresses thrown on the floor. Ragatha threw a pillow on top of the pile before she could accidentally shatter her happy mask.

The doll had kissed her dream wedding dress goodbye and put on the blue dress Gangle was wearing. Now, it was time for Gangle to choose her dream wedding.

The masked woman was looking through the pile she had landed on, “I always wanted a flashy dress.”

Ragatha leaned over her, putting her hands on her hips. She took over the role of being the maid of honor, “How about we try some on?”

The women laughed together. Ragatha offered her hand to the younger woman and helped her up out of the pile of wedding dresses. The plush doll decided to go through a process of elimination with the new bride–by holding up one dress in each hand and making Gangle choose which she likes. 

Then after she picks her preferred one, Ragatha picks up the next dress and makes Gangle choose between the two again. They do this over and over again until they settle on the last two.

In Ragatha’s left hand, she holds a mermaid dress, and in her right hand, she holds a simple dress with a high slit. 

Gangle rubbed her cheek worried, “I like both of them very much.” 

“Come on, Gangle! Pick the one that is calling you!”

The ribboned woman looked between her options, “Well, I like the slit…but I also like the mermaid.”

Ragatha hummed to herself, “Guess we have to try them both on.”

Gangle squealed when Ragatha shoved the slitted dress into her ribboned arms. Then the plush doll shoved the tragedy themed character into the large closet. 

In the closet, Gangle looked over the dress Ragatha shoved in her arms. It was a lot more form fitting than the dress the doll had on before. The center had a simple design on the edges and a high slit starting on the thigh. Gangle put the dress on herself, then stepped out of the closet.

The ragdoll avatar was cleaning up her ruined makeup with a wipe, leaning over the vanity. She gasped when she saw Gangle in the reflection in the mirror, turning around to meet the woman’s gaze. 

At that moment, Ragatha understood what Gangle meant earlier that day about loving the dress. And while Gangle very clearly liked the dress–she didn’t love it. 

“No, that is not the one. Let’s try the other one!”

“But I haven’t even done a twirl–”

“But you clearly don’t love it.” Ragatha grabs the other dress option and guides Gangle back to the changing closet, “Change into this one!”

Gangle sighed, “Wedding planning is exhausting.”

__________________________________________________

“I’m not ready.”

Jax rolled his eyes when Zooble paced around the altar, “Calm down. We can’t have TWO cancelled weddings.”

Zooble scoffed, “This is all your fault! You kicked my knee in!” 

“It can’t be that bad. It’s your wedding day!” Pomni was reading the letter of the wedding speech, “Who knows when we will get another adventure like this again.”

Jax looked over the stressed out toy. The two of them had switched outfits when preparing for the impromptu wedding Jax had started. The bunny now had trousers on as the ripoff potato head wore a fancy suit.

Kinger looks around the venue, “The girls should be coming out soon.”

“How will we know when she is going to walk down the aisle? The musicians all left already.” Jax leans on Zooble, earning him a stomp on his foot. He retaliated by licking their cheek.

“Well…” Kinger rubbed his chin, “I guess it will just be silent.”

Jax laughed, “This whole thing is a mess.”

“Shut the f-[redacted.png] up, Jax!”

“I think it’s sweet.” The duo turned to look at the jester. Pomni shrugged, “It’s more private and personal.”

Zooble sighed, “I guess.”

“Come on, Zoobie! Why do you look so nervous?” Jax shoved his elbow into Zooble’s side. Zooble grumbled when he kept teasing them.

“You would be nervous too if you were getting married on a whim!”

Pomni looked around, “Hey, guys?”

The soon-to-be wed groaned, “What?”

“Kinger is gone.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Kinger stands at the doors of the manor, “I think the bride is ready!”

The three circus members looked at each other. Jax picked at his teeth with, “Why do you think that, old timer?”

The chesspiece peeked into the manor then turned back to the members standing at the altar, “Because Ragatha is telling me they are ready.”

At the mention of Ragatha’s name, Jax straightened himself up, getting off of Zooble and standing in his designated spot. Zooble also tensed up at the mention of their bride being ready.

Pomni called out to the old man who was patiently waiting, “Tell the girls we are ready, Kinger!”

“Ay-Ay, Captain!” Kinger ducked into the manor’s door.

The outside venue settled into a sudden silence as the circus members waited for the rest of the group to come out. Zooble rubbed the collar of their borrowed suit. Before Zooble could protest any more, Ragatha stepped onto the aisle.

The venue was destroyed, the only lighting being provided by the silver moon and the fireflies. The dramatic music was replaced with heavy silence as she walked down the abandoned aisle. Everything was ruined, but she looked absolutely perfect.

Ragatha walked down the aisle in the same blue dress Gangle wore earlier. Her neat bun was smoothed out to fix any loose strands. On her finger, the frayed ribbon remained tight on her ring finger.

She stepped onto the altar, opposite of Jax. Ragatha raised a brow at the bunny avatar across from her. 

The attention on her quickly shifted to the duo now exiting the manor. Kinger stood tall, offering his linked arm to the new bride. 

Gangle walked slowly, keeping her arm around Kinger’s. Her wedding dress was tight, flaring out in a mermaid style. She carried her own bouquet close to her chest, complete with lilies and cherry blossoms. Zooble gasped at the sight.

Jax snickered, “Calm yourself, Zoobs. It isn’t the honeymoon yet.”

“Shut up.” Zooble’s cheeks flushed. 

Kinger led Gangle up to the raised podium, his eyes crinkling when she let go of his arm to face Zooble. The two lovebirds looked at each other in the tense moment.

Zooble leaned forward, “You look beautiful.”

“So do you.” Gangle blushed when Pomni cleared her throat.

The wedding officiator looked at the written speech in front of her, “Dearly Beloved, we are here today to celebrate the pure love and sacred union of our two adored members: Orbsman and–oh wait, no. Sorry, guys.”

The mistake made the circus members laugh before Pomni continued the speech, “Our adored members: Zooble and Gangle. I want to start this moment off by thanking all of you for taking time out of your day to come here and celebrate the love of this beautiful couple.”

“Not like we had much of a choice.”

Kinger pet Jax on the head, “Not right now, my milkmaid.”

“We have known these two for years now..” Pomni pursed her lips, “Well, I guess I have only known them for months–Sorry. Ahem! Now, I have the honor of joining these two in the next big step of their lives: marriage.”

“Zooble, do you promise to take Gangle as your wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?”

Zooble took Gangle’s ribboned hands into theirs, “I absolutely do.”

“Gangle, do you promise to take Zooble as your–” Pomni blinked. “Um…Zooble?”

The mismatched avatar shook their head, “Wife is fine.”

Pomni nodded, “Okay–Gangle, do you promise to take Zooble as your wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?”

Gangle smiled wider, “Yes, I do!”

“Then with the power vested in me by Caine, I now pronounce you–wife and wife!”

Gangle grabbed Zooble by the collar and swung them around, dipping them low before smashing their faces together.

The other circus members cheered as the newly wed couple sealed their kiss. Ragatha watched the two people she had known for years celebrate their love.

She remembers the day Gangle came into the circus for the first time. She was vulnerable and sensitive, becoming the first other woman in the circus after Ragatha had been alone with all the men for years. The two of them grew close as everyone else passed on. While they grew apart, she could never deny her deep love for her best friend.

And Zooble–They had always kept Ragatha at a distance. They were friendly, but not as close or personal. Yet, they treated Gangle with the respect and care she deserves.

Ragatha felt her cheeks grow warm and her sight go blurry. Then she burst into tears. 

Instantly, there was a lanky arm wrapped around her shoulders. Jax shook her gently with a small laugh, lifting her hand and waving it around.

“Woohoo! Come on, Raggy, cheer!”

Ragatha continued to cry, “My best friend is married! I got to watch her get married!”

The couple broke away from their loving kiss. Zooble looked dazed as Gangle smiled at their friends. The masked woman laughed when she saw Kinger clapping loudly and Pomni cheering.

Gangle blinked surprised when she saw the doll crying, “Ragatha, are you okay?”

The ragdoll continued to cry as Jax moved her hands for her to clap.

“I love the both of you so much!”

“Enough of the emotional stuff.” Jax shook Ragatha to get her to laugh, “How about we go dance?”

Gangle squealed, “Yes! Come on, Zooble–or should I say wife?”

Zooble went a deep red as their new wife ragged them away from the altar and to the open space. Every step they took in the grass made fireflies light up and fly around. Kinger’s interest was quickly taken by the bugs. He tried to chase them around once more.

Pomni stepped close to Ragatha, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Ragatha sniffled, gently shaking Jax off of her to wipe her tears, “I get emotional at weddings and funerals. I haven’t been to one in ages.”

Pomni tilted her head, “I don’t think I ever have been to a wedding.”

Ragatha smiled sweetly, “Really?”

Jax grabbed Ragatha by the waist, “Next wedding you can go to might be ours, Pomni.”

Pomni rolled her eyes, “Let me know when you get tired of this guy. I’ll be here.”

Ragatha burst into a fit of laughter. The bunny glared when Pomni walked to where Kinger was breakdancing. 

When Ragatha continued laughing, Jax nuzzled his face into the doll’s neck, “Too bad she will never get the chance.”

“Aww, jealous bunny.” Ragatha put her hand on Jax’s cheek, feeling him lean his weight on her, “I noticed you gave Zooble your fancy suit. That was very kind of you.”

Jax cocked his head to see Ragatha better, “And I noticed you are wearing Gangle’s dress.”

Ragatha shrugged, “I thought it was pretty.”

The rabbit avatar pulled her in closer, “It is very pretty on you.”

The two of them stayed together, watching the newlywed lovebirds carry out a slow dance in the middle of the dim field. Pomni was having her own fun trying to catch fireflies with Kinger, running around and squealing when a bug landed in her eye.

Jax moved the doll with a tender sway, keeping them in a gentle moment. Ragatha hummed to herself, “You know, in my dressing room earlier, I threw my bouquet behind me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what happened?”

Ragatha kept her eye on her best friend enjoying her own special night, “Gangle caught it.”

“Guess the superstition became true.” Jax and Ragatha continued their own dance.

She smiled to herself. Her chest felt warm as she took in everything that had happened that day. Her friends were now married, Pomni was gaining her confidence, Kinger seemed happy and sane, and Jax…

Their new dynamic was strange to them, but she was grateful for the second chance between them. She reached down to hold his hand, looking at the tattered ribbon tied around their ring fingers. One day, they will be confident in themselves and move onto real rings–but for now, the ribbon showed her his willingness to work their problems out. 

It reminded her they were now tied together, this time he wouldn’t stand her up.