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Pomni and Jax are walking around a pond together, for some reason Caine decided a pond adventure would be good, but Jax isn't complaining. "You know, I really did enjoy the gun adventure, minus our fight at the end," Pomni says. The fight was still fresh, they hadn't really gotten around to talking about what they both said during it. Jax laughs, "Yeah it was fun" he says and stretches, his eyes shrinking. Pomni smiles, "I really did enjoy it once I took your advice. I mean, none of it is real" Pomni says. Jax's pace slows down a bit. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦? "Hey Pomni, look at this plant" Gangle calls out. "I'll be right back, just a quick look" Pomni says and runs off towards the group.
Jax stays frozen where Pomni walked away from. He is staring at the ground. Suddenly, Jax bolts, running without looking where he is going. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘌𝘙. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦. He keeps running, thinking no one would even notice. "That is a really cool flower we should-" Ragatha turns around just in time to see the purple rabbit fleeing. His ear glitching slightly as he runs. She takes off sprinting, not even explaining to the group why she is running. "Why is she running?" Pomni asks. "I'm really not sure, she seemed determined though" Zooble says. "W-where is Jax?" Gangle looks around noticing the lack of the rabbit. "I don't know, less sarcasm to have to deal with though" Zooble says with a shrug.
Pomni considers going after Ragatha, seeing if she knows where Jax is, or trying to find him herself but she doesn't know what direction to even go in. "I would follow, but I don't even know which way they went" Pomni says. "Hey, let's just chill down here and let Kinger chase bugs, I am sure they will be back before the adventure is over" Zooble says and sits down. Gangle sits beside them. Pomni hesitates, "I mean- what if they need someone?" she asks. "If we hear them call out for help, then we will go find them" Zooble says, and Pomni sits down. "I wish I would've brought a manga with me" Gangle says. Zooble suddenly passes one to them. "I thought this adventure might get boring quick" they say. Gangle immediately grabs it and starts reading.
Ragatha catches up to the running Jax and grabs his arm. Jax tries to yank his arm back, stumbling backwards. "Let go" Jax pulls his arm , trying to loosen her grip. "You can't just run away from everything all the time! It's going to catch up to you!" Ragatha says, grip still firm. "Yeah and what's the other option? Be so cheerful it's like I've forgotten how much life sucks" Jax says still trying to yank his arm away. Ragatha's grip is tight, if it wasn't a digital world then she would leave bruises. "Jax, please. Just open up to me. It's just us, no one else is here" Ragatha says. Jax looks around, not believing her. "I just...I realized how much Pomni is acting like me, and it scared me," Jax admits, looking down at Ragatha's hand still gripping his arm.
"Let me help you. If you are meaning how I told you that you're manipulating Pomni during the gun adventure when it was just us, I was just trying to stall until Kinger could get there to defend me, because I knew I couldn't one v one you" Ragatha says, her hand still on his arm. Jax freezes, "What" he says. "Y-Yeah, I was just stalling. I didn't really think you'd take it that seriously, being you and all. Plus considering it was followed by me jamming your gun with my finger" Ragatha says. Jax tries to yank his arm back again. "I remember what you were like when you first got here" Ragatha says. "Well, then don't, that person is dead. The person in me is dead. I am nothing but a cartoon bunny" Jax's voice takes a bit of an edge on it.
Ragatha notices she is close to striking a nerve but wants to try to get through to him. "What's going on in your head right now? There is something, so don't give me the 'nothing' crap, and why would anything you say leave this conversation because who is going to ask about it. They are going to think you blew me off like always, or even hurt me" Ragatha pleads, looking at Jax. "Let go, and I'll talk" Jax says, not looking at her. Ragatha complies immediately and sits down on the ground. "The person you think of is gone. He died the day Ribbit did" Jax says. "That's not true, you've just buried yourself in this fake archetype that you made up" Ragatha says. "I'm dooming Pomni to become me the same way when Ribbit abstracted I became like him" Jax says. "No you aren't, plus you are still that kind boy with a little too much sarcasm like you were when you arrived" Ragatha says. "I'm a messed up person dooming anyone close to me to meet the same fate. It's like how Ribbit became before he..." Jax trails off, unable to say what happened.
"Hey, you are still here, don't spiral about that" Ragatha says, "As for you, it's not too late for you to become a better person" she says. "Yes it is, I break Gangle's mask everyday, I bully everyone, and I pushed the only person who despite all that tried to get close to me away" Jax says counting the points he is making on his fingers. "You are just a hurting person like everyone else in this circus. You found your place in being cruel. You disguise it as being funny, not even remembering what being funny is anymore. You realize your flaws though, and can acknowledge them so it's not too late to change" Ragatha says. They both sit there in silence. Jax taking in everything she said. "We should probably head back to the group so they know we didn't kill each other" Ragatha stands up, extending a hand to help Jax up.
He accepts and they walk back to the group. "Where were you?" Pomni asks as the pair walks up. "I wandered off, I tend to do that sometimes, I mean why sit around this lame adventure, right?" Jax says fake yawning. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. Ragatha tries not to dwell on it, it's still Jax after all. The next day Gangle runs in, a huge smile on her mask. "Look at this anime piece left by the door" she excitedly holds up a drawing. "You didn't draw this?" Zooble asks. "Nope, it's a different anime style than mine. Also the handwriting is a bit more messy then mine, as if they were shaking a bit" Gangle says.
The drawing in question is a manga style comic strip. A boy is talking about how he feels trapped. He says he doesn't know how to apologize to people and doesn’t recognize who he has become. Jax scoff, rolling his eyes, "That is lame. What someone decided to pour their heart out and leave it at your door" he doesn't even glance at the comic strip. "I like the story, it seems like something I would've read at home" Gangle says quietly. Zooble puts an arm around Gangle glaring at Jax. Ragatha turns to face him, noticing a glint in his eyes she hasn't seen in forever. Jax is staring between Gangle and the art piece feeling content until a voice brings him away from his thoughts.
"Don't try anything stupid" Ragatha says looking at Jax. He wasn't planning on doing anything, just like how he wasn't planning on unloading a whole round on Ragatha, but her comment gets on his nerves. He glaces between the mask Gangle is wearing, and the drawing. He wants to emphasize his point about how stupid the drawing is, worried someone might catch on, but goes for the mask. The mask falls to the ground, shattering. " >bleeping< jerk" Zooble says, picking up Gangle's mask. Nothing out of the ordinary happens until the next morning. Gangle runs to the group again,"It's another piece! It's a continuation of yesterday" Gangle says excitedly.
The boy this time is still standing alone. He is talking about how he doesn't know who is anymore. The boy gets increasingly panicked about losing himself, not even recognizing himself. The group,minus Jax and Kinger, all huddles around looking at the comic strip. "Do you think the artist is ok?" Gangle asks. "Why do you ask that?" Ragatha questions, tilting her head slightly. "Well, artists put themselves into their work, a lot. I know I did as a tattoo artist. How they feel, who they are, it all influences it in ways they don't realize" Zooble says still staring at the work. "The drawing itself is improving too, as if this release of emotions is letting them practice art" Gangle adds.
"If you two don't shut up, I'm going to rip yesterday and today's drawing in front of you" Jax suddenly snaps, looking up at them. Gangle looks up and gasps. Ragatha takes a step forward, "YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THESE MEAN TO HER. WHY WOULD YOU THREATEN THAT?!" She yells at him. Ragatha notices the look between Jax and the artwork, how despite his threats he hasn't made a move towards the drawings, and how he only got upset when they started talking about how the artist probably isn't ok. "I mean, really, who leaves anime drawing outside of someone's room?" Pomni asks. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘺? 𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵? Jax's head starts yelling at him, a bunch of thoughts all at once.
Pomni meant it was weird that someone is just leaving outside of the room instead of handing them to Gangle, but Jax is too caught up in himself to realize that. Jax scoffs, "Yeah that is stupid" he says not meeting her eyes. Ragatha looks at Jax, as if analyzing him, something is wrong. "Alright my lovely crew today you will be librarians" Caine says. Zooble starts to walk off, but before they can they are shoved through the portal. "Stupid Caine" They say and stand up dusting themself off. Gangle's eyes land a huge anime pile. She instantly runs over to it and starts yanking books off the shelf. Jax tries to glance over but Zooble stands in the way, thinking he is trying to hurt Gangle.
He wanted too see what books she was reading, what anime style she prefers, but he would never admit that. "Can you believe it, of course the nerd is reading" Jax says looking over at Gangle. "Alright, Pomni and Jax you can work the front desk, Kinger you can put books away, and me and Zooble will just float around and help when needed" Ragatha says. "Who declared you in charge?" Jax asks, leaning on the counter. "No one, but no one said I wasn't either and, as always, you are the only one with complaints" Ragatha says. Jax grumbles something and turns away. "Was that too harsh?" Ragatha whispers to Pomni, worry etched on her face. "No, needs to realize how much of a jerk he is" Pomni says. Soon,the adventure is over.
"Hello my lovely librarians, how did we like todays adventure?" Caine asks. "It was ok, I think we needed a more chill adventure like that" Ragatha says. "I sure had fun" Gangle smiles. "Oh my god, both of you shut up, for once" Jax storms off towards his room after his outburst. Jax walks into his room and slams the door. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? He starts digging for his notebook, and grabs a pencil. Before he can start drawing, he hears a knock and quickly throws the notebook and pencil across the door. "What do you want?" Jax calls out. "I feel like something is wrong with you. You won't talk. You have seemed off ever since you wandered off at the pond the other day" Pomni says worry in her voice. "Don't bother. No one cares about this place, no one cares about anyone, leave me alone" Jax says. Pomni sighs, and walks away, thinking Jax means no one cares about anything, but in reality he means no one cares about him.
Jax walks over across the room, picking up the paper and pencil. He sits on the floor, and starts to draw. The boy in this comic strip is standing alone, just like the last drawing. The boy says how he feels isolated. He starts talking to himself about how he pushed everyone away, and how he is alone now. Jax gets carried away, letting his emotions take over, and starts drawing small glitches, as if the boy is starting to abstract. He lets out a frustrated groan, “This is supposed to be the real world. People don't abstract there” he says to himself. He wants to crumple the paper, and start over. Better yet pretend this whole thing didn't happen and act ignorant to why the drawings stopped appearing at the door.
He knows that Gangle will be worried about the mystery artist. He doesn't know why he cares but he does. He walks to Gangle's door, silent as ever, and slips it under the door. “Another drawing!” Gangle practically shouts as she runs down for breakfast. Everyone besides Jax and Kinger gather around to see it. “This one made me sad, and it looks like the person drawing made a mistake” Gangle points towards the glitches. “That looks on purpose…almost like an abstraction” Zooble points out while still looking at the drawing. Ragatha glances over to where Jax is standing, and he walks forward and scoffs. “Why would anyone possibly draw the worst thing that could ever happen to someone here?” He asks, rolling his eyes. After no one says anything in response, Jax storms off.
“Jax wait-” Pomni follows him, running to try to catch up with him. “What Pom-Pom?” Jax asks, learning against his door. “Why were you so mean to Gangle back there? Plus it's not like she even drew it. No one knows who is drawing them” Pomni asks. “I'm always mean to Ribbons” Jax shrugs, and starts spinning his key around his finger. “Well- yeah, but you're being extra cruel about the drawings” Pomni says, almost stumbling over her words. “Oh my god-” a laugh comes from Jax as he knocks on the door frame, “- It's just a stupid comic. Leave it alone. What if the person who is dropping them off thinks Ribbons room is a recycling bin full of old anime stuff” Jax says with a smirk. “Would it kill you to not be a jerk for once in your life?” Pomni asks.
“I'm the funny one, I've told you that, remember Pom-Pom or are you getting as crazy as Kinger?” Jax says, trying to deflect the conversation. “That's not funny, Jax” Pomni looks him in the eyes while saying. "There is nothing more to me than the jerk with a joke," Jax said, leaning forward. His words came out slowly, in a lower, more condescending tone, "Stop looking for more”. Pomni looks at him and sighs. “There is more to you than you realize” Pomni says. “Go away!” Jax snaps suddenly, voice taking an edge on it. Pomni steps forward, as if going to embrace him, but backs off fearing rejection like after the gun adventure. She really doesn't care about me anymore. Jax tries to not let it bother him, but it does.
When it comes time for the adventure that day, Jax puts on his mask. Smiling, joking, being cruel as always. Inside is a different story. He is scared, taking Pomni walking off as more proof he is corrupting her. When the adventure is over Jax walks into his room and slams the door. He picks up his pencil and paper. He decides tonight he won't try to get rid of the abstraction-like glitching on the boy and instead will expand on it. The boy is panicked. He says he pushed away the only person who cares, and is blaming himself. He says he knows the friendship is toxic, because of him. How he poisons everything but just wants to be loved, how he just wants help. Jax gets up, and slowly walks to Gangle's door, and slips the drawing under.
That morning at breakfast, Gangle doesn't even look up from the drawing when walking in. “Oh no, Ribbons is already sad” Jax says mockingly, everyone's eyes turning onto Gangle. That's one way to make sure they pay attention to her. “I..I just am worried about the artist” Gangle says after a moment. Ragatha and Zooble walk over to take a look at the comic strip. “I don't think the artist is ok” Ragatha says quietly and glances at Jax, still suspecting he is behind the art. Jax walks up and looks at it and shrugs. “That's stupid, you can't tell that from art. Plus the art style, is clearly an older manga. New Manga focuses more on a clean polished look” Jax says not realizing what he is saying is giving him away.
Gangle freezes, art in hands. “True, it does but that's not a bad thing. I think the shading and old-time vibe of the art makes it unique”, she says, still examining the art. “I guess you could view it that way, it makes the boy's panic more real,” Jax says, taking a step closer and pointing at the boy's face. “You are right, he seems upset, like you can tell frame by frame what he did is really starting to sink in” Gangle says, looking at the art, trying to understand what is going on and why Jax is being nice. Jax, suddenly coming to his senses, bolts. “WAIT HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS STUFF” Gangle suddenly looks up, yelling at the running away Jax.
Everyone looks at each other, not sure what to do. Pomni wastes no time, sprinting after Jax. He makes it to his door just as Pomni catches up, grabbing his wrist before he can put the key in. “How? How did you know that stuff back there?” She asks, looking at him. “Lucky guess, she never shuts up about anime” Jax says with a shrug. “She doesn't ever go in that much detail either though” Pomni points out, still holding onto his wrist. “Pom-Pom, I have been here much longer than you. Trust me she talks about it all the time” Jax says. Something in his tone makes Pomni not believe him though. “No she doesn't! She never talks about specific anime styles. You never let her talk long enough too” Pomni points out.
“You haven't been here long enough to know anything” Jax's voice suddenly takes on an edge, he pulls his wrist back, hard. Pomni stumbles backwards, letting go of Jax's wrist and barely catching her footing. Jax's eyes get wider, and he turns away, hands shaking. “Just drop it” he says and fumbles with the key, trying to put it in the lock. “Ragatha and Kinger both got here before you and somehow Ragatha was still shocked that you knew anything about anime styles. If it was really from Gangle talking she would know it too” Pomni says, taking a step towards Jax again.
“It doesn't matter. Just leave me alone” Jax's voice sounds more desperate than he intended. That sounds pathetic. “Alright, Jax, I'll give you your space, but remember that the adventure will probably start soon” Pomni walks away after saying that, leaving Jax alone in front of his door. Pomni walks back to the group, feeling confused, why did Jax always have to be a puzzle to her. “Oh good, we were worried about you after you took off after him” Ragatha says as Pomni rejoins the group. Before anyone can say anything more, Caine appears. “Hello my lovely-” he pauses looking around, “Where is Jax?” He asks.
“He's not going to join us today. He's not well” Ragatha says casually. “Oh no, no, no. We can't have that” Caine snaps and suddenly Jax is in the middle of the circus, standing with the group. Ragatha winces a little, looking at Jax. He is looking around, confused. “My boy, you are late for the adventure,” Caine says. “I'm not going on your stupid adventure” Jax's voice carries more venom than most of the group have heard before. Caine goes to say something, but Jax storms off back to his room before he can. Zooble is watching the interaction, silently monitoring Caine's reaction, as if expecting something to go wrong.
Suddenly, Caine snaps and the group are falling through a portal. “Did any of you notice how weird Jax is acting?” Pomni asks. “Serves him right, I mean, we are just trying to find out who drew the artwork, he doesn't need to be a >bleep< all the time” Zooble says. “It is kind of weird he knew the art style” Ragatha brings up, pulling on her hair noodles. “Lucky guess probably” Zooble says, not wanting to put any more thought into it. The group drops it but Ragatha still looks distracted, still pulling her hair slightly. “Hey, what's going on?” Pomni walks up beside her and asks gently. “Oh..um.. thank you for caring, but you really wouldn't understand” Ragatha says. Pomni tries to think of something to say, anything, but draws a blank.
Meanwhile, Jax is pacing in his room. Stupid. Stupid. No one probably even realized your mistake until you made a big deal out of it. He walks over to where his notebook and pencil are and starts to draw. He needs something, anything to keep his mind occupied. By the time he starts hearing the chattering of people heading back to their rooms he has twelve new pages. He numbers them in order, small numbers in the corner. The story continues to unfold through the artwork. The boy in the comic is still upset. He says how he didn't even try to go meet up with the group. How he officially pushed everyone away. He starts to spiral the words circling around him. I didn't go, I didn't meet up with the group. I didn't go. Why would anyone care? Does it even matter? The boy is completely torn up about not going.
Jax takes a breath when he gets done drawing and walks to Gangle's door. He slips the pages of artwork under Gangle's door. Gangle who is sitting on her bed notices the pages being slipped under the door. She gets up, running, wanting to make sure to catch the mysterious artist in time. She sees Jax, and stares for a long moment. She knows intervening and telling him she knows won't end well. At best he will deny it, and at worst he will get mad, and who knows what he could do then. Instead she picks up the pages and sits down on her bed. Slowly reading every page, not wanting to miss a single detail.
The more she reads, the more worried she gets. Gangle takes a breath and then gathers up every page she has of his artwork and runs to Ragatha's door, her ribbons wrapping tightly around the pages. “RAGATHA” Gangle yells out of breath. The door clicks open and Ragatha is standing in the doorway with a worried expression. “Something is wrong with Jax, and you've known him the longest, maybe you can tell me what this all means” Gangle walks in spreading out every comic in order on the floor. “This was just delivered to my door a moment ago” Gangle says, pointing towards the newest pages.
Ragatha bends down, reading each page in order. “The actual drawing gets better as the story progresses but it is also very concerning, especially this one” Ragatha says, pointing towards the pages of the boy panicking, saying no one cares that he didn't turn up. “I don't think Jax is going to survive much longer if someone doesn't get through to him” Gangle says. "Wait, you knew it was Jax?” Ragatha asks, confused, thinking she was the only one that suspected that. “I just caught him walking away, I knew stopping him would be worse off on both of us though” Gangle explains. Ragatha sprints to Jax's door. She starts banging on it, his fist balled up.
“JAX OPEN THIS DOOR” Ragatha screams, still banging on the door. Gangle is standing further back, worry evident on her face. “GO AWAY, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU CARE” Jax screams back. “Jax, don't be like that, open the door” Ragatha says, still banging on the door. “You don't care. Why would you? I am nothing but a jerk to you and everyone else in this circus. All I am is the funny one. I am here to make everyone else miserable” Jax says, his voice sounds defeated. “There is more to you than that and we both know it. You weren't always like this” Ragatha says, fist still pounding on the wood. The door stays shut, not budging. “Jax, please, it's just me. It's Ragatha” Ragatha says, voice cracking a bit. Jax starts laughing, not a normal laugh, and bone-chilling broken laugh of someone who finally snapped.
“NO” Ragatha screeches, the pounding on the door becoming more instant. Pomni slowly walks up, hearing the broken laugh. “Why is everyone outside?” She asks, eyeing the closed door with Jax's picture on it. “I-I think he's abstracting” Ragatha stutters out, still pounding on the door. Zooble has gathered around too now, hearing the yelling and banging. Pomni pushes Ragatha away and starts pounding on the door. “IT'S POMNI. OPEN THE DOOR” She screams desperately. “W-when his best friend died..Ribbit..he pounded on that door for hours, even after we all knew he was gone” Ragatha says, staring at the ground.
“Does anyone have a key?” Zooble asks, looking around. “No,he is the only one with keys everywhere, he started collecting them the day that his friends died. He blamed himself and vowed to never let a door come between a moment like this again” Ragatha puts a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the soft sobs starting to escape her. “It's kind of poetic, going out the way that he always tried to prevent. Never being able to stop the cyle” Gangle says quietly. Pomni suddenly gasps, “I have an idea. I don't know if it will work though” she says looking around at the group. Pomni takes a deep breath, and sits down facing away from the door, leaning her back against it.
Everyone gives her a bit of room, wondering what she is about too do. “Daisy Daisy, give me your answer do” Pomni's voice comes out softly. Zooble grumbles about the song choice but knows it's not the time. “It's the only one I know for sure that he knows, can you please put up with it?” Pomni asks, looking at Zooble. “I wasn't going to say anything, now hurry up before your idea doesn't even have a chance” Zooble replies, looking at the door. “I'm half crazy all for the love of you” Pomni sings softly. She wishes Jax would join her singing, like he did outside the door that day, so she could at least know he is safe. “It won't be a stylish marriage” Pomni's voice remains soft, despite the panic she feels inside.
She thinks it's not working but then she hears a very quiet click, but the door doesn't open. She stays where she is, leaned against the door. “I can't afford a carriage” She sings. Pomni looks around at the others,they seem to have given up hope. Ragatha is still softly sobbing, Gangle looks broken, and Zooble seems like they don't know how to process what is happening, just staring at Pomni. They all know Jax isn't well, but the question is what lies beyond the door. Is it abstraction or is it simply a panic attack? Ragatha seems to remember something and slowly walks forward putting her hand on the wooden door.
“Pomni is going to keep singing for you, but I want to try something,” Ragatha says. Pomni starts singing in a lower tone, as if a soothing background noise to Ragatha's voice. “I'm going to count and I want you to breathe with me, just like we used to do when you first got here and would get overwhelmed, ok?” Ragatha asks, hand still on the door. “No! I'm not a baby” Jax calls out. “At least we know he isn't gone yet” Gangle says quietly with a sniffle. “Jax, please. I'm not treating you like a baby. It helped when you first got here” Ragatha pleads, hand still on the wooden door frame, and Pomni's voice still gently singing Daisy.
“NO! I'm not weak like you” Jax yells, his voice coming out more tired than angry, as if giving up. “One” Ragatha counts, waiting a few seconds before saying the next number. When she gets to thirty the door opens,Pomni falls backward not expecting the sudden jerk, her singing coming to a halt. Her head slams onto the circus floor, it doesn't hurt luckily, since it's a digital world. Jax's eyes widen, “I'm sorry” he says immediately. The others stare confused, no one besides Ragatha and Pomni have heard him apologize before.
Jax leans down, extending a hand to help Pomni up, “Come on. Get up, and don't expect this to be the norm” he says. Pomni laughs and takes his hand, “I wouldn't expect that of you” She says and is pulled up by Jax. Ragatha and Jax look at each for a moment, as if having a silent conversation none of the others can understand. He steps out of the way letting Ragatha enter his room. His room is full of stuff from old adventures, abstracted friends, and random trinkets he found interesting over the years. Ragatha looks around, taking it all in. She could name what piece belonged to each person.
She stops staring at a blue bowling ball. “That's the one you stole back from Kaufmo the day everything happened" She says. It doesn't come out as an accusation or a question, more an observation. Jax nods as Ragatha keeps walking looking around. She stops, staring at a blanket. It's green and fuzzy, neatly folded in a drawer. “Jax, I know this is difficult for you, even just the fact I'm in here but you can't keep bottling everything up” Ragatha says gently. “I see no reason I can't” Jax replies, trying to keep his ‘funny one’ mask on. “You will end up another trinkets in someone's room” Ragatha says, taking a step closer trying to reason with him.
Jax doesn't look at her, so she continues. “You know what every single person had in common before they abstracted? They shut everyone out, they shut the circus out. They closed themselves off so far no one saw the signs of abstraction until it was too late. You know that, you watched it happen to Ribbit and Kaufmo” Ragatha says, her voice kind but taking on a firm tone. “I-I..I can't. There is something much bottled up, it would take forever and none of you would want to listen to that. I'm nothing more than a jerk” Jax looks down, he doesn't want to see the faces he is sure are agreeing with him.
“I saw a whole different side of you through those drawings. A more gentle side that you never let anyone see. That is the real you, even if you don't realize it. Let us see you, all of you. Even the parts you think are broken” Gangle steps in, Jax and Ragatha looking at her. “During our fight after the gun adventure, you didn't fight me back. You said it was because you didn't care but I could see the deeper meaning, you are scared to let anyone get close to you because of your past. We don't want to hurt you, Jax, and we also aren't going anywhere” Pomni says, also stepping into the room.
Jax looks at the group as everyone comes in. First Ragatha, then Gangle, then Pomni and finally Zooble. “We don't get along, I am not going to lie and one conversation isn't going to magically fix everything” They say looking at Jax. Jax sighs, and looks away. “It can help us understand each other more though, so as long as you don't shut me out, I am willing to listen” They say. Gathered on the floor amongst Jax's trinkets and memories, the group watches as he finally lets everything he has kept bottled up spill out.