Chapter Text
It was supper time in the circus, for the ones that haven't given up on eating anyways; you could hear a little ragdoll character shuffling around in a small kitchen layout, cracking some eggs into a bowl and whisking them thoroughly.
The room didn't fit in at all with the circus theme. It made sense, since she had promptly asked Caine to just spawn a kitchen for her to use that very morning. She very easily could've just requested the ringmaster to spawn some cookies and tea, saving herself the whole chore, but Ragatha figured the gesture would be way more meaningful if she made them herself; plus, she could use the time to perfect the speech she would give Jax and Ribbit.
She knocked three times on a cabinet, pretending it was Jax's door.
"Oh, heeeey, Jax! I made some cookies and tea! Oh, Ribbit's in there with you too? That's okay! I accidentally brought an extra teacup anyways!" She rehearsed out loud, strutting around the kitchen while mixing the eggs with the flour. She seemed unaware of how insane she appeared to the other performers in the lounge.
"No! That's dumb! How could he possibly fall for that? Jeez." She scolded herself, visibly stressed, thinking about all of the possible outcomes that her little scheme could unfold.
Well, to be fair, it wasn't exactly a scheme. Ragatha was simply worried about her new rabbit friend, even though she wasn't sure if Jax even considered her a friend; nonetheless, she felt it was her responsibility to warn him about the little frog character with whom he appeared to have become quite close since the day he arrived at the circus.
He hadn't been particularly mean to her or anything, but it was still vexing for Ragatha to look at the new character being so obviously drawn to Ribbit. No matter what, he was constantly looking for the others' approval by being overtly aggravating during the adventures, not so much to actually hurt anyone but quite enough to make Ragatha concerned.
She's tried very hard not to dwell on it, but it was becoming excessive.
The ragdoll wasn't particularly offended about the bunny instantly choosing Ribbit as his best friend, not at all. Even after all this time, Jax still refused to speak to her on his own, despite her best attempts to show him around and be empathetic. Whoever he preferred to hang out with, that was his choice to make.
Although, she did secretly hope he chose better company.
Ragatha didn't really hate Ribbit; she still pursued hes friendship, even after years of the frog blatantly expressing their dislike of her personality. Which was completely fine. But still, her mischievous behavior wasn't exactly the ideal example for Jax to follow.
Plus, as of late, Ragatha had been picking up on some odd volatile tendencies that the frog had developed and that the rabbit was probably putting up with by himself, since he had seemingly replaced Kaufmo as the character who hung up with Ribbit the most. She wasn't sure if Jax could handle all of that.
Of course that wasn't her issue to deal with at all; she could just turn a blind eye to it like the rest of the cast had suggested. But the thought of any of the circus members being upset was unbearable for the ragdoll, especially since the last abstraction had happened not so long ago; she couldn't stomach losing another friend, especially knowing that she could have done something to prevent it.
The haunting memories of her friends being sent to the cellar crammed Ragatha's mind as her hands struggled to shape the cookies.
'It's okay; no dwelling on the past, focus on the outcomes you're able to change instead.' She had to remind herself.
On that note, Jax hadn't come out of his room since their morning adventure, not even for lunch, in which Ribbit so happened to pop up at the dining room to snatch a bunch of food and disappear into the hallway without saying a word to anyone.
That's why Ragatha decided to make supper for them now; she'll interrupt whatever shady stuff they were currently doing in there and have a conversation. Or maybe intervention was a better way to call it.
It was all planned out in her head; she'll speak her mind and finally make peace with Ribbit, who would hopefully enjoy the cookies enough to listen to her. Jax would realize that hanging out with the rest of them would be better for his mental health, and maybe he'd consider taking her up on those softball lessons she'd offered him!
Everything would turn out right. Why wouldn't it?
The ringing of the oven stopped her train of thought; maybe it was for the best.
Ragatha placed the chocolate chip cookies inside a small basket, covering them with a napkin carefully tied in a knot. She didn't quite know Jax's preferences yet (since he seemed uninterested in sharing that info with anyone except Ribbit.) But you couldn't go wrong with the classics, right? She hoped.
Balancing the tray with the teaset in one hand, she held the basket full of fresh, right-out-of-the-oven treats with the other, carefully making her way into the bedrooms, still rehearsing her speech.
Anyone currently resting in their room could hear her mumbling as she got closer to the bunny's door. "Hello Jax! How'd you sleep? I made some tea! Do you like chocolate chip cookies? Ribbit's there too, isn't he? I figured, so I brought an extra cup for them!"
Perfect. She knocked three times on the door.
"Hello Jax—" Ragatha's whole speech went to fucking hell since Ribbit was the one who opened the door and just… stood there, menacingly.
"Wassup." The frog stared with that spiteful look she seemed to reserve just for her; it made her doll heart feel like tearing.
Ragatha took a breath she didn't really need and kept her usual polite smile as much as she could.
"Is… Jax… in there… with you…?" She ended up asking, not meaning for it to come out in such a suspicious tone. Immediately she felt shame bubbling up inside of her as she realized she hadn't even greeted the frog back before asking that; her script being thrown out of the tent seemingly caused her to forget the basics of human interaction.
Ribbit chuckled, amused. "I don't know..." They matched her suspicious tone, looking over theirshoulder and shouting. "Jax! Are you with me?"
Oh, that little…
Said character appeared from somewhere inside the room and curiously peeked through the door, behind Ribbit. "What? Oh hey, Rags."
Even though the situation wasn't ideal, Ragatha's heart still warmed up a little at the nickname; maybe Jax did think of her as somewhat of a friend after all. She opened her mouth to pick up where she'd left off, but Ribbit quickly beat her up to it.
"Look! She says she made these cookies to apologize for what she said. Do we forgive her or nah?"
… What was Ribbit talking about? Ragatha couldn't remember having said a single thing to the duo in a while, mainly because of the frog getting in the way.
"Wait, what?" She couldn't stop herself from asking, feeling thrown off.
"Uhh, sure. I guess." Jax replied, feigning nonchalance, but Ragatha could somewhat tell from his shrunken pupils that he was uncomfortable. "It's whatever." He added, looking everywhere except at her, before disappearing back into his room and leaving Ribbit alone, who continued to stare at Ragatha all smug.
"Aaaaand we'll be taking these." Ribbit said with her biggest smirk, swiftly snatching the basket from the confused ragdoll with a single hand.
When she finally finished processing the whole ordeal that just transpired, Ribbit had already taken the tray from her too. "Wait! Those were for—"
"Oh look, you accidentally brought three cups. You're such a dummy, Ragatha!" They laughed at her, shoving the spare teacup into her hands, forcing her to grab onto it so it wouldn't fall. "Bye byeee."
The door was shut in her face, unnecessarily harshly.
What just happened? And what could she possibly do about it?