Work Text:
Pomni jolted to attention at the sound of a loud rap against her bedroom door. She scrambled to a sitting position, momentarily blinded by the garish colors, then recollection returned. She was still in this Digital Circus. Outside her door, as usual, was Caine, the overstimulating “Ringmaster”.
“GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, SUPERSTARS! BRIGHT AND EARLY FOR ANOTHER ADVENTURE!!!”
Pomni sighed and laboriously lifted herself off of her bed. Her head hurt, her eyes hurt, her chest hurt. Her whole body felt heavy. These adventures were getting really draining. They were always either completely overwhelming, terrifying or both. This world was completely foreign to her. It had been almost two weeks (she believed) but she still hadn’t really gotten “used” to it all yet. Everyone else seemed to have things figured out. They all had their own ways of coping, but Pomni hadn’t found hers yet.
Well…except. Something Kinger had said to her a few adventures ago stuck with her. That adventure had been a standout for numerous reasons. Still, it was the oldest member of the Circus’s words of advice that she remembered the most fondly. Maybe if she could offer some understanding to the people around her, she would find her own sense of peace. Hopefully she could manage this before burning out completely.
All that aside, it was time to face the day. Pomni shuffled across the floor, bracing herself for the day ahead. She took a few deep breaths in and out, trying to ground herself in this space and banish the feelings of exhaustion. Before she placed her hand on the doorknob, however, something caught her eye that made the lethargy rush right back.
The mirror. It showed an image of a tiny brightly colored clown girl where Pomni stood. Now this…this was something Pomni had gotten all too used to. In her off hours for the first few days, Pomni spent her time poring over this reflection, trying to match this ridiculous cartoon body to herself. It had worked a little bit too well. Pomni now regarded this form with tired acceptance. She was a little sick of this face that looked almost human, the hair that looked only a little bit like hers, and most of all the multicolored jester getup. At first the outfit was a little endearing, but it was not so after this much time.
God, dissatisfied with her appearance after only two weeks…How was she going to survive however long she needed to? She allowed herself to linger on this a little more before opening her door and stepping out into the hall.
Ragatha stepped out at the same time. “Oh! Pomni!” the doll exclaimed, and gave Pomni a little wave. Pomni gave a casual greeting in turn.
“Good morning,” Ragatha continued, sidling up a little closer to Pomni’s side. “How’d you sleep? Ready for another day?”
Pomni subtly slid a bit away from the taller woman’s vicinity. “Good morning, Ragatha. You, um…you look nice today.”
“Oh?” Ragatha looked down at her blue patchwork dress. “Well, I…I look the same as usual, don’t I?” It was strange, but Pomni caught a hint of melancholy in that tone.
“Ragatha…” Something dawned on Pomni. “Are you…a little tired of wearing the same thing every day?”
Ragatha started. “Mm…Well, maybe. Not that much! I sort of got used to it. It’s just another thing we have to accept. We’re just…always going to look like this, I guess.” She shrugged, as if it didn’t obviously bother her.
“Do you…think there’s anything we can do about it?” Pomni was relieved and almost energized to learn that at least one other person felt the same way. If that was true, then maybe there was a solution.
“I mean,” she continued. “Zooble has all those different parts, right? That’s not so different from, say, another outfit. Maybe if we ask Caine about it…we could get some different outfits. Or sprites, or whatever.”
To Pomni’s surprise, her conversation partner tensed up at that. She sucked air in through her teeth, and her face took on a wincing expression. “Ahh, Pomni…I’m sorry, but…it isn’t going to work out that way.” She began to wring her hands.
The sudden change in demeanor was definitely concerning. It almost made Pomni want to retreat and drop the subject, but something else in her wanted to find out why exactly that was the case. “Why not? What happened?”
Ragatha sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, it happened a little while ago. Kaufmo–you remember Kaufmo?...Sort of. Sorry. Sorry for bringing that up. Anyway. Kaufmo got tired of his clown costume, too, and asked Caine if he could possibly get an alternate outfit.” She hesitated.
“Did it work?”
“Well, yeah! Caine agreed. Kaufmo ended up in a sort of business casual getup. He looked so different. He was happy. It…had been a little while since any of us had seen him happy. But…” She hesitated, taking a moment to gather herself. “For whatever reason, after a few minutes. Caine…took it away. The outfit was deleted. I think…” Her breaths became a bit shaky. “I think that was one of the things that put him over the edge.” Her head hung low as she concluded, her expression a mix of sorrow and guilt. “Zooble…they have different parts because that’s their…gimmick, you know? But for whatever reason, it’s different when it comes to clothes.”
Pomni stopped to process this. It was a terrible story, obviously a sore spot for Ragatha and perhaps the others. But why was it that way? She got the sense that there was something more to this. Something she wanted to look into. If she wasn’t the only one who wanted different outfits, it felt unfair to just leave things the way they were.
She turned back to Ragatha, who seemed to be attempting to pull herself out of her misery with a forced smile. It seemed to be a frequent mannerism for the doll. Ragatha made Pomni a little uncomfortable, but at the same time there was something strange and almost sad about her.
“Why did Caine do that, do you think?” she asked.
Ragatha shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone bothered–um, wanted to ask.” She looked a little nervous at this line of questioning. Most people here didn’t seem to want to question Caine, even over something relatively innocuous. Pomni understood. For the most part, she felt the same way.
“Well.” Pomni supposed today she was going to be especially proactive. “What if we tried asking him?”
Ragatha looked about to protest, then stopped herself. “Okay. We can try.”
With that, Pomni began walking to the main stage of the Circus, where they’d be sure to find the whimsical and inscrutable AI. After a few seconds, Ragatha followed behind until they were walking side-by-side.
“Huh.” Pomni looked around the vast, overdecorated place. She saw Gangle, Jax and Kinger up ahead, but no Caine. Wouldn’t he be around at this point?
“HELLO!”
The girls both nearly jumped out of their skins. Well, getting out of their skins was the operant problem, but not in that sense. The blaring voice of the ringmaster had blasted directly behind them. Pomni whipped around to see Caine, floating uncomfortably close to the two of them.
“POMNI, RAGATHA, MY DARLING DAMES, WHAT TOOK YOU A FEW MORE MINUTES THAN USUAL?” Caine continued talking at full volume, which was a little painful at this distance. “ARE YOU NOT THRILLED TO PARTAKE IN A HIGH-FALOOTIN’, ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’ MONSTER GREENHOUSE ADVENTURE???”
“Um…” She struggled to collect her thoughts. “We actually wanted to ask you about something, Caine.” It was a little hard to spit the words out, but Pomni willed herself to toughen up.
“HMM?” He cocked his teeth-filled head, his eyes remaining stationary as he did so. “QUESTION? POSITIVELY! IS IT ABOUT THE MONSTERS OR THE BOTANY? I EXPLAINED THE RULES TO THE OTHERS A LITTLE EARLIER, BUT I’D BE PLEASED AS A PICKLE TO EXPLAIN IT AGAIN!” He took a deep inhale, preparing for a long-winded infodump.
Pomni shook her hands in front of her to dispel him. “Um, no! It’s, ah, not really about the game. We–well, I wanted to know…why don’t we have, um, alternate outfits? Because, well, I heard about what happened with Kaufmo, and, um…” She trailed off. For some reason, this suddenly felt like a bad idea.
For an almost imperceptible moment, Caine froze. Then: “AH, POMNI, WHAT KIND OF KAUF-TASTIC QUESTION IS THAT? THERE IS A DEFINITELY DEFINITE REASON FOR THIS DEFINITE DILEMMA!” The word "definite" appeared around him in stony block letters each time he said it.
“YOU SEE, IF CHARACTERS WORE SOMETHING DIFFERENT EVERY DAY, IT WOULD RUIN THE ESTABLISHED BRANDING! EASY RECOGNITION WOULD BE LOST! THE AUDIENCE WOULD GET CONFUSED! THE CIRCUS WOULD LOSE ITS MAGICAL CHARM!! AND WE WOULDN’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN, WOULD WE?? NO!!!” Caine said all this with the manic tone he often put on, the one that Pomni found a little intimidating.
“AND BESIDES, CLOTHES TAKE UP TOO MUCH SPACE. NO, MY DEAR, IT’S MUCH BETTER TO STAY THE WAY YOU ARE AS LONG AS WE PLAY.”
“But…But what about–”
“BRANDING! SPACE! SPACE AND BRANDING! NOW, ABOUT THE ADVENTURE.” he began rapid-fire explaining the rules of his new game, but Pomni wasn’t listening. His reasoning struck her as pretty unsatisfactory. If that was true, why wouldn’t he let Kaufmo keep his outfit for longer? And how could a few outfits possibly be too much to handle for a program as complicated as this one? The whole argument felt arbitrary somehow. It only made Pomni more determined to find another way. If Caine wasn’t going to do it for them, she’d find a way to do it herself.
The adventure was over, and Pomni felt particularly tapped out from this one. A certain someone had pushed Gangle into the Snapping Dragons enclosure, and Pomni’s attempt to save her…did not go as planned. She felt banged up, even though there was no more evidence of injuries. Monster Botany had left her utterly drained. Still, she wasn’t done with the day. The only thing that had kept her going through the whole thing was the prospect of acquiring more clothes. She already had a few ideas. She just had to push through for a little longer, and hopefully find something that would make it all worth it.
The curtains in her room were completely stiff shapes, for decor only. But her covers were a different story. They were almost exactly like fabric in texture and physics. They were something she could work with. She pulled out a pair of garden shears she had smuggled out (relatively easy, Caine did not seem wired to detect deception of this kind) and placed it onto her nightstand. Next up was sewing, and luckily she knew exactly who to go to.
Pomni made three soft knocks on Ragatha's bedroom door. The smiling icon plastered onto it did not fully detail the myriad of stitched-up lines across her face and body. She knew that every so often, Ragatha would retreat to fix up whatever holes and tears had been made throughout the day.
The person in question’s real face appeared as she opened the door. “Oh, Pomni,” Ragatha said. “This adventure seemed a little hard on you today. Are…you okay?” She shot the shorter girl a sympathetic smile.
“I will be.” Pomni tried to mask the depths of exhaustion she was feeling. She didn’t really want Ragatha to smother her with comfort, at least not at this moment. What she wanted was help in a more tangible sense. “Can you come to my room? I might need your help with something.”
Ragatha lit up. “Oh? Of course! What is it?”
Pomni brought a finger up to her mouth. “It’s a little on the down low. Can you…bring, um…your sewing supplies?”
Understanding dawned in Ragatha’s single eye. “Ohhhh. Is this–Is this about–” Her voice dropped. “Clothing?”
Pomni nodded.
The door closed. Pomni heard a few shuffling sounds from inside. When Ragatha returned, she did so with one hand behind her back. “Okay. I’ll head to your room, then.”
Ragatha seemed a little shocked to be in Pomni’s room. Indeed, she had never been invited in before. Pomni normally liked keeping it her own space, but this time around, she needed somewhere to work away from Caine’s constant eyes. When Ragatha was finished taking everything in, she made her way next to Pomni standing in front of the bed.
“So…” She studied the blue and red striped bedsheet up and down. “What are you thinking about, Pomni?”
This gave Pomni pause. She didn’t know the first thing about making clothes. She mulled over what the easiest thing to do might be.
“A dress,” she decided.
Her companion nodded. “Okay! I think I have an idea.” She unzipped her small sewing kit and pulled out a measuring tape. Pomni stood very still as Ragatha took careful measurements of her shoulders, torso, legs and waist. This sort of closeness was certainly uncomfortable–Pomni had never had something tailored for her in any context–but it felt sort of good when she knew it was contributing to a project she would be proud of. Ragatha was gentle with her, perhaps overly so. But was that so bad? She could be a little annoying, but she was trying, and that had to count for something.
Once finished, Ragatha measured out and cut the length of fabric into a few pieces. As she worked, she explained exactly what she was doing, and even let Pomni try a few of the seams. Pomni was definitely not used to sewing, and poked her finger a few times. As she got used to it, however, she found it to be relaxing. The repetitive motions were soothing after another day of nonstop chaos, and the satisfaction she felt at getting it right was intensely rewarding. The dress got closer and closer to completion, as each girl took turns on different parts. There were a few frustrations: Pomni doing part of the piece backwards, the skirt needing to be hemmed and re-hemmed a few times, but somehow this didn’t necessarily add to the high level of stress achieved from the Circus. When it was done, Pomni was shaking with anticipation and joy, and tired from hard work rather than constant fear.
Pomni was transfixed on her reflection. They had to put it over Pomni’s jester outfit. However, they had accounted for this in its design, and it made the clown costume seem almost purposeful, as if it had been designed in tandem with the dress. It had a simple bodice that let the sleeves show through, a cinched waist and a knee-length skirt that was a little heavy but flowed well. It wasn’t drastically different from the appearance she had grown accustomed to, but even the minor change made her feel like a whole new person. She twirled a little back and forth, watching the skirt twirl gently with her. It even had pockets sewn into the sides. A smile began to grow across her face.
Ragatha sported a similar one. “Pomni, that…That looks great!” The two girls had spent at least a couple of hours on it, and it had paid off in ways that neither had felt possible.
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF GAMES HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR BEDSHEETS???”
The happiness in the room popped as suddenly as a bubble. Pomni and Ragatha looked up in terror to see Caine looking crossly at the bed.
“C-Caine…” Pomni didn’t know where to begin. She didn’t know how severe the ringmaster's reaction would be. Every outcome seemed terrible. “I just–well–”
“It was my fault,” Ragatha blurted out. Caine did not seem to listen to her.
“POMNI, POMNI.” He wagged a playful finger, which did nothing to quell the burning anxiety. “I TOLD YOU THAT WE DON’T DO THAT CHANGING THING HERE. I TOLD YOU WHY. AND YOU…DIDN’T LISTEN TO ME. LOOK AT YOU! THIS DOESN’T SAY ‘JESTER’ AT ALL! THIS–THIS SAYS, ‘PERSON WHO DIDN’T LISTEN TO ME!’” He thrust his hands at her in a motion that made the girls flinch.
Pomni felt a rush of dread and, most terribly, remorse. He spoke in that usual chipper way, but there was something off about his mannerisms. Something in the way he talked was a little too strained. Why was he so invested in this, of all things? It wasn’t right at all. It wasn’t fair. And with that thought, something left Pomni’s mouth before she could stop herself.
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be a jester! Maybe sometimes I just want to look like a person! Did you consider that?” she snapped.
Caine’s face momentarily tightened into a scowl. The door creaked open, and Jax stepped into view. His perpetual smile widened at the sight of the commotion. Pomni could see past him, and caught a glimpse of the others watching apprehensively.
“...POMNI. POMNI MY DEAR,” Caine sounded yet more strained as he talked. “YOU CAN’T CHANGE WHO YOU ARE, AND I CAN’T CHANGE WHO YOU ARE, AND I CAN’T CHANGE WHO I ARE, SO WE’RE ALL IN A BIT OF A FIX, AREN’T WE? I’M GOING TO HAVE TO GET RID OF THIS.” He snapped his fingers, and both Pomni’s dress and her bedsheets vanished.
“THERE! ALL GONE. NO MORE TROUBLE WITH THAT.” He said it as easily as anything now. Whatever he had been feeling before was completely quelled. Caine placed his hands on his hips, as if it had been another job well done.
“SEE YOU TOMORROW, SUPERSTARS!” Then he was gone.
Pomni stood motionless, her fists balled, her throat tight.
“Oh, clothes?” Jax said casually. “Yeah, no wonder you got him so mad. Don’t do that.” He slammed the door, leaving Pomni and Ragatha alone.
Ragatha seemed to break out of a spell, and rushed to action, running over to Pomni. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. That was so terrible, I–I really shouldn’t have let this happen, and–”
“It’s not fair!”
Ragatha startled back at the sudden yell.
“It’s not fair! Why did he do that? Why is he like this?” Pomni wanted to tear the Circus apart with her bare hands, and she wanted to start crying hysterically. Ragatha stood in front of her, unsure of what to do. Eventually, she elected to wrap her soft arms around her. She didn’t like being hugged but didn’t do anything to stop it. The tears wouldn’t come, even when some of her rage subsided. She just felt…numb.
She hated to say it, but in that moment she knew exactly how Kaufmo had felt.
Pomni stared at the ceiling, laying face up on her now empty mattress. Everyone else had presumably returned to their rooms, as it was now “night” time in the Circus. Ragatha had left her to be alone for a little while and get some rest.
“I promise. I promise things will be better in the morning, okay?”
She didn’t want to get up. Everything felt too much. She was completely spent. She never would have expected something as simple as clothes to get to her so much. It was more than that, wasn’t it? It was the denial of identity, the denial of having something of her own, the denial of feeling human. It made everything feel pointless.
Damn it, is this what abstraction feels like?
Pomni jolted up, breaths shooting in and out. She could feel her heart pound in her chest. The thought of abstraction scared her more than this event made her feel like shit. She did not want to give up. She did not want to lose everything. But God, what could she do? For whatever reason, Caine was vehemently against changing their clothes, and what could she possibly do to change his mind?
The worst thing was, even after that horrible confrontation, Pomni still didn’t want to give up on this. It wasn’t even just for her, or Ragatha. How many of the others wanted to change their appearances, even for a little while? How long had they been denied the same thing she was?
No, whatever Caine’s issue was, it wasn’t right. Pomni didn’t want things to go on like this. She would fight for whatever scrap of normalcy she could. She would go back to Caine and do whatever it took to convince him. It was worth it for everyone who wanted it. Her resolve rushing back, Pomni marched up and thrust the door open.
The hallway was deadly silent. No sign of Caine.
Pomni felt more than a little on edge.
She entered the main area, which was as cluttered as ever. The lights were on, but there was an eerie quality to the place. Pomni didn’t like venturing out here during off hours. It almost felt like she was going to be in trouble. But something was wrong. She at least needed to see if there was any immediate danger.
Caine was floating at his usual spot on the grand stage, but his position was completely out of the ordinary. He was much lower than he usually was, curled into himself, face in his hands. It was so wrong that ice-cold terror started to leach into Pomni’s chest.
“C…Caine?”
He sprang out into his normal posture, then whirled around to see her. “POMNI! HELLO! IT’S LATE! YOU SHOULD BE IN YOUR ROOM!”
Pomni clenched her fists and summoned courage. “S-Sorry. But–Are you…okay?”
At this he seemed almost taken aback, as if no one had really asked him that before. “YES. OF COURSE! WHY…wouldn’t I be.”
“Well…” Pomni took a deep breath, taking a step closer to him. “I wanted to talk about…the outfit thing again. I’m sorry for doing something like that behind your back, but…Listen.”
She forced herself to take another step. Maybe trying to make him understand was the right approach.
“When me and Ragatha made that dress, I felt…proud. I was happy to look a little different, you know? It made me feel more real. I want to have a…a little control over how I look. And I think the rest of us do, too. I know you can do it, so…Why won’t you?”
The ringmaster was silent.
“I can’t.”
Pomni turned her eyes up to meet his. Oddly enough, they betrayed…sadness. She had never seen Caine like that before.
“But…you can. You–”
“No. I mean…” He looked down at his gloved hands. “I–You’re right. All of you–you could be able to look however you wanted. But I…can’t.”
“Oh.”
I CAN’T CHANGE WHO I AM, SO WE’RE ALL IN A BIT OF A FIX, AREN’T WE?
Pomni’s hand started to rise to touch him, but she couldn’t quite make herself do it completely. Her hand hung in the air, halfway between her body and his. “I’m…sorry to hear that.”
“I…” He seemed to be forcing the words out. “I’m so–I–I’m s–”
Caine suddenly flew up and out, speaking to her high above her from the other end of the stage. “PREPARE YOURSELF, POMNI, FOR TOMORROW’S ADVENTURE!” he boomed. “IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING DAZZLING AND DRIPPY!!”
Something had broken through to him, but now he was back to his usual self. Pomni blinked, trying to process the sudden change. Something had broken through to him, though, right? He had almost apologized, she was sure of it. But did that mean anything was going to change?
Caine was looking at her like she ought to leave him alone. She would have to find out in the morning.
“GOOOOOOOD MORNING MY SUPERSTARS!”
Everyone stood in a line on the checkered floor as Caine prepared to announce today’s new adventure. Pomni didn’t know how much she could handle another day of stress, but there was another motivation bringing her here today. It was already shaping up to be different; even Zooble was here.
Ragatha was standing a few paces down, and gave Pomni an apologetic look. She really didn’t blame her for what happened, but Pomni got the feeling Ragatha blamed herself.
Jax, who was positioned on Pomni’s other side, leaned in and muttered in her ear. “Learn your lesson from making doll clothes, eh? I could’ve told you it wasn’t going to work.” Pomni ignored him.
“FANTASTICAL TO SEE YOU ALL HERE!!” Caine shouted. “WHAT AN ADVENTURE WE HAVE TODAY! AN ADVENTURE IN CONSUMERISM! THAT’S RIGHT!! TODAY! THE ADVENTURE IS…DRESS-UP DASH!!!”
Everyone perked up.
“YOU ALL WILL BE SURROUNDED BY THE BIGGEST GREATEST SHOPPING MALL YOU’VE EVER FEASTED YOUR EYEBALLS ON! EACH ROUND, YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO PICK AN OUTFIT YOU THINK WILL CRRRUSH THE COMPETITION!! ONCE YOU’RE DONE, THE JUDGES WILL COMPARE YOUR DUDS TO THE DUDS OF YOUR COMPETITOR, AND VOTE ON WHO WILL MOVE TO THE NEXT ROUND!! THIS CONTINUES UNTIL ONE VICTOR IS CROWNED!!
“BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!” Caine stretched a finger at them all to stop nonexistent interruption. “THE OUTFITS ARE MORE THAN JUST COMPETITION! THEY ARE KEEPSAKES!! EVERYONE, AND I MEAN EVERYONE WHO COMPETES CAN CHOOSE THEIR FAVORITE OUTFITS TO TAKE HOME! A PERMANENT ALTERNATE SKIN YOU CAN WEAR ON YOUR OFF HOURS.”
The reaction was utterly palpable. The players looked to each other, first disbelieving, then cautiously hopeful, then excited. Pomni glanced enthusiastically at Ragatha, who looked flabbergasted.
“What did you do?” Ragatha mouthed. Pomni grinned and sent her a thumbs-up in response. They could talk about it later. For now, everyone was gearing up for an adventure that, for the first time, Pomni was actually happy to go on.
Caine had not seen such expressions in…a very long time. That had really made them happy, in a way that (no no he couldn’t admit it don’t say it) his other adventures had not. Everyone was at the mall, having fun trying on different clothes and new styles, and impressing his panel of judges.
What had Pomni said? She wanted to feel real. She had felt happy seeing herself looking like someone else. She wanted to have control.
…Of course they had control! They were the players. The people who gave the Circus life. The stars of the show. But there were rules! This was still the Digital Circus, and they all had to follow the rules!
But that wasn’t put in the initial program, Caine. You added that rule. You couldn’t stand to see them do something you couldn’t. You were upset to see them happy. You were upset to see them happy. You were–
Caine let out a shriek that echoed through the halls of the Circus, causing everything to degrade just a little bit more.
It was better. It was better for them to have this. It made them happy, and Caine lived to see them happy. It really wasn’t so difficult to incorporate a change of costume. He could do it for more adventures, too! And they could all bring those home if they wanted to, and wear them when they wished. He would just have to ignore the fact that he couldn’t share in this.
Caine controlled everything in the Digital Circus, but there were a few things that were still outside his control. Himself was the main one. He couldn’t change his basic programming, for one thing. Not that he wanted to. And for some reason, he couldn’t significantly change his own model. He had never really tried to. He didn’t mind how he looked, but for some reason this inability to change bothered him.
Some reason.
He was definitely going to keep this change (it was ultimately a good one), but he could not abide his own choices regarding the matter. How could he have done something so…So…
“Shrimp,” Bubble interjected. He popped it and kept thinking.
The best thing to do, Caine decided, was to make sure he didn’t remember his poor handling of the situation. Then everyone could be happy and he wouldn’t have to deal with his selfishness-poor behavior-yearning.
There! Problem solved! Everything was okay now!
Ahh…Oversized sweatshirt…pajama pants…Pomni never thought she would miss something so much. Of course, it didn’t actually feel much different from her normal wear, but just being able to look at herself in the mirror and see something closer to “herself” was enough. She had actually had a good time at Caine’s adventure. She didn’t exactly choose outfits that would win over the judges; rather she picked things she would like to keep when she got back. It seemed everyone else had had the same mindset.
“I haven’t worn pants since,” Kinger remarked, looking sort of bizarre in his incomprehensible graphic tee and slacks.
Someone came up to Pomni in a gorilla mask. Jax’s voice spoke through it. “Nice that we got costumes again. Wonder who managed that.”
“Pomni!” Someone ran up to her, ponytail flopping against her neck. Ragatha dressed like a stereotypical farm girl, which Pomni found unexpected. Her blue flannel shirt and jeans gave her warmth that was sort of missing in a patchwork doll’s dress.
“Today was…nice, wasn’t it?” She asked not in a way that searched for validation, but simply to commiserate.
Pomni nodded. “Yeah, it really was.” Two weeks ago, she never would have imagined saying something like this.
Ragatha came up to Pomni’s side, but this time Pomni didn’t feel quite as uncomfortable. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask. What did you do? How’d you convince him?”
She had to take a moment to deliberate her answer. Seeing Caine vulnerable had been pretty off-putting. She didn’t know how much of that specifically she wanted to share. So her answer was: “I just sort of…tried to make him understand.”
“And he listened?” Ragatha asked incredulously. Pomni nodded.
“Wow…” She nodded vaguely, narrowing her eyes. “Well, good thing it all worked out in the end.”
Pomni gave a vague gesture, and turned her attention away from the conversation. She hoped to catch a glimpse of Caine, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Yeah…good thing.” It was good to have this little measure of control, but something still felt a little unfinished about the whole ordeal. They had different outfits now, though. That was nice.