Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

❁ 

 Caine was known to use various inspirations. Or rather, Pomni guessed it should be known. It was very obvious. Just like now.

 Stuck in a painting, the adventure was using other paintings to roam and "fix paintings." It could've been a fun puzzle video game if they weren't stuck in here literally. Pomni couldn't shake off the oily feeling for the start. Also, her body once again felt unfamiliar, for different reasons this time. Perhaps it was for the style she looked like to fit the painting. The painting they were stuck in seemed to be Van Gogh's The Starry Night. She doubted it would be anything else with the bright yellow stars and the city under the hill. Besides the awful texture surrounding her Pomni had to admit it looked very beautiful.

 This was a team adventure… and she once again had found herself stuck with Jax. Caine had chosen the teams at random this time, and the two now were trying to solve the adventure with that awkwardness between them. Pomni remembered their fight clearly, despite the lax smile on Jax and him pretending nothing had changed. However, there was the thing: Whenever Pomni glanced at him, she saw his eyes on her. She noticed how, despite being able to leave for other areas, he had chosen to stick around. A tiny change in behavior implying he didn't forget either. So, she dared to talk, play along with his little pretending game.

 "This feels weird." She raised her hand. It looked as if painted by Van Gogh himself.

 Jax raised his brows only for a second, immediately hiding his surprise. "It sure does. Very 2D… and oily."

 "That's what I've been thinking!" Pomni replied, glad to hear he agreed. Then she looked at the sky, "At least it's not an apocalypse themed art…"

 "Heh, I got a better one. Imagine if we were in one of Dali's works." Jax grinned at her.

 Pomni thought about their elements. An image of her looking as if she was melting, her body looking awful close to that one painting with the clocks came before her eyes. She shivered, "No thanks."

 Jax snickered but didn't say anything else. Pomni had nothing to say either. She instead decided to take a break. She lay on the ground, the hill before the city was surrounded by grass. It felt funny but wasn't as bad as she would've guessed. Before her stood the sky and Jax's figure leaning to look at her.

 "What are you doing?" He asked.

 "Taking a break."

 Jax hummed, looking at her and then at the sky. After a moment, he joined Pomni's side. The situation felt familiar, a parallel to the Stargazing adventure. It was funny how much had changed since then, and at the same time they pretended as if nothing had changed. A strange comfort washed over her, and she started talking about everything and nothing with him. Just little talk, under the starry night, like before.

𓂃ִֶָ⋆.⁺₊✧.˚⋆₊˙*

Chapter Text

❁

             For some reason they had a kitchen.

             She didn’t know why or if anyone used it. But the latest adventure made Pomni miss her time in the kitchen. The wintery adventure’s illusion had lingered long enough to encourage her to use the kitchen. There was one issue… Pomni wasn’t the best when it came to baking on her own.

             What she didn’t expect was not being alone.

             Jax entered into kitchen, stopped and looked at Pomni with wide eyes. He apparently didn’t expect seeing someone here either. He quickly pulled himself together, a smile on his face. “What brings you here, Pomni?”

            “…Baking?” She answered. Still pretending, she thought to herself. Maybe they’d forever ignore the fight they had. “How about you?”

             “Oh, nothing. Just grabbing a few tomatoes.” He walked by her, opening the fridge.

             She stared at her, confused. “Tomatoes?”

             “Can’t shame anyone properly without them.” Jax took a handful of tomatoes and put them away... She wasn’t sure where exactly. Jax glanced at her, then back at fridge. “You mentioned baking?”

             “Uh, yeah?”

             “I doubt you’d be able with those legs.” He pointed at her.

             “Huh?”

             He gestured to the fridge, higher than she could see. “Good luck grabbing the eggs.”

             As he walked back towards the door she stared at the fridge. She truly would need a stair or something to grab them… Unless… “Hey- if you grab them, I can share the cake once it’s done.”

             Jax turned at her, “Sacrificing your creation for eggs?”

             “Can’t have cake without eggs.” She pointed it out. She wasn’t sure why she wanted him to join her, maybe to guarantee to not be alone in the kitchen and stuck while baking. Maybe hoping she’d see a familiarity from before. Or maybe simply she wanted another chance to see pass that stupid mask he kept wearing until it killed him. She didn’t want to think much about the last one.

             Honestly, Pomni expected him to refuse her offer. To laugh at her. Instead, he smirked, “That could be funny. A shortie trying her best to reach all the necessary items and sacrificing her cake slices for it! Bonus points for every failure in baking.”

             She let it slide, knowing his harsh comments being empty very well. Starry Night adventure had them have a little talk, but that didn’t mean he was nice to her as before. Not exactly. Never leaving an opening for a proper talk but never pushing her to her worst like he did to the others. It was awkward, but somehow, she found herself not minding it. Baking with company was better than baking alone.

             Once the cake was ready after a ridiculous progress, Pomni kept her promise. Jax gladly took the slices shared with him, at least one for every single supply he grabbed. As he left the kitchen, taking his slices with him a part of Pomni couldn’t help but wonder if he truly had stayed for the slices, or for something more.

‧₊˚ ⋅  𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

Chapter Text

❁

                Caine didn’t know about seasons or simply ignored them. That was certain because he had shoved them into a fall themed adventure. It was about to explore a city. As Ragatha led the group they walked by various shops. Pomni listened to the chatter, keeping her eyes around.

             It all was going as usual until she spotted a certain crocodile barista in a café.

             Not far from her someone stopped. Understanding what happened once he followed where Pomni looked at. He found himself relating to the grief in her eyes. Added with the weather, the stupid sweaters and everything about this adventure, like a ghost the memoriesv almost haunted him. Almost.

             The group had left, not noticing Pomni or him staying behind. Jax for some reason was left stuck looking at Pomni.

             “Hey, Pomni. Move, we can’t finish this adventure without everyone.” He called, his tone annoyed.

             Pomni looked at him for a moment before responding, “Just a moment.”

             “You want coffee that bad?”

             “It’s not like that--” She stopped, most likely realizing who she was talking to. Jax waited for her to show him annoyance like the rest of the members did. But she didn’t.

             “I won’t take long.” She pushed the door, a soft ding! Heard from the bell hung above it.

             Jax didn’t move, puzzled why she was so calm with him. Why was she so kind to him? They had a whole fight! She should know better by now that she should distance herself from him.

             Maybe he should remind her.

             Ding!

             He turned around and saw Pomni walk out with two take-away cups. She approached him, “Saw you waiting so I got you something too.” She offered one of them to him. “I don’t know what you’d like so I went with hot chocolate.”

             “What if I don’t like hot chocolate?” He gave her a smirk.

             “Nobody is allowed to dislike hot chocolate.” She stated. “I’d say not to try your luck and take it.” You don’t deserve it, she meant. Jax knew it, but there was more to it that he couldn’t understand.

             He grabbed the cup, shrugging, “Whatever, I wasn’t waiting for you anyway. This ended up easier than the breaking in plan I had.”

             “Sure,” She said, seeing past his lie and taking a sip from her cup and walking past him towards where the rest of the group went.

             Jax looked after her, tired eyes and a dropped smile. He looked at the cup, the warmth from it spreading to his hands. He couldn’t figure out Pomni. At first there was something uncanny about her, the awful similarity to them. The smirk was so similar to hers. But as time went on Jax saw how differently she treated everyone, how unique she was. His curiosity got him, but curiosity killed the cat, didn’t it?

             “Hey Jax, move! Can’t finish this adventure without everyone!”

             Jax blinked and smirked, “Can’t move on without me, eh?”

             He wondered how long he’d survive.

୧ ‧₊˚ ☕︎ ⋅ ☆

Chapter Text

❁ 

             Pomni, just a short while later she found herself in the circus, had discovered that they couldn’t change their clothes. Not unless they’d be in a special event or occasion. She wasn’t a fan of this, but it made the adventures a bit more anticipating.

             That was why she was surprised to find an accessory in the living room. A brown, soft scarf, to specify.

             It wouldn’t appear here on random. She doubted Caine started leaving objects here without any reason. It must be someone’s, perhaps from the last adventure- the autumn one. So, she began searching for the owner before Caine saw it and exploded it into confetti.

             She had seen Zooble and Gangle leave the tent, so she went to them first. They were sitting by the lake. She approached them with the scarf, asking them about it. Neither of them was the owner. Zooble told Pomni about how they rarely got any accessories at all, and Gangle informed her how if she’d seen it before she’d likely remember it. She had pointed out how similar the scarf was to the ones she’d seen on a shop from the fall adventure. This confirmed Pomni’s theory, so she thanked them and returned to the Tent.

             Once in it she saw Ragatha, who greeted her cheerfully and complimented the scarf that was wrapped around Pomni’s neck at the moment. Pomni asked her about it, if she had seen it before. Ragatha inspected it, commenting how fuzzy it was too. A digital replication of quality wool even. It wouldn’t surprise her because anyone here would take something like this from an adventure, it brought comfort simply by its texture! Unfortunately, this didn’t help Pomni much, but she still appreciated it. She asked where the other two circus members were and Ragatha kindly told her that she had seen Jax roam around and Kinger in his fortress. Pomni continued her quest, leaving to check for Kinger.

             As she walked to the fortress she held a part of the scarf in her hands. It brought comfort and warmth, truly, even though it wasn’t cold around here it was nice. Wait. She suddenly stopped on her track, noticing something on the scarf. It was a stain, hard to spot on the dark wool. At that moment, Pomni knew who the scarf belonged too. Not that there were many options anyway.

             “Oh! Hey Pomni.”

             Kinger had emerged from his fortress. He wondered about the scarf, and Pomni explained to him. She finished by telling him she’d figured out whose it was with a smile. He congratulated her, then wished her luck delivering the scarf and finishing her quest.

             Soon Pomni stood before Jax’s door. The room was empty, nobody answered the knocks or the rings. So, she left the scarf neatly folded by the door. Not directly visible to anyone unless they intended getting into the room.

             When Jax returned, he found what troubled him all day long: a scarf with hot chocolate stain.

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ⁺˚🧣⋆｡°

Chapter Text

❁ 

             Out of everything, Pomni didn’t expect a rhythm game to be a part of their adventure.

             “Has Caine ever done that before?”

             “Dunno, but he loves singing to Zooble so there as well might be a concert soon enough, don’t you agree?” Jax replied.

             They had ended up next to each other, Jax on far left playing a rock guitar and Pomni next to him playing drums. Ragatha had grabbed a bass guitar, she could see that Gangle was on some sort of piano.

             Caine had made an NPC, a bird like maestro. It’d eat them if they failed, apparently. Currently, it was trying to decide what to play.

             Jax had that shit-eating smirk, the one he’d have when he was up to no good- which wasn’t uncommon honestly. “Oh, I know a song!” His eyes were on Zooble. Pomni had already guessed where this would lead.

             “Don’t you dare you a[$#!&]le!” Zooble glared.

             “What, don’t you love Daisy Bell, Zooble?” Jax teased.

             That was enough for the bird. It began a countdown. Much to Zooble’s annoyance, the melody accompanied Caine’s singing too. Pomni managed to keep up with the incoming “notes” (she didn’t actually needed to play the instrument correctly after all). She was doing well but her mind was somewhere else. A fresh memory occupied it, the duet she and Jax had done. The day that she had managed to learn more about him, the same day their friendship got demolished. Pomni was stubborn though, that wouldn’t stop her from rebuilding the supposedly non-existent friendship. No matter what he said, she knew very well nobody here deserved to be left alone to rot. Even if he kind of asked for that, in a way or another.

             Once the song came closer to the ending it managed to pull Pomni away from her thoughts, as it became rather uncomfortable, distorted, and weirder. She managed to catch the momentary regret on Jax’s face. She could understand why Zooble found Caine’s singing creepy even better now.

             Once the music stopped playing and Pomni relaxed the moment she saw everybody had managed to pass, Zooble groaned. “Do you see what I mean?”

             Jax squinted, despite them not talking directly to him he responded with a smile. “No, I don’t think so!” He turned to the bird, “Hey Beakstrooooo-”

             A clarinet flew right into his head, and Jax fell down. Pomni couldn’t help but snicker, he had it coming.

             “Can anyone say a song before he manages to open his mouth?” Zooble sounded exhausted as they approached to grab their instrument.

             Pomni realized the irony of it, “A clarinet?”

             “Don’t even ask. That was all was left.” They spoke.

             “Would you like to switch?” She offered.

             Zooble threw a glance at the rabbit on the floor. “No, I think I’m good.”

             As they left, Pomni’s attention was back on Jax. “The joke’s getting a bit old, don’t you think?”

             “Nah, I’d say we have time till the new episode drops.”

             “…What?”

♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.

Chapter Text

❁

             The Grounds never changed. They were what Pomni had learned here. Except right now, it was snowing.

             “Snow?” Gangle blinked with the snowflake falling on her mask, making her smile.

             “Snow day? Hooray!”

 Jax took the opportunity to throw a snowball at poor Gangle. With how much force he had hit her with, it had managed to break her mask. Zooble somehow had managed to make a massive snowball, sending it right at Jax. They helped Gangle, making her smile. Ragatha was talking with Caine, who apparently had noticed their joy around snow from an earlier adventure and decided to bring it back for today’s in-house adventure. Kinger was watching the snowflakes, unaware of the goal being to find specific shaped snowflakes that Caine assigned them.

 With a pop! their clothes changed to cozy winter clothes. Pomni examined the coat and sweater she was wearing. She also wore boots and fuzzy socks. Said socks were as comfortable as the scarf she had found a short while ago… She soon noticed that everyone had a sweater with the snowflake they’re supposed to find. Ragatha beamed with a smile, it was probably her idea to either have something to remember their snowflakes or to wear something cozy… perhaps both. Her smile disappeared when Kinger approached her with a bug in his hands, who knew where he found it.

 Somehow, she was left alone with Jax again.

 At first she wasn’t sure if she should approach him, but with every step she couldn’t help but think about the comfortable clothes and if she could keep them somehow- the only person she knew that had managed to keep something from an adventure. So, she did.

 He was dusting off the snow off his oversized sweater when she approached him. “Hey, Jax.”

 His ears twitched and he turned to her, his face forming a big smile once again. “Look who’s here, the little jester. Did you miss me already?”

 She rolled her eyes playfully, “I was curious about something.”

 “Should I be worried?” He smirked.

 “I know that you keep stuff from adventures,” She directly addressed what she meant.

 He was never good at talking directly though. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 “Maybe scarf would remind you?” She smirked.

 He blinked in surprise, his grin became tense. “You know, huh?” She gave him a knowing look. He rolled his eyes, “Of course you do.”

 “Sooo, how do you keep them?” She asked.

 His grin relaxed, he lay on the tree behind him and hummed. “And what do I get in return?”

 “I mean, I did help you-”

 “You did? And you ask a return for a selfless act? How rude of you.” He dramatically turned away from her. “I guess I can’t help you now.”

 “Haha, very funny.”

 “I know!” There was a bitterness in that response, something Pomni hated. The funny one. “Maybe next time, Pompom.”

 She watched him leave her side and wondered if he’d behave differently several adventures ago.

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

Chapter Text

❁

             He wasn’t scared. He would never admit he was, not to anyone, not to himself. He shouldn’t have to care about anyone because that was what he had become. If this wasn’t true, that’d mean simply everything was a lie. That'd mean he’d lose more people he actually cared about. More people he enjoyed being around. People he cared about, he loved.

             Jax watched Pomni from where he stood. He didn’t understand her at all. Her stubbornness about trying to keep a friendship with him after everything confused him. There was a part of him scared that she was seeing right through parts even he himself refused to look at. There was also a part of him desperate for a connection, for the familiarity of having someone close around him. A friend.

             He wasn’t good with keeping friends around though.

             There she was though, laughing and talking to others. Running after the snowflakes, having a blast with the snow and the adventure. He didn’t miss how she had become more used to the rules of this world too. Something that he had taught her, he supposed. Kind of. She was smart enough to figure it out by herself too, if he hadn’t told her all the stuff in the gun adventure she’d probably eventually would’ve. She was different after all, adapting quickly and figuring out things faster.

             Not just that, but she was also good with figuring people out. She somehow knew more than him about Kinger, despite Jax being in the circus longer than her. Pomni was good with words, truly like a jester from a Shakespeare play. Despite all of this, she also had a side that kept surprising him. A bit crazy, violent… She had matched his energy to go crazy murdering others even, despite telling them she enjoyed calmer adventures a few adventures ago. Also, who would’ve guessed the lil’ ol Pomni was into abandoned buildings? An accountant with an unexpected hobby. What else did she hide?

             Maybe that was why a part of him had let her hang around him, chat as if nothing had happened. He wouldn’t let her get closer but… He hated to admit that he enjoyed her company and didn’t want to have to push her away again. It would eventually happen, sure, but he’d prefer it if it didn’t happen any time soon.

             The little jester did bring him joy.

             No matter what Ragatha claimed, or what he himself had said he couldn’t deny that fact. Just that fact though. Thinking more about that was enough to make him feel uneasy. There were some things he’d rather to not think about. He didn’t have to anyway. He was simply a cartoon rabbit after all. None of this should be his business. Instead, he should focus on how to mess up with others…

             …She did request something from Jax today though, didn’t she? Not to mention she was the one to find his scarf and returned it safely. Hmm…

⋆𐙚❅*°⋆❆.ೃ࿔*: