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She was his light in a place that was engulfed in darkness.
Jax would never tell her that. She’d let it go straight to her head, maybe get cocky, and tease him about it. But it’s true, as true as his annoyance about being in this digital hell.
He looked to her as they lay underneath the stars; her smile content, as if she had always been this comfortable around him. As if she had always been this happy around him.
The night hummed and voices drifted through the air around them, as if they were the wind itself. The grass was soft as he idly rolled it between his fingers. The stars were bright, but his eyes kept drifting back to her. Her digital avatar, stupid as it was, was so beautiful in a way he didn’t have the words to describe. He wondered what she looked like before, in the real world. Was her face always round, or was that just the rubber-hose effect of the avatars they wore? He didn’t know, and maybe he never would.
She’d never like him. He was selfish and immature. That was a well-known fact. He caused problems on purpose; he disrupted like a kid with no attention given to him. It’s how he always was and how he’ll always be.
But she looked at him with a kindness he didn't understand, like she could see through his eyes and knew he was hurting. He didn’t know what to say to that, maybe he could crack a joke or deflect, but whatever he did, she’d see right through it.
The first time he saw her, she was scared. It was understandable, considering the situation they are trapped in. But still, she adapted quicker than he did.
I guess that’s one thing he liked about her, that she became somewhat of a beacon of reason.
Constantly, they were thrown in stupid scenarios. One after the other, Yet, she was the voice that kept him grounded. When her jester hat bells jingled with every step she took beside him, he remembered who he was.
“Are you alright?” She asked him, which snapped him out of his thoughts.
He flashed his signature grin in return.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You looked like you were distracted. Did you not hear me talking to you?”
Shit. She was talking to him? Crap.
“Pfft, yeah. Your rambles are just boring.”
She snorted at what he replied with and suddenly it felt like every song he’d ever heard was horrific in comparison. He watched as she rolled her eyes at him, his stupid grin still plastered on his face.
“You weren’t listening, were you?” She grinned.
“Nope.” He answered truthfully.
“Knew it. You aren’t a good liar, you know?”
He gasped dramatically.
“Excuse me? I’ll have you know that I am a great liar!”
“Yeah, maybe in your dreams.”
He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him, to which she grinned wider in return.
“Jeez, no need to be so brutal, Pom.” Jax shook his head.
“Well, you needed to hear it.” She smirked.
He rolled his eyes and, for a minute, took his eyes off her. What greeted him was Zooble’s gaze, curious and questioning. His heart sank. Did they see the real him and not his facade?
Their gaze is not unkind, more amused. The heat he felt rise to his face was unmistakable. He’s supposed to be the unflappable one, the one who doesn’t care. But he just cracked like a porcelain plate on the floor.
Jax’s gaze avoided theirs and when he looked back, they’d gone back to their conversation with Gangle. Now he was met with Pomni’s gaze, soft and beautiful as always. He felt the urge to go back to his nuisance ways, to show Zooble it wasn’t what they thought it was. But Pomni seemed so calm speaking to him. He was torn; he wanted to desperately put his walls back up and pretend that he was just entertaining her because he was bored. Not because he cared. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when she looked so peaceful like she did now.
So instead, he just lay there. His brain started to run through comebacks when Zooble teased him about this. They were probably going to tell Gangle about this and he’d probably end up seeing some ship art, or whatever it was called, in her sketchbook. Great, he couldn’t wait for that.
“Uh, Jax?” Pomni’s voice asked.
Jax’s gaze drifted towards her. Shit, was she talking again? He’s really got to start paying more attention.
“Yeah, Pom?”
“Are you sure you’re okay? It’s just… you keep zoning out.” She asked with some concern in her voice, “Am I boring you that much?”
She smirked at the end of her question.
Jax sat up slightly. His eyes moving to look back up at the night sky and the way the stars twinkled like lights flickering on and off.
“Nah, I’m just… living in the moment, y’know?” He sighed.
“Yeah, it’s nice here. Calmer than a lot of the other adventures…” She nodded, looking up as well.
“You can say that again.” Jax chuckled, “I do wonder why Caine brought us here this time though, like, why not a super chaotic adventure?”
“Maybe he felt we needed a change of pace. I haven’t reacted to the adventures well so far.”
Jax snorted as he remembered Pomni in the previous adventures; so jumpy and anxious. It was a goldmine of teasing for him, but he guessed that it was normal for her to react like that after being zapped into a digital world maintained by an AI.
“Hey, Pom.”
“Yeah, Jax?”
“Do you think we’ll ever meet on the outside? If we get out?”
Silence followed after, and Jax mentally cursed himself for asking such a stupid question. They weren’t getting out; it was all dumb hope—
“I’d like that.” Pomni responded.
He felt his heart stop. She’d like that? To meet him in the real world? It was a stupid thing to be hopeful for, but he’s done stupider things before.
“That can be our motivation.” She smiled at him, “For getting out of here? To meet each other in the real world.”
Jax found himself nodding along.
“Yeah, then you can take me on one of your famous urban exploring adventures.” He grinned. “We’ll get so many views.”
Pomni giggled, shaking her head.
“Yeah, well, we better not put any weird headsets on.” She grinned.
Jax laughed.
“No way are we making that mistake again.” He sighed with a smile.
A comfortable silence fell over them as they watched the stars above their heads in the night sky.
The idea of getting out of this hell and finally seeing each other as who they truly were was a damn good motivation. They could choose the adventures they wanted to go on when it all was over. There’d be no AI ringleader telling them they couldn’t do this or that.
It made going back to the real world after years of being here seem a little less scary. At least to him, it did. He had no clue what was waiting for them outside; if the world had changed drastically since he got stuck here. But the idea of Pomni meeting him once he got out made him excited for what would be waiting for him out there.
His hand had been at his side the whole time he watched the stars with her. But now, Pomni had gently taken it with a smile. His heart race quickened, his gaze roaming to her face.
She was looking back up at the stars, pointing at some with her free hand. She talked about how beautiful they were. Most of it was lost on Jax, as it had all become muffled noise. He was too busy looking at her to process what she was saying, but eventually he turned to look at the stars as well.
They shone brightly, but none as bright as Pomni.