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It had been a lie. Another mind fuck. Another day stuck in the circus.
He was tricked again.
He let the others take him to that stupid room and out of pure instinct, he wins a challenge he wasn’t aware he was even playing.
Everything is a game.
This whole situation he has found himself in is just a stupid fucking game.
So why isn’t it funny?
Why didn’t he make even one joke during that whole mission?
Maybe he was tired.
Maybe he just needed to push down that feeling of utter helplessness and move on. After all, Caine basically forced them all to forget what happened by immediately snapping the back to their respected rooms. It had been what felt like hours and he knew nobody had left. Which is why Jax was currently staring up at the ceiling with a scowl on his face, his usually big eyes shrunk to small irritated squares. He pulled the blanket up past his chin and groaned as he shut his eyes again. There was, of course, no feeling of being tired but Jax figured that if he stayed in the darkness maybe that would just be his new reality. As luck would have it, he heard a sharp knocking on the door across from him.
Pomni’s room.
When Pomni had knocked on his door during one of his rare moments of solitude and interrupted . . . Whatever that alternate dimension was, she had completely fucked it all up.
She gave him false hope.
She let him believe that there was a way out.
And he hated her for it.
What would’ve happened if she hit the blue button before him?
Would they have ended up in that weird ass shrimp town Bubble referred to?
Or would they actually get out of the game and go back to their real lives?
He had no idea. He didn’t even know why he would hate Pomni in this instance. If anything she should hate him. But Pomni was obviously different. She, annoyingly so, cared about him. When he felt himself start to abstract, his breathing frantic and rushed with his eyes spinning into messy spirals, she had reached out with her hand. She told him that everything would be alright. All he needed to do was believe her. But how could he knowing what this all would eventually lead to? He would be back in that weird, colorful world he found himself and he would finally be at peace. Pomni just needed to let him go, then everything would be fine. But that didn’t mean Jax couldn’t eavesdrop and listen from afar. Jax quietly slipped out of bed and moved to the door, putting his ear up against it.
“Hello?”
Pomni’s voice made his throat dry up and he scoffed at himself for even feeling that. This was ridiculous.
“Hey Pomni!” Ragatha chirped in a cautious tone. “I wanted to see if you wanted to maybe find some place quiet to talk? You know, about what happened?”
“Oh,“ Pomni was quiet for a moment, as if contemplating whether she wanted to leave the mock safety of her room. “Uh, sure.” Pomni’s door shut with a click. “I doubt we can find any place that’s actually private considering . . . Never mind. Have the others been out?”
“No,” Ragatha said dejectedly. “That’s why I came to you first. Figured we could at least be alone together and then if Caine even dares to put us in an adventure, we could just stick together.”
“That . . . That sounds like a good plan.”
He could hear the two of them leave her room and begin to tred down the hall. One pair of footsteps seemed to pause near his door while the other set continued on. Jax held his breath as he pressed his ear closely.
“Pomni? You coming?” Ragatha’s voice called slightly down the hall.
A scuffle of feet were heard as if Pomni had jumped from the surprise voice.
“Y-yeah! Coming!”
The footsteps retreated quickly and Jax let out a breath.
And the day literally just started.
He had initially hoped that Caine would just leave them alone but why would he ever get what he wants? Instead, his body was teleported to somewhere he had actually never been to. He blinked in confusion as he looked around and saw the others had also been taken to wherever they were.
“What the !$@# Caine?!” Zooble shouted out, looking around the surrounding colorful area. “Is this your video of a joke?”
A pop noise caused everyone to turn around and suddenly there was a giant entry way to reveal a carnival. Jax felt something on top of his head and scowled as he realized Caine also changed their outfits. Jax was wearing some sort of golf cap, a blue Hawaiian shirt, and his usual pants. Pomni was basically wearing her usual outfit except now she was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts, her jester cap still on top of her head. Zooble was sporting a sun hat with sunglasses and Gangle had been given a yellow sundress with a matching bow. Kinger had on a safari hat and Ragatha was wearing a purple tank top with purple shorts. Floating around in the center was Bubble who was balancing popcorn on top of his head.
“Welcome to your sexy adventure!” Bubble chirped out, the popcorn sliding off his head slowly. “Caine is busy throwing a ffffffffffffreaking fit so he sent Daddy Bubble to give you the mission. Today’s mission is to have fun,” Bubble’s eyes suddenly got really wide and glossy, “Otherwise I’ll have to kiss you. Bye!”
Bubble popped and the rest of the circus just stood there, the sounds of laughter and joyous screams coming from what looked like multiple rides. Did he just say he would kiss them as a threat?
“Great, just great,” Zooble spat out. “Not only did we lose our chance of possibly getting out of here but now we have to keep living in that stupid circus; inside of a stupid circus.”
Kinger was looking at the bright flashing lights that covered the entryway with wide eyes. “Look how beautiful it is. Do you think they have an insect section?”
“It kind of looks fun,” Gangle said softly, looking immediately embarrassed when everyone looked over at her. “I just mean to say, it beats having to do some sort of morally ambiguous adventure. This just seems . . . Normal.”
Jax kissed his teeth as he rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, normal. We thought that about the last adventure too. I’m sure Caine totally doesn’t have some weird hidden agenda with this one. Hey Gangle, maybe there’s a face-painting station and we can just draw a comedy mask on you.”
“I don’t care if this adventure is a trap,” Zooble interrupted, taking Gangle’s hand and putting themself between the two of them. “All I care about is being away from you.”
Jax wanted to respond but the second he thought of a good comeback, they had already left.
“Just leave them alone,” Ragatha suddenly spoke up, Jax shifting his gaze over to her with an irritated look. “For once, why don’t you try and not be the funny one? And just leave us alone. You only care if something funny goes on, right?” Ragatha pointed over where there was a clown creating a balloon animal for one of the NPCs. “You’re in the perfect place for it.”
Ragatha turned on her heel and walked away leaving Jax to just stare at the current predicament he found himself in. The carnival was fairly large, rides and games sporadically laid out across the theme park. The smell of cotton candy and popcorn filled the air and the sounds of delighted screams played in the background as NPCs went on the rides. There was a ferris wheel, a few roller coasters, some spinning rides that would undoubtedly force you to vomit, and half a bunch of safety violations waiting to happen. The games were all the stereotypical ones you would see at a country fair. But what was weird was the prices, some of them carrying a striking resemblance to previous NPCs they met on adventures or weird hybrid animals that looked like Caine had just made up. He was going to have to spend the whole day having fun instead of annoying the others? Jax looked back and saw that Gangle and Zooble immediately held hands and had walked off, Gangle pointing excitedly at one of the ring toss games. Kinger had immediately noticed a butterfly room where they could walk through a greenhouse of butterflies and interact with them.
Funny. He actually found an insect section.
A slight twist in his gut formed as he looked at Kinger, knowing Pomni would obviously choose him after . . . Everything. Because of the noises around him and her standing a bit more off to the side, Jax couldn’t really hear what Ragatha was saying to Pomni. She was rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, pointing at Kinger and then making eye contact with Jax. Her eye immediately widened and she looked away quickly before waving goodbye to Pomni and joining Kinger in the butterfly exhibit. Silence passed between the two of them, a squeal of laughter emanating from the roller coaster next to them. Pomni finally turned around and walked up to Jax, rubbing her arm.
“So, um,” Ponni began awkwardly, looking up at Jax with an almost embarrassed smile. “Are you more of a games or ride kind of guy?”
Jax stared at her, sort of surprised she immediately tried to speak to him. He recovered quickly by shrugging and crossing his arms.
“I don’t care. Whatever you want to do.”
Pomni opened her mouth, her eyebrows knit together like she was obviously wanting to say something but she just took a breath and sighed. “Look, about yesterday-“
“Don’t.” Jax interrupted, his breathing already feeling shallow again. He could feel his eyes starting to shake and he took a deep, calming breath. “I know, Pomni. Things happened and I did what I did because I felt like it. Maybe we somehow would’ve made it out if we chose your option but it doesn’t matter because we’re still here.” He could feel exhaustion seeping through his bones so he looked at her with a similar expression. “So let’s just keep faking it and pretend Caine isn’t most likely messing with our heads right now.”
Pomni did not seem pleased by that idea in the slightest but the defeated sigh seemed obvious enough. “You know I want to push it but if nothing matters then you’re right. We might as well just have fun.” She looked around the surrounding area and her eyes immediately brightened. Pomni pointed over to where there was a balloon dart game. “Let’s go win something from over there! Loser has to go on one of the rides that makes you vomit?”
What is with this girl? Jax could feel a warmth in his chest as Pomni tried to meet him halfway, offering something she knew might make him happy. It was endearing but it was also making him wonder if he should push her away before she got too comfortable with him. After all, he just fucked everything up. Again.
He smiled wide and genuinely laughed. “A woman after my own heart, Pomni. Sounds fun, but I ain’t going easy on ya.”
Turns out, he didn’t have to. She was concentrating during the whole game, eyes focused and her tongue slightly poking out as she threw her dart. Pomni ended up beating him by getting all five and her prize was a pink unicorn platypus-thing. The NPC had told Jax that although he lost he could be given a prize. But when the character handed him a beach ball, he decided throwing a dart at his face was the best response. Pomni quickly ushered the two of them away from the stand. They walked in silence, Jax refusing to admit he was having fun. In fact, he was angry at the fact he was enjoying hanging out in this adventure . . . With Pomni. For once, the smile on his face wasn’t feeling forced. They tried a few different games but none of them had prizes that were particularly interesting and if they were, it was obviously rigged to go against them. One of the games showed the NPC gluing the pieces down so they wouldn’t fall over. But finally, they found one that seemed fair and the rewards were worth it.
“Aw, it's so cute!” Pomni cried out, pointing at a stuffed animal of some weird hybrid creature that sat on a shelf at one of the game booths. She looked up at Jax with a small, hopeful smile. “Want to try and win it with me?”
Jax cocked an eyebrow and looked at the game. It was one of those games where you had to use a Nerf gun to knock down a clown painting. It seems simple enough and he figured if he got all three then Pomni could get the prize.
“You know what?” Jax said, a cocky smile on his face. “Why don’t you let me take care of this one?”
Pomni chuckled and gestured to the game with both hands. “By all means.”
Jax picked up the gun and shot confidently. What he got instead was a depressing ping noise as the clown remained standing.
“Oh better luck on the next one!” The NPC cheered, spinning the gun around her finger. “
Annoyance flushed through his body and he narrowed his eyes before looking over at Pomni. She was looking at the toy with eager eyes and glanced over to see Jax staring at her. Pomni weakly lifted up two thumbs with an encouraging smile. Jax had to quickly turn back to the game as heat spread across his cheeks. Was he seriously blushing over that?!
“Give me another three, I’m not giving up.” Jax spat as the gun reloaded and the annoying clown jingle began to play. He pointed the gun warningly at the NPC. “If this is rigged I’m asking Caine for a real gun and coming back here.”
If a mannequin body could show fear, then the game leader was a perfect representation of it. Shot after shot and all Jax could do was get two of the clowns down. Yet every time he tried to hit the third clown, that pathetic jingle would somehow get louder and he could feel his frustration growing. Letting out an angry yell he slammed his hands down on the table.
“This is ridiculous!” Jax cried out, staring down the mannequin with enough venom to kill someone. “You’re doing something to that third one! You got wires back there or something?”
“Wow Jax all that training and you still can’t shoot straight?”
Jax felt his eyebrow twitch and his teeth immediately grind together. What a way to make him more annoyed. He chuckled lowly and looked over to see Zooble, their hand grasping Gangle’s who was holding a giant stuffed dolphin that for some reason had wings on it.
“See when I shoot,” Zooble picked up one of the guns at the game and shot three clowns directly in the chest instead of the head. “I shoot to win,” Zooble turned their attention to Pomni who was casting her gaze back and forth between the two. “Do you want to just join us, Pomni? After all, Jax seems to be in a ‘%$!# everyone else’ sort of mood.”
“!$#* you,” Jax growled out, grabbing one of the guns and shooting three bullseyes, deciding to also shoot the NPC running the game in the head. He smirked as a small trumpet sounded and confetti blew as a new NPC came out and handed him the stuffed animal. With a cocky grin on his face he makes eye contact with Zooble as he hands it to Pomni. Her eyes lit up comically as she caressed the orange blob. “Here you go, Pom-Pom. These games are too easy, why don’t we go check out the rides? Maybe then we won’t have to listen to Zooble’s rambling.”
Zooble crossed their arms and looked over at Pomni who was looking down at the toy with a small smile. “It’s up to you, I’m not going to force you,” They casted a judgmental gaze up and down Jax. “I think we’ve had enough of that from some people.”
Jax could feel the heat flush through his face as anger threatened to boil over.
“No thanks,” Pomni said evenly, looking up at Jax with one of those lopsided smiles. “Jax and I made a bet about who could get the most stuffed animals from these games and I have a lot to catch up on.” She turned back to Zooble with a slight shrug. “But if I change my mind, I know where to find you guys.”
Zooble did not seem convinced, casting glances at Jax as if he was holding a gun to Pomni’s back. “If you’re sure. Come on, Gangle, I think I saw a cotton candy stand back that way.”
The duo left and Pomni immediately turned back to Jax. She had a slightly flustered look on her face as she looked down at the orange blob creature that sat there motionless in her arms.
“I know the others blame you for pressing that button,” Pomni began and Jax had to physically stop himself from turning on his heel and walking away mid-sentence. “But I don’t.” Oh. That was not what he expected. “You ended up choosing the right answer and I knew something was off about the question.” She swallowed thickly and dared to look him directly in the eyes. “Did you abstract?” Jax immediately tensed and she put her hands up as if approaching a scared animal. “I know you probably don’t want to think about that right now, but I need to know.”
“Need?” Jax spat bitterly, “Why do you need to know?”
“Don’t start doing that,” Pomni grit out with surprising anger. “We are not doing this every single time. I’m here to help you and like it or not I’m your friend. Friends stick by each other’s sides.” She took a deep breath, ironic considering they didn’t need to, but it seemed to be calming her down from yelling at him. “Now I’m not going to push, so instead let’s go win some prizes. At least then we have something to brag about to the others.”
Jax studied Pomni’s face, looking for any sign of betrayal, but as always, he found nothing. “Fine,” Jax drawled out dramatically, flipping the switch to turn on his persona. He grabbed the stuffed animal from Pomni’s arms and placed it on top of her head, the creature nestled perfectly in the center. “But I’m tying balloons to Gangle and I will push Zooble off some high surface if I get a chance to.”
As much as Pomni would prefer him to not do that, all she could do was watch as Jax bribed one of the NPCs to tie the balloons to Gangle under the guise of her winning a grand prize. Jax was laughing hysterically and pointing at Gangle as she started to float away, immediately crying. Pomni felt bad for her and she wouldn’t admit to grabbing one of the darts from the game and throwing it at her, popping the balloon and freeing her from the air. With Jax’s newfound amusement gone, he was back to sporting a slightly irritated scowl, the two of them walking side by side. He had a beach ball nestled under his arm from one of the other games and a bat from another. They stopped at a few more games, winning some sort of off-brand Labubu that Pomni cradled on her one arm and a pink unicorn tucked in her other. They were walking around aimlessly, the sky turning into a sunset color. Pomni glanced over at him, her stuffed animals giving her a sense of unbridled joy. She was looking at him with an almost curious expression, cuddling the toys closer to her chest in an attempt to show her gratitude. Jax, his eye twitching, shifted her eyes to look down at her and immediately felt that annoying blush on his face again. She was just standing there.
“So,” Pomni piped up, looking directly at him this time. “You want to, I dunno, go on the Ferris Wheel?”
Jax’s eyes looked over at the ride and tried to fight off that nauseous feeling in his stomach. He chuckled and hit her with a sly smile. “You coming on to me?” Pomni’s face flushed red as her eyes widened slightly and she hugged the toys a little tighter. Okay enough teasing her. Jax gently took one of Pomni’s hands, causing her to be startled before realizing what was happening. A subtle squeeze let Jax know she was okay with it. “Well what are we waiting for? I want to try and throw as many of these darts off at the top and try to hit people.”
Pomni rolled her eyes but a smile was pulling at her lip as the NPC immediately let them on. They sat next to each other as the rickety ride started to move, Pomni letting out a small yelp and grabbing Jax’s knee. Heat flushed through him and he cleared his throat, Pomni immediately letting go and stuttering out an apology. When the ride finally reached the top, it stopped as the two could see the entire circus. The digital lake was reflecting the sunlight as the moon started to take over, the two stars arguing (or flirting, it was hard to tell) as they passed by one another. Jax could see the main circus area and he felt the tension in his body. It was sort of fucked that he actually had some fun today and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to admit that the big reason was because of Pomni.
“I had fun today,” Pomni spoke up, ending the silence. How does she always know what is going on in his head? “Thank you for winning me these. I know I won’t be able to bring them back with me but it meant a lot that you kept playing until we got the prize.”
Jax put his hands behind his head, his legs crossed as he shrugged nonchalantly. “It was no big deal, those games were easy. But, I’m great at everything so it makes sense why you recruited me.” The smile on his face stretched a little wider as he fully turned his head to look at her. “Why did you choose me?”
Pomni looked away (which Jax would not admit hurt his feelings) as she looked down at the ground level. Ragatha was walking alongside Kinger, the two of them with cotton candy that had been shaped into butterflies. They were laughing and seemed to be having a blast, disappearing under the canopy of darkness. Gangle and Zooble could be seen on a rollercoaster, Zooble placing their hand on top of Gangle’s as they held onto the safety bar. The two of them were laughing, eyes squinted in utter joy. Yet here was Pomni, stuck on a ride with someone who threw a fit after not winning a game.
“I think you and I get each other differently,” Pomni spoke up, finally returning his gaze. “I have fun with you, Jax. Sure you can be a lot and sometimes you are a bit of an !@#%,” Jax glowered at that but she stuck a finger up. “But, I think you do care about other people and you want people to care about you. I want to be able to, but I can’t do that if you keep pushing me away.” She looked down and gently placed her blue glove on top of his yellow. “So can you promise you won’t ignore me when we get back?”
Jax didn’t move his hand, his heartbeat hammering against his chest. “I- yeah, I can do that . . . Thanks, Pomni.” He felt like his throat was constricting the longer they looked at each other. “I just hope you don’t regret it.”
She smiled, a genuine expression on her face as she pat his hand gently. “I would never regret it.”
The sound of the carnival faded out and Jax watched as Pomni’s eyes glanced down at his mouth. For once, he wasn’t smiling, his throat tight as he watched her lean in slightly. The sound of a confetti cannon immediately pulled Pomni’s attention, an obviously flustered look on her face. A pang of disappointment shot him in the chest. Out of all the messed up things that happened in the circus, Jax was not about to be cock-blocked by Caine.
So fuck it.
Jax gently put one of his hands under her chin and guided her to look at him. A question was on her lips when he finally leaned in.
Soft.
Her lips were soft. Jax felt himself melt into it, still tense as he waited with baited breath to see if she would kiss back. But even with a hint of hesitation, he pulled back, only for Pomni to immediately grip the collar of his shirt with both of her hands and yank him forward. A surprised noise left his mouth as they kissed, Jax’s over-sized hands leaping to her waist and managed to cover the entirety of it. The reality of that was making him sweat. A probing tongue pressed against his mouth as he gasped wetly, both of their tongues fighting for dominance. He pressed harder against her, crowding Pomni against the wall of the cart who let out a deep groan. He was absolutely going to be replaying that noise in his head later. There was a sudden rumbling noise and the cart started to move again. The shaking caused the two of them to let go but their positioning caused Pomni to fall forward, landing in his lap with a grunt. Pushing herself up, the two of them made eye contact again. Jax was frozen when Pomni started to giggle causing him to let out a breathless laugh.
“I wonder if the NPCs knew what we were doing,” Pomni said with a smile, not removing herself from his lap.
Jax squeezed slightly causing her to squeal and he felt himself just float for a minute in this pleasant feeling. That is until his eyes zeroed in on Bubble who had decided to spawn right next to their pod, a camera balanced on top of his head.
“When do I get to be touched?”