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Pomni clutched her head, groaning in pain. She squinted while her hands remained buried in her hat. She could barely make out the blurred, mauve figure in front of her.
“POMNI! Hey! Keep your eyes open!” A voice cried, tinged with concern. His face was so close she could feel the puffs of warm air on her skin. She could make out the bright yellow of his gloves in her peripherals, while her eyes met the soft pink of his overalls.
“Jax?” She tried to say, but the words felt molten in her mouth. She shivered, feeling all too hot and cold at the same time. She could feel her eyes slipping shut in exhaustion.
“Don’t you dare go back to sleep.” Jax hissed.
Pomni yelped. His hands squeezed her face tightly, fingers digging uncomfortably into her cheeks. Her eyes had shot wide open in pain, hands flying up to push him off.
Jax grimaced at that, his fingers relaxing minutely whilst still holding onto her face.
Her hands were shaking immensely. The jester began to panic once she realised she barely had the strength to reach up to him, let alone fight him off. Jax manoeuvred her body, tilting her closer towards him.
She shivered once more at the look on his face.
“You need to stay awake, okay?” Her head was pushed forward as his gloves roamed over her scalp. “Damn, you hit your head real hard, huh?”
Pomni hissed at the sharp pain radiating from the back of her head. It was a dizzying sensation, and the pins and needles running up her limbs didn’t help to alleviate her discomfort.
Jax winced looking apologetic. His eyes darted back and forth, looking everywhere but at her. Only then did Pomni realise that her clothes felt distinctly… wet? She had been wrapped in a thick, cotton coat, the bottom half damp with snow. Shivering instinctively she followed his eyes upwards, only to gasp at the sight.
A mountain, comically large in its proportions, loomed over them both. The very top was obscured with snow, making it impossible to see any significant landmarks. The peak blended in with the storm clouds, blanketed in shades grey. And unfortunately for the both of them, the stone at its base was getting harder to see as the storm raged on.
Pomni was close enough to hear Jax clench his teeth together, as his pupils darted between her and the peak. He slipped his elbow beneath her neck, as his dominant hand clutched her knees.
“Jax?” She croaked out, feeling breathless from the effort.
He ignored her entirely, heaving as he picked her up. The poor bunny’s eyes flickered back and forth, his breath fanning over her face. Pomni’s eyelashes fluttered. He grunted before taking a small step, feet sinking unevenly into the ground.
“Semi-realistic adventure, my a$$. This Sh!£ is as real as it gets.” He muttered.
The jester’s head rested in the crook of his neck as he hitched her up higher, readjusting his grip. She curled up tighter, seeking refuge from the biting wind.
“W-where are we going?” Pomni asked, her voice wavering.
His right ear flicked down, making it clear she’d been heard. A few seconds passed, as he seemed to mull over something.
“I saw a cave, just west of the mountain. It looked like decent shelter to me.” He aborted his shrug when he felt her head pressing deeply as it was into his shoulder.
On any other day, she’d be uncomfortable with the intimacy, but she relished the warmth his body provided.
‘Okay, that sounded super weird. Note to self: never say that out loud.’ She thought privately.
After banishing that stray thought, she spoke up once more.
“What happened? H-how did we end up here?”
He didn’t grace her with an answer this time. His expression went blank, mouth set in a fine line.
“Jax?” She whispered, she reached out to him just as he shook himself out of the stupor.
He looked pissed. The emotion was so foreign, so uncharacteristic, that Pomni had a full body flinch when he looked back at her. Due to their proximity, Jax could feel her stiffen up. He clenched his teeth and faced away from her.
“You fell down the mountain, and dragged me down with you, but I guess that’s nothing new. You just love pulling me into your s&!t, don’t you?” He muttered.
Pomni was hit with a pang of guilt. They hadn’t spoken at all since that shit-show of an ‘adventure’ last week, but it was clear he didn’t blame Caine alone for how it all went down. She unconsciously frowned, her pinwheel eyes dilating at his words.
Jax’s expression smoothed out, as he sighed.
“Whatever. Don’t look at me like that, I don’t care anymore.”
The jester nodded, she didn’t think she had the energy to argue with him anyway, the fog in her mind made it unbearable to sling together a coherent response. She gave into the awkward silence that fell over them both.
As time passed, her eyes became half-lidded, exhaustion threatening to pull her under. Her body ached and she longed to go back to sleep.
Jax jostled her a little, snapping her out of the moment. He pressed deeply into her legs, so hard, that Pomni could imagine her flesh caving in under the pressure. She felt like putty in his hands, and a small part of her wished to keep the grooves of his fingers carved into her forever. The feeling grounded her, although that last thought had her heart racing.
She wished she could blame it on the head injury.
Jax picked up his pace, lightly jogging through the snow. A thin layer of frost covered his fur, the tips of his ears entirely iced. He lacked any protective clothing on his upper body, only wearing a threadbare sweater which provided no protection from the elements. Pomni was unsettled the moment she noticed. She opened her mouth to voice her concerns, but she was stopped dead by the sudden sensation that encompassed her body.
She was burning. From her finger tips to her toes, it felt like she was set alight. The pins and needles were long gone, and it was like she had been stuffed in a blazing furnace. She broke out in a sweat, panting embarrassingly into the air. The comforting warmth that she was sinking into- it now felt suffocating.
“It’s too hot…” Pomni whined, feeling too overwhelmed to even be ashamed about it.
Jax startled at that.
“What?”
“I said it’s too hot! I’m burning up!” She cried. Her hands reached up, fighting to get out of his hold. One hand tugged away at the scarf tucked neatly around her neck, the other grasping at the oversized, woolen coat.
“Stop it! You’re gonna freeze!” He grunted as she elbowed him in her frenzy. He grabbed both her arms in one hand, squeezing her torso with the other. The sudden burst of adrenaline had worn off, sapping her of her strength. The sweltering heat in her bones made it feel as if she was being cooked alive. Pomni lost her composure entirely.
“Oh god, it burns! Jax, please! It burns…” she sobbed.
Jax looked immensely stressed, pinprick pupils darting back and forth. He took a deep breath, before breaking into a sprint.
His breath came out in short bursts as he curled up protectively over the jester. Pomni tried to steady her own breathing, but couldn’t help the wheezing gasps that escaped her.
He almost slipped at the sound, before readjusting his stance, now using one arm to gallop like an actual rabbit. Pomni would’ve found it hilarious if she was conscious enough to notice.
Finally, after an inexplicable amount of time, the two of them made it into the cavern. Once they were far enough away from the mouth of the cave, a small part of Pomni expected Jax to dump her unceremoniously onto the ground. To her surprise and relief, he crouched down, placing her gently on a dry patch of moss.
He hunched over, shaking while clutching his knees. The rabbit was trembling from the freezing cold, and the adrenaline crash was not helping in the slightest. He drew in large, deep breaths, ears drooping in fatigue.
Pomni felt so guilty, but she couldn’t help herself. The feverish heat had not let up at all, feeling all the more intense in the sudden stillness. Tears trailed down her cheeks as she reached out to him again.
“Jax…” She hiccuped, crawling on her elbows towards him.
The aforementioned rabbit froze at first, before quickly crouching down before her. He pushed her back, Pomni falling flat on her ass, her fall being cushioned by the pile moss. Her tearful expression made his heart ache.
“We got to keep you warm, just until the others complete the adventure, okay?” He spoke slowly, drawing out every word. On any other day, Pomni would’ve been offended by the patronising tone, but she barely had enough sense to nod in response.
Jax moved to bundle her back in the coat, but went rigid when his hands met the soaked fabric. He patted her up and down, only to find the rest of the coat in a similar state.
‘Shit.’
He glanced up at Pomni’s face. She had stopped shivering and her expression was scarily blank, as if she had dissociated from the situation entirely. He swallowed his nerves before tugging on the front of her coat.
“Sorry.” He whispered to her, before he ripped the jacket open. He carefully peeled back the smaller, equally soaked coat she had on beneath it. He gritted his teeth at what he saw.
She was completely soaked to the bone. Not a single inch of her body was dry,
and she was cold to the touch. The shirt she wore had become transparent, sticking to her like a second skin. The poor jester shook as her flesh became exposed to the crisp air in the cave. She trembled, palming at her clothes.
Jax trapped her hands in his, stopping her from going any further.
‘Okay, so she’s clearly hypothermic and the wet clothes are doing her no favours.’ He thought to himself. ‘But I can’t just strip her when she’s out of her senses like this.’
She stared up at him, tears welling up in her eyes once more. She struggled to verbalise her thoughts, as all the stress and pain finally got to her. All she could do was push herself towards him, rubbing her body against their conjoint hands.
Jax flinched, accidentally pulling her towards him.
‘Fuck it.’
“I’m only doing this ‘cause you might actually die of hypothermia if you spend a minute longer in those clothes. Don’t read into this too deeply.” He proclaimed, despite knowing she was too far gone to respond.
Pomni sighed as he finally helped her out of her drenched clothes. She had no shame in stripping in front of him, and even though Jax knew they had no genitalia in this world, he still found himself averting his gaze.
After stepping out of his own clothes, the bunny shook himself dry, causing his fur to stick up in every which directions. Still looking away, he tentatively drew the jester closer.
She looked absolutely pathetic to him, streaked with tears and cold to the touch. She had stopped shivering though, but Jax had a feeling that was not a good thing. Especially when she should’ve felt freezing in her current state.
He took a moment to inspect her scalp once more, noticing the dried patch of blood at the back of her head. At least she wasn’t actively bleeding anymore. Thank god for small mercies.
Jax shuffled forward as Pomni fell straight into his arms. He rubbed his hands up and down her sides, trying to feed some warmth into her. She shuddered curling up to tuck her body under his chin. He held her close, as their bare bodies pressed against eachother.
He was too sick with stress to even worry about the level of intimacy he was displaying.
‘I can be embarrassed about this later.’
They sat together, waiting out the storm.
Pomni’s heart slowed, as she let go of the last threads of consciousness. Her eyes slipped close pulling her deep into Morpheus’ realm.
Jax knew she shouldn’t be sleeping, not with that potential concussion, but he didn’t have the heart to wake her. She’d be all healed once they got back to the circus, but he knew firsthand the lasting trauma some adventures left behind. Especially the hyper realistic ones. He hoped the others could finish it fast.
Jax closed his eyes, finally giving into his own exhaustion. The rabbit passed out beside Pomni, as his limbs went numb, caging the jester with his arms. He had long stopped shivering.
The night deepened, and the two of them lay still in dark, bodies entwined together.