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October was the last month Pomni had officially been human.
October, of... 2017? Yes, that's right. Or so she thinks. October, when the leaves would grow dessicated, and flow like meaningless apologies on the cold wind. But with the yearly dormancy of large poplars and aspens, came an array of warm color painting the ground, and a certain smell to the breeze. A scent that told the very primitive, human parts of her brain that, indeed, it was autumn. It would fill her soul, knowing that the Halloween air would be about. Different times of year felt different to her, like she'd enter a new mindset to enjoy it most. It reminded her of the passage of time a little too much sometimes, which she did not enjoy.
What she wouldn't give to have that feeling again.
In the circus, she couldn't tell what time it was. It just felt all the same. It haunted her, for a long time now. She could only assume it had been many, many years at this point, but it was all the same, and it gave her a headache at best. She hated it. Of all things that she should be bothered about, the inability to tell what time of year it was really irked her.
Of course, there would be "seasonal" adventures, but they were always out of order, and rarely actually made sense. It was just another thing that her mind had to adjust to.
One good example, was whatever amalgamation Caine had whipped up for today.
The humans had all gathered around the stage, as routine. To Pomni's left, Ragatha took her place, with a small greeting. To her right, Kinger. Farther down, Jax, who had been physically astray from the group for quite some time now. She honestly didn't mind anymore, after the whole button incident. Zooble began joining in the adventures more often, enjoying their time with Gangle.
"GOOD MORNING, MY SMOKIN' STICK-BUNDLES!!!"
Pomni sighed.
"HOLD ONTO YOUR HEARTSTRINGS, BECAUSE TODAY'S ADVENTURE IS: 24 HOURS IN THE APOCALYPSE: VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION!" Caine did his usual flips and spins as he announced their diurnal eternal torture. Ragatha raised a hand to her face in concern, and Zooble groaned, like clockwork at this point.
"Valentine's Day..?" She heard Ragatha mutter to herself.
Pomni tended to zone out more often as of recently, as Caine explained the adventure. Usually, she'd ask Ragatha for a quick relay in the adventure instead. She had a nice voice. In the array of eccentric boisterousness, she had caught the mention of fog, friendship, natural disaster, safe checkpoints and... chocolate.
Whatever that was gonna mean.
As usual, they were ungracefully shoved through the portal.
Pomni blinked through the wooziness that would plague her every single time. Ragatha hovered over her, extending an arm to touch, but ultimately pulled her hand back, and offered help once she could see.
"You alright?"
"Yeah," she shook off the spinning sensation. "Thanks."
A little smile graced the face of the doll.
A funny thing about being trapped with someone like Ragatha, was the odd way she had adjusted to physical affection. Of course, she would offer such comfort when Ragatha would really need it, since the doll was just that touch-starved. It had evolved, more or less, into something she became used to, and even appreciated herself sometimes. To be honest, it wasn't very difficult. Ragatha was basically a body pillow with human intent. Some days were still pretty bad in terms of physical contact, but she was happy that this wasn't one of them. Pomni still appreciated the apprehension.
"So, what are we doing?" She had asked, finally taking a look around. They were in the middle of a busted up road, running east to west, in the middle of a prairie surrounded by an all-encompassing fog. There was an assorted pile of supplies in the ditch behind them. The others were nowhere in sight, and it made her feel uneasy. She stood a little closer to Ragatha.
"Well," the older woman began, sounding much more at ease than she should be. "Caine said that it's a scenario where the entirety of the human population just... vanished into thin air. And all we have to do is... "feel the friendship"...? To get awards or something, and survive for 24 hours in bad weather with a randomly assigned partner. He said there will be a deadly natural disaster, starting during the night, for each team."
Pomni nodded, feeling relieved to be paired with Ragatha, yet oddly disappointed in the term 'friendship.' "Okay, simple enough... no monsters..?"
"No monsters. Only the "impending dread of the fog", or however he said it."
"Okay..." Pomni still felt a sort of wrongness in the air, but at least that made sense. "Uh, should we go this way, or..?" The jester pointed westward. She was eager to leave.
"Sure, let's just get our supplies."
Their supplies consisted of one bicycle, one wagon, two flashlights, matches, some rope, a compass, a box of Twinkies, a paper map, a baseball bat, a cooking pot, a tarp, and a Pulaski tool. The pair had attached the wagon behind the bike with some of the rope, with the supplies tucked into the tarp inside. With everything set, they were off.
Ragatha had taken the first shift in riding the bike, while Pomni tried to make sense of the map, perched upon the tarp. The bike was oddly fast, or the ragdoll was some sort of Olympic athlete, but they were making good ground.
In fifteen minutes, Pomni had finally figured out that they were 30 kilometers east of a small town, which was between them and the mountains farther west. There were more towns within the mountain valleys, but she didn't want to risk it if their natural disaster was a rockslide or something. Flat land was for the best, unless it was a flood, but she'd be more willing to take her chances with the flood.
"Hey, Ragatha? I know where we should go!"
The doll pulled them over, and got off the bike. The fact that she still pulled over despite being the only ones on this part of the planet was a little amusing to Pomni.
"Whoo... *huff* ...you got a plan?" The older woman wiped her brow on her forearm. The younger woman felt something funny stir inside of her at the sight.
"Y-yeah, we're almost right by this river," she pointed out where they were, praying Ragatha wouldn't notice her blush. "If we keep following this road west, there's a town. It should do the trick. I don't think we should go into the mountains past it, because I dunno what our natural disaster is gonna be, and I personally do not want it to be a rockslide. Or volcano. Or something else."
Ragatha nodded along, having caught her breath. "Okay, sounds good." With her hands on her hips, she returned to the bike, raising a leg.
"Hey, wait," Pomni interrupted. "You've biked for a while, it's my turn."
"Oh, that's alright, Pomni! I can get us there!" She replied, chipper, because of course she would. Pomni just shook her head.
"Get in the wagon, passenger pwincess, Daddy's gonna take cawe of it real nicely, ha ha ha..."
"...huh?"
"..."
"..."
"...I need to stretch my legs."
"Oh, okay."
With that weird bulls^&* out of the way, they had a set course. As soon as they were all set, Pomni took off.
It gradually became more hilly the farther they went. As fast and light as the bike felt, it was still a chore.
By the time they had reached the town, it was late afternoon. If Pomni was out of breath long ago, now she felt straight up shriveled.
'Even digitally... I'm still no athlete...'
She had slowed down, as her legs began to shake and ache. Ragatha had taken pity on her, and sent her to the wagon again as they cruised around the town. The air was colder now, but the fog had started to lift, revealing intimidatingly towering wall clouds.
Pomni was shivering where she sat, feeling way too similar to a pathetic chihuahua owned by a middle aged white lady. Ragatha had taken notice. But, the doll was chilly herself, and would probably start shivering if she stopped moving.
"Pomni? Wanna see if there's any blankets somewhere?" She had slowed down in some old-style suburbs, looking oddly alright for being abandoned, despite looking relatively old-fashioned. Pomni had sort of forgotten the whole thing was a simulation, for a while.
"Brrrr... sure."
Ragatha directed the bike up a driveway to her right, to a sturdy looking house that had basement windows. It was small and quaint, and the paint was chipping off the sides.
Pomni sort of liked it. It was like a house she'd see in the real world.
Ragatha reached for the bat with the idea to smash a window, but Pomni had been present enough to look for a hidden house key underneath the straw welcome mat.
The house was just as small on the inside, but it had a basement if they needed it, so they'd take it. It was reminiscent of a senior's house, with the old-style flowery patterned furniture. It looked like any regular house they'd find outside of the circus, and Pomni appreciated the human-like touch to it. There wasn't any electricity or heating sadly, but they found heaps of blankets in the master bedroom. They took the bike and the wagon in with them.
The pair decided to take a Twinkie break as they cocooned themselves.
Small talk was unneeded as they animalistically scarfed the food down. They didn't usually need to eat, but in survival adventures, they'd lose stamina if they went hungry or thirsty. Speaking of which... Pomni should run the taps for the rest of the clean drinking water, and stock up on as much of it as possible. As she was about to get up, Ragatha made a little comment.
"Do you think Caine knows what Valentine's actually is?" She thought aloud, sucking the rest off her mitts.
"Honestly? No." Pomni rolled her eyes. "What does Valentine's have to do with the apocalypse?"
Ragatha snorted. "Beats me..."
"And why is it about 'feeling the friendship'?" Pomni huffed in annoyance. Her words didn't catch up to her.
Ragatha's expression morphed into mild surprise at the frustration, but inevitably fell back into understanding, or at least, her understanding. "You know how Caine is... I don't think he knows what anything is actually supposed to mean, especially holidays."
Pomni sighed, standing up from the bed, still wrapped in her blanket of choice. Pomni opened her mouth to speak, but Ragatha beat her to it.
"Y'know, I was surprised... it was actually Valentine's Day a couple days ago."
"Wait, really?" The younger woman's eyebrows almost went past her hat, incredulous. "How do you know?"
Ragatha shrugged, a little bashful. "I've kept count of the days since I've arrived. The first thing I asked for when I realized I couldn't leave was a calendar. Just made me feel more human, to keep the time... even if time doesn't work like that inside the circus, y'know?"
Pomni nodded. It felt oddly comforting. "...I get that." She should ask her to see them, one day.
They went to go and run the fresh water, drinking big gulps as they did so, while they could. They found two canteens and some bottles, which was more than what they needed. Hoarding them into the bedroom, they were stowed away in the wagon. Curiosity and more hunger overtook the two, and they went snooping.
Ragatha managed to find some winter gear, which she had quickly thrown on due to the lack of heat, while Pomni raided the kitchen.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a morsel or crumb in sight.
She turned to go and find Ragatha, who was almost falling into the coat closet. "Uh, Ragatha?"
"Ow! F%&$..." Was mumbled from within.
The ragdoll had jumped, banging her head on the hangers. It made Pomni giggle, but she tried to quash it when Ragatha poked her head out, disgruntled. She covered her mouth with her pointer.
"You okay?" Alas, the smile in her voice was too hard to be rid of.
"Ugh," She stuck her head fully out. "I'm fine. What's up?"
"These weirdos don't have any food whatsoever."
Ragatha rolled her eye. "Of course. Well, we could check the other houses?"
Oh yeah. They were in a neighborhood. "Sounds good to me." Pomni shrugged.
The jester was then handed a jacket, a scarf and some oversized mittens, and she thanked her. Ragatha had dolled up in a long coat, and donned a trapper hat, with some gripper gloves.
Opting for some fun, they decided to smash some windows, instead of their prior peaceful entry.
With the bat in Pomni's hands, and the Pulaski in Ragatha's, they split up to the neighboring houses on opposite sides.
"Give me a shout if you find some, okay!?" Ragatha shouted from a lawn over.
"Okay!"
A messy crash later, Pomni was in...
...and just as unsuccessful.
So they tried the next houses over, and the next.
Nothing.
They regrouped at their home base, out of breath, shivering and hungry. The clouds became darker, and the breeze was only slightly picking up. Tiny snowflakes began to fall.
"I don't think it's worth staying, if we can't find food close enough to our hou-... our base," Pomni reasoned, panting. "Maybe, we could find a... grocery store, somewhere?"
Catching her breath, Ragatha nodded. "I think you're right... we'll take what we can."
Looting the rest of what they could take, being mainly blankets, and a mini stove they found in the garage, they were gone quickly. Pomni was sort of sad to leave the house, but they weren't meant to be here. After all, it became clear what their disaster was going to be, when the wall clouds loomed over them, and the chill bit at their bones.
More prone to the cold, Pomni stayed bundled up in the wagon. As much as she didn't like being a passenger princess babygirl, she couldn't deny that Ragatha held that long legged advantage, even with a dress on. As they biked on, the white sky became darker as the sun set, so Pomni held a flashlight for Ragatha to see; that much she could do.
"Look! There!"
They had finally found the downtown area, after what felt like an hour. A giant supermarket, with the electricity still running, acted like their beacon. As quickly as she could, Ragatha led them up the eerily empty parking lot. The wind gusts had begun to snap at them, and more snow began to whip at their faces.
They quickly rushed inside, only to find that-
"What the f%$&!?"
... the place was absolutely barren.
The jester wriggled out of her nest, continuing to curse in anger. "Why isn't there anything here!?"
Ragatha huffed, cussing under her breath. Taking a deep breath, she devised a plan. "Well, let's check the other stores, then-"
SLAM!!
Wind whipped the door, the gusts so harsh it had almost broke a window. A wall of snow traveling at unimaginable speeds barred the exit. That was concerningly quick. The lights flickered, and Pomni made a noise of concern. That had escalated concerningly quickly.
"... or, we could... look around anyway... I guess..."
Staying close within range of eachother as the wind howled, they perused the lackluster aisles. There were stray items on some of them, toys, Tupperware, toiletries, makeup, painkillers... but no food. They did take the painkillers, however.
"I guess it's gonna be one of those adventures..." Pomni sighed from where she walked alongside Ragatha. The older woman gave her an empathetic look. She could only hum in agreement, wheeling their supplies along with them. With each passing breath, the warehouse sounded even more flimsy, like it was just a second away from coming apart completely.
As they turned down the last aisle... something caught their eye.
Ragatha gasped.
"Is that...?"
'KD Deluxe: Velveeta on Shells'
Pomni wanted to cry out in relief, before she could question why there was a brand name in the circus. Sure, it wasn't noodle soup or anything, but it would do very, very nicely.
They rushed over, picking up the box and dancing around with it, squealing. Soon after, they found some livewires candy, some canned tuna, canned baby corn, and a tiny jar of peanut butter. They were hungry enough to just grab some isolated spoons and go crazy on the tuna and the peanut butter.
It still wasn't enough, but it felt better than starvation.
Making sure to take everything available, they also found some ramen flavor packets, but no ramen, much to their annoyance. They took them anyway. Otherwise, a small pan, another full water bottle and two bowls were nabbed, no longer just collecting dust on the shelf.
"Well, I think we got everything," Ragatha said, sounding much more enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. "Should we set up somewhere?"
Pomni matched her hopeful energy. "Yeah, lead the way." She wore a small smile that gave Ragatha cute aggression.
On their way to a secluded corner, the power had been killed.
Fumbling around in the darkness, in shock and fear, a loud BANG and the sound of breaking glass made them freeze. Howling winds synphonized in the air, and what felt like pure liquid nitrogen hit them like a wall of bricks.
"Pomni!?" Ragatha called out.
The jester in question flicked her flashlight on, pointing it towards the door. Snow rushed in through the broken entrance.
She swore upon her grave that she saw a silhouette. Lanky, uncomfortably thin, with six beady eyes and many, many long teeth, that disappeared within a second, without a sound, other than the aggressive wail of the wind.
Regardless, she grabbed Ragatha's hand and tore into the back area, where the produce department should have been. She wasn't taking any chances.
"Pomni!? What's wrong!?"
An answer died on her tongue due to her hyperfocus. Her heart pounded in her nonexistent ears as she frantically tugged her companion and their supplies to the nearest door she could find, ripping it open before Ragatha could say, "Wait!"
Next thing she knew, she was falling down a flight of stairs.
She had managed to find herself on flat ground, but if she said she wasn't hurting, she'd be lying.
Ragatha crashed beside her, their supplies crashing into the adjacent wall.
It was a seemingly endless hallway of stairs, with a flat section about every twelve meters down, and even more surprisingly, was the electricity lighting up the beige and wooden hall. It had a musty smell to it, sort of reminding her of a repurposed hospital facility, or an old school. Her head wouldn't stop spinning as she struggled to right herself.
Ragatha groaned, sitting up and clutching the right side of her head. "Ugh.. Pom, what..?"
Abandoning the concept of her own injury, Pomni scrambled over to her side, offering her a hand. She was shaky to stand, but she was alright.
Mostly alright.
"Ragatha, your eye! I'm sorry!" The jester cast her worried gaze upon the blue button that lie in the palm of her glove. Her hat had been knocked off of her head.
"It's fine, I'm alright..." Ragatha's wobbly stance begged to differ. Pomni led her back to the stairs, gently gripping her arms, and sat her down as she assessed the damaged area. "What did you see..?" The ragdoll asked, a sliver flustered by the attention.
The question made Pomni flick her nervous gaze to the door above. It was closed.
"I think I saw a monster..."
"But Caine said there wasn't anything hunting us. So, that's... concerning." Ragatha didn't sugarcoat it. Well, as best she couldn't sugarcoat it. She wore a little flush as her jester friend tilted her chin up with a finger to look for any more tearing in her fabric.
Seemingly satisfied with her assessment, Pomni leaned back to go and get their supplies, and Ragatha's hat. Ragatha missed the gentle contact. She hoped her blushing wasn't too obvious, but she couldn't see well with just the one eye in all honesty.
"I know..! It's... I swear I saw something..." Pomni muttered as she put their belongings back into their wagon. Luckily, none of their supplies were damaged, but the bike had been totaled. With the snow and the stairs, it's not like they had much use for it anymore, anyway. She untied it, deeming it no longer usable.
"I believe you," said a comforting voice behind her. The ragdoll shuffled beside her to help her right the wagon. "I'll take the bat out in case we need it, okay?"
As much as she doubted that a little axe-type tool could immobilize that thing, or that Ragatha was even fit enough to fight right now, the sentiment was admittedly quite comforting. She nodded, and the doll smiled, moving forward.
"Wait," Pomni interrupted. "What about your eye?"
"Oh, it can wait until we get somewhere for the night," Ragatha said, flippant, as she tucked the eye away into her coat pocket, zipping it up. She would be lying if she said it didn't hurt, but they had priorities. With the bat in hand, she stepped forward. "Let's just focus on getting away from all that ice."
The wind did threaten the integrity of the door, like it was chasing them. Pomni gulped.
"If you're sure..."
It was slightly difficult to maneuver the wagon down the seemingly endless staircase, but they figured it out. The stairs weren't necessarily steep. Down, below the frostline they went, and with their descent, the wind grew farther behind, becoming ever so quiet.
What felt like another hour of endless stairs in the same exact direction, finally gave way to two big metal exit doors. By the time they had reached them, their legs were shaking from exhaustion. They were approximately a kilometer below ground at this point. Still chilly, but less biting, especially with their winter gear.
Without a second thought, the pair pushed the doors open.
The doors revealed a massive underground parkade. It seemed to stretch for forever in every direction, with big concrete walls dividing it into mentally digestible chunks. A warm, yellowish light came from the industrial lights above, and oddly, it was quite comparable to a human parkade. The circus members felt out of place, as they took exhaustion-ridden steps onto the painted concrete.
"...why a parkade?" Pomni complained. "Why not a luxury hot tub, or something..."
Despite her tiredness, it made Ragatha giggle. "Well, let's poke around before we rule anything out."
"...fine."
Within minutes, in a secluded corner, was an extremely oversized bean bag, next to a wall outlet. It looked jarringly out of place, but to the pair with legs that felt like lead, it appeared heavenly.
Setting their things down immediately, they both flopped onto the bean bag. They immediately sank down into eachother, and Ragatha stiffened, prepared for Pomni to shuffle away, or something.
She stayed where she was, letting out a content sigh.
Ragatha relaxed, accepting her fate with a sigh of her own. Pomni sank closer to her, her head resting against her shoulder for the time being. The warmth felt amazing, and it made Ragatha blush. She yawned.
They laid in silence, for a few minutes, just enjoying the chance to relax. The body heat really helped.
Ragatha would have fallen asleep if Pomni didn't shuffle up in time to look back at her in mild concern.
"Pomni..? What's up?"
"Let's fix your eye now."
Oh, right. In all honesty, she had forgotten about it. The pain ebbing away at her head had just become normal to her body.
"Okay, let me get my sewing stuff. I'll need a reflection of some kind." She unzipped her coat, and reached into the little unseen pocket of her dress. She produced her trusty needle and thread, and started shimmying off the bean bag, onto the cold pavement.
"Wait, Ragatha?" A shy voice sounded from her side. She turned to face her. It was unlikely to see the jester so bashful, but she was. Pomni paused herself for a moment, took a deep breath, and met her curious gaze. "I... could maybe do it..?"
"O-oh! Uhh," She caught the ragdoll off-guard. A twinge of panic made her start to try to backtrack, but Ragatha produced her answer. "S-sure!"
Ragatha, on the other hand, knew she sounded like a squeaky toy at this point. Sewing her eye in felt like sort of a private thing to her. She didn't know why, but it just did. To have someone else sew her eye back in... it was incredibly intimate to her. Especially when it was with another woman around her age that she found cute, but she liked to think that she'd rather abstract than admit that out loud. But, could Pomni even sew her eye back correctly?
A awkward silence followed, and after a moment, Pomni patted her hand back on the bean bag. Following her instruction, Ragatha timidly crawled back on. Guess she'd find out. Without a word, the jester gently took the needle and thread, as well as her eye when the ragdoll gave it to her, and tied her starting knot.
"Okay," Her voice low, Pomni cupped her face for the second time that night, and Ragatha was already bright red. She lined up her eye with the small divots. "This might hurt, okay?"
As much as she knew the feeling already, she hummed in affirmation. Pomni seemed hesitant.
"Pomni," Ragatha had spoken just as quietly to preserve the atmosphere. "I can do it, it's alright."
The jester in question shook her head. "No. I want to help you," Taking a deep breath, she raised the needle to her face, as she held her eye in place. "Can you hold your eye there?"
Ragatha did as she was asked, and her other hand returned to hold her face. Ragatha's cheeks were a nice cherry at this point.
"Three... two... one..."
Pomni worked as quickly as she could, but refused to do a sloppy job, or make Ragatha more uncomfortable than she already clearly was. Meanwhile, Ragatha was regaining her full sight.
Finishing up her knot, Pomni broke the thread with her teeth. That sent quite the rush through the poor ragdoll, because she could feel it from the thread still attached to her. "There, all done. Does it feel alright?"
Unable to speak, Ragatha nodded. Pomni flashed her a small smile, and wound the thread back up.
Ragatha was still trying to catch her breath, when a grumbling noise cut through her fluster. Pomni looked a little embarrassed.
That seemed to ease Ragatha out of her tension, but she silently willed herself not to laugh. "...let's eat something."
The younger woman couldn't agree more.
They got out the mini stove, the pot and pan, and one of the bottles of water, plugging it into the wall outlet. They decided to pan fry the baby corn as a starter, and scarfed it down as soon as they deemed it done. They placed their pot on the burner next, and poured water in. As they waited for it to boil, the pair set their coats on the ground to sit on, and wrapped blankets around themselves.
They boiled the pasta, pouring the excess water out into one of the little metal drains in the middle of the parking lot complex, divided the cheese sauce in the bowls as to not make too many dirty dishes, and took their first bites. It was warm, and it was chemically heavenly.
'We're doing surprisingly well for a hobo dinner.' Pomni couldn't help but think to herself, as she stuffed her face.
"Hey, Ragatha?" She asked between bites.
"Mmph?" Her mouth was full and there was cheese sauce all over her face. The sight made Pomni laugh until there were tears in her eyes. Ragatha scrambled to clean herself up.
"Not a word." The ragdoll huffed, narrowing her eyes, albeit playfully.
"Okay, okay!" She stopped giggling, but she couldn't help her grin.
"What were you about to ask, anyway?" Ragatha questioned, curiously, after giving Pomni a moment.
Pomni shrugged, finishing up her pasta. "I was just gonna ask how you think the others are doing."
Ragatha pondered this, raising a mitten to her chin. "Hmm..."
-
"Gangle!! Grab my hand!" Zooble cried through the ripping lightning.
Gangle reached out a ribbon, her body weak. "I-! I don't know if I can make it, Zooble! You might have to go without me!"
The very idea made Zooble internally recoil with disgust. "No! No, Gangle, I'm not leaving you! I'm never leaving you! I promised you that!" They were thrown around by the relentless waves. "I'll catch you, I promise!! Please, Gangle, I know you can do it!!" They cried out, tears welling in their eyes.
She rarely ever saw Zooble this vulnerable. They did everything they could to stop their comedy mask from breaking this adventure, and it was a fruitless effort in the end, but the gesture touched her. Gangle felt resolve wash over her; Zooble needed her too. She would be there for them. Finding the strength, she lunged.
They tangled into a heap of plastic and ribbon on the makeshift raft. Zooble laughed in relief. "Gangle! You made it!"
Gangle let out a laugh and a sob, hiding in the nape of Zooble's neck, shaking from the adrenaline. The angry ocean surrounded them. "Yeah... I did..."
They had no time to gather themselves, as an especially giant wave loomed over them, kilometers high, illuminated by the lightning.They felt their relief be replaced with dread.
It was ultimately for nothing.
"Hold on, Gangle, don't let go-!"
The tsunami crashed over them, with the force of a tonne of bricks moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour.
--
"They never cared, Kinger!" Jax cried. "They-!"
"Jax," Kinger spoke, as pyroclastic flow sped past them in the darkness, the only light being from the lava rapidly approaching. "They did care, and you pushed them away. Not only that, but you have a lot to make up for."
Jax withered. He couldn't argue with anything Kinger was saying. He stayed silent, his ears lowered, as they cowered in the burning cabin.
"I know you're scared, Jax. But, everyone is in the same boat as you, too. Don't forget that." Kinger sighed as the volcano continued to erupt, the earth trembling beneath them. "But they may not forgive you."
Jax huffed. "I don't care."
"Well, I think you should. I know that isn't the truth, either. It's okay to care."
Just then, the pyroclastic flow turned into glowing lava. It became brighter, and toxic gasses polluted the air. They wouldn't last five minutes alive. The game was essentially over.
"Ohh, wouldja look at that," Kinger pointed to a floating ember, back to being oblivious. "So pretty."
"..."
-
"They're probably fine." Ragatha shrugged, leaning back into the side of the bean bag chair. Pomni nodded in agreement, clambering over to sink into it, with the livewires in hand. Ragatha joined her, and the both of them snuggled into the blankets.
"Want some?" Pomni offered her the candy.
"Sure, thanks!"
Happy to munch on their dessert, the pair fell into small talk, which evolved into relaxed conversation. With a miniscule amount of flirting.
"... and thats how I figured out I did not like men. What did you usually do for Valentine's Day?" Ragatha asked, finishing up the details of a story. Pomni was leaning on her shoulder again.
The question made the jester pause. Her smile faded. "I... I didn't ever do much." She waved her hand around as she spoke. "It was all just-... I dunno, it sort of made me sad sometimes."
Ragatha tilted her head down. "It made you sad..?"
"Yeah, like," Pomni shrugged, looking away. "It's a holiday that's all about showing appreciation and love, and... I... guess I never felt it? I dunno. Every time I was single on Valentine's, it just felt like FOMO? If that makes sense."
"What's FOMO?" Ragatha couldn't help but ask.
"The fear of missing out," Pomni replied. "Seeing everyone off living what I wish I had..." The jester's shoulders sagged as she thought about it more. "Now I can't even have that at all, here..."
Ragatha wore an empathetic look. "... I get it." Was all she could say.
Pomni shrunk in on herself, the sting of sorrow and grief of her old life seeping out from the dark recesses of her mind to haunt her.
"...but who says we can't have Valentine's here?"
Pomni froze. Ragatha's softly spoken words caught up to her.
"I-! I, wait, uh-!" The doll sputtered. She wasn't implying anything intentionally (not that she'd protest to having a Valentine's date with Pomni.)
"Ragatha," Pomni was still not facing her. The unreadable way the younger woman had spoken her name had sent an arrow of fear through her heart. She tensed.
Pomni turned around.
She looked... pleased? Bashful? Confused? Surprised? Ragatha wasn't good at reading expressions sometimes. She said nothing in return. Pomni choked out her words.
"We... could have our own Valentine's... date?"
Ragatha blinked. Then, she was red all over again; her eye blown wide. "Our... our own?"
Pomni dug in her heels. "Why not?"
To say Ragatha was shocked was an understatement. After a few more seconds of gaping like a fish, she became shy. "I'd like that," She whispered into the parkade air, only heard by the woman in front of her. "I... yeah."
Pomni relaxed, fully meeting her gaze. She wore her timid smile, which the doll returned. The jester opened her mouth for comment and her eyes flicked off to somewhere in the distance, but all of a sudden, she screamed.
Ragatha whipped around.
Lo and behold, there was a monster. Horrifyingly long teeth, with a horrifying amount of them, and branched, skinny legs that branched off at the joints to create multiple spear-like limbs. It had six black eyes, darker than night, but with some sort of glint; this thing gave the appearance of a dead tree. It stood, watching them, from one of the unilluminated shadows of the parkade.
Ragatha stood immediately, not saying a word, as she picked up the Pulaski and the bat, handing Pomni the latter. Pomni fumbled with the bat, her eyes scribbled over and near hyperventilation.
The cryptid's spindly limb stretched out from the shadows, revealing faint yellow stripes at the tips, almost spider-like in nature. Ragatha readied herself, standing in front of the distressed jester.
It began to move towards them.
Determination set in her bones, Ragatha was going to fight this peeper. Pomni cowered behind her as Ragatha willed herself to move forward.
...she couldn't move.
Panic set in. She couldn't talk, either. Oh god, the monster was getting closer. Why couldn't she move!? She willed herself to even move a finger, without success. The younger woman behind her didn't make a sound, and that scared the doll more than it should. She wanted to shout, scream, jump, cry, panic, anything at this point!
Within seconds of this agony, the monster was upon them, long teeth glinting in the light, eyes as black as ever, reflecting the light above them.
'This is it. We're gonna actually die.'
"Ḧ̸͍͖͇́͐̍̌͑̓́̆̓̚͝Á̴̗̥̭̬̣̞̜͉́̈́̌̍̍̇͋̚͝͝͠͝P̶̣̊̇͠P̷̨̱̰͖̟̰͑̇̅͆͆͊͌͑͜͝͝Y̵̧̛͕̌͛̑͛͘.̸̡̘̭͎̩̭̣͖̣̝̱͕̣͒͑͊̍̈́̓͌͜.̶̨̛̫̻̙̜̰͔̻̹̬̐͋̊̽͊̕͜͝ ̴̧̪͙̭̹̹̞̠͙̍͒̇͛́͠V̸̡͉̪̜̯̩̯̥̪͓̓͂͝Â̴̢̧͕͍̦̞̮̭͍͍̳̯͇̻̅̔̀̇̿̒̕͘L̴͖̝̼̙̥̗͙̙̺̱͖̜͉̀̾̅̍̊̈́͋̃͑̕̚E̴̢̧̝̯̾͗̉͛̓̾̏́͝͝Ǹ̶̡̧̨̤̜̝̜͙̈̽̎͒͜Ţ̸̛̮̘̜̝̖̟̝̦̺̰͛͊̃̎̑̂̀̓̋̆͘ͅI̷̗͚͔͕͒̓̓Ň̴̛͙̞͉̖̾̃̀́̑Ĕ̸̥̜̪͇͔͇͕̖̩̊͋͜͝ͅ'̷̧̩̜̺͙̯̥̘͉̱́̓̅̿̇̊͝S̵͇̹̄̅̿͊͊̈́̋͒̆̈́͝ ̶̞̅͐͂͌̑̎̎̈D̸̺̫͚̐̓̊̓͌͋̒͝A̸̛̜̤̗͒͊̈̕Y̵̹̼̯̙͚̻͈̗͖̒̓̀͠͠.̵͇̩̬̫̯̞͈͕̟̠͚̄.̵̧̩̜̖͖̰̔̍̿͗͐̌͛͘͘͘̕͠͝͝ͅͅ"
'...huh?'
Reaching behind itself, the thing produced a box of chocolates. F^$*ing chocolates. It used a long limb to slot the box within her frozen arms, and Ragatha wanted to scream again, but she couldn't.
The thing then set two red roses on their bean bag bed, reaching over their heads.
"L̵͉̮̘͉͒̊͗O̵̰̖͔͔̯͉͍̓͘V̶̢̡̲͎̭̲̾́͌̍E̶̱̱̬͛͛̈̏̎͂͐̊̊̄̽̚͝͠ ̵̧̣̱̫̜̱̦͉̝̻̥̪̊̑̽̂̆̌͆͒͑͜͝E̶̤̓̓͋̑̋̄̀Ą̴̣̪̩̃̀̇̓̏͊͝͠C̶̢̡̧̛̹̼̰̪̗̮͖͊̅̇͌̀̑̀̈́̎̈̾̿͌Ȟ̷͖͕̞̭̱̞͇Ŏ̸̢̡̨̯̫̼̗͎̬͎͓̻̼̉̈͌̓̃̇̎̕͠T̸̘͒̌̚͝Ḩ̵͇͕͎̋̆͗̌̂E̵̛̤̙̱͈̥͎̪͉̋̎̊͂̈́͊̋̔̀̎͐͗͘R̵̲̮̖͍͎͚̤͎̮̿̒̐̓͒̓͑̑̄̉͛̕͝.̵̱͎̭̾̈́̍́̅̾͐̕͠.̸͓͍͕̭̟̖͍̗͚̙̩̖̬͐͊̈̽̓̎͆̒̽́̅.̵̧̨͚̦̝̣̬̠̐̃̀̀̎̈́̈̀͑͛͠͠ͅ ̷̤̲̦͔̠̤̔̐̃͗͑͊̎̉͜W̶͍̦͓̉̉E̸̬̞͛̍L̸̨̢͉͔̲̖͉̻͎̣͕̗̜̱͑̚L̸̰̙͚̖̟̜̮̪̬͉̞̑͒̋̅͂̓̽͆͝ͅ.̴̨̧͓͕̰̫̜͇̲̝͌̐͆̋̿̈́̄.̸̜̰̮̟̤̱̍ͅͅ.̴̳̫̘̪͍̥̩͇̘͚̞̇ͅͅͅ"
The thing slurred its words as it took a step back from them both. Within a nanosecond, it disappeared without a sound, only a faint electromagnetic feel to the air was the only trace of its prior presence.
But it's not like they were focusing on that, being too preoccupied to have their bodily autonomy back again. They gasped for air, shaking. Ragatha collapsed, the box and Pulaski clattering onto the concrete. Pomni caught her with little strength she had.
Ragatha felt hands frantically grasping at her face and torso. "Ragatha!?" Pomni was trembling. "What just happened!?"
Ragatha had no words, however, only being able to shake her head. Pomni pulled her into a tight hug, which was shakily reciprocated by the older woman.
They took a few moments to gather themselves again, not letting go of the other.
Within about five minutes, they were relaxed enough to function again. The jester was the first to pull back, slowly releasing her iron grip into something more gentle, and compassionate.
"... you okay?" She timidly asked the older woman.
Ragatha nodded, secretly appreciative of the touch. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just... whoof! You?"
Pomni chuckled nervously. "I'm fine. That was terrifying," she pulled away entirely, despite Ragatha's protests, and picked up one of the roses, inspecting the petals. "So much for no monsters..." She grumbled.
Ragatha laughed. "I mean... I guess we have what we need for a Valentine's date..?"
With that, the awkward sappy air seemed to have returned. Pomni smiled, bashfully. At this point in time being in the circus, she mentally recovered from big horrific events much faster during adventures.
"Well," She began. "What should we do for it?"
A good question. Rubbing her chin in thought, Ragatha pondered. An idea snapped into her head.
"...wanna see what else we can find down here?"
On one hand, Pomni didn't like the idea of running into another monster. On the other, she had Ragatha with her. And, this place reminded her of her urbexing days. Not only that, she was also quite curious to see if there were any more supplies.
"Hmm... good idea. I'd say so," She replied after a moment, and the older woman beamed at the praise. They helped eachother up, putting their winter gear back on. Hand in hand, they began their exploration.
They didn't end up going very far, not feeling up to getting lost. In more of the tucked away corners of the concrete barriers, they found more loot. They had found several cans of beans, a huge wad of cash that was deemed useless, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, and a little pony plushie. Pomni had originally spotted it, and presented the plush as a gift to Ragatha, of whom which absolutely adored it. They had also found a fidget spinner, several small plastic toys, Viagra, part of a bunk bed, a rifle, a pool floaty toy, and a pack of playing cards. From that assortment, they only took the cards.
When they had wandered back to their campsite for the night, they played several rounds of 31, laughing and joking, and eating chocolate. The parkade had only gotten colder as the night continued, so they had burrowed themselves into even more blankets on top of their oversized bean bag chair.
As it became even later, they put the cards away, and shuffled closer to one another. The roses rested on top of the wagon.
Pomni raised her hand to her face, covering her yawn. Ragatha laid just in front of her, not touching, but her body heat was ever so slightly radiating off of her. She held the little pony in her hands, clearly ashamed of being so attached to a plushie as a grown woman.
"Y'know, I used to have a plushie sort of like that, back in the human world." Pomni quietly said, establishing the atmosphere.
Ragatba raised her gaze, keeping her voice low in return. "Yeah?"
"Mhm," The younger woman nestled closer, their knees touching. "He was a little cat named Frankie, and I had him on my bed. I know it's a bit silly, but I used to kiss him on the head every night." There was always that risk of being scrutinized, but after all this time in the circus, she knew Ragatha genuinely wasn't the type.
Ragatha smiled at the thought, even. "Aww... that's cute, Pomni. It's not silly." Her reaction was genuine.
Pomni blushed at the comment. She raised her hand up to timidly pet the pony on the head. "What're you gonna name him?"
"I'm not sure..." Ragatha hummed. "I'll tell you once I come up with one. He's definitely coming back to the circus with me."
Pomni smiled as Ragatha hugged the plush, seemingly much more comfortable at showing her affection for the thing. Her eyelids drooped in the warm lighting.
Ragatha turned away to yawn, shuffling on the bean bag until she was comfortable.
"...Pomni?" She whispered.
"...yeah, Ragatha?"
"I might try to sleep, if that's alright..."
"Okay," Pomni shuffled closer, snaking an arm under her neck. Today, she decided, was a day where physical contact would help her keep warm. Ragatha flushed at the bold gesture, but certainly didn't protest. "I'll probably stay up a bit. Keep watch, y'know?"
The doll cuddled right up to her, and Pomni guided her to be nearly on top of her. Ragatha was like a warm, weighted blanket, and Pomni loved being absolutely crushed when she slept. Happy with the contact, Ragatha snuggled into her, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Thanks for doing that." She mumbled into her nape.
"Of course," Pomni quietly spoke, stretching her arms out, enjoying the weight. She sighed, content, and reached an arm up to loop around the doll, after a small second of realizing that would help her to fall asleep more quickly. A little happy noise came from her clavicle, as solid evidence suggesting such.
As hypothesized, within minutes, Ragatha was fully asleep.
With the weight atop her, staying awake proved harder than Pomni first thought. But, she'd said she'd keep watch, so she would. The tempting pressure from her companion coaxed otherwise.
'C'mon. Just fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes on lookout.'
She could do that compromise, she supposed. Not that she could see very much with the angle she laid at, mostly the concrete and metal ceiling of the empty parking lot, and frizzy locks of red yarn.
She thought the day through. All in all, she was happy with it. At this point, she knew anything could still go wrong, but they were fed, warm, and happy. Pomni was happy to be paired with someone she actually enjoyed hanging out with. Despite this being a Valentine's Day adventure, it did not give the vibe. It felt like Caine had added in that giant monster as an afterthought, bringing those gifts. 'He could've chosen any other NPC...'
She sighed; it was ultimately a fruitless effort trying to predict what the ringmaster was going to do next.
But, Ragatha was a good survival partner, and an even better date. She blushed as she thought about it. How would this affect their relationship outside of the adventure? By the looks of it, Ragatha was happy with the developments, whatever they were. Pomni tuned in to her gentle breathing. The arms around her subtly squeezed, and she let out a sleepy sigh. Pomni gently rubbed her back, and she could feel the tiniest of grins against her neck. That made Pomni smile.
As soon as her fifteen minutes was up, she let her eyes drift closed. Barely audible even to her own self, she whispered.
"Thank you for the date..."
-
Ragatha woke up in the night.
With the lack of any visible sky, she had no idea what time it was, only being the golden glow of the parking lot lights above them. If her grogginess had anything to go by, it was still late at night. The two had shuffled around to lay on their sides, and had stopped cuddling. But, that wasn't the primary reason she was awake now.
Soft, but distressed, noises came from the jester in front of her. Rivulets of tears flowed from her eyes, shut tight, as she tossed and turned, with an unhappy look on her face. She was almost falling off the bean bag.
Ragatha reached her hand out again, and thought better of it, tucking her arm back to her chest. If Pomni was upset, initiating touch would do more harm than good; it's not what she needed right now. Moving closer, Ragatha did the next best thing.
"Shh... it's okay..." She whispered to her. "I'm here..."
She hoped her words could reach her subconscious.
Gradually, after a few minutes of cooed reassurance, she began to visibly relax. Her face was no longer scrunched up, and she didn't curl in on herself to the extent she had before.
"It's alright, Pomni... I'm here... shh, shh..."
The younger woman shuffled closer, now appearing more apprehensive, but still upset. She was almost tucking herself into Ragatha's chest now, much to her surprise, which made her blush for what felt like the millionth time. She felt her relax against her, and the doll found it adorable. Hesitantly, she brought a hand up to stroke against her head, ready to pull away at a moment's notice.
It proved to be the right move, because she leaned into the soft contact.
As much as Pomni didn't like being infantilized, Ragatha internally questioned why she had to baby her so much sometimes. Secretly, Ragatha really couldn't complain.
She gently rubbed her skin with the tip of her finger, petting her in a way. The sniffling soon gave way to deep breathing, much to her relief. Ragatha didn't stop her gentle ministrations, however, just in case she'd start having bad dreams again. Pomni had admitted to having constant nightmares whenever she slept, so to give her peace of mind meant everything to Ragatha.
Carefully, she reached over to pull one of the blankets over her, as she had kicked one of hers off of herself. It was getting colder within the parkade, but the bedding did wonders to combat it.
She felt Pomni stretch against her, and then fully melt into her with a little noise. Ragatha tried not to explode, as her arms wrapped around her, squeezing her as tightly as she could into her own body. With another small sigh, she relaxed her grip, but did not make an effort to pull away.
Smiling to herself, Ragatha stroked her cheek, softly wiping the excess tears away. It was clear when the contact became too much, if the way she turned her head away with a frown was anything to go by, so Ragatha relented. She stretched her arms out to loosely hold her sides instead, and luckily, that was the right move. Her expression softened, and she tried her best again to unconsciously bury herself into the older woman, who flushed harder at the proximity. Soon after, she was still. It took a lot of Ragatha's willpower not to give her little kisses on the top of her head. That'd be weird and creepy.
With the comforting body heat of her friend returned to her once again, her own eye began to drift shut, after a while. Pomni did not shuffle very much against her, much to her satisfaction; the jester was no longer restless.
Ragatha felt her head clear as she approached slumber again. The tension in her body subsided, and she let herself go.
She didn't notice the younger woman mumble her name in her sleep, or the tiny smile on her relaxed face.
-
Sleeping on a bean bag could only really be so comfortable after a while. Sleeping on a bean bag in a giant, cold, abandoned parkade wasn't really comfortable in the first place. However, waking up to being cuddled by a fellow-eternal-prisoner-turned-Valentine's-date, neither could complain, as slightly awkward as it was.
Pomni had mentioned feeling oddly well-rested, and Ragatha had to tell her why. To her relief, the younger woman was grateful.
Their wagon was getting full at this point, so they had chosen to leave what they no longer needed, mostly being anything that would weigh them down, that they absolutely would not need. They ate one can of beans each before they departed, being their last meal, before their 24 hours was up by 12 in the afternoon.
Technically they knew they couldn't just be stationary the whole time, and relocating where the was staircase proved harder than they once thought. So, instead, they trudged deeper into the parkade.
Pomni wheeled the wagon behind her, as they made more light conversation.
Within about an hour, they approached another weird metal door.
"I wonder where this one goes." Ragatha wondered aloud.
Opting to find out, Pomni walked forward, and tugged it open. It was surprisingly heavy.
In front of them, was another endless hallway, not unlike the staircase, but with infinitely flat, abstract-pattern carpet, sparsely-placed fake plants and all. Like some gaudy hotel.
Ragatha looked behind the door from where she stood in the parkade. It was just a box from the outside.
"Huh.. weird."
They walked through, anyway, closing the door behind them. Sure enough, it went far beyond what it had seemed from an outside perspective.
Within minutes of entering the endless hallway, was yet another curious feature.
"An elevator," Pomni commented, staring up at the metal doors. "...should we even go up there?"
"Knowing Caine, he puts stuff here for a reason," Ragatha shrugged. "It's usually safer if we go. Usually."
With her experience with countless exploration adventures, Pomni knew that fact, was in fact, right. But, what would lay upon the surface?
Maybe they'd find out.
Nodding to Ragatha, she pushed the up button, not like there was any other available option. It opened immediately.
Pomni let Ragatha step in before her, and quickly followed with the wagon. It was a pretty typical interior for a hotel elevator, but again, there was only one available option on the selection board.
'UP!!!'
Pomni narrowed her pinwheel eyes. But before she could voice her suspicion, the doors shut fast with a SLAM, and the button glowed red on its own.
In a split second, they were pinned against the floor of the elevator, screaming for their survival. At unimaginable speeds, the elevator was certainly going up.
It only took about ten seconds until the elevator immediately stopped, as it had reached its destination. The two slammed hard against the ceiling at the abrupt nature, and fell back to the floor.
Peacefully, the door opened again, but they were too busy scrambling out with their supplies before they were trapped within that death trap again. Pomni fell on her knees, dangerously close to throwing up, not unlike when she had first arrived. Ragatha groaned from beside her, curled in on herself. The elevator door closed behind them once again, beginning a slow descent, kilometers below ground.
They were on the surface. The sky was as clear blue as ever, and the pleasant light of the sun shone down on them. But, that was far from the most surprising feature.
The little town was literally buried in about ten meters of snow, sculpted into towering dunes by the vicious wind the night prior. It was still quite cold, but not to the degree it was last night.
"Pomni... you alright..?" Ragatha wheezed as she wobbled over to her. Since Ragatha was filled with nothing but fluff, she barely sank into the snow.
The jester in question rubbed her temple. "I'm... ugh, I'm fine," she looked up to Ragatha. She found herself pleased that her eye was still in place. "Are you?"
"A little woozy..." She grumbled. "Let's just.. take a second."
"Sounds good to me..."
The positive side was that they were both alright, having eachother and being in one piece. However, the heavy weight of their supply wagon meant that it had to be left behind. There was no way they could even carry anything, being too bundled up in blankets and tarps, and already sinking down by about three meters. It was ultimately a lost cause.
Ragatha assessed where the sun was. By the looks of it, if she could guess, they had about two hours until they could go back to the circus.
"Hey, Pomni?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think we should do?"
"...I'm not really sure," Pomni looked around, and spotted some conveniently placed skis, a pair of snowshoes and a snowboard. "I guess... use those?" She pointed over to them.
At the sight, there was a new glint in the doll's eye and button. She went to retrieve them, helping Pomni put the snow shoes on first, before she sank too deep in the snow, as per her request. Ragatha then resorted to carry the skis, and Pomni took the snowboard. Together, they were off to explore the rest of the frozen world for the time being.
It was beautiful, in a way, or at least Ragatha thought.
It took a little bit of time for Pomni to get used to the snowshoes, but she figured it out. It was just more of an excuse to hold the doll's hand, after all. Their fluster kept them warm.
With less and less time in the adventure left, they looked for the best place to set up their winter sports gear.
"Hey, Ragatha, look!"
Pomni was pointing to another odd choice of digital map: a big, endless slope of snow, just down from where they were standing. There was nothing but sky to the sides, as if it implied the blue sky itself was the void beneath the world. The slope had small meanders and soft hills, but it went on forever.
That seemed to be a common theme.
"Well?" Ragatha glided over, with her skis on, expectant, with a smile on her face. "Shall we?"
Pomni returned the smile. She'd have fun with this. Kicking off the snow shoes but saving one to sit on as she donned her snowboard, she reminisced on her experience with board sports, not being very much, but enough to get the gist of it.
Ragatha offered her a hand, and being so wobbly to get up, gently took it, and let Ragatha lead her to their metaphorical starting point. It was unspoken, but they both knew that they would absolutely try to race eachother.
"Okay," Ragatha let go, moving beside her. She crouched into position, her competitiveness showing through her friendliness. "You ready?"
The jester smirked and pushed off, leaving her companion in her snowy dust as she squeaked, "Hey-!" Laughing to herself, Ragatha raced after her.
For the rest of their time, the pair sped at breakneck speeds, trying to outpace the other in friendly competition. They launched themselves over the mounds of snow, kicking up the pre-subnivean like their life depended on it, all the while laughing and smiling at eachother.
It was... actually fun. That was rare in an adventure. They had to savor it while they could.
For the better part of the hour, they had resorted to winging soft snowballs at the other, trying to trip eachother up.
On a particularly narrow stretch, however, Pomni got completely tangled in Ragatha's skis.
The pair screamed as they were whirled into a giant snowball, and unbeknownst to them, shot directly into the portal that had spawned within seconds.
And just like that, the adventure was over.
Launched at hundreds of kilometers per hour, they smacked into the bright green block that was a regular sight to see in The Tent. Snow exploded everywhere.
Ragatha couldn't untangle her arm to rub at her head. She opened her eye, extremely disoriented. Pomni groaned from wherever her head was.
"CON-GRATULATIONS, YOU TWO! YOU'VE WON THE: 24 HOURS IN THE APOCALYPSE: VALENTINES DAY EDITION!" Caine was as eccentric as ever. With a snap of his fingers, they found themselves no longer in their winter gear, not surrounded by snow, and no longer a jesterdoll pretzel.
"Oh! Uh, we did?" Ragatha raised a hand to her mouth in common mannerism.
"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU TWO WON BY A LANDSLIDE," He drawled out his words to emphasize such. "YOUR AWARDS ARE IN YOUR RESPECTIVE ROOMS!"
With a poof, he disappeared. Caine didn't hang around them much anymore after adventures, being too eager to please the humans with his next adventures, or feeling hated by them. Either-or. Regardless, they shrugged at eachother, and walked to their rooms together. They had both silently questioned why no one was out to return with them, but neither mentioned anything about it.
"I didn't mind that one," Pomni spoke up as they walked. "It felt more human-y."
Ragatha nodded. "It wasn't bad."
They made their way down the hallway. Having reached her door, Ragatha made the motion to enter.
"Hey, um, wait."
She looked back at the jester, who was standing awkwardly in front of her.
"... thanks for being my date... for Valentine's." She looked at the floor as she mumbled, touching her pointers together.
The doll blushed. "... I'd do it again. You were a good date..."
The jester flicked her gaze up, meeting her own. Before Ragatha knew it, she'd been trapped into a tight hug. For a moment, she'd been caught off-guard.
It was returned, with as much care and tenderness as the older woman could muster. Pomni let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
Ragatha smiled into her hat. When Pomni pulled back, she was returning that same smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Ragatha chuckled. "You know it."
With that, the younger woman let go, but not without a pause, thoughts obviously flowing through her digital mind. What those thoughts were, Ragatha couldn't guess.
Until of course, Pomni quickly pulled her down by the collar, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
A small gasp left the mouth of the doll.
"Okayseeyoutomorrowbye!!-" Following that, a SLAM of the jester icon door, leaving her alone in the hallway.
Ragatha took no notice, with her entire face red and blood pounding in her ears. Where her lips graced her skin sang with the harmonies of something heavenly. She almost choked on herself. She was still in shock.
After snapping out of it, giddiness overtook her. She kicked her knees up in the air as she quickly hopped on her feet, pumping both of her fists in the air.
Inevitably, the thought of someone watching her do this made her zip into her room as quickly as she could.
She found the smile on her face to be permanent as she danced over to her bed. Pomni kissed her! Pomni! Kissed! Her!
She squealed as she flopped down on the bed, her stomach still swooping from the adrenaline.
'Wowee...'
She felt dizzy, reaching up to touch the same spot where she recieved her impromptu affection. Maybe, if she asked, Pomni could kiss her again. Maybe, she could kiss her in return, for longer...? Maybe even on other parts of her face; would that even work, though?
She was red, stuck in her turbulent thoughts, until one brought forth the remembrance of an award for completing their adventure.
Ragatha sat up off the bed, looking around. A glint from the small rug on the floor caught her eye. Curious, she slid off the bed and walked over to it.
It was a ramen noodle seasoning packet.
Caine was very hit-or-miss when he conjured an award for bigger adventures. Usually, he would choose a very random item from the adventure itself, and present it as a souvenir-style prize; Ragatha already had shelves full. Regardless, she managed to fit it on one. Besides, that jester already gave her something from the adventure.
Fitting her hand into one of her hidden dress pockets, her mitt met fur. Smiling, she pulled out the little horse plushie she'd managed to smuggle back.
Making her way back to her bed with the pony to her chest, she flopped down atop the comforter. With the pony sat upon her upper chest, near her face, she contemplated a name. She fiddled with the soft mane with her pointer. As she cycled through names through her head, a small fraction of exhaustion had crept into her being. Sleep was inevitable with her routine.
After a long while of thinking, she'd finally settled on Valentine.