Chapter Text
The tent shimmered with an unnatural heat that morning like someone had cranked the thermostat and forgotten to turn it off.
In the center ring, a colossal mountain of ice cream rose, layers upon layers of swirling colors, chocolate rivers trickling down vanilla cliffs. It regenerated at the top every few minutes but the bottom was already pooling into a sticky lake.
Caine floated above it all with arms spread like a game show host on caffeine. “Welcome to the Summer Sundae Spectacular! One day only! Grab what you can carry in one trip before it melts into digital soup! No utensils allowed, hands only! Go wild, my little entertainers!”
Ragatha dove in immediately, giggling as she scooped strawberry swirls into her apron pockets.
Gangle carefully balanced a single delicate scoop of mint chip on her comedy mask.
Kinger built a tiny wall of scoops around himself like a fortress.
Zooble just glared and refused to participate.
Jax, lounging against a striped pole with his arms crossed watched the chaos with a bored smirk. Then his eyes locked on the absolute peak.
A glittering dome of midnight cookie dough swirled with bubblegum rainbow ribbons. It was impossible to reach without climbing the whole unstable mass.
He pushed off the pole. “Alright. That’s mine.”
Pomni who had been hovering nervously at the edge of the melt zone blinked up at him. “You’re… going up there?”
“Obviously.” He cracked his knuckles. “You coming, short-stack? Or are you gonna stand there and watch me have all the fun?”
“I- um- I don’t know if that’s safe-“
“It’s ice cream. What’s it gonna do, give you brain freeze?” He grabbed her wrist lightly enough to tug her forward. “You’re small. You can fit through the gaps. Be useful.”
Pomni’s bells jingled in protest as she stumbled after him. “This is a terrible idea.”
“That’s the spirit!”
Jax started climbing first, digging his fingers into the softer vanilla slopes. The surface gave way under his weight sending little avalanches of sprinkles raining down. Pomni followed, yelping every time a chunk shifted.
“Stop shaking the mountain!” she hissed.
“Stop being a baby about it.”
Halfway up, a licorice-rope bridge (Caine’s idea of “fun obstacles”) snapped under Jax’s foot. He windmilled, grabbed a protruding scoop of rocky road for balance and nearly pulled the whole top tier down.
Pomni lunged and grabbed his tail on instinct. “Careful!”
Jax froze. “Hands off the tail. Right now.”
“Sorry! Sorry!” She let go so fast she almost slipped backward.
He grumbled something unintelligible, then reached back and snagged her hand instead firmly. “Just… hold on. Don’t make me regret this.”
They made it to a precarious ledge about three-quarters up. The top flavors were tantalizingly close, but the final climb was a wall of hardening fudge. Jax eyed it, then glanced at Pomni.
“You’re lighter. Get on my shoulders.”
Pomni’s pupils widened. “What? No way-“
“Do you want the bubblegum rainbow or not? Because I’m not sharing with anyone else.”
Jax helped lift her onto his shoulders. She hesitated and climbed up awkwardly, knees wobbling as she perched on his them. Jax steadied her thighs with both hands, purely practical of course, and straightened.
“Don’t fall,” he muttered. “I’m not catching you twice.”
“I’m trying!” She stretched with her fingertips brushing the edge of the rainbow dome. One more inch-
The mountain rumbled. A massive crack split the side. Whipped cream erupted like a geyser.
“Hold-“
Too late. The ledge collapsed. They tumbled in a chaos of cream and sprinkles and colorful goop, sliding down the slope in a sticky avalanche until they crashed into a hollowed out pocket near the base. A whipped cream cave sealed behind them.
Darkness. Muffled dripping. The faint scent of vanilla and sugar overload. Pomni blinked realizing she was half-buried in cream with Jax sprawled beside her, mostly on top of her, actually, and one arm braced to keep from crushing her completely.
“…Ow.”
Jax lifted his head. His ears were dripping whipped cream. “You alive?”
“Barely.”
He rolled off her with exaggerated effort, like she’d personally offended him. “Great. Trapped in a dessert grave with you. My lucky day.”
Pomni sat up wiping cream from her eyes. In the dim light filtering through cracks, she spotted one enormous waffle cone wedged between them but miraculously intact, topped with a massive scoop of the midnight cookie dough Jax had been obsessed with.
He noticed it at the same time. His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. “Mine.”
“We can share-“ Pomni reached for it instinctively.
“Share?” He snorted. “With you? You’d probably drop it.”
But he didn’t yank it away. Instead, he scooped a huge spoonful with two fingers (no spoons allowed, after all) and held it out toward her mouth.
“Open.”
Pomni stared. “What?”
“You heard me. Eat it before it melts all over us.”
She opened her mouth hesitantly. He fed her the spoonful almost gentle despite his smirk. The flavor exploded into rich chocolate and a hint of coffee bitterness.
Her eyes went wide. “That’s… really good.”
“Told you.” He took a massive bite for himself, chewing with smug satisfaction. Then without asking he scooped another and held it out again.
They traded bites like that for a while. Jax’s usual edge softened just a fraction with every shared fingerful.
At one point, she reached for the cone herself. Their fingers brushed but neither pulled away immediately.
Jax cleared his throat. “You’re getting ice cream on your face, idiot.”
Pomni wiped at her cheek, missing completely.
He rolled his eyes, leaned in and swiped his thumb across the spot, then licked it off like it was nothing. “There. Don’t say I never did anything for you.”
“Th-thanks.” Pomni’s face went pink under the white smears.
He looked away. “Shut up.”
A few more bites. The cone was half gone now, but neither seemed in a hurry to finish. Pomni spoke softly. “This is… kinda nice. Even if we’re stuck.”
“Don’t get all mushy. It’s just ice cream.” Jax huffed.
“Yeah. But… you’re sharing.”
He was quiet for a beat. “Maybe you’re not the worst person to be stuck with.”
Pomni’s smile was tiny but real. She leaned her head against his shoulder just a little. He stiffened, but didn’t move away.
———————————-
Most of the others had retreated to their rooms or corners hours ago. Pomni couldn’t sleep. Again. The usual spiral had started. Bad thoughts about exits that didn’t exist and faces she couldn’t quite remember.
She slipped out of her room anyway.
That’s when she saw him. Jax was pacing near the far wall in slow circles under one of the dimmed spotlights. His hands were shoved in his overall pockets, ears flicking every few steps like he was listening for something that wasn’t there. He looked… restless and unsettled in a way that made something twist in Pomni’s stomach.
She hesitated, then took a small step forward. “Jax?”
He didn’t jump. Jax never jumped but his shoulders tensed and he stopped mid-stride turning just enough to side-eye her.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping or somethin’?”
Pomni fidgeted with her sleeve. “I- couldn’t sleep. What about you?”
He snorted. “Same. This place gets too quiet. Makes my brain loud.”
She nodded like she understood perfectly. Because she did.
They stood there for a beat, the silence stretching thin between them. Then Pomni took another step closer. “Hey… um. Thanks. For earlier. With the ice cream thing. And… everything lately. And I just… wanted to say it out loud. So it counts.”
Jax’s ears flattened. He looked away fast, toward the ceiling like it had personally offended him. “Just don’t make a habit of thanking me. It’s weird.”
“Fair enough.” Pomni gave a small laugh.
He huffed through his teeth, but didn’t walk away.
After another quiet moment she tilted her head. “Do you… wanna go outside? Just for a bit? The tent feels kinda small tonight.”
Jax glanced at her, then shrugged, like it was no big deal. “Fine. Let’s just hope Caine doesn’t turn the sky into exploding fireworks again.”
They slipped through one of the side flaps.
The “outside” wasn’t real outside, of course, it was just another layer of the circus simulation. A wide field of pixelated grass under a dome of artificial stars that flickered and artificial code-breeze. No real wind but it still felt nice against their faces.
They walked until they found a gentle slope, then sat. Jax sprawled out first with his arms behind his head like he owned the place. Pomni tucked her knees up to hug them, staring at the fake constellations.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Pomni whispered almost to herself, “Sometimes I think… if we ever do get out, I want to remember this. Not the scary parts. Just… nights like this sitting here with you.”
Jax went very still.
She kept going softly. “You act like you don’t care about anyone, but you do in your own messed up, prickly way. And I’m really glad you’re here, even when you’re being… a jerk.”
Silence.
Jax’s tail flicked once, twice.
Then without warning he reached over, grabbed the side of her jester hat and yanked upward like he was testing if it was glued on.
“Wow,” he drawled. His voice was thick with sarcasm to cover whatever else was underneath. “this thing really is stuck to you, huh? I thought it might just pop off if I pulled hard enough.”
Pomni squeaked. Her hands flew up to hold the hat in place. “Hey!”
He let go, but his fingers lingered for half a second to brush the edge of the bell after dropping back to the grass.
“You’re the worst.” She rubbed the top of her head. Her cheeks were flushed even in the dim starlight.
“Yeah,” he said quietly with a genuine crooked half-smile that barely showed. “I know.”
Pomni scooted a tiny bit closer. Not touching but close enough that their shoulders almost brushed. Jax didn’t move away.
They stayed like that watching the artificial stars blink in patterns.
After a long while, Jax spoke again barely above a murmur. “Don’t go getting all sappy on me every night, Pom-Pom. I’ve still got a reputation.”
Pomni smiled into her knees. “I won’t, Jax.”
But she leaned her head just a fraction closer anyway and he let her.