Chapter Text
Ragatha had a weird day. First she was dragged through a nightmare of an aquatic adventure where Caine mixed up Atlantic City and Atlantis to make a bizarre gambling ocean city. Then she was bombed, forced to be in one of those, uh, what did Gangle call them? She's sure she heard her call them hentai, one of those. And a very surreal music video, some relaxing stargazing, trauma dumped about her mommy issues at a bar, before ending with an incredibly disappointing softball game that just wasn't. It didn't even last half an inning. She loves catching!
So, frustrated and tired, she decides to walk the empty circus long after the others must have went to sleep. It's an entirely different atmosphere after dark, like walking through someone else's dream. Memories of a circus your friend went to as a kid. She's certain that when Caine sleeps the circus starts shifting, hallways extending or shrinking. Staircases that go the wrong direction. Maybe it's all Caine's dream. No matter what, this offers some level of calm to the ragdoll. A refreshing disorientation, some novelty. Novelty is what she gets when she hears "hey, can you help me" shouted from the stage.
There's a short golden mare, curled in on herself. "I put on this headset and I can't take it off and I can't remember my name and it's been hours and you're the first person I've seen and and and--" the player starts hyperventilating.
"Hey, I'm sorry your introduction here is so rough. I don't think I remember another human being--" Ragatha looks away from the horse in shame, hoping to find the right words "added this late, or while we were on an adventure." She puts a gentle hand on their shoulder, before pulling it back at the other person's discomfort. "Sorry. I am surprised Caine hasn't given you a tour yet though. He's always ecstatic to welcome a new per--"
"You call!?" the AI screams in Ragatha's ears. She jumps back in fear before barely gathering herself.
"Not exactly, but we did want you! There's a new person who needs a tour and probably needs a room. And a name." Unfortunately, that last bit was covered up by the horse screaming in fear while being through the circus on her grand tour.
Five minutes later, Pomni and Gangle walk to the stage too, deeply confused. "Hey Ragatha! We heard screaming through the bedroom hallway? Do you know what's going on?" Pomni rushes over to her friend. Instead of answering, the ragdoll listens to the growing screams as the horse girl is dropped back off in the middle of the new crowd.
"GANGLE! POMNI! Excellent timing you marshmellow chickens! This new player is going to need an orientation to the marvelous friendship we all share 💖💖💖!"
Ragatha is mildly scared at the fact he seemingly pronounced three emojis while summoning a human heart. But not as dissociated the new person is. She's staring wide eyed & hugging herself gently. "We still need a name for you, uh, new girl. Anyone have any suggestions?"
Gangle is the first to speak: "Marey? Like a mare and also Mary? Close to a human name." Ragatha feels extremely upset at that one for reasons she can't quite pin down.
Pomni contributes with a "Clover" that Clover? reacts poorly to.
After about four minutes and several rejections for the name generator (and minimal help from the others) her name is decided as Neigha. "Like, neigh but Leigha." Neigha is received with some blank stares & taken up to the dorms to find her new room.
Revenge, revenge, revenge. That's all Jax wants. Revenge for the corn, revenge for the maid dress, revenge for Ragatha finally letting true colors show under the stars. He throws a centipede on the bedside table (okay, technically its a millipede but Rags really doesn't know the difference) and decides that simple phobias aren't gonna cut it for this prank. No no no, this one is going to be memorable! Life-changing! He quickly scraps his "fake faking an abstraction" plan, far too subtle. He could just say slurs until he found one so obscure Caine hasn't learned it needs censoring but that seems extremely pathetic. He's not a neckbeard throwing a fit in his mom's basement. He's an artist. A professional!. A--
Moron. He stares at his closet door, laughing that he never used the shame buried deep inside for its true comedic purpose! He almost trips over his own feet rushing over, and he opens the walk-in. A pull of a heavy switch later, and the closet is more like a backstage of a theater, filled with rows upon rows of costumes. A Ragatha and Zooble hang quietly next to a destroyed Kinger; a rack of memorialized outfits stands ominously next to them, nearly pristine but for a single missing costume. The Ribbit costume, sitting at a table with Pomni's skin. And the centerpiece, rows upon rows of unique personas to choose from. Animals, toys, a few items.
Jax braces himself and holds his breath.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
He feels his skin start to sag, the binding coming loose. He grabs his ears and pulls them back, taking the rest of the costume with them, until his egg-yolk-yellow plastic body is naked and exposed. He pulls out a small cassette from their throat, MK-1 written in sharpie on the side and places it on top of a spinning tower of other voices. He pulls out another one, CV-9. Sounds like a young adult woman. Perfect. He walks the rows of skins until they come across the perfect costume: a golden mare, dressed like a farm girl with a ginger ponytail on the back of her head. Honestly, seems like a rejected model for Ragatha. It'll be bound to get under her skin.
He finds the latches on his limbs, shortening them until he's about two feet shorter. He slides his legs into its mouth, pulling up the rubbery material over his torso, their arms filling the sleeves, and eventually straightening the snout over his face. When everything was perfect, he let out his breath, feeling the suit tighten into a layer of skin over his body.
"What about a name? Why would I come here already named? I'll let the others design it for me." But a faint tickle in the back of his mind started sounding like 'Leigha'.