Chapter Text
December 15th 2017 – It had been a couple months after Pomni’s arrival and Kaufmo’s abstraction, still leaving everyone just as traumatised, especially Jax. After seeing the tension in the air, Caine decided that it would be good to create a sleepover adventure based on some of his conversations with Zooble.
It was a late and starry night as Gangle hummed to herself cheerfully in her room, trudging over to the mirror to inspect herself before the chaotic sleepover. She had to try her best to appreciate her happy mask while it was still there as per usual – she knew that it was going to get broken the second she was actually in the room designated for the sleepover. Gangle couldn’t help but smile, dragging her hand down her face with the excitement of seeing her friend stuck in the back of her head like a bright crystal.
Once she was ready, she sheepishly walked up to her door and held the ribbon that resembled one of her hands against the handle, holding it still for a moment before actually opening it. Almost instantly, she was greeted with the bright red and flashy colours of the hall, which was an immediate contrast from her cold and dark room.
Up ahead walking down the corridor, Gangle could see Zooble and knew that they were most definitely walking over to the sleepover too. In a moment of pure motivation, Gangle couldn’t help but run over to them, “Zooble…! Hey, you’re… going to the sleepover, right?”
Zooble turned around like they were in shock from the sudden yell, but their pupils widened when they realised it was just Gangle, “Oh, hey Gangle. Yeah, you wanna follow me?” Gangle quickly nodded her head, following behind Zooble timidly.
When they got to a pause infront of a massive door, Zooble turned around to Gangle with a caring look, “Do you want to go in first, or should I?” Gangle paused in thought before positively smiling, “No, I think I can do it.”
She walked forwards and pushed against the door into the darkly blue lit room, already able to see Ragatha, Kinger and Pomni sat next to each other on their assigned mattresses. Gangle was about to turn around to Zooble and hold the door for her until she got a glimpse of a recognisable yellow glove reaching out to her, hiding from behind the door. Gangle yet out a little eek and covered her eyes, letting the door slam on Zooble completely.
Before she knew it, she was on the floor with the happy mask she adored shattered in front of her eyes.
Gangle could already hear Ragatha scream out across the room, “Jax! Stop being such a jerk and leave her alone-“ “Whaaaat, it’s funny!” Gangle sat desperately staring at her broken mask, acting like that would magically notify Caine and he would come to fix it. Everything blurred out and all she could recall was Zooble running in and cursing at Jax.
Jax could only smirk as he watched everybody get pissed off at his attitude. “Can you even hear me!? Why do you keep ruining her mask if you know its going to make her upset!” Ragatha called out with an annoyed look on her face while Kinger just looked like he wasn’t understanding something.
Jax smugly placed a hand on his hip and sighed, twirling his finger around his head, “Oh Raggie, she’s sad all the time so is there really a difference? I mean, look at her.” Jax let out a little laugh at the sight of Gangle looking so pathetic.
Ragatha caught herself stuttering in complete disbelief at how stupid he was, “W-What!? Even if she is, you can’t just treat her like she’s some kind of doormat…- And she isn’t!” She crossed her arms in concern and anger, glancing towards Gangle as she spoke.
Jax smirked at Ragatha’s irritation, completely amused by her anger, “Aww, is wittle Liquorice hair mad at me? Too bad.-“ “Jax, if you don’t stop being such a jerk right now then I’ll—” Jax dramatically clutched his hand against his chest “OooOooo!! I’m getting threated by THE Ragatha! Are we going to need to call security?”
Kinger and Pomni kept glancing at each other from the side of their eyes, both completely sane. “Should we do something…?” Kinger whispered with an almost confused look sparkling in his eyes. All Pomni could do was nod before she boldly stood up.
“Guys, can we just calm down a bit…!? The sleepover JUST started and people are already arguing…” Pomni nervously yelled, not sure if she was saying the right thing. Jax rolled his eyes and Ragatha looked like she had just popped back into reality. “Ah… Sorry Pomni… and everyone else.” She whispered before leaning down onto her matress with a sigh.”
“Such a party pooper.” Jax groaned under his breath before actually making eye contact with Pomni, just to quickly glance away and walk over to his mattress which was separated from everyone else for obvious reasons.
Jax jumped onto his mattress and held his hands underneath his head comfortably, still feeling some of the others glare on him. He shook it off with some kind of nonchalant head shake and a wide smirk, humming to himself quietly.
Hours had passed, and Jax still found himself wide awake unlike the others. He had seen everything that happened at this point, like how he noticed Caine had come in and fixed Gangle’s mask like it was just another coincidence and then left immediately after, or how Ragatha had been whispering to Pomni about some kind of gossip, or how Pomni still looked troubled even after starting to get used to the hell. What type of a boring group even was this? No one was fun, they were just sensitive little weirdos. Goddamn I miss them.
Jax sighed with a tired look and tried to swap the side that he laid on, until he saw something that made his blood run cold.
“Hey Jax.” Caine bellowed out as he laid on the other side of Jax’s mattress, laying on his side with one hand on his hip.
“AGHH!! W-what the heck are you doing here!?” Jax screamed like a little girl, knowing damn well that it woke up at least someone else in the room. “Brilliant question Jax! I’ve seen that you look like you’re in quite the thought and since I was bored and none of those other pesky humans are awake, we could talk about my adventures!” Caine eagerly sat up and crossed his legs.
Jax sighed, leaning back down on his pillow with an annoyed smile, “Right so nothing important.” He muttered quietly under his breath, still thinking about anything else other than what was going on in the moment, “What was that? Caine asked as if he genuinely didn’t hear. “Height of all that’s important.” Jax muttered again but louder for Caine to actually hear.
“Exactly! I believe that my adventures truly are the most important things in this Circus and I’m glad that some human believes me.” Caine overdramatically teared up, wiping the bright blue tears from his eyes, “Anyway Jax, it seems you need to regain some…. Digital … sleep, so I’ll leave you to it! See you later my brilliant bunny!!” Caine snapped his hands and somehow just disappeared.
After that, the room just felt awkwardly quiet. Jax could practically hear each breath from every person in the room, each ounce of movement.
“…….What the (BEEP) was that about?” Zooble suddenly spoke up, their voice devouring the room with how quiet everything else was.