Chapter Text
“So what was your favorite building you explored? Or were you making up the YouTube thing to seem cool?”
“How exactly would being a YouTuber make me seem cool?”
The duo walked side by side at a relaxed pace. Caine had just sent them on two adventures in a row, one of them being a lightning round, and all that had Pomni wanted was some peace and quiet. Of course that's when Jax had to get involved.
Not that she necessarily minded. The more time she spent with Jax the more she realized he could be surprisingly enjoyable company. That is, when he wasn't actively terrorizing anyone else (which was an unfortunately rare ocurrance).
“You’re not answering the question~”
“Fine!” Pomni huffed, “I uh I found this abandoned hospital one time that I thought was pretty cool. It had like some old files I found which were kinda nice decor in my apartment.”
“Wowwwwww stealing from hospitals? I can’t believe you’d stoop so low, Pomni. Better not let Dollface find out.” Jax said with mock indignation.
God, why had she agreed to this?
She changed the subject, “Didn’t you say you had something to show me?”
“Patience, President.”
Pomni soured recalling that particularly stressful adventure.
“Don’t call me that.”
He grinned, “What? You didn’t like that adventure?”
“You made me defuse a bomb!”
“Does it really count if you didn’t succeed?"
Pomni's face could not have been more unamused if she tried.
“I mean c'mon all you had to do was choose your favorite color!” Jax complained.
Sometimes Pomni couldn't believe the sheer audacity of this rabbit. Was he actually trying to pin this on her right now?
She gritted her teeth, “Or maybe you could’ve just NOT made that suggestion?”
Jax's innocent shrug was anything but innocent, “Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game.”
“That game was literally YOUR idea!”
The pair continued walking along the side of the tent, past the colorful lounge of couches. Was Jax leading her to the dorm hall? What could possibly be there?
A prank?
Pomni shuddered at the thought.
Hopefully not.
She’d been trying so hard to stay on Jax’s good side (if that even existed). They had been getting along just fine during the lighting round that Caine had sent them on. She thought he was finally starting to warm up to her but maybe-
“So what was your favorite adventure then?” Jax asked, breaking the silence (and Pomni’s train of thought).
“Probably stargazing… or maybe Spudsy’s.” she said thoughtfully.
Jax wrinkled his non-existent nose, “Seriously? That one was so lame. Customer service with TRAGEDY as the manager? What did you even like about it?”
“I mean it was nice having some semblance of normalcy. It was kinda more low-stakes and I didn’t have to worry about things like being tossed out of a moving truck. I just felt human again, you know?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” He replied, “Feeling human is boring.”
And there it was. Pomni couldn’t tell what Jax’s deal was with all his chaos. There was no way he got genuine enjoyment out of constant torture, right? It felt like one adventure he was pushing her out of a moving truck and the next he was laying down peacefully watching the stars. Okay maybe peacefully was a bit of an exaggeration but anything not immediately destructive from the bunny was the closest thing to tranquil the circus would get.
Maybe if she could just understand him a bit better she could help somehow. Maybe. Unfortunately any of her probing was met with distractions and shut downs, often more violent than not. (God, what made her think this time would be any different?) Whatever, no better time to test the waters.
“Do you actually… like being in the circus?” She asked, sincerity lacing her tone.
A strange look flashed across Jax’s face before vanishing back underneath his uncaring demeanor.
“It doesn’t matter,” He said as he turned his head away, unintended bitterness seeping into the words, “Nothing we can do about it anyways.”
Pomni wanted to say something but the words got caught in her throat as she wasn't sure what would possibly get through his thick skull. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) she wouldn't be the one who had to break the silence.
“So might as well look on the bright side!” Jax said, smile snapped back in place, “For example, you make a great armrest.”
Jax followed up by laying his arm over Pomni's head. The jester rolled her eyes before swatting his arm away.
Another deflection.
Pomni suppressed the urge to sigh. Instead she tilted her head down to the floor to count the tiles (it was a habit she had picked up on back in middle school to ease her nerves).
One, two, three, four, five, si-
"Oh look we're here!"
Well that was fast.
Pomni looked up to see a plain door. It was the same door model she kept opening on her first day. The same door she saw over and over again while looking for Caine. The same door with that creepy tower of carousels. The same door model with the NPC bathing. The same door that got her sucker punched in the face.
"Um, there isn't going to be some kind of prank if I open this door right?" Pomni asked, nervously.
Jax didn't even try to hide the glee in his tone, “Only one way to find out!”
He spun a key on his finger that Pomni was almost positive he didn't have 2 seconds ago.
“Great...”
Examining the door more carefully Pomni noticed that it wasn't actually a perfect match to the doors she had been opening nonstop on her search for Caine. The handle of this model was rusted and the framing looked faded. There was also a comically tiny keyhole which must have been purely decorative; she was almost impressed that Jax had managed to find a key for that thing.
Where did he even get all these keys from?
After a few seconds of fiddling around Pomni heard the satisfying click of the key and the door swung wide open.
Inside was a dimly lit security office with posters of these three creepy animals that made Pomni's skin crawl. In front of them lay a black desk full of rubbish, a large black fan, some kind of handheld tablet, and a digital clock that read 12AM with a power left symbol with a number underneath that said 100%. Two doors (with large windows in front of them) that were open on both sides. Next to each door were two buttons: a red one with the label 'door 'and a white one with the label 'light'.
It vaguely reminded her of the abandoned buildings she had explored before ending up in the circus, though this was 100 times more menacing.
Pomni stepped in carefully, "What am I looking at exactly?"
"I dunno! I only figured out which key fit yesterday," said Jax, following her.
Seriously where did he get all these keys from?
"O-okay well maybe we should just g-"
Pomni turned around and nearly fainted.
The door that had let them in was gone. All previous curiosity had now been replaced with panic.
"HELLO MY ADVENTUROUS CORN-ON-THE-COB ROCKSTARS!"
Pomni jumped and nearly screamed at the sudden noise that came from the telephone in the corner of the room. Jax walked up to the desk flicking the crumpled up pieces of paper.
"YOU HAVE STUMBLED UPON A ONE-OF-A-KIND INHOUSE ADVENTURE!"
Jax switched his gaze to the telephone, "Wait what-"
"WELCOME TO SIX HOURS AT CAINE'S PIZZERIA!"