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Christine Shirley stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her real, human, non-pixilated face. A face she knew so well, yet felt so unfamiliar at the same time. A full year of her life was lost to the circus, and even a few months after their escape, part of her still expected to see her dumb jesters’ uniform in her reflection.
After waking up in the abandoned C&A building, she was able to get in contact with her parents. Her mom gave her the biggest hug she’d ever had, muttering endlessly about how happy she was to have her baby back.
While she had lost her job and her apartment, her parents happily allowed her to stay at their house until she was able to find a new place of residence.
Today was her interview for a new accounting job she had applied for.
She put her short, dark brown hair into a bun in silence. She used to always put on music while getting ready in the morning, but after the constant noise of the circus, she found her mornings required a bit more tranquility to get her in the right head space for the day.
However, the silence also gave her more time to think. Think about a lot of things. Things like her companions in the circus and their whereabouts.
Where could they be?
Were they okay?
She thought about Ragatha, home with her horses; Zooble mixing drinks in a bar; Gangle drawing fanart of her favorite anime; Jax… well she had no idea what he would be up to.
He never told any of them anything about his life outside the circus, simply playing it off with stupid jokes.
Despite that, she couldn’t get his dumb smile out of her head. She worried him the most out of all the circus members. Pomni… crap, Christine… knew that Jax’s mental state had been less than perfect, held together with his terribly pasted on smile. All she could hope for was that he had people in this world that he let see his real emotions.
But that was doubtful.
She shook the thoughts from her head. There was no use worrying about people she’d never see again.
Right?
Christine admired her outfit one more time in the mirror before heading off.
A cream colored collared blouse with a red vest and navy dress pants.
She glanced at her watch.
9:57
With one final deep breath, she picked up her purse and headed off to the tram station.
She took the tram to the insurance building where she hoped her next job would be. Nerves started bubbling up in her stomach as she neared her destination. You can do this, you have a good resume and are a reliable, responsible employee.
She closed her eyes, exhaled, and stood up.
The feeling of someone’s shoulder hitting her own struck her by surprise.
“Woah, watch it,” an annoyed male voice said in her ear. An oddly familiar voice?
She whipped around, expecting to see someone she knew.
She was wrong.
The man in question was tall and lanky, with copper skin and a brunette wolf cut with some highlights on the ends. She’d never seen him before in her life.
“Sorry, guess I wasn’t paying attention.” Christine said, giving a small laugh.
He slyly smiled, “Whatever, just watch where you’re going next time…”
What was that? And why does he seem so… familiar?
She caught her eyes drifting up to look at him; his eyes were a warm amber, almost glowing in the sun.
Apparently he could feel her stare because at that moment he turned to look back at her.
Trying to ignore the feeling of redness creeping to the surface of her skin, she quickly looked away.
Girl, what are you doing…
Thankfully the tram doors slid open, and Christine hurried off the train, not realizing that this was his stop too.
Felix was confused. There was something very familiar about that laugh, like he'd heard it thousands of times before.
That can’t be true though… Can it?
He’d never seen this girl before, he was pretty sure of that. But there was something about her that he couldn’t shake.
Felix tried to not think about how he caught her eyes drifting in his direction. Things like that don’t always mean something, he was just being delusional.
He also tried to ignore the fact that his stomach did a whole ahh gymnastics routine when he realized they were going to the same stop.
Despite his better judgement, he ran up behind her, tapping on her shoulder.
“Seems like someone’s trying to follow me.” He said teasingly
Oof that was bad, she probably thinks I’m a creep.
But to his surprise, she actually laughed.
“I guess I am. So where are you headed?” The girl continued.
“Well I’m actually on my way to a job interview at that building over there.
He pointed to the tall building across the bridge.
“Wait no way! I’m on my way there for a job interview too actually.”
“For real? May the best employee win I guess.”
She smiled at his joke, a very pretty smile that Felix quite enjoyed looking at and wanted to see more of.
“I’m trying for an account position, how about you?” She asked.
“Customer service.” He replied as nonchalantly as he could.
She nodded in response.
Surprisingly, they were able to keep a steady conversation the entire walk to the insurance building, and when they got to the waiting room, it was no different. Their conversation only broken by a man with a suit and a clipboard asking for a “Miss Christine Shirley”
Jax…
Felix. My name is Felix.
He cursed his inner thoughts for making that mistake.
He tried to not think about it, pretending to believe the story that he had told the doctors.
“I was in a coma, I don’t remember a thing.”
I mean, he was in a coma, but telling the doctors that he remembered being a purple rabbit in a colorful circus run by a floating dentures man sounded like a one-way ticket to the psych ward.
He wondered what happened to everyone else, especially Pomni, the only one who ever seemed to give a crap about him. Despite his best efforts, Pomni never let him push her away completely, she always came back with a smile and forgiveness in her heart. Not a fake smile, like what always bothered him about Ragatha, but a genuine, down to earth, kind, smile.
“Felix Perez?” A man asked.
He was taken out of his thoughts to see the same man who called Christine (was that her name?) in for the interview.
Speaking of the devil, the girl walked out of the doorway, giving him a wink as she slipped him a paper.
“Here.” Felix said, as to not ignore the man.
“Great, come on in!”
He quickly glanced down at the paper.
“I’ll wait for you out here.”
Ignoring his heart running a marathon in his chest, he winked back at her before following the man inside.
After a bit of time, Christine saw Felix come out of the room bearing a pleasant expression.
They locked eyes and she smiled at him.
“Hey, how did it go!” Christine inquired
“Suspiciously well actually. You?”
“Pretty good… I hope.” She said with a laugh.
There was a bit of an awkward pause before Felix spoke up.
“Hey, I actually took the tram this morning ‘cause one of my friends was fixing it up for me, but he told me he dropped it off outside of the office. I’d love to take you to lunch or something if you’re interested…”
“Hey that’s so sweet, I’d love to! But would you mind if we got like, takeout or something? I’m honestly kinda tired, I was really worked up about this interview, to be honest.”
“No, that is totally fair, takeout sounds amazing.”
Phew, that was a relief…Wait a minute, I’m pretty much going on a first date right now. Isn't that supposed to be more stressful?
For some reason, Christine didn’t feel any sort of nervousness around this man, like they’d been friends for years and this was just part of their weekly routine.
Felix picked up Chinese takeout, and they drove to a little overlook on a nearby hill and the two of them sat in his car, a basket of egg rolls and noodles between them.
“Soo, Felix, what do you do for fun?” Christine asked, scooping up the last of her lo mein noodles with her fork.
“Well not much honestly, I’ve been meaning to look for a new hobby. I do like playing video games, I guess.” He brushed his floppy hair out of his face, then began twiddling his thumbs.
Christine smiled at that cute little habit he seemed to have.
“Pft, you guess?” she said, laughing.
Felix shot her a look.
“What about you?”’
“I actually am really into urban exploring. Like abandoned buildings and stuff? I don’t know, it’s just some mild thrills to keep me on my toes.”
She looked at Felix for his reaction, but his expression was not at all what she expected.
His eyes grew wide and panicked,
She might as well have told him she worked at Area 51.
Had she said something wrong?
“Uhh… Felix?”
There’s no way.
It can’t be her.
He wasn’t that lucky.
Abandoned buildings.
Shot dark hair with bangs.
Accountant.
That laugh.
That smile…
“Felix..?”
He realized, to his horror, that he had just been staring at her.
“Sorry… I just…”
He paused, unsure what to say next.
Do I ask her?
There was a bit of an awkward moment before he went for it.
“How do you feel about, um… circuses?”
He could hear her breath hitch in shock.
It had to be her…
She narrowed her eyes, searching his face for the truth before speaking up,
“J-Jax?”
“Pomni…” he breathed.
Just then, she thrust her arms around him, knocking their last egg roll on the floor.
Felix felt tears start to well up his eyes, and he hugged back. Squeezing like his life depended on it, letting his tears cascade down his face.
“It’s really you…” he said, pulling back from the hug, but letting his hands linger around her shoulders.
For what felt like an eternity, they just stared at each other, studying each other with wide eyes, as if getting used to the view. Faces dangerously close to each other. He scanned her face, memorizing each detail. Her dark hair in contrast with her pale skin and warm smile, Even though she didn’t look exactly like her avatar, Pomni’s light blue eyes glowed with the same hope that they had back in the circus. Hope that she always seemed to have for him, even when he knew that he didn’t deserve it.
Christine’s stomach was swirling with… what? Relief? Excitement? She couldn’t tell.
She suddenly felt Jax’s warm hand sweep her bangs behind her ear, lingering on the side of her head.
“You’re… real,” he breathed softly.
She stared into his amber eyes, bringing her hand up to lightly comb through his hair.
“Yeah… this is real..” she muttered with the same hint of soft disbelief.
Just then, Jax moved closer, eyelids dipping as she noticed his eyes flicker down to her lips.
This is happening
She leaned forward.
Just then, she felt Jax lightly place his hands on her hips, pressing his lips to her own.
Her stomach filled with swarming butterflies.
Christine knew she still had tears streaming down her face, but that didn’t matter right now, the only thing that mattered right now was Jax.
She kissed him right back, emotions flooding her mind at lightning speed.
She had finally found him.
He was okay.
She could finally talk to someone about the circus who wouldn’t think she was crazy.
They wrapped their arms around each other, leaving no space between their bodies.
Realizing that she was pretty much in his seat now, almost laying on top of him, she giggled, smiling behind his lips.
Christine gently began unbuttoning the top buttons of his lavender collared shirt, revealing his bare tanned skin. Jax reached up and took the hair tie out of her hair with one pull, letting it fall onto his face.
“Woah, Pom, didn’t know you had that in you..”
“Shut up, jerk.” she said, smiling warmly.
She rested her head on his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing, coupled with the steady rhythm of his heart.
“I never thought I’d find you again.” she whispered through her tears.
“But you did… we did.” He said with renewed confidence, gingerly kissing Christine’s neck.
She felt another flip in her stomach as he traced his fingers up and down her spine.
He was kissing Pomni, making out with her in his freaking car.
The amount of relief he felt when he found out it was her was immeasurable.
She was even more beautiful in person than he ever dreamed, not that he did dream about her.
Oh who was he kidding, of course he did.
After Kaufmo and Ribbit abstracted in the circus, he did his best to convince himself that the friends he lost weren’t real, it was a game, a game filled with NPCs who only served to help or hinder your progress.
He told himself he wouldn’t allow anyone from the circus into his heart again.
And then Pomni came along.
He couldn’t help but become close with her. And now he was doing something he could’ve only pictured in his sleepless circus nights.
The way she had unbuttoned his shirt sent a fiery blush to his face; so warm, she was probably able to feel it.
He gently let his hands respectfully wander up and down her spine, kissing her neck softly.
After a while, they laid there together in silence, breathing in a steady, tandem rhythm.
Felix had been alone for so long, the weight of Pomni’s head resting on his chest was a welcomed change.
In that moment, nothing else mattered but the girl in his arms.
Jax and Pomni, or rather Felix and Christine, had finally found each other, and they were never ever going to let go.