Work Text:
As the truck grew closer, gangle shut her eyes, her mind devoid of worries and for once she felt calm. The mask didn't work. She's begun to think it has nothing to do with the mask. Maybe its just the way she is. And if that's true, she'll do anything for an escape.
She felt a pull and her eyes snapped open to see caine, floating behind a desk. She wasn't listening to what he said. She just stared. A feeling of melancholy washed over her as she made her way back to the center of the circus tent. She could see the others sat on the couches, talking, some laughing and seemingly enjoying themselves. She wondered for a moment how they could all be so carefree. She wondered how jax seemed to care so little for everything. She wondered how ragatha remained so kind and gentle through it all. Maybe they're just better at hiding their emotions than she is. She sat down, leaning against a wall far away from them, assuming none of them want to see her.
She had her sketchbook in one hand and a pencil in the other. All she wanted to do now was sit, alone, and draw. As she begun to do this, she heard someone approaching behind her. She slammed the sketchbook closed, hiding the drawing.
"Hey." Zoobles familiar voice rang through gambles head. Zooble sat down next to her with a rare, gentle expression on her face. Gangle said nothing.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" They asked. Gangle wanted to respond; to talk to them. She could feel the words linger on the tip of her tongue. She just couldn't get them out. She shrugged.
"... do you want to be alone?" Zooble asked quietly. She didn't. She nodded anyway. They stood up, a sympathetic look in their eyes.
"Well.. I'll be over there if you need me." They said, walking away and back to the others.
☆☆☆
Gangles room was quiet, save for the soft sobs leaving her mouth. The room was so dark and gangles head ached. Her body felt heavy as she stared aimlessly at the ceiling. A wave of unexpected tiredness and fatigue washed over her and her eyes fluttered closed.
Gangle slept a lot in the circus, though she didn't need to and her dreams were never pleasant. It was an escape at the very least. This didn't feel like drifting off to sleep, though. But gangle still let it happen.
Colors surrounded her and she felt dizzy. She floated in a void of yellow and green shapes. She felt more relaxed then ever before. She wasn't lucid. Maybe if she was, she would be scared. But as the void got brighter, she had not a single thought in her head.
And never again would gangle think. She would never laugh or cry or break her comedy mask. She would never talk to zooble or any of the others. She would never leave the circus and she would never endure the pain jax put her through. She would never go home. And somehow.. gangle was okay with that.
☆ The next morning ☆
"Has anyone seen gangle?" Ragatha asks the group as they sat at those same couches. "Shes usually up by now."
Zooble sensed the anxious tone in her voice and it felt contagious. They nodded and stood up.
"I'll go check on her." They replied as they wandered off to the living quarters. The hallway containing their rooms seemed to stretch on and on and the silence was deafening. They didn't know why yet but zooble had a horrible feeling about this.
Approaching gangles door, zooble knocked. No response. They hesitated and rang the doorbell. No response.
"Gangle? Are you up?" They called through the door only to be met with pure silence. Zooble tried the door handle and to their surprise, the room wasn't locked. They pushed open the door.
The room was silent and darker then ever before. What stood in the center of that room wasn't gangle. And as Zooble stared at it, the only thought they had was about the fact they would never see her again. Their hands shook and their eyes welled up with tears. Her gaze wandered the room, landing on her sketchbook, laying forgotten on the floor. It was open to a drawing of zooble.