Archive of Our Own

“This fμ@&!ng sucks.”

The exclamation was met with a malicious giggle.

“Aww, come on Pomni! It’s one of those low-stake adventures you usually like so much!” Jax chirped, entirely too pleased watching her stew in her misery, “What’s eatin’ ya?”

Pomni’s tone was completely dry, every drop of enthusiasm she had held at the beginning of this adventure vaporized by the sheer power of simmering rage. As she lifted her gaze from the torture device in front of her, she pointedly glared at him, hoping he would get the hint that she was not in the mood for his teasing.

“The piano would if I were playing Mario 64,” she replied instead of biting his head off, not sure where the comparison came from, but gripping it with a fist so tight, she was going to use it to smash it through the board of keys in front of her.

Jax’s reply was more amused than anything else as he crossed his arms and supported his head on the shelf of the instrument.

“We are very much one star short and the endless stairs around here do not take kindly to swindling.”

Where he was right, he was right.

The adventure they were in was simple.

Play the piano, get graded on your skill and as a group collect at least 7 stars to get back to the tent. Zooble as well as Kinger had chosen to stay behind; Zooble, for their lack of fingers today and general disinterest of piano, had been coerced to take on drumming lessons while Kinger was trying to master the triangle.

For some reason.

Ragatha had managed to ace her piano trial, the three golden stars in the pop up window glittering, while Gangle had managed to score two, her love of an anime song carrying her through the trial even with only two available ‘fingers’.

Pomni had gotten one star.

Barely.

With a lot of effort.

Jax refused to try.

So it was up to her to get another star so they could leave the sky scrapper building this piano room was sitting in. Failing and failing again, her fingers kept muddling the song, mutilating it into a string of teeth grinding noise.

And she was starting to feel her blood boil.

“I’m going to one star speedrun clip myself through the roof at this rate.”

“I could throw you if you want.”

Ragatha, still so very much lost on what Pomni was referencing, let out an annoyed sigh at Jax’s snickering. She had been sharing the seat with Pomni, trying to coach her through a kindergarten level song, but it all bore no fruit. Just a lot of frustrated clicking and pulls of the hat over the eyes as Pomni screamed into the fabric in pitches only dogs and Jax could hear.

Staring up at him, Ragatha shooed him off his perch, only to have him lean against the piano like he owned it.

“Jax… she is trying her best.”

“Well, her best so far is playing one crummy note after the other.”

His ears pinned back to demonstrate the point, as if that could help keep the racket Pomni kept making out of his head.

Ragatha stood up, crossing her arms.

“I’m not seeing you try,” she bit out harshly, as if ready to drag him around the piano to either force him to play or shove him out of the door.

He just shrugged, the smile on his lips light.

“It’s more fun to see you guys struggle.” Twirling in place, arms stretched out, he let out another snicker. “Plus! This should be a learning experience! When else will she ever get to use a piano again?”

The retort was already on Ragatha’s tongue and Pomni decided she lacked the energy to entertain this train wreck of a conversation any further.

“Guys, please,” she whispered, both of them immediately silent at her request, “We have been at this for hours, I need a break.”

Whatever her voice sounded like to them, it must have done the trick, Ragatha putting an apologetic hand on her shoulder.

Pomni, applauding herself, shrunk back only a little bit from the touch, knowing the doll meant well.

“Of course, Pomni! Maybe clearing your head will get us better results!” Already standing, she chose to dust off her skirt and make her way across the room. “I’ll try to see if Gangle has some ideas for easy songs, too. I’m sure you can do it, but maybe she is willing to try something harder again if all else fails.”

Pomni smiled a bit crookedly, nodding at the idea, knowing that Gangle, as motivated as she was, would never hit 3 stars simply for the lack of appendages.

Still, she appreciated all the effort, pointing a thumbs up in her direction.

“Thank you, Ragatha.”

She smiled in response, Pomni choosing the moment to stand up as well.

She made it full three steps into the center of the room, before she kneeled and then face planted onto the carpeted floor, limbs outstretched. Taking a huge breath, she groaned out loud and long until her chest rattled.

She almost forgot she was not alone until Jax’s shadow dropped over her.

“So, Pomni… hope you are not planning to go into any music career.”

“I’ll have you know I have a great singing voice and if this wasn’t instrument based, I would have wiped the floor with you guys.”

Moving herself to lay on the side, she looked up at him with a pout, squinting her eyes to look through the glare of the ceiling lamp. Jax, likely to mock her puny stature, leaned his torso forward in a 90 degree angle to grin at her, hands crossed behind his back. Luckily enough he was perfectly placed to shield her from the light, Pomni blinking to get the colorful spots to vanish.

“Man! So much bark for a little lady!” His ears shifted as if to protect themselves once more, before he put a hand to his chin, tilting his head back and forth. “I’m starting to think a chihuahua as avatar would have fit you better.”

“If I had paws, then maybe I would have been spared this hell.”

“Excuse you, I have paws.”

The fingers left his chin as he curled them instead and swiped in front of his face, as if clawing the air open.

Pomni pointed at it unimpressed.

“You have opposable thumbs.”

“You as a cartoon animal wouldn’t?”

The logic of paws being useless was sound in her head until Jax’s very astute question, lifting an eyebrow and demonstrating his dexterity by pushing both of his hands forward and wiggling all 8 of his fingers in her face.

She scrunched up her non existent nose.

“Room for error, you’re right. No hands at all then.”

“Ah yes, we love a gal that eats her cereal with her face stuck in a bowl.”

That imagery was the worst she had in a long while, so she took her very much still intact hands and shoved the palms of them onto her eyes.

“...Fμ@&.”

As she lay there on her back, silently going through the potential digital life she could have had with no hands and shuddering about it, it almost felt nice.

She remembers laying on the floor sometimes, just for kicks, just to let herself calm down for a bit after doing a bunch of paper work hunched over her desk at the weekend. If she blocked everything else out, she could almost imagine being back home, doing exactly this, ready to stand up and head to the grocery store or to go to bed for a quick nap, whichever she had energy for after lunch.

Letting the hands slide away, she let them fall to the side, spreading her limbs out to stare at the still too bright ceiling.

Then Jax piped up above her once more, his voice puzzled.

“Is this actually getting to you?”

With a sigh, Pomni sat herself up, arms circling her knees and her head leaning on them.

“It’s the same as back in school; my fingers just don’t want to think separately. And now my ring and middle finger are glued together, I have less fingers now!” She threw one hand outward, before it waved above her as if she was trying to appeal to the high heavens. “We are never getting out of this building.”

“Nah, Caine will at some point pity us,” Jax refuted, now squatting beside her, “It’s just a matter of hours.”

He paused.

“Days.”

Then he grinned.

“Weeks.”

She slapped his closest knee.

As he nursed the oh so hurt part with his thumb, Pomni let her eyes wander.

“I’m going to throw myself out of the window.”

“I don’t recommend it. Unless you glitch under the map, you’ll just respawn here. You can’t run from a challenge in an adventure like this.”

“You are doing great by ignoring the challenge altogether!” she replied hotly, facing him with a snap of her neck and feeling a bit proud as he startled backwards, “Would it kill you to play one song, so we can get out?”

Catching himself, he put his hands to his cheeks and leaned forward.

“Yep.”

“You are such a pain.”

She would be lying if she said she was surprised. His stupid, self-satisfied grin was asking to be slapped and she was about to toss all respect for herself the aforementioned window and pummel him to death right here on the floor.

Then her eyes caught the piano behind him, remembering her plight and all the anger left her with a sigh.

Flopping down onto the floor once more, one arm across her face to suffer in darkness, she breathed in deep.

“I know you hate embarrassing yourself,” she started slow, hearing Jax posture shift into a sitting position by the way his pant leg scuffed against the carpet, “… but can you just try? It doesn’t even matter what you play, right? It’s one star, that’s the same amount I have.”

She was not above begging at this point, glancing at him tiredly.

He was quiet for a moment, sitting cross-legged with his hands on his knees, eyes searching hers silently. If she stared long enough, she could maybe convince herself he was battling himself over his answer, his pinned foot tapping rapidly against air for a second really selling the illusion.

Then a lazy grin stretched his eyes into half-moons.

“Wow, is that you saying you want me to lower myself to your level?”

“So far I’m that one star above you, so actually I’m asking you to step up your game.”

He scoffed playfully.

“I have too much self respect to bite into that rage bait.”

Letting out a chuckle, she let herself melt into the carpet, taking her five minutes of rest before tackling the challenge again.

“Was worth a shot.”

It was nearing evening and they had made exactly zero progress.

Gangle as well as Pomni had tried to improve, all for naught, so now they resorted to having Ragatha play and Pomni helping by tapping two notes back and forth, hoping it would count as a middle stage song for her and a new star for them.

Pomni was so focused on the keys, that it took a moment to notice the movement in the corner of her eyes.

Jax had no right to dance this hard to a jaunty little ditty.

She could not help herself but let out a delighted snort, burying her laughter by tucking her chin in to muffle it, very conscious of the fact that she needed to keep her tempo.

If he was trying to sabotage their tries or just distracting Pomni out of her perpetual glare was anyones guess, but she smiled anyway at his antics, trying not to giggle too hard and have Ragatha see him fooling around.

When the song ended, he sprung up as if nothing ever happened and Pomni was actually impressed, smothering her grin to the best of her ability.

What an impossible dumba&&.

She was still snickering to herself so hard, she almost missed Gangle’s next words.

“Well… that didn’t work either…”

That put a dampener on her mood almost immediately.

“Eh, it sounded nice enough.”

Jax’s arm found its way on top of her hat, the weight making her neck creak.

“But we are still stuck here and it’s getting really late…”

Pomni sighed defeatedly in agreement, slumping more.

Jax almost stumbled over as his perch moved, Pomni readjusting herself automatically so he could catch himself. At this point arguing about being used as a cane was as effective as watching paint dry on a wall to make it go faster. Having gained his footing and now leaning with both of his arms on top of Pomni, elbows digging into her skull, it was almost a relief, the headache that had been forming vanishing under the pressure.

“I’m sure Caine will get us any minute!” Ragatha tried to reassure, clapping her hands together, “After all, he can’t expect us to learn piano in a day, right?”

Jax gave her a barren look as he pawed absentmindedly at one of the hat’s bells.

“Have you met Caine?”

“Right…” The drawn mouth line thinned. “…right.”

Gangle, with the tips of her ribbons tapping against each other softly, tried to give a tentative smile.

“How about we sleep on this? There are a few couches and beanbags in the other rooms we can use.”

Pomni deflated further, Jax ready this time and his entire body weight draping itself over her, his arms outstretched in front of him like a satisfied cat, before she nodded half-heartily.

“Sounds like the only option we have right now.”

There was no clock in this room, and somehow Pomni still felt like it had to be past midnight, her tossing and turning starting to tear into her patience.

She had tried to get comfortable, but the couch was a disaster of hard spots and sandpaper texture, her pillow a brick. She had dozed off at some point, but now she was back, wide awake, blaming the excuse of a blanket for her misery, laying now on the floor as she shivered.

Giving up on sleep, she sat up and stretched, her gaze meandering across the room.

Ragatha and Gangle had decided to push all the beanbags together to lay across them. There had only been room for two and Pomni disliked having to share too much space, so she had declined their offer of a cuddle pile and taken the seat instead. She was not exactly regretting her decision, the two looked like they were going to be cramping like crazy tomorrow, Gangle’s mask tipping over the seat and almost touching the floor, while Ragatha’s leg was pinned against the wall in an odd angle.

Jax meanwhile had decided to sleep in a nest of spare blankets and cushions in the far corner, buried so deep she could not see a single hair. How he could do it without suffocating or feeling stiff in the morning she would never know. Being a rabbit had its perks it seemed and she would almost feel jealous if she were not so frustrated.

One song.

She could do that.

So, as carefully as possible, she slid away from the couch and tip toed her way to the door. Creaking it open and closed, she walked across the corridor, hyping herself up. She only had to get one song done, mistakes were allowed as long as she pushed through and it sounded somewhat nice, both her hands on the keys. Sleep was evading her anyway, so she could make the most of her time and try to get her hands to cooperate.

Entering with determination, it fizzled out almost immediately, confusion taking its place.

She could have sworn he had been sleeping in the other room.

Instead here he was, sat at the piano, hands on his knees as he stared at the keys in front of him. She saw him flinch hard, turning to her with a snap of his head, looking very much caught in the act even if his fingers were nowhere near the instrument.

“What happened to sleep?”

It came out accusatory, almost strangled, Jax probably just as surprised to see her up this late.

“I put it to rest in the folds of the stupid scratchy couch,” Pomni shrugged, stepping into the room fully and closing the door carefully. As she made her way over, she let out a small whine: “Why are there sand textures when there really should not have been…”

Jax was watching her make her way to the piano seat, letting her push him to the side, resisting only the littlest bit out of sheer habit, before allowing her to climb on. She noticed him hunching a bit to have his arms level with the piano, the seat as low as possible to be able to fold his legs and press down at the pedals. Even with it down however, she cursed her tiny body for the umpteenth time, needing to put her hands on the cushion and then jump backwards to be able to sit.

When she made herself comfortable, he heaved in a heavy breath, as if collecting himself, before letting the air out with a snort.

“The material probably looked fuzzy from far away when Caine slapped it on.”

Pomni grumbled about it a bit more, before taking in the scene in front of her.

“Were you…” she hesitated, frowning in thought, “...going to play?”

“No.”

That came out way too fast and he paused, realizing his mistake, before huffing.

“I was bored and you were all passed out, so I came here to look at the keys. You know I love my keys, all kinds of keys. Room ones, piano ones, bunch of wonderful keys out there.”

Pomni rolled her eyes.

“Sorry for ruining your alone time admiring your beloved collection of black and white plastic sticks. I hope you have it in your heart to forgive me.”

Letting her shoulders fall, she let out her own huff.

“I wanted to try again.”

“To get some more practice in?”

“More like banging my fingers against the keys and hope for a miracle.”

“Yeah, that’s not how that works.”

The dry statement made her laugh, before she leaned forward to put her chin into the palm of her hand and elbow hitting her knee. Slouched like that, she felt her back loose the tension that had been building there.

“… this feels so, I don’t know.” She clicked her tongue. “Mundane? I’m getting worked up over something that really shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Her free thumb reached forward as she pressed one key down, the note lingering in the air. When she pressed another, trying to pair it with another, it sounded off and she grumbled, chastising herself for ruining a perfectly good start.

Jax watched her closely, mirroring her position, one ear angled toward her, the other to the botched attempt of a chord.

“Well, better the devil you know than the one you don’t. Getting upset over not playing piano at first is easier to handle than worrying about-” His hand whirled around, fingers splayed out. “-everything else.”

Hand resting at the edge of the board, she pursed her lips.

“Why did that just make so much sense?”

She was waiting for a snarky comeback, something along the line of ‘I always make sense’, ready for another back and forth that would lead to nowhere. She was so used to his way of deflecting, it was almost comforting to know what to expect of him, to push back just enough to find entertainment, someone to bounce off from and use her brain to run circles around him.

Instead he did the one thing she never expected of him.

He told her straight.

“Feeling nostalgic, I guess.”

Wide eyed, she watched him brush his hand over the side of the instrument, his voice taut with something she would almost call wistful.

“I used to play piano.”

If she had been standing she would have stumbled in place.

“Wait, what?”

Jax nodded, not looking at her, eyes pinned to the sheet of paper held in the music rack.

Ragatha had put it there to help Pomni recognize the notes, scribbling on a scale, in a try to explain tempo and time signatures, which honestly flew into one non-existent ear and out to the other. The doll meant well, but in the end Pomni’s attempts were just as bad as before, if not worse for the lack of energy by then.

Grabbing it, he turned the scribbled part around, the empty backside contrasting against the black of the piano, snapping Pomni back into the present.

“Yeah, we had a family piano in the living room.”

Why his voice turned to carefully monotone was not something Pomni liked to think about, so instead she focused on his words.

“Did you like playing?”

Another pause, before his hands twitched.

“Dunno.”

He let out a bark of a laugh.

“Thing is, last I played was years ago. I’m rusty.”

“Can’t be worse than me.”

“Right, you were playing cat music. Rabbit music is clearly superior.”

“I firmly believe I should have been rewarded for my tenacity, spending multiple hours of my precious time producing the best of cat music there ever was.”

“Yeah, my ears can attest to that, Miss Mozart.”

The conversation was starting to run dry, Pomni cringing in her seat as she tried to look for a comeback and failing, grabbing onto the cushion beneath her with an iron grip.

It was obvious to her that he felt caught, that he was looking for a way out of this banter, that he felt like he had shared too much and was going to get his neck wrung for it. She had hoped she could be an exception to the rule by now, the amount of teasing back and forth solid enough foundation to trust her with something heavier. For him to know she would never actually use anything personal against him in any shape or form.

She refused to think she was wrong.

Steeling herself, she bit her lower lip.

“… I know I said I’d rather have my skull bashed in by letting the piano lid fall on my face than try to play again. But you don’t have to play to get us out of here if you really don’t want to.”

“That’s the thing,” he said, his eyes refusing to meet her own, “I do want to.”

She did walk in on him contemplating the instrument after all, so it was her fault that he was sitting here, stiff as a statue. She was the one who ruined his chance to play in peace and guilt swirled in her gut. He must have gathered all his courage to come and here she was, scattering it into the wind, tossing it in the bin.

She desperately scrambled for words, before she could spiral any further.

“The others are still sleeping,” she encouraged weakly, adding quickly, “We can just pin the stars on me if they start asking questions.”

The silence was unnerving, before he responded with a laugh.

“And letting you get all my hard earned credit? How dare you?”

The scowl he send her was playful, the little shove he gave her shoulder so light, she barely felt it. Shoving him back, they kept at it, poking into each others sides, yelping and smacking, until his hand landed on her face, stilling her completely.

“I don’t want to hear a single peep of you spilling this to the others.”

The upturn in the corner of his mouth by the end of his sentence told her he was half-joking, her own smile bright.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She anticipated him to send her off now.

Surely, at this point, she had overstayed her welcome and so she made herself get ready to scram.

Wiggling herself forward to jump off the seat, she was stopped by Jax’s hand shooting in front of her chest, herding her back with a wave towards the middle.

When she looked up, his eyes were firmly glued to the board in front of him, her shoulder being squeezed once. The only form of confirmation she was probably going to get that she was indeed welcome to stay.

She noted that her usual flinch never came with a small: “Oh, okay.”

His arm retreated then and she made herself comfortable, tilting her chin toward the piano.

“What are you going to play?”

Pulling his mouth to the side, contemplating her question, he answered with a mumble.

“I don’t remember the name. I’m just… gonna go ahead.”

Pomni was not entirely sure what she had been expecting.

Maybe she had been ready for a few keys being pressed and Jax calling it a day. Or have him immediately throw in the towel and bash the keys under his fingers, not unlike her. Somewhere in the back of her head she also had juggled with the idea that he had just wanted to make fun of her for being so trusting and snapping the lid down, actually planning to crush her head.

She was greeted with a soft melody instead.

Blinking a few times, she watched his right hand tap out a short sequence, repeating it slowly. She could tell he was hesitating, unsure where to exactly press, hand hovering and trying a few times to get the right notes and timing. Every time he gained a bit of confidence, he added a flourish, an extra note, before his left hand started joining in.

To Pomni it sounded like a waltz.

She never heard the melody before, but she was hard pressed to say that it belonged in the category; slow, gentle, a swaying kind of movement in the notes.

Though… it did not sound like it belonged into a romance movie where she usually got to hear them in. It was not a wedding or ballroom dance waltz either. Or in the very least she could not see a sappy, romantic scene in her mind eye where this would play in the background.

Closing her eyes, she felt her chest tighten instead, a lump in her throat forming.

She used to listen to music casually before the circus, whatever happened to play on the radio, the old classics that everyone and their grandma knew. Youtube remixes and instrumental covers, the occasional rap battle for fun. She could not say she had a specific genre she liked or an actual band, just vibes and multiple ear-worms that would follow her for weeks.

This felt different.

Maybe it was because all she had been hearing was generated carnival music for the past few weeks, the occasional soundtrack backings Caine used to spice up an adventure thrown into the mix. Maybe it was her missing her music player and listening to her choice songs when going to work, crammed in between other people while taking public transport. Maybe it was the simple fact that the silence was filled with something else than chatter or white noise.

This was hitting her really hard.

Calling it just a sad song was almost a crime, the storm underneath her ribcage threatening to rise to her eyes. The more the melody carried on, the more it clawed at her chest. Her stomach kept dropping, despite the fact that she never heard the song before, it felt so profoundly nostalgic; the clacks of the keys, the pedal underneath shifting, the hands stuttering and pressing down for a heart beat too long or short.

As soon as she thought she had the song pinned, there was another curveball, and she wondered how long Jax had to train to commit the song to memory. Of course he could be playing random parts where he faltered or forgot, but then he must be doing it so seamlessly that she was not noticing. Every time a note came a bit wrong, he compensated with the next, Pomni trying her hardest not to breathe too hard and throw him completely off.

There was something so natural about this as she sat there, watching him play.

Like she used to back in 6th grade, when the resident piano loving student started to play whatever new song they learned and every other class member circled around them to watch. To laugh at the mistakes and cheer at the end when the song got recognized.

Or to walk through her city and see a group of people listening to an open air piano, recording the performances, singing along and clapping politely as soon as a song finished and someone else took over the reins, just to do it all over again.

She remembers the feeling of sitting near, the way the vibrations of the instrument wandered through her body, the music taking center stage and everything else fell away, her brain pleasantly blank as the emotions whirled inside.

So undeniably real.

Her hand carefully rose to her eye as she wiped off her wet cheeks, the burning embarrassment doubling as she realizes she was swaying her head slowly to the melody.

Carefully glancing to the side, hoping she had not been caught, the sight gave her pause.

Every press of the key was so deliberate, head lowered as his fingers slid across the board, eyes closed. Every mistake was answered with a twitch of his ear, before he continued on gentler than before.

When the tension in the melody spiked, she could see his shoulders stiffen, his fingers pressing down harder, as if pouring out his frustrations into the part, before he melted and it mellowed out once more to a gentle sway, almost like she was watching the tide come in and recede into the sand.

Watching Jax, mouth fully closed, the smallest furrow in his brow as he concentrated, she knew that he was taking this seriously.

He was putting his heart into this.

And her own was beating in her throat.

Working itself up into a crescendo, Pomni could tell the song was coming to an end.

As his eyes fluttered open and he let the melody peter out slowly, Jax kept his hand hovering.

Before he let the last note hang and his fingers left the board entirely.

For a solid minute they just sat there, both their hands on their thighs, not knowing what to say.

Pomni swallowed, heart still racing, and then whispered:

“That was beautiful, Jax.”

She could see him flinch slightly, his head turning away for the tiniest bit, as if moving too much would break what fragile peace he conjured up.

“It’s just some song I played a lot at home, muscle memory kicked in,” he murmured, staring at his hands curling into fists, “It wasn’t that good.”

Pomni could almost watch as he built his walls around him again, the lie that left him more of a reflex than anything else. She saw him try, she saw him fail and pick himself up again with every click of the keys, but pointing that out would lead nowhere but to more, higher fences. So she decided not to press him any further. Compliments usually never landed the way she wanted with the pastel purple rabbit, and so did needling for information.

Instead she scratched her cheek for a lack of other thing to do, before startling half to death at the billboard popping up above their heads.

It showed Jax’s piano skill level, empty before, with now 3 gold stars twinkling in place.

Pomni was not surprised.

Jax however did a little double take, before he stared down at the piano in front of him, ears bending behind him.

“...Huh.”

For a moment something incredibly ugly rose inside her chest, livid for the fact that he was this surprised about his performance being perceived as anything but great. Instead of dwelling on it however, she decided to lighten the mood, tossing her head back and letting out a relieved groan.

“Finally, freedom.”

Then her head hit the board in front of her and Jax jumped at the awful noise, blinking at her.

When she turned to look at him, his grin was small, eyes scrunching up.

“Pomni, that’s not how you treat such an illustrious instrument.”

“I’ll illustrate my feelings of this thing right now.”

Before he could protest, both her hands, fingers splayed as far apart as she could, were slammed down the nearest keys hard, the sound it produced a dying whine. Then, she did it again, and again, starting to crawl across his lap to get to the deeper notes, stepping all over him.

When he started guffawing, choking on his spit and hitting his fist against his chest so he could cough through his laughter, she just grinned at him, toothy smile wide on display.

“So my victorious virtuosos! You made it back and have added a brand new skill to your repertoire! I am so very proud!”

Caine’s greeting was as loud as ever, Pomni narrowing her eyes in a try to soften the impact of his shrill voice.

It did little to help, but the thought counted.

“I do hope you all have enjoyed your deep dive into the art of producing pleasing, expressive combinations of tones! I sure do love a good jingle! And not to forget our beloved theme song!” he gushed, clapping his hands together, “Nothing will ever top that masterpiece!”

Her eyes rolled so hard, she swore she could see the back of her skull.

“Anyway! Until next time my stringy wind instruments!”

Before he could disappear in a cloud of confetti, Pomni jumped forward, arm outstretched.

“Actually-...!” she squeaked, Caine pausing midair as if struck by lightning, “Would you mind letting us keep the piano room?”

She refused to break eye contact with the AI as he wiggled himself out of his pose and tilted his head to the side, as if trying to gage her outburst. Not only his eyes bore into her, but the entire circus crew surrounding her blinked in confusion. Especially the eyes focusing on her back burned, Pomni knowing the rabbit behind her was watching just as intensely for a reaction as herself.

Tapping the front of his bottom teeth with his fist, Caine looked thoughtful, before his hands found his hips with a snap.

“My, my! Has my adventure turned you into an enjoyer of the musical arts?” he boomed, sounding absolutely thrilled at the revelation, “Now if that is not a cause for celebration!”

Pomni waved her hands back and forth nervously.

“N-no celebrating, but…” she gulped in air, “Can we keep it?”

“I do not see why not! After all, skill deteriorates if you don’t sharpen it every day!”

With a snap of his fingers, a new door appeared in between two existing one’s in the tent, everybody else in the room staring at it baffled. Then Caine bowed one last time, before, without any further ado, vanishing into thin air.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop and being left hanging for a solid minute, Pomni let out a rush of air through her lips.

She barely had time to calm down, when padded footsteps approached.

“Oh, Pomni!” Ragatha exclaimed, looking curious and delighted at the same time, clasping her hands in front of her dress, “That night session must have really turned you around then?”

“Yeah, sure!” Pomni nodded, the words coming out high pitched, before hastily coughing into her fist, pulling her voice cords together, “I mean… Practice makes perfect and I can only get better, right?”

Ragatha smiled brightly at that.

“We could practice together then! I would have offered you the piano in my room, if Caine hadn’t accepted so easily,” she gushed, Pomni nervously toying with her hands.

“Haha, that’s uh…”

Pomni stared at the floor, debating if spilling the truth would safe her skin, before deciding against it just as fast. She had no time to come up with a plausible excuse that would keep herself and also her promise safe; Jax in the corner of her eyes seemingly ping-ponging between staring at her and the brand new door.

So she stood straighter, faking an excited grin.

“That’s gonna take a while! Until I’m comfortable, I mean, practicing with someone else looking over my shoulder. Stage fright and… stuff, but I’ll keep your offer in mind!”

The response was a sweet head tilt, the doll giggling.

And Pomni let out a sigh as everyone separated, going after their own, solo activities.

“Hey.”

But one.

Tilting her head upward, there was Jax, leaning over her with his hands in his pockets and a carefully blank expression on his face.

Just as she was about to ask what he wanted, he averted his eyes, one gloved hand reaching for the back of his head.

He looked shy.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, before clarifying by pointing behind him with his thumb over his shoulder, “For asking for the piano room.”

“Oh, uh… you’re welcome.”

Pomni short-circuited for a little bit there, never in a billion years having expected him to thank her for anything out loud and actually meaning it. Her chest was ready to cave as he tilted back into standing straight, still looking at everything else than her eyes.

Scratching his neck, he firmly held his gaze on the checkered floor.

“Yeah, thing is, that gift came probably with a price. Caine will most likely make you play piano again now that you made it a point to keep.”

A curse slipped off her tongue, before she could think about it.

“I am so screwed.”

“Sorry.”

Pomni was about ready to burst into flames. There was no way he was apologizing earnestly in the same conversation he thanked her; either she fell asleep in that piano room and was dreaming this all up or Jax was glitching out.

Instead of doing the first thing that came to mind, which was to shove her hand against his forehead to see if he had contracted some kind of digital fever or bug, she shook her head.

“It felt only fair to give it to you after busting me out.”

Instead of giving an answer right away, he shifted his weight to his other leg, as if debating his next words.

“You can listen to me play.”

“What?”

Some of his bravado was returning, when he scoffed: “Ragatha already pushed herself as your personal piano teacher, which I am sure you are very thrilled about. But if you want to just listen to music, you can come ask me. I sure won’t press you to learn; gotta keep my ears intact.”

“You’re being serious,” she whispered, flabbergasted, before her hands turned into fists in front of her, “Are you sure? I wouldn’t be in the way?”

“I wouldn’t be offering if I wasn’t sure.”

Then he took a step back, craning his neck to face away from her as he shrugged.

“I mean, not right now or today or tomorrow or anything. I only know like two songs, so don’t expect me to become a radio. But, one of these days, if you’re lucky and I’m in the mood, then yeah, you can listen in.”

Pomni let herself relax as she smiled up at him.

“I’d love to.”

“Cool. Or whatever,” he said, stumbling another step back, “Anyway. Bye.”

With that he turned around, as if fleeing the scene of a crime and Pomni let herself stare until he vanished behind one of the colorful stacks of blocks littering the common room. She had wanted to call out, tell him she was thankful for letting himself trust her, before thinking better of it.

She will get her chance at his next piano recital.