Chapter Text
The circus was too loud today.
Not in the usual way—no bright music, no exaggerated sound effects, no Caine theatrics.
This was… wrong loud.
Like static.
Like something humming just under the skin of everything.
Pomni pressed her hands over her ears.
“Do you hear that?” she asked, voice tight.
No one answered.
Ragatha was talking to Gangle across the room. Jax was sprawled somewhere he shouldn’t be. Zooble was… doing their own thing.
Everything looked normal.
So why didn’t it feel normal?
The hum got louder.
Pomni’s breath hitched.
“I don’t— I don’t like this…”
The walls seemed to stretch—not visibly, not fully—but enough that her brain noticed. Enough that something deep inside her whispered:
This isn’t safe.
Her fingers curled into her sleeves.
“Hey—hey, you’re alright.”
The voice came from in front of her.
Kinger.
He wasn’t yelling. Wasn’t panicking. Wasn’t spiraling about bugs or queens or unseen horrors.
He was just… there.
Kneeling.
Looking directly at her.
Pomni blinked rapidly. “Something’s wrong.”
“Yes,” Kinger said immediately.
That made her pause.
He didn’t dismiss it.
Didn’t joke.
Didn’t spiral.
He just… agreed.
And somehow that made her chest hurt more.
“I don’t feel right,” she whispered.
Kinger nodded like that made perfect sense.
“That happens sometimes,” he said. “The circus does that. It presses too hard in the wrong places.”
Her hands were shaking now.
“I don’t want it to.”
“I know.”
The hum climbed higher—
And something in Pomni snapped.
Her thoughts tangled, slipping out of reach. The room felt too big, too fast, too much—
“I don’t— I don’t—”
Her voice broke.
And suddenly she wasn’t standing quite right anymore.
Everything felt… smaller.
Scarier.
Too big.
“Kinger—”
He moved closer instantly.
“I’ve got you,” he said, softer now. Slower. Like he was trying not to startle her.
Pomni grabbed his sleeves.
Hard.
“Don’t let go.”
There was no hesitation.
“I won’t.”
Not “I’ll try.”
Not “it’s okay.”
Just—
“I won’t.”
The certainty in it made something in her chest loosen—just a little.
The hum didn’t stop.
The walls didn’t fix themselves.
But Kinger stayed exactly where he was.
“Can you look at me?” he asked gently.
Pomni shook her head, pressing closer instead.
“Okay,” he said immediately. “That’s okay. You don’t have to.”
One of his hands hovered awkwardly near her shoulder—like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed.
“…Can I?” he asked.
She nodded against him.
Carefully—so carefully—he rested his hand on her shoulder.
It was a little stiff.
A little unsure.
But warm.
“Good,” he murmured, more to himself than anything. “That’s good. We’re doing very well.”
Pomni let out a shaky breath.
“I feel weird…”
“Yes,” Kinger said. “That’s the feeling. That’s the one we don’t like.”
A pause.
“But it doesn’t stay forever,” he added.
“You don’t know that.”
“I don’t,” he admitted.
Pomni sniffed.
“…Then why say it?”
Kinger tilted his head slightly.
“Because it hasn’t yet.”
She didn’t have an argument for that.
So she just… held on tighter.
The hum flickered.
Dimmed slightly.
Kinger noticed.
“Oh,” he said quietly. “There we go. See that? It moved.”
Pomni didn’t look up.
“I don’t wanna look.”
“You don’t have to,” he reassured. “I’ll look for both of us.”
That earned a small, shaky exhale.
His hand shifted just slightly—more steady now.
Less unsure.
“You’re doing very well,” he said again. “This is the correct procedure.”
Despite everything—
Pomni let out the tiniest laugh.
“The… procedure?”
“Yes,” Kinger said, completely serious. “Very official. Step one: hold on. Step two: stay with someone who remembers you.”
Her grip tightened.
“You remember me?”
“Of course I do,” he said.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
“You’re Pomni.”
Something in her chest ached at that.
In a good way.
A painful, grounding way.
“Okay,” she whispered.
The hum dropped another notch.
The room felt… a little less wrong.
Not fixed.
But survivable.
Pomni finally, slowly, lifted her head just enough to look at him.
“You’re not gonna go weird on me, right?”
Kinger blinked.
“…I might,” he said honestly.
Her face fell—
“But not right now,” he added quickly. “Right now I am extremely focused.”
A beat.
“…On you.”
That did it.
Pomni leaned forward fully, pressing into him.
Kinger froze for half a second—
Then gently, carefully, wrapped his arms around her.
Not tight.
Not trapping.
Just… there.
“I’ve got you,” he repeated.
This time softer.
Steadier.
And Pomni believed him.
Across the room, Ragatha had stopped talking.
“…Is she okay?” Gangle whispered.
Jax glanced over briefly.
“…Huh.”
Zooble didn’t say anything—but they were watching.
And in the center of it all—
Kinger stayed exactly where he was.
Holding on.
Making sure—
She didn’t have to face it alone.
Pomni didn't have time to fully relax
Pomni’s grip tightened suddenly.
Too tight.
“Kinger—!”
Her body lurched—
and before she could turn away—
—
She got sick.
Right against him.
For a split second, everything froze.
Pomni did too.
Her eyes went wide, horror flooding in faster than the panic.
“I— I didn’t mean—!”
She tried to pull back immediately, hands shaking, like she’d done something unforgivable.
But Kinger didn’t let her go.
Didn’t recoil.
Didn’t even hesitate.
“It’s okay,” he said, instantly.
Steady. Certain.
Like nothing about this changed anything.
“It’s okay.”
Pomni stared at him, breath catching.
“I got it on you— I’m sorry, I’m so—”
“That’s alright,” he interrupted gently.
His hands stayed exactly where they were—one at her shoulder, one steady at her back.
“You didn’t do it on purpose.”
Her face crumpled.
“But it’s—”
“I don’t mind,” Kinger said.
And the way he said it—simple, unquestioning—made it true.
Pomni shook, overwhelmed.
“I don’t feel right…”
“I know,” he murmured.
His hand began slow, careful circles against her back.
“You’re okay.”
Another shaky breath.
“I think something’s wrong with me…”
Kinger shook his head softly.
“Something’s wrong with the place,” he corrected.
A pause.
“…You’re just reacting to it.”
She leaned into him again—hesitant this time, like she was afraid she wasn’t allowed.
Kinger gently pulled her closer.
Permission given.
No hesitation.
“That’s okay,” he repeated.
And this time—
she believed it.