Chapter Text
Before Pomni became an accountant, she had sometimes wondered how she would do as an optometrist. The curious woman always had a curious fascination with people’s eyes. The color, shapes, and depth of them. She was a firm believer in what she learned in Sunday School as a child: “ The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Essentially, the eyes are the two-way window to the soul. Maybe that’s why she loved them so much. It was a small, secretive hobby that few people in her life knew about. It wasn’t until she came to the circus that people began to hear about this strange little obsession of hers.
When she originally came to the circus, she spent a few days cooped up in her room. Ragatha and the others assumed she was processing her new reality, but she was examining her peppermint eyes. At first, Pomni couldn’t believe that something as beautiful as her new peppermint eyes truly belonged to her. She was never a fan of her eyes in the real world; they were dull and boring and black. But here? She found it endlessly beautiful. Her eyes expanded when she was happy, shrank when sad or worried. They glimmered like a beautiful flame and a serene ocean, blended into one. It wasn’t something possible in the real world. In between her new short stature, cartoon stretchiness, and permanent jester hat, all of that paled in comparison to her beautiful peppermints. Caine described them as pinwheels, but she liked peppermints more.
“ Oh! You like eyes…?” Ragatha didn’t fully understand at first, but did her best to be supportive. To Pomni, her eyes were the most normal out of everyone there. It was the button eye that added to her charm. “ Can you see out of that button?” Ragatha nodded with a gentle but confused smile. Gangle’s were nothing but deep, black holes that sometimes glimmered when she got excited. Nothing crazy. Zooble’s eyes were plastic, but had their own kind of sheen to them that glowed with the right lighting. Pomni liked how one was much larger than the other.
Kinger and Caine had hyper-realistic eyes that entranced Pomni at times. Blues and greens that looked like clear skies and grassy plains. They were so complex, with every blood vessel and change in color visible. But there was one member of the circus that entranced Pomni the most: Jax. His eyes were like headlights covered by a deep shadow. To her, they were some of the most entrancing eyes she had ever seen. They were so simple yet so large and wonderful. They were bright, and ALMOST had a kind of gentle glow to them. Pomni’s curiosity grew too deep; she needed to know if his eyes truly glowed, like car headlights.
It was decided. She would find some way to see him at night, to see if they glowed.
But it was only her first few weeks in the circus. She wasn’t entirely close with Jax yet. They had passing conversations and even one long one at dinner, but nothing to consider her a ‘friend’ by any standards. But this was a fun thing to attempt, and it wasn’t like she was leaving anytime soon.
The curious little jester wandered her way around the circus, asking the circus members what they knew about Jax. Ragatha grew uncomfortable. Zooble cursed him off. Kinger made up an insane story about frogs and clowns in a snowstorm. Gangle was the only one who gave something of a proper answer. “ Well, he’s, um…interesting. He does things his own way, you know? What did you want to know about him?”
“ Well, what kind of stuff does he like?” Pomni asked, her peppermint eyes expanding.
Gangle shrugged.
“ I…don’t really know. Making fun of me, I guess? And, um…he seems to like violence, a lot.”
Pomni gave a comforting pat on Gangle’s shoulder.
Jax did not seem to be very well-liked in the circus, but that wasn’t any concern to her. His personality was something to unpack another day; the only thing she wanted right now was to see his headlights. That was all that mattered to her for the moment.
So, her plan began.
“Stationery and a pencil? Why, here you go, superstar!” Caine exclaimed with joy, handing her stationery covered with little bees.
Jax sauntered his way to his room after dinner and found a note posted on his door.
“ Come meet me outside on the hill in 30 minutes.”
The prankster rabbit tilted his head, tore it up, and headed back into his room. Pomni watched from afar, disappointed. But, she wasn’t going to give up hope.
Pomni waited a while and made her way outside. Perhaps Jax had come after all. And if not, that was okay, too. The digital stars were lovely tonight. They themselves had their own glow to them, and the Moon was humming a gentle melody that echoed across the circus. Even if it wasn’t today, it would be someday in the future. It was eternity, after all. But, even then…a beautiful eternity. The little jester hugged her knees, letting herself get lost in the seemingly endless sky. It was beautiful.
Then, footsteps. Slow but sure footsteps.
Jax, making his way up the hill.
Her peppermint eyes widened.
The gentlest, softest glow came from his headlights. They looked quite tired.
He crossed his arms and chuckled. “ Well, if it isn’t the jester. What do you need me for?” He asked, towering over her like a bear. Without thinking, she pulled him down to the ground, leaning in close to examine his headlights. “ Wait, wha, what’s-” Jax wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. Without thinking, Pomni leaned forward like a fascinated child, examining the glow of his headlights. As he grew more uncomfortable, his pupils shrank, causing the glow to become brighter. “ You’re weirding me out, Pomni,” he said, backing up a bit.
“ Your eyes,” Pomni finally said.
“ Huh?” His shadow pupils returned, covering up his headlights once more. But, somehow, the shadows glowed too in the dark.
“ Your eyes. I called you out here because I wanted to see your eyes.”
He looked to the left. And back at her. Her peppermint eyes were large, like a baby deer's.
“ What?”
The poor rabbit was desperately confused.
The jester realized now what she was doing and moved away.
“ Ah! Sorry, Jax. It’s…kind of hard to explain. I have a fascination with eyes, and I thought yours were pretty cool. I noticed during some of the adventures they would glow slightly while in dark spaces, and I wanted to see if that was just something Caine added, or if they…really do glow. And they do.”
Jax blinked a few times. And then chuckled, getting ready to stand up.
“ Well, weirdo, you got to see ‘em. So I’ll be heading back inside now. I’m tired.”
The rabbit prepared to stand up, but Pomni took his fluffy wrist. Her curiosity was overtaking her at this point. “ Wait, please. C-could I ask you to stay for just…five more minutes?” Jax looked around and heavily sighed. He sat facing her, hands at his sides. “ Fine, you freak.” He stared at her, and she stared back. They sat, staring into one another’s eyes. Pomni was entirely entranced.
Jax was wrestling with his thoughts internally. Nobody in the circus had ever intentionally wanted him around.
His eyes seemed to almost call nearby fireflies, like he was their mother. They flew around him gently, with peace in his presence. That was something rare.
Pomni didn’t know him deeply yet, and he was scared of her getting too close.
Well, right now, physically, they were too close. But what was he supposed to say? No, and make the only person in the circus who didn’t dislike him yet make her dislike him? He was the Funny One. He was meant to be hated; he knew that. But goodness, his heart secretly desired a friend. Not a single person knew that but him. He could just shove her away now, before things escalate.
But her peppermint eyes were too innocent. It seemed like her soul was glimmering.
Maybe, just this once, it was fine.
They sat in silence.
“ Can I head back inside now?” Jax asked, arms crossed.
“ Oh, yeah. Sorry for keeping you. Thanks for this. I know it’s weird.”
“ Yeah, whatever. Goodnight, Pomni.”
He walked away, attempting to keep up his usual saunter but failing.
Now, the next question needed to be answered;
What lay behind those headlights?