Chapter Text
from the moment she stepped outside her door, pomni had felt something strange in the air of the circus. since the latest in-house adventure, there had of course come tension between her and jax, but caine, too, seemed to be behaving unusually. he seemed more tired, as if it was even possible for artificial life to wear itself out.
moreover, there was ragatha. while they had sat together during the favorite character awards, and apologized briefly to each other, there was something… more between them now. it seemed so imperceptible at first, but it had begun to consume her mind. pomni wanted- no, needed, to know if she felt it too. if the silences seemed heavier to both of them, if the polygons in their eyes had a faint sardonic glow she hadn’t noticed before. she couldn’t handle the thought of pushing her away again, especially not by way of miscommunication.
as she walked towards the gathered couches where her friends now sat, the closest thing to a ‘living room’ there seemed to be in this place, she noticed a certain someone was missing. she made her way first towards gangle, who was sitting closest to her. “is ragatha not feeling well this morning?,” she questioned, trying to hide her overwhelming concern.
“hm? oh, good morning pomni! no, she’s with caine. he said he wanted to… consult her for the adventure, i think?” gangle gave her a smile, comedy mask still intact, though confusion clearly mixed itself into her expression.
“he took kinger, too,” zooble added. they held gangle’s sketchbook in a ‘hand’ that seemed to be the grabber of a claw machine. “i can’t lie and tell you i’m not concerned, but he said it wouldn’t be long. not much to do but trust him, i suppose.”
pomni’s eyes widened. it was strange of caine to show care for what any of them wanted, let alone personally consult them for adventure ideas. “maybe… maybe they have some knowledge on the subject of what we’ll be doing?,” she offered, unable to fully convince herself. she knew kinger and ragatha were close, not least because they were the oldest remaining members, but she couldn’t think of any ‘fun’ subjects they seemed to share a wealth of knowledge on.
“maybe he’s finally cracked, and he’s locking us in underground torture labyrinths for hundreds of years,” jax said flatly. he didn’t even look over at pomni herself, opening one eye just to stare at zooble.
“if that was the case, i kinda doubt he’d pair us up. or, at least, those of us who were close…” gangle’s expression darkened mid-thought, as if suddenly realizing how it would be to be stuck with the idea’s originator for that amount of time.
zooble eyed gangle with concern before turning to face pomni. “well, if you’d like, you can draw with us until they return-”
a sudden puff of smoke cut them off, with caine’s eccentric form floating just above the space’s coffee table. “thank you all so much for being patient, my terrific toast sandwiches!” toast.. sandwiches? god, how does he come up with these, pomni thought to herself. “your charming compatriots were just the inspiration i needed to make today’s adventure an extra-successful one! they’re already helping to set it up, so don’t delay in meeting me at the stage for all the information you’ll need.” and with a snap of his fingers, he was gone again.
surprise colored all their expressions, except, of course, for jax, whose aloofness seemed to have only increased with the idea of going on yet another adventure. “well, if he listened to some human suggestions, maybe this one won’t be too bad!,” gangle beamed, her eyes closing upwards as her mask turned to face pomni. she couldn’t pretend not to see why zooble enjoyed spending so much time with her. when she wasn’t under threat of duress, her passion was quite uplifting. “zooble, you’ll join us, won’t you?”
a slight blush appeared beneath their spherical eyes. “w-well, sure. i mean, you’re right, i trust ragatha would make it pretty chill. although i’m curious what input kinger would’ve gave…” they pushed themselves up off of the couch, taking one of gangle’s ribbons in their non-claw machine hand. “you two coming?,” they said, triangular head turned to face over their shoulder.
pomni nodded, walking forward to keep pace with them. she heard jax sigh behind her, before eventually joining their group, careful to keep a few paces behind. part of her wanted to try and talk to him again, but after last week’s events… she was beginning to doubt if putting so much effort into helping him was really paying off. it didn’t help that the change in the air between her and ragatha was tugging so hard at her heart’s attention. if he’d ever actually like to talk, he knows i’m here, she thought with a small sense of finality.
as they approached the stage, caine reappeared. “good to see you’re joining us, zooble!,” he said, with a twinge of annoyance beneath his usual bushy-tailed disposition.
“well, you actually consulted some of us for this one, so i figured it’d be worth a shot,” she jabbed back. he ignored her, electing to continue with the explanation of the day’s planned events.
“today’s adventure is: fairweather fates, the seminal production of spaghetti studios. that’s right, folks, you all are going to be making your silver screen debut in a one-of-a-kind western!” the film’s title appeared from above him while he gestured excitedly with his baton. “i’ll be your director, writer, and producer- but don’t worry, my little movie stars, there’ll still be room for your incredible improv skills! now, what are we waiting for? can’t let the flash bulbs grow cold!,” and with a snap of his fingers, a portal appeared to the right of the small cast standing in front of the stage.
“a WESTERN? who’s lamea[%@!>] idea was that!?,” jax stated, eyebrows furrowed and hands moving exaggeratedly.
gangle lightly nudged past him. “i think it’ll be fun!,” she said, ducking quickly into the portal before he could grab ahold of her comedy mask. zooble glanced at pomni, who offered a small shrug, before grabbing onto jax’s hand and dragging him behind them. without much reaction to his statement, he gave up on any planned resistance. pomni’s heart raced a bit as she stepped through the portal, feeling the familiar ‘woosh’ as it closed behind her.
- xxx -
as soon as her eyes opened, they closed again in a flinch as an npc bumped hurriedly into her. “sorry!,” they called over their shoulder, continuing to run to somewhere she couldn’t determine. the backlot they were in now was bustling with activity, with soundstages seeming to stretch on as far as the eyes could see. gangle’s eyes widened, taking in the animated scenery.
“oh, there y’all are!” pomni’s head snapped towards the direction of the familiar voice. “it’s all ready in soundstage four. morning, pomni!” ragatha beamed as she approached, extending her hand in a short wave.
“good, i was getting worried we’d actually get to adventure today. do you guys really like being told what to do that much?” her smile faded slightly as jax’s icy tone cut through before anyone else could respond to her presence.
zooble attempted to shrug him off. “so, a western? was that your idea?”
“well…,” ragatha blushed, swinging her hand to rub the back of her hair. “sort of, i guess. i mean, caine wanted to make one, but he asked me what role i’d like to play. and, he let me and kinger give him a few pointers, since i guess he’s not used to mimicking animal behavior in his npcs.”
“oh, yeah, ‘cause you used to live on a farm!” gangle chirped. “are we going to get to ride horses?”
pomni smiled. she had only seen ragatha’s room once, but the horse theming was impossible to miss. it’s sweet caine would consider her feelings about that, she thought, surprised at the unusual charity the ringmaster seemed to be showing.
jax clicked his tongue. “oh, fun. but why’d he ask for hoo-ha? does he have some hidden passion for cigarillos or something?”
“he actually knew quite a lot about the genre. i guess he grew up watching them,” ragatha said. “you seem to, too, if you can name what they smoke…” he broke eye contact with her, smile falling.
“oh yeah, they’re for old farts. should’ve guessed.” before anyone could pry him further, a loud bell sounded.
“shoot! that’s our call!” ragatha turned on her heels and ran towards one of the tan buildings, leaving the others a few paces behind as they attempted to catch up.
- xxx -
pomni’s vision took a moment to adapt to the dim lighting within soundstage four. once it did, she was pleasantly surprised to see kinger standing off to the side of the main set. it was fashioned to look like an antebellum mansion, with a grandiose staircase to the second floor taking up a fair amount of the space. with his face shielded from brightness, he was looking intently at a stack of papers in his hands. the script, she guessed. ragatha came up to her and the others, holding more copies of the screenplay.
“one for gangle, zooble, …jax, and…” she spoke in a sing-song voice as she handed the packets to the others, but once she reached pomni, her cheeks slightly reddened. “for you,” she finished, placing the papers gingerly within her hands. that glow in her eyes… there’s no way she hasn’t noticed it. before pomni could compose a competent question to ask about the change in her expression, ragatha spoke again- this time to the group. “your parts have already been assigned and highlighted, so feel free to read up. it’ll just be me and kinger for the opening scene, so you all should have a good amount of time to prepare!” and with that, she turned to walk back towards the set.
pomni stared after her, debating if she should attempt to intercept. however, she was distracted by the appearance of bubble, with the large camera used from the favorite character awards on his back. she hadn’t even noticed his earlier absence, but now it seemed obvious. the strange creature seemed permanently attached at the hip to caine, to the point that the thought of them existing separately was strange. his expression was, as always, unreadable- just a large, sharp-toothed grin. as he settled in front of the set, she decided to start reading the script. it didn’t take long for her to be fully engrossed. she hadn’t thought about it much, but reading was rarely a part of the adventures, and it now occurred to her that she had missed it quite a lot.
“lots of relationship drama for a western, don’t you think?” gangle asked pomni, drawing her attention back to reality.
“uh… yeah, i suppose. it reminds me of gone with the wind, though i only saw that movie like once as a kid.”
zooble’s head perked up. “lucky. my mom was obsessed with it. god knows why, it’s so boring.” a smile entered their voice at the end of their sentence. “at least in this one, it’ll be two girls playing the leads.”
pomni blushed. she hadn’t even noticed the implications of ragatha being her costar. did… did she ask caine to make that happen?
“geez pom-pom, it’s not a p[&#%!+].” jax’s bluntness snapped her out of her initial surprise, and she narrowed her eyes at him in turn. “besides, it’s such a slow burn. i wouldn’t be surprised if there’s not even a kiss by the end.”
“i think there is…” gangle started, flipping through the pages, but pomni was too focused on not letting her thoughts spiral to really register her words. regardless of what specific actions the characters took, it was obvious they were meant to be romantically involved. pomni was the rugged cowboy, ‘bad news’, and always on the run. ragatha was the farm girl, all prim and proper… is she trying to confess feelings for me? in the most roundabout way possible? she felt her knees start to wobble slightly, just as gangle threw up the ribbon she had been using to hold the script. “yep! right here, right as… oh, as pomni’s dying. that’s so sad!”
zooble turned to pomni, quickly becoming concerned at the state she seemed to be in. “you okay, man?”
jax butted in before pomni could. “oh yeah, she’s clearly fine. she’s just got a little crush, right?”
“i-i…” pomni struggled to find words. was that what these feelings were? i haven’t had a crush since… high school, i guess, she thought anxiously. she had enjoyed ragatha’s company since arriving in the digital world, and certainly considered her her closest friend, but romance had been far from her mind. it didn’t help that their bodies, or ‘avatars’, as caine sometimes called them, were so inhuman. she wasn’t even sure she could experience attraction anymore. not that there would really be a way to express it, with their clothes being nonremovable. wait, god, why am i thinking about THAT!?
“quiet on set!” caine yelled, yanking pomni from her mini-crisis. he lifted a black movie clapper in front of the camera, which now sat on a proper tripod with bubble floating behind it. with the filming officially begun, the cast drew closer to the main stage, crowding behind the ringmaster’s director chair. kinger entered the room, his outfit changed to a respectable suit, with ragatha running down the stairs in a poofy, elegant dress.
“it’s beautiful,” gangle whispered to pomni, before a soft snap from caine caused a zipper to appear where her mouth should be. “mmmph,” she complained, but she took the hint, unsubtle as it might have been.