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Zooble likes to take walks around the circus at night.
Since Caine returned, they've convinced him to dim the lights after a certain time, and nearly everyone sleeps better because of it. Before, it kinda felt like some sort of weird hospital, but... after dark, it's way more soothing to the eye.
As they make their way further in, circling around the staircase a couple times just for fun, they head towards the kitchen.
And then they begin to hear sniffling.
Oh, jesus.
Lying on the couch in the lounge next to the kitchen is a familiar purple rabbit, half of her face and most of her left side covered with black, pointed scars. She's wearing a frilly, pink nightgown, something Zooble is sure isn't all that comfortable to sleep in, and she's curled in on herself, arms over her head.
Should they say something? Or just ignore all that mess, and continue their evening walk?
They slowly back away, going to turn around and leave when they hear Jax sob, a weak and drawn out sound. God, this was so jarring. They had never heard her cry before.
They feel their chest tighten.
God dammit.
"Jax," they say, cutting themself off early when her head shoots up, eyes large and damp.
Her expression shifts from anger to annoyance to "I'm too upset to care, actually" in a matter of seconds, and begins to cry again, closing her eyes and putting her face back in her hands.
There's a long moment of quiet, Zooble really trying to grasp at anything to say. Can they even do anything? Should they just keep on, like, for real? They take a few more steps backward.
Jax looks up from her hands again, and then she stumbles off the couch and onto her feet, legs clearly wobbling.
She reaches one shaking hand out towards them.
"Zooble!" She cries, voice breaking. Zooble's eyebrows knit upwards at this, and they quickly step towards her again. What the fuck? Why did she call for them like that!?
Jax basically collapses against Zooble, wrapping her arms around them and continuing to sob into their shoulder.
"You need to chill out," Zooble finally says, resting a hand on her back, "you're gonna make yourself sick."
"Don't wanna,"'she whines, voice pitching up slightly, "so bright..." She's a lot calmer now that she's being held, which Zooble thinks is totally weird for Jax only.
"Bright? Are you getting a migraine?" When Jax doesn't answer, they pull away. Her eyes are squinting, one of them still a swirling mix of pink and blue. Her normal, yellow one is still wet with building tears.
"You wanna go back to the tent?" They ask, voice softening. She shakes her head.
"Scary!" She says. Zooble tilts their head slightly. This is getting weird, even for Jax. They're more and more convinced that this isn't a prank the further it goes on. Normally, she's pointing and laughing by now. 'HAHA! I pretended to be emotionally vulnerable! I'd never do that, dumbass!'
But... she's not. She's looking pointedly at Zooble with large, damp eyes, waiting for them to respond to her as if she's a child that needs guidance.
"...why is it scary?" They finally ask, almost in disbelief at themself upon hearing how soft their voice was.
"Don't want to die again."
Oh. Fuck.
Yeah, Zooble knows this isn't a prank now. Jax's eyes avert from theirs, instead looking at the ground. Her hands still grip at Zooble's torso loosely, and her ears are now laid back against her head.
"You're not abstracting again, Jax," Zooble almost whispers to her, hesitantly wrapping an arm around her again as she shuffles back into their touch, "but it's probably scary to be alone."
"Yeah," she says, just sighing in defeat.
"Would it be less scary if I slept in there with you?" Jax's ears perk up slightly at this, and she nods.
Zooble nods their head towards the door, and Jax pulls away from them, taking their hand instead. Still weird.
They don't say anything, though. This is better than her being a huge asshole.
The two walk all the way back to the main area of the tent, Jax having put her hand over her eyes at some point, just trusting that Zooble would guide her correctly.
Once they're inside, Jax relaxes and, almost immediately, collapses onto a pile of pillows to the left of the entrance, jagged abstraction scars smoothing out.
Then, she begins to cry again.
Zooble stifles a groan. Even if she was being all pitiful and shit, they were still tired.
"What is it, Jax?"
"You're gonna leave," she whines, voice muffled by the pillows, "and I'm gonna be alone again and it'll be bad and I'll die!" Her rambling almost sounds like that of an upset child.
Zooble is starting to put the pieces together in their head.
Oh, she's having one of those... moments.
Pomni and Gangle both get like this sometimes, Pomni more often than Gangle. It's never super overt or surprising... it just kind of happens. Maybe she wants to walk closer together, or her voice pitches up a little, or she seems actually excited to go on an adventure. Gangle gets more talkative, and rambles on and on about the animes she likes, and gets more experimental and messy with her art, like using glitter and stickers and stuff.
They never thought much of it until it was Jax.
Hers is... a little more exaggerated than theirs, though. Here she is, crying after getting lost for what had to be at least an hour, and now she's curled up underneath a mound of cushions, looking up at Zooble with pathetic, big puppy-dog eyes.
They can't lie... it's getting to them.
They finally kneel down next to the pile, resting their arm on their knee.
"Hey. You probably just need some good sleep. You're pretty tired, huh?" Jax continues to stare, and then grumbles, flopping backwards and rubbing her eyes harshly.
"Kinda."
"...does your nightgown feel okay?" She looks down, and then back up, and her face scrunches up again.
Jeezus. The tears are a record breaker for how many they've seen anyone shed in the circus. This girl has probably been sitting on this breakdown for years...
"Hey. It's okay, just- just breathe. You can change out of your night gown if you want-"
"But it's pretty!" She insists, thumping her fists weakly against the pillows surrounding her.
"I'm sure you can make one that's pretty and comfortable."
"...no..." she lowers her head at this, looking up to Zooble again, expectantly.
They sigh.
"Do you want me to conjure one?" Her head comes back up, and she nods, finally smiling.
After a few minutes of back and forth, they finally decide on a gown that's way softer with less fabric, so it's not so stuffy... while still being pink.
Jax is on the verge of passing out at this point, so Zooble makes sure she's... as tucked in as she can be... and lays down next to her.
Jax reaches out one last time, gently grabbing the bottom part of Zooble's claw hand, using her other hand to rest her thumb in her mouth, and she falls asleep peacefully.
Zooble still doesn't know why they decided to help her, but they really think this could have gone worse. They're just glad she's not abstracting again.