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It was impossible to come back from abstraction. That's what they had been told. That did seem like the truth when so many of the cast was now gone, sent to the cellar to be forgotten. That's what Jax knew would happen. that's what happened to Ribbit before everyone's very eyes. That's what happened to Jax.
Until it didn't.
Until Pomni found Jax and pulled him- no her from the darkness. Her 'I don't want to go' paired with Pomni's insane determination, her begging- no ordering- the other, worked. No one knew why, but the resounding answer was No one was allowed to abstract. Like it was a choice. Well at least it was a choice to give up. and no one was allowing her to do that again. As the abstracted model dissipated away, a different Jax was what was clutching to Pomni like her life depended on it. Subtle differences, but.. enough. Following cartoon logic; she now had eyelashes, not unlike Pomni and Ragatha. Her overalls had a different cut, and a shirt underneath it. A difference. One she could no longer deny, no longer force away from herself. She stood, holding onto Pomni for balance which she joked off with "Ah, well nearly almost dying really does take the energy outta you, huh?" prompting a "not funny!" from the Jester supporting her weight as they all headed back to their rooms, Pomni not even letting Jax turn to her door, pushing her own open and leading the group inside. "Sleepover?" She asked, exhausted. Everyone nodding in agreement, Ragatha immediately volunteering to run and gather a bunch of blankets for them all.
They all settled in, much closer than any of them would have been days before yet no one commented, All exhausted yet sleep didn't come easy.
~~~~
Turns out, exhaustion induced indifference only lasted until everyone slept, and in the morning time everyone had a chance to actually see her. It didn't matter that everyone basically already saw- She still sat there on the bedroom floor, breathing through the panic that still gripped her, the memory of her mother, the memory of what She did to Ribbit. But no one spoke, no one told her she was wrong, a dumb boy- everyone knows you're supposed to grow into a man like your mother wanted. In fact, Ragatha sniffed, leaning in to give the bunny a short, but comforting hug.
Zooble a "proud of you, jerk"
Gangle offering up a small smile and a " I hope you can be happier now.."
Pomni, a "We'd never give up on you dummy"
And that was that.
~~~
Honestly, Jax kinda felt.. weird. about how it all went down. She had spiraled so hard. Pushed everyone away. hurting Ribbit, lashing out at Kaufmo. making them- making them abstract. sent to the cellar, to the dark. Ragatha being the only one who remembered who she was before she had decided to spiral. Ragatha, who after everything, would see Jax sitting by herself, and quietly join her. Eventually they started talking again- small things, then a bit deeper. She was the next person to know about what happened to her as a teen, to her mother. In return, the plush doll talked about her own struggles with family. The pressure her mother put her under. The why can't you be better. It was something they both could commiserate about.
Then.. Caine approached the group. hat in hand, and apologized. Asked them all to accompany him to the stage, as he showed them their true selves. let Zooble see the success they had managed to achieve. Show Gangle that she was able to work in her dream field.
Let Jax see her human self hop off the delivery truck to give mail to a strange woman, no one looked shocked when that made her choke up a bit, waving them off with a "N-No it's happy tears!"
Showed Ragatha what she had achieved when she was out from under her mothers thumb, and prying eyes. She watched her human self , saw the articles about her equestrian achievements. honestly surprising herself with sobbing, tears she couldn't hold back as much as she tried to reassure that no no I'm- I'm just so happy. that-… that she.. that I-" cutting herself off with a hiccup.
Caine Showed Kinger his wife and daughters, alive, happy. It was all the old chess piece wanted, a look of peace coming over him. Caine himself also seemed moved by seeing human Grant and his family. The whole troupe deciding to spend the rest of the day helping Caine repair the circus. Caine vibrating with excitement as the others all talked to him, planned with him.
~~~
It started slowly. Ragatha finally easing up, not being to overtly friendly. being quieter. She still loved to go to the lake with the others, Had started teaching Jax how to knit, just to have a hobby that wasn't being an antagonistic asshole. They had all started going up to the cafe more, but usually it was Jax and Ragatha staying up late, barely talking but just.. it had been so long since they had been able to just exist with each other that neither felt the need to fill the silence. Sometimes she asked the other about what it was like, being trans. coming back unable to deny who she was. Jax answered, Ragatha's questions not as abrasive now as she would have taken them weeks ago- years ago.
the adventures had become weekly, and completely voluntary. To no one's surprise other that Caine's, that meant more consistent attendance, and more constructive feedback. Zooble attended more, letting loose and enjoying the wilder worlds, giving Jax a run for her money. Ragatha opting to stay back from a few of the more violent ones, sometimes with Gangle staying back too, They assumed that the girls had been hanging out, Gangle probably drawing with the other.
Part of them now having control meant they could do things in less than designated areas. Like eating places other than cafe, picnic and dinner hall. They could take plates to the common area, or to rooms. Still, they mostly ate together. familiarity, and just- wanting to feel at home with each other. Caine joining them had been a change, but mostly? welcome. The little AI had been trying so very hard to get along with everyone now and he fit in much better than he would have before. he was however, still very boisterous, and Ragatha had started sitting at the far end away from him. It wasn't like she couldn't hear him, with how excitable and loud he was- days tuned into weeks , a new normal settling over them.
~~
Ragatha had always loved the night sky. pre generated stars or not, the ambient sounds, the feel of the grass below her body, it was grounding in way she hadn't though about before. twinkling stars reminding her of the life she left behind. She hoped that real life her, was happy. that being away from their mother allowed her to truly be free. She wondered if she would ever become friends with Gangle- or Pomni during their trips to Zooble's bar. It was a nice thought. maybe she even would find… No.
She shook herself, sitting up from the grass and dusting herself off with a sigh. it was getting late, and she was tired.
As she headed back to her room, Jax had hollered her name across the lobby, making her look up. "Oh! hello~ I was just heading to bed, it's a late night for me" she softly giggled, passing them, bidding the late night stragglers a good sleep.
Unaware of eyes watching her.
~~~
Jax knocked on her door, "Rags? Hey Did you want me to do the knitting lesson today?" She tapped her foot impatiently, it was after breakfast and the doll had told her to meet in her room and bring her supplies. So here she was.
She heard some groaning, and a soft thud "shi- Shoot! Sorry Jax! I didn't mean to fall asleep, my quick nap has rejuvenated me nonetheless!!"
Opening the door with a sleepy smile, Ragatha ushered Jax in.
She immediately took over a corner of the bed, waiting as Ragatha pulled out her craft basket and scrambled up to sit on the other corner. Jax plopped her legs over the other as they got their yarn situated between them.
"Alright, you remember where we were at?"
Nodding "yeah I'm like halfway done with my square- but I had to undo some, messed it up when I worked on it alone the other night." Eying the other curiously "Had trouble sleeping and this was actually pretty easy to focus on, you were right"
Ragatha just reached over and poked her with the tip of her knitting needle "lookit you! using grounding techniques! I'm glad they're working though!" She started counting so Jax could get into a rhythm with her, interspersing it with idle chat, going back to count verbally when Jax got lost.
"you ever wonder which… one of us is doing the right thing? Like the real us versus us us?"
Jax's ear twitched "Eh. I dunno how.. happy he is, if he ever gave up and realized that being.. Me- us- whatever is the only option. its either that or…" She trailed off, shaking her head "or maybe.. she's sitting on Suzie's bed, learning how to knit. Who knows"
Ragtha looked up, eye brimming with emotion "I hope we're both knitting. I hope she shows him the horses… I Hope we're friends out there too."
~~~~
Well, this was one of the worst adventures post Caine deletion, and they had no one to blame but themselves. In fact, Caine had stayed behind with Kinger who had wanted to poke around in his code. Maybe it was some error deep withing the creation playground, maybe it was conflicting goals. Whatever it was, it was supposed to be one shot scenarios that as you finished, you could enter the others and either help or just hang out.
Jax had opted to make a old west adventure where she could shoot as many NPC's as she wanted- or rob a bank who knew?
Zooble's adventure had been spelunking, now that they had gotten parts that were more comfortable, it was easier to do more physical things now. and they had made it so gems spawned, relics to take home.
Meanwhile- Gangle had a whole adventure about a girl trapped in a Cinderella castle until her true love finds her, with so many minigames. A full ice cream bar and food delivery that allowed you to enter everyone in the castle's rooms to snoop- a garden center where you helped a cat navigate looking for his warm milk, which of course led to the servant's quarters where she could make a ballroom for the dance tonight. She was totally just making one of her fanfiction but no one was going to really see it all so it was fine- she could be self indulgent.
Ragatha's adventure was honestly more on the adventurous side than the others would assume for her~ a recreation of the Nevada flat lands, where she was on foot with the goal to catch - and tame a wild mustang using nothing but what she could find.
Pomni had also done an animal themed adventure but so much more focused on the husbandry of snakes, her goal was to breed a snake with the colors of each of her friends, genetics had always been interesting.
~~~~
It wasn't until they all stepped through the portal that everything went wrong. Zooble had stepped into Pomni's hatchery utterly confused. Meanwhile Pomni herself was dropped in the middle of the desert.
Ragatha opened her eyes to see a dingy stone bedroom, her dress dirtier than she had ever her it get on her own. She looked around trying to see what this was supposed to be when a bell rang on the wall and a voice called out "The dance is tonight! and you still haven't finished all my chores!"
Jax stumbled as she took in her surrounding- some sort of cave- a pile of gear next to a hole carved into the wall. "what the fuck?" she looked around- there being no exit to the area she was in but that small entrance.
When Gangle opened her eyes she immediately blinked in confusion. this was not the castle grounds.. where was she? and why did she had a holster tied around her waist, long brown skirt fluttering in the dry breeze.
~~~~
It was hours later when Pomni had finished.. whatever this was, her mare, which she had named Knight Rider knickering as she hopped into the portal, and into what she had hoped would be where Jax was- maybe she knew what had happened?
As it turns out, Jax was having the worst time. She was just so tall, that the.. spelunking was hell on her. almsot impossible to move when she was fully in the cave system. It didn't help that She'd spent so much time in the open air of the circus that she apparently was now slightly claustrophobic. And now apparently hallucinating- if her hearing Pomni call out for her was any indication.
Meanwhile…
It had taken Ragatha almost no time at all to fall into what her role was in this adventure. a disembodied voice occasionally barking orders, or admonishing her. She did like the cake making mini game though. It wasn't until the dress decorating that she had finally let herself get upset. She didn't want to be some mean disembodied voice's slave. she didn't want to have to listen to mother dearest. A ball? Don't make her laugh. She'd spent so long in cotillion, learning how to act proper- how to be a good girl, wait for her Beau to dance with, curtsy to. It was all second nature to her. Ragatha hated it. She had already figured out that this was Cinderella so the actual tasks didn't bother her beyond annoyance at the critical voice.
Not until the ball. Dancing with faceless Npc's? honestly kind of fun, it was fun to be twirled like that over and over again. No it was when she lost her shoe, and she locked eyes with the one who handed it back to her. She'd never seen this model before- she'd never.. liked how a NPC looked before. When it bowed to her and offered up a hand to take, letting her lead the next dance. Instead She scrambled back, and bolted to the portal that opened up.Crashing through.
Well, Snakes are pretty cool.. Zooble was sitting on a stool as they let a red and white snake coil around their antennae. It was ironic, they had gotten every color down, except their own. Until a portal opened up and in stumbled Ragatha.
"Uh? Hi?"
"O-Oh! Hi Zooble! I can't believe I tripped through the portal" She let out a self deprecating giggle "I lost my shoe- it's pretty hard to run with only one heel on!"
"…yeah." They looked her over, she was still in the butter yellow ballgown she had created, and just as she said, minus one shoe.
"did… I'm assuming you didn't plan the uh… Cinderella adventure?" Earning them a shake of the head "I Just wanted to ride a mustang, was that so hard to do? Why didn I have to.. Hear her."
her? wait- wait shit. "Oh fuck. theres the… mom there, right? the evil step mom?" A nod.
Zooble just held out a small python, scales in a patchwork pattern. "Well.. I'm breeding Snakes. for some reason. Would you like to hold snake you?"
"Snake me?" Successfully distracted she came closer, offering her arm for the baby to coil around her wrist. "yeah I guess the goal is to make snake ones of each of us. I'm almost done though." Ragatha was intently staring at snake- her "She's so cute" came out as whisper as the snake settled its head on the back of her hand.
~~~~
Finally everyone had finished their adventures, and the return home portal opened up. They all waited at the exit waiting for the scragglers before Jax was the first to ask "What the fuck happend. I know I didn't make a whole adventure dedicated to almost getting suffocated by a tunnel! I Hate small spaces like that I'm too big, I got trapped like, so many times till Pomni joined me" Her ears slumped, Jax really had disliked the cavinng adventure. But it caught Zooble's attention.
"Uh… That was mine? It was like a mini mining adventure to get some cool crystals. I must have ended up in yours- a snake lab?"
"Nope! that was me! I wanted to see how far I could push 'realistic' animal gemetics. It was always a fun topic for me in college. Oh damn Wait you're not like afraid of snakes are you?" Making Zooble shake their head "Oh no it was actually pretty fun!"
"I was out in the old west? I ran a brothel!"
Everyone turned to stare at Gangle "It wasn't my adventure! I wanted to do a twist on cinderella!"
"Y- I - how- It was supposed to be a gunslinger!???" Jax cried out "I just wanted to go rob some banks and maybe hit up a saloon! where did you find a brothel?"
"Oh! turns out You could cheese most persuasion checks if you uh. showed a bit of ankle. I basically ran that town" Her answer did not calm town Jax's flush of embarrassment.
"Who had mine?"
Ragatha raised a hand "It- it was very good! well made. soo many chores though- the voice wouldn't stop harassing me."
"Voice?.." Gangle trailed off before lighting up "Oh!! did you find the secret path in the garden? the one that let you sneak into the royal chambers? You were supposed to be able to get blackmail on all the partygoers and when you got your shoe back it became a whodunit! I left that part up to the randomizer so I don't know who the victim or killer were- did you figure it out?"
"No…" the doll trailed off. "I just.. Did my chores and tried to make momma happy. I did get to make a pretty dress though!" she perked up as she talked about the dress- and then immediately asked who got her adventure.
Piping up with a grin, Pomni claimed it. "Honestly it was pretty fun. Shocked you made one that was so.. hard. but it was fun once I found a herd to track. I got one and named her Knight Rider!"
"Oh!! Did you find the ghost horse? I made the spawn rate super low" She nodded excitedly "I wanted to get a photo of it on the canyon ridge"
"I saw it. but I didn't get close enough to do anything and by the time I had the supplies to catch a horse it vanished. But I liked my horse!" She paused "then I went to Jax and had to pull her out of a hole she got trapped in."
"Hey!!" She hissed back at Pomni. "Not but like what the hell happened? How did we.. get all jumbled up?" Everyone looked at each other clueless before "We should ask Caine!" and the troupe headed to Kinger's pillowfort. As it turns out, this was the exact reason he didn't run adventures like that. the instances would almost always get shuffled. It's why Caine only made group adventurers, unless it was for one specific outlier. Nothing they did wrong, just how the system ran.
"I- That's Why I never gave you that when you asked. It was easier to balance everyone's wants and come to a average than end up with someone in something that they absolutely hated." He looked down, then at Kinger for a moment "I'm sorry I didn't warn you all." The chess piece laying a hand in his head "It's not your fault Caine. And it looks like no one got hurt right?" denials all around. "See? it's fine. They learned. Just like you did."
After than everyone was so exhausted that they headed to rest before dinner, splitting off into rooms.
It wasn't until the door closed behind her, bathing her in the dark that she no longer felt judgemental eyes on her. She knew it was paranoia, that no one really was seething with that much anger- but as soon as she felt relief she collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling until sleep overtook her.
~~~
God She was exhausted. It was a few days later and she was curled up in a beanbag chair in the lobby, Watching one of the shows Caine had brought back from another trip to the internet with Pomni as the others were all.. somewhere else.
"Y'ever want to change your hair? like tie it up? I managed to summon some funtional hairties, I can braid it for you" Pomni was leaning over her shoulder dangling the bag of black elastics.
"My hair? Oh I'd Love to have it done up!"
That's how Zooble found them, Pomni French braiding the dolls hair, Ragatha leaned back eyes closed. They just nodded at Pomni with a knowing look and continued on.
~~~
If she didn't know they couldn't get sick she would assume she was coming down with something. The bright lights of the big top giving her a migraine- it was harder for the digital food to be eaten. She was just felt so laggy. And Jax had decided that they were besties this week. Honestly, Ragatha didn't mind. Jax was much better to be around now- but her nauseous napping was frequently interrupted by the others' mischievous smile.
This was not one of those times.
Ragatha groaned, rolling over and chucking a small figurine at the door as Jax knocked again
"Go awaayyy" she whined. ugh.
"Gangle sent meee~" Jax sang out "She wants to like. go on a baking spree. Sounds Like your thing. So come on."
A groan
"Nope! c'me on!"
The doll sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, head throbbing "Okay okay, Coming!" She tried to sound cheerful as she fixed her hair and then finally exited into the hall.
"There she is! I almost forgot what you looked like!"
Ragatha just ran a hand down her face "I- I gotta ask if we can get viruses from him getting stuff on the internet. I feel yucky."
Jax watched her for a moment before "Yeah you can do that- but first we gotta go make better cookies than Pomni" finally earning a smile from her.
It was a fun afternoon, they now all had more than enough cookies to sustain them all, Caine enjoying being the taste tester. As they cleaned up she approached Caine to ask.
"I'm very grateful for you getting us more media and stuff to do! but.. Is there any way you brought back something that can- I dunno. Make us sick? I just, I've been so exhausted."
Caine pondered for a moment "I shouldn't have. I'd go as far as to say its nigh impossible-" he watched her face fall "But! this whole Internet thing is new to me! So I will investigate!" and he flew off. Probably to talk with Kinger.
~~~
It was late. late late if she was correct.
It was late, and dark. and she was exhausted. floating in that almost asleep twilight, when she heard shuffling at her door. good. it's late. whoever that is is probably heading to their own room.
Until it didn't
and she heard a small click sound. and-
"JAX!" She jolted as the bunny unlocked her door, slipping into the dark as the door closed behind her. "Jax! get out!" she yell whispered to the other, who just ignored her and came to the bed. Standing at the foot of it and stared.
She kept staring until Ragatha threw her pillow in her face. then she moved to akwardy crawl onto the bed from the food board before admitting into a criss-cross position, the entire time silently ignoring Ragatha's ire.
"What's your problem? are you sleep walking??"
Jax just looked at her, blinked. looked away. Swallowed. Looked back.
"Rags, You- You're abstracting."
No. No she wasn't. She wasn't-, she was just- sick.
She shook her head "N-no. Caine is checking to see if I got a virus. I'm not. It's not- "she cut herself off at Jax's expression.
In response, Jax reached up, pulling her blanket off of her, as they both looked down at what used to be her hip, no longer the cloth texture, now a slimy, ever rolling mass of eyes.
"o-Oh" was Ragatha's only response.
Jax punched the wall she was next to. "No! You don't do that! You've been here so long! You can't-" She choked.
"what's going on?" She finally settled on. "And don't lie to me. I'm like the one bitch you can't lie to about this. if.. if you don't want me I can go get anyone else. just. Walking away and giving in felt so nice, a means to finally end the exhaustion." Jax never talked about her abstraction. She'd talk about her family before she'd talk about her abstraction.
"I.. I genuinely don't know. I'm not kidding! I just… seeing Suzie made me.. feel. Feel something bad. and then it just kept growing. She.. She got her happy ending. Suzie managed to- to succeed. escape momma and have friends. And- and I- I love you all I do! Just… I'll never be that." She was sitting up now, eyes on her thigh.
"Ragatha. you can be anything. Anything is better than abstraction. I'm gonna tell you right now I don't thing I'm strong enough to do what Pomni did. But.. But it'll never go away. I'll always be a reversed abstraction. But I'm happy. now." She shook her head, closing her eyes and focusing.
Suddenly, her eyes matched Ragatha's leg.
"It never fully went away. But I don't want it to happen again." she murmured.
"I spent my whole life repressing who- what I was Rags. You don't have too tell me. but i'm not leaving. Nit until… "she trailed off. "I didn't want to be alone" Swallowing, she reached off the bed.
"y' wanna knit?" At the very least if Ragatha couldn't stop herself- she wasn't going to be alone.
They worked in relative silence, Jax keeping count for them both until Ragatha spoke again. "When I was in high school I was in like 50 million different things. Mom wanted me well rounded. But- Softball was my favorite. We always had so much fun together, the team felt like a family- a real one. Until- Sarah came out as a lesbian. It spread around the school like wildfire but she was okay. her family- they- they supported her. So did we. Mom adored her. When she took her girlfriend to homecoming and the principal tried to throw a fuss.. Mom lost it on them. demanded Sarah be able to take her girlfriend. I was a bit shocked- mom always was super judgy of people but I was glad she backed Sarah up." She took a breath before continuing.
"Then we went to a out of state competition. it was going great, mom helped me pack and stuff. Then, then she sat me down and reminded me that it was okay to be nice to those kinda people. but to make sure she knew that me and her- we didn't play for the same team. Moms reasoning was that she didn't want me to get bullied because people thought I was a dyke. But all I could do was nod."
Jax nodded in sympathy "moms tend to just fuckin suck don't they?" causing her to flinch slightly before laughing "yeah. yeah they do." Another shudder ans the abstracted piece glitched.
"Then I guess she heard something from someone. Heard that I had kissed someone at the fair. demanded to know who. it was a screaming stand off for hours until she eventually went into my room and started tearing it apart- she was looking for my diary. I panicked and told her the truth- the girls name. She.. she looked her name up and called her mom. I didn't see her again for months. Her mom… sent her away. I dunno. when I saw her again I was so excited, so glad to have her back. but she pushed me away. told me she was scared of my mom. of me." She stopped her knit, fully lost in thought. "I quit after that, obviously. I didn't want her to have to quit because she was scared. So moms next project for me was cotillion." She laughed, wetly. " weirdly enough, that's How I knew how to teach you all to dance."
"Christ Ragatha. I'm shocked you outlasted me" She pushed at her lightly. before.
"Was it seeing Suzie still… not being who you wanted to be?" earning her a shake of the head "no, almost the opposite actually. Suzie managed to make my- our dreams come true. She has Friends. She's living her dream career. It looks like she's thriving without momma. it's. its me. I'm the one who can't just. forget how much shame she placed on me. Maybe Suzie found someone. A- a Partner. maybe even a wife by now. But i'm still just. I feel like I'm still the girl who cried, pleaded for mom to not pick up that phone. and it's so dumb. She never once hurt me on purpose. if something happened she'd immediately apologize and clean me up. but not then. She left me. left me and destroyed someone's life."
Looking up at Jax she whispered "would you be able to forgive someone if they got you- sent away?"
fuck was this a heavy topic. but Jax thought about it. "I got myself sent away, ran away, kicked out- no difference in that moment. and I forgave myself… So I think yeah. yeah I could actually. And you should too." When she looked at the other, Ragatha was barely containing her tears, shaky measured breaths. Jax pushed their crafts aside and pulled Ragatha into a hug, letting her bury her face in her chest as she started to sob.
They sat like that for a long while, until Ragatha had collected herself. Then they sat in silence until-
"I knew you looked at home on that field" Making Ragatha snort. "M- maybe I'll actually teach you how to play- like properly, not Caine's rules one"
"You totally should. lemme pop up at the next game and decimate everyone."
"that mayy take some Caine intervention. but I'll try." She took a breath. "I- I feel like you already figured it out. but. Jax I'm a lesbian. I'm gay and for so so long I tried to be a good girl. do what mom wanted. I'm thirty I deserve to- to live my life. Mom's wrong I do swing that way. I always had. I knew it then and I know it now." She burst into fresh tears, but Jax still held on.
Eventually Ragatha pulled away completely. She looked down at herself. at the abstraction that was- "Oh" Her hip. it was back to normal.
"Oh fuck it worked" Jax breathed, sagging in relief. "You're not allowed to do that again Rags, next time just start yelling "fuck my mom" really loudly in your head and come find one of us. I hate to admit it- but the whole 'don't isolate in your room because it's bad for your health' is unfortunately true." taking in a ragged breath before continuing "You deserve to live. To spite your family. if Pomni has drilled anything in my head it's to never many anyone feel unwanted. I - I was watching you these past few weeks and it was like… looking n a mirror. I didn't like it. You don't deserve to go out like this."
"You didn't either."
"mmheh. I don't actually think I ever would have been able to face it with everything that had happened. Not until I was standing face to face with my fate." She looked Ragatha up and down "and you deserve better than that."
The doll moved, sliding off her bed to turn the light on. "Do you think-oh it's silly"
"shut. What is it?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering if anyone else was still up? If not I'd love to go with just you but.. I kinda wanna go lay out by the lake. it's nice out there."
"We'll all be down there. Don't worry. You wanna bring some blankets to lay on?"
A nod.
"Jax?"
"yeah?"
"Thank you for caring. For listening"
"well duh, us mommy issue girlies gotta stay together!"
Making Ragatha snort as she gathered the blankets.