Work Text:
Brain scans.
It turned out that all the humans were just brain scans.
You listened to Kinger explain the science behind it—but you couldn’t truly process the information. It seemed so…surreal.
You were all truly stuck in the circus forever.
And now that Caine was gone, you had nobody to reign authority over the crumbling tent.
You were the first one to attempt to depart from the group—before Pomni gently grabbed your arm.
“It’s going to be okay. We’ll…we’ll get through this—together.”
All you could give her was a weak nod.
As you stumbled through the gloomy big top, you began to feel warm tears run down your glum expression.
“You’re…you’re fine.”
You felt your mouth twitch—and before you could redirect, you let out a loud sob. With the sudden burst of emotion, you slowly sunk to your knees.
As you knelt down, you held yourself in an attempt to ease the trembling.
You knew you needed to cry—but at the moment, it felt so wrong.
“So…stupid.”
You mumbled degrading insults to yourself, despite the entire ordeal being a terrible accident. It was not your fault—yet you felt the need to blame yourself.
After a few minutes of quiet whimpers and sniffling, you exhaled. Wiping away the emotion, you gradually stood up and continued your journey throughout the circus.
While you never enjoyed crying, you had to admit that you were glad you did. Letting out the tension made your mind run much clearer—almost making you a bit hopeful.
Grief was such an odd thing, you thought.
You made your way across the checkered floors while making sure to avoid the various holes in the ground. Due to Caine’s accidental removal, it was obvious that the circus was falling apart without him—literally. Who knows what would happen if you unintentionally fell into the void? Would you warp into something unrecognizable? Would you become stagnant? The possibilities were endless—and it terrified you.
While you were afraid to admit it, you knew everyone’s fate was in Kinger’s hands. You hoped he would remain capable enough to find a solution sooner than later.
To try and ease your worries, you decided to lean against one of the circus’ walls. You needed just a moment of stability—just one moment.
As your stream of consciousness flowed rapidly, you suddenly heard a series of weak gasps coming from around the corner of the wall. You inched your way alongside the wall carefully, not wanting to frighten whoever it was.
As you peered the corner, you looked down and saw your trembling ragdoll friend—Ragatha. You frowned as you made your way towards her.
At the sound of your footsteps, she flinched and quickly looked up. However, after seeing it was just you, she shakily exhaled and attempted to give you a smile.
Swallowing, you knelt beside her.
“Hey.”
She weakly mumbled a response, her voice ragged from the weeping.
Despite wanting to comfort her, you knew she most likely wanted a moment by herself.
“I…I just wanted to check up on you. I can leave you be—i-if you need to be alone.”
She faintly shook her head and wiped her damp cheeks.
“N-no…I don’t mind you being here.”
You could tell she was trying to sound like her usual cheery self, but that mask had already been destroyed long ago.
The two of you remained silent—the sounds of indistinct glitching occasionally filling the air.
You then heard her give a soft chuckle.
“I suppose we really are stuck in here—huh?”
You bit the inside of your cheek, unable to give her a proper reply. That reality had already sunk in, but the reminder still made your stomach sink. In an attempt to lighten the mood, you repeated Pomni’s words from earlier.
“We still have each other.”
She curled up tighter.
“I…know.”
The way she held herself was familiar, like she was trying to hold it together.
You hesitantly held out your hand and placed it delicately on her shoulder—which only caused her to hold herself tighter.
“We will get through this together. I-I’m sure Kinger will figure out—”
“I’ll never get to face her.”
Your brows furrowed, a puzzled expression spreading across your face.
“What do you mean?”
She then looked up at the ceiling of the tent, her voice noticeably more unsteady.
“I-I thought I would finally get the chance to look her in the eyes and make her aware of all the pain she caused—But…”
Ragatha paused and squeezed her eyes shut. She then threw her head into her knees and began to sob. You watched, beginning to feel your eyes sting with emotion.
You then realized what she meant, which caused you to pull her closer against you.
Jax’s mocking laugh broke the long silence, his tone high.
“Guess you still get to hang out with Mommy after all—right, Rags?”
“Shut up, Jax!”
She instinctively curled up closer to you as she cried into her plush hands. Involuntarily, you gently caressed her back—which only caused her to cry harder.
“You did absolutely nothing wrong.”
Your relationship with Ragatha was close, but she never confided in you for personal struggles. The two of you felt comfortable enough for casual conversation, but that was about it.
However, tenderly holding her as she sobbed almost seemed natural.
“It must’ve been difficult to keep this all bottled up.”
As she calmed her breathing, she gave you a hesitant nod.
You sighed faintly, a tinge of guilt engulfing your mind. You wished you had checked up on her more. You wished you allowed her to cry into your shoulders when she needed it. You wished you didn’t let her go away so easily.
“I…I’m sorry for not…talking to you as much—Well, in this sense, I mean.”
Ragatha quickly looked at you, her expression panicked.
“No! Please don’t apologize…you didn’t know—”
“But I could’ve known.”
Despite being taken aback by your declaration, she leaned closer against you— a subtle ask for your support. Understanding the implication, you wrapped your arm tighter around her and closed your eyes.
“If you ever need someone to talk to—I’ll always be here for you.”
They were simple words of encouragement and you knew that. However, those same simple words resulted in a stifled sob.
“Y-You have no idea how much I needed to hear that—thank you. For everything.”
You smiled sweetly as you affectionately kissed her forehead. She blushed lightly in response.
“Anytime.”
The two of you sat against the wall for an insignificant amount of time—the fear of running out of said time not being an issue.
And while it hurt to say—you were finally glad about the limitless circumstance.