Chapter Text
Jester was a robot jester made by Fan, resembling their red, yellow and white color scheme. They were very rambunctious, silly and overall liked at least by some of the contestants. After witnessing the deaths of their fellow contestants and MePhone4 leaving, they became closer with people they had no idea they’d get along with, such as Cammy! When season 4 started, new faces showed up! One in particular made their circuits malfunction whenever they saw him; Jack. Sure, he was a jerk, but was he TRULY hurting anyone? Before the third challenge, Jester walked over to Jack and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hello!” They beamed, clenching their ruffled skirt in their prosthetic arms.
“Huh? Oh. It’s you. What do you want?”
“I was just wondering ifff maybeee you wanted to start an alliance?”
“Hm. And what use would you be to me?”
“Intel, of course! I just wanna help out a buddy!”
“...I guess you are useful after all.”
Jester started to overheat. When they heard Cammy call out to them, the robot giggled.
“Cya later, Jackie!”
Jester skipped away, giggling like a schoolgirl. They ran along with team Circumspect.
“Why were you talking to Jack?” questioned Pepper.
“Oohhh… No particular reason! I was giving him a stern talking too!”
“Uh huh…” Pepper mumbled, not really believing them.
Jester ran along with Cheesey, whom got blindfolded. The two of them cracked jokes and nearly fell behind in the challenge. In the maze, Jester and Cammy struggled but made it out.
“Oh geez.. We’re both mechanical! Um.. It’s okay! I’ll go, Cam Cam! For the both of us, and for the sake of MePhone4!”
Cammy gasped. “You truly have devotion! Thank you kind soldier!”
Jester swallowed nervously, and when they went to jump, the robot immediately thought about Jack. They lost balance and fell into the pool. They scrambled and fell out, glitching out a bit. Box ran over, being a part of the safety squad. Jester was disqualified from the rest of the challenge and sent to the hospital. They grumbled as Test Tube worked on fixing them.
“M-Mom, I’m fine! Ju-just a scratch!”
“No. I have to make sure you didn’t get severe water damage.”
“Uuuugh!”
Jester thumped their foot. Test Tube finished repairing their circuitry and left them to rest. As they lie there, watching TV, Jack walked into the hospital room, with supervision from Paintbrush. They immediately sprouted up from their hospital bed and fixed their hair. Jester stumbled a bit, smiling nervously.
“Jack! I-I wasn’t expecting you!”
“Hey. I caught wind of what happened.”
“I’m fine. My mom was probably being dramatic.”
“Why are you associating with me? Even after what happened?”
“..I just find you interesting!”
Jester swallowed nervously, or at least it felt like they did. They hoped that their terrible lie would suffice for Jack’s standards.
“Hm. Okay. I wouldn’t want my ally to be dead on the third challenge, now would I?”
“N-no, of course not, I-”
Paintbrush walked over, sufficiently shutting up the both of them.
“That’s enough. Your time is up.”
Fan had also appeared, taking Jack out of the hospital room. Jester felt the air thicken. They sat down on the bed, looking away from Paintbrush.
“Why are you allying with someone so dangerous, Jest?”
Jester didn’t answer. They’ve known Paintbrush for at least a few years now, ever since season 3. They flinched when they felt their hand on their shoulder.
“Jester, c’mon. You can’t be doing this… You’re lucky I don’t tell your parents about–”
“NO! Please.. Don’t.. I just.. I feel.. Weird, whenever I look at him, Paintbrush! I can’t.. Control it..”
“I know how you feel, I’ve had crushes like that before. But… Please, just… Be careful. You don’t know what he’s capable of.” Paintbrush paused and let out a sigh. “Get some rest.”
As Paintbrush left, Jester laid down. They were mad. Why couldn’t they just love who they wanted too? Jester, in a haze of frustration, got up and snuck out of the hospital. As they were searching for Jack, they got lost in the woods. Jester heard nearby voices. They snuck and weaved through the forest, ending up in a clearing.
“We don’t know who this IS, Poppy.”
“We can just tell them!”
“No!”
Jester watched as Fan climbed up objects that they could only vaguely make out. As Fan climbed up and– Jester muffled a scream. They turned and ran, their vision blurred by tears. Jester ran and ran until they got to the cell Jack was in. Jack was jolted awake by the sound of something, or someone falling to the ground and crying.
“Ugh.. Can you do that anywhere els– Oh.. Jester?”
Jester sat up and nearly fell into Jack. Even if he was handcuffed, they were clinging onto him. Jack immediately tensed. Nobody has ever wanted affection from him before. He coughed nervously, noticing how damp and cold they were.
“Hey.. It’ll.. Be okay. I promise.”
“Fan’s gone! H-he-” Jester hiccuped. “I.. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed them away, I–”
“Hey! None of this is your fault, okay?”
Jester wiped away their tears and plucked a blade of grass to picklock Jack’s handcuffs. They seemed to have a mutual agreement to go… Somewhere. Anywhere out of the pouring rain. Jester leads Jack to the hospital… As they snuck back in and went into Jester’s room, the robot switched into their pajamas. Jack had looked away, instead drifting his gaze to the window.
“I’m.. Sorry for dragging you all the way out here. I–”
“It’s fine. It feels nice to finally be out of that ridiculous timeout spot.”
Jester sat down on the bed with Jack. The cocky card couldn’t help but notice their smeared makeup and messy, damp hair. Why did he feel so worried for them? He hadn’t even known about the robot until a few days ago. He put a hand on their shoulder, similar to how Paintbrush did.
“You uh.. Okay?”
“..I.. think so. For now.. I think I’m in shock.”
Jack hummed. He gave them an awkward side hug, in which he felt their metallic skin… If you can really call it that, heat up.
“Geez, you ain’t used to hugs or somethin?”
“Not really..”
“Hm.”
Jack shifted his position and gave them an actual hug. Jester hesitantly reciprocated and leaned into the card's touch. They stayed like that for a bit, laying down together. Jack was internally berating himself for this, but it was just for the challenge. Nothing else. He ignored the slight increase in his heartbeat or flush to his cheeks. Jester did the same, or at least tried. They both lay there, falling asleep… Until a loud ambulance woke them up and panicked, rushed voices entered the hospital frantically. Jester was the first one to rise, quickly closing the curtain on their room. They peaked their head out, looking out. They saw Fan’s body on a bed, the safety squad and Salt. Jester covered their mouth and hid again, turning off their lights and slipping back into bed with Jack, who was definitely awake.
“They’re here..”
“Jus’ go back to bed..”
Jack mumbled. He wrapped his arms around the robot, sleepily nuzzling his face in their hair. Jester heated up, like a weighted blanket. They didn’t know what they would do without him. Sleeping with the enemy, huh? Literally, not figuratively.