Chapter Text
Pomni can’t believe it. She must be dreaming. She could practically see the fireworks that were currently going off inside her big, dumb head. Outside, however, she had to do her damndest to be there for Ragatha— her beloved rag doll was standing there, before her and all their friends, with tears in her eye and a slight tremor in her voice, just announced to them that she’s coming out. She’s a lesbian! The jester's frantic excitement is clearly out of place. Shaking off her stupefied expression, she's quickly up from her spot on the couch, her hand finding its home on the small of her rag doll’s back and the other in her mitt, rubbing soothing circles over the familiar fabric. Once things have settled and everyone has given their congratulations and reassurances that Ragatha is, and will always be, well loved, Pomni's short-circuiting, firework fried brain quickly scrambles up her next move.
She knows that being honest is always the correct course of action when it comes to Ragatha. It's an integral part of their relationship, and Pomni knows this, but... Ragatha just came out. Would she think Pomni was weird for suddenly confessing to her? Would it be creepy to ask her for a date? What if she had misread Ragatha's feelings for her? Maybe she just likes her as a friend? What if she just feels sorry for her? Does she want more? Does she want less? Is it too soon? Would she be too much? It’s too fresh to be completely honest with her, right...? She needs to find a work around... she needs to send some signals. Her mind wanders back to the first time she threw herself at the rag doll unprompted. Okay, she needs to send some subtle signals. She's a grown woman. She can do this.
The following day, the circus crew had plans to take a field trip to a cozy little museum that Caine had whipped up per Gangle's request. Their adventure was simple, enjoy the ambiance and collect stamps when they found specific fish and bugs (no centipedes, per Ragatha's demand) the museum had to offer. Something akin to a fuzzy memory of a childhood video game, Pomni recalls. It sounded nice, slow, and sweet— the perfect opportunity to spend some alone time with Ragatha. Well, it wasn't as if they didn't already spend most, if not all, of their adventure time together— and their friends were all well aware that when they were to be paired off, the jester and the rag doll would quickly be hand in hand. As if one of their friends would suddenly decide to swoop in and whisk her away, Pomni practically pounces on the rag doll as soon as they've stepped into the museum's atrium.
"Hey, you wanna be on my team?" Déjà vu strikes the jester. Well, at least that means she's on the right track, right?
"Oh!" Ragatha, oddly enough, has a familiar flicker of nervousness cross her face just as it had the last time they were here, but she recovers, "I'd love to, Pomni," her expression softens, and her mitt quickly finds the hand the jester offered her.
Gangle, her ribbons wound tightly around one of Zooble's arms, excitedly pulls them down the hall towards the fresh water fish exhibit— telling them something about getting the chance to test her gesture drawings skills during their trip today. Caine floats closely after Kinger as the two head in the opposite direction towards the bugs, eagerly nodding along as the older man tells him all kinds of interesting bug facts. Caine was definitely taking notes for future tweaks to the exhibit. Pomni and Ragatha decide to go and see the salt water fish first, since that was the last exhibit in the museum had to offer in its current state. It was dark and quiet, save for the soft music and the burbling of water. It reminded Pomni of the aquarium they'd set up for all the abstracted players. She considered asking Caine to add similar music to the space. Perhaps they'd find it soothing, too?
The two take a slow circuit around the exhibit before settling down on a bench in front of an expansive tank, filled with colorful coral and a waving forest of seaweed. Schools of fish lazily circle the tank, while a green moray eel occasionally pops out to take a curious peek at the guests from its home behind a brain coral. A blacktip shark swims in the opposite direction of the other fish, catching Pomni's attention. She likes sharks, she thinks. Their teeth are cool.
Pomni suddenly breaks the silence with a snort, "Look at that guy," she points at a unicornfish swimming all by its lonesome, "he's got a stupid nose."
Ragatha smirks at the fish before returning her gaze down to her companion, "Don't be mean to him!" She gives the jester a playful shove with her shoulder. "He's probably self conscious about it."
"He should be! Just look at it!" She leans back into the rag doll, who's currently flipping through the little brochure Caine had given them.
"Oh! He's actually one of the fish we needed to find," Ragatha points to the picture of the sad little unicornfish with an unmarked box next to it. A stamp with Caine's face and a thumbs up suddenly pops into existence with a little jingle, checking the box off. "Nice catch, Pomni!"
The jester can't help but crow at the praise. "We're so gonna win this adventure."
Ragatha chuckles softly. "I don't think winning is the point," she pauses, considering, "what kind of reward do you think Caine would give us if we did win?"
"Probably a stupid fish hat..." The jester mumbles under her breath.
That elicits a warm babble of laughter from the rag doll. Oh, Pomni's smitten. She bumps Ragatha with her shoulder again.
"I'm so glad we're partners," the words come out of the jester as a blissful sigh, but the way Ragatha's laughter suddenly peters out makes her breath hitch. Her head whips up towards the rag doll, meeting her bewildered gaze. Her smile is still there, albeit tense, and, oh, her face is the same color as her pretty curls. Whoops. That probably sounded weird, right? "I-I mean, like, during the adventure!" Pomni hauls herself off of the rag doll as if she'd been burned, shrinking to the very edge of the bench, "Partners, in the adventure, as in the adventure that we're on right now!"
"Y-yeah! Yeah, right! Right," Ragatha quickly sputters, head whipping away from the pathetic little jester to stare desperately into the tank.
If Pomni hadn't mimicked the rag doll, her eyes also squarely on the tank, she might have caught the heartbreaking expression that crossed her face. Instead, she's preoccupied with the deep blue before her. Maybe the glass will suddenly break and the shark could just go ahead and eat her whole. She wasn't about to ruin their time together. She needs to reel her back in, and quick.
"W-what else do we need to find...?" Pomni mumbles, deciding that focusing on the adventure's goal should be a sufficient change of subject.
Thankfully, Ragatha is always up for the larp. "Right! Well, let's see..."
Pomni cautiously scoots back towards the center of the bench as Ragatha offers to share the brochure with her. Her once troubled expression softens, watching tenderly as Pomni busies herself with the long list of fish.
On the second day, Pomni asks if Ragatha would help her work on her softball pitches. The jester had been doing her best to step out of her comfort zone since the circus' change in management many months ago— baking, playing softball, doing practically anything her beloved rag doll asked of her. But they hadn't practiced their pitches just the two of them before. Ragatha, clearly delighted, obliges. After a quick trek down to the field and changing into their uniforms, they find themselves standing by home plate— Pomni listening intently to Ragatha's instructions on her form.
"Hey, dollface!" Seemingly out of nowhere, Evil Pomni is here— hanging over the railing in the stands above them. Do the evil clones just live somewhere on this map...? "Whatcha doin' after you're done with this nerd? Wanna get a little closer to this guy?" She makes an obscene gesture.
Oh, for god's sake. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Ragatha's face alight with color, an uncomfortable look stitched on her face. No, this is not happening.
"F%$!# off," Pomni takes a step forward, putting herself between her evil clone and the rag doll.
"Woah, man, chill! It’s not like she's yours," she sneers down her nonexistent nose at her counterpart.
She was right, Ragatha wasn't hers. Oh, that f%$!#ker knows the exact buttons to push. A deep blush blooms on Pomni's pale face, exacerbated by the fact that she's wearing white. Well, she isn't taking the bait. She isn't about to let her clone self-sabotage their game— this was important.
"We're busy," the jester doesn't even bother saying this to her doppelgänger's face as she's already trotting to her spot on the pitcher's mound.
"Geez, you're no fun. You got a stick up your a%$!# or somethin'?"
Pomni doesn't give her the satisfaction of a response. She's focused on Ragatha, preparing her first pitch. She knows herself. If she isn't rewarded a reaction, she'll give up. Perhaps that's just one of the many reasons why she's become so enamored with Ragatha— the doll gives her the upmost attention she so desperately craves.
“Whatever. Welp, I’ve had just about five lines of dialogue, so I’m out. See ya later, loser!" The doppelgänger makes an L with her hand and holds it to her forehead before she saunters off.
There we go. Just what Pomni was hoping for. She grins at Ragatha before she pitches the ball. It's sloppy, and Ragatha has to reach to catch it, but she returns Pomni's wide grin regardless.
"That was great, Pomni!" She cheers, clapping her mitt and her softball gloved mitt together.
Pomni's blush returns in full force. Maybe she should consider asking Ragatha to trade her to the Sunrays.
On the third day, Pomni and Ragatha have their weekly Dungeons and Dragons session with Gangle and Caine. Their campaign had been going strong these past few months, and they'd all gotten to the point where Gangle didn't need to explain the game's mechanics to her players every turn. It was nice, and something they all looked forward to every week. Today Gangle had meticulously prepared for them a ribbon themed red dragon to fight. She was a step above their usual opponents, but Gangle felt they were ready for the challenge. What Gangle wasn't ready for, though, was Pomni throwing to prove her love and devotion to Ragatha.
The dragon had downed Ragatha's barbarian, and instead of doing anything actually useful with her wizard, Pomni decides to play hero.
"Don’t worry, Dolly the Dreadful," Pomni vigorously shakes the dice in her hand, "I’m coming to save you! I put myself in between the dragon and Dolly, and cast fire bolt!" She tosses the dice.
Oh, that’s a critical failure.
"You trip on a crack in the stones, interrupting your concentration and blowing yourself up with the fire bolt," Gangle drawls, clearly aggravated, "Ragatha, can you make a saving throw, please?"
Both Pomni and Ragatha cringe when her constitution doesn't save her.
"You get hit by the blast..." Gangle fiddles with some papers from behind her divider, trying to find a way to get her little ragtag party out of this situation alive.
”Pomni, what were you thinking?!" Caine suddenly wails, "How am I gonna bard my way outta this one!” He really just had to drive home Pomni's f%$!# up.
She glances apologetically at Ragatha from across the table before the party gets predictably wiped— Gangle mercifully changing the encounter to end with the dragon fleeing, promising that she would finish them another day. As punishment, Gangle has her swipe a few pieces of precious treasure and coin they'd accumulated thus far. Nice going, hero.