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"For today's adventure, I'll be fulfilling your wildest fantasies!"
Oh, god, what.
Jax puts a hand on his hip, but before he can speak Caine snaps him off stage. The same then happens to Kinger. Pomni can’t whip her head fast enough to check on the others before Caine zips down, teeth dangerously close to her face. Her stomach sinks.
"And you, my dears," he nods his teeth at her before glancing to Ragatha, stock-still beside her, "will be paired together for this adventure! Have fun!"
Pomni opens her mouth to protest, but she's already elsewhere. The gut wrenching feeling of getting teleported around the map never gets any easier. She can't help but stumble and fall forward, landing on her hands and knees. The ground is soft, thankfully— a plush patchwork comforter that she recognizes. She’s in Ragatha’s room. Sitting on Ragatha’s bed. And, lo and behold, Ragatha is also here, sitting in front of her. The only problem is Ragatha is huge. Or, rather, Pomni is... small. Like, really small. No taller than Ragatha’s hand, from the looks of it.
What the f%$!#.
Clearly Ragatha’s also trying to process what just happened. She glances around the room, confusion set on her face. Finally her eye catches something on her bed, a small, vivid splash of red and blue popping from the pastels of her floral comforter. She pales.
"P-Pomni?" She cautiously scoots forward, "Is that really you...?"
Pomni can’t help but scramble back as the rag doll closes the distance between them. It makes poor Ragatha flinch back, hurt apparent on her face. Pomni hates the look, but her fear quickly overrides the feeling. Then another feeling surfaces— anger.
"What... what the f%$!# did he do?!" She pounds her little fists into the comforter.
Ragatha wrings her hands, "I... I don't know, I—"
Something suddenly clicks in Pomni’s tiny head. She recalls the night prior, she and Zooble on the floor somewhere in the tent, stupid sauce in their eyes. Zooble had a dollop from Ragatha's bottle, swiped from their Spudsy's adventure. They had offered to share it with Pomni, which she gladly partook in. She'd do just about anything to forget the fact that she was stuck in this digital hell.
"Okay, okay," Zooble rubs at their eye, "how about this one... your wildest fantasy."
Pomni blinks slowly, considering the question, "I think I... wanna hug from Ragatha..." The jester sighs dreamily.
Zooble cocks their head at her, an eyebrow raised. It was almost as if Pomni's wildest fantasy suddenly made them lucid.
Pomni can't help but flush. "I mean like... a big ol' hug from her!” She repeats, throwing her arms around her middle, as if the demonstration would change anything, "I just... I dunno... I just want her to hold me..." Her arms go slack, shoulders slumping. She's too sauced up to properly save herself from this embarrassing revelation.
"That’s..." Zooble drawls, "sad, dude..." They're too sauced up to be anything but brutally honest with her.
The jester had been told on multiple occasions that she'd been quick to adjust to circus life, almost impressively so. That may have been the case to anyone who wasn't her. It had been difficult to cope with her new reality, to say the least. Pomni was never very touchy in her life before arriving to the circus, but the torturous experience that was this sensory nightmare of a digital purgatory made her feel as if she needed something. Something comforting. The thought of the rag doll's reassuring touch, encompassing her and holding her tight, sounded like heaven.
"What about you then, huh? If mine's so sad..."
"Y'know," Zooble starts cautiously, "you could probably just ask her for a hug. I'm sure she'd be over the moon, if you asked."
Pomni doesn't have the wherewithal to decode Zooble's words in her current state, so, instead, silence hangs between them. After another beat, Zooble sighs.
"As for my fantasy," they start back up, a claw raised, "I want the ability to have—"
Pomni doesn’t catch the rest, her eyes suddenly heavy. She can’t remember what exactly happened after that.
"Pomni..."
Her head snaps up to the voice calling her out of her thoughts.
"Please," Ragatha tries once more, looming high above her. She had managed to wiggle her way closer to Pomni without notice.
Her fantasy, a big ol' hug from Ragatha. Caine... that motherf%$!#ker. She should have figured he spies on them. And, on top of that, he took her words literally. Why would she want this?
"Pomni?" Despite her imposing size, the ragdoll is clearly distressed. If Pomni weren’t so scared herself she would reach out and comfort her.
"I," her mouth suddenly feels so dry, "sorry, Ragatha. Yeah, yeah it’s me."
Ragatha sighs, her tense shoulders falling ever so slightly. "Are you... okay?"
"No, not really," the jester can't help the awkward chuckle that comes out of her, "you’re... kinda, um," scary? Is she, though? She’s still Ragatha. And deep down in her little heart she knows Ragatha would never do anything to hurt her. But being thrown into this scenario— that was scary. What could she say instead? "Big." She winces.
Ragatha’s eye widens. She hadn’t had the time to think about how she looks from Pomni’s diminutive perspective. Oh, god.
"Oh, my god!" Ragatha jerks back, pressing herself against the headboard, "I am so sorry Pomni, I... I must be terrifying right now, I—"
That’s exactly what Pomni wanted to avoid.
"N-no, no no, you’re not! You’re just— I’m just, ugh," she pulls at the tail ends of her cap, "stupid f%$!#king circus!" She mutters before continuing, "You’re not scary! I’m just scared, is all! D-does that make sense...?"
Ragatha wants to believe her, but her anxiety won’t let her. She nods in agreement anyway.
"Would... this help?" Slowly, she lowers herself onto the bed until she's prone, her head tucked in her arms, now eye level with Pomni.
Ragatha, regardless of the situation, does her best to make herself as small as possible. Doing so here would prove tricky, but the pocket sized jester seemed to appreciate her efforts.
"Y-yeah, actually," she sighs, relaxing a bit, "that does help. Thanks."
Ragatha can't stop the soft smile that finds its way across her felt lip. Pomni feels herself mirroring that smile. Yup, she's still Ragatha, and she's still Pomni— despite the circumstances. Now a bit more composed, the little jester considers the situation. This had been her fantasy, right? And Ragatha wasn't about to do a d%$!#n thing unless Pomni took the initiative. If they want to finish this adventure...
She steels herself before standing, then pads over the comforter towards the rag doll. Ragatha can't help but tense, shrinking further into the nest of her soft arms as Pomni approaches.
"H-hey," the little jester puffs, finally stopping before the rag doll's face. Crossing a queen sized bed when you're only about a hand tall is quite the workout, apparently.
"Hi," Ragatha squeaks back, voice softer now that Pomni was so close.
Pomni settles down on the comforter, hands in her lap. "Sorry for freaking out," she glances down at her hands, picking at her gloves, "I just wasn't expecting... this?" She glances back up sheepishly.
Ragatha chuckles quietly, "Me neither," she rolls her eye, "sometimes Caine can be... a little unpredictable."
Pomni winces. Well, this was what she asked for. "R-right, well," she scratches at the back of her head, glancing away, "he said this was supposed to be, uh, one of our... fantasies?" Speaking it into existence makes it feel so much worse.
"Fantasies, huh...?" The rag doll echoes before her eye falls to the comforter, brow knit in thought. "I, um, don't think that this is... one of mine?" It was clear that her wildest fantasies wasn't something she had been talking about anytime recently— unlike a certain jester.
"I think it... might be mine," Pomni couldn't meet her eye, but she could feel the heat coming off of Ragatha's face as she flushes.
Whatever this was, it seemed just having Ragatha involved in one of Pomni's "fantasies" made her bloom with color. Neither of them can speak for a moment— Ragatha stunned into silence and Pomni too cowardly to continue.
The rag doll finally finds not knowing what Pomni means to be too much to bear. "Wh— what is this supposed to be, exactly...?"
Mortifying, apparently. Absolutely, and totally, humiliating.
"I think, uh, Caine... I-I don't know why he had to make me so d%$!#n small," she lies, not wanting to go into detail about her night with Zooble or Caine taking her literally, "but I think I just... it's just..." She quickly starts to crumble. The thought of being stuck here, forever, never remembering her name, never returning to herself, her life— it was terrifying, overwhelming, all encompassing, suffocating. Her vision blurs. She curls into herself. She can feel the comforter shift as Ragatha pulls herself closer.
"P-Pomni," she calls, desperate, "what's wrong? Please..."
Pomni glances up, nothing but the rag doll's face in her field of view, blurred by tears. And oh, god, she can see the gleam in her eye, tears threatening to spill, her lip quivering. At some point, she had pulled one of her hands out from under her, hovering nearby, desperate to comfort her, but never touching the little jester. Something snaps in her. She lunges forward, gripping the rag doll's hand as if her life depended on it. Ragatha gasps, flinching at the sudden moment, but she catches the small weight— providing the needed support to keep her standing.
"I... I'm terrified, Ragatha," she mumbles into her mitt, "I just wanted you to give me a hug," she finally breathes out, "please."
Pomni can feel all the tension in Ragatha's hand melt. "Oh, Pomni," her voice warbles, "I... I can do that. Of course."
Slowly, and very, very gently, Ragatha presses her fingers against her in the most awkward hug ever had in circus history. Pomni squeezes her arms around the rag doll's pointer finger harder— her breaths still shallow and wet. She can hear Ragatha gently coo somewhere above her, her own voice laced with sorrow and threatening tears. It makes her chest ache.
"Ragatha, can you... hold me here?" Pomni pulls a hand away, resting it just below where her collarbone would be, "I'd like to hug you back even if..." she shrugs, her hand falling by the wayside, "I can't, really..."
Something snaps in her. Tears finally spring from the rag doll's eye. "Y-yeah, of course, I'd—" she pauses so sniffle, "I'd really like that."
She slowly tilts her hand, careful not to leave the jester, offering her palm up. Pomni practically falls limp into it. Even though the ragdoll's hand is, in all intents and purposes, almost identical to the comforter that was just underneath her, it still felt strange. Unlike the comforter, Ragatha was warm, she was breathing, she was living. It was an odd sensation, but not one that the jester wanted to shy away from. With great care, Ragatha pulls herself up from the bed, one hand pushing herself up while the other holds steadfast onto her precious cargo. She leans back against the headboard, her legs pulled close to her chest— she doesn't bother wiping away her tears, she's too busy using both hands to cup the little jester as she gets comfortable. Once she's settled, she meets Pomni's gaze. The jester gives her a gentle nod, encouraging her to go on. With her lip pursed, she leans forward, her hands moving carefully to bring Pomni to her chest without dropping her. Pomni moves with her, her arm hooked around the space between her thumb and pointer, before she's finally close enough to throw herself onto the rag doll's chest.
Ragatha jolts, a quiet"oh!" escaping her, but Pomni's now quick to reassure her, giving her her fingers still hovering nearby a comforting pat as settles down against the rag doll. She holds her arms out, hands open, as if she were embracing her. Despite not having nearly enough coverage, the sentiment still manages to melt Ragatha's heart. Her hands come to rest against Pomni's back as she leans against the headboard, sighing deeply. Being so close to someone else— it was terrifying, overwhelming, all encompassing, suffocating... but, somehow, it was comforting. Her heartbeat, her warmth, the ins and outs of her breaths and the way she would rise and fall along with them. It was so much. Pomni nuzzles her face into the fabric her dress, trying to get closer.
"How are you feeling, Pomni?" Ragatha whispers, but that doesn't stop her voice from vibrating through the jester's entire body. It's strange, but she finds that she liked the feeling. Is something wrong with her?
She cautiously lifts her head, finding Ragatha glancing down at her. It's an awkward angle, but Pomni finds it cute. Is something wrong with her...? "B-better now, thanks to you."
Pomni can feel Ragatha's heart start to hammer hard against her own chest. Her once shy smile morphing into a smirk. She files that information away for later.
"How about you?" The jester rubs circles into the rag doll's chest, trying, and failing, to quiet her heart, "Are you... okay, Ragatha?"
"I-I'm fine," she stutters through a wobbly grin, "more than fine, actually."
Pomni feels herself mirroring that grin. They were still the same, despite the circumstances. Their glance lingers for a bit longer before Pomni realizes probably being weird. She quickly returns her head to the rag doll's chest, as if that was any better.
"So, uh, what about you? Can you think of any wild fantasies?"
Ragatha flushes, squirming, "I can think of one in particular, but it's... embarrassing."
Pomni pulls her head up from her chest again, quirking an eyebrow.
Ragatha purses her lip. "I... uh, wanted to take you horseback riding..."
Heat blooms in the jester's face. She returns it to the ragdoll's chest once more. "Knowing Caine, he'd probably made me the horse..."
Ragatha chuckles, bouncing the little jester. The motion sends a tingle up her spine. Something, clearly, is wrong with her.
"Thanks, Ragatha," she mumbles into her dress, "for the hug."
Ragatha holds onto Pomni just a little bit tighter.