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The group had just returned from another crazy adventure from Caine and everyone was exhausted. However as they came back to the circus, Jax immediately took off running. “Jax?!” Pomni shouted after him. But he didn’t stop. Concerned, she turned to the rest of the group. “I'm gonna go check on Jax real quick. I'll see you guys later.”
“Okay. See you later, Pomni.” Ragatha said as she waved goodbye.
Pomni walked towards Jax’s room and knocked on the door. “Jax? Are you okay?” She suddenly heard whining on the other side. She knocked again. “Jax?” Still no response. “I'm coming in, okay?” She carefully opened the door.
When she looked inside, she saw Jax cowering under his blanket. His body was completely covered and he seemed scared.
Pomni stepped a little closer. “Jax, what’s wrong?”
“Go away!” He yelled.
He sounded more panicked and scared. Pomni was a little confused but kept calm and didn’t say anything about his behavior. “Are you scared?” He made a small noise in confirmation. “What are you scared of?”
“Mom and dad.” He replied.
Pomni started feeling really bad for him. She can't imagine being scared of her own parents. “Why?”
“Dad always hits me. And mom makes me feel stupid.”
“They’re not here right now.” She said gently. She tried her best to comfort him in any way she could.
Jax peeked out of the blanket. “You sure?”
Pomni nodded. “Yeah. You’re safe.”
He slowly crawled out from under the blanket and onto the floor. He sat against the bed, cross legged.
Pomni noticed something was definitely off about Jax. She didn’t know what it was, but something was going on. But she didn’t want to pressure him and scare him by asking questions. She closed the gap between them and scooted a little closer to him. “Wanna see something?” He asked.
“Sure.” She replied. Jax quickly stood up and went to a corner of the room, searching a bookshelf. A moment later, he returned holding a doll. It was a mermaid with red hair. Pomni immediately recognized it. “Oh! Ariel!” She exclaimed.
Jax nodded. “She's my favorite. I like her hair.” He said as he ran his hand through the doll's hair. “Dad would always yell at me about it. He said I shouldn't like dolls cause I'm a boy.”
Pomni frowned at that. Toxic masculinity huh? Not a good thing to instill into someone. “Well, he's wrong. You can like anything you want.” She said, trying to encourage him.
He looked down at her. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yeah. You don’t need to hide it from me.”
Jax fidgeted a little bit before sitting back down, this time right next to Pomni.
During their time, Jax rambled on about Ariel and his favorite things about her.
After spending nearly the rest of the day together, Jax had grown really tired. He struggled to stay awake. Pomni looked over at him. “Jax, it's okay if you're tired. You can rest.”
Suddenly Jax crawled into her lap, wrapping his arms around her. Pomni stiffened on impulse. “Hug me please.” He muttered.
“Okay.” Awkwardly she complied and returned the hug. As time went on, she got more comfortable.
“Can you rock me?” He asked.
Pomni agreed and began rocking back and forth in a soothing rhythm, holding him close. Jax closed his eyes and soon fell asleep. Pomni could tell when she felt his body go limp.
She attempted to move him to the floor, but he just clung to her harder. So she gave him a few minutes. About 20 minutes later she tried again. And it worked this time. She successfully layed him down on the floor. She grabbed the blanket from his bed and covered him.
Jax subconsciously rolled over and curled into the fetal position. A moment later, he began to suck on his thumb.
Pomni had to stifle a giggle. Not because she was making fun of him, but because she thought it was cute. She bent over and gently kissed his cheek. “Night Jax.” She quietly crept out of the room. She hoped Jax would feel better after what happened. She didn’t think the adventure scarred him that badly. But hopefully he recovers. She really hoped.