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Zooble's bar adventure was unfortunately cut short. Not for Zooble, but for both Pomni and Ragatha. They had all ordered their drinks, allowing conversation to flow aimlessly through the environment of this lowkey adventure. Jax teased others, Kinger sipped his Corn Cob Blitz, and Ragatha couldn't stop eyeing the jester just a few feet beside her. Their life stories were already out in the open, the doll finding solace in drowning out the pressure of eyes pointed her way by downing her beverage and ordering another Cosmopolitan.
Down the row, she saw the way Jax poked and prodded Pomni, leaning on her shoulder, the woman brushing his hand off in annoyance. It irked the doll's soul, seeing the way they got on with each other so effortlessly. She knew it must've been all in her head, although— Ragatha was no stranger to how relationships ended for those involved with the rabbit. But of course, she drowned it out again, because who was she to get in between something that made Pomni so happy, right? Just, oh so comfortable.
Ragatha ordered yet another Cosmopolitan.
And as the night waned on, and her peers who she hoped were her friends kept chatting around her, two Cosmopolitans turned into three.
Then four.
Then five.
And before she knew it, Ragatha wasn't making any sense to herself. Her brain had become fuzzy, dazed in a way she didn't know could happen in the digital circus. The effects felt similar to her accidental shot of stupid sauce, though more soft and gentle. But even so, she wasn't coherent. She wasn't sitting upright, good Lord she wasn't sober.
And Pomni saw that. She knew.
Down the bar's counter, Ragatha was giggling to a conversation no one thought to include her in. They were only mindless sounds, little chirps of fondness Pomni quirked a brow at. Jax leaned his elbows on the counter, swirling his Whisky Sour in his cup, letting the ice clink against the sides while he snickered at Ragatha's unconventional state. Pomni eyed him once, then twice, stomach blooming a red flag at that ever-present smirk along his lips. It didn't sit right with her, though really that was safe to say for anything Jax did.
"Hey, uh.. Gangle?" Pomni asked.
The ribbon woman turned her head, pausing whatever drawing she was working on to upturn those already saddened eyes.
"Would you mind, uhm, switching seats with me? If that's okay?"
Zooble creased their brows suspiciously, halting the drying of a glass in their hands.
Gangle's face dropped for a moment, leaning over to see Jax looking around absentmindedly, nudging Kinger to bother him about whatever the hell he wanted. She sighed, wordlessly taking her sketchbook before glancing at Ragatha with her head on the table, arms strewn acrossed it like she had gone boneless.
"..S-Sure."
"Thanks," Pomni smiled, silently vowing to repay the favor one day.
Ragatha's eyes were half-lidded, her face flushed from the alcohol currently marring her senses. She heard the chair beside her scrape unpleasantly against the bar's floor, the doll turning her head to see a certain jester scooting in beside her. Ragatha's expression turned saccharine, a dopey smile on her lips at the sight of Pomni's nervous self folding her hands on the bar's counter. She shifted her view to the doll for a moment, officially deducing that yeah… Girl was drunk.
"Hiiii Pomniiiiii," Ragatha slurred. The jester turned her head, slouching slightly over the counter.
"Ragatha, hey. You uhm, you doing okay?" She asked.
The rag doll giggled, inching more closer to Pomni than she would have allowed herself under an alcohol-free mind. If she would've allowed herself at all.
"Ooooh yeah, haha. Just fine, Poms. Peachy!" She chuckled, Pomni nodded along awkwardly.
"That's great. Hey Zooble, could I order a glass of water, please?"
The mix-and-match toy took in the sights of the two, eyes flitting from the rag doll to the jester, and wordlessly handed her the glass. Because oh boy, did she need it.
"Ragatha here, sip this slowly for me, please," Pomni ordered, pushing the glass towards her. Ragatha lifted her head sluggishly, blinking her eyes like she was seeing a liquid in a solid for the first time in her life.
"Huh? W-Why..?" She asked innocently, tilting her head to the side. Pomni pursed her lips together, sighing.
"B-Because you're drunk, okay? I think I'm gonna take you back to your room after this. You're not aware enough for this adventure."
Ragatha looked to the glass of water, raising it to her lips and drinking it slowly. Pomni hovered her hand below her, assuring the water wouldn't spill by accident.
"No..? What do you mean? I'm.. having such a greeeaat time. Hey wait, have you always had this bowtie?" Ragatha asked, a hand reaching for the strip of fabric around Pomni's collar. She took it between her fingers, running them along the material before the jester carefully pried her hand away and back onto the glass of water.
"Yeah. Yep. I'm taking you back to your room."
She'd explain their absence to Caine later. For now, the steps were her biggest enemy. With Ragatha's arm slung around her shoulder, Pomni lugged them both up to their rooms. The doll's head rested upon the jester's, cheek pressed into her hat. Pomni kept her eyes glued to the top of the stairs, one foot in front of the other and a drunk rag doll weighing on top of her. Though, she didn't mind. If anything, she'd be more than obliged to help Ragatha to her room any day. Under these circumstances or not, it wouldn't matter.
Her mind drifted back to the bar, to that sickly sweet smile on Ragatha face when she sat beside her. When those normally languid eyes turned to piercing pinpoints when Jax had the audacity to lay an arm, let alone a whole a finger, atop Pomni's head. It stirred some emotions the jester didn't know how to process, not yet at least. Though in the present, she let them be what they were; turbulent, fuzzy, confusing, and warm. And the setting Pomni found herself in only exacerbated it all. In the best ways possible.
"Pom…Pomni—" Ragatha spoke, barely above a whisper. Pomni's heart lurched in her chest, her grip on the doll tightening imperceptibly.
"Yeah? What's up?"
"I'm.. sorry. I'm so sorry for this."
Ragatha's head still rested on top of Pomni's, so the jester had no choice but to keep her view fixed to the stairs.
"Eh, don't worry about it. Just happy to help."
The doll made a soft hum of appreciation, the weight of her body growing even more as Ragatha allowed herself to lean into Pomni's assistance. The jester kept holding her, kept those gloved hands around her waist while the other supported her arm. If Ragatha were sober, she'd be as stiff as a board.
"You look… really dashing tonight, Poms," Ragatha chuckled, taking one stuttering step after the other. Pomni's pinwheeled pupils reduced to dots, a faint pink growing beneath a pale complexion. She cleared her throat, a weak and squeaky sound.
"T-Thank you? You uh, you as well."
"You think so?"
Shit.
Pomni swallowed, the action feeling like a herculean task due to the dryness of her mouth and throat. But even so, the jester nodded wordlessly, feeling relief when her dress shoes met the solid ground of the last stair. She hoisted Ragatha up once again, keeping them both focused on the task at hand. But for the love of her, she couldn't keep her mind completely stagnant at the feeling of Ragatha toying with her undone bowtie. Pomni's stomach twisted in knots, unraveing and tightening again in wonderfully awful and awfully wonderful repeats. She breathed through it, passing every door until she finally stopped at Ragatha's.
"We're.. here," she exhaled, a piece of a chuckle finding its way out like a last ditch effort to will these sensations away. Ragatha remained silent, her eyes never leaving the jester's face as Pomni opened the door and brought them inside. The doll's room was quaint, simple, and perfectly warm, just as she was. A bed in the right corner, a bookshelf to the left, a piano Pomni couldn't help but wonder how Ragatha played with her conjoined digits. If she could play the piano at all, that is. Tonight, Pomni would learn a lot about the rag doll.
"Alright, I'm just gonna— lay you down.. here," the jester sighed, laying Ragatha on her quilted sheets, the woman sinking into the mattress like a weighted blanket. Pomni chewed her lip in thought, not wanting the doll to fall asleep uncomfortably, so she took it upon herself to remove Ragatha's shoes and pearl necklace as well. She set them down beside her bed, removing her own jester hat before sitting on the edge of the mattress, sighing into her hands. Pomni looked behind her, smiling fondly as she set eyes on the rag doll, out like a light while sawing soft Z's. The jester faced forward, sighing as she slouched in on herself.
"Get it together, Pomni. For the love of [HONK!] she's a friend."
"Who cares if she makes me feel safe?"
"Those looks didn't mean anything."
"She's drunk, none of this is real. None of it."
Pomni didn't notice the shift in the weight of the mattress, the soft russling of sheets behind her too quiet to grab her attention. The jester was too deep in her head, occupied with refuting the reality of internal feelings practically spelling out a certain doll's name loud and clear even for the most legally blind to see. Pomni murmured and muttered, trying and failing to convince herself that the events of the night were nothing but a drunken illusion. She sighed softly, a hand rubbing the back of her neck to ease it of whatever crick it contained.
"What a day. Better head back to my own roo…"
Arms.
Pomni's breath hitched as she felt those plush arms envelope her middle, a head plopping down on her shoulder. The jester could practically feel the heat radiating off of Ragatha's fabric skin as her body snuggled into the woman's. She faced forward, feeling stunned as her figure remained still under the doll's hold.
"Um… Uh…." Pomni trailed off, glancing down at the gentle clutch encircling her torso.
"R-Ragatha?! What are you—"
"Please… Just— stay…" Was all she could answer with, snuggling deeper into Pomni's neck and body while her arms tightened ever so slightly.
Pomni's gaze softened, her outward demeanor completely contrasting the way she felt inside. She was grateful for her avatar's design in that moment, sweaty palms were no one's friend. And if they are? That's kinda weird. Her heart thumped in her chest like a rabbit's foot against a grassy ground. Pomni swallowed back her nerves as she rested a hand over Ragatha's arm, ignoring the way her face reddened even more as their touches collided.
"..I'll stay."
Pomni didn't know what she was expecting. All she did was climb further on the bed, while Ragatha sat back on her legs, hands folded in front of her. Even in the dimness of her room, the jester couldn't pull her eyes away from how beautiful she looked to her. Pomni's head was just barely meeting the headboard, back to fluffy pillows as she rested on her elbows. Ragatha had a look in her eye the jester couldn't quite place. It was something she'd never seen in the rag doll before, something timid, teetering on desire. Something hungry, though doing its best to remained restrained. Pomni chuckled nervously at first, the sound dipping down low and ending once Ragatha crawled closer to her from her initial position.
Before she could even process what was happening, the doll was looming over her, face flushed and wanting nothing but who was in front of her. Pomni sputtered, flustered panic rising in her chest as Ragatha's arms were planted on either side of her.
"I… I don't think this is a really good idea…" Pomni tried, a nervous smile the only thing she could think of to quell these terribly sultry waves. The rag doll inched closer, Pomni doing everything in her power to keep her eyes fixed to Ragatha's face as she scooted more into the pillows.
"I'll.. go and get Caine to—Y'know, fix you right up… Y-Yeah," she told her, both of their lips mere moments away from one another, Pomni scrunched her eyes shut as she braced for impact. The rate at which her heart was racing would be enough to make any NASCAR driver blush, the sound of it rushing through her non-existent ears as Ragatha came closer and closer until…
Thud.
Oh.
Pomni peeked an eye open, glancing down to see Ragatha collapsed on top of her, head on her chest and as still as statue.
"R.. Ragatha!?" She yelped, shifting to her eyes to the rest of the doll's body. Pomni's emotions settled once she noticed the slow rise and fall of Ragatha's back, and the way her arms were fastened beneath Pomni's body, holding her like her own personal stuffed animal.
"S… She fell asleep?"
The jester groaned out with her hands plastered onto her face, a furious blush overtaking it.
"[BOINK!], I really thought she was gonna kiss me," Pomni breathed out, a sense of relief washing over her. She moved her hands away from her face, finally seeing Ragatha in all her sleeping beauty (please laugh). She looked so peaceful in this state, completely loosened and let go from the events of today. Pomni's heart fluttered at the sight of it, the way Ragatha's breathing was so soft and gentle as she slept, it made the jester feel a sense of protectiveness come over her. She carried her to her room, made sure she was comfortable, and by everything in this amazing digital hellhole, Pomni would make sure the doll slept soundly as well.
Though of course, it wouldn't be without that side of butterflies.
"My heart's beating so fast right now, I feel like it's gonna burst out of my chest…" Pomni confessed quietly, a hand running over Ragatha's soft yarn locks.
"I wonder if you can hear it in your sleep."
The jester huffed thoughtfully, smiling down at Ragatha as she continued to stroke her hand over her hair. Past the doll, Pomni tried her best to reach her duvet hanging off the edge of the bed, praying she wouldn't wake Ragatha in the process. She snagged it at last, bringing it over both of them, making sure it covered the doll perfectly. Ragatha adjusted to the new warmth, snuggling into Pomni's side as the jester draped an arm around her, the former finding that comfortable spot against her chest again while the weight of Pomni's head rested atop her own.
She yawned, the jester's body succumbing to the hands of sleep as it overtook her. In her last moments before she eventually drifted off, Pomni kept Ragatha in her sight, smiling contently to herself as they both rested completely and utterly in each other's arms.