Chapter Text
"So how do you guys eat without a mouth?" Pomni asked, looking back and forth between Kinger and Zooble.
The cast was currently hanging out in the familiar sitting area they tended to gravitate to between adventures. It was one of the few places in the circus tent that actually had normalish furniture, aside from their bedrooms. Pomni sat in one of the more rendered armchairs. Zooble, Gangle, and Ragatha sat on a long blue sofa with Zooble closest to Pomni. Jax, looking unbothered as usual, laid sideways across his armchair, legs stretching over the arm of the seat. Sat in the middle of the 'living room' space was a pillow igloo containing Kinger, who peaked out occasionally to participate in conversation. Zooble looked between the fort and Pomni, seeing if Kinger would respond first. After a brief second they sighed and answered.
"Well for me I kinda don't think too hard about it. I just hold food up to where I think my mouth is and eat. If I think too hard about it I kinda lose my appetite." Zooble explained, pointing to the location of their 'mouth'. Gangle gave an acknowledging "huh" and Pomni a polite nod before her eyes drifted over to the fort. Kinger's voice followed shortly after.
"Huh, maybe I've always thought about it too much. From a coding standpoint I think about eating as a command to be executed once parameters are met. Or I think of the code of the food being downloaded and incorporated into my code." Kinger popped his head out of the fort to thoughtfully answer the question. He paused for a second before a worried look got in his eye. "But then I think about how much junk code is in our digital food and what that can do to my code. What if someone gave me an apple with a worm in it? It could crash the system and spread throughout our world!!" His hands came up and grasped the sides of his head in a panic. A centipede crawled out from the fort causing Ragatha to scream "Get it away, get it away!" while climbing up onto the back of the couch.
Jax gave a laugh. "Hey Kinger, let me know if you ever have a few extra of those laying around." Kinger's eyes locked onto the critter separately before they upturned in joy. "There you are ya little devil! We have a tea party to get back to!" Kinger removed his hands from his face and scooped up the chitinous creature before returning to the depths of his fort. A silence fell over the rest of the group. Ragatha was the first to speak up, finally stepping down off the couch.
"Well. That was quite the informative session. Thank you for your thoughtful answers! Oh, and thank you Pomni for asking!"
At that Zooble gave a nod of acknowledgement, still occasionally glancing at the fort as if also processing whatever it was that Kinger said. Pomni looked like she was also lost in thought before she blinked a couple times at her name being said. "Oh, uh, yeah no problem. It was just something I was thinking about."
"Snorefest! What's with all this kumbaya bull*honk*!" Jax stretched his arms out over his head in exasperation then readjusted to a sitting, more accusatory position. "Let's ask the real questions here! Ribbons? Are you actually a girl?" Jax sat forward with a shit eating grin. Gangle gave a shocked 'wha!!!' from her drawing pad before Zooble sat up with a new rage in their eyes. "What the *honk* is your problem!?" They said, anger simmering like a pot about to boil over.
"Easy Mx. Potato Head, I have my reasons alright! Think about it, we have two guys, three girls and one you."
"And I'm a what." Zooble glowered.
"You're non-binary. Or agender. Or you just don't like labels. All I know is you don't really give a *honk* about fitting in boxes and I don't really give a *honk* about you in general."
Pomni cut in. "Jax, why do you know so much about gender labels?"
"Cause I'm a performative feminist. Chicks love guys that know labels. And it means I can insult people more deliberately so it's a win-win. You're getting me off topic Pom-pom. Back to Ribbons and my theory. It doesn't make sense to have things uneven. Pomni and Ragatha are clearly women, me and Kinger are peak masculinity, and that leaves Zooble and Gangle. Both of you have replaceable parts, don't look particularly one way or another, and that's not to mention Gangle's whole thing with the Ragatha doll-"
"Jax!" Gangle cut in, leaping up with embarrassment and panic, mask blushing the same shade as her ribbons. Before anymore words could be said a certain ringmaster made a sudden appearance.
"It's time for an adventure!"
"Caine, can't you see we're in the middle of something!" Zooble said exasperated, halfway to strangling Jax.
"Yes Zooble, I can see you're in the middle of something. Stressing! I can tell all of you have been less than excited with my usual adventures and have been more and more upset lately. So I've been hard at work building something for you to enjoy. Something to get your blood pumping! Your mind racing!"
"Your guts churning"
"Bubble I swear to *honk*" Caine's hands balled into fists before pointing accusingly at the soap bubble pest. The sound of Jax being choked out was now the background noise, signifying Zooble had succeeded in their mission. Ragatha cleared her throat and spoke up. "So, uh, Caine. What adventure did you have in mind?"
"I'm glad you asked Ragatha! I appreciate your inquiry. Gold star for participation!" Caine snapped his fingers and a gold star appeared on Ragatha's dress like a badge. "So, I reached into the archives and painstakingly searched every file for something you humans seem to enjoy. Something to keep you guys... Less feral."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zooble bluntly asked, still shaking Jax.
"It means I'm built to ensure your happiness but not your temperaments! You are quite the lively bunch and IIIIII," He stretched the I syllable for a solid few seconds, a number of his all seeing eyes appearing as he held it. "Cannot deal with that constantly!" All the eyes turned and blinked at the group. "So!" In a moment they all vanished. "I found something in the depths of the circus sure to help you deal with this! Something that's supposed to be relaxing to you that I can spice up with some wacky hijinx. So whaddya think?"
The jester spoke. "Honestly, that doesn't sound all bad. We could all use a little time to relax and ease tensions." Gangle nodded in agreement, still quiet from their earlier conversation. Zooble finally pulled off of Jax, walking back to sit on the couch. "Before I say anything I want to know what this 'adventure' is." Caine blinked, almost surprised that Zooble didn't just dismiss this outright. "The adventure is 'Spa Day on the Mountain!' you will be trapped on a frigid summit in an all inclusive resort with only one exit! You must traverse each room, all holding terrors and challenges never heard of before. Bathtubs filled with mud! Torturers known as masseuses will place hot stones on you and pierce you with needles! Not to mention you will be blinded by cucumbers! Oh the humanity! My sources say that doing an adventure like this can be seen as relaxing but by golly I worry about your sanity after a horrific adventure like this."
Ragatha and Zooble shared a look before jumping at the opportunity. "But isn't that just a spa-" Ragatha quickly covered Pomni's mouth, causing the small jester to look at her with shock. "We're doing it" Zooble demanded, "when can we go."
Caine's jaw was on the floor. "You- you don't hate this adventure idea? No kicking and screaming? No disagreeing or anything?!" Caine asked incredulously, eyes wide as he stared at Zooble. "No. I actually want to do this adventure." Caine started crying. Full on tear streams. The floor of the circus started flooding with water, everyone now floating on their armchairs and sofas, Kinger's fort drifting away to reveal him still having a tea party with the centipede. Caine gave a couple more exaggerated wails before slowing his tears. Bubble brought a tissue over, which Caine used to dab at his eyes. "I just- It's just- I never thought I'd see the day!" He blew into the tissue comically before throwing it over his shoulder. "If you're all so excited then we can get going right away!"
"Hold on a second, what if I don't want to go on this adventure?" Jax said with his usual contrarian smugness. "Oh, I can take his place!" Kinger piped up.
"What?"
"That sounds perfect to me, let me know how the adventure is when you get back Zooble!" Caine placed the portal below those going to the adventure and pulled the plug on a drain that manifested on the circus floor. The remaining water from Caine's tears swirled the drain, lowering the floating furniture through the portal, save for one lonely recliner holding a certain purple rabbit.
"So, now that we're alone Jax we can finally have a one on one therapy session! I think we should start with a game of catch. I feel like you didn't have a strong father figure in your life."
"...what the *honk* just happened."