Chapter Text
Pomni’s eyes were almost completely black, staring straight up at the striped ceiling. She had trapped herself in her room since they returned from the absolute trauma that Caine put them through.
They were close. They were so close to getting out.
The walk back to the circus from Caine’s control room was more than depressing. Every single one of them felt defeated, resigning to their rooms without a single word. Pomni didn’t even know if anyone had left their own bedroom since then. She doubted it.
Sleep wasn’t a friendly construct for the jester. She spent nearly all of her time just staring blankly through the air, not even having the motivation to move around. Time was a difficult thing to track in the circus, but Pomni’s stiff limbs and aching neck gave her a sort of estimate of just how long she’d been laying in her quarters. With no windows, dim lights, and not a single soul who wanted to speak with one another, it was honestly impressive that she hadn’t abstracted.
Pomni’s cluelessness as to how long she’d been in the circus was the part that bugged her the most. She had begun to remember bits and pieces of her life before this digital mess, but the majority of it felt jumbled. It was pretty clear-cut that Caine had control over her memory, and that bit made her feel sick enough as it was. Although she had the time, she hated to sit and think about it for long.
Thinking through it felt like going through all of the stages of grief at once, but instead of mourning someone else, she mourned her life in the real world. Would she ever see actual sunlight again? Not the type that passive-aggressively yells at you. Real warmth. Would she ever be able to go back to her own flesh, rather than this micro sized joke of a body?
These questions ran through her brain hourly, as well as depressingly. She tried her best to suppress the thoughts, but they’d always return. There was nothing else to do but settle. The time would pass either way.
She found herself thinking about how normal everything seemed during the gun adventure. Things had been fun, and it really did feel like just accepting the immersive experience was going to make everything alright. Pomni honestly felt grief for the loss of her friendship with Jax. It was still difficult to wrap her head around. Why had he been so upset in the first place? Things were going so well, only to be crushed into rubble.
After the “escape” adventure, the majority of her friendships felt disintegrated. Maybe there was a world where that much trauma brought them all together, but this certainly wasn’t it. And with that, all Pomni could do was stare at her ceiling.
Directly in her doorway appeared a vibrant pink portal, too bright to ignore. Immediately, Pomni could feel a discomfort creeping up her spine. She sat up, staring at the swirling oval, a frown forming onto her face. With a quiet, upset breath, she called out, “Caine? What is this?”
Her voice felt gravelly from disuse, and seemed to echo upward. There was no reply, just the soft hum of the portal. The radiation of the light was brutally overstimulating in her usually dark room. She battled her thoughts, opting to stay in her spot until it went away. She decided that her heart wasn’t quite ready for the insanity of an adventure yet.
So, pulling her sheets up and over her comically large head, she curled back into the mattress. “[%$!#],” Pomni muttered into her pillow, trying to get comfortable once more.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽♡☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
The jester opened her eyes groggily. How long had it been now? Clearly not long enough, because that blinding portal was still covering her doorway, and illuminating the entire room. With a groan, she pulled herself out of bed. Her feet felt wobbly as they hit the floor.
She honestly wouldn’t be able to tell someone how long she’d been in that bed. Her neck felt tense and she could have sworn that she could smell herself rotting. It wasn’t like they needed to shower or eat in the circus, but staying in one spot for so long had her feeling more gross than a worm.
The bells on her hat jingled as she paced toward the portal. Pomni folded her slender arms, gloves pressing warmly against her non-existent biceps. “Caine?” She called again, just in case. She took another step forward, leaning over to see around the portal. It was placed directly on top of her doorway, making it impossible for her to actually leave her room without going through. “Caine, I want to leave my room!”
Silence again. Pomni harrumphed, tapping her foot as she grumbled nonsense. She tried to make something out of the swirly texture before her, but all she could piece together were some warped white blocks. “I don’t want to go on your stupid adventure! Just let me get out of my room!” She shouted upward, as if she was praying to some nonexistent god.
Despite her plea, she didn’t back away from the pink glow. It was kind of nice to see something other than the four walls that had contained her. She’d be lying if she said an adventure, though she was still furious, didn’t sound a little fun. Bedrotting to death wasn’t exactly keeping her at the pinnacle of joy.
Pomni had expected another Caine disruption, but not like this. She imagined him snapping his fingers and placing them in the main hall for some sort of stupid adventure, only to have everyone scream at him in rage. Placing a portal without any explanation or overly joyous cheer of a new game wasn’t exactly his style.
Perhaps the portal wasn’t even made by Caine.
That was the only thought the jester could hold onto as she slowly stepped through.
On the other side, the portal immediately disappeared behind her. The light was a sickening pure white. Her eyes squinted in a painful attempt to adjust to what she had just gotten herself into.
Pomni’s face immediately dropped at the sight before her. A purely white room, only distinguishable as a room because of the padded white squares that enclosed her. Save for the pink pedestal with a large red heart button in the center, it looked like a de-escalation room.
“Caine!” Pomni angrily yelled, tiring of this game before it even started. Once again, no reply. This weird non-communication was driving her up the wall.
The jester’s eyes peered back at where the portal once was, a definite grimace dragging her eyebrows and mouth downward. The button felt all too repetitive of the control room. There was this odd sort of panic that lingered around in her chest that made her feel nauseous. Nevertheless, there was quite literally nothing else to do in the room but push the button.
And push the button she did, wincing like it may harm her. Nothing happened, and Pomni thought that maybe this was all some sort of elaborate prank. She retracted her hand back to her side, sighing as she tried to fight between anger and sadness.
But then, the walls fell. Pomni’s hands flinched to her chest immediately, eyes shooting around to find all of the familiar faces of her friends from the circus. Each in their own padded room with the walls down, they all shared a few looks of pure confusion. They seemed to be organized in a circle, and right in the middle was none other than Caine.
“Oh my! Six out of six!” He beamed with a huge grin. “Hello my loveable luscious ladybugs!”
Zooble was the first to speak up and their eye was twitching. “Caine, what the [%$!#] is this?”
“I just wanted to rest for a while, but this portal opened in my room,” Gangle chimed in, quietly. Her comedy mask was already broken on the floor.
There was a clamor of agreement across the board, and Pomni took a short moment to gather everyone’s appearance. Zooble, other than the twitching eye, had looked mostly sane. Gangle’s ribbons somehow looked sadder than before. Ragatha’s hair looked just about as good as how Pomni felt. It was a jumbled mess, flat on the back likely from laying down for a long time. Kinger was lost, to say the least. It was no wonder, with all the bright lights. And Jax… Jax looked normal. He kept a frustrated glare on Caine, but really didn’t look like the time the group had been separate had affected him all that much. Insecurity slowly filled Pomni’s body as she silently hoped no one else was judging her the same way she judged them.
“I do apologize for the random portals, but I figured none of you would want to come on an adventure if I just asked,” Caine explained, tapping his bottom jaw with one finger. “But adventures keep you active! It kills me seeing you all so upset lately.”
“I wonder who’s fault that is,” Jax muttered, cold and low.
“If you wanted us to be happy, you’d give us some time to process and cope,” Zooble added.
A shared sadness and anger, save for Kinger, was still fresh with the group. Seeing Caine again, especially so cheerful, was like reopening a wound that just barely began to heal. Pomni was beginning to feel heat rising up her throat, seething at even the sight of him. “You didn’t answer Zooble,” Pomni added, trying to contain her annoyance. “What is this?”
“Oh, yes! Today’s adventure is: Compatible Competitors!” Caine chirped, doing a little dance mid air as the words appeared over his head. There were a plethora of bright hearts that sparkled around the cursive letters. A little diagram of two NPC’s appeared before him as he explained further. “Each of you will be paired in groups of two. The goal is to reach 100% compatibility with your partner by working together! This is a multi-challenge adventure.”
“A dating sim?” Jax guffawed in disbelief.
“A relationship simulator, yes!” Caine corrected with utmost jubilation. Zooble looked furious, while Gangle and Pomni shared a panicked expression.
“Oh my God,” Ragatha cried out, sinking to the floor and crumpling into her knees. “I should have just stayed in my room!”
“Nonesense!” Caine rattled. Bubble seemed to show up out of thin air with a wheel spinner. “Now, let’s get this thing rolling!”
It was genuinely horrifying watching Bubble spin the wheel of their faces with his tongue, but everyone just stood dumbfounded as it spun. All Pomni could pray for was that she didn’t get paired up with Jax. Or even Kinger, honestly. She thought of him as more of a dad than anything.
The wheel slowed until… “Ragatha!” Caine announced. The poor ragdoll just slumped further down, sobbing uncontrollably. Jax scoffed at her, but kept his mouth shut other than that.
Another lick of the wheel and Ragatha slowly looked upwards, sniffling as it slowed down to… “Kinger!”
“What?” Kinger asked, clueless.
“You are our first official couple!”
“Oh! A couple of kind souls?” Kinger softly chuckled, eyes closing pleasantly.
“I don’t want to date Kinger!” The ragdoll cried, pulling at her hair.
“Date?” Kinger asked, eyes opening and going blank.
“Oh my God…” Ragatha wailed, crumpling back to the floor. For a moment, it genuinely looked like the seams on her scalp were going to rip apart. Her sobs were getting louder by the second.
“This is a game of acceptance! Off you go!” Caine huzzahed, clapping his hands as the two of them blipped out of existence.
The silence that followed Ragatha’s cut off sobs was deafening.
“Caine… Why are you doing all of this?” Zooble breathed, eyes stuck on Ragatha’s former spot.
Caine’s eyes narrowed as he turned to face them. “Why wouldn’t I?” He asked, voice lower than usual. Zooble made a choked noise, but couldn’t seem to find an answer.
Pomni couldn’t help but survey her options at this point. Getting paired with Zooble or Gangle wouldn’t be too bad, but either of them getting paired with Jax felt just as pitifully bad as herself. Bubble was licking at the wheel once more, swaying from side to side as the ticking began to slow.
It landed on Gangle’s face, which she didn’t seem too happy about. Gangle folded her ribbons together, clasping them like the misfortune of the wheel might kill her. Zooble seemed to be watching Gangle, eyes showing some sort of remorse.
Bubble once again spun the wheel. Time seemed to move slower this time, but the spinning couldn’t seem to slow down with it. The ticking of the wheel echoed in the space, loud and unnerving. Tick, tick, tick… Jax, Pomni, Zooble, Jax, Pomni, Zooble…
Pomni found herself closing her eyes for just a moment to take a deep breath. Her momentary rest was interrupted by Caine’s excited voice. “Zooble!” He announced. Pomni took a shuddered breath as her eyes opened to confirm that information. Slowly, her eyes made their way to Jax. His arms were folded and he groaned, eyebrows furrowing.
Gangle seemed to immediately relax, the ribbons she called shoulders easing into a more natural position as she let out a soft sigh. Zooble and Gangle exchanged a bittersweet look, silently agreeing that this was the luckiest outcome. Despite this, the room grew uncomfortably awkward with the realization of what this meant for the jester.
Zooble’s voice crackled a little, trying to speak what could only be assumed as an apology, but Pomni shook her head to cut them off. Pomni peered over at Jax apologetically, watching the way his face was getting red and his breath sunk heavily. It was probably best not to piss off the already fuming rabbit. Instead, she turned her attention back to the center of the room.
“So,” Pomni started, awkward and slow, “That just leaves me and Jax?”
“No [%$!#], Sherlock,” Jax huffed.
“A match made in Heaven!” Bubble blabbed, tongue still out.
“Oh, shut up!” Jax groaned, hands shooting upward to pull his ears down. “Nobody asked for this stupid adventure! Nobody even asked for–”
“Okay! I’m bored!” Caine overzealously cheered, clapping his hands once more.
Before anyone could even attempt to protest, each contestant was blipped into a brand new scene. Pomni’s eyes didn’t take a moment longer to take in the new information hurled at her. Jax had been teleported to the same room as her, but everyone else seemed to be gone. They sat silently observing the new space.
The square room was more than spacious enough for two people. On one wall was a large, heavy metal door. Above the door was a bar with the word, “Compatibility.” The percentage bar was still loading in and buffering, small grey stripes slowly moving to the right. Metal framed windows were on the rest of the walls, perfectly centered. Outside the windows was a poorly designed landscape that was clearly just there for decoration. Though there was some sort of “natural” light, it seemed as though it was coming from behind the wallpaper-like horizon. There was a single light in the center of the ceiling, radiating an annoyingly white light.
It mostly looked like any other suburban bedroom, save for how large the room was. On the left was a king size bed, a nightstand with a tiny lamp, and a mini fridge about half the height of Pomni. The bedsheets were split down the middle with one side being blue and red, while the other was purple and pink. The right side of the room held two beanbags, one spinny chair, and a desk that had nothing other than a small digital clock and a red crayon. There was a spiral rug which took up a large portion of the space. The only other decoration was a few heart strung lights that ran across the edges of the ceiling and two separately framed portraits of the couple by the door.
Pomni didn’t pay Jax much mind as she turned toward the minifridge and reached toward it. Her hand was halted abruptly and she jolted, wide eyes peering in horror to her wrist to reveal the medium length chain that hooked from her wrist directly to Jax’s. “Oh…” She muttered, trying her absolute best not to go insane within the first two minutes of the adventure.
She eyed Jax, who looked at her with a raised but unreadable expression. Her hand went to try once more, but Jax jolted his wrist backward. “Hey!” She shouted.
“That’s my hand,” He scoffed. “You don’t get to rip it off just because you want to.”
Pomni’s eye already started twitching. “Well, this is also my hand, and I choose what I do with it. C’mon. I just want to see if there’s anything in the fridge.” The rabbit stayed put, shaking his head as his tethered hand reached down to yank the chain back a little further. “Jax!”
“Pomni,” He replied, mimicking her.
A beat passed with both of them staring at one another, breathing slowly. “Jax,” She attempted, shaking her head. “You heard Caine. If we want this to be over with, then we’re going to need to get along.”
“Yeah, right,” Jax grumbled. “I’d rather hang myself with those tacky heart lights.”
“What is your problem?” Pomni groaned, voice desperately pleading for some give. He shrugged, releasing the chain and laying flat on his back. Eye still twitching, all she could do was glare at him in annoyance.
There was a short moment where Pomni felt like giving up honestly could be the only viable option. Jax was such an odd person. He always acted so high and mighty, but she saw right through it. Pomni believed that she saw who Jax truly was only a few days ago, but it felt like lifetimes away.
“All I’m saying is that we actually do get along,” Pomni sighed, pulling her legs to her chest as she rocked forward slightly. “We were having fun the other day. I think that deep down you–”
“Don’t act like you know me,” Jax warned, closing his eyes as he placed his hands behind his head. “And don’t bring up that stupid gun adventure.”
But Pomni had enjoyed that stupid gun adventure. How could she not? Jax was comfortable with her and she finally felt like she was able to let loose. It was such a stupid argument, and it felt worse that there was still no resolve after Caine’s fake ending adventure. Sure, he helped with the keys and the plan, but not before letting everyone know just how pissed off he was about it.
And so, what was the point of this attempted reconciliation? Pomni wouldn’t be able to explain it, regardless that that big mouth of hers began to speak again. “Why does it make you so upset?”
“I don’t want to talk about this, Pomni,” He groaned, smacking his hands on his eyes. The chain between them rattled coldly. “Ugh! I’m not going to fall for this stupid forced proximity bull[%$!#], okay? You’re playing right into Caine’s hands and it’s pathetic.”
“I’m not just saying this because of Caine.”
“Riiiiiight.”
“I mean it.”
“Mmhm.”
“Ugh!” Pomni groaned, “You’re impossible.”
Silence followed after, making the room seem more tense than comfortable. Pomni kept her mouth shut and her thoughts disclosed, peering over at him only to receive a few disgusted glances. The nightmare had only just begun.
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“I’m not going to [%$!#]ing cuddle with you, Pom,” Jax sighed, placing one hand on his hip as Pomni crawled under the covers. The majority of their day had been spent as far away from one another as they could be, bickering here and there and attempting to get used to the metal handcuffs they wore. When the jester gave no response, he repeated, “Um, hello? Did you hear me? I’m not getting in that bed.”
She looked exhausted already. “Nobody said you had to. Sleep on the floor for all I care.”
“Are you kidding?” He scoffed.
“Do I look like I’m kidding? Either man up and get in the bed, or enjoy the floor.”
Jax peered between the split bedsheets and the floor before rolling his eyes and getting into the bed, keeping his body as close to his edge as he could. “When did you get so snarky?”
The rabbit weighed more, clearly evident by the way his side of the bed dipped down. Pomni’s hands tensed around her pillow as though it would balance her weight. “I’m not,” She replied, shrugging against the mattress.
There were a few minutes where the two returned to silence, just trying to get as comfortable as they could. Caine had coded the adventure to follow an actual night and day schedule, but the time seemed to pass just as slow as it did at Spudsy’s. Jax’s breathing became much more noticeable, contrasting heavily from the quiet. Pomni’s lungs felt like they might explode trying to stay as silent as possible. There was no possible way she was going to be able to fall asleep.
But, luckily enough, it seemed like Jax was having the exact same problem. When he spoke, his voice came out lacking its usual bite. “You’re gonna sleep with the hat on?” He asked, a single hand reaching forward and swatting one of the bells. The jingle was so bright and cheery, that it was honestly kind of comedic for such a still moment.
“It doesn’t come off,” Pomni replied, turning onto her other shoulder to face him.
Jax sat up in the bed, eyes going wide as he turned the lamp on. “What?’
The jester let out a sigh before sitting up as well. She rested her back on the headboard, pulling one of the bells to the front. “Yeah. Trust me, I’ve tried to take it off.”
“That’s so weird.”
“What? No it’s not.”
“Yes it is.”
“No it’s not,” She groaned.
“It’s just a piece of clothing,” He reasoned.
“What about your gloves, huh? Why don’t you just take those off?”
“I can,” Jax shrugged, eyes showing something close to concern.
Pomni’s mouth dropped. “You… You can take them off?”
“Um… Yeah?” He replied as if she was going insane.
“But…” Pomni broke off, completely baffled. She pulled her hand up and tugged at her own glove, showing him the way it stretched but wouldn’t budge.
“So, Caine just didn’t program you right or something?” Jax riffed, wide eyed and curious. He reached down and pulled one of his gloves off to reveal his hand. It was purple and fuzzy, all the same as the rest of him. Pomni’s eyes stared at his hand in complete disbelief. She noted that he had no fingernails.
Her lips quivered a little as they formed into a grimace. “That’s… super unsettling to look at.”
“Oh, [%$!#] you,” Jax scowled, grabbing the glove and pulling it back on.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” She frowned, trying to fix the situation as quickly as possible. The moment seemed to slip away too fast for her to recover it. Jax flicked off the light and slid back down into the covers, turning away from her. “I’ve just never seen your actual hands.”
“So, what? You think I’m some sort of freak now?” He spat, spine tensing.
Her words slid out before she could even think. “We’re all freaks.”
Pomni could have sworn she heard Jax swallow before he spoke again. “Wow. Real motivational, Pom,” He muttered, holding back a scoff.
The jester awkwardly slid back down under the blanket, her arms staying on top. She intertwined her own fingers, staring at her own gloves blankly. The chain between them clinked lightly, and she let out the softest hum. “I think I’m more surprised that you sleep with gloves on, considering you can take them off,” She joked quietly.
“Shut up,” He replied, matching her volume, but not her tone.
How was any of this going to work out? Even now, they were ricocheting between natural conversation and uncomfortable bickering. “A Multi-Challenge Adventure.” What was that even supposed to mean? Were they going to be trapped here for longer than usual? Was Caine doing this out of spite, or was he really that clueless? When would—
“Pomni,” Jax interrupted her thoughts. She turned to him with a soft inhale and a nod. The rabbit took an extra second, voice returning low and serious. “I don’t like you.”
She could feel the distance in his voice, and it was less than ideal. Her thoughts were put to a harsh halt, and her emotions feel like they were strangling her throat. It was such a simple statement on his tongue, but it hit her like a ton of bricks. Of course she knew that they didn’t get along, but it felt weird to hear him say it so nonchalantly.
“Uh…” Pomni managed, eyes flickering to the fake nighttime scenery outside. No actual words were able to make it past her lips.
Jax took a deep breath and readjusted his pillow. “I just wanted to get that out of the way before we do all of Caine’s nonsense. If we have to act like the picture perfect couple to get out of here, I’ll do it, but you need to understand that it doesn’t mean anything to me. I just want to get back to my own room.”
Her head nodded along as he spoke. “Y-Yeah,” She agreed. “I feel the same. Let’s just try not to get at each other's throats too much.”
Jax let out a soft scoff. “No promises.”
The tension in the air seemed to break within the four walls that contained them. Something about the nighttime atmosphere made things feel a little more raw and real.
Though she was a little upset with him admitting his peace with faking, a part of her knew that being stuck together was probably the easiest way to get back to the way things were. She still sometimes craved the way he looked and talked to her before everything got messy. It felt much less artificial than anything they were working towards now. She could only hope that the time and close quarters would make him loosen up a little bit more.
Pomni found herself looking at the back of Jax’s head for a moment before turning back towards the wall and closing her eyes. She didn’t bother to say goodnight. Jax even talking to her was more than she could ask for right now.
Deep into the night, once they had both settled into slumber, the compatibility bar loaded properly. The pink display flashed to life, displaying a progression bar with the percentage: 15%