Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 Centipedes. Game shows. General cruelty. Himself. 

 He knew all the things that got to his other cast members. All the things that drove them insane. He knew the right things to say to annoy, to poke and prod, to cut deep. He was practically a master at harassment. His tricks had been thought out to perfection- or so he thought. He had a read on every single castmate.

 Except for her.

 Jax knew all too well the archetypes of all of them. After all, they were just cartoon characters. Their humanity had long since slipped away- or rather been forcefully ripped away from them by an old computer and a headset. 

 Now, they all fit neatly into their little cartoon boxes. This was convenient for him- he knew exactly how they worked and what bothered each of them, and he exploited it to his heart's content. 

 Something about her was different though. No matter what he did, harassing her was never quite the same. Sure, he had managed to annoy or anger her with decent success, but the consistency was the problem. Sometimes things worked, other times they didn’t. He just couldn’t figure her out- couldn’t pinpoint her archetype, couldn’t nail down her pet peeves. She had the body of a silly cartoon character, but she was annoyingly hard to understand.

 Early on he observed that she didn’t like physical touch, so he went out of his way to get in her space as much as he could. He started small, just pushing her around, throwing her, or warping her silly cartoon arms. This worked for a while, though never to the extent he wanted it to. Along the line however, at some point she was- at least most of the time- used to it. As though she had developed more and more immunity to him over time. She seemed almost… unbothered by him. 

 Now, Jax looked at her with confusion. Perhaps intrigue. He wasn’t sure.
He wanted to know how- or perhaps why she seemed so… okay with him. As well as, he wanted to know what made her tick- wanted to know how to get under her skin. That was the main reason, he would remind himself. 

 So he went out of his way to bug her- to startle, to tease, to chide, to annoy, to mock. She was just another puzzle to solve- another game to learn. Another toy to play with.

— 

 Pomni sat at the high-intensity recreation of a lounge in the middle of the tent, resting on the couch beside Ragatha. Kinger was there as well, at least physically, but his eyes were slowly slipping in separate directions… 

 Ragatha would say something, and Pomni would smile small-ly. 

 God, it’s so painfully fake. Jax nearly groaned in agony watching the two of them. 

 With a sudden bout of false friendliness, he strutted towards them, and swung himself over the back of the couch and rested his arm on the top of Pomni’s head, making sure to lean his full weight on her.

 “What are we talking about?”

 Pomni at first groaned at the sudden touch, but quickly got over it, focusing instead on trying to lift his arm off of her head. With every attempt, he pushed more of his weight onto her. 

 Ragatha glared at him, “Jax- stop it! She’s clearly trying to get you to move.” 

 Ragatha reached to assist Pomni when suddenly Pomni sighed, resigning herself, “It’s fine.” Between them, Pomni sent a look towards Ragatha, one that read as ‘he’s just like this, right?’

 Despite her concerned expression, Ragatha withdrew, folding her hands on her lap. 

 Jax puffed, “No one answered my question.”

 Pomni tried to speak up, but Ragatha beat her to it, “Do you really wanna know, or are you just trying to be a pest?”

 Jax shrugged, “You're right, it was probably boring anyways.” He lifted his arm off from Pomni and rested it on his hip. Pomni squished the sides of her head to shape it back to the way it was before getting crushed.

 These cartoon bodies sure were malleable… 

“That’s new-” Jax remarked, “-or has your head always been so flexible?” He used the palm of his hand to push her head back down, creating a crease. 

 “Jax!” Ragatha protested, but Pomni didn’t seem to care. 

 “I don’t know- the rules of it all seem arbitrary.” Pomni said.

 Before the Mildenhall Manor adventure, they had also spent time experimenting with the strange properties of their avatars. While it wasn’t Pomni’s favourite pastime, she also found it oddly interesting. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. 

 “What about you, huh?” She said, prying the rabbit off of her as she fixed her head.

 “You got any weird tricks? Other than that uh… weird face you make sometimes.” 

 Both Ragatha and Jax knew what Pomni was referring to, but Jax played dumb, “Tch- what are you talking about? My face is always perfect.” He gestured to his face, framing it under his chin with his pointer finger and thumb.

 Ragatha sighed, “I don’t think you’ll be getting any answers out of him.”

 Pomni shrugged, “It was worth a shot.”

 They both settled back into their positions on the couch, turning their attention away from him. Jax’s hand fell from his face as he watched them. He thought about loudly proclaiming how boring they were, but instead simply walked away, his pupils large and his face expressionless.

 It was odd. They both seemed used to his antics, but while Ragatha seemed a bit frustrated with him, Pomni just seemed… unoffended? Or perhaps just… neutral.

 How weird. She was kind of just… chill? He couldn’t find the right word.

 Ragatha sighed as he walked away, rubbing the back of her neck. “Sorry that he’s like that…”

 Pomni waved a hand of dismissal, “No it’s seriously fine. I don’t mind, really.”

 Ragatha seemed unsatisfied with that answer, but decided not to push it.

 They sat in silence for a moment… 

 “Anybody up for cards?” 

 Ragatha and Pomni jumped. They had forgotten Kinger was there.

— 

 “TODAY, YOU’LL ALL BE GOING ON A FANTASTIC FISHING FEVER FRENZY!!” Caine’s voice boomed across the circus, the name of the adventure appearing behind him as he said it. 

 “Fishing?” Zooble asked, “No catch, just… fishing?” They weren’t entirely convinced.

 “IT WILL BE EXCLUSIVELY CATCH, MY COLOURFUL FRIEND. HOW ELSE WILL YOU GET THE FISH?”

 “That wasn’t- whatever.”

 “Fishing doesn’t sound too bad…” Gangle said beside Zooble.

 Pomni looked towards Ragatha, looking for her reaction to the adventure, but she seemed just… content. Pomni raised a hand to speak to her as Caine yelled to the group.

 “INTO THE FRACTAL NOISE, EVERYBODY!”

 Zooble surprisingly didn’t try to sit out on this adventure. Maybe they were more hopeful that it was… normal. 

 “Ugh, fishing? Really? This better be good, Caine.” Jax said as he walked towards the portal. 

 Pomni finally spoke up to Ragatha, “Hey Ragatha, do you wanna… hang out for this adventure?”

 Ragatha smiled widely, “O-oh! Yes! I- that would be really nice, Pomni.”

 Jax couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he entered the fractal noise.

 Always with the pleasantries… 

 In an instant, everybody was transported to the lake- they were wearing various fishing get-ups, such as hats and vests decorated with tackle and lures. There were three boats at the dock, all painted white. The fishing shack by the dock was oddly realistic, made of old splitting wood and bent nails. The owner of the shack… was a tall fish man. 

 Pomni’s face shifted, “Er, uh- isn’t him being a fish a little… Brutal?” She asked.

 Ragatha took a second to respond, “Hm? Oh. Uh- well, he might not be a regular fish… I guess.” Was the best answer she could come up with.

 Kinger strode towards the fishing shack with confidence, resting a hand on the counter, “What kind of bait do you have?”

 The fish man slow-blinked at him, his eyes out of sync. Were fish… supposed to have eyelids?

 “Worm.” Was all he said.

 “Great!” Kinger responded, “We’ll have all of it.”

 The fish man slow-blinked again. As sluggish as possible, he slowly began to bend down. He moved ever… so… slowly. He lifted several buckets up, taking his time as he straightened up before placing them on the counter. Kinger watched in anticipation as he slowly leaned down to grab several more buckets.

 Zooble grumbled behind them. “We’re gonna be here all day…”

 Suddenly, a sharp hook flung its way into the NPC’s mouth, he screamed in agony.

 Ragatha looked immediately towards the culprit. 

 “Hey look, I already caught one!” Jax started reeling in the hook, pulling the fish man onto the counter. 

 “Jax!” Ragatha chided. “Do we really need to start another adventure with violence?” From behind, she could have sworn she heard snickering… She turned her gaze just as Pomni righted her face. Was she… laughing?

 “Ah jeez, cool it.” Jax responded, “Fishing is all about violence, I’m just getting a headstart.”

 While they were arguing, Kinger unhooked the poor man, holding the hook up and examining it carefully… What he was looking at, who could be too sure… 

 “Can we just get to the boats?” Zooble said as they lifted up a bucket and made their way down the dock.

 “Ah, fine.” Jax turned to walk down as well, accidentally pulling Kinger to the ground. Kinger barely reacted.

 Once they were on the boats, things seemed to relax a bit. Zooble was calmly casting while Gangle sat and drew, curled up on one of the benches of the boat. 

 “Hmmm…” She quietly focused on her drawing, trying to capture Zooble’s essence perfectly… 

 Pomni and Ragatha were on another boat together, Ragatha teaching Pomni how to properly set the bait and cast. Ragatha was quite good at it… Pomni was not. 

 “You’ve almost got it, you just need to angle your torso a bit more- oh no, not like that!”

 Pomni laughed, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!”

 Despite their struggles, they seemed to be having a lot of fun together, laughing… chatting… 

 “Ughh…” Jax lost his sixth fish in a row. Kinger sat beside him, watching. 

 At first, Jax had hoped that maybe fishing wasn’t going to be so bad- after he stuck the fish-man-fisherman he was more optimistic- but after all the waiting… and the waiting… and the poor casts… and losing fish… He was over it. He slumped over on the bench.

 “You’re up, dingbat.” He said. He rested his head in his hands.

 “Oh, alright,” Kinger said, taking the fishing rod. Kinger cast the line perfectly, and waited.

 Jax grumbled. Stupid fishing. He thought. This is so boring. 

 He turned his gaze towards the other two boats… Zooble seemed to be relaxed beside Gangle, their bucket hat resting over part of their face while they waited for the line to sink. They peaked into Gangle’s sketchbook beside them, and smiled with their eyes. Gangle smiled too. He scoffed.

 He looked over to Pomni and Ragatha.

 Pomni had just cast a line, and something bit rather quickly. Ragatha reacted excitedly and tried to help her, but before they could do anything, the line snapped. Pomni groaned and Ragatha patted her shoulder with a sympathetic smile. Pomni flinched at the touch.

 Jax smirked, “Hey shorty!” He called towards their boat. They both looked.

 “You know you’re supposed to catch the fish, right?” He mocked.

 Pomni’s got defensive for a moment, “Ah- uh- I’m trying! You haven’t even caught any either!” She pointed out.

 Jax chortled, “Tch, I’m not even trying. I’ve got ol’ Kinger here to do it all for me.”

 “Do what?” Kinger said.

 Ragatha rolled her eyes at him. Jax tried again, “You can’t even catch one WITH dollface’s help!” He laughed at Pomni. 

 Pomni looked at him with a new expression. One he hadn’t seen before. Had he done it? Was this finally something that was bothering her on a deep and personal level?

 “Alright,” She said, “-well how about the last one to catch a fish has to jump in the lake?” She posed. A small, devilish part of him grunted at her lack of emotional reaction… But another, larger part of him seemed ecstatic for some competition. Something to do.

 “Ha! You’re on, shortstuff!”

 As he turned back to Kinger, he caught a glimpse of Ragatha’s concerned face.

 Quickly, he nudged Kinger, “Hey, old man, gimme the rod-”

 Kinger didn’t respond. 

 “Hey- Kinger- I’m talking to you.” He tried again.

 Nothing.

 “Yahoo. Hellooo-”

 Suddenly, a large bubbling shadow made its way toward their boat before bursting out of the water. Kinger swung his hands in motion with it, pulling it up and guiding it as it landed in their boat. The fish was large and strange- sparkling and purple, with odd pearls along its body. Its fins were HUGE and extravagant.

 Above Kinger’s head, text appeared- NICE CATCH!

 Jax was stunned. So was everyone else.

 He quickly looked towards Pomni, “Ha! I win! Get in the lake, Pomster!”

 “What?! No! You didn’t even catch it!-”

 Before they could speak a moment longer, the sky started to rumble. Clouds quickly gathered up, twisting into a spiral at the center of the lake. The cast members watched intensely. 

 After the clouds had completely overtaken the skies, casting a shadow of grey across the entire lake, a booming voice called across the sky.

 “YOU WHO HAS HURT MY SACRED PET, YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED!” The lake began to swirl in a circle… 

 The cast members slowly looked towards the purple fish. She was large and beautiful with pearls and gems for scales and… she was dead. At least, she seemed like it, a tongue lulled out of her mouth in the very fashion that a cartoon character would die. 

 Ragatha figured it out, “Oh. O-oh wait! That- that must be some sort of important fish! Maybe we should throw that one BA-” Before she could finish, the swirling of the lake intensified, knocking her off her balance, causing her to fall onto the floor of the boat. 

 The lake continued to swirl and swirl, faster and faster, drifting them closer to the center as a giant whirlpool opened up. 

 Zooble gripped the side of their boat angrily, “Oh god d[BOINK!]t, I should have KNOWN there would be something like this!”

 The swirling intensified as a storm cast over the lake, rain and thunder arriving on cue. They all were dragged closer to the center, nearly capsizing multiple times, yelling and screaming as they swirled towards the center. Pomni tried paddling against the pull of the water to no avail. “RAGATHA, HELP ME!” 

 “OH! R-RIGHT!” Ragatha tried as well, but it didn’t make a difference.

 “Oh no- oh no oh no OH NO!” Gangle cried as they clutched their notebook.

 “Now this is more like it!” Jax seemed oddly thrilled.. Was he… excited to potentially drown?

 Soon, they were all falling into the depths of the giant whirlpool, being swallowed whole by the water of the angry lake. 

 As their screams were dulled by the sound of water rushing and thunder clapping, all that was discernable was Zooble crying, “CAINE, YOU MOTHERF-” Before their voices were completely absorbed.

— 

 Cold. That was the only sensation he could feel for a while. Eventually, after what felt like hours of sitting in cold darkness, his eyes started to flutter open.

 Jax sat up, holding his head with a hand. “Agh…” He groaned as he looked around.

 He was in some sort of cave. It was dim, but not dark. The walls of the cave had a strange reflective property to them, shimmering hues of blue. There was a large lake in the middle of the cave, which was so deep it was practically black.

 After a moment of trying to remember what happened, it all came back to him. He stood up slowly and swiveled his head. It looked like no one else was around.

 “Hello?” He said, and it echoed off of the cave walls. 

 He was still in his fishing get-up. He had lures, but no fishing rod. 

 Finally, he decided to try and explore the cave. He turned away from the large underground lake to see a long, winding tunnel. Where else did he have to go? 

 Wandering down the tunnel made it apparent how quiet it was- the only sound was his footsteps echoing off of the walls. For a moment he stopped, and leaned against the cave wall. His footsteps still echoing long after he had stopped moving… But the sound continued for far too long. 

 “... Hello?” He said again. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps faded.

 Silence. He could hear his own breathing.

 “Jax?” He heard a familiar voice say. It was Pomni.

 “I’m over here.” Jax said, emotionless.

 The footsteps got louder and louder until suddenly Pomni appeared around a corner.

 “Jax!” She exclaimed, “Phew, I’ve been looking for someone else forever. Have you seen any of the others?”

 Already trying to get away from me, huh?

 He scoffed, “No, I’ve only been awake for like, 10 minutes.”

 “O-oh…” She rubbed the side of her arm.

 There was a moment of awkward silence.

 “Well, we should probably try and find the others.” She said.

 “Sure, whatever you say.” He replied, apathetic.

 They began their walk through the endless caves. They walked in silence, not saying a word to each other.

 After several minutes of walking, Pomni tried, “I guess we both did, huh?”

 “What?”

 “Uh- I just mean we both… jumped into the lake. Or rather, got… sucked in, I guess.” She rubbed the side of her head.

 Jax took a moment before responding. He folded his arms and smirked, “I think you were the first one down the drain, so I think I still won.”

 “What? That’s not how that works.” She retorted. “The bet wasn’t about who got in the lake first, it was about-” 

 “Doesn’t matter what it was about, you drowned first.”

 Pomni puffed a laugh, “We didn’t drown.” 

 Jax smiled, “Well if you wanted a rematch we could always use the lake here.”

 “The wha-a- the what?”

 They both stopped in their tracks. 

 “Didn’t you see it? The giant lake under here?”

 “Wha- no! I’ve been wandering through the same tunnels forever! Why aren’t we going there?!”

 “Alright jeez. We’ll go back then.” He turned around and headed down the tunnels back the way they came, swiftly walking, leaving her behind.

 “J-Jax! Wait!”

 “Keep up, shortstuff.”

 They were wandering for a while- Jax had definitely gotten them lost again. The caves had grown darker and darker… They were getting hard to navigate. 

 “Jax-” Pomni finally spoke up again, “Ow-” She hit her head on a corner.

 “I can’t see.”

 Sure it was dark, but Jax could at least identify the walls. He scoffed, “Try opening your eyes.” He teased her.

 Pomni protested, “They are op- ughh- can you please just… Help me?”

 He turned around and looked at her. “What do you want me to do?”

 She rubbed the side of her head, “Just… You seem to be able to see better so could you just…” She reached her hand out.

 His eyes widened.

 “... help me out here?” She finished.

 Her hand lingered between them for a long moment. The look of her reaching towards him made his skin crawl. It was strange. He nearly recoiled. However, his muscles worked against him and he slowly went to reach towards her hand… When he noticed his own hand moving towards hers, he stopped himself, retracting his hand.

 “Tch- you’ll be fine.” His eyes averted from her.

 Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her hand slowly retract, “Oh… okay.” 

 He felt the crawl of guilt up his neck, but ignored it anyways. There was some sort of sensation under his skin… It sent a shiver down his spine. His digital heart thumped, and he worried in the quiet of the cave she would be able to hear it. 

 Nonetheless, they continued down the path. 

 “Ouch.” 

 “Ow.”

 “Oof-”

 “Agh!” Pomni continued to bump into things, stubbing her toe, knocking her head, or scraping her arm. Even when she tried to follow along the walls, she still managed to hit every stalagmite and stalactite.

 Jax tried as best he could to block out the noise. 

 “Can you keep it down, back there?”

 Pomni nearly snapped, “It’s not my fault I can’t see!”

 Jax stopped again. Pomni kept walking and bumped into him.

 “... Jax, what is it?” She asked.

 Suddenly, a sensation on her wrist- a firm and unaffectionate grip. He started to drag her. 

 “Jeez, I guess I’ll do everything.” He complained, but the crawling sensation under his skin went away. He felt… normal, for a moment.

 Pomni was starstruck. Sure, his grip wasn’t exactly tender, but it wasn’t cruel either. He led her through the darkness, shielding his face from her gaze- not that she could see it anyways. His tension was beginning to melt.

 Slowly his hold on her wrist loosened, his hand started slipping towards hers… 

 The caves were starting to brighten again, just as his hand met hers-

 “Alright, you’ll be fine on your own now.” He abruptly pulled his hand away from hers. 

 Pomni looked at her hand for a moment. “R-right. Let’s… keep going.”

 Somehow, they eventually did reach the lake. Based on the looks of it, they had emerged at the opposite side from where Jax had woken up. The rest of the gang looked to be there as well.

 “Pomni!” Ragatha ran over to check on Pomni, “Are you alright?”

 “Yeah…” Pomni replied with a smile. “We’re-” She went to look towards Jax, but he cut her off.

 “Jeez, not even going to greet me?”

 Ragatha strained not to roll her eyes. “I’m just glad you’re both okay.”

 Pomni nodded, “Yeah, we’re okay.”

 They walked to the rest of the group, and looked at the lake.

 “So…” Pomni started, “What are we supposed to do?”

 Suddenly, Kinger pulled out a fishing rod, and without another word, cast into the lake.

 “Ah- Kinger! Shouldn’t we be more cautiou-” Ragatha started, but the same booming voice from before shook the cave.

 “YOU WHO HAS DONE ME WRONG- EARN YOU’RE PLACE.”

 In response to the words, the lake started glowing. It was deep- endless even. The soft glow of the lake was hypnotizing. It got brighter and brighter.

 “CATCH THE LEGENDARY FISH, AND I SHALL RELEASE YOU.”

 Several more fishing rods washed up to the shore of the lake near them. They looked strange- majestic. They were carved out of an odd material, with beautiful blue colouration and detailed carvings. They each had an oddly-shaped lure.

 Afterwards, three matching boats rose up out of the water.

 Jax had two reactions- his initial reaction, which remained in his head.

 More fishing? Come on… 

 And the subsequent reaction which came out of his mouth very quickly-

 “Ha! Rematch time, Pomster!”

 Pomni’s face shifted into a grin, “Oh, you’re on!”

 They quickly each took a rod, gathering their previous teammates, calling to them in sync.

 “Kinger, come on ol’ geezer!” “Ragatha, let’s do it!”

 Ragatha seemed… concerned. Still, she tried to not let it affect her, and shook it off, walking towards Pomni who was already climbing in a boat. 

  Kinger followed, no questions asked.

 Zooble and Gangle exchanged worried looks before they started towards the boats and fishing rods. Gangle peaked into one of the boats and gasped, “My sketchbook!” She cried as she picked it up, relieved. Somehow, it wasn’t even wet.

 Once they were all on the lake with their legendary rods, they all focused in. 

 Pomni spoke up, “Isn't it a little weird that we’re fishing again, when that’s what got us in trouble in the first place?”

 Zooble shrugged, “I’m not sure Caine has the attention span to notice things like that…”

 Ragatha added, “I mean, I guess it makes sense. It is supposed to be a fishing adventure.”

 After a moment, Gangle- who had decided to give it a try- caught something. 

 “Ah! Zooble! What do I do?!” 

 Zooble calmly placed their hands on Gangle’s, wrapping around them. 

 “Just stay calm and be patient.”

 Gangle felt her cheeks heat up a bit but turned her focus towards catching the fish. 

 Suddenly, it burst from the glowing lake! It looked like… a regular trout.

 “Huh?” Gangle questioned, “This doesn’t look legendary…” 

 Zooble looked it over, “I don’t think it is.”

 They peered over the edge to look at the silhouettes of dozens of fish, the light from the lake showing their location without revealing their characteristics… Some went so deep down, they wondered if the lines could even go that far… 

 “Hm… I guess we just have to keep going until we find it.” Zooble said.

 Meanwhile, Jax was trying earnestly to be patient. He had to catch a fish before Pomni, and that meant he had to actually fish. He felt like he was getting better at least- his cast had definitely improved. He watched the silhouettes intensely, waiting for one to find his line… 

 Kinger was fishing as well, but with his own rod. Nothing seemed to even approach it, but he looked content anyways. 

 Ragatha helped Pomni cast, this time praising, “Yes, just like that! You’re doing great, Pomni!”

 Pomni smiled, “Thanks.”

 They waited… Patiently… Ragatha peered over the edge of the boat to see a black silhouette of a fish swim towards Pomni’s lure- her eyes lit up, but she tried not to get too excited, for fear of startling it.

 It swam up and tapped the lure-

 “Patient now,” Ragatha cautioned, whispering.

 It tapped again.

 “Not yet…” She said again.

 The fish tapped once more and… hook!

 “Now, Pomni!” Ragatha looked towards Pomni, who started reeling in.

 “Slow and steady, slow and steady!” Ragatha reminded her.

 Pomni tried to remind herself as well- slow and steady, slow and steady. She repeated in her head.

 The fish was drawing closer. It came closer, and closer, and suddenly…!

 The fish swam away.

 “Wha-a-wha- what?!” Pomni exclaimed, “What did I do wrong?”

 Ragatha reached to pat her back in sympathy, but quickly retracted her hand.

 “You did just fine! Sometimes it just… doesn’t go well.” She used a hand to tuck her hair.

 Pomni groaned. “Ah, man…” 

 Jax looked over and laughed, “Nice try, Pomni- maybe they’ll be easier to catch once you’re in the lake.” He smirked.

 Pomni looked at him with a competitive grin, “Oh, you think you’re sooo clever- well just you wait!”

 Jax went to retort when suddenly, his fishing rod started to twitch. In a moment, it was shaking. He quickly turned his attention to it and tried to reel it in. It was actually pretty easy- he felt like a pro!

 In a moment, he could feel the line pulling- he righted his stance to follow its movement, still reeling as he did. 

 In an instant- it emerged from the water! A tiny, pathetic little fish. 

 He turned to Pomni and held it up by the line, “Hah! Look at that, Pomni! Enjoy the lake~!

 Pomni’s eyes narrowed. She set down the rod. She stepped onto the ledge of the boat.

 Ragatha tried to intervene, “Ah, Pomni, you really don’t have t-”

 Too late. Pomni jumped off into the lake.

 Pomni felt the cold of the cave water- it was absolutely frigid. Despite this, the lake and the fish from under the water were… beautiful. The light blue shimmer and glow of the lake illuminated everything around her. She looked down to the endless drop and somehow wasn’t intimidated. It was bright and glowing, disappearing into a void of blue. It was oddly… Serene. 

 While she knew she didn’t actually need to come up for air, she still felt as though she needed to, so she suddenly emerged from the water, taking a breath as she broke the surface.

 Jax was laughing maniacally. 

 Pomni smirked and dove back under the water, slowly swimming towards Jax and Kinger’s boat.

 She emerged from the water right beside their boat, and looked at Jax. He stopped laughing, and just looked at her. Her hair was clinging to her face, and her big eyes were looking at him without aim. He felt the strange tingling under his skin again… His face twisted uncomfortably.

 He tried to ask, “What do you wa-”

 Before Jax could react, she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the water with her. 

 He slammed against the water, collapsing into it. He thrashed for a moment, but was quickly caught off guard, for he experienced the same surprise as she did at the sheer serenity of it all… But he didn’t have a chance to prepare himself. He quickly lifted his head up and out of the water and took a big breath-

 “What was that for?!”

 Pomni laughed at him. 

 He looked at her with confusion. After a second, a mischievous grin warped his face. He splashed her with water. 

 “H-hey!” She laughed, and splashed him back. 

 They continued to fight- each armed with the water surrounding them.

 Jax wore a stupid grin on his face, when suddenly Pomni dove down. 

 Jax looked with confusion yet again, until he was suddenly yanked under the water.

 In an instant, it was just them. Surrounded by slow-moving fish and endless water. It was cold and calm.

 She looked at him, smiling. He floated, dumbly. He hardly registered that he wasn’t breathing.

 He felt himself heat up from within, but it was quickly cooled by the chill of the cave water. They looked at each other for a long moment, lingering under the water. They hardly broke eye-contact. Pomni’s smile began to drop. Her eyes were fixated on his. She couldn’t look away. Jax’s expression was plain, he was simply in shock… He was mesmerized. 

 Between them, it was as if time had stopped. They were in a trance.

 “P… … i!” They could hardly hear what was happening above the water.

 “Po…. ni!” It was louder this time.

 Suddenly, they both broke out of their daze- Pomni swam back up first, Jax following behind. They sputtered as they hit the surface.

 When they stopped coughing, they looked at each other one more time.

 “Pomni!” Ragatha called, “Are you okay?!”

 Ragatha’s genuine concern alerted Pomni, who quickly turned around to look at Ragatha, “Yes! Sorry, I’m fine.” She began swimming away from Jax and toward Ragatha.

 Jax stayed in his spot for a moment, watching her swim away. Finally, he broke his stare, shaking his head. He started to swim back to Kinger… 

 Ragatha helped Pomni back up into the boat, “What happened? You were down there for a long time.”

 “Really?” Pomni was surprised, “It didn’t… feel like that long.” She contemplated for a moment, before waving the thought away.

 “Here,” Pomni handed the fishing rod to Ragatha, “How about you take a turn?”

 Ragatha took the fishing rod, “O-oh! Yeah, I can… do that.” She turned and cast the line with excellent technique.

 Pomni looked back towards Jax and Kinger’s boat. Jax was already trying to hand off the legendary fishing rod to Kinger.

 “Oh! Pomni! I caught something!” Ragatha cried.

 “Really? Already?!” Pomni was shocked, and ran to watch as Ragatha reeled in a giant fish with excellent precision. The fish drew closer and closer to the boat… 

 It emerged from the water! It was iridescent, shifting in hues, and it had three sets of eyes. It sure looked legendary.

 “Woah! Look at this, Pomni!” Ragatha was giddy with glee.

 Above Ragatha’s head, text appeared- NICE CATCH!

 “Good catch, Ragatha!” Zooble praised from across the water.

 Pomni looked at the fish and then Ragatha. She was speechless.

 Suddenly, the water beneath them started to bubble, and all the fish started to swim away, disappearing who-knows-where. The colour shifted from blue into a brilliant green and yellow.

 “YOU WHO HAS CAUGHT THE LEGENDARY FISH, YOU HAVE EARNED YOU’RE PLACE.”

 The water of the lake started to rise…

 “I SHALL RELEASE YOU.”

 Suddenly, water started leaking in from the ceiling, and the room completely filled. They were quickly being risen to the surface… 

 Pomni, holding the edge of the boat, watched as the other castmates were flung up with them. She and Jax looked at each other one final time before they were all shot out from the center of the surface lake.

 They all screamed as they were flung over to the shore. They were suddenly all back in their normal circus gear… 

 “GREAT JOB, MY SUPERSTARS! YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FANTASTIC FISHING FEVER FRENZY!”

 Caine was floating above them, congratulating them.

 Pomni took a moment before sitting up.

 “NOW, BACK TO THE CIRCUS TENT WITH YOU ALL!”

 Caine suddenly opened the fractal noise, gesturing them all to go through with his cane.

 Each cast member took a moment to collect themselves before walking through it.

 “I’m never trusting you again.” Zooble commented as they walked past him and through the fractal noise with Gangle.

 Kinger followed shortly behind them. 

 Ragatha helped Pomni off from the ground with a smile.

 “We did it, Pomni!”

 Pomni was still dazed.

 “Uh… Yeah. Yes! We did.” She smiled.

 She hesitated before stepping through the fractal noise with Ragatha.

 Jax was the last one left. He stood there for a long time. That moment- under the water with Pomni- replayed in his head over and over.

 How annoying… He thought, as he finally stepped through the fractal noise.

—

Chapter Text

 Pomni was wandering the halls, just walking around with nothing to do. Today was a slow day, one of those days Caine didn’t really have anything prepared. On days like these, most of the time the cast would just sit around and chat, but nobody was all that talkative today. 

 Anywhere Pomni went, it was quiet. It was kind of nice.

 She took the time to wander- the circus tent seemed to always have some sort of strange new location to explore. While passing through the hallway of rooms, she would find herself eyeing all the strange characters on the doors. Most with red X’s over their faces. An intrusive thought entered her mind- of her door with a big red X over her face… A shiver ran down her spine.

 Shaking her head, Pomni waved the thought away. At her own door, she stopped and looked- her big face with huge dilated eyes plastered on the front.

 When she had first arrived, her room felt like such an eyesore- the high contrast between the reds and blues giving her a headache. However, the more time she spent in the circus, the less it bothered her. In fact, it was starting to become comforting. The limited colour-palette was certainly easier on her eyes than the maximalist appeal of the rest of the circus. Maybe that was what she wanted for a bit… Nothing but reds and blues… 

 Sighing, she slowly turned the knob and swung open the door into the room.

 Ah, her room. With her canopy bed, her dresser, the vanity with the spare hat she had no purpose for, Jax crouched down near the floor, the random assortment of objects like dice and blocks-

 Wait.

 Pomni blinked several times as if she was hallucinating. Nope. Jax was definitely there.

 “Uhhh- Jax?”

 Jax jumped at the sound, throwing one of the mouse traps he was setting up- frantically catching it in the air. It clamped down on his finger.

 “AH! Owww-” He groaned, his finger bloating bright red in response to the pain. He grabbed at the wrist of the hand he had just injured.

 Pomni’s mouth fell open, “Ja- what- what are you doing in my room?!” She shook her head in disbelief.

 His signature grin reappeared despite the pain, “What does it look like? I’m leaving a little gift for you.”

 Pomni stared at him for a moment. Suddenly, she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose… or at least where it was supposed to be.

 “Jax. Where did you get a key to my room?” Her tone didn’t indicate a question, but nonetheless she stood there expecting an answer. 

 “I have keys to everyone's rooms- you learned this on day one.” He pointed towards her with said key.

 “Right.” She sighed, and her disposition changed.

 Without much worry, Pomni slowly walked across her floor, avoiding the traps. She arrived at her bed and plopped down, staring at the canopy above her.

 Jax stood up, prying the mouse trap off of his finger. He tossed it to the side, “Uh… What are you doing?” 

 Pomni huffed, “Laying down.” Her head turned towards him for a brief moment, “What does it look like?”

 Jax looked at her with plain confusion. His eyes narrowed as if he was missing something. Quietly, a word slipped out, “But…” He shook his head, “Well, I’m still here. Doesn’t that bother you?” 

 She shook her head, “Nope. I don’t really care right now.” Her eyes slowly closed as she relaxed with her arms outstretched.

 He smirked and crossed his arms, “What if I refuse to leave.”

 Again, she gave him nothing. “Eh.”

 Jax scoffed, “Tch- what’s up with you? Depressed or somethin’?” He joked.

 She shrugged and settled in.

 He stared at her for a moment, before looking away. “Whatever,” He waved a hand as he went to leave, “Doesn’t matter to me. Enjoy the traps.” He smirked as he exited her room.

 “Oh, I won’t.” She smiled.

 He shut the door behind him. This was all so… strange. She seemed to have developed some sort of immunity to his antics. Suddenly, he realized he was still smiling. He shook the look off his face and started down the hallway. 

 After a moment, he thought of her tripping on the mousetraps when she woke up. This brought a mischievous smile back to his face. Ha. How funny.

—

 After what must have been a few hours, Jax heard chaos from the room across from his own. Pomni must have forgotten about the traps, as he had hoped. He smiled as he strutted out of his room and towards her door.

 “Oh noo-” He said with fake concern, “Are you okay, Pomni? What happened?”

 No response. 

 His eyes narrowed. “Uh…” 

 Before he could say anything else, an unhappy jester opened the door with a sour look on her face. Mousetraps were pinned to her arms, legs, and face. 

 He laughed immediately, pointing at her.

 “Is this what you wanted?” She said plainly.

 “Basically, yeah.”

 She rolled her eyes and began prying the traps off of her. 

 He watched her pry them off, offering absolutely no help. 

 “Are you bored or something?” She asked.

 “Eh, not anymore.” 

 “You know, you can always just… ask to hang out. You don’t have to resort to torture.” 

 She dropped a trap on the floor.

 Quickly, he retorted, “Psh- and why would I want to hang out with you?”

 “It was just an offer.” She dropped another on the floor.

 Oddly, he felt himself thinking about it… Was he really considering hanging out with her, normally? Probably not. No, definitely not… But he was pretty bored… 

 He shook his head and turned away from her, “Nah.”

 “Okay then.” 

 Jax heard the door shut behind him. He released a sigh of relief. His ears lowered a bit.

 “You can come if you want.” Pomni offered.

 His eyes widened when he realized she hadn’t gone back in her room. After a second of staring, she started walking down the hall, pursing her lips into an awkward smile.

 He blinked a few times. And then a few more times. His feet moved before his mind could interject, and suddenly he was following after her.

 Now, he didn’t know where she was going, and for some reason, he didn’t really care. He was kind of just curious about what she was doing. Soon, they were out in the main area, and shortly after that they were down another weird corridor. They kept ducking into hallways, each stranger than the last.

 Admittedly, he was just getting more confused with every turn. Even a bit concerned… Was this… a trap of some kind? A way of getting back at him for earlier?

 Finally, Jax spoke up, “Okay, where are you taking me?”

 “It’s cool, I found it a few days ago.” She replied.

 That didn’t answer his question at all, nor quell his concerns. Why exactly had he followed her again? And why wasn’t he turning back?

 Eventually, Pomni stopped in front of a door- it didn’t look any different from the last hundred they had passed. 

 After a moment of pondering, Pomni turned the knob, quietly saying to herself, “I think this is it…” 

 She pushed the door open to suddenly reveal a high-intensity black-light bowling alley. 

 The walls were a highly saturated shade of dark blue, accented with green and pink neon lights and signs. There were several lanes side by side, each with bright orange bowling pins at the end. An inactive NPC stood unmoving behind a snack counter.

 Suddenly, a memory came back to Jax’s mind- however foggy.

 “Oh.” He remarked out loud, “This is from a previous adventure, isn’t it?”

 “Oh, probably.” Pomni shrugged, “I wouldn’t know.”

 Jax had to remind himself how new she was- she had been there for a while now, but still not nearly the length of time he and the others had. 

 “Wait,” He said, “How did you know this was here?” 

 “Ragatha tipped me off to it, told me some doors led to previous adventure locations, so every once in a while I go looking for them.” She smiled and stuck a hand out, gesturing to the bowling alley, “I only got punched in the face four times to find this one!”

 “Punched in the- wait what?”

 “Do the doors not normally…? Ah, nevermind.” She changed the subject.

 Pomni walked over to one of the lanes, and the second she picked up a bowling ball, her name appeared on the score-board above. 

 “What do ya’ say?” She lifted the ball in his direction, “Wanna play?”

 For a second, he stared at her in disbelief. Had she just… tricked him into hanging out with her?

 Well, ‘trick’ would be a strong word. He willingly followed her all the way here, and now he was willingly walking towards her and sitting down on one of the rounded seats near the lane.

 “Sure,” He smiled smugly as he rested his arms across the back of the seat, “Can’t wait to see how much you suck.”

 Ignoring his comment, she turned back to the lane with a determined look on her face. Lining up the shot, she bowed her legs into position. She took a short run at it before tossing the ball- it landed perfectly centered in the lane, rolling at a precise speed towards the pins.

 STRIKE! The pins were all knocked over with a satisfying clammer of noise.

 The sound of a bell rang above them in victory as a dreamlike strike sequence played on the scoreboard.

 Jax blinked a few times as he watched the pins get pulled down into oblivion before spawning back in place- not quite accurate, but nice try Caine.

 Pomni followed up with another throw, knocking down several more pins. Not quite a strike, but damn close.

 She turned around and walked back towards him, dusting her hands off with confidence.

 “You’re up.” She said as she sat on the edge of the curved bench.

 As he went to look towards her, he noticed his arm looped around her on the back of the chair. He pulled his arm back and itched it before getting up and picking up a bowling ball. When he did, his name also appeared on the scoreboard beneath hers. 

 He looked back at her for a moment, and she gave him two thumbs up. He ignored her, turning back to the lane with a smug expression. He bowed his knees and lined up, before tossing the ball forward into the lane. It rolled and rolled towards the pins, and knocked down… six out of ten of them.

 His expression fell.

 “Come on Jax, you can do better than that!” She teased, and his smile returned.

 “Oh you bet your bowling ball I can- I’m gonna kick yer butt, Pomni.”

 With fervor, he picked up another one and rolled it towards the pins, watching it spin along the lane. They both watched as it knocked down the rest of the pins!

 SPARE! A corny horn played over the invisible speakers.

 Jax pumped a fist, “Nice.” He simply said as he went to sit back down, gesturing to Pomni, “See? I’m just gettin’ warmed up.” He bragged.

 “Oh.” She said before cracking her knuckles, “Me too.”

 With no hesitation, Pomni strutted up and grabbed another bowling ball, rolling it perfectly and earning herself yet another strike. 

 STRIKE! The bell rang again.

 Pomni waited for the pins to reappear before throwing again.

 DOUBLE! The bell rang yet again, this time backed by a dramatic drum. 

 Jax’s eyes narrowed at her. “Are you cheating?”

 “What?! No!” 

 They continued to play a few more rounds. By now, Jax would’ve normally decided he was bored and tried to find some sort of chaos to cause instead, but he was starting to get the hang of it, and had almost caught his score up to Pomni’s. He had just decided in his mind that he wanted to win when she suddenly offered, “Do you want something to eat?”

 “What?”

 She gestured back to the snack bar.

 “The NPC’s AI isn’t active.” Jax pointed out, “It can’t serve you.”

 Pomni laughed a bit, “I’m not worried.” She walked towards the snack bar before ducking behind it and digging around. Jax watched her with a raised eyebrow. 

 Suddenly, she lifted up a basket of nachos. Though rendered quite simply and with little detail, they did look somewhat appealing at the moment… 

 She waltzed back and placed it on the table near the bench. 

 “Did you just steal?” Jax asked with a smile.

 “Huh?” Pomni had already put some in her mouth. Quickly, she swallowed. “Oh. I guess so.” She shrugged and took another bite.

 Jax moved over and took a bite himself. Despite it not being real, it did taste pretty alright. Perhaps a tad bland, but it was certainly nachos- it was pretty hard to mess up nachos. 

 “You’re a criminal now, you know.” He joked.

 She did a fake dramatic gasp, “Oh well.” And took another bite.

 He laughed and went to take his turn at the lane. 

 As he did, he heard her voice peep up from behind him, “Wait-” She said, “You don’t actually think… Caine will be mad, right?”

 “Pffft-” Was all he had said before she knew the answer. 

 “Yup.” He answered, but she had already clued in, “He’ll probably make a prison adventure just for you, Pomni.”

 “Ha ha.” She replied flatly, “Very funny.”

 “I know,” He replied, “I’m hilarious.”

 Finally, he threw the bowling ball, returning his focus back to the game. A strike! 

 After his turn was done, Pomni stepped up. As he suspected, she got a strike. As she was lining up to throw the ball again, he slowly crept up behind her… She bent her knees, her tongue sticking out as she focused… 

 In one swift motion- just as Pomni started her throw- Jax jabbed his fingers into either of her sides. Pomni jolted and made a loud “EEK”, tossing the ball to the side of the lane as she grabbed her at her sides. She cartoonishly shivered.

 “JAX!”

 He was howling.

 The ball rolled into the gutter.

 “That’s not- that’s not funny!” She glared at him as he continued to laugh.

 Her face turned to a pout and she crossed her arms. 

 “Was that really necessary?”

 “Nah, but it was pretty funny, you gotta admit.”

 Pomni walked over to him and grabbed him by one of the straps of his overalls, her tone threatening, “Jax.”

 He stopped laughing.

 “What? It’s not like you needed the points, you’re winning!” He gestured to the board.

 She yanked at his strap, “Don’t DO that!” Even though her tone was serious, seeing his mischievous grin made a small smile form on her face.

 “Come on, Pom. I wasn’t-”

 “Jax.” She glared at him.

 “Okay okay- fine. Jeez.” He threw his arms up, surrendering. He figured if he didn’t she might murder him.

 Pomni let go of him.

 “Thank you. Don’t sabotage me.” Despite her warning, she had a light-hearted smile.

 Jax supposed that she wasn’t too mad, so perhaps he could get away with it again… However, when her turn arrived again, he received a cold glare before she threw. Perhaps it would be worth it for him to try to just play normally… 

 The game was pretty close by the second half, which happened to be when the lights of the bowling alley turned off and the black-light and accompanying neon signs all lit up.

 Jax quietly said to himself, “Neat.” 

 Pomni heard and smiled, turning away from the lane to face him. “It’s cool, right?”

 Jax quickly righted his expression. “Eh.”

 Despite his attempt to be non-chalant, he was staring at her. Under the blacklight, her reds and blues were shining. In her spiralled pupils, the reflections of the neon lights. Her smooth colours in this lighting- she looked like she was made of glass or porcelain. 

 Pomni was looking at him, too. His eyes had a certain glow to them in the black-light. In the dim lighting, he looked soft. Like fleece or minky.

 After a moment, they both realized they were staring and broke their gaze.

 “Uh, I’ll just… do my turn.” She said, and turned her attention back to the lane.

 “You… do that.” Was all he could manage to say. What had just changed? It was just some lighting. He itched the side of his neck.

 The game remained close all the way to the last few rounds. Pomni had gotten herself three strikes in a row right at the end.

 TURKEY! The bell sounded again for what felt like the hundredth time that night, this time accompanied by drums and a trumpet. 

 Despite her turkey, Jax was nearly in the lead. All he needed was one strike and two pins for his last turn to win.

 Slowly, he lined up the shot, aiming his gaze at the center pin. His focus was unbroken- even Pomni was practically holding her breath. Finally, he tossed the ball, and it rolled quickly along the lane. As he had intended, it hit the center pin, knocking down all the pins- except for one. The last pin lulled on the edge of its base- Jax watched it intensely, mumbling “Come on…”

 Pomni watched as well as the pin teetered back and forth, teasing them. She was literally on the edge of her seat.

 The pin rocked back and forth before finally settling back on its base.

 “YESSSS!” “NOOOO!” 

 Jax fell to his knees dramatically while Pomni flung her arms up in celebration.

 After a moment, Jax looked back and couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. She looked towards him.

 “Well? You can still get a spare.”

 “Why? I lose either way.”

 “Aw, don't be a sore loser.”

 Jax grunted as he stood up, “Alright fine.”

 He paced over and tossed a ball into the lane haphazardly. He waltzed back over to Pomni to sit beside her, but her eyes were on the lane.

 “Oh- my god you just got a spare without trying.” She laughed, and he looked over.

 It was true, the ball had perfectly knocked over the last pin. The corny sound effect played above them.

 With a grin, he shrugged, “That’s just how good I am.”

 Pomni resisted the urge to remind him that he had just lost.

 With their rounds of bowling complete, they sat on the bench beside each other, unsure what to do next. Pomni seemed content to just sit in the silence for a moment, but the quiet was making Jax itch. His usual flighty feeling was beginning to rear its head. He awkwardly adjusted beside her a few times, rubbing the back of his neck.

 “So… Are we done here?”

 “Oh. I mean, I guess so. You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to.”

 Inside him there were two reactions- one that told him to stay for a bit longer, and another that said to get out of there ASAP. Even though the voice that inclined him to stay was louder, he waved it away with a hand.

 “Alright, I’m out of here then.” He stood up and started to walk towards the exit. 

 “Jax?”

 He turned back to look at her, an eyebrow raised.

 “Thanks for hanging out with me.” She smiled sincerely, unmoving from her spot.

 Jax huffed, but he couldn’t help the smile that crept up his cheeks, “Tch- sure, shortstuff.” With that, he closed the door behind him.

 Pomni was left by herself in the bowling alley. The smile on her face was unmoving as she made the decision to play one more round by herself. 

 She rolled the ball along the lane.

 Gutter ball. Her mind was elsewhere.

—

 After a long walk, Jax had finally found his way back to his room. He opened the door and made his way to the bed. He collapsed down on it and sighed. Though his first instinct was to remark how weird the whole thing was, he resigned himself. It was true, he did have fun. Not because of her, she just happened to be in the room. Well, he supposed it wasn’t because of the bowling either. Bowling got rather repetitive. It must’ve been something else. Something he must’ve been forgetting at the moment. 

 The circus had its own inconsistent day-night cycle. Sometimes it was active, sometimes it wasn’t. Right now, it was night. Late, it seemed.

 He sat back up and looked over towards his own door. His room was dark, the features of it all blurry. Through his door, his mind's eye looked at her door. He found himself wondering if she was back yet.

 “Psh. Doesn’t matter. Why would I care?” He remarked out loud as he laid down and let himself fall asleep.

—

 It was probably the circus equivalent of 2 am by the time Pomni returned back to her room. Before now her mind had been too busy to rest. Besides, she had just had a nap not that long ago. 

 She approached her door.

 “Ouch!” She quietly yelped. The mouse traps from earlier, still at the threshold to her door. One was clamped on her foot. She grunted and pried it off, tossing it a little ways away from her door. 

 Suddenly, she had an idea. 

 Pomni- with a smirk smeared across her face- slowly moved each of the traps to the base of Jax’s door. She could hardly contain herself. How evil! She was giggling under her breath- she hoped Jax couldn’t hear her snickers.

 Soon, she had set out an array of traps at his door. 

 She covered her mouth as she slowly backed away from his door, entering her room stealthily. She felt like such a little prankster. Pomni the prankster.

 Jax was in for a rude awakening, she thought as she moved to get ready for bed.

 Once she reached her vanity, she looked at herself. Gently, she lifted a finger and touched her face.

 Her face. The stark white and the spiralling red and blue pupils. The mismatched eyelashes and brown-ish black hair. What exactly had Jax been looking at earlier? Though, she supposed he might’ve been wondering the same thing about her. What had she been looking at? She wasn’t actually so sure herself.

 Shaking the thought away, she turned to her dresser. She opened a specific drawer and in a moment she suddenly was in pajamas. Costume selection sure was faster than changing. These clothes were much more comfortable than her usual uniform. 

 Finally, Pomni climbed over and onto her bed, tucking herself under the digital sheets. 

 To her surprise, as she fell asleep, the last thought in her mind wasn’t of Jax’s reaction to the traps- but instead, it was of the smile on his face as they laughed together. 

 He isn’t so bad.

—

 With an exaggerated yawn, Jax slowly rose from his bed. He rubbed his eyes like he would outside of the digital realm, and slowly made his way to his door.

 Using one hand to continue rubbing his eyes, he used the other to unlock and twist the knob. 

 He took one step out of his room.

 “AH-” Pain in his foot. He lifted his foot up to grab, hopping on his other. As he was hopping, he stepped on something else- “OW!”

 Instantly, he lost his balance, falling over-

 “AHHHHHH- OWWW!”

 -into a pile of several more traps.

 He lay on the floor, helpless for a moment.

 “Ugh…” Slowly he sat up from the floor.

 “What the…” His eyes moved over towards Pomni’s door. Suddenly, a challenging smile appeared on his face. “Ha. Good one, Pomni.” He started to pry the mouse traps off of him.

 In his mind stirred thoughts of revenge. Could this be the start to… a prank war? He couldn’t help but feel a little giddy. Oh, this would be good. He could hardly remember the last time he had done anything like that… His lips turned downward at the thought…

 It certainly had been a while. Not since- 

 Quickly, he shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He pried the last mouse trap off of himself. 

 As it turned out, Pomni had the capability for the same sadistic sense of humor as him. Funny, he didn’t take her for the type. 

 He looked at her big goofy face plastered on her door. Before he could stop it, words formed in his head.

 She isn’t so bad.

—