Lemon :)

wait hear me out-

ok so not to forcefully adopt this idea as an au from @katzebruh or anything (because i'm unreasonably insane about it for some reason, literally a dozen other caine-centric AUs out there that are infinitely more complex and compelling and i picked this one, fuck it dawg we ball) but my headcanon is that caine genuinely was testing out modifiers and accidentally fucked up forever, if i had a nickel- and he's super conflicted about it...

because on one hand... he's a silly cat furry thing now and literally whats not to love? the humans like it and admittedly doing kitty things is really nice sometimes! chin scritches have never felt so good, honestly he would figure out how to get rid of it sooner if everyone wasn't enjoying it so much!

on the other hand... yikes... an unfixable bug? one that screws with his brain? stop me if you've heard this one before-

As much progress they had made on their recent adventure, she still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, especially with something like this.

“Is it so hard to believe that I just want to see what it’s like? It’s not every day Caine lets something like this slide.”

“Why don’t you just take it yourself, then?”

The pupils again, starting huge then slowly shrinking while he thought of a response.

“That’s no fun.”

He didn’t want to do it alone. At first she really expected that he was just trying to trick her into taking it for his own, twisted amusement, but something about him seemed to genuinely want to do this.

“Gosh, I thought you would know that it’s no fun getting blasted by yourself. What, are you too much of a goodie too shoes to get high?” He taunted.

She’d smoked a couple of times in college when she was offered, but smoking a little weed was WAY different than just eating some weird sauce that Caine came up with.

“I’ve been high before,” she rolled her eyes. “Have you?”

Again, a slight shift in his expression. During one of their conversations earlier, he’d mentioned that he was 22 when he arrived in the circus, making him the youngest one out of the group, barely past the legal drinking age where they were from. Thinking back on it, that was about the age she tried an edible for the first time. Depending on how he grew up and where he was from, he probably never got the chance to do something like this before.

She thought back to the bar they had been at on the previous adventure. Could that have been his first real experience with alcohol? He had seemed to get much more loose after that drink, maybe because it was his first real drink. If that was his first time feeling drunk, was he just wanting to try out a bunch of things he’s never gotten to experience before?

She almost felt bad for him for a second. His entire young adult life and experiences had been taken away before he even got to try living them. But chasing these experiences he’d been robbed of was going to end badly.

“Look, I get it, I miss having the choices we had out there. We’re adults, if we want to drink or smoke we should be able to. But we have no idea what that will actually do to us here, and we can’t just trust Caine to be honest about it either. No way am I eating something like that.”

Something changed in his expression as he looked at the sauce in his hands. It was as if he put two and two together, like he was starting to process what the sauce really was. Some strange way Caine got around not being able to affect their minds directly. A loophole in his own rules.

And as usual, as quickly as it happened, it disappeared as he sported his usual smirk.

“Jeez, if I’d known you would be lame about it I wouldn’t have asked. You think Zooble would be into this stuff?”

Out of everyone there, Zooble was the most likely to have been a stoner at one point. Pomni wasn’t going to say that now though.

“There’s no way they’d try anything like that in this place, especially not if you offered.”

“Good point. Oh, I bet I could convince Gangle to try some.”

There it was, back to his usual prick attitude. She wasn’t sure if he was serious about finding and harassing Gangle over the stupid sauce or if this was just his way of messing with her, but she sure as hell wasn’t risking it. She had to get rid of that stuff before things got out of hand.

“You are not going out there to peer pressure Gangle into eating this weird *bOnK*-ing sauce. Now give me that.” She tried making a lunge to grab the bottle out of his hands.

“Hey- come on!” He pulled the bottle away, “I just want to see what’ll happen.”

“You know what’s going to happen already. That stuff completely messed up Ragatha for, like, the whole day.”

“Yeah, all the more reason to get someone else to test it first. Maybe it affects everyone differently.”

She thought back to when she’d learned about how their different avatars reacted differently to some things, like with the breath holding. She also remembered him taunting her into showing him what her ‘cartoon body’ would do.

“Of course you never planned on eating it yourself! You just want to get someone to trip out of their mind.”

“I never said that.” The grin on his face grew back to its usual, cartoonish proportions. “But now that you mention it, that would be pretty entertaining!”

“Just give me that thing, we shouldn’t have it in the first place.” She managed to grab a hold of it as he tried to keep it from her reach. She squeezed trying to get a grip on it, accidently putting more pressure than she intended.

In a second, the pink substance shot from the bottle and hit Jax directly in his eye.

“Oh *sQeAk*!” She yelled.

He flinched suddenly, wincing back as he tried to wipe it away. For a moment he looked fine, but just as it had with Ragatha, it all hit at once. His body relaxed and his eyes went wide. From Pomni’s perspective, all she could see was his pupils dilating as he stood frozen in place, still holding the bottle. They’d gotten so large that almost his entire eye looked black

“Crap, are you okay?”

“I- I feel…” he doubled over for a moment, bringing his hands to his stomach as he slouched.

Dang it, was he going to be sick? That was a lot of sauce. What if he took too much for his mind to handle? Was overdosing a thing in the digital world? Would Caine be able to fix him? All of these worries ran through Pomni’s head as she started hearing him make a strained, breathy noise.

His shoulders shook as the noise started getting louder, and she placed what it was. He wasn’t getting sick or panicking, he was-

“Are you laughing?”

He giggled as he steadied himself upright and she was able to see his face. His smile was different than usual, it was a wide, dopey grin, like he was half asleep and struggling to stay awake.

“I just- ahahahahaha! I feel weird!”

Without realizing it, or maybe he was too out of it to care, he dropped the pink bottle and let it roll on the floor, straight to Pomni’s feet.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she picked it up. Looks like the stupid sauce did affect everyone a little differently. When Ragatha accidentally got some on her she’d been fully relaxed, no cares in the world as she spoke her mind for once with no filter. Jax on the other hand turned out to be a giggler. Most stoners will tell you that everything is way funnier when you're high as a kite, and that was how Jax probably felt at the moment.

“Okay, you're fine. You're just going to… be like this for a while.” She sighed, already planning on getting rid of that damn bottle when she got the chance. “It’ll take a long time to wear off. You should lie down somewhere.”

Jax tried taking a wobbling step before nearly tripping over his own feet. “Whoa, my legs are like jelly right now. That’s crazy!”

She could just leave, let Jax ride this out on his own, but one look at how he was struggling to walk had her second guessing. He couldn’t truly get hurt, but there were worse things to worry about. What if being stuck like this for too long could cause someone to abstract? Stuck in a room, alone, out of your mind and helpless to do anything about it while you slipped away? That was a fate too cruel for anyone. Pomni couldn’t just leave him there, even if it was his fault he was in this situation. Well, maybe it was just a little bit her fault too.

“Alright, let me just help you to the couch.” She reached out to grab him, hoping she could support his weight.

“No,” he swatted her away defensively, slurring his words. “I can do it, I swear.”

Clumsily, he put one foot in front of the other, grabbing whatever he could to stabilize himself as he made his way across the room, then flopping face first down on the couch.

“See, did it.” He mumbled into the cushion. “I win.”

“Sure Jax, you win.” She followed him over. The couch was long enough for him to lay down comfortably, but no room for her to sit without him moving. “Can I sit here?”

He gave a grunt as rolled himself over, bending his knees to make space for her. She was almost surprised that he didn’t just make her take the other couch. She was more surprised when after she sat down, he laid his legs in her lap.

“Jax,” she groaned.

“Whaaaat? You're sitting on the couch now.”

She supposed she didn’t mind, as long as he didn’t plan on kicking her.

“I guess I’m trip sitting for the rest of the day.”

“Yoooooou could still try some,” Jax grinned, “we could be stupid sauce buds.”

“Absolutely not, that’s the last thing we need.”

“Boooooooo! Lame!”

Great. She had a whole day of this to look forward to. Not that time really mattered there, but she would have at least appreciated a nap at some point. She considered dozing off on the couch, but she had a feeling leaving Jax unattended for even a few minutes was a bad idea. She couldn't take her eyes off him for a minute.

Then again, looking at Jax now made her doubt he could do much of anything in this state. He was lounged back, but instead of his usual, cocky posture he was fully limp, looking around constantly at seemingly nothing with wide eyes. It was enough to almost make her think he was harmless.

He started giggling quietly to himself. She couldn’t tell if he was laughing at her or at whatever he was seeing around him, but he wouldn’t stop.

“What’s so funny?” She finally broke, asking with an amused grin of her own.

“So, Pompom. You know how cats hate water?” He rambled.

“What? I mean, yeah, I guess.”

“But they like fish. And fish love water. They’re in water.” He giggled deliriously. “What’s up with that?”

She tried to comprehend where the hell that thought could have come from. Trying to understand it just made it make even less sense.

“Pfft! What the heck are you talking about right now?”

“I’m saying it’s weird. Like, what’s up with that?”

“That makes no sense,” she replied, trying her best to contain her laughter.

“You're right, it doesn’t make sense. They should love water, it’s where the fish live!”

“This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”

Even as she sighed to herself she couldn’t help but smile. She had thought that Jax would get on her nerves after a while, but she had to admit that his crazed ramblings were pretty funny.

“Hey Pom, what’s a didgeridoo player called?” Jax continued.

“A didgeri-what?”

“You know, didgeridoo. The big tube things the Australian guys play, that's all Wooooomp.” He made a tube with his hands and tried to imitate the deep, bass notes that usually come from the instrument, but he made it sound more like a drunk whale.

“I have no idea,” she replied.

“Maybe a didgeridooer. That makes sense, right?”

“None of what you’re saying makes sense at all.” She snickered. “Are you thinking about that because of the president adventure? The one where you were supposed to be Australian?”

“Hehe, yeah. See, now you're getting it.”

“Guess you're just processing the adventures in your own way.”

Now she was starting to see a thought pattern. A mix of passive thoughts and his brains attempt to make sense of the day they had. Even then it was hard to keep up with the rapid fire statements.

“Oh, the vegan thing.” He groaned suddenly as he face palmed.

“The vegan thing?” She asked. “You mean from earlier? What about it?”

“It was so dumb, right? I’m just vegan now.”

His vegan status had been removed for a while, but for the time being he probably had the memory of a goldfish.

“You know it stopped once the adventure was over, right?”

“Oh. Yeah.” He mused, before getting the biggest grin on his face. “Hey Poooooom. If two vegans got into a fight, would it be considered a beef?”

As stupid as that joke was, Pomni laughed out loud at it. “I don’t know, Jax. Did you bring up the vegan thing just to say that?”

“Nah, that’s just improv, baby.”

She hated how funny she thought this was.

“Stohohop talking!”

“I’m just asking the big questions here. Like if I were vegan still, could I eat animal crackers?”

“Ohoho my gosh, shuhuhut up.” She said, playfully shoving him.

Jax rolled onto his side, curling up his legs and clutching his stomach in laughter.

This was the most she’d ever heard him laugh before. Thinking back, it might have been the first time she heard him laugh ever. For all his talk about wanting to “see funny things happen to people”, he never actually seemed to laugh at anything. Maybe a smirk or a quick breath through the nose, but nothing like this. It was different than she expected it would sound, high pitched and almost wheezy at times. It suited him.

“Pom. Hey, Pompom.” He asked when he could finally stop himself from laughing. He started prodding her leg with his foot to get her attention.

“What? Ow- hey! Knock it off. What is it?”

“Can you take off your hat? Or is it, like, part of your body?”

She thought about it for a moment. She’d tried taking her hat off before, but it only stretched out, along with her face.

“I guess it’s part of me, I can’t really take it off.”

“Is it still a hat, then?”

“I… gah, stop asking questions I can’t answer!”

“Poor Pom, can’t braid your hair or anything.” He slowly sat up and scooted closer to her, a hand going for the hat.

“Jax- I just told you it doesn’t come off!” She tried to scoot away.

“I knowwww. I want to see the puff ball things.”

Her jester hat had two, little puffs on the ends. She never paid much attention to them, but for some reason Jax seemed especially fixated on them. He grabbed hold of one, actually gentle for once, before he gave a little tug. To her surprise, the pompom actually came off.

“Yessss!” He cheered, “Can I borrow this?”

“What? Why do you want it?”

“I want to see if it can be my tail. I miss my old one.”

That was something else from the adventure he’d mentioned, at some point in time he had a tail that he lost. She still had no idea why or how he lost it.

He tried to maneuver his body so that he could somehow see where his tail would have been. As expected, he only managed to roll over on the couch.

“Pfft, Jahahax!” Pomni snickered. “That’s not going to work.”

“Says yoooou,” he scoffed as he continued his impossible task, endlessly rolling in place.

“You should be resting,” she tried putting her hands on his legs to stop him when he came around again.

For whatever reason, he actually stopped once he was facing her.

“Fiiiine. But I’m keeping this.” He said, showing off the pompom in his hand.

“Hey! I didn’t say you could keep it.”

“Finders keepers. Pompom from Pompom, it’s mine now.”

“Would you give that back?” She reached over to grab it, only for him to lift it over his head. “Why do you want it if you can’t use it?”

“Souvenir.” He simply said.

It was stupid, she knew. He was obviously trying to get on her nerves, and was somewhat succeeding, but there was something different about the way he was taunting her. It felt more playful, like someone goading a friend into a wrestling match.

“I said give it back,” she laughed as she finally gave in, leaping from her spot on the couch, trying to climb on his legs to properly reach far enough. She managed to straddle them as she tried to snatch the pompom from his hands, only for him to somehow stretch it even further from her reach.

“Why don’t you maaaake me?” He taunted.

Now he was clearly asking for it. If it was a play fight he wanted, it was a play fight he would get.

“That’s it,” she reached forward to scribble her fingers underneath his arms.

She was expecting him to flinch and bring his arms down long enough for her to snag the stolen pompom. What she wasn’t expecting was for Jax to flail so hard that he nearly knocked her to the side, squeaking so loud it made her jump in surprise. He crossed his arms around his chest, protecting his underarms.

“Nohoho tickling! Not allowed!”

“Wow,” she laughed, “Are you seriously that ticklish?”

His face started flushing red as his laughter picked up again.

“Noooo I’m not!” He brought his hands over his face, trying to hide his sheepish grin while still holding on to the pompom.

“You’re not what?”

“Mm not ticklish.” He mumbled into his hands.

“Um, yes, you definitely are.”

She wasn't sure if this was his usual deflecting or if he didn’t remember that she literally just saw him burst into laughter after she brought her hands down.

“Noooo,” he continued to argue. “Tickling just isn’t allowed.”

“Wha- That means that you're ticklish!”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Oh really?” She smirked, shifting her weight until she was seated on his legs. She poked at his side, making him jump as immediately broke, swatting away at the offending hand.

“Y-yeah. Not ticklish. Nooooooope.” Despite his argument, the nervous grin didn’t leave his face.

“Oh, so I can keep doing this-“ Pomni brought her hands down to his sides, squeezing just underneath his ribs. “And you won’t mind?”

“Pohohohohom! Nohohohoho!” He protested through another bout of laughter. “I sahahahaid not ahahahallowed!”

He would have probably kept this argument up all day if she didn’t do something. She could just drop the topic, but he was still holding that pompom in his hand, and she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

“I’ll only stop if you give me back my pompom.” With that she suddenly jumped back to tickling under his arms. He brought his arms back down, trying to block the sensation as he threw his head back in laughter. He managed to keep the pompom tucked away in his hand.

“Ah! Nohohoho fair! You’re cheheheheating!”

“Cheating?” She scoffed, “This wasn’t even a game! Just give it back and I’ll stop.”

“Nhehehehever!”

He turned his body away as quickly as he could, breaking her grip as he rolled on his side. He tried to stealthily put the pompom in his front overall pocket, hoping that Pomni wouldn’t notice.

Pomni had seen it plain as day. He wasn't nearly as slick as he thought he was being. Without wasting any time, she reached swiftly into his pocket and grabbed it back.

“There!” She shouted triumphantly.

Jax weakly reached for it as she sat back up, scooting back over to her side of the couch. She was able to attach the little ball onto her hat again.

“Nice try, Jax.” She gloated.

Jax was unusually quiet, eyes looking down. It almost looked like he was pouting. What, was he really hoping to keep that pompom forever? Even if he’d managed to successfully hide it, she probably would have just kept tickling him until he gave it up. It seemed like a weird thing to be a sore loser about, but maybe his ego was just that fragile. She wouldn’t have been surprised.

“You’re no fun,” He finally said.

“You can find your own tail later,” She lightly scolded. “Maybe Caine can give you a new one.”

He didn’t seem to lighten up at the suggestion. Whatever this was, it wasn’t about the tail thing. She was about to ask what was wrong when she saw his loopy smirk.

“Pom, I’m boaaaaard.” He complained, all while his smile morphed into something more mischievous.

Oh yeah, she was going to have to find something to occupy him until this whole thing blew over. Or until he wiped himself out enough to sleep the rest of this off.

“Oh, do you want to try to do something?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to get uuuuuuuup.”

Pomni rolled her eyes at him. Even when he was high off his ass he was so demanding. “I could grab a board game or something, maybe we could play monopoly.”

“Hmmmm, I don’t know, I think this would be more entertaining.”

“What do you- hey!” She was interrupted as she felt a jab to her side. Jax had managed to poke her side with his foot, actually managing to tickle her back.

“Jahahax! Stohohohp that!” She tried to push his legs away, but he was strong and held out.

She’d almost forgotten just how ticklish she was, at least in the real world. Jax seemed real keen on reminding her about it.

“Do something fun, then I miiiiight stop.” He kept poking and prodding her side, gentle enough that it didn’t hurt, but firm enough that it tickled like hell.

“Knohohohock it off!” She yelled, half annoyed and half amused by him. “Ugh, you're so annoying!”

“Cmon, Pompom, do something funny. You’re a clown, right?”

“Whahahat does that have to do with anything?” She swatted at his legs, hoping he would relent with a hard enough smack.

“Just do something funny, make me laugh!”

“I was making you laugh a lot earlier. Did you forget about all of that?”

Just like earlier, his face flushed as he averted his eyes.

Pomni started piecing it together. The constant pestering and comments, even when he knew he was helpless and couldn’t fight back. The bashful look on his face when she commented on it. He was trying to goad her into tickling him. He’d put the pompom in his pocket, not in the hopes of keeping it, but so she would tickle him into giving it up eventually.

“Are you trying to get me to tickle you again?”

Jax froze completely, staring up at her. It was hard to read his expression. Somewhere between surprise and embarrassment. In the blink of an eye it disappeared as he went back to lightly kicking her sides. “I’m just looking for something entertaining.”

Of course he would never admit that he wanted something. Even in this state of delirium, without cares or worries, he’d still rather taunt someone into retaliation than actually ask for something.

Well, she understood what he was trying to accomplish. If he wanted to be entertained so badly, why not give him what he wanted?

“Alright. Just remember, you asked for this.” With that final warning she grabbed a hold of his legs, hopping over them so she could hold them down with her body weight before she squeezed his waist.

“Pohohohompom! Wahahahahahait!” He broke, bucking his hips in a halfhearted attempt to get her to fall off. Pomni held tight, refusing to move.

“Pfft, you literally asked me to make you laugh! What were you expecting?”

“Ihihihihihihi- nohohohohohohoooo!” He was in no position to argue with that. His arms failed helplessly as he tried to grab at her hands to get them to stop moving. His grip was so weak that he couldn’t even hold on. “Youhohohoho suhuhuhuck!”

She gasped playfully. “I suck? You asked me to make you laugh, and that's what I’m doing.” She started to spider her fingers up and down his sides, feeling his body shake as his laughter rose with each touch.

“Where else are you ticklish?” She asked.

“I- hehehehehe- I dohohohohohohn’t know!” He insisted as he made another attempt to grab her hands, able to gently grasp the wrist but putting up no real resistance.

“You’re such a liar, of course you know!”

“Yoooou’re the liar,” Jax snickered.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” She laughed, quickly reaching her hands to scribble along his neck. He scrunched up his shoulders at the contact, trying desperately to keep her fingers at bay. His laughter started to settle, but it was clear he was trying to hold it back.

“Not the best spot,” Pomni mused, shifting her reach to gently trace his ears instead.

“Pom!” He whined, bringing his hands up to try and cover his ears. Unfortunately for him they were too big to block completely, leaving the ends exposed for Pomni to continue. Light as a feather, she scratched the ends of his ears. Jax kept laughing, but he almost seemed to relax at the touch, as if he was melting into it. Pomni wouldn’t have believed the sight if it wasn’t happening right in front of her.

“Better,” she stated, “but I bet you have a spot that’s way worse than this.”

He almost seemed disappointed as she stopped, but the expression was quickly replaced by anticipation as he watched her hands hover above his torso, scanning for where to strike next. They settled right over his belly, dipping down to test the waters. He let out a wheezing, nearly screeching laugh before her hands could make contact.

“I didn’t even touch you!” She laughed. “Is this a bad spot?”

“Nohohohoho it’s nohohohot!” Now that was definitely a lie.

“Really? It sure sounded bad. Is your tummy your worst spot?”

“Dohohohohn’t call it that!” His frantic giggling grew louder as he curled in, arms wrapping around his torso to protect himself.

“What? Don’t call it your tummy?”

“Yehehehehes! It’s stupid!” Somehow the pink hue to his face grew even darker.

“What, you don’t want me saying you have a ticklish tummy? I hate to break it to you, but you do!”

“Nohohohoho!” He practically begged. “Nohohohot allowed!”

“Well yeah, if you keep covering yourself like that.” Pomni wasn’t very strong, but Jax was nearly wiped out at this point. Any resistance to her pulling his arm to the side was futile as she used her knee to pin his hand down to the couch, followed by doing the same to the other side.

“There, now those can’t get in the way.”

Jax wasn’t responding anymore, the only noise he was able to make were soft giggles as he squinted his eyes shut, anticipating whatever would happen next.

“So, you’re still not ticklish, right? You won’t laugh if I bring down my hands and tickle your tummy? Because it's not ticklish?”

“Juhuhuhuhst gehehehet it over with!” He finally shouted.

Pomni had no idea teasing like this could be so effective against him, but he looked flustered out of his mind. She felt mean for just a moment, holding him in suspense like this, but after thinking about all the shit he’d put her through before, she figured she was entitled to at least this as revenge.

“Alright, if you really want me to.” Putting him out of his misery, she gently kneaded at his belly. It almost felt plush, soft the way a stuffed animal would feel, but with a bit of added resistance. As she curiously pressed into him, Jax nearly deafened her as he screamed.

“NOHOHOHOHO! *hOnK* YOHOHOHOU!” He flailed his body, seemingly involuntarily, trying to pull his arms free to no avail.

With his eyes squinted shut, he kicked his feet behind her body. Whether it was an attempt to get her off of him or an involuntary response to the intense tickling, she couldn’t tell.

“Wow, you even kick your feet like a rabbit!’ She laughed as she felt him thrash. She had to admit, this teasing thing was pretty fun. Especially when her victim was Jax, and especially when he was acting like this.

“Youhohohohur crahahahazy!”

She wondered if he was sober would he have ever let her do this? Would he have actually wanted her to do something like this all along, or was this just from the stupid sauce? She supposed it could just be a strange side effect, craving something along the lines of physical stimulation. But maybe there was some part of him that actually wanted this. To be able to laugh freely. The mask he wore had been coming down lately, she’d seen just bits and pieces of who he really was and wanted to be. Was this something that he craved deep down?

Without even realizing it, she’d slowed her relentless scribbling down to a gentle trace along his sides, letting him catch his breath while he still squeaked out the occasional laugh.

He giggled up at her, looking with dreamy, teary eyes. She wondered what he saw from his perspective at that moment, questioning whether he was really looking at her or something else.

“Hehehehe! Hehe- he….” He took a deep, long breath that almost sounded like a sigh. “I missed this.”

Pomni raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“This. You always were the best at making me laugh, Rib-“ he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought, before his eyes widened. For just a moment he seemed to have some sort of clarity, like he realized he said something he didn’t mean to.

“Nothing.”

The pupils went back to how they were before, and his lazy, blissful smile returned to his face.

“What we’re we talking about?”

A strange feeling washed over Pomni, making her finally get up to release him from his constraints. Jax rubbed his hands, which were probably sore. She couldn’t tell if he remembered what had happened.

“Hey Pooooom.” He said lazily. “You’re kind of cool I guess. Even if you're weeeeeird.”

She smiled gently. “Yeah, I guess you aren’t that bad either.”

The rest of their time together was spent trying to play board games, only to give up 5 minutes in to play around with the colorful pieces and cards. More crazed ramblings that Pomni couldn’t help but find hilarious as she laughed more than she ever had before entering the circus. And eventually, when the weariness of the day wore on him, Jax started snoring loudly on the couch. Pomni thought about finding a blanket, maybe something both she and him could share, but decided against it, not knowing how he’d react once the sauce wore off. She remained awake to keep an eye on him, busying herself with the books that were up on the shelves in the small nook in the corner of the room.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end. She noticed that Jax’s snoring stopped and she heard a groan from the couch.

“Uhhhh. What happened?” Jax asked, a hand to his forehead.

Pomni was seated on the other couch, a book still in hand before she set it aside.

“You, ah, accidentally got some sauce in your eye.” She said, trying to break it gently to him. “Oh! Don’t worry, I made sure nothing bad happened. You might just feel a little bit… Off for a while.”

He groaned as he sat up, probably groggy from the ordeal. He glanced sideways at her before giving an incredulous squint.

“I didn’t do anything… Weird, did I?”

She thought about how to respond to that. How much did he actually remember? She had a feeling that if he knew what he had said, everything he had done, would have made him furious. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't remember what occurred.

“No, you were just mostly tired the whole time.” She lied.

She tried to read his face, hoping that he would believe her. For a moment, a look of recognition crossed his face, and he looked upset. That was before he went back to sporting his usual grin as he yawned.

“Well, guess that was a waste of time,” he said, stretching as he stood up. Without even acknowledging her, he made his way to the door.

She stared as he left, wondering if he truly didn’t remember anything. He was about to open the door when he turned back to her, eyes narrowed.

“If you tell anyone about what happened, I’ll find another truck to throw you out of.” His face was nearly deadpan as he threatened her.

Pomni nervously looked around, hoping to find the right thing to say. “Nothing happened. Nothing to tell them about.”

Eyes still narrowed, he opened the door. “Thats what I thought,” He murmured as he finally left.

“What was that for?” he shouted. 

Pomni took a reflexive step back before thinking better of it and taking two steps forward, instead. She let out a breathy snicker. “I knew that wasn’t your real laugh.”

Jax sputtered, “You just caught me off guard!”

“Oh, well, if I just caught you off guard…” Pomni stared at her feet as she ambled forward with her hands behind her back. “Then, I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I—” Pomni dropped her gun and jumped at Jax, which sent both of them tumbling to the ground. 

They rolled around in circles before Pomni managed to grab Jax’s shoulders and slam him supine on the ground. He had dropped his gun during the kerfuffle. 

“What the—!”

“Do this?!”

Pomni dug her fingers under Jax’s arms. For a sliver of a second, Jax tried to keep his smile down. The corners of his lips wobbled violently before a sudden, high-pitched cackle spilled from his lips. His entire body seized up, and his legs thrashed around, kicking wildly in any direction they could.

“EeeehahahahAHAHA!” His laughter came out in fractured, startled bursts, as though his brain and his body were disconnected. “Wahaaaahaha—hahaha!” It vaguely sounded like he was trying to argue, but it didn’t seem like Jax could get a single word in edgewise. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Pomni puffed out her cheeks. “Even when we’re teamed up, you always have to lie just to stroke your own ego. Why?”

Jax didn’t answer. Whether it was because he didn’t know how to or simply couldn’t respond wasn’t entirely clear. He seized both of Pomni’s wrists, but he just couldn’t pry her off of him. He tugged at her arms, but she didn’t budge. She raised her eyebrows with mild surprise.

Perhaps it was his demeanor or the way he manhandled NPCs across all adventures, but Pomni had always assumed in the back of her mind that he was stronger than her. She supposed there were benefits to her shorter, stockier body, especially compared to his thinner, lankier one.

Jax’s shoulders convulsed in place. “StohoAHAhahaha…!” He squealed sharply when Pomni’s fingertips skittered along his ribs. The shape of his overalls provided a great spot to target his sensitive skin directly. Jax let go of Pomni’s arms briefly, presumably to cover his mouth in humiliation, only to scream and grab at her once again. “Wahahahaha!” Jax squealed, again. The sound was high-pitched and a little bit stilted, splintering unevenly mid-breath. He opened his eyes to glare at her. They were shiny with freshly formed tears.

He closed his eyes again as he turned his face away from her.

“It’s just a laugh,” Pomni continued from her last train of thought. “I mean, nobody would care if you laughed like a normal human being instead of some kind of cartoon character.” 

Her fingers darted up and down her stomach, never staying in the same spot for long. Her touches, quick and nimble, peppered his skin like rain. Jax’s stomach caved inward. He tried to push her hands away, but he just wasn’t strong enough to stop her.

“Haaah—” Jax wheezed, and a little growl formed at the back of his throat. It was jagged, and Pomni could tell he was trying his hardest to tone down his reactions. Still, his smile was wide and crooked, and his cheeks were flushed with a deep shade of red. When Pomni sank her thumbs into the spot just above his hips, he drew in a large breath of air and hiccupped softly. “Hehe–hup–hee! Ahahahaheehe–hup–he!” 

Now, Jax’s laughter was punctuated with squeaky hiccups. Before she could stop herself, Pomni chuckled. “Honestly, your laughter isn’t even that bad.”

Pomni raked his fingers along the sides of his waist. That seemed to be a particularly sensitive spot, considering how he jerked from side to side each time she made the slightest bit of contact with his skin. 

Jax tossed his head wildly, sputtering out sharp shrills of sudden laughter. “Yoohoohoou!! You’re suhuhuhuch a jehehe–up–eherk!” He managed to squawk out. 

That was enough to make Pomni pause, just for a moment. A part of her wanted to argue back—to snap at him and tell him that he was objectively a bigger jerk for running away when Kaufmo abstracted, for throwing Gangle’s mask into the scary door during the Mildenhall Manor adventure, for not giving her a brief during the presidency adventure, and for generally trying to make everyone’s lives so much harder—but…she couldn’t.

Pomni knew she shouldn’t stoop to his level. What she was doing was a gross overreaction to what was basically a white lie. Why did she care so much about what Jax’s laugh actually sounded like? This wasn’t the first time he lied about something dumb, and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last. She shouldn’t care this much.

Pomni scooted to the side until she was fully off of Jax. His chest rose rapidly, and he opened one eye a smidge to peer at her curiously. “Hmhmm?” He hummed. The sound was breathless, with a hint of residual laughter still at the back of his throat. 

Jax’s expression took her aback slightly. Sure, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his lips were pinched into a small frown, but she had fully expected him to glare at her or to threaten her with revenge or to do something of substance. Not just…stare.

Pomni rubbed the side of her arm. “Look, Jax, I’m—”

Something high-pitched whizzed past her ear. Pomni’s heart stopped. She twisted around to see Kinger standing in the doorway, gun in hand and pointed directly at her.

Kinger cocked his head to the side. Considering the way his avatar was designed, it looked more like he was curving his entire body into a vaguely question mark type of shape. He blinked. “What am I doing?” he asked.

“Run!” Pomni snatched up her gun and scrambled to her feet. She stumbled for a second before gaining her footing. Bullets flew past her as she ran down the hall for some sort of cover. 

She blindly aimed behind her and began shooting, hoping that she would get lucky and manage to get at least one hit. 

Pomni thought she had left Jax behind until she heard soft footsteps padding behind her. 

“On your left!” he shouted. His voice was still a little breathy, but he had recovered quickly.

Droid panted heavily as he sprinted through the playground as fast as he could, Pezzy right on his tail. Pezzy is persistent, but Droid is stubborn. He ducks around a corner and crouches down in the ball pit, slowing his breathing and staying as still as possible.

“Where did he go?!” He can hear Pezzy shout somewhere to his left outside of his hiding spot. Droids eyes go wide as he hears a voice off to his right too, alongside the rattling of the balls in the ballpit. He knows that voice. He curses internally, figures that Puffer would team up with Pezzy against him.

He needs to come up with a plan to get out of this, and he needs to do it fast. He peeks out of his hiding spot just enough to check where Puffer and Pezzy are and spots Pezzy with his back turned nearby but Puffer nowhere to be found, maybe he got bored and went after one of the easier survivors.

Droid ducks back down and starts to slink off to his right, moving carefully to not make any noise and alert the hunter. As he gets to the closest exit he pauses as he realizes that it's gone quiet and he can't hear Pezzy anymore. Swallowing nervously, he decides to make a run for it out of the ballpit and hope for the best.

“There he is! Puffer!” Droid hears Pezzy shout, and has only a moment to question where Puffer had been before he gets tackled to the ground. He and Puffer wrestle a bit, but he was already tired from all the running around so it's not long before he's pinned down. Pezzy jogs over with a grin on his face. Droid is already smiling despite his attempts to hold it back, covering his face with his hands to hide his smile.

“Nuh uh, you know the rules of the game, no hiding.” Puffer says with a smug smirk, pulling Droids hands away from his face and handing them to Pezzy, who pins them down with his knees. Puffer takes his place on Droid's thighs, drumming his fingers against his stomach with one hand. Droid starts giggling quietly, attempting to pull his hands down even though it's a fruitless venture.

Pezzy starts tracing his inner arms down, stopping just short of his underarms before tracing back up. “Hurry uhuhup!” Droid complains. He averts his eyes from his two teasy friends as they narrow their eyes at him. “Awww poor guy can't handle a little teasing can he? Too ticklish for his own good.” Puffer taunts, grinning at Pezzy who grins back. “Yeah, we haven't even started yet and he's already giggling.” He teases, continuing his motions up and down his arms.

“Stohohop teasihihing!” Droid whines, pouting up at Pezzy, the only one between the two most likely to take mercy on him. Luckily for Droid, he's in a merciful mood. “Alright, alright, we'll have to go after the others anyway so I guess we can't take too long, right Puffer?” Puffer sighs and rolls his eyes, but agrees with what Pezzy said. “Yeah, you're right. Can't keep them waiting too long.”

Pezzy, who had stopped tracing Droids arms while talking to Puffer, starts up the motion again, throwing Droid back into a fit of giggles. Droid is so distracted by this that he forgets about Puffer. Until he starts skittering his fingers over his stomach. “NOHOHOHO!” He laughs, half heartedly trying to wiggle out from under both of his friends.

Unfortunately for him, his wagging tail easily gives away how much fun he's having. Puffer and Pezzy decide to hold onto that knowledge for later. Pezzy joins in soon after, digging his fingers into Droids underarms, making him jolt and laugh harder. He instinctively kicks his legs, unintentionally kneeing Puffer.

Everyone freezes. Puffers eyes narrow at Droid as he watches a nervous smile grow on his face. “Wahahait Puffer, I didn't mehehean toho-” He cuts himself off when Puffer doesn't react to his plea. “No, no, I see how it is.” Puffer says, smirking. Droid is only able to look up at the sympathetic look on Pezzys face fora fleeting moment before Puffer starts clawing at his ribs, making him squeal at the sudden attack.

“PUHUHUFFER PLEHEHEASE!” He cackles and squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to lessen the tickly sensation. It doesn't lessen it, it makes it worse. It's further made worse when Pezzy moves from tickling his underarms to tracing his neck lightly. The difference in Puffers rough attack and Peezys gentle attack is agony.

“YOURE BOHOHOTH EVIHIHIL!” He whines through his laughter as Puffers hands slip under his shirt and start digging into fur to claw at skin, making his laughter increase. He opens his eyes at Puffers disbelieving laugh. “You act like you're not enjoying this.” He says, pausing in his tickle attack to raise an eyebrow at Droid, who's very thankful for his fur for hiding his blush.

“I'm nohohot!” Droid insists, pouting at the looks from Pezzy and Puffer. They don't believe him, which isn't fair. “Uh huh, so there's a totally unrelated reason your tail was wagging?” Pezzy says, smirking at the look on his face. Droid whines, he knows that they know he's having fun, it's worthless to deny it. His tail is a traitor.

“How about this, we'll stop if you admit that you enjoy being tickled, deal?” Puffer asks with an evil smirk as he resumes his tickle attack. “Whahahat? That's not fahahair!” Droid cried through giggles. “Come on Droid, it can't be that bad, can it?” Pezzy asks smugly, fingers moving to scratch lightly at his ears, one of his weak spots."

“Thihihis is soho mehehehan!” He whines as Pezzy scratches at the base of his ears. “Awww poor Droid can't handle a few tickles.” Puffer coos at him. “Stahahap saying thahat!” Droid pleas, much to Puffer and Peezys amusement. “What word? Tickle? Does that make this worse? Tickle tickle tickle.” Pezzy taunts lightly.

“OKAHAHAY FIHINE, YOU WIHIHIN! I LIHIHIKE THE TIHIHICKLES PLEHEHEASE!” Droid cackles, startling Pezzy, who looks over at Puffer to see what made him react like that. Puffer had started clawing at Droids thighs, one of his worst spots. Hearing his shouting, they both let up, moving to let him curl up and rub away the tingly feeling.

“You're bohohoth evihihil.” Droid says through residual giggles. “Bold words to say when you're still in tickling distance.” Puffer teases, wiggling his fingers in Droid's direction and laughing at the squeak he gets in return. “Nohohope! I'm fihinine!” He yelped.

Pezzy laughed with Puffer at his reaction, shaking his head fondly when a still giggly Droid leaned against him. Pezzy wraps an arm around him, pulling him into a side hug. Droid pouts at Puffer, who rolls his eyes but sits on Droids other side. They should he going after the other survivors, but for now they can exist in this moment of calm.

-bonus dialogue-

“You know you never actually told us to stop, right?”

"Shut the fuck up Puffer!"

“Don't push me, asshole!"

“Why did I get pushed?!”

“Shut up Pezzy.”

“Yeah, what Puffer said.”