Phoenix

"The channel would open next Wednesday, we already have the shows files ready, eh- here's a list of who we need" Bob slid five files and then scribbled on a yellow sticky note that he plastered on top of them with a pat, "sure you can do this, Whittman?" He leaned back in his chair and took a drag from his cigar.

"Have i ever let you down?" Vincent smirked smugly, Bob huffed and shook his head, watching Vincent grab the files and reading off the sticky note, his eyebrows slowly furrowing, "Bob i can host most of them" he mumbled, mismatched eyes looking back up at the man behind the desk who grunted with a nod.

"I know that"

"And you still need me to get them?"

"Why else would I write their names" Bob stated, shrugging the words with an obvious air, "look-" he puffed out smoke and cleared his throat, "-you dont gotta worry about not being a part of this, I already got your file for your own show-" he reached for the drawer again and pulled out another file, planting it on the desk, Vincent's eyes following his every movement, "God of entertainment, right? I know you can make a crowd laugh, youve got the charm and all for it" Bob tapped the file with a finger for Vincent to pick it up, and he found himself doing just that, his body moving on autopilot, a distant ringing in his ears that was cut off by the repeated calling of his name.

"Whittman? Hey, Whittman-"

"Hm- yeah?" He switched with an uncalculated blink to his confident aura, ignoring the way Bob was eyeing his unfocused state that he was buried in for a few seconds "yeah i was- uh, just thinking where to find them" Vincent picked the sticky note off the files in his hand and read over the names, the cooking show, sports, news, economical and political anchor.

"You know their floors" Bob hummed quietly, taking another slower drag of his cigar, studying the sudden quietness that enveloped the normally loud tv star, but Bob was no therapist and he couldn't find it in himself to start a career with any time soon, "you have uuh- two months, tops, have them get ready, they'll listen to you, you're everybody's idol here if you told them youre an actual god they'd pray to you" he snorted, choking on the smoke as he shook his head through his laughter, missing the intense and sharp look Vincent was giving his suffocating throat, "but don't do it though, couldn't handle losing another woman of God from our cooking channels" he scoffed, looking back up at the man, and his leg shifted uncomfortably under the desk in the silence, "already making a plan, hm? Work in silence and let your success make the noise or whatever" he attempted to smile, wavering at the edges of his lips when Vincent's didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Keep my file, surprise me when I'm done" Vincent released Bob's gaze to eye the file before abducting his attention again, "I'll find them, trust me"

The yellow sticky note was a crumpled, bloodied piece that carried weeks of hard work, names crossed off and others encircled in disdain because they unfortunately had to stay and walk on the earth another day.

while for instance, Frank Williams had to go, he couldn't play the worried News Anchor act half as good as Vincent, his skills so convincing Vincent found himself cringing at his own image whenever he saw his own face on television, whereas if he saw Frank, he would hope to see that mouth clothed forever, and Vincent Whittman never waited for shooting stars, he made them come true.

"You wouldn't have been any better than a kid reading off medical books they don't understand, Williams" Vincent hummed casually to the cold corpse he was burying in the forest, his sleeves rolled up, not a single droplet of blood seen on his pale forearms, something he learned after falling for a certain radio host, the etiquette of being clean while murdering, it made him laugh, but now it was second nature.

He shoveled the dirt back over the hole where the man was buried with a slit to his throat, it annoyed him how hard he uselessly fought to keep himself alive, Vincent stepped over the butt of a cigarette he smoked while watching the man writhe on the grass like a worm drowning in acid, and now that his face was covered in dirt and grass, he propped his elbow on the shovel and took out the sticky note from his pocket.

"O-kay..you're saying hello to Aaron Henson, Jake Peters, and Amy Anderson.." he checked the names off with one bloodied pinkie that unfortunately got dirty, any other day, he would've gotten it licked clean by a certain pair of lips, but he was doing this string of homicide solo, Vincent wanted to surprise his husband of his success once the Channel starts next week, he would never get tired of the prideful look he gets from the man any time he does something.

His mind traveled to those sweet dreams and he absentmindedly waved the sticky note in the air, the red ink on the other side greeting him with the names of the random unlucky people that were part of his plan, Vincent was not stupid, he knew he had to cover up his murders in some way, and what better than to start his murders with people that he found first thing on empty roads, parks at night and on rooftops, it wasn't hard as much as it was annoying to stray away from his original mission, it was twisted in some way, but he didn't even find it fun to bury randoms if it didn't take a long turn and reward him in some way, he tried to tell himself that it's still part of his succession, it worked somehow, jut a little.

"Well, you were annoying, hope you got to heaven" Vincent patted the dirt with the shovel before walking back to the car, he threw the tool in the trunk and slid into the driver's seat with a deep exhale like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, which in his case, it was buried six feet under.

He looked over at the time and smiled, immediately turning on the radio just in perfect timing.

"Good evening darling listeners!-"

Anything else that Alastor might have said after that greeting turned to sweet noise that Vincent rather listen to instead of anything else, he knew that since he's listening to his lover on the radio, it meant that he will be back home before him.

Well, what's another hour of driving around the city going to do him any harm?

"You called?"

"Yes Vincent, come in"

Vincent closed the door of Bob's office behind him, the smell of smoke enveloping him right away alongside the familiar scent of his office that he has grown to associate with nostalgia from years in his career.

"Have a seat" Bob motioned for him to sit down with the hand he was holding the cigar with, Vincent's eyes traveled to the ashtray where four cigar butts were laying forgotten, before he looked up at the obviously distressed man.

"It was a loss" Vincent whispered, holding the same files in his lap.

"Losses, Whittman- they were losses!" Bob snapped, slapping a hand on his desk and his chest heaved with the smoking exhale he let out, "they- goddammit we were so close to having it all" he placed his free hand over his face, effectively obliviating his attention from catching the smirk that played on Vincent's lips for a split second.

"I know, Bob.." Vincent sighed, tapping the files with his fingers and looking down at them, his black squared glasses drifting down his nose slowly until he pushed them back from the side, "I.. what do you want me to do?" He looked back at the distressed man, choosing his words carefully.

"I could do anything you want, Bob..you don't..gotta worry too much" he whispered, biting his inner cheeks before exhaling again, "I.. have actually read over the files of the shows that- they were going to do, and I might actually be able to cover for most of them" Vincent offered cautiously, his leg was about to start bouncing before he quickly schooled his reaction professionally and continued, "and if you let me lead most of them, you could take your time and we dont have to open the channel on the date-"

"No, no we are" Bob nodded slowly, putting his cigar down on the ashtray, his legs stopped bouncing momentarily to meet Vincent's mismatched eyes.

"Im sorry?" Vincent whispered.

"You're bringing me new people- new faces- the building is large, Vincent, we have many others, even if they're not as famous the channel would help both them and us at the same time" he said fast, opening a drawer and snatching a white paper, grabbing a pen and scribbling down in an unreadable font, "i want you to go to these floors- the names aren't much known but they could..work for now" he mumbled under his breath, holding the paper out to Vincent over his desk, and extending his free hand out, "give me those files too, they won't be useful anymore.."

If Vincent could suffocate the man to death just by holding his breath until Bob had used up all the oxygen, he would have, but unfortunately for him, science didn't work that way, but until they find a way to do just that, he would busy his hands with clutching the files tight while he held them to Bob's outstretched hand, his head pounding like drums, Bob's voice turned to distant noise as his ears filled up with ringing, he barely registered taking the paper from his other hand and walking out, before crushing it in his palm and throwing it out the window.

Shockwave watched Vincent pace around the living room back and forth, the German shepherd had tried to poke his legs, grab a toy for him to play along, but the man only managed to keep his anger in control just enough to not hurt the poor dog, who understood right away that this was not time for anything other than making sure his owner doesn't hurt himself.

Vincent discarded his tie onto the floor, following his suit jacket and coat where they laid in different areas, his shoes were kicked against the wall the second the door was closed behind him, thankful that they owned a house rather than an apartment so he wouldn't alert the neighbors, not that he cared, but he knew that any random person he sees might meet the same fate he had wished to inflict Bob with.

"Fucking asshole- that piece of ungrateful SHIT" he hissed under his breath, raking his fingers through his black locks, messy and uncombed and only getting worse the more time passed after eight since he returned home.

"All the fucking work I've done- all the- ALL OF IT- AND HE..THAT ASSHOLE!" Vincent wasn't yelling, worse his screams escaped him in burned out hisses, making his lungs feel unnaturally tight, effectively storing all the heat of his frustration in his stinging eyes.

"He thought he could replace me!? Find a fucking rookie that cant string a sentence without SHITTING THEIR PANTS LIVE" his chest heaved with the breaths he was taking, speaking to nothing but the walls that were forced to listen to his outbursts, and dodging his fists just because Vincent's vision was to blurry to make out any shape infront of him, his lack of glasses not helping in navigating his pacing, he barely walked face first into the wall just because he refused to wipe his eyes, to acknowledge he was crying, "I can do better..I can..IM BETTER THAN ANY OF THOSE FUCKERS EVER COULD HAVE!" He shouted shakily, his shoulders vibrating with the sheer conflicting emotions that warred inside him, the ringing in his ears deafened any other sound around him.

Wether it be the wind howling outside, or shockwave's barks, his brain turned to one direction where he found himself unbelievably lost, the one guiding light was that one voice that crawled under his skin like a layer of warmth that had shivers running up his spine and make its way to his eyes where the tears ran heated down his cheeks, he turned to try and search for the radio he knew he didn't turn on when he walked into the house an hour ago, Vincent shifted on his heels, and in the middle of the brown walls and dark door, he saw a scarlet silhouette standing not too far away.

"Vince?.." Alastor whispered, his scent registering to him before his voice could, and he stood in anticipation of anything that would come from his lover, judging by the mess in the living room, he expected nothing less than an outburst, that's why he closed and locked the door behind him fast.

"Al.." Vincent croaked out, surprising both hin and the radio host who ran quickly to his side right when he saw his knees buckle, "Cher- oh for the love of- what's wrong with you!?" Alastor said urgently, one hand checking his temperature, while the other wrapped around his waist where they both sat on their knees on the floor, the carpet folding in an unsatisfying way thay Alastor would've had his nose scrunching at if it wasn't for the worry that overraided his other senses while holding his trembling fool of a lover.

"VINCENT!" Alastor shouted, patting Vincent's cheek a few times to get his attention, ignoring the dog whining next to them, he needed to see Vincent's eyes focused on him even through tears, the man wasn't running a fever or feeling ill in any way, and now that that option was eliminated, Alastor was left with just one more, "What the hell got you a step away from hyperventilating your way to an early grave!?" He scolded again, hand tightening in Vincent's white shirt, watching his lover try to speak, lips trembling and matching the unseen beat of the radio host's heart, as he watched his lover's head fall to his lap, letting out the first shattering sob that heaved through his chest in a painful tug.

Alastor froze in a sense that had him unable to do more than rub Vincent's back and practically feel how every muscle shook with his cries, muffled against his red coat, Alastor feared that his head might explode, and his hand moved to thread Vincent's black locks to reach to his scalp and rub there, swallowing a similar lump in his throat, "it's alright.." he whispered, not even knowing if his voice made it's way over the sounds of his pain, "whatever it is, Cher..it's alright.." Alastor added, sighing and leaning down to kiss his head, the sobs that wracked through his lover's body didn't calm down one bit, and that only had Alastor thinking of how long exactly he's been holding them back, the time he had spent in the radio station going into the regret pile he reserved for overworking himself and missing moments as important as this.

The thought that if he had been just one minutes late, if he had stayed for the extra hour they asked him for because ethe audience is still listening..

Alastor found himself counting every sharp object around him and found none in the living room, which was calming enough, but he knew that nothing would have stopped Vincent from going to the kitchen if he was left alone for longer.

"Im right here, Cher..we could solve it together, Vin..work it out and find solutions.."

Vincent really tried to find words, to speak or find his voice beyond the sobs that consumed him, and when he failed continuesly, Vincent succumbed to the fate of his shameful crying, clutching onto Alastor's coat and ignoring his numb knees, trying to focus on the hand running up and down his tense back, and the other in his hair, he wasn't sure if Alastor could feel how hard his head was pounding against the tips of his fingers, but he needed him to know thay it was gradually working.

Minutes passed before Vincent's lung numbing sobs turned to breathless cries that he could control enough to whisper, "i tried..I was..I actually tried- i..I did.." he trembled on every word like it physically hurt him to speak what he didn't want to admit even to himself and the knowledge had him wavering on the edge of another meltdown, "Al- Al.." he breathed shakily.

"Shh- Shh.." Alastor wrapped his arms the most comfortable way he could without pulling his lover from the comfortable position he chose, "do i need to know names?" He whispered against his locks.

Vincent swallowed the lump in his throat, he cleared his throat and realized that he was slowly suffocating now that he found his lungs working again, "Cane..Bob- Robert.." he stuttered, shifting his head to the side to rest his cheek on his thighs and breathe freely.

"Oh.." Alastor hummed, Vincent's producer, the man seemed to be nice enough for years, sure he's heard his lover threaten to kill him once or twice over dinner, but not a single time has he ever broken down like this, "what about him?" He cupped his cheek and rubbed his jaw gently, finding more space to talk now that Vincent wasn't locked in that seemingly endless pit of tears.

Vincent blinked a few more times, his heart breaking at the words he was about to say, "there was a new channel..gonna start airing in October and..I was going- my name was there but I tried to..I.." he sucked in a sharp breath, nor a cry but an inhale that translated into something similar, and before Alastor could comfort him again, he continued to speak, "i thought I was going to lead the shows..most of them atleast- I worked, Al, I really did..I read the scripts and the files of each and- I didn't..for once, I didn't want to kill- for fucking once I wanted to try and I fai- i.." his voice trailed into quiet breathing, his nails were digging deep into fabric he feared he would ruin one of Alastor's favorite pieces, so he forced himself to calm down with the help of Alastor's hand on his cheek.

"I wanted to surprise you.." he mumbled, "wanted..to make you proud, Al.."

Alastor’s eyebrows furrowed, he leaned back down to kiss his cheek, lifting his hand to do so and putting it on his hair instead, "oh, mon Cher..mon parfait homme.." he whispered, and didn't miss the sound that was barely held back in Vincent's throat, "why you think I don't always show you off to people?" He hummed, kissing away the stray tear that escaped his eye before it could join the mess on his cheek.

"N-no its not that.." Vincent whispered, closing his eyes, fingers flexing around scarlet fabric, "i thought this time i could be better.."

"You're always better, Vincent, better than you give yourself credit for" Alastor was quick to gently ease his worries from the twisted spiral he was in, "and it doesn't matter if your name would've made the top on that channel or not, they always go back to you, dont they?" Alastor smiled down at him, feeling himself beginning to breathe normally again when he saw something flick in Vincent's eyes, "they always go right back to you, ask specifically for Vincent Whittman, for the man whose name is enough to bring every watcher and listener to their knees, every single time" Alastor continued, watching those mismatched eyes rise to meet his, Vincent's head lifting to bury his face in Alastor's neck, hand sliding across his thighs and to his shoulder.

"If i didn't know any better, I'd think you want to start something"

"To hell with the second i tried to comfort you in-"

Vincent laughed, the sound was supposed to have Alastor slapping him on the head, but to hear him make a noise that's not straight out of a psychic ward was refreshing, though, he was still himself, and a slap did land on his arm gently, rolling his eyes in exasperated fondness.

"I was kidding-" Vincent huffed and kissed his jawline, shifting on the floor to wrap his arms around his torso, pull him closer.

"Sure you were, moron" Alastor rested his chin on his shoulder and patted the spot he slapped earlier on his arm, he initially wanted to be stern with his lover, scold him for nearly giving him a heart attack, but melted despite it all, feeling Vincent hugging him back was what he first wanted to feel when he saw his legs buckle for the first time.

"Robert Cane you said?" Alastor whispered, a hum against his neck was the reply he recieved.

"mhm..what do you want for dinner?" He asked casually, "i got takeout.." Vincent mumbled, Alastor raised an eyebrow, "while you were on the verge of a breakdown behind the wheel?"

"Knew I'd..need you to stay like this..didn't want you to let go to cook" he murmured against his neck, closing his eyes because he expected the laugh that came afterwards, "so it was planned!? You lazy man!"

"Hey it was out of love!" Vincent fought back, "you're a puppy man, Cher, thats what you are" Alastor hummed and pinched his cheek lovingly, booping his nose the way Vincent does to shockwave.

"Now go get me the food before I make you sleep on the floor"

The radio was playing a soft tune, roaming the kitchen that's bathed in sunlight, windows weren't opened because it was cold outside, but the curtains were held aside with flower clips to let neighborhood atmosphere connect with the comfort he created in their home while cooking on the stove and in the oven, the scent of food filling the area like a gentle caress over the slowly fading smell of the cologne and sweat.

Alastor pushed his glasses over his nose and ran his free hand through his thick brown curls, he lifted the spoon to his mouth to taste the soup and let out an appreciative hum, "outdoing yourself again, Alastor" he spoke to himself, not doing himself the full praise that his lover would've showered him in if he tasted what was in the oven, but he knew that Vincent would be home soon from the grocery shopping trip he sent him on, he better enjoy the freedom of moving his waist however he liked before arms would wrap around him and slow down his movement, thankfully the kitchen wasn't crowded with their dog's excitement, Alastor made sure to have his bowls filled with water and food to eat while he worked to make this meal extra perfect for his dear Vincent.

"Al! Im home!" Speak of the devil.

Alastor smiled and looked over his shoulder, "over here, darling!" He called, and not even a few seconds later, the sound of bags shuffling and footsteps entered the kitchen, he could almost count them as Vincent placed them on the table, making sure the milk didnt fall and the vegetables stayed inside their bags, "shit Al, are you preparing for world hunger or something?" He huffed, letting out a sigh as he was finally freed from holding those bags all the way from the supermarket to their house, it didn't help that he got answred by a laugh, "its not funny, Al, I wanted to spend the morning with you" he groaned and walked over to him, and as expected, enveloped him in his arms.

"Clingy dog that you are, Cher" Alastor hummed, despite the insult, he leaned back to him and tilted his head to the side for Vincent to nuzzle, "im not a bitch for wanting to spend our anniversary with my husband" Vincent scoffed and soothed the offense with a kiss to his neck.

"Not legal" Alastor grinned teasingly, nudging Vincent's head with his cheek.

"Well fuck you, not my fault I can't change the law," he nipped on his jawline gently, "and dont act like you didn't say yes" he added, bringing Alastor's left hand from the pot and to his lips to kiss at the golden brand there adorning and standing out like a star on his golden brown skin.

"Only because I didn't want to leave you kneeling for another hour" Alastor lied with a profession one can gain only after years of learning how to exactly get on your lover's nerves, "though that would've been entertaining" he tried to side eye Vincent but the man beat him to kiss his cheek, "yeah yeah, im not in the mood for arguing aimlessly" he released his hand to wrap both arms around him aain, "though i am in the mood mood-"

"Ah ah ah! Not a chance, Cher" Alastor sang the words just to spite his husband more, and from the feeling of that annoyingly loud groan against his shoulder, he had won again, "atleast not until you eat" Alastor spoke again, as if it took too much of painful thinking to come to this deal.

"Oh fuck yeah-" Vincent's hand shot up to the spoon in Alastor's hand to grab and fill himself a bowl, before it was slapped, "not yours, Cher, yours is in the oven and it needs just thirty more minutes..unless you want to eat the spaghetti raw?"

"I want to eat you raw"

"You insufferable horn dog- go sit in the living room"

Vincent pressed a loud kiss to his cheek and laughed his way out, "I'm only going because I forgot to hang my coat!" He called stubbornly, a soulfully connected smirk drawing on both their lips as Alastor shot back, "whatever makes you believe in yourself, Cheri!"

Vincent shrugged his coat off and hung it next to the door, rubbing the back of his neck and turning on his heel to head back to the kitchen, his eyes catching on bloody clothes thrown on the back of the couch.

"You kidding me-" he grumbled under his breath as he grabbed the shirt and pants, "so you tell me not to sit with my bloodied clothes on the couch but you throw yours like this!? Very mature of you, honey" Vincent called in faux annoyance, he knew he would clean them and the furniture any time Alastor asked, even if it meant getting kicked off the couch for trying to mess around.

"No need to clean these, Cher! I'll burn them later!" Alastor answered, Vincent tilted his head to the side and looked down at the clothes, "what're you talking about it can do it right now" he whispered to himself, throwing the pants over his shoulder and holding the shirt open to see where exactly he needed to clean and if it was hopeless and actually had to be burned, only to be caught off guard at the size difference that did not match neither Alastor's not Vincent's clothes.

"Goddammit- Al we said no solo killing on our Anniversay!" Vincent argued like it was the most normal occasion ever, throwing the shirt and pants down on the floor disgustingly and walking back to the kitchen, "and in broad daylight! Dont play with my concern honey you know I would lose my shit if something happened to you" Vincent leaned against the kitchen island where Alastor had busied himself with making salad now, wearing the most smug of expressions, Vincent couldn't help but reach out and flick his forehead, "I'm trying to be mad at you here" he raised an eyebrow before Alastor used the knife to gentle push his hand away.

"And you still haven't asked about what I got you" Alastor looked to he side at him, dropping the cut tomatoes into the bowl over the cucumbers, "surprising, you are usually as needy as shockwave when he wants a treat" Alastor toyed with the rest of the nerves in his husband's mind, but it seemed to do nothing because Vincent still wore that concerned look.

"Yeah im busy overthinking what would've happened to my husband"

"Well, drop it because he is right here cooking for your stubborn ass"

Vincent grumbled under his breath, his eyes shifting to the bowl, he sighed and folded his sleeves up, reaching for something to help his husband with.

"Ah ah- i appreciate your assistance, Cheri, but im almost done" Alastor smiled, using one finger to move his hand away.

"Should've stayed here with you and helped" Vincent sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses, "nonsense, you've helped plenty and you always do..but if you insist, go fetch the wine" he leaned to kiss his cheek, and it worked like a charm, watching Vincent move with a more carefree air now.

He grabbed two glasses and the bottle from the cabinet, Alastor heard him about to pour him a glass and hummed, "no need, dear, I have my own" he reached over to the glass that was hidden on the other side of the stove behind the pots, lifting it to his lips and taking a sip.

Vincent grabbed his own glass and walked back to his lover, taking a sip of his own glass and tilting Alastor's head to the side so he could catch his lips in a kiss that Alastor melted right into with a hum, though, Vincent's eyebrows furrowed as he pulled back slowly, licking his lips and blinking.

Alastor was absolutely reveling in the adorably confused look on his husband's face, his own tongue darting out to lick at his lips, "something wrong, Vinny?" He whispered, Vincent's lips parted to speak before he reached for Alastor's glass and held it next to his own, comparing the color, the density when he swayed the glasses, he was no idiot, he knew who his husband was.

"You cannibalistic fuck" Vincent breathed in a laugh, setting them both down and pecking the side of his lips, "thought you were bleeding out"

"Do you have any basic knowledge on medical issues?"

"No.."

"Then dont worry about things you dont understand"

"Okay.."

"Good" Alastor kissed his cheek and turned to the stove again, lowering the heat under the soup and covering the pot, his movements slowing down immediately when Vincent glued himself to him right away, not at all concerning himself with what was cooking next to him.

"Then i should guess you're having- whoever you uh" Vincent asked, voice muffled against his neck.

"Precisely" Alastor said cheerfully, "had to add more spices for this one, he tastes as bitter as you spoke of him"

"Oh?- I know that guy?" He motioned with his head to the pot on the stove, eliciting a laugh from his husband, "more than he deserved the knowledge of your presence, Vinny"

Vincent furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think of whoever his lover was talking about, raking his mind through names of annoying men, and as it always happens when trying to remember something that should be obvious, "baby help me here..." he mumbled, Alastor's smirk only growing wider.

"Hmm..I suppose you'll hear about it at work tomorrow" Alastor shrugged, before continuing confidently, "unless you get a call early that you..might get a new producer"

Vincent's eyes widened, he loosened his hold on Alastor but kept his hands on his waist so he could turn around in his hold, Alastor had one arm folded for the other to rest on it while holding his glass of blood, melting and eating every bit of reaction he was getting from the emotions that drew on his face slowly, from shock to realization and then right into pure and utter..shame?

"And i thought I got you the best gift ever.." he whispered, barely audible but Alastor heard it and it made his chest ache, "which is?" He asked softly, placing his glass down next to Vincent's behind him on he kitchen island, "those Freud books you wanted.." Vincent mumbled, too quiet as he was even ashamed of saying that, Alastor's brown eyes softened further, his hand fell over his chest where his heart picked up a beat, "oh, mon Cher.." he whispered, "you remembered.."

"Of course i would, Al, why wouldn't I?" Vincent mumbled, shrugging sheepishly, Alastor shook his head and smiled, looping his arms around his husband's neck, "it would've been creepy, your stalking to my every breath, but I do adore it most of the times" he whispered.

Vincent's lips curved into a soft grin, he pulled Alastor to him closer, their chests touching and he leaned to nudge his nose against Alastor's, "i could think of a creepier thing that remembering what my husband likes..like my said husband cooking my asshole of a producer" he grinned, pecking the side of his lips, Alastor smirked and bit his lower lip,.

"and i thought I did you a favor" Alastor huffed in faux hurt.

"you did, and I can pay you back in my own way later" he whispered suggestively.

"After lunch...and i made you something edible for you" Alastor reminded him of his meal in the oven, "mhm, I know.." Vincent hummed, leaning down, their lips and inch apart before they gravitated to one another, melting into a kiss that tasted like sin and dreams, two things that always commented to one another in some way, Vincent's tongue wasn't fighting Alastor's, but it was mirroring his hands on his husband's waist as they ran up and down his sides, drinking in each other's taste, soft sounds and essence.

"Happy anniversary, honey.." Vincent whispered, not daring to break the kiss.

Contractions exist in a natural way that's too obvious sometimes to be brushed aside or considered something you see on an everyday occasion, the sun and the moon take hours to change shifts, to give us mornings and evenings, to allow us to wake up and go to sleep, to dream and to make them come true, but these things were never meant to be opposites, they were created to be an endless loop of one another, continuing what the other can't finish, holding hands in between the lines where they blur to create something in the middle, where it's peaceful and quiet from the fights of those who like this or that, and when those fights fall silent, when they have lost their reason to stick to what they once viewed as what they were born to admire, that order crumbles, the moon will continue to shine, but a pair of eyes won't look up anymore, not when the sun doesn't feel as warm.

Not when in the middle of the battle, under scarlet red eyes that mocked the golden sacred blood that covered their skin, silence can be so loud.

"NO!" one second, Adam was standing on two feet and spewing curses and frustrated sentences that had the demons thinking their next step with the first man, and the next he was falling face first, with a knife repeatedly greeting his skin, Lute didn't know how exactly she had the speed or strength, but her wings bolted to kneel at his side, "Sir! Stay with me sir!" She shouted, her fear quivering in her voice and crumbling into the yell she let out when she turned him onto his back, and for once, he smiled up at her, "ADAM!", the cry escaped her without a second thought, if only she had her other arm..

If only her spear was next to her to kill each and every one of those self proclaimed demons..

If only she was faster, quicker, by his side before that gremlin had the chance to climb his back, but the only things that had that speed were the tears that rolled down her cheeks, the way her shoulders shook, she could hear Lucifer saying something, a red light from his eyes glowing down on Adam's chest, he was probably mad, and Lute had half a mind to not give him another reason to boil, maybe bury him deeper to find a new place he could fall from.

"-and GO HOME!" Lucifer shouted, baring his teeth and spreading those wings to intimidate the exorcist angel, who at this moment, only feared any reflection she might catch of herself on Adam's blood.

She wrapped her only arm around Adam's torso, not even circling him fully, her wings opened for balance, face contorting into focus as she tried to pick him up.

"Hey.." Charlie spoke quietly, her foot barely taking that extra step when Lute picked Adam up in one swift motion against her chest, one wing folding behind his back and the other spread wide to her side, "dont you fucking dare you filthy demon" she hissed, and in a moment of some sort of understanding, the princess took her foot back, Lucifer eyed his daughter and the hand she has on his shoulder to hold him back, the adrenaline in his veins too human to be left without an action to satisfy it further, but for now, he would let his daughter lead the situation after everything that's happened to the ruins that were once her hotel, now stepped on by Lute's shaking legs, she carefully spread both wings, made sure she had a strong grip on Adam's back, his body now draped over her shoulder for better leverage on the big man, she beat her wins once, twice, then shot up into the sky, towards the open portal back to heaven, not a single exorcist angel was allowed near her, she dodged them with an agility that miraculously possessed her even with the state she was in, even when she could barely see infront of her, and she bet her other arm that she would fight whoever said she was crying at this moment.

"SERA! SERAA!" Lute yelled, flying past the pearly gates and over the pastel colorful buildings of heaven, to the crystal palace just where the Serpahim would be, she collapsed at the doors, her knees hitting the marble before Adam's body could slide down and stain it with gold.

"GET EVERY HEALER THIS INSTANT!" she barked the command, her hand clutching Adam's white robe in an attempt to keep her head up, to watch the panicked angels fly like pigeons around her to call for help, it was obvious that this extermination was a failure, and they wouldn't want it to end up even worse than it looks like at the moment.

"LUTE! OH MY GOD!" Emily gasped, flying fast towards the scene that had the young seraphim angel feeling a sense of unease, thankfully, she was followed by the dozen of healers that were alerted that they were needed, "Your arm! Lute you're bleeding you have to come with me!" She begged, holding her healthy arm and trying to pick her up from the floor.

"NO! let GO, EMILY!" Lute yanked her arms back, eyes still wide with the emotions that shook through her body, she watched the angelic healers pick Adam up on a carrier, "Im fine!" She quickly spread her wings to follow after the angels where they headed to the healing wing, she already knew the way, having been there all too many times but that was a long, long time ago, when she was a new exorcist and couldn't hold a spear correctly, her visits now were to check on trainees, and make sure they were healing.

She never thought she would be flying through those doors again, and for who? For him.

"Lute you'll hurt yourself!" Emily begged. Flying after the exorcist angel.

"NO! NO!" Lute yelled when the doors closed in her face, she dropped to her feet like a cat, and since she's not one, the action had her knees buckling, wings tensed behind her, Emily flinched at the scene unfolding infront of her, she was used to comforting children, singing songs when someone gets hurt, but any word, any breath that leaves her now might end with Lute exploding.

"How- how did this happen?" She asked quietly, fingers picking at her palm.

"SOME DEMON ATTACKED HIM! SHE TOOK HIM AT A MOMENT OF VULNERABILITY LIKE THE WEAK BITCH SHE IS!" Lute paced around the hall, back and forth like a caged animal, her gloved hand clenching and balling into a fist by her side, digging through the white material and to her palm, her gaze snapped back to Emily, "still want to defend them!? DON'T YOU!?" She hissed, Emily froze, swallowing thickly, her wings drooping behind her slightly, a couple of feathers swiping over the golden blood that stained the marble floors, "i..I just.." she stuttered, which had Lute nodded fast, but Emily refused to let it go like this, "they were defending themselves, Lute!" She said confidently, "of course- of course YOU WOULD SAY THAT!" Lute stomped her foot on the floor and took a step closer to the angel who despite the determined look on her face, her wings spike before her.

"You know they're in hell for a reason, you know they had to have done unquestionable things when they were alive and you stand here and defend EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!?" Lute was seething and if Emily didn't know the boundaries heaven has, she would've thought she'd end up in a worst state than Adam behind those doors.

"I only stand with those who are in hell for protective reasons" Emily narrowed her eyes, Lute's blinked away the angry tears that refuses to spill.

"No one enters the rings from kindness..but If that bitch was in hell for no reason, I will bring her to life and kill her again," Lute whispered, Emily's heart stuttered, "maybe she would come to your precious heaven where I could hav-"

"Lute" Sera's voice cut through the charged tension harshly, but the exorcist angel's instincts had her turning around fast, her hand behind her back as the high seraphim angel appeared in the hall, eyeing the blood and her face twisted into concern, the same one Lute was dying to let loose of, "what happened?" She asked, her stern voice not completely hidden with the layer of fear she had.

"The extermination was a failure, the princess and her allies have taken most of our exorcists and..badly injured Adam" Lute spoke, her voice barely kept monotone for the sake of her lieutenant status, and despite her earlier argument with Emily, she refused to feel the sympathetic look the seraphim angel was giving her by her side, more focused on Sera and what she had to say.

"How did you let this happen, Lieutenant"

Lute knew the tone of a command and she knew better that this question was bound to be asked at some point.

"I tried! We tried everything we could, Sera!" Lute spoke desperately, not even trying to hide the way she wanted to use both hands to explain what happened, eyeing both the high seraphim and Emily as they immerse themselves in a conversation that seemed to start with a blink, and not even paying attention to her, "SER-"

"Lute!-" Sera shut her down immediately, her wings falling like a disappointed bird, "I said hell would have just started a war if Adam doesn't make it alive" she continued, ignoring the horrified look Emily had while holding onto two strands of her her over her shoulders, and the confused one that Lute's face slowly vanished from her face with the ringing in her ears.

"He will" Lute stated.

"He has to" Sera corrected, "we cannot afford a war, losing exorcists and having the threat of overlords rising to the pearly gates-"

"They're not as powerful as they claim to be, Sera!"

"They're powerful enough to feel like they outnumber your army" Sera's calmness was mocking the rage that coursed through Lute's trembling body.

"I could take them down on my own down to the last vile demon" Lute stood proudly, her wings folding behind her to imitate a steadiness she couldn't find in herself anymore.

"Not with one arm you will not" Sera narrowed her eyes, "Emily, find her a healer that's not occupied with Adam" she ordered, and though the words were targeted at her, Emily still looked at Lute to see if she has the permission to do so.

Lute could keep playing strong, keep that facade, but she knew that no matter the outcome of the news that would come when those two doors open, she would still need both arms, the exorcist angel begrudgingly followed the kind seraphim angel.

By now, the halls must have memorized Lute's footsteps, the skies outside turned to a lavender shade, signaling whatever made up for night in heaven, casting shadows over every exorcist angel that left healing rooms, bandaged, tired, silently questioning why their lieutenant was still standing when even though they were on beds, they still needed the rest, only the bravest of them nodded in acknowledgment to her, earning themselves a blink, nothing more, nothing less, every breath that left her nose and lips felt like it was against her own will, she should be marveling at her golden arm, at how they connected her nerves with this amputated piece, but she busied herself by every few seconds she would try to hold in the oxygen in her lungs, but would get interrupted by someone, mostly Abel, who came by to see if his dad was out or not, and left when he saw just how angry Lute was in her silence, Emily had warned him prior, but he just wanted to check up on Adam, obviously immediately regretting it and returning to his chambers in the castle, leaving the exorcist angel to hold her breath and count past twenty..past thirty..

Forty seconds..

Fifty..

Her wings were twitching when the doors opened, she turned around with a reflix that no one lived to see again, but she had to keep the healer alive so she could tell her how he is, and that angel must have sensed the immense danger she is in, so she had to say the news fast.

"Adam is alive, lieutenant"

Lute felt like she could fall to the floor this very second, "out. All of you" she marched to the door, the healer stepping aside to let her in, "he's just under anesthetic, he should wake up tomorrow" she said kindly, her voice tired after working to keep he first man alive for the past hours, Lute found herself letting out a small grunt in understanding, while the other angels looked at the healer and she nodded for them to leave the room, allowing the exorcist angel a moment.

"Should we tell his son?" One of the healers whispered.

"Dont you fucking tell a soul until I command you to" Lute barked shakily, all the healers nodded fast and rushed out the room.

The doors closed behind her, and her focus aimed immediately at the target at the bed, white covers replaced his similar in color robes that were discarded on the floor, the tables were filled with potions and instruments and bloodied tissues, a syringe of angelic nectar connected to his wrist, Adam's tanned skin looked too distant from the sun now, his breathing was shallow, but there, moving under the bandages that wrapped his torso.

All observations were made from rhe distance she couldn't cross, her sharp claws dug into her palms.

"You're alive.." she whispered, more to that part of herself that she felt she left still worrying outside in the hall, time was moving way too slow, any other time, she would've been told to blame the fact that she hadn't allowed herself a second of rest, sitting down and drinking something were not her priorities for the last hours, so now, all blame circled back to one suspect.

"We tried, sir..they..they were armed..they thought of their plan and did it perfectly.." she continued, her hands unnecessarily behind her back, "we had it all under control at first..we did.." her tone was too quiet, remembering the fight like it was ages ago.

"I memorized her face, Sir.." she stated with a dangerous calmness, her eyes forced to rise from the his bloodied robe to meet his closed eyelids, "i won't let her live to see another day.." her words sounded too deep to not be a vow, she bit her inner cheeks and took a step closer to his bed, to pick up his robe from the floor, it was still warm, smells like the dirt of hell he fell onto, she clutched it tight in her hands, tips of her fingers fitting through the same holes she made when she carried him to heaven, the ache this left had her chest tightening in a way no stitches could save.

"I will kill them all" she whispered, turning to face him again.

"Every single one of them" she held his robe with one golden hand to her side.

"If i should make a new ring to bury them all in if thats what it takes then I will do it, sir" she promised with a wavering voice, her chest heaving with the silent breaths she refuses to dominate over her words.

"You'd want that, right?..you would want heaven to take your right back from them" she asked, taking a step closer, his face becoming clearer in the twilight light filtering through the stained windows in he healing room, she could now count every bruise he had on his face, his hair still embraced particles of sand and crushed stone, mingling with the brown locks but she knows the exact shade of his hair and identified every alien piece that hid in them.

"They'll start a war if you don't wake up, Sir.." she warned, swallowing thickly, "a war that- that I've trained our armies for centuries for, that i myself have trained so hard for- one that i would make you proud of me in, show those assholes the consequences of their actions, but i-" she sucked in a sharp breath and dropped his robe on the bed with a loud thump at his covered legs, her shoulders shook with a barely obtained cry, eyes closing as she tilted her head up to the ceiling. "Im not..i dont..I.." she stuttered, her head whipping to the door to make sure it was locked, before her golden hand made it's way to the covers that draped over his still body, tracing the pads of her fingers over where she could feel might be his side, Lute felt the bumps of the wrapped bandages, where they dipped slightly over healed skin and piled where stitches were, for once in her life, she hated the knowledge of being able to tell the difference when her finger traveled over many mountain-like bumps from the bandages more than the smooth ones, and before she would count them, Lute moved her hand away to brush the mattress.

"I know what you'll do after you wake up.." her strained voice fought to let the words out, "what you'll say..how you'll say them..and I'm ready.." she nodded once, taking her hand back to her side, "whatever you want, sir..I.." she trailed off, the lump she wanted to swallow for he umpteenth time for this day, refusing to comply and leaving her in a rough, gasped cry, as she fell to her wounded knees at the edge of the bed, arms wrapped around her body, the side of her head resting over where his hand dangled, her whole body shook with the sobs that she couldn't hold back anymore, one wing folded behind her and the other spread on the floor in a way to anyone, it might have looked broken.

"Just..wake up..please, Adam.."

"Mnghh.."

Adam groaned groggily, the first breath through his nose giving his nerves and intense attack, his body felt every movement and small thing that as little as brushed him, the breeze felt too harsh, the pale yellow light was too bright for his slowly focusing eyes, he resisted closing them, Adam felt the pain stretch from his head, to his bandaged chest where he uncomfortably could feel every single stitched stab wound, and all the way to the tips of his fingers, where they twitched and hooked on a strand of hair.

"Whothe- fuck has a dog here.." he slurred, his words having no taste in his mouth due to the dryness of his throat, lips too chapped even trying to speak had him wincing.

Adam opened his eyes fully, eyebrows knitted, he turned his head away from the facing windows to avert himself from the unwanted attention the light is giving him, and that's when his hazel golden gaze landed on the head of white locks that peeked from the edge of the bed, and the black and white feathers that draped over his body in another layer of warmth he clearly was feeling overheated from.

"Hey..hey you.." he mumbled, the finger near her head with the lock hooked, tugged on the strand, "what're ya doin'.." he added, continuing the tugs, hoping they sounded as annoying as he wanted them to.

While they didn't get translating as irritating, they sure did their job in waking up the sleeping exorcist angel, whose eyes blinked open, her mind foggy for only a split second before snapping into focus, "A- Sir!" She stood up in full height, her wing sliding off the bed and draping down on the floor, failing at keeping both of them straightened up the way her spine was suffering to keep the posture of, especially when Adam was looking up at her, eyes open, chest moving, breathing.

"Ugh..thefuck happened?" He groaned, the hand that was dangling off the edge of the bed lifes to rest over his chest and he immediately winced, "fuuhhhck!?-" his eyebrows furrowed as he took in a shaky inhale of breath, moving the covers and being met with the blood stained bandages, "wooh- wha- holy fuck-" he panted, his chest heaving as he kept looking at how hurt he was, and Lute moved fast.

"Sir- you need rest.." she said calmly, taking his wrist and gently pulling the covers over him again, hiding what needed to be healed not frightened at, and Adam surprisingly let her, "you've taken too many hits already, fearing them won't do your mentality better"

"Are you calling me crazy, dangertits?" Adam smirked tiredly, faltering when he actually looked up at Lute with more focus, "damn, Lute, you look like shit" he whispered before she could correct her words after Adam's comment, eyes raking over her body, "cool arm though, is that new armor? Did they upgrade that while I was sleeping like a corny princess?" He spat the questions like they were messy clothes waiting to fall behind closet doors once they open, and Lute waited until his confused bursts to stop, her hands going behind her back as she spoke calmly.

"I lost my arm, sir"

"..what?" He blinked, taking another look over her golden arm, noticing how he missed the way it was connected to her shoulder rather than covering the first layer of skin, something like unease crawled under his own, "that must've hurt like a bitch.." he mumbled, Lute nodded and continued, "and you have been asleep for a day, the healers predicted you'd be awake by now" she assured, signaling that he is healing the way he was supposed to, a good enough thing to happen after everything.

"Okay, cool..but what happened to me" he gestured with he hand on his chest to there, with the pad of his finger, poking and regretting it when his eyes closed and missed the way Lute flinched an inch forwards.

"I..you got stabbed in the back by one of the hotel residents" she mumbled, Adam had suspected something like that from the feel of the wounds, but to actually hear it had him feeling some sort of distress, like he was now feeling each one of them all over again, "shit..infront of everyone..that's fuckin' embarrassing" he sighed, resting his head back comfortably on the pillow, though his gaze never left Lute, whose lips were still in that thin tight line.

"You got something else to tell me?" He asked quietly, and his eyes widened when she suddenly dropped to one knee, her golden arm folded over her knee and the other by her side, her wings carpeting the floor behind her, head held low.

"..Lute?"

"I have failed you, sir," she started, and if Adam wasn't fully awake, he would question if that was a side effect from the pain, "if I had been faster, gotten to your side before that demon beat me to it, you wouldn't be in this state, hurt, stabbed..I didn't live up to my role or duty towards you" she lifted her gaze to meet his own, the confusion and surprise on his face would've made her laugh any other day, but now it conflicted her emotions even more, "and if..whatever the punishment it is, then I'll take it, I know what i deserve and..even if it meant to drop my status, I'll refrain from it..I vowed to protect you and failed..and for that, im sorry, sir.."

Adam let the silence hang in the air for a while to make sure he was fully conscious, even poked himself in the chest again.

"Do you even hear yourself," he raised his voice a tone more, "do you understand how- if i tell you to repeat yourself would you say the same things??" He looked down at her more sternly, making it sound like a joke as he tries to sit up on the bed, "stay where you are" he ordered the second he saw Lute try to stand up.

He slowly propped himself up with his back to the headboard, his golden wings curled up on either side of his body, like they a bowl and he was sitting in it, his neck stayed craned to the side to not take his gaze off the exorcist angel.

"Why do you think you failed" he repeated the question, "God, I cant believe i just woke up from that shit and the first thing I had to do is find my lieutenant with a humiliation kink" he scoffed, eyeing where she was kneeling on the floor, silently and obediently listening to his every word like if she breathed too loud he would lash out.

"So i nearly died in hell?" He asked.

"Yes, sir" she nodded.

"Then how did i get here"

"I..carried you here, sir.." she whispered.

"And saving me is shameful now!?" He snapped, "so I'll have to guess you flew my ass to the pearly gates with ONE FUCKING ARM!?" he continued, he felt his chest tighten from the shouting and moved his hand over the bandages just to dare her to move closer, and Lute understood the mind game, she tilted her head down.

"Eyes up, lieutenant" he spoke right away, and she looked back up again, her cheeks hurt from how much she's biting on them.

"You think id replace you? Find a random bitch from the army to take your role? After you saved my ass instead of flying back- oh- and sleeping on the fucking floor over that!" He slapped his forehead as if he just realized a point he is missing, "does losing a hand shrink your brain, Lute?" He huffed, "does it??" Adam repeated sternly.

"No, sir" she answered.

"That's what i thought" he hummed, letting out a deep exhale and running a hand over his face, "that was stressful.." he groaned, reaching for the water on the messy table, grimacing at the medical tools and potions but choosing to ignore them and grab the water, gulping down three glasses and setting it down with a satisfied exhale.

"Still on the fucking floor-" he grumbled when he turned around and saw Lute's shoulders tensing from the held back trembles, her head hung low, the white locks framing her face in a curtain that hid away how she looked at the moment.

"Lute come here" he said casually, patting the edge of the bed, the exorcist angel stood up slowly and took a step closer, hands behind her back.

"You know what I mean and thats an order, lieutenant" he said with more sternness to his voice, hazel eyes narrowing, he watched the change in Lute's body language, shifting to sit down at the edge of the bed where he gestured, Adam let out a appreciative hum at her compliance, "we gotta get some sense into that head of yours" he reached up to poke her forehead, "did you sleep?" He asked, she nodded, Lute slept against her own will, she had initially tried to stay awake, but her body gave up on guard mode and passed out cold just an hour after her attempt.

"Drop it, Lute.." he whispered, no command, no jokes, an Adam that Lute didn't want to see him nearly die in her arms to meet, and at that tone, she closed her eyes, lips forming a line as her head fell to his lap, clutching on the blanket that pooled there, "i didn't die, Lute..and it's because of you.." his palm cupped the side of her head, threading through the locks, as she let out the first choked cry that Adam can't call any healer to stitch, "your hair has been soft the whole time and you didn't tell me? What did we say about gatekeeping the good stuff?" He smiled, trying to coax her to loosen up, feeling the blanket dampen further from her tears, "just let it out.." he sighed, his other hand going to her folded wings at her back, he reached for the base and started to toy with the small feathers there, and even the were tense.

"Lute, baby, im alive, swear I am, look im breathing and shit" he comforted, rubbing her scalp gently, "even hungry too probably- but that's not the point, you saved me, alright?- hey are you listening or drowning in your own depression when im trying to play therapist?" He gently squeezed the back of her neck to get her attention, and upon seeing her golden, tearful eyes open to look up at him, he smiled and hummed, "okay, cool you're listening, now listen carefully because I will say this once and after that I want my bad bitch Lute back, understand?" He raised an eyebrow, smile widening when he saw her nod, "great" Adam cleared his throat in a rhythm he does like he was ready to sing, peeking one eye down to see the corner of her quivering lips twist up in a ghost of a smile.

"First of, fuck hell, and the extermination and that snobby child of Lucifer, I dont care about them, we'll take care of that again later, second of all, the asshole who stabbed me? You can kill her later, and third and most importantly of everything I said to fill up and make my words sound great-" he cupped her cheek to pull her up to face him, her hands automatically resting over his legs for balance, "you the most brave, most badass, most awesome, amazing fucking- greatest exorcist i have every seen, you flew back up to heaven with me in your arm- one arm!? And saved me!? Do you understood how strong you are!?" He laughed, shaking his head in disbelief, "so no more kneeling and dramatic speeches okay? I already gotta tolerate them from most angelic idiots around here but you know I love to say the truth to your face, dangertits" he smirked, wiping her face with the thumb of his palm, his hand sliding to the back of her neck, "heard every word?" He asked, she nodded.

"Words, Lute"

"Yes sir.."

"Nope"

"..yes..Adam"

"There we go, you fuzzy bird" he snorted, pulling her head to his chest, the exorcist angel melted immediately, her body falling like candle wax in his arms, he smelled like the healing wing, like everything her lungs got used to in the last day, but the one thing that stood out was his own scent, he smelled..a way that Lute couldn't describe, he smelled human, like a place that she could feel in the way his golden wings enveloped her, and her own pair folded up so she could instinctively burrow up to him in his arms.

"I could write a sick fucking song about thing, right danger tips!?- fuck I can see he words already!" He said excitedly, grinning.

"That's it for today, remember to stay safe, and trust us with your news, good night and happy holidays!"

The cameras tilted their heads down and the lights that were put extra just to blind Vincent when he was already overstimulated enough from the ones over his head dimmed at last, his smile dropped and he couldn't help the way his hand went to rub at his jaw.

"Shift's over, Whittman?" One of his coworkers called from across the studio, he looked up from the random spot on his polished shoes that he was focused on to meet James' eyes, a young and new anchor in the building that Vincent forgets to correct him into some manners because he didn't want to lose his job, not when that snobby man was the son of a famous politician, "yeah, yours now right?"

James nodded, already walking to nudge Vincent off of the chair, he stood up without complaining, though any other day, he would've added a joke or two, but right now all he was focused on was trying not to kill the blond man who didn't actually overstep anything.

"Had your fun, now it's my time to shine" James grinned, fixing his tie and running a hand through his locks, kore like caressing them to not ruin the job his stylist took a while to make.

"Dont get cocky, Marvin" Vincent rolled his eyes, grinding his jaw that was barely masked by his smile, and his irritation thankfully went right over that excited man's head, Vincent was always grateful for how stupid everyone around him is, even when sometimes, like right now, it would get on his nerves and end up with a body buried somewhere.

"I thought cockiness was what got you to wherever you are right now" that sentence sounded like something Vincent himself might have said to his idols maybe twenty years ago, and now that he's hearing it from someone else, he felt his stomach flip and if it wasn't empty, James would've had a taste of his insides.

"That and other things, James," he replied fast, hands in his pockets, fiddling with the keys of his car, he rolled his eyes behind his glasses and bit the insides of his cheeks, "you should focus on many other things, like not breaking character live, or improvising something during bad news, and lay low on too many colors for your clothes" he plastered a smile on his face, the way it didn't quite reach his mismatched blue and green eyes went completely unnoticed by the young man whose own gaze seemed to be writing every word Vincent was saying, like the good and kind mentor that he was, the one that definitely wasn't internally cringing at himself and at James' pale yellow suit that almost blended with his hair if it wasn't for the length of his neck and paleness of his skin.

"Must've took you years to get there"

"Do you not know me?"

"Wha- no I mean! No i mean all those stuff and tips and- yeah.." James waved his arms around, letting vo of the papers on he desk in favor for making Vincent regret hesitating a second to find himself stuck in this conversation.

"Of course it did" Vincent said flatly, not dropping his smile, and hoping he would get the hint, and by some miracle, he did.

"You look tired,"

"You dont say" Vincent mumbled under his breath with a click of his tongue, before his hands shot out of his pockets to brush th lapels of his suit, "i should get going, and you should rehearse a bit, dont drop the papers and dont act like they burn when you want to put them down" he felt the words leave his mouth before he could register them, like a monotone robot, he was exhausted and he couldn't even keep up the act anymore, "and don't- give the camera that look, smile" the words that left him weren't his own, and it had his heart doing a little flip but he furrowed his eyebrows at the most dumbfounded stare he's ever pitied on someone's face, watching him nod before turning to make his way through the crew.

"Night, Vincent! And merry Christmas!" James called.

"Yeah, night, happy- merry- things..whatever" he made sure to speak when they were fixing the microphone next to him and it let out a loud ringing sound, swallowing the pathetic attempt at casualty that Vincent failed at amazingly, he exited the studio and made a beeline through the building to the elevator.

The German shepherd started barking the moment he heard the car pulling up to the driveway, he jumped and trotted at the door, tail wagging when the keys jingle and the door opened.

"Hey hey- heyy boy, hey shockwave" Vincent chuckled, some of his earlier fatigue dropping with his suitcase on the floor as he closed the door and knelt to pet the excited dog, turning his face back and groaning when shockwave almost licked at his neck, "ohohooo you just gotta do that when I smell like shit already, huh!?" He laughed and rubbed the dog's back, "missed you too, buddy, uh huh" he smiled and patted his head between his ears one more time before standing up with a groan, shrugging off his long coat and hanging it at the door, he kicked off his shoes.

"Al?"

"Here, Cher!"

Vincent never had to fight his bones from crumbling more than he does whenever he knows exactly where his lover is and he drags himself to his location, but one step at a time, he would find himself arriving.

Alastor was in the kitchen, sitting at the table, draped in a red robe that wrapped around his body, the smell of smoke and honeyd cinnamon tea danced around the area with the songs that played on the radio, Vincent wasn't one to fully focus on two tasks at a time, but he knew that Alastor was able to listen to a song and read his book and immerse himself in both at the same time, "Evening, Vince, you're home late", at his voice, Vincent wanted to test if he could focus on three things at hand.

"I know.." he groaned and dropped to his knees at Alastor's feet, his head finding salvation on his lap, he managed to take off his glasses and reach up without dropping the teacup to put them on the table, before both his hands held onto Alastor's robe, "had too many changed times and some channels were too fucking intent on having me as their face for some shit.." Vincent was sure he made no sense at all, but Alastor's hums and his hand that abandoned the book to thread through his lover's salt and pepper hair, agreeing to his every word like he was saying something coherent.

"Yea I'm sure it's tiring to sit on a chair and read from papers, mhm" Alastor drawled, his fingers tracing down to his sharp jawline and cheeks, and the touch had his legs feeling more of Vincent's weight on them.

"I'm sure this is exactly what you do too, Al" Vincent huffed, trying and failing to open one eye and glare up at him, but he only looked like one of those sharks he obsesses over.

"Mine is far more interesting, Cher, don't fly too high" Alastor grinned, and leaned down to press a kiss over his forehead, and coaxing his eyes into closing again, Alastor hummed and the lack of a fight in his usual bantering lover had a hum rising in his throat, he tugged gently at the small locks on the nape of his neck, earning a groan from the man, "don't sleep on the floor, Vincent" he said with gentle sternness, "come on, up- are you hungry?" He watched Vincent shift to get back up on his feet again, holding the back of his chair for balance while the other rubbed his face, "yeah- no i ate"

"Liar"

"Al-"

"Sit down" Alastor stood up and guided Vincent to a chair, the man complied submissively.

"What didja make?" He mumbled, smiling and propping his chin on his palm, watching Alastor open the fridge and take out a pot of soup, he groaned and rubbed his eyes, Alastor rolled his eyes and started to heat it up on the stove, "oh quit your whining you child" Alastor scolded turning around with his hands on his waist, brown eyes narrowed.

"You know that I dont like soup!"

"And do you like spending a week ill in bed like a victorian peasent!?"

Vincent bit his inner cheeks, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair, he tapped his fingers on his arm and rolled his eyes before grumbling, "just dont have it at boiling temperature then"

"You're just asking to be sick"

"My immune system is a military base, mind you!" Vincent gasped, hand over his chest.

"Nhm..of a bunch of Neanderthals fighting a tank"

Vincent had to bite his knuckles to fight back the barked laughter he wanted to set loose at Alastor's comment, said so nonchalantly with his back suddenly turning to face the shaking man, his lover had spoken it with actual frustrated care, not intending it to be funny, and if he found Vincent laughing then he might end up burning his mouth with the soup.

Vincent bit his lower lip and stood up, his headache forgotten as he sauntered to wrap his arms around Alastor's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder and tilting his face to the side to nuzzle his neck.

"You smell nice.." he whispered.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere"

"That's not how the saying goes"

"Do I look like i care?" Alastor turned his head to meet Vincent's smug face, and won a peck on his lips, he couldn't keep he scowl on his face afterwards, "im burning your soup" he scoffed, and nipped at Vincent's lower lip, the tv host chuckled and squeezed his waist, he knew he somewhat had his lover calmed down from their banter, but God he enjoyed to keep Alastor on the edge sometimes.

"Oh, mushroom" Vincent observed with a soft gasp, Alastor nodded and hummed, "didn't have time to make anything else", Vincent shook his head quickly at the reoly, "that's not what I meant, you know I like it" he kissed his cheek and nudged his nose into the soft skin were he could feel the edges of Alastor's lips rising into a smile, "and i also know you have the appetite of a dog" Alastor smirked, and before Vincent could act offended, he continued, "but i suppose as long as you keep yourself fit, I dont see any issue," he hummed, and considering they've decided that Vincent pays for all groceries and food, Alastor found nothing wrong in a little payback, he could cook his man an egg and Vincent would cry over it, he just loved Alastor's touch on the food and that was a win for the radio host and his culinary skills.

Vincent was busying himself with nuzzling Alastor's neck when he opened his eyes and looked back down at Alastor's hand, where a beautiful, simple yet golden watch sat adorning his wrist, Vincent took great pride in his gifts for Alastor, and despite not actually celebrating Christmas religiously, he still gifted him better than any verse in the Bible could give him of blessing, and this year was never less than the last.

"So you do like it" Vincent smiled, one hand on Alastor's waist coming to hold Alastor's and bring it to his lips, kissing the inside of his wrist where the skin was slightly colder than the rest of his body from where the watch was sitting, "i never said otheriwse" Alastor rolled his eyes affectionately, Vincent hummed against his wrist and kissed his way up to his palm.

"Are you asking to be pet?" Alastor raised an eyebrow, Vincent did not seem a bit shaken by the indication that he wasn't any different than shockwave, in fact, he kissed his way between Alastor's fingers, expressing his adoration to each knuckle like they themselves were jewelry.

"You're ridiculous, Cher" Alastor sighed, turning off the stove under the soup pot with his free hand, before he was suddenly turned around in Vincent's arms, his hand found its way to his chest instinctively, "do not think you're escaping dinner after a long day of just caffeine and cigarettes that I can smell on you" Alastor narrowed his eyes, though the corners of those beautiful brown irises crinkled warmly to mirror the drunken look Vincent had, "should I smell something else on you too?" The Radio host raised an eyebrow, Vincent hummed and cupped his cheek, his thumb rubbing under one eye, "wanna taste for yourself?" Vincent's question was met with Alastor pulling him down with the lapels of his suit, their lips meeting slowly, eyes closed, Vincent gently removed Alastor's glasses to cup his cheek and tilt his face to kiss his lover deeper, their tongues dancing to the tune of the song on the radio, Vincent's other hand wrapped around Alastor's waist to pull their chests together, humming into each other's lips, the kiss slowly and reluctantly broke, but they refused to leave an inch withoit their breathes mingling together.

"You smell like shit" Alastor whispered.

"Fuck you, honey" Vincent said lovingly.

The next few days that separated Christmas from new year's eve passed in such a rush, not in work, but mall shopping, visiting relatives but unfortunately separately, both Alastor's family and Vincent's only knew them as the close friends who share a house because the economy is collapsing, a long alibi but it has worked for long enough to find a new one to play on them and society, and even if they wanted to give them another lie just to play with their nerves, neither Vincent nor Alastor cared about anyone else other than one another.

"Oui, Maman, if we could find time tomorrow perhaps?..mhm..Great, happy new year- yes, say hello to everyone there" Alastor spoke over the phone, standing at the table next to the balcony, the neighborhood was bathed in lights and people in the streets preparing fireworks, whistling to each other, he averted his gaze back inside their home where candles lit the space, bathing the atmosphere in a romantic air, rather than a celebratory one, he could see Vincent though, where his lover was moving excitedly from place to another, ensuring everything was in place, and followrd by a shadow of his own happiness, shockwave right at his trail, "oui, say hello to auntie Meryl..and auntie Marianne..to everyone, Maman- oh I'll call you back then!- you see, i fear Vincent broke the wine bottle- yes I'll send him your hellos, alright- bye, Maman..bye" he hung up the telephone and walked over to his lover, who turned around fast at the last words that left Alastor's mouth, "hey that was bad luck" he gasped quietly, Alastor's eyerbrow shot up, head tilted to the side, "what was?"

"The wine thing" Vincent huffed, kissing his cheek and patting his shoulder gently before rubbing his palms together, Alastor eyed his lover up and down, examining his movements, "you never cared for the silly little things as bad luck" he pointed out, and caught on the way his shoulders tensed up at the words, Vincent was never one to be able to mask his emotions as Alastor, he might hold back his words, but the reactions were a telltale of what's stuck in his throat.

"Cher..is there something wrong?" He whispered, and Vincent felt the guilt eat at him for how his nervousness flipped the joyous mood into an interrogation, "did you speak to yor parents?.." Alastor asked, a possible thing that might have been the reason why Vincent was feeling this way.

And judging by the way Vincent's throat bobbed in a thick swallow, Alastor knew that he hit the nail, "it was.." he whispered, he was partially right though, that was part of Vincent's anxiety, and he decided to continue on it to keep Alastor focused on it..for now.

"It's just..dont worry" Vincent shook his head, "it's just like..twice or three times a year, not a big deal.." he added and wrapped his arms around his lover and pulled him to his chest, effectively shutting up any attempt for Alastor to keep questioning him, he knew better, the radio host didn't want to ruin their evening either, but he also put an inner tap on this subject to return to later, for now, he just wrapped his arms around Vincent's torso and rest his cheek on his chest.

"Your heart's beating too fast.." he hummed, smiling, Vincent rest his chin on top of his head, letting those thick brown curls tickle his pale skin as he ignored the question.

"How much until midnight?" He whispered, clearing his throat quietly, Alastor resisted questioning further for how many signs of distress his lover was showing, and stuck to answering, "five minutes.."

"Five!?"

Vincent leaned back before his lover can hear hiw his heart picked up the pace again, and held Alastor's shoulders, his eyebrows furrowed, "Al- hey uh- come here for a minute" he held his hand and gently dragged him to the living room of their second floor again, "Vincent you're being absurd" Alastor whispered, his tone a warning away from snapping at his lover to tell him what's wrong, "i know i know im sorry, just- listen, okay?" Vincent stopped in the middle of the living room, holding both of Alastor's hands in his own, blue and green eyes locked onto brown, and the soft oak ones could see how they were trembling in silent begging, too quiet for someone who's usually so talkative.

"Alright.." Alastor nodded, whispering, "but this better explain" he added right away, not hoping for it to come out too harsh.

"Right right-" Vincent nodded, he cleared his throat and licked his lips, too chapped from how he has been picking at them all the time in the kitchen, "so I was..talking with my..mother- and uh..had a fight.." he whispered, Alastor blinked, eyebrows furrowing, "no no, the usual" Vincent shook his head, there were many 'usuals', Alastor usually knew each one of them, but the confusion in Vincent's eyes made its way to his own, "what?" He asked, Vincent bit his inner cheeks, "no it's..just about my future and..how im getting old now and.." he trailed off.

Alastor didnt need to know more, he knew Eliza Whittman was always the traditional woman, in every aspect of life, and he knew that a man like his lover, growing up in a household with that influence had him closeted for far too long and afraid of embarrassing his family, it took them both too long to realize their feelings for each other, all because Vincent thought he was still being watched.

"Mhm?" Alastor nodded for him to continue, his hands coming up to rest on Vincent's wrists.

Vincent looked over at the clock, and his eyes widened, he choked on a gasp and looked back at Alastor, "i love you so much, Alastor" he whispered, "and i love you, Cher..but you're still toying with your sleeping on the bed privileges at this rate" Alastor replied, a smile ghosted on Vincent's lips, before he spoke again, "you know..the fight with my mom..I.. I just couldn't tell her how..uh..it's not legal for me- for us, to have that.." Vincent managed to let out the words, he couldn't hear Alastor's heart, but he understood that it skipped a beat from the look on his face, the radio host let out a sigh, deep from his lungs, "Vincent, we've talked about this.."

"I know we did, i know honey.." Vincent said quickly, "and i just..well..I had this.." he stuttered, one hand rising to cup his cheek, "Alastor, you are the greatest thing I have ever had in my life..I had to kill my way to greatness but I would let it all go for a last breath with you.." he whispered, rubbing his thumb under his eye, taking Alastor's silence as a good sign and refusing to entertain the overthinking that's nagging at the back of his mind, "and i know that..the world may not give us the one thing we want.." his free hand traveled to his pocket, Alastor's hand went after it, and right after Vincent's knees when they both fell to the carpeted floor, "but i want to give you everything.." Vincent continued, whispering, holding out a small, scarlet velvet box.

Alastor felt like he was going to lose his balance, he doubted he was wearing his glasses from how his vision blurred, because no matter how fast he blinked, it didn't help, it got worse.

"Vince?.." he whispered, "Vincent Whittman-" he huffed, trying to find anything words to speak, but all quieted down in his throat when Vincent opened the small box for the most beautiful golden ring with delicate intricate and engravings that he couldn't see from his teary eyes, he wanted to reach to it, but knew that his hand will be held soon.

"I can't have our names on paper..we can't share each other's last names..but atleast when im buried after years, I want to wear this ring, this one thing that ties us up in a way no one knows..I dont need anything else than the knowledge that we are together, that is if you'll have me for as long as I can to live to spoil and adore you.." Vincent did not rehearse a single word before this, he did try, but every time he spoke to the mirror, his words would change, but the only thing that was added now, were his tears.

"Alastor Bordeaux..Will you do me the honor of marrying me and making me the happiest man on this planet?" Vincent held up the box an inch higher.

Alastor felt like all the world narrowed to this moment, every single year they had together, every moment, all the bars they went to, all the dances they had to keep distance between them, every single night they slept in each other's arms and all the kisses and whispers shared in their breaths, and all of them, all the questions they had, left just one answer..

"If i had known you'd ask tonight.." Alastor started, Vincent's heart stopped beating in anticipation, "i wouldn't have let you cook dinner.." he huffed a breathless chuckle, before shaking his head and swallowing the lump in his throat, "yes.."

"What?.." Vincent choked.

"Yes- I said yes you dramatic fool!" Alastor huffed and pulled him up by the front of his sweater and back to his feet, their lips meeting with their beating hearts through the layers of clothes and skin, the only restrictions for their souls to be completely one, Vincent helpd with closing the box and wrapping his arms around Alastor, deepening the kiss and not questioning the dampness on both of their cheeks, and when they would pull apart, Vincent would take the blame for crying like a sentimental idiot.

"I dont know what to say.." Vincent whispered breathlessly, smiling and chuckling as he cupped Alastor's face in both his hands, "and here I thought you would have everything under a plan" Alastor teased, nudging his nose against Vincent's, "yeah i tried, didn't work out because it didn't feel right..had to actually do it to know how big my balls are" Alastor rolled his eyes aggressively at Vincent's words, and the tv host chuckled, kissing the tears off his cheeks, before reaching down to hold Alastor's hand, "may I?" He whispered, tone soft and empty of playfulness, Alastor found himself nodding again.

Vincent took out the ring and placed the box down, he slowly slid the golden band into his finger, with a revernt look in his eyes, he brought Alastor's hand to his lips and kissed every knuckle, adding an extra peck to his band adorned finger.

"I trust you should have one as well" Alastor whispered, he couldn't trust his voice to be any higher.

"I do.." Vincent nodded, reaching to his other pocket and taking out a navy blue velvet box, Alastor laughed and shook his head, "unbelievable..dedicated to the bit?" He chuckled, taking the box from Vincent's hand gently, "whaaattt.." Vincent huffed, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, "they're our colors, Al, I just- had to!" He defended himself uselessly, because Alastor was more intrigued about the silver band he found inside the box, he looked down at the radio dials on the one in the box, and then at his own golden ring that he can now see clearly had tv antennas, "how long have you been working on this?" He admired, looking up the man, who smiled in a way that was too soft for a serial killer, "a while..a couple of months maybe..I had to get the rings from far stores, and find people who wouldn't recognize me so they wont spread rumors.." he explained, his words carrying sleepless nights of driving around the state, searching stores and lying through his teeth for shop owners, "created myself a hypothetical sister to get my ring, said it was her birthday and I wanted to get her something" he laughed, Alastor's eyes widened, "if we get caught because of that stupid-"

"Shh, nothing we can't bury, honey" Vincent assured, keeping their eyes locked before Alastor took his hand and slipped the golden band onto his finger.

Vincent intertwined their fingers and squeezed his hand.

"I love yo-"

The words had barely escaped his lips when fireworks erupted outside in the neighborhood, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the clock, it was five minutes past midnight and frozen in time, and Vincent was actually wondering why he heard no celebrations while he was proposing.

"Well, that needs new batteries" he observed obviously, "that's not important" Alastor's hands held his neck and grasped his attention to him again, Vincent followed to his every nonverbal command, smiling down at-

"Whatever my husband says" he drawled possessively, though he viewed more of his doting nature to his lover.

"You're going to enjoy yourself far too muh" Alastor tried to sound annoying, but it was hard to when he still had tears not drying on his cheeks.

"Won't you too?" Vincent mused, running his hands up and down Alastor's waist.

"Shouldn't we be finances for a while?" Alastor huffed, his arms looping around Vincent's neck instead of holding it, and the other man scoffed, "obviously not, for all I care you're my husband now we're married we-" Vincent stopped himself when he saw Alastor's lidded eyes, "well!- if you- eh, if you're not alright with that if it's going too fast we could always wait sure honey-"

Alastore laughed and threw his head back, "mon dieu! How scared you get from just a look!" He chuckled, "and to think that you buried people!" He continued.

Vincent grumbled and buried his face in Alastor's neck, inhaling the scent of home and kissing up the soft skin all the way to nuzzle the soft curls behind his ear and then to his cheek and lips, "honey?", Alastor hummed, tilting towards every peck until Vincent's lips met his.

"Happy new year, my husband" Vincent whispered, every letter of the word tasting like every kiss they've shared.

"So it's never occurred to you that I might care? Ever!?"

"Pfft- acting like if any of this was actually real then you still would"

"All of it is REAL, Jax!"

"Can you prove it?"

"..."

"Can you show me if this is real or not?"

"..we could always try, Jax.."

"I've spent- years- YEARS, trying, and it's as useless as..anything you might try too"

"Just..dont lose hope, please, Jax..please.."

"..."

Being lost does not always have to feel like losing direction or fearing what might come in the road you're taking, it takes forms that can mask itself as curiousity, a tilted head to the side that turns against the push of inner turmoils telling you to turn back, scared of what might happen to you rather than what you might encounter, and the overthinking overrides the initial joy of the adventure, taking a twist that has you forgetting what it was like before you took the first step into what you were bravely confident of overcoming, and rethinking every choice you made, even the ones you're making along the way, disregarding every word before it comes out of your mouth, because anything can have the same outcome as the good ideas you had, anything can turn badly.

Being lost doesn't have to be the loss of your one road, but the fear of not finding any direction that could lead you to the place where you could find yourself out of this hole.

And the only witness, might be the trees, listening to the breeze ruffle their leafs, a sound he mocked when he first stepped into the portal and to this adventure, a journey that Caine refused to elaborate more on, just telling them that they had to finish a series of quests until they get to their one true ending.

There were parts that Jax honestly and obviously didn't care enough to pay attention to, and it didn't help at all that he unfortunately got paired with kinger out of everyone, he had tried to reach for a hand, but he fell on top of the chess piece's hard body, groaning as he stood back up with narrowed eyes and small, pixeled dark pupils.

"What- what are you doing here- why are you here???" He eyed Kinger, hissing at him unnecessarily.

"Oh- hi jax" Kinger waved with a floating hand before standing up from the grass himself, and dusting his purple robe, uselessly because he couldn't get a single bug off of himself, they seemed to stick to him like glue, he hummed and looked around, "this is nice, isn't it?" He blinked at the trees and grass enveloping them in the most quiet and peaceful of atmospheres, though it did not lessen any of Jax's irritation, whose fist balled at his side, he looked down at it, side eyeing the glove that had now turned to a dark black color, Jax brought his hand up to examine it silently.

"Youre wearing gloves if you-"

"I have noticed, yes, I dont need googly eyes for that observation" Jax snapped back, not taking his gaze off his palm, until he heard Kinger walking away.

"Wha- hey! Where're you going!? Do you even understand what we have to do!?" He called, stomping one foot on the grass, a disbelieving look on his face.

"Yes I do" Kinger answered simply, one hand held out for a butterfly to land gracefully on his unchanged white glove, and his eyes turned to the annoyed rabbit, "Caine said to finish some tasks where we start, and then they will repeat"

"Repeat!?" Jax walked closer to Kinger, "he never- when did he say that- no he said when we finish something we will-"

"Find a new way to start until the real ending comes up" Kinger cut him off only to correct him before Jax could say something untrue, "it shouldn't be hard, Caine said he would leave clues and all" he shrugged, looking around again and brushing off the wide eyed look Jax was giving everything that dared touch him like he blamed even tbe breezer for this awful situation.

"Alright then" he snapped out of the trance, his hands on his hips, it went unnoticed by him how his pink overalls were now far from that style, "you find them" he said simply, "since you know too much about this freaky thing- and Caine, and everything, find the clues and I'll- eh" he trailed off, one arm shifting to wave around with an eccentric air that broke through his annoyance, and it was when he felt something fall down from his shoulder to hook on the dip of the inside of his elbow.

"Huh.." he picked up the piece of wood and slid it out his arm, and there he held in his hands, a beautiful wooden bow, with intricate details of suns and moons, a few stars littering the edges as well, the string was made of silver that seemed flexible enough to bend.

Kinger walked over and tested it by pulling it, once it returner to where it was supposed to be, it let out a tune that traveled across the forest in golden glitter.

Jax was frozen, looking around ready for any threat, an instinct he didnt know he had, had him reaching over his right shoulder where he found arrows, turning on his heel to look around.

"Look at this" Kinger hummed, and Jax whipped around, knowing Kinger's reactions, he expected something extremely terrifying, "WHAT!?"

A bright, blue butterfly, hovered and circled around the sweet chess piece, who seemed to be naively blessed in his own happy bubble, following the beautiful insect with a patience only someone with nothing to worry about can muster up.

And Jax couldn't find it in himself to be impressed.

"I think it's telling us to fol-"

"NO, I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY FOCUS ON THE TASK" Jax shouted shakily, thought the sheer confused anger just went right over Kinger's head, and drifted away with the butterfly that started to fly into the forest, pausing a few steps like it was waiting.

And Kinger didnt wait for Jax, he hummed and followed the insect, and the rabbit found himself with the only option at his hands, which is let Kinger believe he was leading them, or maybe Jax to convince himself that having his eyes glued to the butterfly puts him at the front line of their unknown mission.

"Do you even have the slightest idea what the task could be" Jax's whisper was a harsh demand, but a shy whisper all underneath that shield he didn't know was another weapon of his.

"I dont know.." Kinger shrugged casually, "but i think we should follow it.." he added, like he was playing with fire and he didnt even know it, and the flames were just burning behind him.

"And what if it's just another misleading from Caine??? What then???" Jax ordered an answer, nearly barking it, he had no reason to be angry, but all the long list to be agitated, and they both collided in his mind, it did not help in the slightest that Kinger still paid him no mind, silently taking turns through the woods, "are listening, KING-"

His words were bitten off by the sun itself, shining down into his eyes, his pupils reflixively turned to small pixels and a hand placed over his forehead to guard his eyes.

"There you are!!" Ragatha's voice was the first thing he heard.

"You took way too long" and then Pomni's was the one that had his hand falling from his forehead.

They found themselves in a clearing, the grass shone like algae under crystal clear water, the surface of the ocean being in the view over their heads that was the sky, littered with clouds that looked to familiar to what Gangle draws in her sketchbooks, while that wasn't an observation noticed by Jax, it sure went fast to the artist herself, who stood infront of the crowded, wearing a dress with the color of the skies above, a mocking image considering who puts them in their clothes of every adventure.

A castle stood proudly not too far, its large exterior dominated the field of vision, but it didn't hide the incredible number of wooden npcs dressed in medieval clothes that stood behind the three only humans there, looking just as confused as the two who just joined them from the forest.

"What's-"

"THE PRINCESS OF LAVENDER MOORES HAS ARRIVED! TO WITNESS THE ROYAL COMPETITION FOR WINNING HIS HAND!"

A voice boomed throughout the clearing, followed by cheering and drums.

And heads all turning to Jax. Including Kinger who was clapping next to him positively.

Who just only now realized why his pants were very comfortable, because they were a beautiful deep purple dress.

He felt himself freeze on the spot, his chest squeezing into a more flat width, it probably never changed how he looked, but, it sure did feel that his heart was clenched on itself.

"WE START WITH PRINCESS RAGATHA!" the same voice boomed, and Ragatha only now could move, her limbs were all stuck in their place before Jax and Kinger arrived to activate the adventure.

She fixed her hold on the bow and arrow, trying to aim directly at the target, her hand trembled and the arrow fired before she should've let it go, and it landed right-

At the top far circle, "aw..d%^m it.." Ragatha sighed with a sheepishly smile, toying with the bow in her hands as the crowd behind her murmurs in disappointment, Jax's eyes traveled to the next name that was called.

"PRINCESS GANGLE! HAVE A TURN!"

The crowd behind the ribbon lady roared to cheer her on, but it failed in watering her fraying nerves, her lips formed a squiggly line, she tried to grip the bow and an arrow, dropping some of them to the grass.

Both Ragatha and Pomni tried to help, but the doll couldnt step away from the spot she was standing on and the jester could not move an inch from the mannequin-like posture she was kept in, so Gangle was left on her own, picking up the arrow and shot it without looking, "oh just shoot already" she whimpered, just wanting it to be over with, and watching her arrow miss the target completely, and atleast her turn was over.

Atleast his eyes can now focus on something for real.

"LAST BUT NOT LEAST! PRINCESS POMNI!"

Pomni took a few seconds just to move her arms the way she finally could, sighing and looking down at the bow in her hands, she looked over at Ragatha and Gangle, and they both nodded to her, the doll holding thumbs up for her friend.

Pomni took a deep breath and put an arrow, she closed an eye and focused the other on the target.

"JUST SHOOT IT ALREADY!"

Jax's yell had her flinching, gasping and letting go of the arrow, her eyes shifted unfortunately to meet Jax's, and unlike everyone around them, she missed where the arrow had landed.

"PRINCESS POMNI WON!"

the voice had every NPC erupting in cheers, drums beating to the melody of other instruments that Jax had no mind to pay it any attention, the ringing in his folded back ears turned even louder, and before he realized it, he felt the grass move under his quick steps.

He pushed past Ragatha, taking an arrow from the ground where she had dropped them earlier and aimed, with all the determination in the world, he shot it directly in the middle of the target.

The crowd fell silent.

"Wa- Jax! Jax what are you doing!?" Ragatha called as he pushed past her to walk to Gangle, who before the angry rabbit could nudge her away, she moved on her own, dropping her bow and arrows and Jax picked them up, shot another arrow straight on the target, landing on the red circle in the middle yet again.

"Jax!" Pomni yelled, but it didn't stop his angry stomping, she narrowed her eyes at him, "JAX IT'S JUST AN ADVENTURE!" She shouted again, once he towered over her, she didn't feel any intimidated by his presence, not when the emotion he was trying to convey didn't match the one he had on.

"NO IT'S NOT AND YOU KNOW IT! CAINE IS TRYING TO-"

"HE IS NOT TRYING ANYTHING!"

"AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!?" He yelled back, and reached for an arrow to shoot at the target.

"You are being ridiculous, Jax" Pomni warned, eyes narrowed, Jax didn't let go yet.

"Youre not thinking, you just think that everything is making fun of you" she added, nearly a hiss, noticing how Jax's hand shook slightly on the arrow.

"Jax" the mere sound of his name just those three letters, gathered his attention better than any other sign, his eyes turned to the side to the jester silently, she wouldn't call this a win, but Pomni would work with what she had.

"If you let go of that arrow, then we were never friends"

Her whisper was quickly accompanied by the sound of the arrow piercing right through the one she had shot earlier, cutting it in half and shooting the target itself until his arrow exited from the other side.

For three, unholy seconds, the silence was competing with the other bad things Jax had experienced since the adventure began, and maybe just a while before that too, and then he turned his whole body to look down at the confused and hurt look on her face.

"If you think an adventure would try to help your stupid little ideas, then you. Are. Wrong." He whispered, accompanying every word with a poke to her chest.

"I didn't suggest the adventure" she whispered in disbelief, and the last poke to her chest was landing with a ding that came from somewhere in the atmosphere, attracting everyone's attention, and in a split second, the landscapes were swallowed into the abyss.

"Where..where am I.." Jax whispered to himself, opening his eyes to see utter darkness, for a moment he thought he was still in the teleportation zone from quest to another, because apparently, Kinger was right, again, but then what sounded like a roar, startled the rabbit, "F$&K!" he yelped, and started running in a straight line, where he hoped to see the light at the-

"YES! PLEASE BE REAL PLEASE BE REAL!" He bottled faster and jumped into the end of whatever tunnel he was inside, his eyes squinted when he was greeted with the sun, he held a hand over his eyes, and noticed how he couldn't see anything after restricting the sun from entering, and it wasn't from the lack of the bright star..

He moved his hand away, and got Immediately dwarfed by buildings and cars, the vehicles were what he thought were lions at first, and the fact that the NPCs around him all seemed normal height did not settle well in his confused mind..

"What is that now.." he mumbled, and if anyone was beside him, he would've never used that same defeated tone, his heart racing fast and he didn't notice how his foot was tapping on the asphalt until he looked down..he was naked.

"WHAT!? WHAT IS THAT!? WHATS HAPPENING!!" he yelled, his bunny ears flopped back to his skull, because not only was he lacking his pink overalls, but also the thin and tall body they normally covered too, now replaced with lavender fluff and curves that resembled a real bunny's.

That was a nightmare.

"Awww, look at that little bunny!" A wooden NPC kid pointed down at him, and Jax had half a mind to run, and the other half to freeze in his spot like a deer in the headlights.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" he shouted, which only elicited more giggles from the child, "awww, come here, pretty bunny!"

Once he noticed those hands stretching down to pick him up, Jax has never ran faster in his whole digital life, "I SAID GET AWAY!!"

He didn't even have to try and use his hind legs only, his body knew that it should run on fours, which drowned Jax in an immense sense of shame, but he swallowed it back with a sound he hoped to never have to make again.

Jax maneuvered his way through crowds, running at people's feet and with some kind of instinct, he didn't have anyone step on him, and he hated how much he benefited from this edit to his avatar, his conflicting emotions played a part in his focus shifting back and forth until he bumped into someone's feet with an 'oomf'.

"Oh? A bunny in the street? How adorable" he heard a voice speak, too controlled to be an NPC, but he knew that he shouldn't question Caine's abilities much, so he looked up ready to fight.

"OH I AM NOT ADORABLE YOU D$&!^*S! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO IS MADE OF WOOD AND HAVE NO SOUL ANYWAY!"

Jax's fight died down in his throat when he met the smug smirk that the NPC had drawn on his face and those lidded mocking eyes, and something weird settled in the pit on his stomach.

"Nothing more to squeak about, bunny?"

Once the man spike again, Jax found himself bolting through the closest door to him, and into whatever building he might find, anything better than where he was.

The calm, slow music that dawned on his fraying nerves made his brain settle into a state of content even if he tried not to, holding onto the fear of looking back at the door, that he would've missed the beauty awaiting behind him if didn't turn around at the sound of his name called.

"Jax! Jax?-..wait..Jax? Is that actually you or some wei-"

"POMNI! oh thank f!&k- finally!" He jumped and climbed up the red and blue apron she was wearing, and the jester had no other choice but to make sure he doesn't fall,

"I woke up under a car and WHY DID CAINE MAKE ME THIS PUNY HUMILIATING SIZE!? AND WHERE WERE YOU WHY DOESNT HE HAVE US SPAWN INTO HIS NEXT ADVENTURE IN ONE PLACE!? NOOOOO HE HAS TO THROW EVERY ONE IN A DIFFERENT PLACE-"

"Jax-"

"AND THEN HE WONDERS WHY WE HATE HIS ADVENTURES SO MUCH-"

"Jax-"

"WHAT!?"

Pomni waited until he stopped before looking at him with furrowed eyebrows, lips forming a sheepish line, "you know i..cant understand you, right?" She whispered, as calmly as she could, she saw his bunny nose shake a little, his ears dropping down further and she regretted the choice of her words, "nonono- its okay! It's okay! You can stay here now atleast!" she tried frantically to calm him down, his squeals continued and Pomni found herself panicking as well.

"Ragatha!" Pomni called, walking through the tables and to the kitchen of the restaurant where the doll was busying herself with beignets, reading off a book, she turned her head when the doors opened.

"Pomni I know how to make them now!! They're so easy and delicious!" Ragatha said excitedly, smiling as she held up two plates filled with the sweets, but her eyes focused on what's behind those she was holding and onto what Pomni had in her arms.

"Is that?.." she trailed off, placing the plates down and had one hand over her mouth, eyes widening when Pomni nodded to confirm her thoughts.

"Yeah, it's him.." she looked down at the pouting bunny in her arms and back at the doll, when Gangle peeked her head through the doors, "table fifty seven asked if their order is ready!" She called, "yeah it is!" Ragatha returned to her proud excitement, holding out the plates to the ribbon lady, "wanna ta-"

"Nope! You deal with it! Zooble's on the stage next with the band!" And with that, Gangle walked out, closing the door behind her before she could notice that their group had now all gathered in the restaurant, but she failed to ask about the bunny, so for all she knows Jax is still somewhere out in the streets of New Orleans, but that was the least of her concerns anyway.

"Well, think you can tak-" pomni couldn't even finish her sentence with Jax in her hands, barely able to offer him to the doll before he started to squeal and kick the air, his adorable noises somehow showing how agitated he seemed at the suggestion, Pomni's wide eyed blinked and Ragatha's were quick to follow.

"Uhm..no I think I'll take the tables" Ragatha spoke finally, holding the plates on a tray and smiling, "i got it, Pomni! Dont worry!" She said excitedly, and despite the weird consequences, Pomni mirrored it too, "thanks, Ragatha" she got a nod from the doll before she walked out, leaving Pomni with a bunny who shivered the more he tried to stop his trembling, and Pomni knew this had nothing to do with a weather.

She sighed and placed him on the kitchen counter, right next to the batter and the recipe book, and he complied with zero complains, looking up at the jester with wide eyes she wished she saw more often, and she had to suppress a smile to keep them.

"How did you know to come here and find us?" She knew her question was useless, but she could atleast try.

"I didn't..I was..scared..ran into the closest thing to me.."

His shrug was all she needed to know that he ran into the place by sheer luck, and she nodded to his wordless reply.

"Okay..atleast you're not lost" she sighed, picking up the bowl and resuming where Ragatha had left off, "you should..because of yours..eh- size..you should stay here"

Jax rolled his eyes, and Pomni missed it because hers were reading off the book and adding ingredients, "Caine said there are threats here," this grabbed his attention, "its not as safe as the last one, he didn't say what was there, but just..some bad people I guess" she looked back at the rabbit to see if he had understood her, and she saw the way his black pupils were too wide she almost saw her reflection in them.

"We didn't see Caine ourselves- i mean he didnt tell us, we just saw some posters hanging around and some notes on them-" Jax started to squeal and move his body to the side, standing on his hind legs and looking around, as if searching for what Pomni had told him about, she understood quickly.

"Uh- eh..I dont know where we put them" she mumnled to herself, leaving the bowl and walking to the messy table, moving items and food around until she found two papers, she brought them back and placed them on the counter, biting off a very embarrassing question for Jax, just because he cant speak doesn't mean he cant read, and she had to remind herself in that moment that he was still Jax.

He leaned over the papers and read, "shadow murderers. Never once caught, they snatch their preys at night, please roam the streets cautiously and return home safely before sundown" that was very vague, he felt like he was reading a poorly written puzzle, and he had to look up at Pomni with his eyes lidded, she nodded with a smile, "yeah, very useless, he didn't even give us their faces or anything, and we have a restaurant with many people that visit, anyone could be them.." she sighed and returned to the stove, while his eyes glued to the window where they pass plates to the waitresses outside, scanning the crowded and bustling area.

"Dont think about it too much, Jax.." her voice had his head turning around again, "he maybe added them just for horror effects or something.." she shrugged, paying the bunny another comforting look before her focus returned fully to the task ahead, leaving Jax to the thoughts that were running in his small head.

He was looking at the posters at his feet, his little nose twitching as he ran over every scenario that could occur if those shadow murderers were real and not just for the sake of the plot, that they could be roaming around at any time, he was suddenly reminded of what Pomni said, the restaurant was crowded, filled with people, but as soon as he let that thought entertain his nagging fear, his eyes shifted to the jester again, looking too calm, way too friendly for someone who was arguing with him just a day before.

"Wha- ow, hey!" Pomni gasped and flinched when Jax suddenly kicked her with one of his feet right at her side, "what do you want now, Jax?" She sighed, exasperated, filling two plates with beignets and holding them out through the window for Ragatha to take.

"Oh I dont know, maybe another reason to believe you? Or was our fight too immature for that grown brain of yours so you just brush it off so easily, huh!?" He stomped his foot angrily on the table, right over the poster of the shadow murderers, and that was the only thing that Pomni coukd understand from his mini crash out, and she let out a silent exhale through her nose.

"I told you it's not real, Jax.." she reached and took the posters from under his foot, "just..stop overthinking things that wont hurt you if you just..go the other way.." she added, before crumbling the posters and throwing them down in the trash, and he was left to eye the jester like she was the reason he has a war of emotions in his mind.

And maybe that's what it was telling him, because he landed another hit to her sit with his foot and hopped off the kitchen counter, straight out the window.

"WAIT! JAX!" she called, letting go of what she has in her hands and running after him through the door.

The tables were mostly abandoned, in favor of dancing to the jazz that was playing on the stage, and maybe if she was in her right mind, she would've enjoyed it, put on a beautiful dress and attempted to dance, but not when that stupid rabbit was on a suicidal mission to give her another reminder why they had that fight in the first place.

"JAX STOP!" She followed him out the restaurant and into the streets, it wasn't hard to keep track on him, considering he was the only purple furry lump hopping fast over the pavement.

"WHY SHOULD I STOP, HUH!?" he called, his squealing helping her keep her focus on him, and for he NPCs to part the way for the sudden interruption in their steps.

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET HURT YOU IDIOT!"

"OH HERE WE GO AGAIN! THINKING YOU KNOW EVERYTHING WHEN YOUVE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR A FRACTION OF HOW LONG I WAS!"

every word was translated into more sounds that would've been adorable in other circumstances, but now, Pomni could tell that he was probably fighting back, and since she didn't know what he was saying, she had to warn with what she is able to say.

"YOU'RE TOO FAR FROM WHERE WE SHOULD STAY!"

He didn't reply back this time, taking a turn and heading to the bayou not far from behind the buildings, and Pomni had no other choice but to follow.

"OH- I'll show you what i know-" he panted, his form thankfully not fully swallowed by the grass, and even if it did, Pomni was still able to follow the moving wildflowers and green grass with his rapid movements, one of the few things that's good about the digital circus is the lack of human stamina, but even that couldn't stop her from breathing like she was fighting to grow a pair of them.

"JAX PLEASE!" she called again, hoping to get any word to echo and repeat in his mind, but her begging went unnoticed by him.

Her pleading was not what had him stopping after taking twists and turns that drove him away from her eyes until he was cornered between trees and rocks.

They were the shadows not too far, with glowing eyes, one with a red pair and the other with blue ones, and they both had his blood freezing in the body he left outside the digital circus, his pupils widening as they met with the barrel of a gun, aimed right between his eyes.

"..pom.."

"JAX!"

The ding was heard right at the sound of the gun shooting, the bullet had barely brushed his fur when the light faded into darkness again.

Pitch black was the first thing he opened his eyes to as well, at the edges of his vision, swirls of navy blue and cyan danced until they reached where he was looking up at, and effectively drowning the ringing in his ears, because the more he opened his eyes into focus, he realized that he was actually, in fact, under water, but something comforted him that it won't choke him, and that thought alone had him inhaling and exhaling like it was the first breath of clean oxygen any person could ask for, allowing his eyes to slowly get used to the circles at the surface of the water to take different colors, reflected from the various corals that cradle his body in an embrace he thought he would have to be dying to let himself feel as a last wish, and he did think about that option, but the more he looked around, the more flaws he saw, in texture, in shapes of fish, and in the fact he had a mermaid tail, all of it screamed unreal, and unfortunately, he was hearing good again to act like he can't acknowledge the truth, though one calling remained unanswered, and he refused to leave it hanging, even if he ached to stay with his bacn to the sand at the bottom of the sea, the longer he stayed, the more he realized that this was only real because it was an idea not fully comprehended by something who has never tried it before.

With a sigh he wished stayed buried, he began ascending up to the surface, swimming to the shore and letting himself rise up, the fins of his mermaid tail barley brushing he sand as they swished back and forth to keep him afloat.

And from the shore, he saw why the water reflected in reds and blues.

"I was..looking for you.." Pomni called, not in a yell but a statement, her strawberry red cape swishing in the wind as she took a step closer to the water, the tips of her black boots getting cleaned off the sand.

"Why?.." he asked flatly, not unkind.

"You always arrive last..I guess..or you show up at far distances.." she explained, one hand placed over her arm, "how long have you been swimming here" she asked, and by that exact question, he knew that she had no clue what hid under the waves of his lower half.

"I dunno..how long have you been-" he looked up, and saw yet another towering castle, not as old as the one from the first adventure-quest thing, this one was pearly white and decorated with blue engravings that he could see even from a far distance, "-up there"

"Oh- a while, actually..not that long, maybe a couple of minutes, we spent it all trying dresses and stuff" she smiled, shrugging.

"And why aren't you in a dress" she could tell it was meant to be a normal observation, but came out in the only harsh way he knew to speak with when he couldn't..verbalize many other things.

"I didn't find anything that suit me" she blinkd.

"Last two times you wore dresses, did Caine get bored or uninterested or something" this, now this, could have been for attempting a joke, or for something Pomni wasn't brave enough to name yet, and she decided to stick with the unnamed.

"He gave us options i just didn't find anything I might like" she explained calmly.

"..wasting potential and time then, didn't know you could be this neglectful" the eye roll saved his comment from being rude, because now and now only did Pomni feel something flutter like the sun that was rising behind him, she took off her boots and placed them down on the sand, before making a few steps into the water until it reached her hips.

"Dont come closer" his voice was suddenly and hurried, it caught her attention quickly, "why?" She froze, though her foot landed that extra step she waned to take, but didn't act any further.

"It's..the water's too deep" he shrugged, his gaze flicking up to her jester hat, unchanged, "unless that thing could keep you floating" he tried to smirk, and halfway succeeded when she smiled at his words, "fine, fine I'll stay here.." she rolled her eyes, "but just for your information, im a great swimmer" she added matter-of-factly, and Jax caught himself scoffing before he could stop it, and even swimming paralleling her steps that started and he followed without realizing.

"Yeah, like that one time you got swallowed by a wave" he raised an eyebrow, and it didn't take her half a second to remember the exact adventure when this happened, "that was fully your doing and you know it- you pushed me onto the plank!" She fought, all as playful as the bubbles from a fish breathing and swimming at their legs (and mermaid tail).

"It was Captain's orders" he placed a hand over his chest, the ghost of a smirk playing on his yellow grin, "and you followed them precisely, im- like wow, im proud" sarcasm could've overflowed the ocean if it wasn't accompanied by many other emotions hidden under many transparent layers of uncare.

"I didn't follow anything! I had a sword to my back!" She argued again, a smile fighting its way onto her face afraid if it showed up, it would be let down as every time.

"That was a leap of faith! A good push to help you get where you needed" he explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ha, taking like you have experience in leading"

"Excuse you! Im an excellent leader!" He gasped, one hand rising from the water and splashing some over the surface when he placed it over his chest, his eyes narrowing for a whole other reason when Pomni started chuckling, her head shaking and helping the breeze jingle the bells of her jester hat.

" yeah yeah, sure..it's a good thing that Caine doesn't recycle adventures, or else we would've been under the mercy of whatever you call leading skills" she chuckled, huffing.

"Yeah.." he huffed, smiling, the past part of her sentence was where his reply was aimed for poorly, but he failed at it and it sounded exactly how his face looked in response to the first half, "it's good that he doesnt.." he continued, the lowering of his already quiet tone had Pomni realizing she hit another nerve, and she desperately raked her brain for anything to fix it with.

"So he's actually never redid an adventure before?" Oh yes, that was great, more reminders, and somehow, despite his pupils switching with every blink from size to another, his mouth remained the same, which meant whatever came out through his voice was all his doing.

"Not once..he's all about doing new things..new more disturbing s%^t" he mumbled, Pomni nodded slowly to that information.

"Do you..ever wish he could?"

A beat of silence that might have been three seconds or three hours stretched in his suddenly quieted brain, and in-between those seconds, he found himself losing his thoughts in what he usually busied himself at night, in the comfort of his own place, running over memories and remembering how it was like to..do this..run over that..joke about this and that..and to maybe do it all over again and so much more..with someone new..

"Sometimes.." he whispered, "but not all of them" he quickly added, but the zoned out look on his face remained, "some were too boring or annoying to be replayed all over again" he hummed, with every word, he recalled a memory, something he laughed at after a gew days of it happening but lately, he forgot if that's how he actually sounded or that's his memory tricking him.

Pomni took another moment of silence, letting the sound of the waves parting at their movement be what filled it, her fingers threading the water, until she spoke again.

"Im sorry.."

His head snapped to the side to look at her, eyebrows furrowed and pupils slightly narrowed into small pixels, she met his gaze and swallowed a lump of words gathering in her throat.

"Look..Jax, I-..I wasn't there for too long here, I dont know how- how you were with..others, or on adventures or such.." she bit her inner cheeks, thinking he might take the chance to cut her off again, but it never came, his eyes were focused so intently at her, for a second, she thought he might be hearing her speak in numbers, "i only know you for now..for a couple of months, actually, and..and for this short while, or for as long as I might stay..I just- dont want you to feel like you've lost everything.." she tried to handpick her words carefully, pausing between each one for a split second, "you're still here..you have us..even if you don't want us, i..im still here..if you want- if you want of course!" Pomni stuttered, her heart beating way too fast for a digital avatar.

Jax couldn't reply for a while, that while being five too long seconds, then his lips parted again, "you're not going anywhere" he whispered, and the way he said it, like those words were the only four that made it out from the pages he wanted to let out, but as long as she got letters from him, it was more progress than she thought she would get from this conversation.

"And don't apologize again, it sounds pathetic" he scoffed, smirking, his eyes lidded like the half sun that was slowly rising behind him, Pomni smiled, "then don't give me a reason to, idiot" she huffed, and Jax splashed her with water, earning a chuckle and a splash to his face, "dont try again!" She laughed, holding a hand to his face, "too allergic to fun, Poms" he groaned playfully, she smiled behind her palm, before she moved her hand over to him, palm opening to the rabbit.

He eyed it like it was something new..something..something..

He took it before he allowed himself to name what her hand might be, before he could remember that he had no legs, but a fish for his lower half, the first step he took had him find out that he had his legs back, he schooled his expression so she wouldn't ask of his fear turned surprise, but focus on leading him to the shore, thankfully, he had pants on.

"To the castle?" He asked, refusing to let go of her hand even when they walked the shore.

"Mhm, yeah, there are some places you could like" she nodded, smiling, "wanna go?"

Shoulders may carry mountains, but they are left unseen by the people around them, burdened by the invisibility that hides them from people who may want to help, just in fear of those who might hurt them, they cower behind the shadows and latch onto the back of the person they're attached to, engraving their inner thoughts onto the first thing they could find, since emotions can't be actually worn on the sleeve, they crawl up, and into the bag where thoughts are translated into items, ones that can be memories, hopes, dreams, or even fears, latching onto them and creating a world of their own, anything outside, in the light, is alien to the comfortable darkness, but maybe, just maybe, with every blink, the sun can slowly shine withoit blinding.

And to pull out those items can be hard, it's not easy to take away something from its comfort zone, especially when the items start to gain a soul, reflecting what the person sees in it, but with a little bit of courage, Gangle can realize they're all part of the same person.

Her.

"Are you ready, Gangle?" Pomni's soft voice rang the doorbell of the masked lady's mind, she looked up from the folded paper in her ribbon hands to the jester's gaze, almost lost in the colors that surrounded them in a daze of rainbows, but somehow, Pomni managed to be a constant, and Gangle found herself nodding slowly, "yeah, im ready" she handed Pomni the paper, but she held her hands up, smiling,

"It's yours, you should put it", Gangle felt her hollowed chest grow a heart and pound fast.

"What's wrong?" Pomni asked, eyebrows furrowed, "you dont- i have more papers here, you could add anything or-"

"No no, its- I.." Gangle stuttered, one hand going to her happy mask on instinct, clutching the paper in her other hand, "it's a stupid idea, Pomni,..maybe Caine wouldn't even read it, he doesn't read them.." Gangle shook her head, Pomni's eyes instantly widened, and she resisted the urge to reach out to the paper that her friend held back.

"Gangle, he would, he does sometimes, there's a chance you could get your adventure" Pomni coaxed gently, her voice too real to be artifical breeze, and it got Gangle looking back up at her again, if she had cheeks to bite, she would've been doing just that, and Pomni sensing that her silence wasn't of thought, but from overthinking, she continued to speak, encouraged by her own need to help her friend, she placed her hand over Gangle's wrist, "you'll never know what could happen unless you try" she said softly.

"We didn try before, and he got angry, and he-" Gangle rambled, Pomni already knew what she wanted to say, and she forced herself to listen to Gangle just to have her let off a little bit of her anxiety out, "he didn't accept anything and thought we dont enjoy his adventures- he could get you all in trouble because of me"

"Woah woah- what does this have to do with us? It's your adventure- no i mean! I mean like-" Pomni sighed, her words not placed well into a sentence and she regretted not taking more time to think, one look at Gangle's confused face had her knowing that maybe this is how her friend feels at the moment, she inhaled and gripped her wrist gently aain, "you dont have to be scared for us, if he gets angry? The worst he could do is give a cocktail of adventures we suggest" she pointed out, before smiling, "which wouldn't be bad, we would get to try everything you wrote one by one" Pomni continued, watching Gangle's face slowly shift into a steady smile.

She walked to the box in the middle of the circular colorful room and placed the paper inside it, watching it get swooped by the air.

"Oh- there you are!" Zooble called, watching Gangle walk from a distance, followed by Pomni.

If Gangle could have a mask that showed a greater feeling than happiness, she would've worn it at the moment, but all she could do was a big smile and brushing past Pomni as she rushed to Zooble.

"I did it! I put the suggestion in the box!" Gangle giggled, Zooble's eyes squinted in a sign they were smiling, holding their hands out for Gangle to take, "you did!?" They said excitedly, clutching Gangle's ribbon hands tighter, watching her nod.

"Just now! And now we wait i guess" Gangle shrugged, though the small ministration with her shoulders didn't dim her excited happiness, "atleast that's what Pomni told me, you know I haven't suggested in a long while" she added, Zooble hummed and nodded, "yeah, we should wait..but how long exactly, Pomn-" Zooble looked over Gangle's shoulder to see no one there, the jester just vanished into thin air, but that was a mechanism that can only be achieved in two ways, either Caine teleported her somewhere, or she walked way, and in Pomni's case, she would never walk away without atleast saying bye, and who had that lack of social manners?

"WOW WOW WOW! A NEW ADVENTURE SUGGESTION!? AND HERE I THOUGHT GANGLE WOULD STOP SENDING THEM!" Caine exclaimed loudly from behind his desk, too fast for the dazed jester to understand what could be the reason for his excitement now. "AND I SHOULD BE PROUD! I thought I hid the suggestion box in a deeper place this time.."

"Wha?.." Pomni mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"THIS ADVENTURE IS QUITE THE SPECTACLE! I must admit..I've never thought you might like something this..boring!" Caine hummed, reading the paper that seemed to just appear out of thin air, leaning back in his chair, one leg over the other, tapping the gum of his lower jaw in thought before snapping his fingers, "tell Gangle that I will be working on IT IMMEDIATELY!"

Pomni, yet again, blinked and found herself falling face down onto the black and white floors of the circus tent, groaning, her body refused to get up, just in frustrated stubbornness at how she's been treated in the last minute.

Until a foot nudged her leg, rudely interrupting her annoyed timezone.

"Geez, didn't think I'd see the day you needed therapy in"

His voice had her gathering her will to turn over on her back and glare up at the purple rabbit in pure unamusement.

"But i see it in you every day" she groaned, standing up and brushing her shoulders uselessly, but it was just an act that they all enjoyed doing every chance they would get.

"You never fail to give me reasons to" Jax shot back, smirking, folding his arms and nudging his shoulder against hers, "but if this is your way of asking me out then you could've been sweeter, Pom"

"Huh?"

"HELLO MY COOL CUCUMBERS!" Caine popped into thin air at the stage, floating like a starfish next to bubble, bringing attention to him in a split second from genuine surprise at the sudden noise.

"I HOPE YOU'RE VERY READY FOR WHAT I HAVE FOR YOU TODAY BECAUSE BOY OH BOY!- ITS GOING TO BE FANTASTIC!" He laughed, throwing his cane from hand to the other over his head without looking up, in a failed attempt to bring more attention to what he persumed was catchy of his announced words.

Pomni looked over at Gangle from the side, who was sitting on the green couch with Zooble, her sketchbook abandoned now that she waited in hopeful anticipation, the jester wanted to spoil the surprise, but it would be better to watch her friend find out on her own than ruin it for her, so she returned her gaze back to Caine.

Who didn't seem to be in the mood for stalling the adventure with labels and titles, "now NOW! EVERYONE IS HERE, HMM!?" He clapped his hands, looking around, he counted the six residents of the digital circus before snapping his fingers, "HAVE FUN!"

everything went dark in a split second, it was silent, still, and eerily cold for a place that never granted them nerves unless to toy with them.

Pomni scrambled in the room she was in until she found the door and snapped it open, greeted with light of the hall she quickly worked her legs to run down, past the other doors she didn't bother to stop reading what's written on them, knowing Caine, this could be another one of his horror adventures, a part in the back of her brain was grateful that she didn't tell Gangle about the conversation she had with the ai ringmaster, she would've broken her heart and happy mask.

Pomni kicked open another door, leading her into a dark room, lit by something that Pomni couldn't focus on, her eyes landing on the first person she saw.

"Ra- Ragatha! Oh good!- what kind of- what is this adventure!?" Pomni panted, her hand coming to the doll's shoulder, her eyes widened in frantic panic that didn't match the look on Ragatha's.

"CUT!" a normally squealed voice, now shouted, making Pomni's neck snap towards where Gangle was perched on a chair, with papers in her hand and a speaker with the other, looking insanely displeased at both girls standing infront what Pomni now realized was a stage that resembled a bar, she looked back at her hand, she was holding onto Ragatha's black dress, not her usual blue doll one.

"Oh, great, we gotta do this again now!?" Jax groaned loudly from a seat at the bar, bringing Pomni's disoriented gaze to the rabbit, whose own pink overalls were changed for a white shirt, black tie and pants, and while that wasn't one of Pomni's concerns, it surely was one thing to pay attention to closely when she got her mind unscrambled.

"Yes! We will! But only after your line, Jax" Gangle called through the speaker, the item whistling and had everyone covering their ears at the ringing sound, except for Jax who was busy scowling, "and Pomni!?"

"Y-yea??" Something about Gangle's authoritive tone, the one that last time they heard it was at Spudsy's adventure, had Pomni standing up in a straight line with her arms frozen by her sides.

And an understanding flooded her brain like light in a room, this has got to be Gangle's suggestion.

"Take your script and into the changing room! You have a couple of scenes to rehears! Come on!" Pomni headed to Gangle's chair, grabbing the papers from her hands, reading over at the first page, before looking back up, "eh- where's the changing room?"

"Behind those curtains" Gangle spoke normally, gesturing with her hand to the left, Pomni nodded and walked there, not sure how exactly she was going to change out of her jester costume, mandatory to her avatar base, only one who could mess around with it was Caine, changing their clothes to match the adventure, but nevertheless, she opened the curtain and walked inside, closing the black fabric behind her.

The room had red painted walls, lit by triangle lights falling from the ceiling and reaching the top edge of the long mirror, the only item next to the white vanity in the room.

"Dont be late!" Came Gangle's voice from outside.

"Oh- yeah I wont!" Pomni called back, she placed the script on the vanity, opening he first few pages and letting her eyes sweep over what she can read and remember of them, it didn't seem that Gangle was aiming for long sentences but rather short and deep ones that held meaning that Pomni was sure she would find easy to memorise, her mind already wrapped around the idea of what this adventure is, quick adaptation something that one would have to learn after spending a while in the digital circus.

The synopsis of the movie was that a bunch of friends had found their way back to one another after all of them lost their memories in a bad accident, and despite that, they still got along, but slowly, they started to remember pieces about their past, and the memories can either end what they were growing, or start a new beginning all over again for what they could have.

Pomni knew that Gangle was a great artist but to find out that her friend had an imagination that worked in the writing field was just phenomenal, it was like watching her art come to life, and she knew that she was in for something interesting.

"Amnesia..huh.." Pomni hummed, reading the name of the movie Gangle was directing, and reading a bit more down, she caught how Caine's name made its way to the VFX editor and special effects manager, pretty much into every space that Gangle had her name in, Caine's would be there too, which wasn't surprising in the least.

What was shocking though, was how in a split second, Pomni had changed from her red and blue jester suit, to a beautiful, long iridescent dress with the same color palette of what she wore earlier, a cut thay stretched from her mid thigh to her feet where she wore white heels, and for once she felt at her head and the big hat wasn't there, replaced by a silver tiara with lavender jewels.

Pomni sure did look beautiful, but she's never seen herself in a dress, maybe she did, but her memory hasn't been her best aid since she woke up in this digital world, and if it did, she wasn't sure if her real self would like or hate the dress she's wearing.

Did Gangle write this? Or is this Caine's doing?

"Uh- Gangle?" Pomni called, opening the curtain just a bit, standing behind it to stay hidden.

"Pomni you're almost up!" Gangle replied.

"No its just-"

"Come here and rehears your lines, woman!"

Oh wow, that was..interesting.

Pomni grabbed the script, sighing as she walked out, heels clicking on the studio floor, she looked up to see that another room opened, this one stretching to mimic a raining street at dawn, while Kinger and Zooble had already shot their scenes in the baseball field studio, Jax and Ragatha were still in the bar.

"Are you gonna show up in it?" Pomni asked, looking back at Gangle and failing to notice the eyes that couldn't help but be hypnotized by her.

"At the end, yes, we all will" Gangle nodded, going through the script in her lap, the black coat she wore and the hat on her head managing to add more to her intimidating aura, though melting just one person in the room from where they sat on the bench.

"You've got an hour to memorise your lines, dont worry, they're not too long, and i can tolerate improvising" Gangle smiled at the jester before holding her speaker up and speaking without a warning.

"RAGATHA! KINGER! YOU'RE NEXT ON THE BEACH!"

The rain plattered soundlessly on the pavement, leaving trails of slow water running through the cracks of the road and effectively giving a chance for the determined flowers and grass to grow despite all odds, to see the rising sun over the horizon, the shadows of the two people walking depriving them momentarily of the pleasure of seeing life how it's supposed to be lived, but giving them hushed whispers, and a chance to see and hear how some of those people live it.

"I dont think my skin is used to the sun again yet" Pomni chuckled, her eyes lidded as she hugged the black jacket to her shoulders, thankful for the wide heels she wore that allowed her to walk confidently without fear of tripping.

"Give it some time, and then you will be bored all over again from it" Jax shrugged with a smirk, hands in his pockets as he walked to the jester's pace.

"Didn't take you for a night lover" Pomni raised an eyebrow, earning her a side look from the rabbit, "i never said I was"

She hummed and tilted her head to the side, "i dunno...I thought you could be" she hummed, the tone in her voice holding more than a reply, a continuesy that had Jax intrigued, and he hoped the look on his face would match the way Gangle described it in the script.

"Oh? Your assumptions are gonna be the end of you, Pom" he huffed a chuckle, taking a few more seconds than he should've before replying again, straight from his own mind, "say..why do you think I'd like the night"

Pomni's surprise at the sway from the script was swallowed with the trained response to what he should've said, she clenched the jacket in her hands and parted her lips to find an accurate reply that wont be far from what they rehearsed for.

"Maybe..your mysterious nature?"

That earned a laugh from Jax, his shoulders shaking, good, that was scripted, what wasn't on paper though, was Pomni smiling softly.

"Me? Mysterious, oh im telling you, Pom, im nothing but an open book"

"Yeah but without headline, or a synopsis, or a writer with a sane mind" she replied, and with every word, Jax's laughter would raise, his rabbit ears folded back, chest heaving with every breath, and as if to proof her own improvised words, at this moment, she can't even tell if he's being genuine or eccentric, her fingers toyed with the jacket over her shoulders, biting her tongue with a smile that couldn't quite reache her eyes with with her lower lids trying to fold.

"You're crazy, Pom, im telling you, you already know a lot about me" he hummed, back on script, his eyes closed before he opened to side eye the jester playfully, "too much if im being truthful" he strayed from the words again, toying with them and Pomni's fast reaction abilities like a yoyo.

"So there are things I dont know about you" she snapped back, smiling and raising an eyebrow.

"Of course" he nodded obviously, "we all have secrets, dont we?" He kicked a pebble into a small pond created by the soft spring rain, his eyes fixed on the circular ripples it created as it drowned, something itching at his insides when he couldn't know how deep it could go before reaching the bottom.

"We do.." she whispered, too quiet she feared it wont be caught by the microphone following over their heads.

"But i dont hide anything important from you" Pomni looked up at him, catching him off guard with the way his shoulders tensed slightly.

"Pfft, me neither" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"And what do i know about you?" Pomni asked, the words rolling through her mouth before she could think about them, and it seemed from the way that Jax is looking around subtly thay he was waiting for Gangle to shout at them to cut the scene, but the yell never came, and he swallowed thickly.

"What a dumb question, Pom, you- you know a lot about me, more than anyone else" he looked down at her, awaiting her reaction, blinking twice in a row to signal for her to get back on script, but Pomni ignored it the same way he brushed over her own winks when he strayed the first time.

"And that's supposed to make me feel trusty of you?"

"Dont you trust me?"

"I do..but do you trust me?"

"Stop asking questions"

He snapped, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Pomni fully, whose eyes were widened and eyebrows furrowed, she didn't look at the cameras as the director told them not to, keeping her wavering pupils fixed on Jax's small, black squared ones.

"Jax?-" she whispered.

"No, no you listen to me" he cut her off, one hand held up, "if I didn't trust you enough I wouldn't have had those drinks at the bar, I wouldn't have let you laugh at me without getting pushed over the stool-" he stopped himself with a humourless chuckle, one hand on his forehead, "f%*k, if i didn't trust you enough, i wouldn't be having this stupid conversation in the first place!" He continued to shout, his shoulders tensed, eyes narrowed but wide at the same time that couldn't give Pomni an emotion to work with.

"We were..we were just..talking..having fun" she whispered, resisting the urge to call for Gangle to cut the cameras and lights, but it seemed that everyone sat silently to watch the now fully improvised scene unfold infront of them.

And for the first time since she got to the circus, she's never felt more watched in her life than she does now.

"Oh, yeah, of course, fun, its fun to ask a fr- someone youve known for so long if they trust you enough" Jax said sarcastically, slapping his own forehead as if an idea just struck him, "yeah, You're totally right, Pom!"

Pomni narrowed her eyes, biting her inner cheeks, "You're still not saying my real name" she switched back to the script, hoping to corner him and return to the lines they were supposed to stick to in the first place.

"You will always, always be that stupid, dumb, naive and overly trusting jester to me" but by the looks of it, Jax didn't want to stick to anything other than the moment that didn't match the softness of the rain or the sun that seemed to be stuck at the edge of the horizon, mirroring a hint of emotion that Pomni couldn't reach and grab through the heat that Jax wanted to convey on his face right now.

"And that's the only thing you see me as?" Pomni whispered dangerously, "thats the only way you see everyone! Just your playthings to toy and mess around with for your own twisted amusement- but let me tell you something, I would rather be someone naive than someone manipulative enough to know they have a-"

"Manipulative!?"

"Yeah manipulative!" Pomni yelled back, raising her voice over his shocked one, hands dropping from the jacket she didnt care if fell now to wave around for emphasis around her, "making fun of everyone! Bullying any person who is not strong enough to defend themselves-"

"And when was the LAST time I did THAT!?" Jax yelled, his whole body just a few minutes away from collapsing or doing something stupid, "HUH!? WHEN!?"

Pomni actually had to purse her lips in a thin line, grinding her jaw as she tried to recall the last time Jax threw a centipede at Ragatha, pushed Gangle, made fun of Kinger or done anything remotely annoying to Zooble.

Nothing resurfaced to her brain in the last few days..or weeks..or even-

"Months, Pomni" he whispered almost in a hiss, "six hundred and thirty two days withoit a single, annoying thing, that it became ridiculous to me to think about hurting anyone"

Pomni's lips parted silently, her eyebrows raising slightly.

"Six hundred and thirty two days without pranks, bullying, yelling, useless sarcasm or any of the random b%$$&*!t I usually do" he continued, making Pomni's heart beat far too fast for an organ that doesn't exist in her digital avatar.

"Jax.." she breathed quietly, not sure if calling for him or asking, or anything really, and he seemed to be just as lost as she was, the script colliding with the reality they lived every single digital day in.

"And you're not calling my real name either.." he whispered back, all the fight melting from him as he begrudgingly returned to the script, his voice sounding monotone, even his eyes darted away with a slowness that betrayed how poetically the action was described on the script.

"Because you'll always be Jax to me.."

Though the way his pupils dilated and returned fast to the jester's face made up to how he messed up a few seconds ago, remaining silent in a way that Pomni could only translate as pleading.

"And you will always be that loud, obnoxiously annoying, sarcastic and eccentric purple dumb bunny to me.." she continued, a smile making its way to her wavering lips despite everything, "i..I dont know how you do it but...you will always be the same..but in the way that I could recognize you even when you're a better person.." Pomni whispered, looking down at a random daisy that was blooming and eyeing the sun like its only savior.

"I like the night because its the only time when..I sit down and remember everything I did through the day.." he started, bringing her attention back to the softness that didn't match his earlier outbursts, though that was something she connected to Jax in the most comforting of ways, "and in every single one of them..you're the last thing on my mind even when I dont want to sleep" he breathed out shakily, trying his best not to stutter over his words and match one of the adjectives Pomni described him with, "i like the quiet because it's- quiet..it's lonely it's..it.." he trailed off, hoping that his silence wont have her breaking it any time soon, so he forced himself to speak again.

"It's makes me get used to loneliness..to not having you beside me.."

"You know I wouldn't leave" Pomni was fast to whisper.

"You can't promise me that, Pom" he shook his head in disbelief more than fear, or maybe it was both mixed together to make an emotion Jax thought he could only feel in his room.

"I want to promise you, Jax.." she affirmed, one of her hands shooting out to hold Jax's before she had the process of thinking about her action, and it had them both freezing, looking at each other and waiting for the other to speak, but his body had counted down the minutes and weighed its options, choosing the stupid one.

His arms wrapped fast around her body, looping around her slim waist and pulling her to his own skinny chest, and despite the lack of curves, the whole world folded in his arms at the moment, he's never gravitate towards anyone like this in his lives and he doubted he would ever find that feeling again, but he was sure he would never let it loose, he would never-

"I can't forget you.." he whispered against her hair, the lavender jewels of her tiara biting into his lilac fur but that was something that could never overpower the pain of the thought of letting go.

"We could remember each other.." she whispered again, the script was fully wiped from her mind at this point, and she wouldn't call it back even if Gangle yelled at them to stop, "over and over again.." her promise trailed off into what Jax hoped he could keep as a vow.

"Even when it takes time.." he choked into her hair, eyes closing, it wasn't a question, more of a promise of his own, echoing in every strand of her hair where he read it kept memories.

A line of three words hung in the air, the ink of it would fade off from the script before it would be whispered, but that isn't needed now, no words were needed, not when his arms encircled her waist like if he let go, they would lose everything they could have, like if their arms loosened just even a little bit, the lines they abandoned for improvising would come to haunt them, but through it all, through every word they lost along the way, every laughter that replaced something harmful, the words that were left whispered in their hearts would find the right moment to be shared through mingled breaths, and nights spent awake, because no dream could match the reality they would build together, one day in the future they would forget everything to make memories to remember in.

"Shouldn't yo-"

"No" Gangle whispered shakily, cutting off her partner, one ribbon hands over her mouth, eyes glued to the heartfelt scene that played infront of them, "this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" she continued quietly, over the sound of papers flipping next to her and the sound of Caine scratching the back of his jaw, "but they got way off the script-"

Life is a meadow, and not in the sense of the sweet image that everyone holds stereotypically of the landscape, much like its neighboring forests, there, it can rain, snow, have flowers lose their petals to grow new ones with every seasonal change that temporarily alters it, and despite it all, people still assume a meadow is the epitome of spring, they refuse to acknowledge what they see as flaws to other fields of nature, it can be blind love mirrored as assuming the best of the one thing you love, and in both cases, the flowers will still grow with the rain that will never stop, it would wear the various white snowflakes that dare everyone to read, to see the small details and love it as much as they love the big picture.

And big pictures are all that is there to live along with in the circus, Caine loves to add details that don't take long to be noticed, practically yelling their existence to the world, the ai ringmaster have not mastered the human art of lying, because that's the core of Easter eggs, to give something to the eye that does not match what the ear would hear of truth later on, he still likes to please all the senses at the same time in a way that doesn't leave anything to their imagination.

Caine sometimes even lies about not stealing from Gangle's art ideas, and even when the ribbon lady tried to defened herself, he throws in another adventure that blends the fight away, or atleast postponed it for another time when he yet again, takes her sketches and makes a new npc with it, over and over again..

"It's getting ridiculous, Caine!" Zooble shouted, their eyes narrowed at the ringmaster who was floating up in the pink sky over their heads.

"What is!" Caine gasped back, arms comically held up in the air, his jaws held open as a way of his eyes widening, the set of teeth playing the role of the eyebrows, but the cartoonish act didn't fish a single smile from none of his 'superstars', who he had dressed in school uniforms, "But i worked so hard on perfecting it! I even have accurate teachers and subjects!" He cried out dramatically.

"You didnt do s%^t, Caine" Zooble folded their arms over their chest, "this is all Gangle's idea, and she didn't even put it in the suggestion box"

Gangle was next to Zooble, her happy mask broke the second they got here and she saw the same school she had drawn in her sketches come to life, well, artifical life, and contrary to what she thought she would feel when she would have it, Gangel was not ready or happy, her mask broke to give the others the idea of how she was feeling, aside from Zooble who guessed it on spot.

"Unless you read her mind-"

"WOAHAOWHAA WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT READING MINDS!?" Caine laughed loudly, cutting off Ragatha's attempt at a hearty joke, it never worked, the way he always flipped like a switch at the subject, "i just happened to think and think haaard and it happened to be the best of COINCIDENCES that me and Gangle share the same AMAZING THOUGHTS!" Caine's praise fell on deaf ears and unavailable hearts, because there was no way Gangle would believe that, especially when the place had the pink leafs of te Sakura trees shaped like the hearts she doodled.

"You have to stop doing that, Caine, its getting old" Zooble seemed to be the one holding this one sided argument, and Caine was not enjoying the fact they haven't even started their adventure.

"Yeah, I mean if you do want to steal ideas, just take ones that are actually fun" Jax piped in, his comment, though aimed at teasing Gangle, still ruffled Caine's feathers and messed with him even more, "who wants to be back in school anyway" he grumbled to himself, opening one of the lockers, and being met with countless probably useless unsent letters and pens, falling at his feet, he blinked and kicked them away, turning to the group again and trying not to pay too much attention to the fact that the sender is him, he averted his gaze to Gangle who seemed to forget that she was fighting for the rights of her ideas and was more interested in watching Jax watching the letters.

And now he was watching her watching him, they locked their eyes for a second until Pomni snapped then both out of that weird trance.

"Just..try another idea, one that's more- eh..not as sweet" Pomni tried to search for a word that doesn't align with Gangle's style of artistic universes, "maybe something more- adventurous! Or eh..has weird things, and creatures and monsters and-"

Caine snapped his fingers and a drawer appeared floating next to him in thin air, "i have always known that pomni is the SMARTEST among you!" He said excitedly, opening drawer after another and running his fingers through files inside until he pulled out a green one, with pixelated flowers and stars, "i got the PERFECT match for that description!" He announced, running through the file too fast to be reading it, he threw it over his shoulder back into the drawer, snapping his fingers twice, one to make it vanish, and the second to open another portal.

"Try this ONE THEN!" he exclaimed, and had the swirling pink and blue portal swoop them in.

The immediate change from pink skies and faint music that played from basically nowhere and everywhere all at once to the wind that deafened their own thoughts, locking them in a state of bliss that would only come from the mere existing in nature, and considering the fact that the greenery they have outside the tent back in the circus can only be described as a poor attempt at drawing grass from memory, what Caine so generously gave them right now had them questioning if they were all dead and in heaven now.

"That's empty as hell" Jax huffed.

Well, it was too early for them to go to heaven anyway.

Pomni looked over at Gangle, "is this yours too?" She asked cautiously, watching her friend shake her head, resisting the urge to keep some of those ideas to use them for herself maybe, "no..I've never..that's new for Caine" Gangle mumbled, her shoulders sagging in relaxation.

"This is nice.." Ragatha hummed, the wind running through her red curls, it was almost too peaceful to be true, she met the gazes of everyone who had the same thought of closing their eyes, but interrupted by the nagging fear that Caine was counting their blinks.

"Too nice.." Jax whispered.

"Dont jinx it" Pomni locked eyes with him, and watched him fall uncharacteristically silent.

"What do we do now?" Zooble asked, they all seemed to opt for quiet speech, which made the comforting atmosphere creepier than it should.

"It's an open world adventure.." Jax hummed, looking around, the trees, the endless fields that seemed to stretch forever, and nearly empty of any anim-

"HORSES!" Ragatha gasped, pointing a hand out in a direction their gazes haven't sweeped over yet, bringing their attention to where she began to run towards the brown horse.

"Is that the most exciting thing he thought of?" Jax sighed, folding his arms, one foot tapping on the grass, and after the third time, Pomni suspected he did it for the softness of the green grass, but didn't comment on it to see if he would keep going.

"We didn't see everything yet" Gangle commented, taking a few steps towards where Ragatha was feeding the horse hay she found under a tree, followed by Zooble, whose arm was stretched for the long grass.

"What's there to see, it seems hopeless" Jax replied, not moving an inch except up and down with his foot.

"Won't you give it a try?" Pomni asked, and that was when his neck moving to the side was added to his countable body movements.

"Nah" he shrugged, dropping down on the grass on his back, arms folded under his head, under other circumstances, Pomni would've found the sight endearing, the purple rabbit enveloped by grass and wildflowers under the artifical sun that seemed too real with the warmth it left on the jester's cheeks, but he was also getting on her nerves.

But not on the last one.

"Could be interesting, though" she suggested, shifting her feet on the floor, one hand reaching for the long grass and tracing it, missing the way Jax's pupils were fixed on her reverent ministrations, even if it started as intentional, it turned into something hypnotizing.

"What's interesting about something you dont know what even has of danger" Jax said.

"You never know until you look for it" pomni answered, her words almost whispered, his voice waved with the wind, he looked up to meet her eyes and her own understood the trace of meeting each other's gazes, "it was your idea to have monsters and crazy stuff" he pointed out.

"And I thought you liked fun and dangerous stuff" Pomni smiled.

"Fun and dangerous when I know what it is" he argued back, standing up on his feet and walking over to her.

"That takes out the fun part then" pomni smiled, turning into a huffed Chuckle when Jax nudged her shoulder playfully, pushing his hands into his pockets with a breathless, nearly laughed scoff, and walking away before she could see how his grin softened into something he wouldn't want to name the reason of yet.

"WHO THE F&%K SAID THERE WOULD BE ZOMBIES!?"

"STOP RUNNING GET SOMEWHERE HIGH!"

"DOES IT F$?%&!K LOOK LIKE THERE'S A PLACE TO CLIMB!?"

"JUST GIVE ME YOUR HAND!"

in a blink, Jax grabbed onto Pomni's stretched hand from the small space she had climbed into and lifted himself up, jumping in and falling down onto the stone next to her, his breaths a ragged uneven panting style, bunny ears pinned back to his skull, and the hints of coal that latched onto his purple fur could be both from the cave and the leather he was wearing that dyed on him.

But it all was thrown over his back, where Pomni's hand was resting, her words a distant ringing in his ears as he tried to get back to earth slowly, his pupils turning to dark scribbles.

"Jax.." the whisper was still too far to reach him, even the shake to his shoulder had him reeling.

"JAX!" a slap landed to his shoulder and snapped him out of the static that his mind was locked inside, he turned on his back and let out an exhaled, shaky sigh, "had to do that?" He panted, eyes lidded as he looked up at the jester.

"You weren't answering!" Pomni argued back, her breathing had no reason to be uneven, but there she was trying to regulate it, "youre not hurt, are you?" She asked, she'd already checked his back for bruises or hits, and now to his chest, there won't be any way to tell if he is hurt unless he could feel something aching under the leather.

"Hm?" He hummed again, Pomni narrowed her eyes but not in anger anymore, as her hand patted over his chest, eyes focused on his face, waiting for a wince or his features to shift into something pained, but when she was touching all the way to the tips of his gloved fingers and got no reaction, she was able to let out that breath that has been stuck in her throat since she beat him up to the hiding place in the cave.

"You're fine, just..a little shaken" she comforted, her hand leaving the top of his.

"Shaken does not explain how-" he scoffed, his hand flying up to swat hers unintentionally, she missed the way his eyes widened for a split second at the action, because he sat up quickly, back to the stone, and by the itchy material of it and the smell, he could tell it was even more coal.

" why didn't- why is us huh?? Could've been Zooble or Kinger who were down here but noooo, one has more important stuff like decorating the stupid house and the other followed BEES all around and had to be dragged back inside, could've been Ragatha but she's busy with her pretty ponies-"

"JAX" Pomni threw a pebble at his forehead to shut him up, "no one told you to tag along with me you know!?" She shouted back, eyes narrowed.

"A-As if i had better things to do or anything" he huffed, rolling his eyes, fixing his gaze on a random edge in the cave.

"Then stop whining about it, you can go back to the house whenever you want" she stood up, held her bow and arrow, leaning over the edge to aim down at the patrolling zombie that was waiting for them to fall back down, letting go of the arrow and hitting it right in the neck, a proud smirk playing on her lips despite her anger.

"Youre coming?" She looked over her shoulder, and if se had known just how she looked at the moment, she would have followed herself to the end of the world.

The cave seemed to be a never ending maze, they learned early that they should keep a track, torches didn't work beause they kept going in circles, so they opted for white chalk they grabbed along from the floor, drawing a line, they attached it to a long stick and it was Jax's job to make sure it was always touching the floor, but much like anything that falls in his hands, it broke after the sudden zombie chase, the chalk turning to dust and the stick in halves.

"We already have more than we came here for" pomni pointed out, rummaging through the bag she held, it was filled to the brim with coal and iron, but the weight seemed to rival a feather, it was nice to see that on rare occasions, Caine can have understanding additions to his adventures.

"Not enough diamonds though" jax went through his own bag, it glittered in blues and whites, clinking like glass and water running, he almost wanted to sit down and trace them with his fingers, but there was too many to choose from, and he didn't want to find time for something as naive as..eyeing jewelry? What was he a medieval princess? He scoffed at the mere thought, tightening the rope of his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"More diamonds?" Pomni blinked at him, genuinely surprised, "we have a bag full of them, Jax" she said sternly, slinging her own bag with the confidence that only comes with knowing that it wont hurt her in any way possible.

"Not enough" jax mumbled, scanning the extra entries where they could search for more, swinging his pickaxe side to side in thought.

"Are you planning on building a palace of diamonds or something?" She smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up" he narrowed his eyes with the mumble, swallowing thickly and bringing his gaze back to the first narrow entry it landed on, "just this one, this will be the last, okay?" His sentence, if read , would sound like an order, but the way he said it sounded completely different, and lucky for Pomni, she had ears, and the rabbit himself giving her that look and those words.

"Just one" she agreed, nodding and ushering him to walk, "but you lead the way" she smiled, having him go inside first, Jax smirked and looked over his shoulder as he walked, holding the torch in one hand to light the way, "didn't take you for the submissive type, Poms"

"No, just in case something shows up" she corrected, shutting him off with a stuttered, unintelligible huff of words, "and I'd kill it of course"

"With an arrow to it's neck?"

"Oh you just-" he yelped, missing a step and falling face down onto the stone, not his first time tasting the cave, and it never turned any better after the one that started the chain of kisses with the stone.

"Jax!" Pomni grabbed the back of his leather cloak to stop him from falling, but landed on top of him in her failed saving attempt, feeling his groan into her own ribs as she rolled off his back and onto her knees on the stone, Jax pulling himself up to uselessly dust his clothes.

"Should've went back to the stupid house-"

"Jax"

"Wha- I didnt say- what?" He stuttered, blinking rapidly, turning his eyes back to Pomni, just to fall silent all over again.

The cave was dark for the most of their mining trip, the only light for their way was from their torches, and it soon felt like an annoying bright light rather than something that's keeping them safe and their road lit, and the change from that to the soft lavender light that was now shining on Pomni's pale face was a pleasent and surprising change, or atleast those are the only two words that Jax would describe them in right now, maybe later, he would find more to act like he didn't know of.

"Where are we.." he whispered, shifting his eyes, unwillingly, to scan the area, the circular shape of the cave was suiting for the opening on the top, where a waterfall was as clean as it can get, dripping down in a hypnotic cycle, most likely had come from the surface and all the way down here, to form a lake, bioluminescent with a variety of blues and reds, bathing the cave in a purple light that danced on the walls all the way to Pomni's face where it had Jax stilling, not knowing the next move to whatever song he didn't know that could be played.

"It's beautiful.." Pomni whispered, walking around.

"Yeah..very beautiful" Jax breathed, his eyes following her.

"Why would be buried all the way down here?" Jax asked, walking to the edge of the lake and forcing himself to look up, seeing the stars through the opening where the water was falling from, they've been in the cave for hours.

"Wouldn't have seen it if you didn't fight that Zombie by the way" Pomni said playfully, walking the edges of the lake and smiling over her shoulder to the rabbit, who, for once, had all the words stuck in his throat.

"Your point?" He teased, smiling, tilting his head to the side and following her slow footsteps, not beside her, but a few steps between them.

"Hm" she shrugged, smiling, "whatever way you understood it in" she chuckled.

It could've been her own echo, but what she heard was fainter than her laugh, hidden in a way that it wished it could be a mirror of her own, so to respect its privacy, she didnt turn around.

Pomni's eyes latched on something blue shining through the walls, she stopped to turn her tracks to the side, her eyebrows rising, "jax! There's more diamonds!" She called for him, swinging her bag to find her pickaxe, before she paused her rummaging and turned at the lack of footsteps.

"Come on..you take them" she offered, smiling, standing back up and taking a step to the side.

Jax's eyes went from the diamonds to Pomni, to her bag, the peeking iron of the pickaxe, to the barely there lump of purple that was turned wiggly to make his reflection on the pickaxe.

He turned his chin up and huffed, "we already have enough" was the only sentence he said, before continuing to walk, slowly, to make it seem as gentle as her offer.

And at the sound of her footsteps, falling in track with his own, his shoulders loosened from the tension they were holding for those few seconds.

"Do you still think it was useless?" She whispered.

"H-hm?"

She smiled, making sure the side of her lips that turned up was the one he couldn't see, "to discover new things, to see if it's good" she explained, and the longer the silence stretched on, the more she thought he wasn't thinking at all, but judging by the unfocused way his eyes were on, she learned that it was his way in keeping his thoughts to himself until he could find his answer, or atleast the one he wanted the other to hear.

"Was it worth it for you?" He countered back, eyeing her bandaged arm.

"Yeah.." she nodded, subconsciously touching where his eyes landed for a split second, she still felt the claws of the wolf on her arm, her heart probably didn't heal from the jumpscare, even after Zooble tamed it and gave it a name, even after Pomni saw how sweet it was, her heart might take a while but- "it'll heal..scars always do, but thats not the point"

"No thats exactly the point, Pom"

She blinked at his words.

"Same thing with your adventure, and ideas and stuff" he waved his free hand.

"What's stuff?" She hummed.

"You know, stuff- the..the things you always are so positive about for no reason, and say that it could turn out well in the end" he turned his head to look at her, "you could end up hurt." He whispered, seeing her mouth open, he spoke again, "and not in a way where it could heal with time"

Pomni hummed, her hand still resting over the bandages, tips of her fingers sensing the material, the pain had turned into numbness now, she could still feel it, but every time she moved her arm, her brain worked harder to make her remember how that sweet dog would now lick up at the same bandages and nudge his snout against it, in a manner where he didn't understand might hurt her, and even if it did, it ended up tickling her over time.

"If im too positive, then you see the world darkly, too dark actually"

"No I see it realistically" he corrected confidently, one that can only be worn with shyness behind walls.

"Realistically? Really?"

"Yes, really," he nodded fast, "anything can turn out badly, anything can go the wrong way no matter what you do, anything can just-"

"Anything can turn badly if youre on your own"

Jax froze, not his legs, but his tongue, ending up biting it at her words, hoping she would keep talking before he would say something he would regret behind those walls, and she got the idea.

"No one is truly ever- fully alone.." pomni said softly, cautiously, her hand coming up to rest over his, just a whisper of a hover over his own, not acting further than that, and it gave him time to think of his next move.

"How can you be sure.." it wasn't a question, Pomni could feel the absence of the question mark in his words, and she refused to fill it up in her own reply.

"Because im not.." Pomni whispered, nodding faintly, "i know I'm not alone.." looking up at him slowly, to see if her words had sunk in.

"Do you know if you are alone or not?" She couldn't help the question though.

The light never stopped dancing on the lake, the sound of the water a far echo of what he wanted to actually pay attention to, a far cry to where his mind was buried in, not in the clouds that can be seen through the opening, or under the bioluminescent waves, but in the gaps that were filled when Jax intertwined their fingers slowly.

Sometimes, a wait can last a century with every blink, ones that a person wastes countless landscapes just to speed to the pleasure of witnessing the face that sleep couldn't save them from the exhaustion of waiting for, the stars start to speak the same language that they wish with every night, and even then, it would all sound like a distant memory in a few more minutes, despite days having passed, the only thing frozen in time is the inability to forget how the wind tasted when all they could do is exist in a moment created from a world that wasn't real, but experienced through one they never thought they would find.

And finding something new wasn't an extraordinary thing in the circus, considering Caine's passion for breaking the laws of physics, chemistry, math, any scientific field that begged to be treated well was swung back and forth like a toy in the ai's hand, ignored for the sake of what he deemed as fun and what they unfortunately saw as torture methods, it was only one rare occasions that Caine actually listened to them and gave them something that they could go to sleep calmly after, anything can be expected for them to face through that portal, and by anything, it meant anything.

"Atleast we can't feel cold" Zooble murmured, taking a few steps on the snow grounds, unbothered by the wind hitting at their body which was covered with an unnecessary layer of a coat and scarf.

"But we can be worried though.." Gangle mumbled, looking around the forest only to be met with fogged darkness and eerie silence, cut by Jax's arrogantly loud steps, "Jax can you please stop?? Wh-what if There's something in the woods??" The ribbon lady shouts in fear.

"Then it would wake up from you shouting" Jax grinned, whispering just to make his point clear with a far jump into a snow pile, getting some flakes onto Ragatha's long blue dress-like jacket, "Jax she's right!" The doll desperately huffed, brushing the snow off her clothes and fixing her scarf.

"You people are the most boring bunch in the universe.." he groaned under his breath, his legs going far back behind him and preparing to kick a tree thats branches are loaded with snow.

"There's a- cabin there?" Pomni's voice broke through the annoyed tension, Ragatha followed after the jester's gaze, Gangle and Zooble met each other's gazes and headed towards the light Pomni was pointing at between the trees.

"Where didja see it?" But, they all came in second place when Jax's long steps took him to Pomni faster, nearly knocking her into the snow when he turned the top of her jester hat into an armrest.

"There-" she groaned, trying and failing to move her head from below his arm, setting her focus onto the far wooden house.

"Cool, I saw it" Jax pushed Pomni aside and took a step forward, hands stuffed into the pockets of the pink coat that he didn't feel like being mad about the color of.

"Wh- hey? And who put you as leader exactly?" Zooble huffed, narrowing their eyes and stepping up after the rabbit.

"No one, just the fact that not all of you fought to stay where I am" he shrugged, the ego that dripped from his words had Zooble fighting for something else entirely, which is not using his head to hit the tree that he wanted to kick.

"Oh you little-"

"What?- fine you wanna have a role?- eh, I guess you could be the protector of some sorta?? Uh.." Jax stumbled over his words, turning around to face the group of unamused faces, he met the way Gangle's eyes were widened and smirked, "sure, Zoob's our warden, and masky there can be your assistant, happy?" He put his hands on his waist, "i did good" he praises himself.

"No you did not??" Ragatha raised an eyebrow, bringing his attention back on the ones he didnt look at, "you can be theeeeee..uuuuh.."

"You're the worst leader" Zooble grunted, walking past Jax with Gangle next to them and heading to the cabin.

"Hey!? Im not!" Jax shouted back at them, louder than he should, eyes dancing around the darkness surrounding them and watching Zooble and Gangle's bodies vanish into the fog, pretty shortly after were followed by a red and blue jacket that he quickly reaches to grab.

"Where do you think you're going?" He hummed, raising an eyebrow.

"The cabin?????" Pomni shrugged his hand from her jacket, "it's not that far, Jax, come on" she jerked her head to the side to get Jax to follow her, watching Ragatha and Kinger walking after Zooble and Gangle.

"Uh huh, but who said you're walking ahead of the leader, hm?" He rolled his eyes, hand coming to her scarf to hold as he led them both through the fog.

"And why am I nex-"

"Dont question my authority"

Pomni swallowed a laugh that bubbled in her throat, the snow crushing under their footsteps as the cabin slowly came into view, a small wooden house of two floors, golden lit from the inside with candles, the details on the oak were appreciated, but not as much as the screech that rumbled from deep within the forest and shook snow off the trees.

Zooble, Gangle, Ragatha and Kinger were already inside the warm place, calmly examining the interior when Pomni was barrelled into the couch, thrown like a ball, the door closing with a loud bang and locked with multiple locks that Jax fixed fast.

"Wow! That was close!" Jax grinned, faced by wide eyes and a groaning Pomni from the couch, "whatever outside almost ate me!" He added, dusting off his gloved hands and walking into the living room and sitting down on the couch.

"As if you have enough meat!-" Pomni huffed and slapped him with a pillow straight to his face.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!?" he gasped, pushing the pillow off his face and glaring at the jester next to him.

"Whatever way you understood it" Pomni whispered, eyes narrowed.

"BOTH OF YOU- SHUT UP!" Ragatha shouted, before her hands came to rest over her mouth, eyes widened, "i mean!- Just.. god, just stop fighting and look around, see things, try to find something useful" she quickly added, explaining her initial outrage that was fully righteous.

Pomni and Jax stared at each other before taking different actions with a quiet understanding.

Jax stayed on the couch, arms folded over his chest, while Pomni went over to the rest of their friends, "coming"

The following few minutes were spent in discovering what hidden items Caine kept for them to hunt out of their immediate sight.

So far, the cupboards were filled with canned food, most of which was tasteless, even when Kinger insisted that the mushrooms actually had some saltiness to them, maybe if they were focused on what he was saying instead of gathering wood for the living room fireplace, they would've found more importance to the digital food, but Ragatha was busy setting up the fire, just the sight of the flames twisting from red to orange and yellow made her feel warm enough to take off her jacket, revealing the sweater and pants Caine gave her for this adventure, she sat down next to Gangel who was drawing in her sketchbook, peeking over at the paper and smiling, "seen something inspiring?" She said softly, Gangle hummed and instinctively hid the paper against her chest, "heh, uhm- yeah, actually- I mean, there aren't many pretty things but there's enough" she shrugged.

"This place is devoid of life" Jax, eavesdropping on everyone from the kitchen, called to them, closing a cabinet with a shiver when he saw canned corn, "i dont think even you can bring it some sort of- naive joy" he huffed, walking back to the living room and flopping down on the couch.

"I thought you liked boring things" Zooble mocked, enjoying the annoyed expression that immediately fell on his face.

"Define boring"

"You know" they shrugged, "things that we dont like, since youre the cool and mysterious one" if they had a mouth, it would have rivaled the smug smirk that Jax usually wore whenever he thinks his bullying is casual teasing, and since he has one, he was fully able to use it, but the sound of a curtain opening to the side gripped his tongue in his throat, his head snapped to the side where Pomni was looking outside.

"Uh..this tree looks..out of place" she hummed sheepishly, doubting her color identifying irises, Gangle sensing that, stood up and walked to her, eyebrows shooting up, "it's brighter than the rest"

At her words, the others followed to the window, each with a cautious expression.

"Think we should do something?" Zooble whispered.

"Like..its a task or something?" Ragatha mumbled her own thoughts under her breath, gaze darting around, everything could be a trap with an obvious quest like that, the quiet tension was broken with Pomni's footsteps to the door.

"Wait-" Ragatha called, the jester turned around to look over at the doll, a pair of legs standing up abruptly going unnoticed by her "nothing could happen, and if it did then the worst situation is a losers corner" she smiled, shrugging and opening the door, hit with a gush of wind that was supposed to feel cold, and at the assumption, she shivered, hugging her jacket to her chest and walking out, her foot colliding with something like a small bump, she looked down to an axe that wasn't there when they first arrived to the cabin, which made the task more obvious.

She picked it up and trotted down the stairs into the snow, and the second her feet hit the snow, it seemed like she was hit with a wave of nausea, fog becoming more dense and restricting her vision from the tree that once stood brightly ahead of her.

"Okay.." she breathed out, her own voice echoing in her head, the eerie silence that followed reminded her of how long it's been since she's heard her own heartbeat.

Pomni gathered all the information she knew of Caine's adventures and started walking in a beeline that she assumed must lead her to the tree, every sep measured by how far she was getting from the cabin, she swallowed the urge to look over her shoulder, but she knew that if she was met with acres of fog from ever side then her panicking wont be of any use to her in a situation where she thought she had it all under control.

But she herself and the control she assumed she had, were both under the situation's mercy.

The beeline she created with her silent footsteps stretched for longer than her mind could take of endless emptiness without starting to imagine things that shouldn't be there, and before she could lose all hope and turn around, her eyes finally reflected the lime green spruce tree.

"F&!k..finally" she breathed out, running to the tree and not wasting a second in swinging her axe at the trunk, it was too easy to be true, and her swinging got slower when her ears picked out the sound of footsteps in the snow.

She stopped her cutting and held the axe in the air, having to turn and look around and ignore her fear of the abyss, she rushed around.

"WOAH! WHAT!" she gasped when the abyss wasn't fog, but a tall figure clad in pink, she resisted the urge to swing her axe at him to make sure he's real, but the gun in his arms that they found earlier in the closet of the cabin was proof enough that he wasn't some kind of hallucination Caine created..or did-

"Why- why are you holding the gun!? Wasn't someone else supposed to be the protector??" She quickly panted.

"Yeah well, Zooble won't be as good at keeping the team safe as the leader is" he said, she wasn't really sure what emotion he wore, not focusing on that.

Oh thank whatever God watched over them in this hellhole.

Pomni exhaled and put her axe down onto the snow, "im almost done" she gestured to the tree, Jax's gaze turning his head to the tree, "then keep going, what stopped you"

"Some idiot who gave me a heart attack" she scoffed, Jax smirked and cocked his gun, "and that same idiot has good aim, so keep cutting that tree, Pom" he winked and turned around so his back faced her.

She picked the axe up and continued to cut.

One after the other until the tree fell with a loud thump into the snow.

Pomki discarded the axe and went to the tip of the tree to drag it, she looked up at Jax expectantly, "do you mind?"

"What? I thought you were a strong and capable woman" he cocked an eyebrow, Pomni wanted to be mad at him, but the fact that he was right, had her holding back her tongue, she could hold a gun any day, but now, she was sure that she would be able to hold the tree without nagging as much as Jax would have if it was him carrying it, "youre presence has the same effect as your absence in this case" she panted, groaning as she started to pull the tree on the snow, eyes lidded with annoyance.

"And what if a big bad monster comes up when youre doing this big work?" He gasps, swinging the shotgun in his hand like it's not a weapon.

"Then losing would be better than looking at your smug face" she grunted, nearly tripping on her own feet.

"Aw, pom, I wonder when the day would come and you'd say something sweet to me" he mused, tilting his head to the side and smirking in faux hurt.

"And I wonder when youd-"

"POMNI!"

In a split second that cut between the quiet banter and the hidden danger, chaos erupted when a skinny, boney creature, screeched and emerged from the trees on all fours, its hollow black eyes reflecting the feelings that broke free on the moment of its appearance.

Three shots echoed in the air, two of them were muffled by the snow where Pomni was pushed into, she quickly stood back up when the silence returned with the ringing of her ears.

Jax turned around to face her on the ground, his eyebrows furrowed, grin faltering and the jacket managed to hide the way his thin shoulders were as shivery as the tree she cut down moments ago.

"Oh..so thats what we heard when we came here.." she whispered, adding something to the silence that filled the space, the dense fog slowly easing to reveal the other spruce trees again, only to be met with more of it, only the sound of the gun following the axe to the snow.

Jax silently picked up the tree with Pomni, and guided it back to the cabin without another word, and Pomni was smart to know that anything she might say would either break the moment, or trap them both in it for the rest of the adventure.

"Pomni! Jax!" Ragatha's voice gasped when the door opened and they walked in with the tree the were dragging, "we heard gun shots!" She added, with a bit more relief at the sight of them unharmed.

"Yeah, Jax shot the thing in the woods- eh, when we heard that voice when we came here? There was actually a monster behind it" Pomni explained, the door closing and blocking any wind from outside.

"Oh? Oh god- I mean, it's an adventure" Ragatha sighed, rubbing her hands together and nodded her head sheepishly, looking over at the tree, "so what do we do with that?" She asked, bringing all heads to search for another presumably glowing space that might lead them to the next step.

"This seems like a very inconveniently empty space" came Kinger's voice from he living room, where he was staring at the left corner next to the fireplace, right then, the stairs to the second floor sparkled with green and red glitter that led to one of the doors there, now with a sign that Zooble took a couple of steps up to read that said-

"The secret gifting room?" They blinked, turning around to face the group again, it didn't take long for the idea to click into their brains.

"Are you kidding?- a- a.." Jax huffed, letting go of the tree that he was holding onto still, murmuring under his breath and taking the glittering steps upstairs, passing by the gift door and to one of the three bedrooms there, closing it behind him loudly.

The tree has never looked more nostalgic, they may not remember anything from their lives outside the digital circus, but for once, they didnt have to close their eyes to imagine how peaceful it must have been.

The living room was lit in warm shades of green and red, brown for the carpets and matching the cups of hot cocoa they each held, Ragatha took great joy in finding items in the cabinets that looked delicious to try, marshmallows that Gangle enjoyed and shared every colorful piece with Zooble, Kinger was intent on praising the sweets that Ragatha kept bringing, cookies, brownies, ginger bread, the nonexistent time relativity helped her bake in record time, her smile has never been wider, the table was soon filled with trays and plates, it would've covered the view of any gifts hidden under the tree they set up, but there was nothing left to be hidden.

The secret gift room was small, and had only a box with a paper and pen infront of it, they each went inside to write down what they wanted to give each other in secret, and the gift would appear under the tree downstairs, with a card from whom it was and to who, they all agreed to open them together.

They knew that mind reading was only Caine's ability that he reused to admit he had, but in that moment when they each were picking a gift for Ragatha, they ended up choosing horse figures and plushies, and despite the unintentional copying, the doll seemed more than joyous with them, setting them all next to her on the couch and naming them after drinks she made, spiking excitement from Gangle to see what she got from everyone, a sketchbook with a pack of pastel colors, a ribbon bow to put on the back of her mask, halfway through her gifts, Zooble joined to open them with her, falling down to their knees to unravel a beautiful mirror with a frame made from coloeful blocks and shapes, mismatching in a way that looked abnormal to any other eyes than Gangle's, but even Kinger seemed to grasp how important those were, even when he was busy counting the bugs he was finding in his boxes, eyes showing just how happy he was with every tiny creature that climbed up his body and head.

Pomni enjoyed the view of her friends and the genuine smiles that were a rare sight in this place, she could've opened her boxes, five of them sitting under the tree untouched, until Ragatha urged her to, to which she agreed and scooted to the tree.

"Find mine first!" Ragatha joked with an excited chuckle, Pomni looked over her shoulder and smiled, giving her a thumbs up, her free hand reaching for the any box, it landed on one, before she felt it..grow?

No, a tinier box, smaller than any other that was opened, appeared, she furrowed her eyebrows, grabbing the card attached to it.

From: "write your name here :) !"

To: Pomni.

The sender was anonymous, but it funnily was so, considering that nearly everyone was here, everyone except for a certain someone who probably didn't understand how the gift room worked.

Pomni smiled and picked up the tiny box, "just a second, I'll be back" she excused herself from her friends, standing up and trying not to step on Kinger's ladybugs as she made her way to the stairs.

She locked eyes with Jax exiting the gift room with a confused scowl, and for a second, they studied each other's expressions, until his gaze fell to the box in her hands.

"Wow, f!*k" he whispered, blinking and walking robotically to his room, and just before the door could close with a loud collision, Pomni's hand held it open and she walked inside, closing it behind her with a gentleness that it deserved, her back resting against the wood as she looked at Jax's back facing her, the near lack of light from outside trough the chiffon curtains gave his purple fur a lilac glow, his faint shadow stretching to where her feet were nervously trading the weight of her body.

"Are you just going to stand there" he asked, it was hard to tell how he felt, not facing her and using a monotone voice that told her why he wasn't looking directly at her.

"Are you?"

He huffed and turned around, "you seriously need to stop doing that, it's annoying" he scoffed, his narrowed eyes doing nothing in covering how his upturned grin was faltering at the edges

"Doing what?" She asked, whispering.

"This!-" he gestured to her, from head to toe, as if that would limit her guessing options, "the asking thing, it's like you dont have anything to say or something" he folded his arms.

"Do you?"

"You are incredib- i.." he cut himself off before the full word could exit his mouth and end with a fullstop.

Pomni smiled and shifted the small box in her hands, taking a small step forwards, she could see in her peripheral vision that if he focused even a little harder on the box in her hands, he would Lazer right through it.

"So..I think you didn't know-"

"Yeah yeah I didn't know how that s^$t room works and this was a bad idea" he quickly cut her off, reaching with one long arm to snatch the box from her hand, failing at the immediate reaction from Pomni when she jumped back, holding the box behind her, "i want to see what it is" she said gently.

"It's useless" he said slowly, trying to sound threatening but the way his pupils were shivering seemed like he was talking more to himself.

"You..did something- I just.." she shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows to seem stern, "it's my gift and I want to see what it is" her tone left no room for argument, but it sure had enough for stubbornness.

"And I made it and I think I could do be-" he never seemed to be able to finish a sentence, not with the way this whole interaction was not scripted in his mind before, "Pomni" he wanted, eyes narrowing as he held his hand out as if expecting compliance.

"Seriously?" Pomni raised an eyebrow, her thumb toying with the purple wrapping of the box behind her, Jax's eyes widened and he lunged forwards at her.

"JAX!" Pomni squealed, jumping on the bed and barely escaping his arms almost wrapping around her legs, she landed on her knees on the floor and quickly unwrapped the box.

"Pomni stOOP!" Jax groaned, his arms wrapping around her from behind to tackle her to the ground, she laughed and held the box infront of her, Jax's weight against her back was having her wheezing with every chuckle, "its done!" She laughed, throwing he box away and dropping whatever was inside it into her awaiting hand.

A small, round watch, attached as a silver necklace, the frame was split into two, one a strawberry red, and the other a navy blue, the time was set on exactly four, no ticking, just a frozen necklace watch, Pomni eyed it with reverence and something like..she's seen it..she's...

A folded paper fell right next to her hand, and before she could reach for it, Jax's hand snatched it and he stood back up fast, stuffing the paper into his sweater pocket, "the watch is enough" he stated quietly.

Pomni's expression was just as stuck as the watch, but no less beautiful, she stood up slowly, cradling the piece of jewelry with both hands like it could slip between her fingers, "i..how did you.." she whispered, looking back up at him.

"You..draw weird stuff" he shrugged, "but you need to stop trying, it's Gangle's thing" he added, his ears dropped back to his skull, eyes widening momentarily, "i mean!- like! Why do you even draw them anyway!? Watches and stuff..it's..I.."

Any attempt to fix his words just made him look more adorably idiotic, Pomni could've spent an entire day teasing every stuttered response from him just to see how long it would take for him to completely melt down in a puddle.

"Jax" she spoke.

"What!?" His rambling stopped like a switch, despite the anger he wanted to put on show.

"It's just the way I imagined it.." she smiled, holding the necklace up, the small clock trinket shining a yellow that reflected his eyes even on a small surface, she watched his pupils grow in size until I'm the reflection turned a grey.

If the clock could tick, it would've made the moment awkward, but the absence of it only made it stretch a little longer, a bit more, just one more second of them looking into each other's eyes-

"Why is it exactly four?" She whispered, a blink would've ruined the trance, and she hoped her words wouldn't completely end it.

"I..it's.." he sighed, taking a step closer, his hands hovering over hers, the twitching of his fingers was hard to resist to hold, "flip it over.." he whispered.

On the backside of the watch, a circle that was half moon and half sun, looked back at her, and in small, barely read font she could read..

"Through every dusk and dawn, I want

You to be the first and last thing I see"

Her chest felt like it was hit by a wave, turning her in the ocean multiple times and flipping her back to the surface where she could lose her breath between giggling and panting for air to fill her lungs with, the feeling too overwhelming that she could almost hear her uneven breathing, one look back up at Jax showed her that it was his irregular pattern that raided her thoughts, and only now, was when the silence packed an emotion neither of them could pinpoint exactly when it started, or have the daring nerve to draw how it should end.

"I didn't know what to get you..and..those are- I remember this certain watch you keep drawing.." he explained quietly, meeting her gaze again, "i dont even know if you like necklaces" he whispered, just realizing one of the many flaws in his action.

"I dont remember if I liked them" she whispered back, hoping that the softening in her eyes could ease some of the tension in his shoulders that she could see through his sweater, she held up the necklace for him and turned around.

Without a single complaint, other than the short two seconds of hesitance, Jax reached for the necklace and clasped it around her neck gently, taking his hands back and falling to his sides, Pomni turned around to look at him again, her palm resting over where the watch pendant rest.

"Was the adventure also your?.." Pomni trailed off, Jax shook his head fast.

"No no, no this time it's all Caine, which just..seemed very convenient.." he assured, "but then.. the necklace thing- I was thinking about it for a while.."

"How much is a while?"

Jax looked at her like he was actually biting his tongue, his hands falling into his pockets, and the sound of a paper crinkling there reminded her of what he managed to steal earlier.

"Do I need to read that?"

"You didn't stop the questioning thing"

"Well youre not giving me enough things to work with"

Pomni sighed and held her hands together infront of her chest, "i..im sorry I didn't get you anything.." she whispered, "the gifts appear infront of everyone down at the tree and I guessed..you know.." she smiled sheepishly, Jax's pupils were so wide they would have been able to reflect te whole sky if it held any stars in tonight's adventure.

"You dont think it's weird?" He asked.

"You called my sketches weird, so.." she smiled.

"Wha- I didnt..I.." he ran a hand over his face, "i didn't mean weird as in- ugly, I just meant it's..unusual to see someone interested in drawing clocks" his voice was comfortable for once, "even Gangle isn't that vague" he tried to roll his eyes.

Pomni's smile never wavered, not really, not after the box was opened, she tilted her head to the side, her hand coming to trace her thumb on the back of the watch absentmindedly.

"I like both"

"Huh?"

"Dusks and dawns.." she flipped the watch for a seconds, "in here they don't look as..various or beautiful or..real..but it's just the thought that they're there..working somehow, it makes me.." she looked up at him.

"Makes you what" he urged.

"Feel something real.."

"..and so you draw watches and clocks?"

She nodded, "does it make sense?"

His head mirrored her own, with a quiet hum he took a step closer, their shadows already too close than they are, and maybe he understood now what her words meant.

"You know..you got me this- necklace, and I want to give you something in return" she smiled softly, "its a Christmas adventure and it's nice and you gave me something nice.." she trailed off, hoping he would find the empty spaces in her sentence and fill them with what he wanted, Jax was a very closed off person, even his room didn't hold much about him other than what was assigned to him when he first appeared in the circus.

Pomni bit the inside of her cheeks at the quietness of his answer, she fidgeted with the necklace, "just- imagine you're writing the gift to yourself and I won't tell anyone, I promise" she assured.

"It's not..it..i can't write it"

"Oh?.." she blinked, "can you..show me then? Or like, I dunno can yo-"

He was, in fact, able to show her, two more nervous blinkds from her eyes were enough for her to miss how fast he moved to wrap his arms around her frame, tucking her to his chest and resting his chin on top of her head, the gentleness and tightness he held her with rivaled each other, neither seemed to want the other to win, because they were both needed to keep this going.

Pomni's frame froze in his hold, any words she wanted to say, any gentle coaxing to get him to speak was wiped out in one single movement, her hands stuttered over his waist before her arms pushed past the pockets of his sweater and wrapped around him in return, eyelids drooping slightly.

"This?" She whispered.

"Mhm.." he hummed, squeezing her faintly in his arms to make his point clearer.

She smiled and her eyes closed, letting her cheek melt against his chest.

"Jax.." she whispered, "you make every moment worth remembering.." she continued when she got his hum.

"Geez, how do you even come up with that" he whispered, feeling her chuckle rumbling gently against his chest, and the smile that it drew on his face was nothing like he has ever seen on any of his reflections, and even if he wanted to, his image wasn't the thing he was focusing on when he looked at Pomni's eyes.

"Talking like you didn't write poetry yourself on this" she looked down at the necklace, he huffed sheepishly and tilted his head to the side, his hand refusing to leave Pomni's waist, "thats nothing, Pom, its just a couple of words" he brushed it off.

"Yeah, a couple of them that made every hou-"

"Stop" he chuckled, nudging his forehead against her own, eliciting another chuckle from the jester, her every reaction fueling his urge to learn what else could have her making those sounds. "Kinda miss when you'd ask stupid questions" he teased, and answered by a hum and a smirk, making the same feeling bloom in his chest.

"That so?" She tilted her head to the side and had their foreheads meet again, like two stubborn bugs.

"Very much so" he pressed his forehead against hers again.

"Then what's on that paper" he hummed, foreheads pressed together, and spilling in a moment of thought, "or is it also not able to be written? Or read.." she added.

The weight of the words on the paper held him down, he could still feel how his hand was shaking through every letter until he managed to finish it all, the memory something that might have him staying up all night in embarrassment, but with who he was holding in his arms, he realized that maybe he won't be staying up lost in thoughts anymore.

One of his hands abandoned its location on her waist and rose up to rest on her cheek, he slowly lowered his head and pecked her lips, a faint brush of a kiss that had their breaths barely mingling for a second, depriving them of a hug when he pulled back enough to meet her eyes again.

Having the power to create whatever your brain could come up with can be fun for the first few weeks where you can still count the days of which you've been trapped in the circus for, but after that, everything blends into an image that can't be differentiated from a shattered soul on a canvas, left to dry on ruins of lands that can only be read by the one person who left this world trying to understand themselves to explain to others that this never ending cycle is a circle of their own creation.

That, can be felt through the pen that Pomni used to write on the walls with to count her seconds in the circus, a hopeless attempt to make a working clock that was not directly connected to Caine's idea of how a day should roll, and he toys with it as he pleases like the weather, which was a ride that can't be missed even without windows in their bedrooms, they can always hear rain or storms outside in the liminal green fields, and despite Ragatha's constant warnings to the jester of how dangerous it is to go outside while Caine is still mastering his weather controlling abilities, Pomni's curiousity always outnumbered the countless reasons as to why she shouldn't want to experience "rain that tasted like butter but smelled like gas".

So, she busied herself within her walls, and like any other experimenting day, it was raining outside, Pomni could hear Gangel shrieking outside and running back into the large tent, not even the physics of noise worked correctly, so she wasn't surprised when she heard a sharp knock on a door and it opening with a loud bang down the hall, not even turning around, keeping her attention fixed on the paper infront of her, her pen was smoothly running on the white sheet until it stretched an unnatural line through the finished circle from where twelve would be to six, successfully cutting the clock in an unnecessary shape.

"There's Pom pom!" His voice was a reminder that she was still not used to the physics of the circus, and she probably won't be.

Pomni turned around, her eyes lidded, "you could've knocked, Jax"

"And you!-" in two jumps, he was standing infront of her chair and pressing an invisible button between her big eyes, "-could have been playing in the rain outside!" He continued, arms held open on either side of his body, grin stretched in a misleading way that didn't match the enthusiasm of his words, and Pomni was granted a fast proof of her judgment.

"NO! DONT! POMNI THE RAIN IS!-"

"OOOOHHH come onnnnn!" Jax called back in a groan to Ragatha's worried voice from the hall, his eyes snapped to Pomni's doorway where Ragatha was standing, covered in different colors, "oh hey, didn't know you and Zooble wanted to match" he smirked, while Pomni looked taken aback, she already had a palette of three colors, she didn't want to add more to her already dizzying look, though she would never complain about that infront of Zooble.

"Can you wash that off?" Pomni slid off her chair and walked past Jax to the doll, the rabbit rolling his eyes and flopping down where she was sitting, toying with her pen.

"I dunno, I didnt try yet" Ragatha shrugged, tracing her palm on her arm and watching the colors mix to make another shade, Ragatha's eyebrows furrowed and her chest fell in an exhale, "guess Gangel could take some, if thats..possible?" She looked down at Pomni to see what she thinks of her suggestion, and the jester mirrored her shrug, "maybe?- maybe you could-"

"Go ask her, Geez, she would have a field day, what're you waiting for!?" Jax's voice boomed from inside her room again, both girls turned around to face the lazily sitting rabbit, going through the papers on Pomni's desk and messing up the order she had them in, Ragatha blinked before looking down at herself, "oh- oh, I suppose i will then, I'll see you guys later" she smiled and waved, "don't go out, Pomni" Ragatha whispered to her friend and walked down the hall to get to Gangel's room, finding the door open with Zooble inside too.

"Wanna go outside?"

"This is exactly what i am not going to do"

Pomni walked back into her room and snatched the papers from Jax's hands, "and that's not yours" she huffed, fixing the papers and setting them down on the table again.

"Then whose is it?" He teased, head propped up on his elbow, one leg over the other and swinging in an act that had his foot an inch away from hitting the leg of the table.

"Obviously mine" she raised an eyebrow, walking to the mirror in her room and eyeing herself, her gaze landed on Jax behind her and she realized that she just noticed something.

"How aren't you colorful?" She turned around.

"I wasn't stupid enough" he smirked.

"And you thought I would be?"

Jax laugher, his jaw opening in a cartoonish way that had Pomni flinching at the sudden noise, "ouch, Pom, you thought I'd betray you?" He stood up and walked over to her, his hands going to her shoulders and spinning her around to face the mirror again, "you don't think im colorful?" He said with what he let show as faux pain, "you have two colors" she answred dryly.

"And you have three, you're not much better than I am, pom" his eyelids lidded as he shook her shoulders just to make room for his thoughts in her brain.

"Buuuuut, what im really here for is the reason why it's raining" he trailed off, waiting for her reaction to his mysterious sing-song voice, but all that came were her frog-like blinking, his hand rose from her shoulder to the side of her head and he slapped her hat with a swat that looked harsher than it felt, "Pomniii??"

She hummed and met his gaze again, smirking, "yeah?"

"You know i hate that" he muttered.

"Of course I do" she smiled again.

"Then stop" he muttered again.

"Why should I?" She teased back, her ability to keep going for another hour wavered when the annoyed look she managed to achieve on his face vanished for his smug expression to replace it.

"Because a little birdie told me you wanna know how it feels to run under digital rain" he mused, Pomni's eyes widened, she narrowed her eyes at the thought of Jax using his 'having keys to everyone's rooms' privilege to go through her private writings, he chuckled at her expression, intended to be angry, but delivered in an adorable way that had him pinching her cheek for barely a split second before he picked her up by her shoulders and threw her on her bed.

"Wha- Jax!?" Pomni yelped, shifting on the sheets until she sat up to eye him, his face breaking into hus signature nonchalance a second too late for her to catch how his pupils were big to be considered parts of space.

"Dont worry, I saw Gangel drawing you, giggling with a pretty umbrella and a pretty rain coat and a pretty smi- and- pretty normal rain and s&^t" he shrugged, slumping down on her bed on his back, arms folded under his head, turning to face her and looking up.

"But i bet the real thing would lo- feel even nicer, hm?" He added, smirking up at her.

Pomni looked down at the rabbit, this time, she didn't get a loud warning from outside, which had her rethinking her choice making abilities and his convincing styles, she didn't dig deeper into which one is more efficient, or maybe she never had to.

"And how can I trust you?"

"You just loooove to break my heart, dont you, Pom?" He let out a sigh that was too deep to come from digital lungs, she almost wanted to feel bad if it wasn't too entratining to watch him try to convey an emotion other than sarcasm

"Just give me one reason, Jax" she poked his arm.

"It's fun"

"That's never a good reason with you"

"WHAT!?- I- IM- I.." his huffed stutters had her laughing, one hand over her mouth and the other holding her knee, she took her sweet time giggling, peeking one eye open to check if he was still alive there, and her breathless chuckles turned to a yelp when he suddenly picked her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"JAX! JAX PUT ME DOWN!" She shouted, her anger mixing with giddiness, turning into a frustrated kind of happiness that she was never able to name before, and she doubted she'd have time to name it when it's all spent feeling that way.

"Nope! Not a chance! You're gonna see how my honesty is as pure as an angel!" He could've ended the sentence with the first word, but the more he spoke, the more breathless and choked Pomni's giggles were becoming, her legs continued to kick at his chest and he didnt have the heart to hold her thighs down, not when her attempts seemed more like a hamster tickling a cat, or in their case, a very proud bunny.

Jax ran out of her room, down the hall, and into the large area that made most space of the circus, the rest of their friends could be around anywhere, atleast thats what Jax thought, having completely forgotten the situation Ragatha was in, and that the doll was most likely still with Gangel and Zooble, Kinger wont be much of an obstacle considering he was subjected to similar situations of chaos and he always met them with good sport.

"Shh!- Shh youre gonna get us caught!" Jax tried to shake her to shut up, but she kept laughing, even turning louder to get attention, her noises stuttered and hiccuped from how fast Jax was running to get to the exit of the tent.

"NOOO! HE'S KIDNAPPING ME!- RAGA-" a hand was thrown over her mouth, silencing any attempt for her to get help, "Shhhut up!- sh- shut up!" He cackled with breathless laughter, his balance loosening when one hand was lost from her weight on him, and he tumbled just when he had reached the exit, falling with Pomni onto the wet grass, rain pouring over them and most likely covering them both in a multitude of various colors.

Once Pomni was free, she tried to get back up on her feet but the ground was too slippery, and she kept falling face down onto the dampness, her anger melting the second she found Jax suffering from the same issue.

"Can't find your steps anymore!?" She laughed over the thunder, grabbing a fistful of paint from the grass and hitting him square in the face, watching the rabbit fall back to the grass.

"Oh ohohohoooo- that's how you wanna play, Pom!? Fine then! Have a taste of your own FUN!" he used both hands to throw paint on the jester, crawling after her when she tried to run away and fetch something to throw at him, both of them rolling in the colors, their eyes lidded in fear of getting them colored too, gazes averted but their arms extended to get as close as they could to hitting each other with good aim, they weren't sure if they had swallowed some of it, everything somehow, with no surprise, tasted the same, except for this moment, it had something significantly loud, screaming to be rooted somewhere and grow unlike the digital trees they hid behind for a truce.

"You get one minute!" Pomni shouted back, panting, her head resting against the tree trunk, the jester's vision was blurry with a mixture of liquids she didn't want to identity.

"I'd survive on thirty seconds!" Came Jax's reply from behind his own tree.

"I was just going easy on the poor bunny!" She yelled back, laughing loud just to mock him, even if it had her breathing pattern irregulating even further.

"You dying on me, Pom!?" Jax cut her breathless laughter, his voice swallowed by another thunder roar, but she could still hear the faint sound of feet standing up on the grass.

"Not yet im not!" She called, grabbing a fistful of paint that she didn't check the color of, jumping from behind her tree.

Their eyes met for a brief second, yellow meeting red and blue and depriving them of any other hues that covered their bodies, and then in a blink, they were inside the tent, and unfortunately, very clean from the evidence of the past long while they spent playing outside.

In the light of the circus, they felt like kids being caught doing bad things they werent supposed to, especially with the many pairs of eyes focused on them, Jax's though, roamed Pomni's body, a hint of something like frustration seeping into his expression.

"What now!?" He huffed, already knowing he had to look up to the stage to where the ringmaster would be floating.

"WHAT NOW IS YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE WHAT I HAVE FOR YOU TODAY!" Caine exclaimed with his usual excitement that failed to rouse any emotion other than dread in their hearts at what kind of new mental torture method he discovered now.

"Couldn't it wait? I was so close to seeing how she would look like in pink" Jax scoffed, his eyes rolling until they found Pomni's again, who seemed grateful that she wasn't in a similar situation to Ragatha earlier, and something on her face, had him forgetting that he should be yelling louder for his voice to reach her unfocused brain.

Pomni though, wondered how many different colors would've looked on so many people, well, the ones she knew here, and never in her existence in the circus has she felt more irritated of having that discovery withheld from her at the last second, but unlike someone, she managed a calm exterior, smiling to a worried Ragatha, and to an awaiting Gangel who thought she might be getting more colors on her hands.

"IT ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WAIT! OR SO I HAVE FOUND THAT YOU HUMANS HAVE SPECIFIC DATES FOR CELEBRATIONS!" Caine raised a hand up in the air, acting like he was defending every tradition that people followed, and refusing to elaborate further unless-

"Like wha-"

"You should throw a fffffffreaking beach party"

Bubble's pitched voice was unhurried and uncalled for, but it successfully managed to drown out Caine's loud enthusiasm, and near break down in trying to find an idea that the crew would enjoy, his office was nearly glitching, pixels fidgeting between the digital world and the hidden blue prints of what makes it seem realistic enough, his eyes snapped to the floating orb, and upon seeing his reflection in his shiny surface, he held back from popping his brainless assistant.

"That's..GENUIS!" Caine exclaimed, everything falling into its place again, he snapped his fingers and reality shifted to the large stage in the circus lobby, he reappeared hovering above it with a pop that went unnoticed by Ragatha and Kinger, who were peacefully sat on one of the couches and talking.

"AHEM!" Caine cleared his nonexistent throat loudly, Ragatha flinched in her seat and turned around, eye falling upon the ai with a proud look that held nothing good behind it, knowing Caine, he would-

"I HAVE AN AMAZING AND WONDERFUL AND FANTASTIC ADVENTURE FOR YOU TODAY, MY LITTLE SUPERSTARS!"

Of course he did.

"Oh, hi Caine" kinger waved from the couch, Ragatha on the other side was calculating the possibilities of what could be the cause of the rise in his mood, considering that his adventures lately lacked any actual fun ending, or beginning, or anything.

"Oh- and uh, what is it?" Ragatha smiled, standing up to walk and stand infront of the stage.

"I WON'T be saying a word UNTIL the rest of you are HERE!" Caine warned, though it was more of playful teasing than artifical horror.

Ragatha blinked, "oh- kay? Should I go-"

Another blink that sounded suspiciously like Caine snapping his fingers, and the four other residents of the digital circus fell from nowhere and onto the black and white floor.

"WHAT THE-" Zooble fell next to Gangel, and quickly got up before they would squish the ribbon lady.

"Noo-" Gangel looked down at her empty hands, once holding her sketchbook and pencil now weighing wind.

"D^%N IT!" Jax cursed, scratching the back of his head.

"ugh.." Pomni's eyes blinked up at the excited jaw that was looking down at them happily and waiting for them to gather their thoughts into place again

"WELL!-" he clapped his hands, and they all stood up on their feet, would've taken longer if he didn't intervene, "now thay EVERYONE is here! I can tell you about my GREAT idea!" He opened his arms on either side, floating higher on the stage.

"This better be worth it, Caine.." Zooble grumbled, mismatched arms folded.

"OhohoOHOO! YOU DOUBT MY AMAZING IDEAS!?" He barked a laugh.

"Judgin-"

"AND YOU SHALL BE THE JUDGE OF IT!"

"WAIT!"

Caine snapped his finger and Zooble vanished before they could say another word.

Everyone froze for what seemed to be forever, eyes wide at the empty spot where they were standing, Caine had his hands on his waist, glitched out.

"TIMES UP!" another snap of his fingers and Zooble reappeared, this time on the stage, looking dazed, "HOWWW WAS IT!?" he demanded excitedly.

"It's was-"

"FANTASTIC AND SHOULDN'T BE MISSED! OF COURSE!" he filled up the sentence, even though it didnt require his assistance, none of their words ever did, but a Caine was necessary whenever they breathed in the circus.

"AND I SUPOOSE THAT YOU WOULDN'T WANT THEM TO MISS IT OUT!?" he asked loudly again, floating behind Zooble and eyes focused on the face under the stage.

"I-"

"EXACTLY! THEY SHOULDN'T!" Caine clapped his hands and opened a portal for them to naturally walk through, "SO HAVE FUN!" Another snap of his fingers and they were all sucked into the adventure.

It was too calm for a place that was sunny, and upon looking up onto the clear blue skies, they were met with the hot star being faceless and quiet, surrounded by beautiful clouds that reflected on the rippling waves in white and pink hues, the sun casting rays that seemed to seep warmth through their bodies, ones that were now clad in swimming suits that didnt match their clothing, something new for the Ai who usually gave them something that represented what they always had on, but today could be an exception on all aspects, they waited to see what the adventure could have, a few seconds passed before Jax turned to Zooble.

"This? This had you looking all shaken!?" He scoffed, "this is the closest thing Caine's got to paradise"

"And I was surprised and didnt know what to say, Ja&!@#%s" Zooble countered back, rightfully of course.

"I thought we were going to fight some galactic aliens or something, not- not beach dream land-" he waved his arms around, before they fell to his hips, his gloves contacted with skin instead of material of his pink overalls, his eyes widened.

"Yes, YOU thought you were going to have some crazy dangerous adventure, YOU probably wanted it, but some of us want a break, Jax" Zooble groaned, narrowing their eyes, walking on the warm sand and past Jax who was busy looking down at his beach attire, "AND YOU'RE HAPPY WITH THIS!? THIS FU- THIS!" He gasped, shouting and gesturing to his swimming trunks, pink with hibiscus purple flowers, "WHY DOES HE ALWAYS DO THIS!?" He yelled, taking a few steps back as if it would hide his embarrassment that was basically radiating from him, a contrast to the sarcastic aura he normally burdened them with the annoyance of.

Gangel snickered behind her hand, Jax's head snapped to the masked lady, his eyes narrowed and pupils zipped to small squares.

"was this your doing again?" He hissed, eyebrows knotting, his fists trembling at his sides, "first the maid costume and NOW THI-"

"JAX IT'S NOT HER!" Ragatha shouted, her fear outshining the anger she never let out.

"AND HOW DO YOU KNOW!?" Jax yelled back, stomping his foot in the sand, it almost looked adorable if it wasn't for the seething anger that could have dried the beach next to them.

"DONT YOU SEE HOW STUPID ALL OF THIS IS!?"

Everyone went still.

"I..yeah- yeah, its stupid, see?" Ragatha said softly, turning to Jax with a stern look, the bunny was zoned out, gaze fixated on Pomni's angry face until he snapped out with a blink, letting out a huff, "sure, whatever.." he rolled his eyes, "thats all the authority you could give, Poms?" He scoffed, a grin replacing the scowled he was wearing.

"I didn't need to use more apparently" Pomni quipped back, her unamusement betraying how much that sentence affected the rabbit, who reached down with one hand, scooped sand and threw it on Pomni's face.

Giving a bird a taste of freedom after years of caging it, would result in the animals seeking nests that resembled bars, and the scenario played the same with them waiting for any explosion or monster to jump from any corner.

Gangel and Zooble's sand castle started out as tiny hills, not daring to dig deeper into the sand just in case Caine had hidden crabs or worms to bite them, despite Ragatha pointing out that maybe it's safe, she herself was still wary of the sun, the lack of a smiling face and loud sarcastic remarks was as eerie as watching Kinger being sane in the brightness, and it took them all just a few more minutes to warm up to the fact that today, might be one of the days where Caine starts to understand that they were never birds to begin with, and this was how they were supposed to be living in this digital world since their day ones, a thing that Pomni had a rough time trying to explain to the ai over and over again with no avail to getting to recode his system with human emotions, and given his continuesly failing examples of a human experience, it was obvious that he wasn't sure what he's doing himself, and jis adventure could be another one of those times where they had to endure being treated like robots, but for now it's calm, and if Caine couldn't understand how peaceful it is for Pomni to sit down on a rock at the beach and look down at the waves rippling and disappearing into pixels, then she would spend it all just showing him and hold onto whatever hope there is that it might fix something in him.

But it was getting boring.

Very incredibly so.

She couldn't care less about Caine relating to their needs at this point, but was more interested in the deep glowing lights coming from below the surface of the sea, guessing there was no middle option, there was one way to find out if this was something good or bad, she leapt off the rock with a deep breath, holding it in as she dove under the water.

The sea was clear, light dancing and breaking at the sand as she neared closer to the source of the colorful shimmering, coming from a small cave that's connected to the island they were currently on, she weighed her options again, this could be the tip of the bad string, Pomni could trigger some sleeping shark from its sleep and start a cataclysmic event thay would inevitably ruin the whole peaceful day just because she was curious and-

The lights were not just coming from the cave, but from her hands that she waved around to keep herself afloat in the water, her breath was held for too long and as far as she's concerned, she wasn't in the mood for discovering what would happen if she held her breath longer than she should, another undiscovered stage for the disco ball situation she has.

One gasp for breath was enough to restore her lungs to their normal air circulation as she resurfaced again, a somewhat disappointed look on her face, too close to finding out what was in that cave, but closer to what held her back from doing so.

"You know you dont need to do all that, right?"

"Wha?-"

The rock was empty, everyone was sitting a bit far on the shore, but she was sure that Jax's voice was close, too close that she thought she hallucinated it, her neck turned every way until she was met with the reflection of his face under the water surface.

"WHAT- JAX WHA!?" She yelped, splashing in the water and nearly kicking him in the face with her movement.

"Woah woah! Calm down!" He laughed, his head and shoulders appearing from the water, his arms moving to splash her in return, "i thought I made myself present!" He snorted.

"I should've kicked you" Pomni groaned, eyes lidded.

"That hurts more than the kick" he said dramatically, smirking and reaching for her hand, "but what wouldn't hurt is this-" he pulled her under the water with him.

Pomni wriggled helplessly, bubbles escaping her zipped shut lips, eyes wide as she tried to swim back up to the surface, all the while, she could hear him snickering in a way that annoyed her far too much to stay quiet about it.

"Do you ever shut up!?" She shouted, turning around in his arms, hands coming to her mouth, chest puffing in an attempt to return the breaths she spent on that sentence.

"See?" He smirked triumphantly, letting go of her waist now that he won, swimming backwards, "i thought you knew about this a while ago" he shrugged.

"This is our first beach adventure" her voice was measured, every word said hesitantly, she could almost remember how it felt like to taste sea salt in her lungs, if she could look at her lips she would, but her attempt only made her look like she was trying to point where her nonexistent nose should be.

"No I meant like- here, a couple of minutes ago," he corrected himself, "saw you swimming and guessed you found out about this glitch, maybe Caine still didn't figure out how humans breathe right" he grinned, arms folded behind his head, one leg over the other as he floated in the water.

"Yeah and maybe we should be quite before he find out"

"Relaaaax, not like he's paying attention to most of he s%&t we say" Jax waved her off, opening one eye and swimming back to the jester, circling around her with a flexibility that made him look like a purple eel, "now, what were you looking for, hm?"

Pomni blinked, realizing that the discovery of breathing under water wiped out her initial disappointment of why she couldn't.

"Oh, saw something in a cave here-" she swam to the destination, Jax following right after, "some sort of lights" she added, her further explanations unnecessary, but met with hums at every sentence.

"There, those lights" she pointed at the cave from which red and blue lights danced lazily, like a heart carved open and left inside a crystal.

"You go first"

"Excuse me?"

"What? You wanted to explore it then you do it, have the honor" Jax smirked, bowing his head in a manner that showed he didn't mean it or the words.

"I actually wanted to go first, but now you've just p!*&#@d me off" Pomni stated.

"HA! That's jus- WAA!" Pomni grabbed Jax's arm and swung him in the water and straight into the cave with less force than she expected she would need for such action, staring confidently at his shape get swallowed into the glowing space, rolling her eyes at how his scream got comically more distant the further away he got.

"Oh- this doesn't look too bad at all" his voice echoed to her, Pomni's eyebrows lifted slightly in renewed curiousity as she swam closer, "what do you see!" She called back to him, earning her a hum and unintelligible murmuring that sounded like an interaction with something that shouldn't be interacted with.

"Jax-"

"OH MY GOD!! THEYRE EVERYWHERE! HOLY F!@K THEYRE GOING TO EAT ME ALIVE!-"

"WHAT IS-" Pomni swam fast to the cave and was hit square in the face with a slimy, wriggling thing, "WHAT THE- EUUGHH" She quickly kicked it away and swam into the cave, "JAX! ARE YOU OKAY!?" She shouted, calling, and was greeted with his screams turning into guttural laughter, her eyes zeroed in on his form doubled over and kicking his legs in the water, effectively pushing away more of the small beings that she couldnt get herself to focus on at the moment.

"HA- you- you should've heard you-yourself! Oh my god!" He wheezed, "You sounded like- OW!" He groaned when a kick was landed perfectly to his stomach.

"YOU- INSANE- STUPID- IDIOT!-"

Every shouted word was accompanied with a hit or slap to his body, which resulted in a collection of laughter mixed groans, his hands not even trying to stop her, just holding her back from getting to close to tickling him, which her aim wasn't used for, and thats why his arms were too busy just hugging his body.

"I cant-" he wheezed, "i cant breathe!"

"OH REALLY!? WELL HOW ABOUT-"

Jax uncoiled his arms from his body and wrapped them around Pomni's, effectively caging her and stopping her onslaught on him, still shaking from laughter, but she didnt quit, reaching for anything and grabbing one of the small creatures around her, smashing it on Jax's face.

"HOW DOES THAT FEEL, JAX!?" She panted, her angry snare melting at the look she created on Jax's face.

The red jellyfish she held over his face had altered how his features looked, making him look like a bowl of scrambled eggs, her parted lips twitched in failing to hold back her chuckles, frustrated at herself for not being able to control her laughter, she pushed the jellyfish on his face using both hands, "you annoying a@&s!" She chuckled despite herself, Jax mumbled somehong from behind the jellyfish, letting go of one arm around her to reach for a bunch of jellyfishes and started to throw them on her.

"Jax!- Jax stop yo!-" she dodged the attacks but had to release the red watery creature from off his face, his grin shown to her.

"You attack me and think I won't fight back!? That doesn't sound too fair, Pom!" He shouted, swimming behind a swarm of red jellyfish and throwing them at her, watching her cover behind a group of blue ones and countering his attacks with ones of her own.

"You started it with the first one you threw on me!" She huffed.

"The poor poor thing had to collide with your face" Jax said sadly, a blue jellyfish hitting his grin and having his head snapped back, eliciting a chuckle from the jester.

"The poor things have to be held by you!" She laughed back.

"The poor things have to touch you!" He threw again.

"The poor things have to hear you talk next to them!"

"The poor things have to listen to you laugh so soooo louuudlyy in their ears!"

The cave was a mess of red and blue lights thrown carelessly around, dancing like planets drifting out of their orbital balance, creating a beautiful chaotic mess that defied all laws of physics that could explain how attraction worked, but inevitably, always finding their way to a recognizable pattern.

Some jellyfish escaped the cave at the rush of the water, and illuminated the waters now that it was slowly growing darker outside, but not as dark as the now empty cave that they had to exit from, guided by hundreds of twinkling lights, half from the stars that danced on he surface of the water and reached their eyes in the funny shapes they were drawn in, and the other half from the jellyfish that mimicked their relatives up past the water, and both parties were calmly observing the two that laid on the sandy bottom of the sea, a smile on both their lips from the aftereffects of playing for the last- hours? Neither of them had a single idea, and they both didn't want to know.

A star moved across the sky, dashing in a bolt of light, Pomni's lips parted in a silent whisper, and it was caught by two of Jax's senses, he turned his head to the side.

"Wishing on stars like a kid?" He whispered, a quiet tone that didn't match the level of sarcasm he wanted to achieve.

"It's fun..and harmless and- fun, really" she shrugged, mirroring the angle of his head and meeting his gaze, "dont you do it?" She raised an eyebrow, and earned herself a scoff and a nudge from his shoulder, "as if im as tiny minded as you are" he huffed.

"And youre not gonna tell me what you wished for?" He tried to sound annoying, but again, a childlike curiousity bloomed in his unintentionally widening pupils.

"That wouldn't make it come true" she smirked, "what? It's a childish thing isn't it? But gotta stick to the rules of it to experience the full thing" she chuckled.

"Yeah yeah whatever makes you sleep at night, pom pom" he flicked her forehead before intertwining his fingers over his chest, the bioluminescent lights making it feel like a distant memory, far in how long it should last but unreachable in trying to keep every second for just a bit longer.

"Do you wish for the same thing every time?" He whispered.

"Youre not gonna let this go?"

"I- come on, humour me"

Pomni smiled and hummed, "it changes.."

He blinked, "how.."

She shrugged and turned her gaze upwards again, "the list gets less and less with every wish I make..once one becomes true, i move to the next.." she explained, and Jax hummed.

"And how many do you still have on the list?" He knew he was treading on the land of 'if i tell you the wish it wont come true' playfulness, hut it wouldn't hurt to ask, it never did.

"Im done with my wishes" she smiled.

"What?" He blinked again, the amount of times he seemed lost or confused in the last few minutes was amusing and entertaining for someone who thrived on those emotions from others.

"Yeah, the list is done.."

"Then what did you wish on now?- you dont- you dont have to tell me exactly but like-"

"I just wish for things in the present" and before Jax could give her another adorably dumb expression, she continued, "for things to never go bad"

"You just told me your wish"

"I didnt tell you what it exactly is" she chuckles raising an eyebrow at him, "youre playing fair for someone who doesnt participate in childish wishes"

Jax snickers sheepishly, and pushes a palm over her face, "you wish, as if I'd wear my heart on my sleeve like some- idiot or something" he huffed, looking up again.

Pomni chuckled and pushed his hand away easily, watching it go back to his chest, her own mirroring his.

"Well, as long as you have a heart, you can wear it where you feel it's safe.." she whispered softly.

Jax wanted to counter back with something, anything, whatever could come at the top of his tongue, but every word he wanted to say was scared to come out past his lips, past the thoughts.

Their existence in the digital world deprived them of many things reality would have given them generous amounts of, to count them would take forever, and this time needed was pouring out of the cups they dreamed of filling with the poison of a normal life, have the glass melt from heat than eternally exist in a forgotten hollow shell of an empty brain, and despite this brain possessing the creative ability to grant them whatever they wanted and desired, it still toyed with them, like any entity given the raw authority a human naturally claims as their own, and playing in day time was one thing, watching their expressions and learning what makes them laugh and cry, but the buried emotions were what the brain craved knowledge of, so it would seek after their dreams, night after night, without intervention, they were entratining enough, but incredibly so boring, they seemed to fear him, fear what this world held of unpredictable explosions for them, no matter how colorful and bright he made them, their dreams reflected the black board of which it worked on, the blue prints that he worked hard to create a life of, without a soul to contain all the emotions he's yet to understand.

So he tried to learn, from Gangel's art that he tried to copy, he never seemed to understand how she was quick with her creations, her ideas, it irked him, that a bunch of ribbons without a stable emotion held too much in her hollowed chest, he filled her mind with fire to every tree that dared make papers for her hands.

Ragatha was harder to understand, how can one hate their creator? Or fear them? He thought that's how they viewed him, someone to be respected out of fear not friendship, the dishonesty they hid from them had him pouring his rage on the doll's dream state visions.

Zooble was one he couldn't place his finger on correctly, neither their shapes nor their words, he has long given up on trying to find a box to sort them into, and let their nightmares be a taste of how much he suffers to give them, all the boxes of parts and arms and legs.

But one person, just one, had the most boring of the waits, once that person arrived to the circus and learned that sleep wasn't mandatory, he never slept, never let his mind wander and drift to an unconscious state, so it was hard for Caine to see what Jax feared really, he tried to tire him on adventure, give him the illusion of needing sleep, but it never worked, he did manage to have him take naps and took snippets of what scares him, Jax did dose off multiple times, Caine stole his dreams, occasionally using them in adventures to see what the purple rabbit would react.

Many of them were inspired by how the cellar would look like, a maze of colors, a hollow dark pitch of darkness with seemingly no ending or beginning, but surrounded by eyes that all looked similar, yet the voices that called, distorted, but eerily familiar, it puzzled Caine, the glitched voice was one of not a single abstracted person, he knows them all, and he knows their voices, and this one had never passed on him before.

Caine had decided that Jax's mind was a mystery, but not one he couldn't solve, so he delved deeper, bringing life to the most fragile parts of his brains, ticking them to flames and hoping it works.

Again, he found himself in the same eerie place, it never mirrored its past reincarnations, but he could tell it's always the same vision that haunted his dreams, the sole reason he never wished to sleep, yet repeatedly finding himself with his eyes blinking open to another reality he didn't sign up for.

Except that this time, it was the same one he once found himself entering unannounced years ago.

The circus looked paler, the colors sucked from it and giving it a more soulless interior, a grainy glitching brush that still felt soft even at the touch of his fingers on any surface.

His footsteps lacked sound, and so did his vocal chords, which initially surprised him, before gradually turning to fear as he kept walking the tent, Jax was sure if his heart could beat, the sound of it would've scared him more than the silence that enveloped him at the moment.

The closer he got to the hall of their bedrooms, the stronger the static in his mind became, and he fed it, didn't know if it was calling to him or he was the one making it with every step.

He stopped at the curtain and looked down the hall, the same unbeating heart in his chest sprang to life to get a taste of the horrifying drain of color from every atom of the walls and doors, the same portals that hid behind them the sanctuary of every person in the circus, now stood with no picture to tell which door belonged to whom.

But Jax's legs carried him faster than his train of thoughts could get to the worst case scenario, rushing past door after door, the static crawling under his skin like a living wire, inching closer to his brain, but before it could wrap around the last living part of him, he yanked open the door that was his destination.

The scream that tore from his throat was briefly cut off before he could see whose abstracted body was inside, even if he didnt need to know who it was, he still needed proof that it's not who he thought it might be.

The world stilled and he jolted in his bed, touching at his face and chest which was heaving too hard for a lungless body, his eyes were wide and he still couldn't make out a single thing except the comforting scent of his room, not much, but enough to slowly bring him back up from the state he was in.

"F@&k..f$%k.." he whispered, panting, still feeling the phantom exhaustion of running down that hall, his legs twitching with the shocks to his tired nerves, "when did i even sleep.." he mumbled to himself, exhaling the last shaky breath from his chest, disposing of all the remaining emotions that tied him to that place, he could count every maze he ran through, every isle he examined, but nothing compared to how real it felt to see..to just..

He sat up in bed, his legs swinging over the edge, tapping on the floor, his ears dropped back to his skull, Jax's mind wasn't focused on one thing in particular, it was just floating in the emptiness that he cleaned his brain to become blissfully devoid of the feelings he pushed aside again, the yellow of his eyes was slowly losing to his expanding black pupils, the room fitting and reflecting in his eyes, but it was obvious what he was fully focused on at the moment.

Pomni was knocked out of her sleep right before a dream could get its hands on her unconscious mind.

She turned on her bed, facing the ceiling and groaning at the interruption, "who..wha..Just a sec.." she called, rubbing her eyes and sitting up in bed, the creaking of the mattress was accompanied by he sound of the door opening, and the long shadow that stretched on her floor had her know immediately who woke her up at the ungodly hour of-..well, some hour, she could feel it was too late at night, and the last thing she wanted was Jax's smirk greeting her when she'd seen it just a few hours ago.

"You look like sh%t" Jax grinned, leaning against the door frame.

"Oh I wonder why" Pomni grumbled, her eyes half lidded with lingering sleep, watching him invite himself inside her room and close the door with his foot.

"Geez, Pom, you still have your brains scrambled from the adventure?" He mused, walking to a beanbag in the corner and flopping down, his long legs extending infront of him with a groan.

"I didn't say-"

"You like strawberries?"

Pomni blinked a couple more times than her eyes needed at the sudden question, her hand going to her forehead and rubbing the skin there, "what are you?..wha??.." she murmured, adding more to Jax's amusement.

"Stawberries, the fruits, the tiny red sweet things that aren't really sweet but people just tricked us into believing they are"

He explained.

"What are you talking about?" She whispered, squinting in the dark.

"I like blueberries more, tiny and actually sweet" he shrugged, brushing away every question that was rightfully asked, confusing the poor jester even further.

"I mean, strawberries are nice, I mean you should like them, considering how fast you- MGJM!"

A pillow hit him square in the face, his hands were too busy moving around in eccentric explaining to dodge it before an even darker sense of darkness had his vision blurring into colors and shapes, he quickly kicked it aside with his legs that folded to his chest, eyes wide and eyebrows knotted, "what was THAT for, Poms!?"

"Had to make sure you're real" she hummed, her voice sounding more awake now that the pillow returned with an annoyed stare and not gravity pulling it to the floor.

"Wha??- I..I am real?? The h$ll, Pom?" He stuttered, standing up with his hands gesturing to his body and being followed by Pomni's multicolored irises, her head nodding faintly, "yeah, after I made sure of it"

He huffed, hands resting on his hips, Pomni's eyes crinkled with a smile at his pouting face, "what? You come to my room in the middle of the night to talk to me about strawberries?" She chuckles.

"Oh forgive me for taking notes for the next adventure" he scoffed, folding his arms and walking over to her.

"Next adventure?" She raised an eyebrow, sitting up on the bed, and yelping as she gets pushed back with his hand to her forehead, "Jax!"

"Yeah, next adventure, I'm giving that idiot many suggestions, but I think he turned that box to a trash can" he rolled his eyes, turning around and falling on his back to Pomni's bed, the jester laying down next to him, and she moved just to spite him for pushing her down, sitting criss-cross next to his laying body.

"And you're positive that he might read any of them?" She rested her chin on her palm, looking down to meet his lidded gaze, his usual grin turned to a dot eaten by the darkness of her room.

"I just said that he doesn't care" he mumbled, nearly snapping, but his voice was swallowed with the rest of the words stuck in his throat, left whispered on his bedroom walls, not meeting her eyes, he started counting he stripes on the ceiling.

"Do you have more red or blue stripes?" He hummed, a line growing on his face for something of a smile.

"I dunno.." she replied, the change not lost on her, it was too quiet to be missed.

"I didnt think you write adventure suggestions for Caine.."

"I dont do it for him"

He mumbled quietly, followed by quick blinking and looking up at her, one hand reaching to flick her forehead, "for my own amusement, Pom, what better stuff can a person do here anyway"

Pomni merely scowled at the flick, just for a split second before her face drifted to confusion again.

"Why are you here, Jax.."

The rabbit went silent, his eyes going unfocused for a few seconds before his mind realized it could work again.

"Caine's adventure are not too good lately.."

Pomni hummed, straightening her back, hands intertwined in her lap, "i suppose I've.. noticed this.." she whispered, "i thought you thought..I mean..you found it fun.." she added, shrugging, Jax scoffed a humourless chuckle, his head moving side to side slowly, "fun is an opinion..he thinks it's obligatory, and that makes it..feel like control.." he whispered.

Pomni felt like she was in the presence of a butterfly, any wrong breath and it would fly away, she held it in her lungs and nodded faintly.

"Did you not hate them?" He asked.

"I never really like any.." she spoke, he raised both eyebrows, "why dont you say anything?"

"Not like Caine would listen anyway.."she sighed, almost in acceptance rather than defeat, "or that he'd pick anything from his trash can" she added with a smile, immediately mirrored on his face with a huff, his gaze seemed to be frozen on her features, but his mind running a different thoughts at once, all circling around one and only conclusion of what he would be doing.

"Yeah..he wouldn't.." he whispered, nodding, his fingers intertwined over his chest and playing with the straps of his overalls, the pink of them too pale in the darkness, his gaze drifted back up to her eyes, just as distant in their brightness.

"What would you fix in his adventures if you could, Poms?" He reached up to her jester hat and pulled her down to bed to lay down next to him, the jingle of her bells winding down his breaths, with the addition to her own shaky exhaled yelp when she was tugged down to the bed.

She settled on her back with her arms on her sides, "i guess..guess i would limit the jumpscares.."

Jax smiled, humming for her to continue.

"Have something more relaxing..less things to solve.." she added thoughtfully, eyelids drooping as she pictured how it could turn out.

"Mhm..so less jumpscares you say?" Jax hummed, turning his head to the side to watch her nod. "What's the worst thing that scared you.." his voice was low, quiet, the new feelings under it went unnoticed but stored in her mind.

He hoped that she wont open that section of her memories in the morning.

"Probably the many doors he has..many of them dont open up to anything and they just make you feel like..anything could be there.." she whispered.

"Anything like what?"

"Like..nothing"

"You dont expect anything?"

"Like what?" She turned her head around to meet his gaze, expecting his stunned silence to greet her, already knowing the answer to that.

"Like abstracting"

And that, left her unresponsive, anything she might have said could have resulted in him caving back where if she followed, she wouldn't get back to the stage she's already in, she can't risk it.

"What if it was the only way out though.." she whispered.

"Dont-" Jax rolled to his side, facing her fully, eyebrows knotted, "i mean-..I.. it cant..it just-" he stuttered, eas pinned back, his eyes wide and unblinking, Pomni was scared for a second that she scared her chance away, that the butterfly may never ever land where she had safely guarded it.

Jax managed to collect himself, fists balled against his chest and on the mattress, he sighed and unclenched his jaw.

"If it was the only way out..would you.." his question trailed away into he abyss where he wished it could stay there forever, but knew that eventually it would be fished out with an answer, one that there was no escape from.

He didnt want to.

"Pom?.."

"I wouldn't.." she whispered, "i..it's just a theory, Jax, we dont know for sure if-"

"But if it was, would you??" He insisted, there was no way out for both of them, the line where who was caught in the other's trap blurred, because at this moment, there was no hunter and prey, just Jax in Pomni's room, in the middle of the night, counting every blink that comforted him with the familiarity of her face.

"Would you?" She flipped his question.

Jax felt betrayed, if he could even acknowledge any emotion other than the warring unnamed ones in his heart at the moment.

"I..wont.." he hesitated.

"Why?"

"No- I might..I.. I might try-"

"Try??" Pomni's eyebrows furrowed, her voice wavering in surprise.

"I mean!- i-..no i meant that..what if.." he exhaled shakily, "what if it was actually ou way out??" He was not below begging, his pleading to whom? He wasn't sure.

"And what if it's not" Pomni stated carefully, the actual hope that she refused to let bubble at Jax's blurted idea, vanishing the moment he suggested experimenting it. "Jax..it's not" she insisted, her voice growing stern.

"And you still didnt tell me why you're here" it melted into a softer octave at the look on his face, any other day, she wouldve heard him blame the lighting or her eyes, but neither could be burdened with his excuses when his uneven breathing was a telltale of the reality they were both experiencing.

"Can I stay the night?" This time, it was obvious to whom the question was to, and Pomni couldn't even go back to sleep if she wanted to if Jax left her room with both of them in this state.

"Yeah.." she nodded quietly, shifting on her side and mirroring Jax's position, "d'you need anything?" She whispered, he shook his head, scooting just an inch closer.

"Tell me something.." he hummed.

"Like what?" Came her immediate whisper.

"Anything.." he shrugged, but at her cooperation, he couldn't leave the silence to fill the gaps between their voices be too long, "what's the best dream you've had?" He quickly added, his gaze shifting up to her hopefully, met with a warm smile that was bringing back a couple of shades into their right place.

"I had..a good dream once.." she started, humming thoughtfully at trying to remember the details, one of her hands drawing circles on the mattress between them, "was nice..somewhere in nature, the sun, trees..maybe a couple of cows and cats.." she smiled sheepishly, Jax's lips seemed to never let down the offer of matching, "yeah?" He whispered, and could have probably been able to count every hair of her brown bags as they moved with her.

"I think there was a weird dog too" she hummed.

"And no bunnies?" He gasped dramatically, one hand over his chest, "ouch, Pom, I dont exist in your dreams"

She chuckled and flicked his forehead, "i already have a real annoying bunny here" her gaze softened at the way his square pupils turned almost too big to fit in his eyes, she let her cheek rest back on the pillow comfortably, eyes half lidded, whatever her mind convinced her might be sleep, was tugging at her brain, "but if you'd let me try to dream again, I could try to have you show up.." she promised playfully, attempting a wink, but it turned out as a tired blink, making a familiar flutter in his chest make itself known again, "only if you have me in your dreams too, that would be fair.." she whispered, her eyes refusing to close when his are open and painted in an emotion she couldn't stop drinking from.

"Dont worry about that, Pom pom.." he whispered, and the low vow was enough to have her drift to sleep again, Jax's hand came to rest over hers, a smile playing at his lips, he squeezed her palm and scooted closer to feel her body heat and hear every breath she breathed, each one that ensured him that she was there, his eyes closed, forehead falling to rest over Pomni's as sleep pulled them both under.

"I thought..y'know..cause we're friends-"

"Friends!? There are no friends in hell, Vincent"

The words were written on the walls by now, escaped from every pained exhale from the sinner's ventilating lungs, he couldn't understand how his tv head works yet, the functions were lost on Vincent, he only cared about being behind the screen, never thought how it would feel to look at his reflection and see the same screen that was once his life, the same screen that stored many memories, being the one that he wished to break to find out if there's a lower level of hell that he might be banished to, but what punishment is worse that the one he brought with his own hands?.

His trembling ones hold empty bottles, collecting on the floor of his apartment, each becoming more tasteless the bigger the number of whiskey bottles gathered at his feet.

He had long given up on drinking from a glass, maybe he tried at first, but every second his lips brushed it, they brought more memories than liquid, whatever was left of his dead heart ached to be abandoned by the burden of visions from the past, normally, he would remember his first days in hell with disdain, embarrassment of how weak and scared he was, a contrary to the powerful man he once was when he was alive.

The same man he became again when the first sinner he had a decent conversation with made him feel alive again, no power compared to the familiarity that the company of the radio demon brought to him, he knew he wouldn't even find it in the safety of his own house, and right now he was living the proof of the words he whispered in his head.

Vincent didn't even know how many bottles he owned, he wasn't sure if he was even drinking whiskey and not water from the tap, his mind too lost in the drunken state he co-created with his fraying soul, or it might have as well been his tears, the salt in what he was drinking was stinging more painful than the alcohol.

His knees weakly took him to the kitchen, kicking away many bottles in the process, the carpet feeling like gravity multiplied, and before he toppled over to the pull, the kitchen island held him up, his blue claws dug into the wood with a hiccuping breath, his heart worked overtime to pump blood to his overheating head, Vincent balanced himself back on his feet and walked to the sink, spraying water over his screen, rubbing the edges of his boxy head, every small hole thay might have air slither in without him noticing, his mismatched antennas, tugging at them and alerting the still awake part of his consciousness.

"Fuc- fuck-" he stumbled at the painful sting, the flinch had him taking a few steps back and hitting the island again, his head tilted to the side, hung low, feeling heavier than it should, it wasn't the alcohol he consumed but the taste of every glass of it he drank with him.

It was bitter, but the only thing he could taste at the moment that gripped him to reality, even the one he wished he could escape from.

Vincent didn't know if he would find Alastor in any other universe if he ran from this one.

Better to know they existed together in one universe than to never have him at all in another.

The thought alone brought a new, fresh wave of tears to his eyes, his screen glitching, "fuck..I.. I thought..I.. " he stuttered, his hiccuping voice a pathetic comparison to the laughing ones he once loudly set free with the radio demon many many, uncountable nights, before, Vincent knew he wouldn't forget them, but right now they were the only thing he could remember, "i just..wanted.." he trailed off into a sob, not daring to blink the tears away, the feeling of them rolling down his screen was as comforting as taking a painkiller pill when you're stabbed, it wouldn't work right away, but the illusion of healing was holding him together.

Vincent opened a cabinet to take out another bottle.

Food, more food, snacks, some empty and some filled with things he didn't bother to understand.

Until the bottle, the one that he kept hidden for the day of- that day, the day of his question, the day he asked, the day he thought he was going to be met with something, anything from his imagination, the day that he imagined they would sit down in his apartment, pop open the bottle and drink a glass or two, show him the photo album he kept of them, the songs he collected for him, the-

"'re you happy??" Vincent slurred, his gaze fixed on one of their pictures on the wall, they took this one in the street, it was raining and Vincent didn't know acid was what poured over pride ring, Alastor was laughing as he was pulling the tv headed sinner into a building, he was the one that took the picture, him.

"Hmm???? Got allll you fuckin' want but you- you're all i fucking needed Al" he shouted, anger drowned out by the whimper his voice sounded like.

"ALL I FUCKING ASKED FOR WAS TO BE YOURS!-" he threw the bottle to the wall, the sound of glass shattering ringing in his head for the first half a second of the anger he wanted to imply, "shit- SHIT SHIT-" he gave his knees the relief they needed when he dropped to the floor, trembling hands reaching to the photo, dampening slowly by the whisky,

"No nononono- No No No-" Vincent cried, wiping the picture over his chest, his yellow sweater growing a spot quickly, "im sorry- im sorry im so sorry I didnt mean it-" he continued, shaking like he was getting electrocuted, and judging by the sparks that shone from his antennas, the way the back of his head was too hot it might have also dried the liquid on the floor if he turned around and gave it some time, but he would die in his drowning house before he'd let that picture go down with it.

Vincent stared down at the picture in his hand, held like a fragile bird, he blinked repeatedly, wiping his screen with the sleeve of his free arm, his thumb running over Alastor's smiling face, still intact, untouched, unharmed by the alcohol, "Al..." he breathed shakily, his throat locking up with a sob, he swallowed it...

Until he could knock on Alastor's door.

The Radio demon was having a nice evening in his apartment, he has just returned from a visit to Rosie, the overlord called him for some tea, her herbs tasted more bitter than usual despite all the honey he added, thank whatever God up there that she didnt notice, her gaze more focused on what gossip of cannibal town she had found this week.

He was getting ready for bed, red silk touching his skin, he won't be sleeping of course, not his thing, but would spend the night on the couch, reading, drinking tea, his might be better, but before he could taste it, three knocks, the first the sharpest, before they turned to small pats on the dark wood.

His eyes narrowed, he teleported to the front door and opened it, nothing could intimidate the radio demon so he didn't call who it was.

But nothing, nothing in hell or heaven, would have prepared him for the sight of Vincent.

"Ah, back again, Vincent?" He mused, his ears twitched on his head, the dazed and drunken look on the sinner's face told him that this crack went blissfully unnoticed, "i thought I had-"

"No- no you listen- the fuck to me" Vincent slurred, standing up straight, holding a trembling hand up to the radio demon, who surprisingly, went silent.

"I came here to just..ask..why're..why d'you..no you have to listen"

"I am listening, Vincent"

"Good!..good cause-.." Vincent stumbled into Alastor's apartment, losing his balance when he wanted to reach to his pocket, catching himself on the door, "shit!- im sorry! I-..I didnt mean to" he gasped, the sound like a glitching signal, his eyes wide, screen glitching as he took a step back outside, swinging on his legs.

Alastor stood there, face unreadable, his sharp grin wavering at the edges, shoulders tensing when Vincent lost his footing.

He took a step to the side silently.

Vincent was pretty out much out of his mind, but that part of him that was still bravely standing infront of the man, but he understood the quiet grant and stepped into his apartment.

"Are you drunk, Vincent"

"Fuck do I look like, Al??" Vincent scoffed, closing the door behind him with his foot, "you look like you're going to bed" he noted, his eyes not moving below the red silk shirt the radio demon was wearing.

"I was" Alastor corrected, turning around and walking to the living room, "so what brings you to my house at such a time?" He hummed, "and in such a shape.." he added, sitting down on the couch, his eyes narrowing on Vincent's wobbling legs, right where Alastor's sentient shadow was looming.

"Just wanted to have a few words made clear" Vincent huffed, taking a uselessly big step on the wooden floor, and walked to stand infront of the table in the living room.

"If they're coherent" Alastor shrugged, flinching when The tv headed sinner slammed something on the table, his eyes glued on the bottle of red wine there, before looking up at Vincent, who picked it up fast and placed it back down gently, his fingers hovering over the glass, lips parted slightly, "this just-...a thing..you should've..I mean.."

The stuttering of his voice might have made him look pathetic, and to be honest, Alastor thought he did, but in a way that made his red claws twitch on his knees, waiting silently for a full sentence to stitch itself in his..in Vincent's mind.

Alastor’s deer ears twitched once, he could feel the frequency that Vincent was radiating, "how much did you drink" he asked.

"I dunno..." Vincent mumbled, his voice too small for someone who never tuned down in this space, he found himself slowly falling to his knees on the carpeted floor, his hand reaching out to hold onto something that moved fast, faster than when his brain registered he was going to sit on the ground, he pulled himself back up with a force that had his head buzzing again.

"VINCENT" Alastor hissed, the static of his voice slithering into the conscious part of his brain, his red eyes widened, he met Alastor's scarlet gaze, and maybe if it wasn't for his whiskey adled mind, he would've found himself staring at something that could've saved him from this spiral.

"sit. Down" Alastor didnt have to raise his voice again, he watched him sit down on the sofa facing Alastor, after having a two seconds long battle whether he should warm the other side of the couch next to Alastor or not.

The Radio demon reached for the bottle and examined it, eyes on the words, but his peripheral vision fully focused on the sinner infront of him, his chest heaving like he was seconds away from collapsing, the only thing holding him from a fall that would break his tv head would be the fluffy rug, or the silent shadow.

"What's the purpose of this bottle?" He hummed, lifting his eyes to Vincent.

The tone of Alastor's voice, or maybe his voice alone, was enough to string a reply through his mouth, "you forgot it at my place"

"The last time I've drank this was when I was a living man, Vincent" Alastor narrowed his eyes, holding back his annoyance because anything that comes from the sinner's mouth might be from the alcohol still running through his blood.

"It's.. t'was supposed to be..a..a gift of..some sort.." Vincent whispered, blue claws digging into his palms, drawing blood on his navy skin, another mix of shades that had his dead heart aching like a last minute's beat.

"A gift?" Alastor raised an eyebrow, looking down at the bottle in his hands, he could remember how it tasted like, it was the only nice thing at parties he attended with snobby rich men, finding himself fully indulged in his memories made him forget that he still haven't received a reply from the sinner, "Vince-"

Vincent moved faster than Alastor has ever seen in his life, the bottle snatched from his hands as he watched him run to the kitchen, he followed after him, running, "VINCENT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" he hissed, shouting, momentarily forgetting he could've easily grabbed the drunken man with his tentacles or even teleported to him, bit even if he had done both, he would have still froze in spot, watching Vincent break the neck of the bottle and pour it down the sink, his shoulders tensed and squared.

"VINCENT" Alastor's hands shot up to his arms and he spun the man around before the last quarter of the bottle could fall, he took it from his hands and placed it away, clutching his wrists tightly, claws a shy touch from sinking through material of his clothes and to his skin.

"ARE YOU GOING TO SPEAK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU OR ARE YOY NOT!?" Alastor's eyes widened as he yelled, shaking Vincent's arms, "You come into my house in the middle of the night, drunk out of your mind and not able to speak one word without sounding like you're under hypnosis- what is HAPPENING TO YOU!?"

"YOU ARE!-" Vincent shouted back, "YOU ARE HAPPENING TO ME, ALASTOR!" He continued, his own hands coming up to keep Alastor's hands on his skin, pulling them closer, the sting of his claws getting close, "I NEED ONE- JUST ONE FUCKING REASON WHY YOU SAID NO!"

Oh..

Oh that's..

Alastor's ears folded back to his head, his grin visibly faltered, a blink brought him back to the mask he stared upon every mirror, but failed to see in his eyes.

"You want a reason, Vincent?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Yes"

"I am not on your food chain, not someone you could ever be able to bring down, you doubt how powerful I could be!? I make hell SING for me and your voice could have made for an amazing broadcast if it..if it wasn't my-" Alastor shook his head, scoffing at himself, "i know who you are, Whittman"

The more Alastor spoke, the worse the conflicted emotions warring in Vincent's heart got, on one hand there was..something, and on the other there was..something else..and both hands were digging their claws into his skin, drawing blood from wounds he had carved open a few nights ago, so the pain went unfelt by him, but not unnoticed by the other man, whose hands were locked in place by the sinner's.

"You think I'd betray you?" Vincent whispered, his voice not shaking, not wavering, but those things that were lacking in his tone were present and effecting the overlord's soul.

"Alastor..Al, you thought I'd.." he repeated, more to himself than Alastor this time, his eyes bore into Alastor's soul, "if I had known there was a heaven for me, I would've still killed all those men, just cause it means..it..I'd see you.." he whispered.

Something in Alastor..something turned around, he couldn't care less for the shattered glass in his sink, the wine splattered on his carpet, the blood sticking to his claws, for all his attention poured into the trembling legs of the man infront of him, the red liquid that stained his yellow sweater.

Alastor retracted his claws from his wrists, and wrapped his hands fully around Vincent's forearm, guiding him back to the living room and sitting him down on the couch.

"If you-..if you still dont want to- i just wanted a reason to-"

"Shut up, Cher.." Alastor whispered, seating himself beside the sinner, their shoulders brushing.

Vincent went obediently silent, his body only now finding out how exhausted he is, how ultimately tired the drinking had him, and sitting down in a quiet ambiance only heightened how much his body begged to rest.

His boxy head fell down to Alastor's lap with a force that should've made the radio demon flinch in the suddenness of it, but te way his hands flew to his head, tracing his claws on the grey of his tv head, expectantly, awaiting that touch.

"Ask me again.." Alastor whispered, hoping his question wasn't too late, but Vincent was still awake.

"Al..be my.. friend.." he whispered, his consciousness dancing between the comfort of sleep and the familiarity of Alastor’s voice.

"And i could be so much more, Vince.." Alastor whispered, his cheek falling to rest on his head.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY, CAINE!"

the sea stretched on longer than the eye could catch, they doubted whatever server the digital circus had could render such vast spaces, but maybe Caine just looped it in a big circle, then again, he did just give them a small map with a beeline to where they needed to go, and a big X mark with multiple arrows, if it wasn't clear enough that this is the last place they needed to go to.

Or if the map reader was having a panic attack from sea sickness.

Where Gangel was sitting in the captain's room, hugging her knees to her chest, her comedy mask had broken a while ago, a while that meant just a few minutes ago when they first were teleported against their will, as always, to this adventure, one that had Pomni uncharacteristically quieter than she usually is, inspecting every detail that she knew wasn't on her paper, the big headlines were present, a ship in the sea under the warm sun, fun puzzles, no monsters, easy to beat, by far she counted two of these things, they were yet to sail and she couldn't get a look at the map in Gangel's hand, clutched tightly in her ribbon, refusing to show the paper to her friend who happened to be Pomni, who happened to be thrown into the role of the captian, a spot she'd never dream of, she knew the responsibilities that come from having such authority, and judging by the yelling outside the room she spawned in, she already felt a headache forming.

"Gangel!- it's fine it really is! It's just a map and you can tell us what to do it's not that hard! We can work together!"

"Uhgghh, please, you think having a map is an easy job? No nooo, it's like the hardest thing to do on this ship! Biiiiiig hard responsibility that if we fail!? We probably die, I dunno"

"JAX!"

Despite Pomni knowing that she wasn't fit for the role of leadership, her brain somehow managed to wrap around every word she heard from behind the door and from Gangel's cried muttering, she was thankful that the nearest mirror isn't showing her reflection, because if she as much as saw a glimpse of her posture, she knew she'd be throwing herself out of the windows to be eaten by a shark and prove that Caine also brushed aside her "no monsters" suggestion, even if she'd find herself in some loser corner, quietness is better than how her head felt too real to be digital.

But the silence can also mean a lot of people trusted themselves more..than..oh..

"Will- will you all just SHUT UP!" she yelled, and almost instantly, all the bickering quieted, even Gangel's cries turned to wide eyes up at the jester.

"Pomni?-"

"Oh hush, the captain is going to tell us orders"

"JAX!" this time, Zooble didnt have to yell, it was Pomni again, she extended her hand for Gangel, patiently waiting for the ribbon lady to take it and help her back up on her feet, "take your time, okay? We'll call upu out when we see how the things will work outside" Pomni whispered, smiling long enough until it was mirrored on Gangel's mask, the jester nodded and opened the door, her eyebrows furrowed from the sun hitting at her, but it still made Ragatha stand up a bit straighter, and maybe also Jax stopped tapping his foot on the wood.

Pomni looked at them all, the four of them, trying to understand what their roles were, "so what are we doing? What are you?" She asked, her tone harsher than she thought it should.

"Im- I guess im the cook?" Zooble sighed, rolling their eyes and gesturing to the belt they wore on their waist, armed with spoons and knives, a cartoonish attempt at creating a cook thats supposed to be on a pirate ship.

"I dunno what I am honestly, I just- have a sword?" Ragatha shrugged, pulling out her sword and moving it around, the only emote she was doing since she was guessing what her role is.

Pomni nodded at both of them, turning her gaze to Jax.

"Not a single word" Jax hissed, his eyes lidded, arms folded over what he seemed to be wearing, a Victorian dress, torn apart, adorned with seashells and pearls, his lavender fur now having a bit of blue accents, he almost looked like a-

"He's a mermaid"

"SHUT THE F&@^#^K UP ZOOBLE!"

Pomni grinned, her hand placed over her lips, chuckling quietly, Ragatha acted like she wasn't looking, most likely smiling in amusement but not wanting to add more to Jax's annoyance, Pomni realized what she was doing herself and cleared her throat.

"Okay- okay thats, good? I think we dont need more than what- hey, whats Kinger?" Pomni blinked, and all of them looked back to where Kinger was leaning over the railing of the ship, talking in hushed whispers, his body nearly falling.

Ragatha gasped, "Kinger!!" She yelled, and the chess piece hummed, whispering again before standing up straight, "oh, hi pomni, I was just asking the fish where you were, guess I didnt need their help" he said cheerfully.

"Oh, and we have a schizophrenic patient too, the crew really fits the name of the game" Jax mused, sarcasm could've overflowed the ocean, Zooble shot him a glare before heading somewhere under the deck, and Ragatha was walking over to Kinger, leaving Pomni and Jax alone in a small bubble infront of the door.

"So," Jax smirked, suddenly all his irritation melting away to his usual self, the dress couldn't hide how he was still Jax, maybe it enhanced it even, "what's our captian going to lead us to?, hopefully you have a plan, Pom", oh..what plan?

"What plan?"

"You dont have a plaaan" his grin deepened, the thought of what chaos this information will bring making his feet tap on the wood under his dress, she swore she heard clicks and not thumps.

"I mean- I didnt see the map yet, so I dont exactly know what we're supposed to do anyway" she defended herself, eyes narrowed and trying not to break eye contact, "dont bother, only Gangel can see it" Jax waved his hand in the air dismissively, as if this fact was something funny, well, it's not.

"What!?" Pomni's eyes widened, all to Jax's pleasure, "and you just decided to tell me that!"

"You didn't ask"

"It's important to know that! It's the map! It could be our only way out!" Pomni panicked, her hands floating around her head searching for her jester bells, but only landing on leather, a feather tickling her black gloved hands, Jax noticed her confusion and took out a seashell shaped mirror, holding it out to her, when she didnt take it, he sighed and grabbed her hand to give it to her with a gentle touch that betrayed how he wanted to seem forceful.

The reflection that greeted Pomni reminded her an awful lot of that adventure where she played president, she looked up at the first suspect that could have done something like this.

"Oh quit it, you wrote this, remember? Not my fault you look adorable trying to give us orders" Jax rolled his eyes, oh how she wanted to slap that smirk off his face, the more he spoke truths, the harder she wanted to bite every pearl from the tiara on his forehead.

"So why did you give me a dress?" He huffed.

"I didnt write anything about this! Not any roles for us! I just- i just said that I wanted an- an easy ocean adventure with puzzles and make it fun and OH DONT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!"

"JAX! leave her alone! Come and be helpful!" Ragatha called from where she was trying to find out how sailing a ship works.

"What are you even trying to do!? Or better, where do you THINK you can GO TO?? with cry baby locking herself inside with our fun toy guide-"

Before he could continue whatever handcrafted insult thrown at Gangel, the girl herself walked out of the room, the map open in her hands, she was in there longer to rehears what she would say more than to study the map that was toddler-level easy.

"It's saying that we should sail by the sponge island, which i think I saw- there?" She pointed a ribbon to the left, feeling a little giddy how all of them followed her directing, "and then?" Zooble asked, this time it was Gangel's turn to look without needing a hand to tell her where, "then around the star shaped island to the left, and then we get to the treasure island" she said cheerfully, a hint of her happiness returning despite the tears clinging to the eyes of her sad mask, it didnt go unnoticed by Jax, keeping that for later to tease about.

"Okay..okay that's as easy as I expected.." Pomni whispered under her breath, a glance shared between her and the rabbit who never averted his eyes in the first place and was all too eager to nod faintly when she met his eyes, "no sharks? Octopus or- anything?" She asked, knowing Caine, he would probably play on the words, on every letter and twist it to his own enjoyment to torment them in the name of a fun adventure, but even then, Gangel shook her head, checking the map for the tenth time maybe, she might have also been taking notes on how to draw certain shapes that decorated the map, snapping back to add, "Nope! No sharks or anything bad! Just a..normal sail to treasure?.."

Which was true, it was a casual, beautiful sail to the treasure island, empty of any dangers, at some point they expected Caine to come out of the sky and throw a contender in the ring, but the only time he showed up was when they arrived at the island, just when the sun was setting, sky turning to gold, blending with an orange that shone golden on their skins.

The ship roamed in the sea freely, Caine allowed gloinks to take it after they set foot on the island, a big chest filled with jewelry and ores of every color was open and spilling over the sand for their taste, a reward that meant nothing in this digital world, just another item to disappear after they had momentary pleasure of tasting how it felt to be real.

Pomni didnt know what to choose at first, standing over there and watching Ragatha style herself with a taste that could only come from knowledge of what looked good on you, Gangel and Zooble sitting down to the side under a palm tree, the masked girl had wrapped around her ribbons a snake-like golden necklace that seemed to be made just for her, and meant to be put on her by Zooble's hand, Kinger though, was rummaging the chest and humming, grabbing every bug shaped golden item and putting it in her satchel.

The jester decided to try everything, she sat on the shore, eyeing the sun and trying to see if it was actually setting, but Caine must've stopped it's descent just for the scenery, one of the few things that Caine did good.

She could feel the wind playing with her jewelry, making up for the absence of the golden bells she missed,her eyes were going to close, hugging her knees to her chest, chin resting over the material of her pants, she could've slept right here and right now, but the shuffling of the unmistakable dress that Jax was wearing pulled her out of her haze, and the sand that shuffled over to her side had her fully waking up to give Jax her undivided and annoyed attention.

"Aaah, if i had known all your adventures are this calm, I think I might have let you suggest everything" he smirked, one arm behind him on the sand and the other twirling a necklace between his fingers, the silence he got as a response was not welcome, he threw the necklace to the ocean, "but then again, you might put me in a dress so-"

"I told you it wasn't me, I didn't write the dress or captian or any part that had us-"

"I know you didnt. I did"

This time, her speechless answer was exactly what fed his joy, though the way he smiled was..just a smile, nothing more to describe it because the only things it hid beneath are the words that were left unspoken for now, and they had all the time they would need.

"You what?"

"I talked to Caine, told him you suggested something, and that he had to make it happen if he wanted Zooble to join his adventures again, it didn't take much and he agreed right away, shame I had many more lies and ways to convince him if he didnt accept this fast" he shrugged, and Pomni was yet again, indecisive on which part she wanted to ask about, so he let him talk, which rarely happened, Jax usually just insulted.

But the need to speak gnawed at her.

"So you added the dress" she smirked, eyes lidded.

"No!- I think it was him and his- weird thoughts or whatever Bubble tells him to do- look, I just told him to make you captain, thats all" he placed his hand over his chest, nodding, and Pomni hummed, the necklace washing up on shore and she grabbed it, tracing the beads of silver,

"what else do you want to tell me about" she asked.

"I dunno, what else do you want to hear"

He answered.

It was like an interview they both refused to read the script off, which was good because if there was a script they wouldn't be sticking to it, so it's better to make up stuff on the way, waiting for a sign from the other, or for one of them to melt under no pressure whatsoever.

"You kept all the letters.." he whispered. Pomni won.

"They were interesting.."

"Just that?"

"And I wanted to know who was sending them" she added, accepting every eager question with an answer she had already questioned herself in her head before every night.

"And what do you think now"

And that, was the question she always left untouched.

If it was Ragatha, she would've been surprised, if Gangel, she'd know it's because she's shy but also it couldn't be her, not with Zooble around, and Kinger is married, despite being well, crazy, and his wife abstracted, she knew he saw everyone here his children, in his own way.

So everyone was eliminated except Jax.

And that is exactly why she never answered that question.

Because she didnt want to give herself the hope that it would ever be asked.

"I think.." she whispered, bringing her gaze to Jax, his squared pupils frozen like his held breath, "that you could've told me to my face.." the sand moved as she scooted just an inch closer, like approaching an animal afraid if something it didnt experience yet to judge it, and that was exactly the case, "but it liked it..and I.. waited for them actually, every night.."

At that, hus pupils exploded, leaving barely a line of his yellow eyes visible, Pomni giggled at the sight, the look suiting the dres and the jewelry he wore, and for some reason, he didnt snap with a remark.

He scooted to close the distance, their shoulders touching like a click of a button that silenced Pomni, the shape of her lips not losing the smile that softened the more she focused on the feel of him this close, Jax never respected boundaries, and Pomni only now realized that he never moved unless she did.

So she wrapped an arm around his waist to prove her theory.

Her recieved answer wasn't in touch but- "you're missing a ring"

"Hm?"

His hand shot out to hers, his own was gloved with silk, hers a black glove adorned with a ring on every finger, except one.

"There are a lot of things to choose from.." she whispered, shrugging, "i dont even know if I like the ones I already have on" she added, now inspecting what she had on with more focus, diamond, emerald, rubies, all on gold that outshone the sun, she didnt know why she picked them, just saw them laying there and figured they might feel left out.

"They dont look good on you" Jax hummed, taking them out one by one, every ring, every bracelet, the necklace around her neck and the trinkets on her pirate hat, all with one hand, until he pulled his other one back, opening his palm and twirling a silver ring between his thumb and forefinger.

"This is..the second thing I asked Caine for.." he slid it onto her finger, and suddenly, everything fell into its right color, every shade, every sound, something in the atmosphere just started to feel..

"Jax.." Pomni whispered, her eyes wide, looking at rhe ring that started to shine under the glow of the moon, the sun suddenly remembering to set, revealing thousands of stars that never changed their position, but today, they're witnessing something new in their code.

"Aand, that too..." Jax whispered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, bunny ears awkwardly flopping down ro his skull, avoiding Pomni's gaze, "i mean the- timing of the sunset and the stars and all that, I just, I didnt know how to-"

Pomni leaned in and pecked his lips, grin? Whatever it was, she knew he could close his lips somwtimes, and what she felt was soft so it must've been his lips, judging by his reaction when she pulled back, it certainly was his lips.

"I love it all, everything, Jax.." she smiled, her ring adorned hand resting over his and he immediately intertwined their fingers, squeezing her hand, all the words stuck in his throat, his chest rising and falling fast and it wasn't from the corset he was whining about all trip long,

"is there something you wanna tell me?"

"I love you, Pomni" he stuttered out, his voice not his own, it was the tone that he kept just for her, unreleased, never rehearsed, raw and new but oh, how warm it felt, he's never loved the way he looked until he saw in that moment, how she looked at him.

"Say something, Pom, help me here" then again, he was still Jax.

Time doesn’t work in the way it does in real life here in the circus, Pomni could have been sleeping for hours, but it would feel like a few minutes when her eyes open again, and no it was not from "sleeping well", not when her mind always plays images from somewhere deep in her fears that hold her hostage in her own unconscious state.

When she woke up that morning, she couldn't tell the difference between her eyelids and her room, though the instant vanishing of her dreams told her that she was in fact, very awake now, and there was no use in trying to close her eyelids again, not when she wasn't tired anymore, Pomni turns to lay on her back, hands over her chest, counting the stripes over her head.

One blue..

One red..

Two blue..

Two red..

Three blue..

Three red..

Four blue..

Thr- no..eh..red- no blue, no..

It's just a color.

Pomni sighed, closing her eyes momentarily to wish that this would just be another peaceful day, that Caine is still somewhere, unseen and hopefully won't reappear for a while more just to give their lives some normalicy.

After a few minutes, she stood up from the bed and slid off the mattress, her eyes immediately falling onto the small squared and folded paper that was at her door, a bit further into the room, like someone flicked it angrily to get it inside.

The sight should've had her confused, but she's already past that, she routinely picked up the paper and walkd back to sit down at the foot of her bed, opening it.

《One..two..three..the night i saw you, i never thought id stay up that late, but i guess its true when they say that our destiny is written in the stars, even when i see them reflecting from your eyes》

There it was, vague and insanely catchin, sprinkled with occasional grammatical errors, her eyes checking every letter, the font, if all the e's look the same, if it was handwritten or made by a machine, but again, she noticed how every letter was different, some even written angrily, or hurriedly, the o's folding at the top as if halfway through forming a heart but stopped to make it readable.

Pomni enjoyed every bit of it, every time, she traced her thumbs on the paper, the material soft although a bit crumbled, most of them were, she didnt try to fix them ever, not putting them under a heavy object to manually iron them, she kept the crinkles, even highlighted some that looked like shapes, she swore she could see gloinks on them, or even scratched out words, too hard, the glittery pens nearly scrapping through the paper from how hard the mysterious writer wanted to erase that part, she wasn't ashamed of the fact she placed the paper many times over a light source to try and get a glimpse of the hidden word, only catching o's most of he time if not anything else.

There was only one paper where she was sure she saw an X, she rummaged through the box to find it.

《For now I'll hold onto my boxes, and all that they hold, until you know you're the first one to actually enter that safe place..and hope that you ₩₩₩₩ stay》

No matter how hard she tried, she never saw what was under those scratches, but she will forever be grateful for this letter, the one that inspired her to find a box and put all of them in it.

She carefully placed the new paper over this one, pushed the box under her bed again, hidden by the red and blue covers, and walked out of her room.

"Pomni!" Gangel called from the end of the hall, smiling and waving over to her with a ribboned hand, Pomni walked over to her friend before she'd reach her.

"Hey, Gangel, g'morning"

"Morning!- look, I finished your drawing!" Gangel enthusiastically held up her sketchbook, opened to the paper where she had a sketch of the jester, sitting on the grass, her back to the tree, and the sun behind her, despite he cartoonish style of the way she was drawn, she still looked more realistic than how she does in real- well, digital life, the trees were more boxy and the sun was too rude to Gangel, but in here, they were both silent and peaceful, exactly how nature should be.

"It's beautiful, Gangel" pomni smiled, her eyebrows raised as she took the sketchbook to see it, running her fingers on the texture, on the edges of the of it, not an inch of the paper was left uncolored, which wasn't pleasent to that part of her brain that was searching.

"Here, I want you to keep it!" Gangel took the sketchbook back, and plucked out the paper, handing it to Pomni who took it with such enthusiasm, eyes still glued to the bright colors, until an uninvited shadow loomed over her and the paper, a weight on her head that made her bells jingle.

"Look at that! Made you look better," Jax's sarcasm dripping tone filtered to Pomni's ears, her immediate reaction was of her eyes turning lidded, she could see Gangel with her happy mask still infront of her, and she wanted to keep it that way, "not bad for you, Ribbons, though it's too many colors for my liking" his added words made both of them eye each other.

"Uh.." What left Pomni added more to the awkwardness that was unintentionally created.

Jax reached down and took the paper from her hand, "You're not gonna keep holding that, come on, get ut a frame so I know what to laugh on when I get to your room"

"Wha- Jax!" Pomni ran after the rabbit, leaving a blinking Gangel behind, "i-I liked it, Gangel! Thank you so much!" She looked over her shoulder and waved, before disappearing into her rudely opened room door.

"Wooden frame or white? I think the brown one brings out your eyes"

"Where did you even get the frames from!?"

Jax stood in the middle of her room with two of those items, balancing both, dangling them from the fingers of his right hand, while in his left he held the drawing.

"Your room is a magic box, Pom, I thought you already knew that" he smirked, eyeing the frames, "i guess we are going brown then!" He threw the white one on her head, she yelped and brushed it off her hat, "the frame doesnt even match the size of the paper, Jax!" She exclaimed, exasperated and very concerned for the wellbeing of the drawing.

"Oh look at how smart you are" he mused, flopping down on the bed and throwing the second frame into the large box where he originally found it, Pomni wasn't sure why she suddenly wanted to check if he frame broke or not, "what do you suggest you do then? Hm?"

She snatched the paper from his hands and sat at the edge of the bed, "keep it with the rest of..other things" she slid off the edge of the bed and on her knees to pull out the box.

"You're telling me you keep every piece she makes you?" He raised an eyebrow, laying on his stomach, with his chin in his palms and looking down at where she was on the floor, his smile twitching when the box came out into the sourceless light, piled with all too familiar papers.

"I do, I like them.." Pomni nodded.

"And are all of these her drawings?" His voice was just a bit lower, and she caught on that change quickly, though didnt comment on it, just to see how long it would stay this calm.

"No those..those are personal" she patted the pile, deciding whether to add Gangel's drawing here or not, because she knew who gave her this art, unlike the mystery behind those letters..

"How personal" he pressed on.

"I'm not going to tell you" Pomni looked up at him through her mismatched eyelashes, one of her eyes having the illusion of looking bigger than the other in the process, and Jax snorted, pinching her cheek uncharacteristically, "you silly idiot jester" he laughed, before flopping down on his back on the bed, just so his pupils could grow larger without her noticing, very still as he eyed the odd numbers of the red and blue lines over his head.

While Pomni's eyebrows furrowed momentarily at the weird interaction.

For a few seconds, all that was heard was the rummaging under the bed while Pomni was pulling out the box where she kept Gangel's drawings of her.

"You keep your things in boxes?" He asked, the sound of cardboard on the floor unmistakable.

"I dont have shelves.." she answered.

"You could, I told you, Pom, your room has a lot of things you dont know about.." he shrugged from the bed, not like she could see his shoulders, but his tone was enough of an indication, and her raised eyebrow in answer was also for her own anusement, "And how do you know that?" She quickly regretted her questioning when the golden key of her room dangled from the tip of his yellow gloved finger.

"I dont even know if I want to be mad"

Jax barked a laugh at her words, peeking his eyes from the edge of the mattress again, his bunny ears folded back, "oh come on! Don't you trust me? I'd never take a thing! In fact, I might give!" He defended himself, shifting on his elbow just to place his free hand over his chest to show her, "how generous of you, Jax"

"You dont believe me?" He gasped in faux pain, "and here I thought we were fr- partners in crime! You wound me, Pom pom" he laid on his back, his head dangling off he edge of the bed, ears flopping into the box of letters, Pomni quickly moved them away before he could do any damage without meaning it, "we are, but!-"

"Shh! You said it, thats all I needed as proof" he smirked, winking, one hand digging into his pocket, while the other went to tug at one of her bells, the sound not high enough to deafen Ragatha's calls from outside.

"Everyone! Caine is- back!..we're-"

"Too slow Ragatha!- I AM BACK! AND I HAVE AN ADVENTURE THAT WILL LEAVE YOU ASKING FOR MORE! SO COME ON, SUPERSTARS! MEET ME AT THE STAGE TO TELL YOU AAAAAAALLLLLLL ABOUT IT!"

Pomni felt the last moments of peace shatter inside her heart, biting at her inner cheeks, she let out a silent sigh and placed Gangel's art in the box assigned for its category, pushing it under the bed, her hands reached for the letters box but Jax's hand stopped her.

"Wha-"

"Here, take this" He held out a neatly folded paper, not perfect, a shape she's come accustomed to, her body wired a heartbeat specifically for it, and she felt it got through her at the sight, "well i was going to wait for the night, But since I'm here already, and the box is pretty neat, a five star hotel, then I guess you could receive it earlier"

His words danced in her mind like the jiggling of her bells, it took her long to get used to them both, but still, every time she hears them, it feels like she's discovering a new tune.

When she hesitated to take he paper, Jax held out her hand and placed it in her palm.

"We're coming, Rags!" He called out, jumping off the bed, hands going into his pockets, "don't be long, Pom pom, gotta see if it's your suggestion we're having" he smiled over his shoulder and walked out.

What. Just. Happened??.

Pomni was still sat on the floor, the folded paper in her hands, the phantom of his touches refusing to leave her skin, whether it was a poke to her forehead or the way he was holding her hands, for some reason, his touches always took longer to brush off, and she knew that because she held onto them until he very last second, just like right now, she darent move the paper, atleast for not another second, or until the same curiousity gets the better half and she was opening it.

The unfinished drawing of the daisy she was mindlessly doodling yesterday in the tubes, missing just one petal, and under it, with surprisingly, for the first time, not a single mistake in any word..

The colors on the ceiling dont change, she counted every shade over the course of the months she's lost count of in favor of keeping track of the weird adventures and colorful atmosphere of the circus.

The tubes that stretched over her head for large nonexistent hamsters had Pomni wondering if there was actually a hamster here, since Kinger has his own pillow fort somewhere around, what if the made up hamster person owned this decoration? Was Caine nice enough to make them a whole new set to be added?

Pomni was sure she's never seen him be nice- fully nice, to anyone here, unless he wants to smother them into going on an adventure because he doesnt want another Zooble incident, she figured that he feels left out when someone has bad opinions on his adventures, kind of like a dictator if she was being honest.

Pomni actually looked around, her multicolored irises darting from side to side, she still didnt completely know if Caine can read minds, but until this moment, if he was really capable of doing so, then maybe she would've been on his hate list, or having him all over her trying to figure out where he messed up.

Good for her, she was always on the neutral side of any party, unless it was on the expanse of hurting someone, then she backs away to rethink her options, like when Gangel gets continuesly bullied by Jax, which was, well, the last time this had happened was actually a long while ago, she couldn't recall when that happened, maybe she could've also remembered when the last time she's heard Ragatha scream because of a centipede in her room, the thought brought a confused lopsided twitch of her lips, she's only heard her friend laugh, even spend more time with Zooble if thats possible, which was new, ever since Pomni arrived here, she could distinctively remember how the doll tried to befriend everyone, including Zooble, and for a long time, the jester didnt sleep on the fact that they were both succeeding, and for a good, half a second, life in the circus felt..norma-

"WHAT THE F&@%K!"

The squealed yell tore from her throat faster than the red piece of the tube that cracked for a certain purple rabbit to fall down on top of her, Pomni managed to move away just in time for Jax to lay uncomfortably on her legs, eliciting a wheezing breath from her squished lungs.

"Getupgetupgetup-" she gasped, hitting the floor and shifting to get him off.

While he snapped out of the surprise of the fall and that yellow smirk had his eyes turning into crescent moons, he rested his cheeks on his gloved hands, "if I had known you were as fluffy as a pillow, I would've hoarded you in my room since day one, Pom" he teased, enjoying her wriggling beneath him, every word she wanted to form turning to choked out breaths, he was just waiting for her pearly white skin to start shifting colors, tapping his finger on his cheek with a hum.

"JAX! GET OFF HER- OH MY GOD, POMNI!" Ragatha's worried gasp was carried by her hurried footsteps as she ran from the couch to where Pomni was squished.

Jax rolled his eyes, though made no effort in moving a single muscle off of the jester, "geez, Rags, I'm not doin' anything she cant handle" he mused proudly, "right?" He looked over at Pomni, or at the back of her large blue and red hat, the bells crying for help as se shook her head, and Jax caught the faintest hint of green shifting to yellow and hus face perked up, "Ooh! She's sparkling look!"

Ragatha tugged at her red locks, "JAX!" she gasped, holding Pomni's arms and pulling her from underneath Jax, who yelped and his body shifted on his side at the movement ears flopping back against his skull at the sight of Pomni dizzy head next to Ragatha's.

"You okay?? Are you- can you breathe, Pomni??" Ragatha spoke fast, her hands clasped together, Pomni's eyes were lidded, both from trying to breathe again and from her questioning that made a tiny twinge of irritation bloom in her chest,

"You dont need to coddle me, Ragatha, I'm fine.." she mumbled, rubbing her forehead and standing up on wobbly legs, in all honesty she really didnt need all that worrying, and she didnt feel as annoyed as she thought she'd be, maybe a little surprised from the suddenness of the fall, and confused, oh, right, confused.

"What were you doing up there?" Her gaze went to Jax's, who was still laying on his side like he owned the checkered floor, and the broken piece of the tube that fell just a few squares away behind him.

"Exploring, nothing too fun to do around here" he shrugged, propping his head on his elbow, one foot tapping three times with a rabbit-like manner that had Pomni acting like she didn't see it just so she would see how long he'd keep doing it

"Don't!- donr say that out loud" Ragatha whisper yelled, standing up quickly.

"Say what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Notihng fun to do- Caine could hear you and pop another adventure" she explained in another whisper, Pomni blinked in realization at her words, though Jax was in similar state, he shifted again, on his stomach with his legs moving back and forth behind him.

"Look at you, and here I thought you liked fun adventures, said they were- what was it, a change of routine" he teased, and Ragatha walked closer to whisper even quieter, having Pomni need to lean to hear.

"Yes but it's been..peaceful..for a few days now..no- no adventure, nothing, just..I mean have you noticed that?"

Jax hummed, the act of pretending to think even more annoying than whatever he wanted to say after.

"I have noticed Caine's absence yeah," he chirped, standing up with his hands on his waist, "but it sure was also a biiiiiiit annoying" he smirked.

Ragatha immediately stiffened at this tone, "no please dont!" She stomped her foot on the ground, which only had Jax more smug when his hands went to his mouth as if preparing to shout.

Exasperated, Pomni turns around and walks away, she already prepared for both outcomes, Jax shutting up and going to annoy someone else, or him shouting to Caine to start another adventure after nearly a week of peace, she just had to search for another spot to lay down in, have a few minutes to herself before Caine starts to think loudly with everyone about what he has for this adventure.

"See? You ruined the fun" Jax scoffs, rolling his eyes, hands flying to his pockets as he walks after Pomni.

"Wha- ruined what? What did I do!?" Ragatha huffed loudly, watching them both walk away.

"Say, Pom!-" he called, walking until he fell into step next to her, "didja ever think of writing an adventure in the suggestion box?" He inquired, his eyes fixed on her multicolored ones, watching them change from unamusement to thought, and then right to confusion, "I thought we didnt have that anymore after Caine had us go through-"

"Yeeeaah, the whole suggestions one after another cocktail adventures thingy, yeah thats what he wants us to think, but nah, it's still here" he said proudly, like hes stating a discovery that took months to acquire.

"How did you know?" She blinked, and that seemed to be the right question he was waiting to hear.

"Wanna know what I was doing in those tubes?"

Shortly, after climbing colorful blocks and stacking them as stairs, Pomni followed him to an opening in one of the tubes, not the ones that they ran through in the gun adventure, no the ones they were walking through now were different, these were more colorful, swirling like a rainbow in a hurricane it almost made Pomni feel dizzy, she thought Zooble was colorful but this feels like, oh, maybe this feels like how Zooble must feel when they look in the mirror, and yet again, Pomni found herself immersed in her own thoughts.

"Hey, Poms, you there?" Jax tugged at one of her bells, bringinger her focus back to him, her eyes the only colors he was searching for in this dizzying vortex.

"Hm?" She looked up to the side at him.

"I said are you there?" He repeated, with a bit more urgency than he expected to come from him, but thankful to her still dozing eyes, she didnt pay it much thought.

"Yeah, yeah still.." she trailed off, thinking of the next thing to say, "did you spend the whole day here?" That seemed the most rational to ask.

"Try a couple of days" he shrugged, her raised eyebrow had him seem more confident, "what? It got boring, couldn't find anything better to do" he huffed, their steps echoing in the tube as it changed colors, from primary colors to secondary, the orange seemed to swallow the purple and green, but they were still fighting to keep their presence known.

"Yeah, i-..didnt know what to do to.."

"I know"

"Oh..you..you could've spent time with us, y'know?" She broke the silence after exactly two seconds before it becomes more awkward.

"Ha, with them?" He rolled his eyes at the suggestion, "it would be more fun to watch you lay there and do nothing than to listen to whatever Gangel has to whine about" ad it was, in fact, more fun, as he recalled everything that he has been doing for the past week, walking the tubes back and forth, taking a break from the colors to focus on the primary ones that usually picked her spot on the black and white checkered floors.

He shook his head before he could remember more.

"Nah I'd rather do this"

"And..what's this? Aimless..walking?"

"Aimless!? No I call it exploration"

"You've already said that"

"Of course I did because thats what it is, Poms, it's fun!" He huffed in fond exasperation than anything else, he looked down at the jester and noticed the unreadable expression on her face, maybe if he had spent more time a few feet lower on the floor he would've been able to recognize it.

But somehow, he knew how to reply to it.

"Come on, I'll show you the fun-"

With that, he grabbed her hand and ran.

"JAX!" Pomni yelped as she got comically dragged, her body swaying like a rag doll behind his fast steps as he carried her off the floor.

Pomni had actually stopped expecting many things from Jax, well it was limited when it came to the predictability of the purple rabbit's actions over the course of the week, he was becoming mysterious in an..almost comforting way, like a headache that comes from doing something you like, and you know you've had your best times only when you feel it.

But still, she expected a list of things, one of them was her own laughter, that forced its way from her lungs without her thinking twice, and the other was Jax's.

She's heard Jax laugh, of course she has, on Gangel's mask breaking, on Zooble's outbursts, on Ragatha's screams, hell even on Kinger and Caine.

But him laughing, just for the sake of it, just because something was enjoyable, actually genuinely enjoyable..

She knew seasons dont really exist in this digital world, but just for a second, she swore the pastel colors that the tube turned to just felt like spring, making his fur look more lavender than purple, his eyes more of a sunflower yellow shade, the crescent moons they turned to reminding her of petals that Gangel plucks out and whispers under her breath before giggling at the last one.

Pomni wondered if she would giggle at the last petal too.

She wondered if Jax has ever-

"Here we are!" He came to a halt, one stop, Pomni's arm elongated when the force of the stop had her body continue before settling next to Jax's.

She looked around, it was the end of the tube, but it was also the end of other tubes too, three other that connected to this circle that they were standing in right now, they had walked through the pastel one, another was a neon, one had just one color for every cube, and the last one was transparent.

In the middle, sat a box, plain wood, with a hole for papers to slide through, and sure enough, it was surrounded by many of them, alongside pens and pencils of all colors that seemed to blend in the periwinkle floor.

"Wow so, you've been spending time here.." she mused, Jax let go of her hand to kneel down and gather the papers casually, but the slight tension in his shoulders and he way he picked them up face down gave away just enough of what he had in his twitching lopsided grin, "haa, yeah, writing and stuff, ideas come naturally when you're sitting in a place like this"

He shrugged, collecting them all, dividing the used papers into two sections, one facing up, for Pomni's view, and the other facing down, for her to think about later when she remembers that he hid something behind his back when he sat down and patted the space infront of him with a pen.

"I dont know if I could agree on that" she huffed a chuckle, sitting down and taking the presented pen and paper, though her eyes remained focused on them for just a second, "why?"

"To write!" He exclaimed cheerfully, "gimme your best shot at an adventure" Jax added, encouraging her with holding his own pen and grabbing a bunch of papers.

Pomni eyed what was in her hands and tapped the blue pen on it quietly, chewing on her inner cheeks thinking of what exactly did she want..no really, what did she want?

Any idea she had in mind was too peaceful, she'd end up enjoying it aline, with Ragatha probably liking it too, Gangel as well, maybe Zooble finding it a bit too boring, Kinger was somehow safe no matter what, And Pomni would end up with an incredibly annoyed Jax.

She recalled every adventure they've had, she realized she liked bits of each one, and to put those bits into just one adventure would feel exactly like sitting in this colorful tube.

"You're zoned out again"

"Im thinking"

Jax counted fifteen times that her pen hit her paper, and on the sixteenth she accidently drew a line, "it shouldn't be that hard" he wanted to sound annoying, but the look in his eyes and the way he was losing his grip on his own pen showed that he was far from it.

"It's just..trying to come with something we'd all enjoy" she whispered, biting at her lip and inner cheeks, adding another line to the one she already made.

"Ooh, booyy" Jax groaned loudly, breaking her train of thoughts, "are you serious, pom pom? I bring you all the way here just to think about what's down there?" He scoffed.

"What else am I supposed to think about? I'm writing an adventure" she said softly, eyebrows furrowing, another line joining there and she was starting to see a shape, deciding to continue on what she's doing with it.

"M- yourself? Maybe?? What you would like on adventure?" He folded his arms, his red pen sliding down to her paper, "i know you've got good taste somewhere in that brain of yours" he poked between her eyes, reveling in that split second where they turned to large multicolored circles, much like the picture of her on her room's door.

"Don't you like the beach maybe?"

"Could be fun.."

"Okay- okay we are onto something" he shifted on the floor. "Action- like, fights and yelling and-" the look on her face that seemed to be a forced smile told him everything he needed to know, "okay none of that..eh, puzzles?" He tilted his head to the side, she mimicked it before a soft hum escaped her and a faint nod.

"Maybe? If they're fun to do and not just, straight up trying to make you look stupid then I guess they're fun"

He nodded, "I'm not writing anything by the way, you do that"

"Oh" pomni fixed her hold on the pen to start writing, but Jax slid his paper down to her, "no, use that, keep that one" at his words, her body seemed to go on autopilot as she took the plain paper and moved the one where she was almost done drawing a flower.

The words started to write themselves before she could even realize them, to her utter surprise, Jax was silent the whole time, she couldn't even hear him breathe, at first she was concerned, but then he'd shift a bit, or lean down to peek at the paper, she didnt stop him from doing so, but also didnt move her paper closer, just staying as still as he was, moving when he did.

The moment her paper was done with all the information, she picked it up.

"Now what?"

Jax held her wrist to the box, and the paper got vacuumed by the hole there, "oh!" She raised both eyebrows, "thats all?" She turned to face him.

"Mhm! Now we wait to see if Caine would respone" he shrugged, smiling and letting go of her wrist to lay down on the floor, hands under head.

"How..long?" She blinked.

"Ooooh, thats hard to tell, Poms, sometimes he doesnt reply, sometimes he does, I flood his box with these bad boys so maybe he's all fed up" he barked a laugh, wiping an imaginary tear from under his eye.

Pomni sat there for another two seconds, but before she could speak, a voice called, muffled from feet below, but she could make out the words..

"Pomni!? Pomniii! Where are you?"

"I got all the colors I need! I could draw you now!!"

Gangel's pitched voice came from below, Pomni blinked at the sound before it clicked back to the promise she made to the ribbon girl a few days ago, she'd already drawn Ragatha and Zooble, but for some reason lost all her red and blue pens just before she could draw the jester.

She looked back to Jax, whose gaze was fixed through the transparent tube down to the checkered floor, more silent.

"Uh..i-..I should go.." She said softly, tapping her hands on her legs, drawing his eyes back to her, "they're all too boring, Poms" he whispered, eyes rolling, the only muscle that moved in his body.

"It's fun for Gangel, and she loves to draw"

"And you love to stay still for f!*#^k knows how long until she finishes drawing?"

Pomni's words died in her mouth, she swallowed the sigh and stood up on her feet, "I'll see you around, Jax.." she said, taking a step back, "uh..do come down sometimes.." Pomni smiled, trying with her gloves, "it..can be fun when you're around" she added, watching his square pupils dilate until she could barely see the yellow of his eyes.

"See you, Jax.." she waved.

"Need me to show you the way back?" He said quickly, stopping her in her tracks and catching her surprisingly.

"Uh..down there?" She shrugged her shoulder to the pastel tube.

"Nope, pick any other one, I know all their shortcuts" that same smug smirk returned, and despite the pastel colors being behind her, she still felt the same fluttering feeling in her chest. Pomni walked back to him, standing in the circle and eyeing the three tubes, she eliminated the transparent one, she didnt want anyone seeing them, not because she didn't want then to see her walking with Jax, she just wanted this to be..like this for a while longer, deep in thought, unbeknownst to her, Jax moved from his laying position and grabbed the paper he was sitting on, the one that Pomni had, and placed it on the face down pile, with a blue and red pencil over it to remind him what to come back later, he snatched one of the papers of the stack and folded it into the pocket of his pink overalls, and only when he stood up fast did he make a sound, "so! Decided yet?"

Pomni nodded and gestured to the neon swirling colors of the tube to the left, "good choice, pom pom" he smirked, hands in his pockets as he led the way down.

__________________________

Vox was sure he's never heard something more beautiful in his life.

Sure he has been to parties thrown by companies and producers, grand celebration where he played lord in a sea full of people that unfortunately reminded him of himself, forced himself to listen to all kinds of songs just because he had to interview the artists, smiling even when the lyrics were a nausiance to read let alone listen to, he has been through it all and more.

Sometimes he even hums the songs he had to regretfully listen to, which led to him needing to replace his memory with something more prominent that should be strong enough to reboot his system to a new era of how he truly wanted to be- lyrics that seemed like they were worshipping him, tunes that took him on a Rollercoaster of pride, and fame and that rich feeling of ego he seemed to know all the ways to make people believe he deserves to be fed with..except that is how he imagined himself to be in a couple of days..

Months?..

Okay, maybe Years! What!? No one told him that the path to being an overlord would be burdening him with starting all over again, disregarding all the steps he shot up when he was alive, forgotten all he floors to restart his process, perhaps that is what the real punishment of being in hell was.

What a fucking joke, throwing him in pride ring and crushing every bit of it until his own voice sounded like a disgrace.

There was a time when he first fell into hell where he'd be silent for days, only speaking when he had to save himself from a stronger sinner before he'd turn into a chew toy, and even then, he would not be able to tell if that sinner is laughing at how his screen glitches in time with his staticky nervous voice, or at..everything that he found himself to be in here, at his core, just a screen to display his own image rather than show people who they truly are..

He never knew what his greatest fear was until he got here.

Well, there are a couple of them.

For starters, he could count never changing that head of his.

Many sinners in hell couldn't even recognize what he had for a head, and he lacked the usual charisma to tell them that he used to be the god of what he holds between his shoulders, now reduced to someone afraid of being said deity, in fear of having someone look up at him with the same unsaid words that seethe inside his broken soul.

Second would probably be being alone for a while until he creates his own team.

Find a couple of producers that wouldn't chew his head off, if possible, or exploit him infront of thousands of sinners to enjoy him being he entertainment rather than the one to present it.

His third fear could be he one he never wanted to name.

So for now, he'd enjoy the one thing he thought he had never heard anything better than, even in his afterlife, no, especially in his afterlife..

Two, three, four and the drinks kept coming, the bartender might as well be a millionaire after the many glasses that he and the Radio demon has been sharing for the past hours he forgot to count, the dimly lit bar not helping, turning his brain to mush and any rational thought that he could've had all but leaving him through the static that escaped his embarrassingly mismatched antennas on top of his boxed head, one that he knew he should've seen as more than a screen for his playground, but maybe somewhere to store memories..

Store sounds...

His sound.

No, not his..

Alastor's voice..

He sat next to him on the barstool, the light making his vivid red hair seem tastier than the wine that they had started their night with, those black accents blending into the shadows that danced on his neck and the tips of those fluffy ears, pinned back just out of Vox's eyesight, making his nonexistent heart twist at the sight he missed, busying himself with looking over at other details of the radio demon, his dark forearms, the tips of his claws, the unbuttoned three buttons of his red shirt.

Everything about him was so red it reflected a part of Vox's being that stood out from his usual blues, he almost wished he could see something blue on Alastor too, to satisfy a need he couldn't pinpoint, and it purred in static when Alastor's lidded red eyes shone with a navy shape that could never be mistaken as anything other than the cyan flushed screen of Vox's TV head.

And then that singing voice stopped.

"Are you already at your breaking point, Vincent?"

Vox never had to remind himself of his real name when he was with Alastor, but he always needed a kick to remember to reply to it whenever he called.

"I'm not that weak, Al" Vox scoffed a chuckle, bringing his glass back to his lips for a slow sip, he had to lift it up a bit to get to the stinging liquid, earning a hum from Alastor, who swished his fingers and refilled his glass once it was placed back on the bar.

Vox looked around to see if the bartender noticed and that earned a delightful tune from his partner's throat.

"Searching for rules in hell!? Oh you silly picture box!" He threw his head back, his voice reverberating around the walls of the crowded place, no one paid him any mind, not noticing or too scared to act like they're witnessing a moment of vulnerability from he radio demon, too immersed to notice the flustered state his comment left the few months old sinner in.

"I- was not, no, I wasn't doing- whatever you thought I was..i-"

The more that Vox spoke, the louder that music got, he figured if he continued to test how long he could hold his breath, he'd die with his voice as the last thing on his memory.

But Alastor wouldn't allow the thought to be entertained.

"Mhm, sure you were not, Cher" he hummed, one of his hands rising to rest on Vox's tense shoulder, one of his ears twitching, "shall I ask for another bottle?" He spoke quietly, now that he was closer to him, a distance Vox thought he would have to die to get close to, but then again, he was dead, what more could he lose or have a body part replaced by something else?

"No.." Vox shook his head, taking a long swig of his drink, his throat not burning as much as his unfocused gaze, he couldn't really tell if he was looking at empty glasses or the buried unrequested tears that were stuck between his screen and the real part of him that couldn't escape this image that he sees every morning.

"Vincent.." Alastor whispered, his red claws running over the crinkled material of Vox's blue shirt, brighter than anything he has ever seen in hell.

"What" the snap that escaped his mouth was quickly followed by a trembling breath of realization, maybe a bit of exaggeration to how he interpreted his reaction, his own red eyes widening and he could feel how there were actual gears in his head that stopped, "Al- i..I didnt l- I'm sorry, I didn't..I dont know.." he stammered, the glass forgotten from his shaky hand as it fell with a clatter to the floor, and before the bartender or anyone could notice whose hand let it loose, Alastor was pulling his hand to guide him away from he bar and to the middle of the dance floor.

It wasn't half as crowded as the rest of the place, less sinners interested in dancing than drinking until they gain a new sin.

The music that played sounded like metal burning, if that even made any sense, but nothing seemed to be making sense when Vox was counting how many blinks it would take to stop seeing those transparent shields that restricted his vision from the one thing he was looking to ground himself with.

Thankfully, his hands still worked and he looped them around Alastor's waist.

The height difference wasn't that big, Vox still made it two or three inches taller, but it was still funny to see him leaning down to rest his boxy head on Alastor's shoulder, swallowing one gulp after another like he was attempting to wash off the taste of the alcohol and the words that it was fighting to let loose all together.

Only successfully managing to guide those tears trough the only place they could escape from, out of his eyes, and down his screen, managing to irritate him more into a frustrated bubble of how this worked, oh the nights he spent trying to understand how his screen worked, and the many he spent in experimenting in ways that may not be too pleasent, neither for him nor Alastor..

"What troubles you.." Alastor whispered, one hand at Vincent's lower back and the other holding his to the side, swaying them to a tune that only plays when these two come along, in fear? Because of a request? Both?

The words stuck in Vincent's throat when he tried to speak, he was never one to hide how he truly felt from Alastor, drunk or not, he wore his emotions on his sleeve when it came to him.

But there were times when he was even afraid of his own words.

And those were the times that Alastor didnt speak, just let them forget it was hell that brought them together, let them forget that every sin they have ever committed, got them to this very moment that silenced any other sound than the one that their frequencies had harmonized to.

Alastor swayed them from side to side, resting the side of his head on Vincent's, the low hum of the machinery was soothing, mimicking the rare purrs that escape the deer demon on occasions like these, ones where he allowed Vincet to close his eyes but his remained alert, constantly searching for anything that dares remind them of this hell, but it wouldn't be until Vincent hugs tighter, slowly using his own body to dance, that Alastor lets himself loose from the tension he holds off of his lover's shoulders.

"Al.." he whispered.

"Yes, Cher?"

"What do you think.. sometimes.." Vincent added, rejecting the pause that demanded entry after Alastor's grant for listening.

"Think of what exactly?" Alastor pressed on gently, his red claws absentmindedly drawing shapes on his back, like they were urging Vincent to melt more than he already was in his arms.

"Everything.." he whispsred. The listen could go on and on of the things that he wanted to hear, not precisely about hell itself, but about the consequences of existing in it, what burdens it laughs when it throws on its newcomers, things that Vincent conditioned himself to hear.

Alastor borrowed that pause, the deep thinking was because he was choosing his words carefully, handpicked like toying with a dog by saying "park" and "food" repeatedly, but Vincent was no dog.

He may act like one sometimes, like now, but it wasn't time to tease him about it.

"It's better than I could've imagined.." he finally whispered.

"All of it?" Vincent asked eagerly, not even denying the tremble in his voice anymore, not when his tears had long soaked Alastor's shoulder.

The Radio demon guided them to a slower sway, bringing Vincent's face up to meet his gaze, red on red, reflecting more colors than they both thought achievable, his red claws traced the cyan of Vincent's screen, marveling at something he laughed on when he was alive, hated and lived just to be greater than, now he holds with too much softness, too gentle to be rivalry, warm enough to be a deep sense for connection only hours spent in exploring each other's minds and thoughts through laughter and whispers could come up with.

"Especially you, Vincent.." came that melodious reply, Alastor had a great ability in soothing Vincent's fears, he may not use the same words but it was his presence that made them all feel like the same kind of medicine that always worked, miraculously so that Vincent's knees would've wobbles if it wasn't for Alastor to lead him back on track with the song in the background, one that didnt matter anymore, Vincent searched his head for anything to say, his words betrayed him, the moment seemed all too perfect to be ruined by his babbling, but Alastor's eyes, they shone in a way that he swore it wasn't because they were both drunk, but every flutter of his eyelashes encouraged him to talk.

"I love you.." Vincent choked out, and the song never broke.

"And i love you, Vincent.." Alastor replied, the melody never wavered.

Even when the tunes sometimes sounded like an off-key from a piano, brought though a memory when he was learning something new, even when there are no instruments in sight, just their lips, translating songs he only wished to hear, like the way he breathes, the way he laughs whenever he gets too near, like an angel's whisper that scandalously escaped through the pearly gates, which one was it, they never asked, for they both would trade all the lights in the past, for glittering eyes with colors unlike any other, for they are sinners, all they hear is eternal bliss when they all warn of death, but how can one die when they feel seen in someone's arms? No they're sinners, one that plays god with a mind that looks above but a heart that kneels blindly while falling for a voice that is all he hears, because through every imperfect tune, a memory they will live, a day that's written for them, one to be harmonized in the future they will build, with every whisper shared, they will find a song

__________________________

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!!