#fluff jax

"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?"