#jesterribbons

Her crying pauses for a moment, like she wants to say something in return but holds her tongue instead, letting the Jester finish her ministrations. And she didn’t lie; her movements are soft, and it feels so careful that even the tightest parts of the knot, when pulled, only feel like a pinch rather than a tug.

It came with no warning, but after another couple minutes, Pomni started humming a quiet melody. It wasn’t anything special, but the hum seemed to still calm them both down.

It was nostalgic, an old but warm memory of Gangle crying when she was a child and her grandmother tucking her into bed. Or when she was upset. A simple gesture that reminded her of a peaceful time that now felt like an impossibly long time ago.

Back when they weren’t in the circus, back when she was human, back when remembering was only in the real world. Before she dropped out of art school, before the dead-end job, before… she felt sad all the time.

Pomni actually sounded nothing like her grandmother, but the soft vibrations that went through the room felt like they surrounded her like a warm blanket. Worries emptied out of her, if only for a moment. For the first time in longer than Gangle can remember, she lets go. Allowing herself to relax and let someone else completely take the reins.Because this someone was someone who made her feel safer than any other ever could, and soon Gangle’s tears stopped leaking and her sharp inhales of breath evened out.

For once letting go of the little control she held on much too tight to keep herself sane. To the pretty jester who took more care and kindness just to bring her comfort in any way she could. 

It’d only been months, and Pomni had made Gangle feel like she could do a lot of things she never thought she could do. Pomni was so smart, went to school, and finished quicker than anyone could, and still she made Gangle feel like the world within her reach. She’d point out her highlights she didn’t even know she had. Pomni would say she was strong or resilient and always have a way to back it up. There were never empty compliments with her.

The way they could laugh together felt special. They had a similar taste in humor, and Gangle found herself in full laughing fits at times instead of the smallest giggle. And the way Pomni would light up when Gangle let out a bigger laugh than normal, as if she just won the lottery. Makes something in her nonexistent heart melt.

She always wonders if Pomni feels the same. Gangle does her best to return the gestures, but it always seems like she doesn’t take compliments well, because her face always gets red and she looks away. 

Gangle remembers a specific adventure where Pomni landed face first into the virtual ocean, artificial sea creatures stuck to her face, and Gangle helped pull them off. Her ribbon fingers worked hard to take the starfish off, but it left little suction marks under her eyes. 

Touching little marks on her white skin seemed to bum her out as much as looking at her reflection. She mentioned in real life she had freckles too, and they always annoyed her. So Gangle told her, “I’m not saying you are wrong on how you feel, but, uh, I think they make you look more beautiful!”

Pomni stayed silent, her eyes seeming to widen by the second, looking straight at Gangle, and she already feels less confident with her tragedy mask on but starts to backpedal, thinking she upset her newest friend. “Sorry, Pomni! I know you just said you don’t like something, and I just pushed against it anyway. B-b-but I think you’re great, so I just…”

They both went quiet, and Pomni’s face softened, realizing she was freaking Gangle out at her silence. Her gloved hand slips into the red ribbon and squeezes lightly, causing Gangle to let out a surprised squeak. “It’s okay. I just grew up with people around me making fun of my freckles, even my cousins. No one's ever said they made me look beautiful. Especially not ‘more’ beautiful.” She tucks a strand of brown hair out of her face and looks up at Gangle with a small smile. It looks nervous but also the most genuine one Gangle has ever seen from her.

So, with a melting heart and bravery she didn’t think she ever had, she lightly squeezes the gloved hand back. Barely more than a touch, and smiles back. The action heats their cheeks more than the blazing sun, and they’re lost in their own world before they’re roughly reminded of their reality when a wave you only see in horror films hits them like a truck.

The humming stops, and the calmed face of the mask almost asks why before Pomni taps one of her back ribbons and says with a soft giggle, “Wake up, sleepyhead. Just one last knot, but I need to move your head.”

Red ribbons shift and shine under the room's warm light as she gets up. Gangle rubs her eyes and does a little yawn and stretch, and she swears she hears a small, “So cute.”

Pomni starts to unknot the last ribbons near her head, and Gangle curves her mask so it can get through the last hoop and almost falls over just as she’s about to finish, but Pomni catches her face in her hands and smiles, “Gotcha!”

Pomni giggles, and Gangle giggles back. As Gangle goes to move the rest of her body up, their laughter gets louder, much too loud for this late at night, and the sad mask only meant for crying only lets out happy tears now.

Their foreheads meet as their laughing calms down once more, and there’s another thing Pomni so casually added to the list of things Gangle never knew she could do. Be happier in her sad mask than any other.

“Thank you, Pomni. For everything.” Gangle moves her head back and forth as if they both had noses to rub each other, but all the same, it causes pink to fill Pomni's cheeks, and she does it back.