#ribbit mentioned

Even on the rare days when Caine didn’t announce a brand-new adventure with enough fireworks to make everyone’s ears ring, something was always happening in the circus. Gangle was worrying about something, Ragatha was trying to keep everyone together, Kinger was talking about bugs or dimensions, and Zooble was probably somewhere complaining about everything.

And then there was Jax. Jax was always laughing, usually at someone else’s expense. Pomni had learned that pretty quickly.

“Seriously?” Pomni groaned as she stared at the mess Jax had left behind. “You replaced my room’s door with a giant cardboard sign that says ‘Definitely Not Pomni’s Room’?”

Jax leaned against the wall, grinning. “Yeah. Pretty clever, right?”

“No.”

“Come on, it’s a little funny.”

“It’s not.”

There was a pause.

Pomni crossed her arms and tried to look annoyed, but Jax noticed the tiny smile she was trying to hide.

“Aha,” she said, pointing. “You laughed.”

“I did not.”

“You totally did.”

“I was having a facial malfunction.”

“Sure, sure.”

Pomni rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help it. Jax was irritating. She was rude, she was impossible. But lately, she had started noticing something. She was always watching.

Whenever she got overwhelmed, she noticed before anyone else. Whenever she looked like she was about to panic, she would suddenly appear with some ridiculous distraction. Like the time she was trapped in a maze during one of Caine’s adventures. Pomni had been sitting against a wall, shaking.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered. “I can’t keep pretending this place doesn’t scare me.”

Then, out of nowhere.

“Wow,” Jax said, stepping into view. “You’re really having a dramatic moment here. Should I leave and come back with a sad violin?”

Pomni looked up, annoyed.

“Jax.”

“What? I’m helping.”

“You’re making fun of me.”

“Exactly.”

She frowned. “That’s helping?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “Because if I’m annoying you, you’re not panicking.”

Pomni blinked. For once, Jax wasn’t smiling like she had won a joke. She just looked… serious.

“You’re okay,” she said quietly. “You’re still here. That’s something.”

Pomni stared at her. Jax immediately looked away.

“Anyway,” she said quickly, “don’t make this weird. I have a reputation to maintain.”

A small smile appeared on Pomni’s face. “You’re actually terrible at being nice.”

“I’m not nice.”

“You just helped me.”

“I helped myself. You were being depressing.”

“Jax.”

“Fine. Maybe a little.”

After that day, things slowly changed. Not dramatically, not like some big magical moment. Jax was still Jax. She still pulled pranks, she still teased Pomni. She still called her “Pom-Pom” just to annoy her. But now, sometimes, when nobody was looking, she would sit beside her. No jokes, no tricks. Just sitting.

One evening, Pomni found her staring out at the digital sky.

“You’re quiet,” she said.

Jax glanced over.

“Wow. Didn’t know you could notice that.”

“I’m serious.”

She shrugged.

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

Jax was silent for a moment. Then she smirked.

“Thinking about how weird it is that out of everyone here, you’re probably the one person who doesn’t completely hate me.”

Pomni tilted her head.

“I don’t hate you.”

“That’s surprising.”

“You’re annoying.”

“True.”

“You’re selfish.”

“Also true.”

“You make everything harder.”

“Wow, you’re really selling this friendship.”

Pomni smiled.

“But…”

Jax raised an eyebrow.

“But?”

She looked down.

“But you’re also the person who makes me laugh when I don’t think I can.”

For once, Jax didn’t have a joke ready. The silence stretched. Then she looked away, ears slightly pink.

“...Don’t say stuff like that.”

“Why?”

“Because then I have to be nice back.”

Pomni giggled.

“Would that be so bad?”

Jax sighed dramatically.

“Yeah. Ruins my whole mysterious, terrible-person image.”

“You never had one.”

“Wow.”

They sat together beneath the strange digital stars. Neither of them knew how long they would be trapped in the circus. Neither of them knew if they would ever find a way out. But for the first time since arriving, Pomni didn’t feel completely alone.

And for someone like Jax—someone who always hid behind jokes and sarcasm—having someone who understood her was a little scary. But maybe… just maybe… it wasn’t a bad thing.

“Hey, Pomni?”

“Yeah?”

“If you tell anyone I was nice to you, I’ll deny it.”

Pomni smiled.

“Deal.”

“And I mean it.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

A pause.

“...You’re still keeping the cardboard sign, though, right?”

Pomni looked over at her.

“No.”

“Wow. Heartless.”

“Jax.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll make you a better one.”

“You’re making me a new door?”

“Don’t push it.”

Pomni laughed. Jax smiled. Not her usual teasing smile. A real one. Just for a second. Pomni softly laughs.

“You’re silly.”

Like how being in the same room—sitting only a few feet apart—holds a divide greater than being trapped in the circus, separated from the outside world.

Like how seeing Jax smile at Pomni the same way he used to with Ribbit creates an unmistakable pain that wells deep inside the stuffing of Ragatha’s chest. Because after years of trying to reach him again, Pomni did it in mere months.

HOCAS POCUS YOU ARE A PLUSHIE

( Ribbit is now a plushie)

wait what-

(Puffs into an adorable plush)

(Ooc: UGH I NEED A RIBBIT PLUSHHHH AND NOT JUST THE TINY ONE I ALREADY HAVE!!!)

( here’s a super cool Ribbit plus design made by @frukits !! Definitely go check them out!)

https://www.tumblr.com/frukits/813725975993090048/i-want-this-at-the-end-of-episode-9-plz