putting the bee in lesbian

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Mid-adventure, Jax and Pomni had found themselves taking shelter in a small cave. The group had split up, and some time ago the “sky” had opened up in a downpour, leaving the two of them to find somewhere to go. The space was big enough for them both to fit, though Jax couldn’t stand up straight, and they really only had about two feet between them.

“Why does weather even exist in this place?” Pomni stuck her hand through the threshold of the cave, feeling it hit her gloved hand and part of her forearm. It felt about as real as everything else.

“Why does anything exist in this place?” Jax replied, voice relaying only boredom. He was sitting against the cave wall, legs crossed, resting his cheek on his palm. Pomni shrugged in reply, pulling her hand back inside.

They’d been waiting for the rain to stop for a while, for a reason Pomni wasn’t quite sure of. Jax seemed frustrated with being stuck, but seemed to be avoiding going back out into the downpour.

“The others are probably back at the circus by now,” Pomni said quietly, looking again out of the cave entrance. She heard Jax huff behind her, knowing he was rolling his eyes without having to look.

“I’m sure they are,” he deadpanned. “But what difference does it make being here or there? Same prison, different walls.” Pomni began to feel frustration rising over Jax’s indifference.

“Better than being in a cold, dark cave,” she mumbled.

Jax pulled his knees up to his chest, and she watched his face betray him, before he smiled again and tilts his head in the way that she knew meant he was about to be coy at best, or cruel at worst.

“Why so eager to get back? You promise Ragatha you’d kiss by the playground today or something?” Jax leaned forward, beginning to intrude on Pomni’s space. She stepped back, tripping over a rock and landing on the hard cave floor, barely missing hitting her head on the wall. She gritted her teeth and glared at Jax.

“Do you have to be this insufferable all of the time?” She asked, knowing the answer she was going to get.

“I don’t have to do anything,” he laughed. “I do it because it’s funny.” Jax was looking at her, grinning, pupils wide.

He was being difficult on purpose. Pomni knew by now not to let herself be roped into his moods. But something about this time, really feeling stuck with him, frustrated her. She wasn’t going to let him antagonize her.

“I’m going to see if I can find the others,” she declared finally, standing back up. Jax’s eyes went wide and his pupils shrank, before a lazy smile returns to his face.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he sighed, leaning his head back. Pomni turned to look at him, wondering if he had any legitimate reason for avoiding the rain. “Might catch a cold.” Jax winked and Pomni scoffed at him, again feeling annoyed at his attempts to goad and irritate her.

“Fine, stay here. I don’t care. I’m leaving.” She stepped out into the rain, one hand shielding her eyes. She didn’t look back at Jax as she left, at least not long enough to see his brows knit together.

Pomni did not find the others, rather she found the portal they’d likely gone through back to the Circus. Soaked and shivering, and feeling a little hurt that the others seemingly hadn’t even attempted to find her and Jax, she stepped through the portal.

The bright lights and colors of the open floor of the Circus made Pomni flinch as she stepped through, water already pooling around her on the tiles.

“Pomni!” Ragatha’s voice grabs her attention, and she feels, more than sees, the other cast members approaching her quickly. “Where have you been, it’s been hours!”

“Jax and I… we got stuck in the rain so we waited in a cave,” Pomni, explained, voice wobbling as she shivered. “Where were you?”

“We called for you, but you guys must not have heard us. Where did you guys even end up?” Ragatha fidgeted anxiously with her hands. “Caine pulled us from the adventure early after Zooble started pulling themself apart in frustration… It’s weird that he didn’t bring you and Jax back.”

“Where is Jax?” Gangle asked, looking to the portal, as if expecting him to stride through any moment.

“I… I don’t know. We ended up far from the portal location. It took me a while to find it.” Another shiver ripped through Pomni as she spoke. “I left him, he didn’t want to come with me to find you guys.”

“Smartest decision he’s ever made,” Zooble muttered, sitting on a chair off to the side. Pomni wasn’t sure what they meant by that.

Ragatha frowned, looking down at Pomni’s shaking frame. The latter suddenly snapped forward, sneezing, before a look

of shock fell over her face. This was not something she’d experienced at all since she’d joined the circus.

“Oh, goodness!” Ragatha gasped, hands moving to grab Pomni’s shoulder. “Let’s get you dried off, okay? We can worry about Jax later.”

Once Ragatha had made sure Pomni was dried and warm, she left the younger woman to herself to rest a little. Ragatha had seemed concerned, almost doting in a way. Pomni wondered if there was something wrong, if something had happened. The others had looked at her warily, a kind of worry in their expressions.

Eventually, after several more hours of waiting, Jax did make his way through the portal. Only Kinger, inside his pillow fortress, was left on the open floor, not that Jax would have known if he was there or not.

Jax wandered around for a while, not seeing anyone else as he did so. Their typical “dinner” time drew close, and Jax began to wonder if the others had even come back at all. If they’d found Pomni, or the other way around. Not that it mattered. He was used to being alone, he liked being alone. He wouldn’t have cared if none of them ever came back. After a while, he took his usual seat at the dining table, deciding that if they came back, they’d show eventually.

And they did, slowly trickling in. Kinger showed up first, and then Ragatha. Gangle and Zooble came in together, having a conversation no one else was permitted to hear. Pomni was the last to arrive, having been late enough where Jax noticed Ragatha, Zooble and Gangle exchanging looks with each other before she got there. Jax had begun to wonder if she’d ever actually made it back to the circus.

When Pomni did show up, she looked miserable. Slouched and shaking, she had dark rings under her eyes, and was audibly sniffling. She was cold and achy, feeling every bit like she’d come down with a bad cold in the real world.

“Look who finally decided to join us!” Jax teased. “Took ya long enough!”

Ragatha glared at him, a silent warning him to behave. She then offered a small, warm smile to Pomni. Pomni said nothing, only taking her seat and huffing through her mouth.

“Someone’s in a mood,” Jax pushed, knowing he was going too far. But going too far worked.

“Shut the f—k up, Jax,” Zooble snapped, slamming a hand on the table.

“I don’t see how I’ve done anything wrong here.” Jax argued, frustratingly calm. “I’m engaging in playful conversation! Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Pomni interrupted by coughing softly into her fist, and Jax looked over to see her move into resting her head in her palms. He ignored the feelings of guilt deep in his gut that he didn’t like.

“Someone not feeling well? I tried to warn you,” Jax said, pushing food around his plate, but not actually lifting any to his mouth. Pomni looked up, realization hitting her.

“You were being serious…” she said, almost a question. Jax felt another hit to his gut, hearing how tired and congested Pomni’s voice sounded.

“Sure, I was being serious. What? Did you think I was just f—ing with you or something?” Jax laughed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair so it was balancing on the back legs. Pomni’s eye twitched.

“Of course I thought you were f—ing with me!” She yelped. “You barely even tried to stop me!”

“I figured you’d been here long enough to figure out how things work. You know how Caine loves his goofy cartoon logic.”

Pomni stared at Jax for a while, eyes hard, despite how tired they seemed. Eventually, she looked down, sniffling. She felt frustrated and exhausted and every part of her body was aching and heavy.

“I don’t feel well. I don’t want to do this right now,” she mumbled, sounding completely defeated. She stood, pushing her chair away from the table, wrapping her arms around herself. Ragatha stood as well, gently approaching Pomni with an outstretched hand.

“Poor thing,” Ragatha sighed, putting a soft hand to Pomni’s forehead. A sentiment Pomni would have steadfastly rejected, had she been in better shape. “You feel warm… I was afraid this would happen. Come on, you should lie down.” The two of them walked away, back towards the bedrooms. As they left, Zooble turned to look at Jax.

“You are such an a—hole,” they spat, smacking the back of Jax’s head. He glared at Zooble, pretending not to watch Ragatha and Pomni leave.

As Ragatha opened the door to Pomni’s room, Pomni sighed, before her breath hitched and she sneezed quietly into her fist. Ragatha frowned at her, brows knit together, worried.

“I’m sorry about this,” she said, closing the door behind them, shutting out the light from the hallway.

“Not like it’s your fault,” Pomni replied, sniffling again. “How does this even work, I don’t even have a nose,” she huffed in frustration, sinus congestion heavy in a place it physically shouldn’t be. Ragatha laughed a little, smiling sympathetically. “I can’t believe I caught a cold from the rain.”

“It’s one of those things in this place that doesn’t really make sense,” she explained. “Like Jax said, it’s just the ridiculous cartoon rules built into the nature of the Circus.”

Pomni sat on her bed, another chill making her shiver. Every day she became more and more disturbed by how real everything in the circus felt. She felt the headache, the sore throat, the heavy stuffiness in her head exactly like it would be in the real world. In some ways, it was a comfort, to feel something so real, so earthly and human. In other ways, it was a heart-sinking reminder that the circus had complete custody of her.

“This has happened before…” Pomni said, pulling her legs up onto the bed to cross in front of her. Ragatha sighed, sitting cross legged herself on the floor. Pomni’s breath caught and she sneezed, again, into her arm.

“Bless you!” Ragatha said, almost cooing in a way that resembled pity, and Pomni resented it. “And yes, it’s definitely happened before,” she breathed, clearly trying to keep her tone positive. “More than you might think, actually.” Pomni nodded, mouth a tight line, looking down at her hands. “Everyone here has gotten sick.”

Pomni tried not to smile at the thought of Jax being humbled by a simulation of the common cold. She doubted he would have been a cooperative patient, though she chose to keep the thought to herself, sniffling again, wincing at the feeling.

“But Caine… doesn’t he…?” Pomni started asking, looking at Ragatha for some type of reassurance.

“It’s not really in Caine’s realm, I don’t think. Usually he does have power over our bodies, but… this kind of thing seems outside of his control for one reason or another,” Ragatha said, watching Pomni nod in frustrated silence. “On the bright side, these things don’t last as long in here as they do on the outside! You should be feeling better in a few days.”

Pomni nodded again, her eyes feeling heavy. She felt genuinely awful, in a way she hadn’t felt since before entering the Circus. She wanted sleep more than anything. She figured in here sleep wouldn’t help, not the way it helps on the outside. But it couldn’t hurt, especially when she was this exhausted. Besides, though Pomni knew she meant well, Ragatha’s mothering nature was starting to get to her, and Pomni really just wanted to be left alone for a while.

“I’m sorry, I should let you rest,” Ragatha apologized, standing quickly. “Sleep helps pass the time at least. If you need anything, you know where we’ll be.”

Pomni closed her eyes before Ragatha had even left the room, hearing her soft footsteps and the click of the door. She fell asleep feeling feverish and heavy, her brain feeding itself strange dreams.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep for, when she startled awake, hearing her door creak open. Light from the hall peaks in through a crack, and she was expecting Ragatha to poke her head in to check on her. Instead, she saw a large paw step into the room. Even in a half-sleep state, she noticed how gently Jax seemed to be moving. She didn’t miss the way he kept the door as closed as possible, as if trying not to let too much light in.

“Jax?” Her voice was hoarse, almost gone, and it hurt to talk.

She saw Jax’s body go rigid for a brief moment, though she was unable to see his face, backlit by the light from the door. When he moved again, he closed the door behind him. Pomni wondered if Ragatha had chewed him out and made him apologize for being an ass, though Pomni thinks she would have made him wait until she woke on her own.

“Jax, what are you doing?” she asked, moving into a half-sitting position. Her eyes adjusted to the returned darkness, and she saw Jax hovering by the door. She heard him suck in a breath through his teeth, before he took another step closer to the center of the room.

“Relaaax, I didn’t come here to watch you sleep or anything creepy,” he said, holding his hands up in front of him.

“Okayyy…” Pomni prompted, waiting for him to explain what he was doing.

“I’m sure Rags already told you how… this… works,” Jax continued, waving his hands around in a vague gesture. Pomni nodded, slowly, eyes wide as she tried to figure out what exactly Jax was trying to say.

Before he had a chance to speak again, Pomni sneezed suddenly. She was becoming frustrated with the feeling, and it seemed impossible to relieve it in any way. Despite tilting her head away from Jax, she didn’t miss the way he cringed slightly. He didn’t move away from her though, and if Pomni didn’t know any better, she would have thought it was out of sympathy.

“Ha, yeah, that’s one of the worst parts,” Jax said, clearly trying to commiserate. Pomni observed him for another moment, before her curiosity got the better of her.

“How many times have you gotten this?”

Jax averted his eyes for a second, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“Unimportant. It is contagious, by the way, and you sound terrible,” He answered, laughing, but keeping his eyes somewhere off to the side. Pomni stared at him through half-lidded eyes.

“Was there a reason you came in here?” She demanded, her tone laced with irritation. Her head was still pounding, and if Jax had come in solely to piss her off, she was going to strangle him. Jax finally looked at her directly again, his expression difficult to read for once. He took a second to answer, looking at Pomni’s face, as if grasping for something to say.

“Just wanted to make sure this wasn’t the thing to make you abstract,” he said, shrugging. “You never know.”

“Right.”

Jax stood in silence for another moment, once again looking anywhere but Pomni. Despite feeling somewhat irritated that Jax had woken her up, it felt clear to her that he truly hadn’t come in just to screw with her. Whether or not he actually thought she’d abstract was irrelevant. He’d wanted to check on her. She wondered if anyone else knew where he was.

“You should go,” Pomni said, her voice softer this time. “Wouldn’t want you to catch this, right?” Jax’s attention snapped to her, and he looked almost lost for a second before blinking, as if regaining clarity.