Elsewhere, Zooble is broken down in hysterics over the fact Jax’s voice is lagging a minute behind his mouth.

And Pomni, in regular Pomni fashion, is slumped against the wall nursing an stress-headache. She has no idea where gangle and Ragatha went, but presumably they haven’t died, since no cannons or buzzers have gone off yet….ugh, that feels life a reference to something. Pomni groans, rubbing her head. It doesn’t help.

She feels like she’s made of rubber. Her gloves are borderline sticky, squeaking whenever she closes her fists— it’s infuriating, but hell if she has the energy to be annoyed by it right now. She’s more bothered by that nagging itch on the inside of her head, a movie, or a…show, or…. Something. She was referencing something there, but it’s going to drive her crazy if she thinks about it any longer…

“Wh— did you goddamn MUTE me?”

Jaxs’ voice asks, meanwhile his body is already pouting on the floor. Zooble is wheezing helplessly, beating a fist against their knee. Pomni just rolls her eyes. She’s too tired to find the shenanigans funny. God, she just wants to go home…

There’s a quiet ‘ahem’ from down the hall, and Pomni wearily looks up.

Its Kinger.

“Hello.”

He says softly. He stands half-in half-out of the shadows, just behind a pile of collapsed mannequins. His eyes gleam in the low light. “Could you please move these for me? My hands are full, and I don't have…knees….”

Pomni blinks. They are full. Full of…

Pomni sits up straight, her mouth falling open. Caine. Kinger is holding Caine. Caine, who is not moving, nor floating, nor yelling anything about bees. He’s just — laying there, limp, eyes closed, ragdolled in Kingers arms. Is he asleep?? Can AI’s sleep??? Why is he letting Kinger do that, is that normal, does Kinger have — old man privileges??

“Jeffrey f%^king Christ.”

Zooble accurately sums up, avoiding the circus filter like one avoids a speeding ticket by popping a wheelie. Jax has hopped to his feet and is violently miming ‘what the fuck is up with that since when was that a thing’ to the left of them, and Pomni has just sort of zoned out. Her mouth is slightly open, one hand still perched at her pounding forehead.

A beat passes, and Kinger just…blinks at them, like he’s surprised at the question.

“…He…” The chess piece frowns, looking down at the ringmaster in his arms. He seems troubled. “I don’t know what I did. Dr football was involved, though.”

Kinger is holding him so gently. They kind of look like those weird nativity paintings. Pomni stares at the pair for a solid minute, completely spacing out on that thought. …Wait, who the fuck is dr football.

“Who?”

Pomni asks, coming back to her senses. She peers at Kinger, trying to gauge how sane he is at the moment. Probably not very. Would sane Kinger even trust Caine? She wonders, wincing as Kinger meets her eyes dead on. He blinks groggily, squinting like he’s still working on figuring out who she is.

“…A doctor.”

He mumbles, then yawns. It’s…really weird to see him do that when he doesn’t have a mouth. Glancing over at the others, Pomni sees they aren’t faring any better than she is. Zooble still looks shocked, and Jaxs eyes are as wide as dinnerplates— Wait, this is weird enough to shut him up? How unusual IS this?

It’s pretty dark here…pomni observes. I wonder if he is sane.

“Kinger, you sure you didn’t mess with Caine?” Zooble asks warily, glancing at Jax. “Or, like, break him? Because things are kind of…”

Zooble trails off. Kinger is listing slowly to the left, eyes mostly closed, his head nodding like he’s about to drop off.

“…Weird, right now.”

They finish lamely, their brow furrowing.

“Is…is he really falling asleep? We can do that?”

Pomni ask and Jax shakes his head vigorously. He jabs a finger at Caine, and makes a weird gesture with his other hand, swirling a finger around by his ear. ‘What??’ Pomni mimes back, and Jax rolls his eyes. His mouth starts moving— his voice is still lagging, right— but no matter how hard Pomni squints and tilts her head, she can’t make it out. You can’t lipread someone without lips, after all.

Where’s Ragatha when you need her? Pomni wonders, giving Kinger a nervous side eye. He looks— well, he looks asleep. Which, if she’s going to listen to Jaxs aggressive miming, isn’t normal.

Pomni frowns, her gaze drifting to Caine. Kinger hasn’t dropped him— in fact his grip on Caine might be the most steady thing about him right now— and, weirdly enough, he looks almost…peaceful. He shouldn’t, he’s crumpled up in odd directions and she’s 90% he’s not supposed to clip into himself that much, but he comes off as relaxed anyway. Pomni frowns— Maybe if he sleeps, we all have to? No, that’s stupid…

Ugh, her head hurts from all these stupid questions.

Zooble suddenly sighs, rubbing the place a nose would be. They look tired. …oh god, wait, is this going to turn into some kind of sleep-virus!? Pomni shuffles a little bit away from Kinger, just to be sure.

“No we can’t sleep, jingles! What the f%$k!”

Jaxs voice finally blurts out, his body still glaring at the sleeping(?) Caine. Zooble reluctantly backs him up, saying;

“Yeah, it’s— well, we can, but not during adventures. That’s weird. Something something, 100% participation…”

They wave a backwards hand vaguely. The way they’re mumbling is not helping her anxiety. Pomni’s face scrunches up— God, she just thought she was stressed, what if this is a sleep virus…

“Hgwuh?” Kinger mumbles, lifting his head. “Screensavers? Huh?”

“Nothing, Kinger,”

Pomni insists quickly, “...How about we just get you back to the circus, okay?”

The three exchange glances, and Jax nods vigorously. Zooble shrugs their agreement.

“The…Adventures over?”

He asks, through another yawn.

“Adventures over.”

Zooble replies gruffly, nodding and starting to guide him (very carefully, so as to not accidentally touch Caine) down the hall. Pomni and Jax follow, exchanging various glances.

“Oh…that’s alright then.”

Kinger mutters.

He’s holding Caine very tight.

 

 

Ragtha reacts to seeing caine in kingers arms much the same way as you'd react to a spider in the bathtub. Gangle just stares at them really hard and fidgets with her ribbons, and bubble…uh…says a slur. Which, for the people who haven't heard one in a long time was weirdly refreshing, but for Pomni was just kind of weird.

When they get back to the circus– through the “winners door” at the mazes center; a very easy trek, since no enemies are spawning now– Kinger immediately beelines for the couch. Pomni tries to ask him if Caine has room of his own, or even try to steer him towards his fort, but Kinger will have none of it.

He collapses onto the couch (caine still in his arms) and immediately conks out. Apparently, he snores.

Pomni fetches a pillow for them anyway. Ragatha, despite seeming massively disturbed by the whole event, helpfully drags out a quilt from her room.

“So, uh…has this not, y'know, happened before?”

Pomni asks, standing to the side as Ragatha gingerly tucks the quilt around them.

Ragatha shakes her head.

“No…No it hasn't. But, I'm sure it's fine…!”

She smiles in that thin way Pomni has come to mistrust.

“S-Sorry, I’m still a bit shaken up from all the guns…Kinger and Caine have been around a really, really long time, so I’m sure this isnt…bad…or anything. If anyone knows what to do about this, its kinger, haha!”

She sounds more like she's trying to convince herself than anything. There are singemarks in her hair from the blaster shots, and the lines around her eyes betray how tired she is. Her hands are shaking as she tucks the quilt.

“Sorry, I- I know today was stressful. I should be more confident about this.”

Pomni glances at Caine. Comatose, peaceful.

“...hey, um…”

Ragatha looks up. Pomni fiddles with her hands for a moment.

“...The maze is still open. Everyone else is gone, and the enemies won't trigger, so…If you want to go unwind, I saw a flower garden somewhere in there.”

Ragatha seems momentarily stunned by the offer. Then she smiles, and Pomni realizes this might be the first time she's seen her do it genuinely. Its…Nice.

“O-Of course I would! That sounds wonderful!!”

She glances back at Caine, tapping her fingers nervously. “Uh, you don't think caine will be mad, do you?”

“That we’re spending more time in his adventures?”

“Good point.”

As the two walk away toward the open portal, Kinger and Caine are left alone.

Cracking an eye open, Kinger quietly pulls the quilt over Caine, and goes back to sleep.

• ↑ Top
• Previous Chapter
• Next Chapter
• Comment