Chapter Text
Over the course of a few months, Pomni had slowly adjusted to the digital world. There were still things that left her confused, and other things that left her traumatized; but she had really started to get a feel for how things worked now. With the workings of the digital world mostly behind her, Pomni started to notice the smaller groups within the circus. She knew Zooble and Gangle were close, she’d been near them during their art sessions, watching them pass a sketchbook back and forth, a new drawing likely having been added before each pass. Pomni however, wasn’t that interested in drawing. She’d liked making her urban exploration videos, but she doubted she’d even be able to get her hands on the tools she used to use to make those in the digital world. The most she’d likely be able to get her hands on is a picture camera, and even then it wasn’t like there were any abandoned buildings with silly graffiti to take a picture of. The sparse woods of the grounds were too low poly to really get any good photos there either, so she didn’t feel a particular urge to try that.
With nothing to really add to Zooble and Gangle’s art hangouts, Pomni didn’t try to insert herself. Though a small part of her wondered about how their drawings looked, if they wanted her to see it they’d show her. Right?
Ragatha and Kinger seemed to gravitate toward each other sometimes, though Ragatha seemed to gravitate toward anyone who wasn’t Jax. Ragatha even shared conversations with Gangle and Zooble during their art hangouts, the conversations never lasted long though. Ragatha was pretty quiet and even awkward when there wasn’t anyone she was trying to cheer up or help. Unless she was busy getting on Jax’s case, which is usually deserved 9 times out of 10.
Kinger tended to stick to his pillow fort after adventures, and Pomni was pretty sure only she knew why Kinger tended to stay there so much. She’d sometimes asked to join Kinger in the pillow fort, but it was usually cramped when more than 1 person was in it, and with her aversion to touch, she would never end up staying there for more than a few minutes.
Jax only ever gravitated to someone if he planned on messing with them. It’s usually Gangle, but Zooble usually steps in which causes Jax to back off and set his sights on either Ragatha or herself. It was usually her though, since Ragatha would end up with Kinger or Zooble and Gangle.
Pomni had mixed feelings toward Jax. She doesn’t like the fact that he practically bullies everyone, but during the rare times where Jax isn’t causing trouble or deliberately trying to hurt someone, his comments and antics were kind of funny. He’d made her laugh on more than one occasion, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t still annoyed at some of his previous actions. Pomni wonders what Jax’s deal is. Surely there’s a reason he acts like that… right?
But where did that leave her? Pomni seemed to just float around when it came to who she ended up talking to at any given time. Unless she got the idea that someone was having a hard time, to which she’d try to figure out what was wrong. But not everyone was receptive to that, which is fair. All she could really do is lend an ear to listen, and offer help or give advice if she could. She wasn’t a therapist though, and everyone knew that.
But at the end of the day when everyone arrived back at the tent, she rarely found herself gravitating toward anyone in particular. Some days she followed Gangle and Zooble to the common area where she’d silently watch their art exchanges for a little bit. Other days she’d find herself hanging out with Ragatha or Jax, only to have the other show up at some point which somehow prompts them to start bickering. She doesn’t know what their beef is, but she doesn’t want to be a part of it, so she opts to leave when they start arguing. There are days she’s caught Kinger outside his pillow fort and decided to see what he was up to, it was a coin toss as to whether what he was up to would make a semblance of sense to her though.
So most days Pomni found herself wandering. Sure, she still sat in the common area and hung out with everyone, but when everyone split off to do their own thing, Pomni wandered around. Part of her found a bit of irony in the fact that she’d taken to wandering the tent and the grounds, much like she’d once taken to wandering abandoned buildings. It was peaceful though, a pleasant contrast to the chaotic adventures Caine had everyone going on every day.
Some days Pomni’s wanderings left her feeling a sense of loneliness. Like part of her felt that she was distancing herself from everyone. She stuck to exploring the tent when she felt like that, though sometimes that seemed to make it worse. She’d spot Ragatha helping Kinger with something or other, or Gangle and Zooble drawing together, and want that closeness. Each time she tried to join either of them though, part of her still felt like an outsider. That part of her was small, but it always seemed to leave her with a sinking feeling in her stomach each time it appeared.
Today was one of those days, everyone had recently finished an adventure, and split off to do whatever. Pomni had wandered the tent a bit when she saw Gangle and Zooble drawing together. Aided by her curiosity toward their drawings, she approached the common area. Zooble was the first to notice her approach, offering a wave and a “hey” as a greeting.
Pomni mimicked Zoobles' wave and “hey”, in greeting.
Pomni sat herself down on one of the empty couches close by and asked “what’cha drawing?”
Gangle brought her drawings closer to herself, obviously not wanting to share. Zooble looked up from the sketchpad they were holding and said “oh, I’m helping Gangle polish up one of her drawings”.
“Can I see?” Pomni asked.
Zooble sent a questioning look to Gangle, who squirmed a little at the request. Zooble took Gangle’s squirm as a no, and said “sorry Pomni, maybe some other time”.
Pomni nodded to herself, accepting the rejection. It wasn’t long after that being in the common area started to feel awkward, so Pomni stood up from the couch and said “well good luck drawing, see you later I guess”.
Zooble waved goodbye before returning to their drawing as Pomni went back to wandering the tent.
As Zooble started putting the final touches on their sketch, they asked “do you think we should invite Pomni to hang out with us while we draw?”
There was a beat of silence, and Zooble looked up to see Gangle contemplating the question. After a few more seconds of thought, Gangle said “maybe. I just don’t want her to make fun of my drawings, or think they’re weird”.
Gangle had shown her drawings to Ragatha a couple times. She’d reacted positively each time, but each reaction from her seemed forced, which made every “looks good” from her feel like a lie. Kinger usually just stared without saying anything, which felt like judgement after a while, even if she knew he didn’t mean anything by it. And Jax mocked her art all the time. So she was more than a little hesitant to show Pomni her art.
Zooble sighed, understanding Gangle’s sentiment. “Yeah I get that. But I’m pretty sure she just tried to hang out with us, and we just pushed her away.” Zooble lamented.
Gangle’s eyes widened at the realization, looking up from her sketchpad to see Pomni walking around, now very far from the common area. If Gangle didn’t know any better, she’d almost think Pomni looked lost. Gangle started to feel guilt for accidentally pushing Pomni away. She was only nervous about sharing her art with anyone beside Zooble. Gangle felt tears start to prick at her eyes as she let out an “oh…” of guilt and embarrassment.
Zooble, ever quick to comfort, said “hey, maybe we make something we’re both ok sharing, and then invite Pomni to look at it?”
Gangle took a moment to consider it. It would be a way to see if Pomni was ok with her art. Plus if she was ok with it, then she would probably be ok with sharing some of her doodles with her. Gangle wiped her tears away and said “yeah, that sounds good”
With that, Gangle and Zooble got to drawing. Both of them hoping to show Pomni when it was finished. Idly, Gangle wondered how Pomni would react. She hadn’t really interacted with Pomni much, but when they did interact Pomni was nice to her. She always seemed ready to lend an ear to someone. Gangle found that sweet.
Pomni, in her efforts to not feel alone, ended up feeling very alone. Alone and tired. While she couldn’t seem to fix the former, she could do something about the latter. Pomni opened the door to her room, locking it behind her in the hopes that it’d stop Jax from trying to sneak in and prank her. She really wasn’t in the mood for one of his pranks. Pomni flopped onto her bed with a grunt, waiting a moment before pulling herself up into a more comfortable lying position. As if sensing Pomni’s exhaustion, her bedroom lights seemed to dim on their own. Pomni’s mind drifted, and before she knew it, she’d dozed off.
Off in another part of the tent, Ragatha was helping Kinger put all his eggs in one basket. Kinger suddenly looked up and scanned his surroundings before saying “huh, that’s odd”.
Ragatha’s attention swiftly went from stacking eggs to what Kinger had said. Ragatha gave a “huh?” to show her confusion.
Kinger turned to Ragatha before saying “oh, sorry it’s just. Pomni usually wanders around about now, but I don’t see her.”
There was a bit of concern in Kingers tone, which worried Ragatha a little bit. However, Ragathas mind was more curious at the new knowledge that Pomni had a habit of wandering around. She hoped Pomni hadn’t gotten lost during her wanderings, but she never even saw her ask anyone for directions, so surely she was fine. Right?
“She’s probably just somewhere else right now. But we can try to find her tomorrow if she doesn’t show up for the next adventure” Ragatha said, mostly trying to reassure herself that Pomni was ok. It was close to the time that anyone who wanted to sleep would go to their rooms, and she didn’t want to interrupt Pomni’s sleep on the chance that she was sleeping.
Ragatha looked at Kinger, who still seemed worried. How often did Pomni wander around if Kinger saw her wandering as a routine? In an effort to think of something to reassure Kinger, Ragatha said “or we could ask Gangle and Zooble if they’ve seen her”.
“Oh, yeah.” Kinger said, standing up and moving toward the common area. Kinger abandoned the basket of eggs in the process, and Ragatha followed him, leaving the eggs behind. Oh well, it was never good to put all your eggs in one basket anyway.
Zooble looked up from their sketching when they heard the sliding noise that only Kinger made when he moved. Sure enough Kinger and Ragatha were both on their way over to them. Zooble gave them both a wave and said “hey, what’s up?” in an inquisitive greeting.
Gangle also looked up from her drawing, before trying to cover her drawings with her ribbons as she saw Kinger and Ragatha approach.
Ragatha waved back with a “hi guys”.
Kinger waved as well but instead of a greeting, he asked “have any of you seen Pomni around? She’s normally wandering about now, but I don’t see her.”
Gangle and Zooble were both surprised by the question, though Zooble was the only one to vocalize it, “uh, yeah we saw her earlier. She wandered that way” -Zooble pointed to where Pomni had wandered- “we hadn’t seen her since though”.
“Oh” was Kingers only response to that.
Gangle asked “does she wander around a lot?”
Kinger looked at Gangle for a beat and said “huh? Oh, yeah. She wanders a lot. The grounds and the tent mostly. I think I saw her around the lake a few times too. Though sometimes it’s hard to tell if she’s exploring or looking for something…”
“Yeah, she stopped by earlier and asked to see my drawings. I hope she’s not mad that I said no”, Gangle explained, tears pricking her eyes as she did so.
“I don’t think Pomni would be mad about something like that,” Ragatha reassured.
“Yeah, confused maybe, but definitely not mad.” Zooble chimed in.
“Regardless, if she’s not around the tent, she might’ve just gone to bed or something” Ragatha reasoned.
Kinger seemed less worried now, which Ragatha took as a win.
“Now that I think about it, I could go for a nap too,” Kinger commented.
“Same, I could hit the hay for a bit,” Ragatha agreed.
“Well that’s not very nice, what did the hay ever do to you?” Kinger questioned.
Ragatha didn’t have a response, so they both left for the living quarters in silence.
It wasn’t long before Gangle and Zooble followed after them, turning to their rooms to maybe get some semblance of sleep, even if it’s just for a few hours.