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Jax disappeared early that evening.
He’d been quiet since they’d gotten back from their last adventure. A tired, dazed look in his eyes as he started boredly into nothing while everyone around him joked and talked. Eventually he got up and slinked off, hardly arousing anyone’s attention.
After turning the corner out of everyone’s sight, Jax made his way back to his bedroom, dragging his hand along the wall to guide him, head spinning. He threw himself on his bed face first and lay there motionless for a moment, his stomach churning and boiling with discomfort. He rolled over and tugged his blanket over himself, shivering as he hiked it up to his chin.
He didn’t understand what was happening. He felt like shit, earnestly. The dizzying and uneasy malaise that was trademark of coming down with something. But he hadn’t gotten sick once since he’d entered the circus, no one had. He didn’t even know that was something that could happen to them. Digital germs? Or was this the start of another one of Caine’s adventures? A plague adventure and he was patient zero?
In any case he resorted himself to trying to sleep it off, too paralyzed with nausea and a throbbing headache to do much else. Though he found himself almost too miserable to sleep and drifted in and out of bleary dreams as he tossed and turned. In his dreams he swirled down an endless spiral. Spinning around and around, getting smaller and smaller until he had almost disappeared.
Jax woke with a start, nearly falling out of bed as he scrambled out of his tangled mess of sheets. He barely made it to the bathroom with enough time to throw himself over the toilet to vomit. It flooded out of him with enough force to make his shoulders convulse, leaving him breathless and with tears streaming down his cheeks when it was over.
Jax groaned and wiped his face, grabbing the sink and hauling himself off the bathroom floor. His breath caught when he saw his reflection in the mirror and the nausea in his stomach was replaced with dread.
He looked ridiculous.
His usual purple pallor had been replaced with pale, sickly looking rainbow stripes that ran horizontally down his entire body. It was enough to make him laugh. He ran his hand down his face, his skin was burning up. What kind of bullshit cartoon disease was this?
He got back in bed, pulling a trashcan by his bedside. He had decided to quarantine himself, not for the sake of the rest of the circus but so that he wouldn't get laughed at.
That and he wasn’t sure he could even stand up for more than a few minutes.
He tried to fall back asleep, his swimming head rocking him into an uneasy and light sleep. He was sure no one would notice that he was gone. And if they did, they would probably be glad for it.
He was startled awake when a knock came at his door. He closed his eyes and settled into bed again, hoping that whoever it was would go away. But the knock came again.
“Jax?”
Pomni.
Jax sat up now, dizziness overwhelming him as he moved his head.
“Jax? Are you in there?”
He put a hand to his head. “Uh, yeah,” he called back, his voice shaking.
“Are you okay?”
The question caught him off guard. “Why?”
She hesitated. “Well, I haven’t seen you since yesterday. I just wanted to check on you.”
Christ, how long had he been asleep for?
More importantly, why did she care?
“I’m fine,” he responded, laying back down and burrowing into his blanket. “I really think you should go away.”
“Why?”
He didn’t respond.
Pomni knocked on the door again, persistent. “Is something wrong? Do you need help?”
“No, just-“ he groaned. “For your own good, really, please go away.”
He was surprised at the sudden softness of his own voice and cursed himself for it, immediately embarrassed.
“Jax, let me in,” Pomni responded.
He paused for a while before responding. “Are you alone?”
“Yeah?”
Jax got out of bed and quickly opened his door, grabbing Pomni and dragging her in just as fast.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” Jax interjected before Pomni could get a word in.
But Pomni didn’t laugh, she didn’t even want to. Aside from his odd coloring she thought Jax looked terrible. His eyes were deep set and tired and his cheeks were flushed, his ears drooping sadly as if he didn’t have the energy to hold them up.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
He threw himself back into bed, covering his face. “I don’t know! I started feeling sick yesterday and then woke up like this!” he replied, exasperated, gesturing to himself.
“You’re sick?”
Jax couldn’t stand the look of concern that was etched into her features. So subtle that she probably didn’t even notice it, but Jax could read it loud and clear. “I’m fine.” To prove the point he sat up and crossed his arms over his chest, though he regretted it after the wave of nausea that followed. “It looks worse than it is.”
She smirked slightly, climbing up onto Jax’s bed. “Well, it does look pretty bad.”
“Gee, thanks, lady.”
“I’ll keep you company,” she said, smiling warmly.
Jax felt his heart throb for a moment. “You-“ he tried not to let it show. “You don’t have to do that.”
Pomni shrugged. “I wouldn’t want you to be alone while you’re sick. I know it’s no fun.”
Jax blushed, though it was indistinguishable from the flush of a fever on his cheeks. He smiled and scoffed. “Whatever. I know it’s because you’re in love with me.”
She laughed. “Whatever,” she said.
But she didn’t deny it either.
Jax wrapped himself in his blanket while Pomni sat next to him on his bed. The two played chess from a board that had been stashed away underneath Jax’s bed. Though they talked more than they actually played. Pomni’s company had brightened Jax’s mood and in turn eased his pain. The grip the nausea had on him began to loosen and his headache dulled.
Pomni moved a piece on the board. “Check.” she said proudly
“Again?” Jax asked, genuinely surprised that she kept beating him
“Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” she replied jokingly, setting the pieces back up.
“Whatever, this game sucks,” he pouted. “Let’s play poker.”
“Are we allowed to gamble?”
Jax had to think about that. “I don’t know, I’ve never tried.”
“Worth a shot,” she responded, producing a deck of playing cards from underneath Jax’s bed.
“Oh wow, how convenient.”
Pomni began to deal cards for a game of poker when Jax started to feel sick again. It started with a wave of nausea that creeped up from his stomach to the base of his throat, thick and dizzying. It became hard to sit up, hard to keep his eyes open, suddenly overwhelmed with pain. He tried to laugh it off at first, keep talking to Pomni like nothing was wrong. But his stomach began to churn like crashing ocean waves, making his voice catch and his hands shake.
“Your turn,” Pomni said after Jax made no effort to go after her.
Jax had gone quiet. He swallowed harshly, sweat slowly trickling down his forehead. He threw his cards down. “I fold.”
“Already?” Pomni looked up, concerned at how pale Jax suddenly looked. “Jax? Are you okay?”
He tried turning away from her, desperately trying not to vomit in front of her. “I’m fine.” He stifled a gag and pressed a hand to his mouth. “I think you need to go.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” she started, reaching for him.
Jax smacked her hand away and lurched forward, doubling over the trashcan next to his bed. He heaved, puking up thin, watery bile. It hurt and he shook, holding onto his bed in a white knuckled grip. He felt Pomni’s hand graze his back and he tried to shrug out of her touch but her hand settled against his skin anyway, blistering hot to the touch.
Jax gasped and coughed for air, wiping the tears, snot, and bile from his face. He was aware that he was a mess and he didn’t want Pomni, who was trying to pull him back into bed, to look at him
“Stop,” he said. “Please. I’m fine. I’m fine. Don’t look at me.”
Though trying to sound angry, Jax’s voice came out weak and broken. Sounding more like soft begging than a demand to be left alone.
“Jax…” Pomni’s voice was soft as she tried to reach out to him.
A groan escaped his lips and he curled in on himself. “Please, Pomni, I don’t want you to see me like this.”
Her heart sank. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “You don’t need to be embarrassed.”
Jax sighed shakily and squeezed her hand back, though he didn’t look at her.
“You should lie down,” she gently suggested.
He swallowed and nodded, looking up at her weakly. Pomni smiled at him and he forced a smile back.
“Knew you loved me,” he said, voice cracking.
She rolled her eyes. “Lie down,” she laughed.
Jax laid down, quietly nestling under his blanket, most of his face covered by the cloth. The rainbow stripes that colored his skin seemed to glow and pulsate with his labored breath.
“I’ll let you rest,” Pomni said, getting up to go, though she was reluctant.
“What?” Jax whined, looking up at her now. “You’re gonna leave me like this?”
“I thought you wanted me to go?”
“That was before-“
“Before what?”
Jax looked uncomfortable and opened his mouth to answer but no words came out.
She chuckled. “Don’t answer that.” She climbed back into bed with him, smiling to herself as Jax settled back alongside her.
For the first time, Jax fell into a restful sleep while Pomni watched over him, giving gentle reassurances that she was still there when he would whimper and toss about in his sleep. She sat there quietly, watching the gentle rise and fall of Jax’s chest and studying the way the colors that painted his skin would rise and fall.
Her attention would slowly drift to the turned over Polaroids on Jax’s wall, ones she had noticed but not thought much of before. She looked at Jax to ensure he was asleep and leaned over, turning one of them over.
She was greeted by the smiling portrait of Jax, Kaufmo, and an anthropomorphic frog she had yet to learn the name of, tucked under Jax’s side.
She heard Jax stir and she nearly jumped out of her skin, leaving the photo to dangle loosely from the wall as it had before and whipped back around to face Jax. He groaned and furrowed his eyebrows together in his sleep before settling back down.
She exhaled softly, glancing over at the photo before leaning back over to face it towards the wall again. She looked back at Jax, her own brows furrowing, and returned her hand to his.
Jax shuffled in his sleep, but did not wake.