Chapter Text
-Pomni looked over where she’d seen Jax run off to; where Caine had been floating by. Their split-second interaction had felt far too normal for what had happened mere minutes before. How long had it been? Fifteen minutes? Thirty? Sixty?
-Regardless, something was off. She stood there, watching the digital waves, until Caine floated overhead.
“Hey Caine!”
-The ringmaster startled and looked down at her, dropping to float next to her.
“Yyyyeeesssss?????”
-His voice was too unassuming, his expression far too innocent for him to have done nothing; after what had been revealed, she’d have thought he’d act a little sheepish, if nothing else.
“What happened with Jax? Why were you chasing him?”
-Caine gave a small wave of his hand, the gesture seeming to be intended to be reassuring, but came off as dismissive.
“I was trying to talk to him about why you all were upset; I’m not human, and thus am a little on the unaware side for human tendencies and emotions, so I wanted to talk to him. I don’t think he liked me popping in his room though.”
-Pomni rose an eyebrow. No wonder Pomni had heard Jax scream for someone to ‘Get Out!’; Caine had just popped in there. Pomni was honestly surprised Jax hadn’t tried throwing Caine out.
“You think?”
-Caine gave an enthusiastic nod.
“Yes I do! He ran off, but I managed to talk to him!” Caine gestured behind him across the sand.
“I got what I needed, and I left him to relax! He’s still there if you want to talk to him.”
-Pomni smiled.
“Thanks Caine!”
-Caine gave an energetic wave of his hand.
“Bye Pomni!!!!!!!!!”
-With that, Caine swirled away and disappeared. The instant he did, Pomni’s smile dropped off, replaced with anger and suspicion. One of her greatest skills she’d learned upon her arrival in the circus was observation; seeing what was naturally overlooked or catching what was unsaid.
-Caine was hiding something.
-For all of Jax’s faults, he never would’ve lied and said Ragatha abstracted if he wasn’t desperate; not to mention that if Caine really just wanted to ask some questions, why wouldn’t he have just knocked on the door? Or better yet, ask someone who hadn’t screamed and called him a dirty liar and scumbag? Entering the room without permission, especially knowing Jax never would’ve let Caine into his room even if the ringmaster had knocked, leaned more towards wanting to discuss something that needed to remain hidden than a simple survey on humanity.
-All together, it was leaving Pomni with a sinking feeling in her gut that wasn’t fading with the knowledge Jax was on the beach after having bolted the second he’d spotted Caine behind her before. She jogged over to where Caine had pointed, the bells on her hat jingling as she did.
-She slowed down when she saw Jax sitting by the surf, the waves just shy of his feet as he sat on the sand with his legs pulled up to his chest.
-The first thing Pomni noticed was how utterly still Jax was; Jax was rarely not moving, whether it was him participating in an adventure or just moving his hands around, he was almost constantly moving something; she remembered one time after the Lightning Round where she’d secretly watched to tease him and caught his ears twitching at least seven times in thirty seconds. When she’d compared it to her computer’s loading speed and said his ears won, he’d burst out laughing so hard Kinger had come over thinking there was a tornado.
-Yes. A tornado; Kinger could really be something sometimes.
-Regardless, alarm bells went off in her head as she sat down on the surf next to him, looking him over and waiting. Jax didn’t turn his head, but she saw his gaze meet hers. He gave a little nod as he set his hands on the sand, looking back to the waves while tapping his fingers on the sand.
-He was moving; good.
-Or at least, it would’ve been if it weren’t for the fact that when their gazes had met, his eyes had been severely clouded over; it was like looking at someone through a thick fog.
-It was unnerving in multiple different ways.
“Hey, Jax ... .what are you doing out here?”
-Jax splayed his legs out, the water splashing over the bottom of his heels and gently licking his feet; he didn’t really seem aware, which just heightened Pomni’s anxiety. He flicked his gaze to her.
“Why do you ask?”
-His tone was far too calm for someone who’d been downright terrorized by her mere presence minutes before; he sounded as if nothing had gone wrong at all today, even though he’d seemed the most shaken out of them all(not through his words, but through his expressions and silence).
“You seemed…pretty scared of Caine earlier, is all. Why were you running?”
-Jax turned to face her, expression eerily calm as he tilted his head slightly to the side; his ears tilted with his head as he crinkled his brow.
“What do you mean?”
-Pomni looked to the lake before back to Jax.
“W-what do you mean? You-you were running from Caine earlier; you claimed Ragatha had abstracted just to get a headstart back in the tent.”
-Jax’s mouth scrunched up as he squinted at her; the expression would’ve been comical if not for the discussion they were having. He straightened his head as he leaned towards her slightly, still squinting as if looking for some clue in her eyes. Without warning, he lifted his hand and gently flicked her head, startling her. He gave a little chuckle that was warmer than she’d ever heard his voice.
“Didn’t take you for a jokester, especially today, Pom-Pom.”
-Jax turned away and returned his focus to the surf, a pleasant smile on his face. Pomni frowned; the touch, the nickname, the smile; she hadn’t seen him act so relaxed since their fight during the gun battle. All of it combined at this moment where nothing was making any sense was suddenly causing her hands to tingle and face to flush in an unexpected way, but she shook her head to push the thoughts away and focus.
“Jax, I’m serious; I’d been over at the couching, thinking-”
“That’s dangerous.”
-Pomni glared at him, but it was proven ineffective when it wilted the second Jax turned to her with a good-natured smile on his face. She huffed. What is wrong with me?! Focus!!!!
“I’d been thinking about what to do next when I heard you screaming in your room for someone to get out; no-one else seemed to notice, so I assumed I was hearing things.”
“You’re right on that, though you know what Caine says about assuming.”
-Jax gave a small laugh, grabbing a handful of sand and playfully tossing it into the lake. Pomni felt her worry increase even more not at the gesture, but at Jax making a positive joke regarding something Caine said; she would’ve been more at ease if he’d called it stupid, but he seemed to find it genuinely funny.
-What was going on??
“Anyhoo, I’d suddenly heard your door open, and we all heard you say Ragatha had abstracted, and that Caine would go check, and then you ran in looking terrified before Caine called for you, Zooble told Caine where you were, and you ran off to the lake.”
-Jax’s mouth scrunched up again in a confused tilt as he rose an eyebrow, confusion, bewilderment coating his already-cloudy expression. After a tense, quiet moment, Jax threw his head back and burst into laughter; unlike his laughter before, this one brimmed with joy, as if it was actually funny. He shook his head and wiped his eyes, looking at her with an amused smile.
“Geez, Pomni, if you wanted to talk so bad, you could've come over. You have a good sense of humor though.” He shook his head again, wistfully looking at the sky.
“Terrified cuz Zooble ‘ratted me out’ to Caine? You might need some help with those jokes of yours, though you got potential.”
-Pomni’s shoulder lifted so high they lifted her hair from her face. Did he really think she was joking? She leaned towards him, giving him a one-over, much to Jax’s confusion. The rabbit slightly leaned away
“Uhhh, I’m flattered by the attention, but if you wanted to play Inspector so badly, Zooble’s a better mystery.”
-Pomni sighed and leaned back, shaking her head.
“Do you….feel any different?”
-Jax tilted his head again, seeming to genuinely ponder her question before he turned back to the lake.
“Well, unless a slight headache is the end of our digital existence, then no, not really.”
-Pomni frowned.
“A headache?”
-Jax nodded and gestured to a spot right below his right ear. Pomni leaned over and gently tapped it, but quickly retracted her finger when the touch caused Jax to flinch. She leaned back again and cocked an eyebrow.
“‘Slight’? If you’re flinching when I touch you, then I don’t think it’s slight.”
-Jax gave a good-natured grin that sent Pomni’s heart suddenly into overdrive.
“Okay then, Dr. Pomni; what is your prescription for today?”
-Pomni was overwhelmingly grateful at that moment that she was a cartoon clown; it meant Jax didn’t know just badly she would’ve blushed at the nickname for reasons she couldn’t name. The events of today were really screwing with her head.
“Well, I’d prescribe you to rest, you blasted bunny rabbit.”
-Jax laughed at the pet name, and Pomni gave a well-meaning flick to his wrist.
“I mean it; if you’re forgetting things, then today must’ve messed with your head harder than you thought.” Pomni got to her feet.
“I’ll leave you to it; don’t stay out long unless you want a sunburn.”
-Jax gave an eyeroll that was negated by his warm smile.
“Whatever you say, Doctor.”
-Pomni gave a smile and a huff before she turned and left. On one hand, Jax was acting more…
relaxed than normal; smiling, laughing, making jokes without demeaning anybody. It was almost nice.
-But it was invalidated by the fact that he didn’t remember. He thought the past five-seven minutes were a bad joke she’d come up with, and it didn’t line up with what Caine had told her.
-Not that she’d expected Caine to be honest with her.
-Still, Jax’s lack of memory was more disconcerting than anything.
-Well, other than the sudden influx of emotions just because, for once in her new life, Jax had been genuine with her; no mask, no lies, no cruel or insensitive jokes or brushing off anything; he’d been…honest with her.
-And it was abruptly causing her hands to tingle and her stomach to twist in a somehow positive way that made no sense.
-Now wasn’t the time for feelings though; the exit was a lie; Caine could mess with their minds; it was somehow linked to someone named Scratch; Caine knew more than he let on, and Jax had gone through something so horrific he’d been willing to permanently stay in the circus rather than return. Too much was happening for feelings to be involved.
-So when she thought of Jax’s laugh, his warm smile, or his silly nicknames that held no animosity behind them, her stomach felt like it had been filled with sugar-coated butterflies??
- -*-
-Pomni wasn’t sure how long she’d stayed in her room, fiddling with a little play block in her room, before she’d felt a tug on her digital body and had been unexpectedly carried over to the main hall, but she didn’t feel like it had been long enough. Zooble had their normal hand on Gangle’s ‘shoulder’, Ragatha still had a distant look in her eyes, and Kinger was…well…Kinger; at least, how he acted in the daylight.
-Or whatever passed for daytime in this place.
-Pomni spotted Jax as far away from the others as possible, the cloudiness in his expression replaced with a troubled look. His right leg was jumping, and he had his arm against his left leg and supporting his chin. His ears were slightly drooped at the tips.
-Overall, he looked completely different from their discussion before.
-Well, she wasn’t going to get anywhere by just watching him. She walked, ignoring Zooble’s glare as she did. She plopped on the floor to Jax’s right.
“Hey Jax; how was the sun? Do you any good for the headache?”
-Jax startled at her approach, but then spun toward her, surprise in his expression.
“My…what?”
-Pomni rose an eyebrow.
“Out on the lake, you mentioned you had a headache a bit before I left; you were…making jokes and stuff and said you were going to relax there for a bit because you jokingly asked me for advice.”
-Pomni felt a sinking feeling in her gut at the apprehension on Jax’s face. He looked uneasy and confused as his gaze darted to the others before back to her.
“I….I did?”
-Pomni’s eyes widened.
“Yea, you did. You mentioned you didn’t remember running from the tent.”
-Jax gave a dry laugh that was completely different from his warm one. He ran a hand over his ears.
“That’s the last thing I remember.”
-Pomni tensed. This wasn’t adding up.
“I…I don’t understand. You seemed….happy before, out by the lake. You don’t remember that?”
-Jax looked even more confused.
“No, I….”
-His eyes widened as his voice trailed off, his gaze clouding over briefly before he shut his eyes, a soft groan slipping out as he grabbed at his head. Pomni rested a hand on his arm, and, to her surprise(and relief), he didn’t pull away.
“Headache again?”
-Jax looked over at her.
“How did you…?”
“You mentioned it to me.”
-Jax frowned.
“I don’t remember that.”
“Well, you’d said you didn’t remember running from the tent so….”
-Jax rubbed the back of his neck, instantly tensing up when he did so.
“Jax?”
-Jax looked over at her, but just as he opened his mouth, Caine abruptly appeared.
“HELLO THERE EVERYONE! Now, I know you all are upset about the last adventure, and I’ll admit, I might’ve been wrong on that one, BUT! I have a new AMAZING adventure for you all that is sure to not disappoint!!”
-Jax gave a silent scoff that only Pomni heard due to her closeness.
“That’d be a first.”
-Caine turned to Jax, cocking his head slightly. Jax tensed and looked away, but not before Pomni saw him bite his lip as if to keep a pained sound from slipping out.
“ANYHOOO!!!! This will be a team adventure, and luckily for you, I saw how well you all worked together last time I did this, so I already chose you to do that again! This will be customized based on your teammate and yourself, so this will be LOADS of fun for you all!”
-Before anyone could interject, Caine snapped his fingers, and the room shifted. Pomni grabbed onto Jax’s arm out of fear, and she sighed in relief when he didn’t pull away. Their surroundings finally settled on a dark room, with a single, swinging light hanging from the ceiling. A clank! caused Pomni to turn and see her wrists had been chained, though there was another link connecting hers to the chains on Jax’s wrists; the connecting link was in the middle of both their handcuffs(cuz that’s what they looked like), and the walls seemed to ripple as the chains clanked on. Caine’s voice echoed through the room.
“Why, it seems you got a prison cell! You two must be hiding some deep stuff to get this! To get out, you will need to trust each-other, and, so to speak, ‘come into the light’!” Caine chuckled.
“Before it’s too lateee……..”
-Pomni scowled, and Jax glared at the walls, not looking her in the eye. The intention in that suddenly caused Pomni to worry.
“Jax? Are you…?
“I’m fine.”
-Pomni didn’t believe it, but she said nothing. Jax looked around and sat crisscross on the floor.
“Well don’t look at me; I don’t know what Caine decided to do.”
-Pomni nodded and looked around; she lifted up her chained hands and looked at the long, interconnecting link that connected their chains. She mimicked Jax and sat on the floor.
“Caine said we had to ‘bring stuff to light’ before it was ‘too late’; what do you think he meant?”
-Jax shrugged.
“Something I probably don’t care about.”
“Well, if we don’t do it, how long do you think we’ll be here?”
“Until the others finish and Caine gets bored.”
-Pomni frowned. Jax didn’t seem to want to follow Caine’s instructions and do the adventure; fine by her. She wasn’t in the mood to figure out why their room was a prison cell anyways.
“Okay then, maybe we can pick up our conversation then.”
-Jax briefly rose an eyebrow.
“Which was….?”
-Pomni’s brow furrowed.
“The fact that you didn’t remember our discussion by the lake, where you’d mentioned not remembering running from Caine and heading to the lake to begin with.”
-Jax shrugged and rubbed the back of his head.
“I don’t know why and I don’t care to know.”
-Pomni tried to cross her arms, but stopped when the chain links bit into her skin; she settled her hands on the ground.
“Well, too bad, ‘cause I care.”
-Jax cocked an eyebrow.
“Well, I got nothing for ya; don’t remember.”
-Pomni scooted a little closer, watching for any signs of discomfort before placing her hands on her legs.
“What do you remember?”
-Jax looked at the ground and at the walls around them before looking at his hand.
“I don’t know…heading to my room….” A sudden flash of pain flickered in Jax’s eyes, but then he blinked and it was gone.
“...Stuff, Caine showing up, and then I left.”
-Pomni tilted her head to the side.
“What ‘stuff’?”
-Jax gave a teasing smile, but it was hollow and fake, completely different from the one he’d given her at the lake.
“Why? You interested or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I am interested because you’re my friend, regardless of how you think of me.”
-Jax’s eyes widened at the title of ‘friend’, and when she finished, his expression was blank. He looked away. Pomni leaned towards him a bit.
“You’re my friend Jax; regardless of what you said or did, I’m not going to just give up on you.”
-Jax didn’t look at her, his eyes suddenly intent on roving the floor(for some reason, wink wink).
“Okay?”
-Silence. Jax was still staring at the floor.
“Jax?”
-Without a single word, Jax lifted his hand and brushed a spot on the floor, brow furrowed. Pomni scooted closer.
“Jax? What’re you looking at?”
-Jax looked up at her(finally) and pointed to the spot on the floor. Pomni glanced at it and saw an icon on the tile. The icon was a little puppet boy, grabbing at the base of his growing nose as he stared at it in shock.
-Pinnochio. How did Caine know about Pinocchio?
-Jax tapped the icon a couple times, as if waiting for something to occur. Nothing. Pomni gestured to the walls.
“Hang on; Pinnochio’s nose grew whenever he lied; do you think maybe, if we tell a lie, something will change?”
-Jax shrugged.
“Could be.”
-Pomni nodded a few times, then tapped her own chest, hoping her message of I’ll say the lie was received. Confusion crinkled Jax’s brow before clarity hit his eyes; his expression shifted to determination as he nodded. Phew; he got it; here goes…
“Caine’s not actually all that bad, once you really get to know him.”
-Jax lifted a hand to his mouth to cover a snort, though the smile was still there when he dropped it.
-Then the walls began to shake.
-Pomni startled and turned to look at the closest wall, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Jax slowly getting to his feet. A crackle sounded from above.
“Whoop, looks like someone wasn’t honest! You now have to find the exit before the walls close in because of your dishonesty; HAVE FUN!!!!!”
-The crackle sounded again before the room went silent, with the exception of the now moving walls. Pomni scowled; was he serious?! This was his better idea-have the walls close in when they say something untrue?!
-HOW WAS THIS BETTER?!
-Jax got to his feet and turned around, looking at the slowly closing walls. He whipped his head to the ceiling.
“HOW IS THIS BETTER, CAINE?! HUH?! ‘CAUSE THIS DOESN’T LOOK MUCH BETTER THAN LAST TIME!!!”
-Pomni blinked at him speaking her thoughts so clearly. Jax ran a hand through his ears in irritation.
“Just my luck.”
-Despite the clear reference to the ‘Exit Adventure’ not working out, Pomni wasn’t entirely certain that was it.
“What do we do now?”
-Jax turned to her, his right ear twitching while his left drooped at the tip. His eyes darted around the room when they landed on a spot on the wall. He looked at the chains on his wrists that were connected to hers. He gave a grunt.
“I ain’t dealing with this.”
-He marched over and scooped Pomni up without so much as a question of consent before setting her on his shoulders.
“I don’t intend to be tripping over my own feet just ‘cause you can’t keep up.”
-With that, Jax marched over to the wall and pointed to a spot that was somehow directly at her eye level now that she was on Jax’s shoulders. The spot he was pointing to had an icon that was hidden in a thin sheet of dust.
“What’s the icon?”
“Hang on here.” Pomni brushed the dust off the icon until the image was clear.
“It’s…it’s some type of…is this a necklace?”
-Pomni felt Jax tense at the word ‘necklace’, but he didn’t say anything. He cleared his throat.
“What…what type of necklace?”
-Pomni squinted at the icon, tilting her head to the side; despite her familiarity with jewelry, she couldn’t remember seeing one like this.
“It looks like…I don’t know what brand it is-”
“WHO CARES WHAT BRAND?!”
-Pomni startled at Jax’s panic and looked down to see him slowly backing away from the wall. She looked behind her and saw that they were about twenty or so steps from the other wall.
-They were running out of time.
“Okay okay okay! I just don’t recognize the type; it’s some type of pendant; it’s purple, blue and white. It looks like it’s on a…a…is that a red chain?”
-Jax scoffed.
“That’s not right; it was pink last time I checked.”
-The instant the words left his mouth, she felt him tense even more. She leaned a bit to try to get a better look at his eyes, but he lifted an arm and pushed her up; the touch was rough but lined with desperation.
“Jax; do you know what type this is?”
-Jax sighed.
“I’ve….seen it before, and that’s all I’m saying; anything we’d need to do with it or anything?”
-Pomni leaned towards it and placed her hand on the icon. The tile suddenly burst out a bright-blue light, casting the entire room in a weird harsh cobalt hue. The swinging light bulb shattered, shards falling on the ground, and casting the two in darkness. Jax gave a small yelp at the light and pressed his hands to his eyes; he swayed to the side, causing Pomni to have to grab his ears to keep from falling.
“Jax???”
-Pomni squeezed his ears, but it took a few moments for him to straighten up. He grabbed at his arms, his breathing labored.
“Jaaxx??????”
-The word was elongated as Pomni saw the walls still moving. After a moment, Jax took a deep breath and let it out, and this time he sounded much more at ease.
“I’m here.”
“So what, were you not a moment ago??”
-Silence.
“Anything else on the icon?”
-Pomni frowned at his avoidance.
“You saw how it lit up. I think…I think, in order for us to escape, we have to give it something; it wants something.”
“Or someone.”
-The emphasis wasn’t subtle.
“What do you mean?” Pomni leaned to her left so she could better see Jax’s face, grateful when the rabbit turned his head slightly to look at her. He looked away.
“Nothing.”
-Pomni scowled.
“Yea, you know who else insisted that what they knew wasn’t important to the mission? Abel.”
-Jax turned back to her faster than she anticipated, causing her to grip onto his ears again. The decision to do so wasn’t optimal when she felt them twitch in addition to the pain in Jax’s eyes.
“I’m not Caine’s NPC claiming an exit.”
-The words were stone; hard and seemingly impenetrable. Luckily, Pomni had a chisel(or whatever was needed).
“I…I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was that he’d hid stuff from us that would’ve revealed what was going on from the start; what are you hiding, Jax?”
-Jax looked away, pain flashing in his expression. His face was lit up in a white hue from the light bulb.
-Wait.
-A.
-Second.
-The light bulb was shattered. Dead.
-So then.
-Jax abruptly shifted, causing Pomni to lose her grip; she slid off Jax’s shoulders and crashed to the ground, landing flat on her face. Their chains clashed in an earsplitting second as she crumpled to the ground. She lifted her head with a small groan and saw that the room was
oddly spinning. She blinked and winced at the ringing in her ears. She looked up and saw the walls still closing in; were they picking up speed, or was it just her?
-Footsteps caught her ears, and she turned to see Jax, not too far away, walking to the wall with the icon. Her arm throbbed as she shakily lifted it. The chains rattled.
“....Jax….”
-For a brief moment, she thought she saw Jax hesitate, saw his ears twitch, but then it passed as he walked to where the icon was. He lifted his arm up and splayed his hand out over the icon.
-The room finally stopped moving, the walls becoming stationary as the room suddenly donned the same red hue it had back in the office, giving Pomni what would’ve been deja-vu if not for Jax slumping to the floor, hands running through his ears.
-Pomni blinked away the ringing in her ears as she stumbled to her feet. She knelt down to Jax’s right(that was becoming a habit) and laid a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t react. She noticed the white light still emitting from something on his chest, but she didn’t pay attention to it yet.
“Jax?”
-The word had been repeated far too often within one day, but this time, this time, it was all that was needed to nudge him. Jax shut his eyes and dropped his head so low it almost touched his chest. He sighed.
“I remember.”
-Pomni’s eyes widened. Jax opened his eyes and lifted his head enough to look at something on his chest. He grabbed at what was giving off the white light. After a moment, the light dimmed down enough that Pomni could see what it was.
-A purple, blue, and white pendant; hooked onto a chain.
- A. Pink. Chain.
-Just like Jax had said before. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. The touch seemed to anchor him. He heaved a big breath.
“A-after I left to my room, he-he made me hallucinate….” Jax briefly shut his eyes before looking at the floor in-front of him.
“An…an old friend of mine. Made me hear them saying things she’d have never actually said.”
-Pomni tilted her head.
“And did you catch it then?”
-Jax sighed.
“Not immediately; I…He was messing with my mind; I-I could feel him twist my thoughts, and I realized who it really was.”
-Anger surged through Pomni at the thought of what had transpired.
“And then you yelled for Caine to get out?”
-Jax nodded. Lifted a shaking hand to the one on his shoulder.
“He started going off on some spiel about how my…” Jax gave a hollow laugh.
“How my emotions were interfering with my enjoyment of his adventures, especially after today.”
-Pomni straightened.
“Today was way too far; all of us were rightfully upset, but Caine had gotten in your head; I’m pretty sure that warrants showing emotion.”
-Jax sighed again.
“Caine…didn’t agree.” He dropped his hand from Pomni’s(which was totally not disappointing, trusttt) and scooped up the pendant.
“He tried forcing me to wear this, saying it would….it would-”
-Jax turned away, and Pomni could feel his body shake from the memory.
“It would…filter…what I felt.”
-The words were a broken whisper, but they caused anger to surge on Jax’s behalf.
“That is not okay.”
-Jax didn’t answer. She gave a huff and grabbed both of his hands in her own; the touch startled him enough to look at her.
“Here’s what’s going to happen; we are going to get out of this room and so help me we are going to yank that stupid pendant off and burn it in digital fire if that’s what it takes because that is an abomination.”
-Jax blinked in surprise at Pomni’s determination. She gave a soft smile. He frowned.
“Why? Why would you…?”
“Becuase you’re my friend, Jax. This is what friends do.”
-Jax’s hands twitched in hers, but he didn’t seem aware. Pomni squeezed them, trying to keep calm even as Jax’s head drooped.
“You’ll get through this, and I’ll be there to help you, okay?”
-He didn’t answer. He tugged on his left hand, and Pomni felt her heart sink when he pried it loose.
-But then she noticed that his right hand still remained encompassed in her eyes. He hadn’t pulled away completely. That was something, right?
-Jax lifted his left hand to his eyes, and it was only then that she realized why he’d tugged one hand out. She squeezed his right hand, smiling as he wiped his eyes. He lifted his head, and Pomni could see the remnants of tears tracking down his face, but she didn’t comment on them.
-Then, Jax, the one who threw people into deep fryers, pushed everyone away, denied humanity, did the most human thing she could’ve imagined, but the last thing she imagined he’d do.
-He pulled his right hand hard enough that Pomni jerked towards him, falling into him. She felt his arms wrap around her, and then she felt a tear drop onto her face.
-She didn’t resist, but instead hugged him back.
-The chains on their wrists promptly dropped with an anticlimactic clang! on the floor.