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Green with Grief- Jax/Funnybunny Oneshot
Ok, last time posting this- MASSIVE thank you to @that1notetaker for the editing tips (massive ass paragraphs, no more!) and @riceballart for the AMAZING art at the end that I am BEYOND obsessed with... thank you for bringing the happy and healthy versions of these dorks to life :') please commission them if you can!!! Tysm for reading!!!
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Why was he feeling this way? For the past several weeks, life had been absolutely perfect for Jax, at least on paper. His amazing girlfriend had found a way to get Caine to start improving the circus for good, and with it, their appearances to each one's customization. Gone were his clunky overalls, replaced with a comfy T-shirt and shorts. Not to mention how adorable Pomni's new outfit was.
Even better, he'd been the one to pitch an idea that Kinger had described as an "epic rizz moment", whatever that meant, when he suggested swapping glove sets with Pomni.
Thinking of this, he glanced down at his hand, intertwined with hers as they walked. He donned a red glove on the hand clutching hers, absentmindedly stroking her fingers with his thumb. Feeling his gaze, she smiled up at him and gave his hand a light squeeze with her own yellow-gloved hand, and he returned the gesture.
The pair were on their way to dinner. Caine promised that Bubble had created heaping portions of "pain pickles", and while not particularly looking forward to that mysterious meal, Pomni was curious about it, and so he followed her lead. God, how had she made him so soft?
Somehow, even with all of the love from Pomni, and even his relationships with most of the others greatly improved, Jax still found himself amidst a deep depression without knowing why. Pomni was the only one he opened up about his feelings to, and that was admittedly still quite rare.
The duo meandered past bedroom doors of friends present and before Pomni's time. Jax knew what was coming up on the left, so he averted his gaze from Ribbit's door, as usual. Knowing that passing the place was difficult, Pomni put her other hand on top of their joined ones, and Jax almost gagged from how deeply adorable she was. The part of him that still hated vulnerability wanted to snatch the beanie from her head and toss it down the hallway to distract himself from his difficult feelings of his late frog friend.
However, a different part of him won, and without deciding to, he turned his head to Ribbit's door. And for the first time in months, he really looked at it.
He gently released Pomni's hand and stepped closer to the door. Pomni’s eyes narrowed with hesitancy, worried about her boyfriend upsetting himself, but watched silently, fidgeting with her hands.
Jax began forcing himself to closely examine his frog friend's picture. He didn't know why he chose to do this, and he didn't like the pain in his chest, but he stayed anyway, letting himself close his eyes and drift away into the bittersweet memories.
He remembered Ribbit's goofy laugh he always teased them relentlessly for, how much it comforted him when the two snickered together, playing pranks on the others. How even the slightest look they gave him from across the room could make him feel validated, as if to say, "Yep, we're stuck in this !show together,"
Ribbit may not have been the brightest or the most insightful person in the circus- as much as he'd hate to admit it, that honor would probably go to Zooble, that is when Kinger wasn't mentally present, of course- but they had been a friend, a really good friend. Jax remembered how they'd bounce up and give his ear a gentle whack to get his attention, a gesture Jax always pretended to dislike, but they both knew he didn't.
Jax slowly opened his eyes, realizing tears were prickling up in them, stinging. He reached up with his hand to one of his ears, giving it a Ribbit-esque slap before gently rubbing it. He turned around, and held out his other arm to Pomni, inviting her to run into it for a hug.
"Jax, are you alright?" She asked, rubbing his back. She'd heard the stories of Ribbit, how they were his closest friend before their tragic abstraction.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ok Poms," Jax sighed, sitting on the floor, taking her hand as she sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I !ing hate that they're not here right now. You two would have gotten along so well." He let a sad chuckle escape his lips.
"I wish I could have met them" Pomni mused sincerely, reaching up to sweetly cup his cheek.
He rested his other hand on hers and met her gaze. "This grief is just, it's never going to go away, isn't it?"
"Nope, it absolutely will not," Pomni declared. He absolutely adored her bluntness and snickered a bit, before planting a soft kiss on her forehead.
Jax raised an eyebrow. "I... I think I may have an idea though. You don't think Caine would mind one last change to my character design, do you?"
Pomni shrugged and smiled. "Only one way to find out, right? Come on, let's check after dinner." She stood and extended her hand. "I'm actually really craving pickles. And... spinach, for some reason? Huh, that's a weird combination." Jax matched her grin and took it, hoisting himself up with her support.
"You know, I could go for something green myself."
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"Caiiine!" Jax moaned. He laid lazily on the most comfortable couch in the common room, Gangle quietly drawing in her sketchbook a few feet away. The others were occupied with who knows what.
The last two weeks had been good, even better than before. Well, after comforting Pomni following her pickle-spinach vomit incident... That had certainly not been his favorite shade of green.
With the ring master still yet to appear, Jax sighed and tried again. "CAINE!" He shouted louder this time, startling Gangle into making a stray line on her page. As she started to grumble and erase it, the toothy AI finally appeared, seated in a floating bathtub, accompanied by bubbles- fortunately NOT Bubble- and an orange rubber duck.
"Lalala-- AHHH!!!" His yell interrupted Caine's singing. "Jax, NO! You're NOT supposed to see my PARTS!" He shouted.
Jax was unamused, rolling his eyes, and covering his face. "Relax, dude- I just wanted you to finally fix my door. You know, like you said you would?"
"Oh, that's right!" Caine snapped, the bathtub disappearing, leaving him back in his usual attire. "You got it!" He scooped Jax up by the ears, instantly teleporting them both right in front of his door, already adjusted. "There you are! Peace out, Brussels sprout!" And with that he was gone once again.
Jax smiled at his new and improved door, immediately once again unbothered by Caine's antics. He couldn't wait to show it to Pomni.
His sign was just like the old, except now it properly reflected his new appearance. Jax reached up, giving his newly green ear another Ribbit-esque whack. He chuckled, opened his door, and went inside.
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