Chapter Text
"C'mon man, where is it?"
Kaufmo let out an annoyed groan as he righted himself and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He'd been searching for that bowling ball for like… an hour now! Room a complete mess with all the belongings in his chest strewn about, and that was gonna be an absolute pain to clean up later. The thought prompted an even more annoyed groan before he slammed the lid to the chest shut.
Okay, so yeah SURE he could just use one of the default balls provided by the bowling mini-game. Whatever. But it just wouldn't be the same, you know? It just had that perfect weight and spin to it to counter his tendency to throw with a bit of a drift to the left. Bowling was just one of his things from before the Circus he could keep doing, but it absolutely sucked ass to do it alone. So of course he'd been excited when Jax FINALLY relented and agreed to join in on a bowling night, he hadn't had a solid bowling group in-
Well, anyways.
"Okay just retrace your steps man," He muttered to himself, eyes screwed shut as he rubbed at where the bridge of his nose should be. If it wasn't with his stuff, then maybe… did he lend it to someone? Maybe Ribbit, or Jax for some sort of prank? Well, there was zero chance Jax would let him into his room to look, so that really left one option right now. Besides, the two of them were probably hanging out in her room anyways so, two birds-one stone and all that. Actually… maybe he could workshop that into a joke.
"What like… two girls, one bowling ball? Is that anything?" He mumbled to himself for a moment, door shutting behind him as he stepped out into the hall, "Ehh… nah, Jax would probably take that weird or something, he's so defensive. Plus that reference is pretty dated."
It wasn't usually a long walk to Ribbit's room. The pair of them were almost neighbors, with only one unclaimed room between them. Actually, both rooms on either side were empty- he'd never given a thought to how thin the walls might be in this place before. God, if some new sucker ended up in here he hoped to whatever power above was out there that there was soundproofing in this digital hell hole. It sucked being such a light sleeper.
He shook his head- damn, where was his brain today? It shouldn't be such a government issue to go down the hall and ask a friend if they've seen a stupid bowling ball, focus up man! Jeeze, he was gonna end up like Kinger at this rate-
… Wait, what the hell was Kinger doing in the hall?
"Uhh- yo, hey dude what'cha doing out here?" Kaufmo called out, his current task set on the mental back-burner. The old man didn't really leave his fort all that often, even though he did technically have a room here. Plus, the way he was sort of absently ambling around… yeesh, this must be one of his bad days.
The chess piece turned to him as he called out, askew eyes blinking a few times (out of sync), before seeming to recognize that Kaufmo was addressing him.
"Oh! Kaufmo- I don't suppose you've seen a butterfly pass through here? My Danaus plexippus seems to have gone missing."
"Nah dude," Yeah that tracked, typical Kinger stuff, "Y'want some help man? It's a big circus, don't need you getting lost here. Ragatha'd tear me a new one if you do."
Okay, well… she wouldn't do that, but she'd be all sad and panicked about it, and then he'd feel guilty about it and that might as well be the same thing. It felt a bit… awkward? Trying to interact with the old guy? He'd never actually had an older relative get like that, and it was just really easy to get into his own head about not fucking that up.
So, no matter what Kinger's answer was- and he'd started going on with "fun facts" about monarch butterflies, taking Kaufmo's offer to help as interest in the subject- Kaufmo would stick by him until he was safely back at his fort again after an hour or so of further searching. Which was, of course, exactly where the missing critter was. That was almost funny, really- a bit annoying, but he should've expected this to be the punchline anyhow.
What was he doing again? Right- bowling ball.
By the time he'd made it back to the dorm hall he was debating with himself about putting the search off until tomorrow. It'd already been pretty late when he'd torn through his room, and now he was just starting to get a headache.
Just one quick little knock and check-in, it'll be easy. He raised his fist to the door, rapping his knuckles against it and faintly hearing the sound of a doorbell ringing on the other side inexplicably. Followed by a pair of thump, a surprised yelp, and a muffled censor-bleep.
"Oh s[%$>!#]t you good in there? Didn't mean to spook you, Ribs-"
"Jesus Kauffy, scared the crap out of me-"
"Sorry! Sorry, do you need any-"
"It's fine! It's all fine, I can handle myself!"
"Right, yeah. Hey, have you-"
"Kaufmo- look, can you come back later? Kinda busy here!"
"Uhh," His expression fell a little bit, "Yeah, uh, sure. I was just looking for- whatever, ask you tomorrow."
"Good NIGHT, Kaufmo!"
Jeeze, what crawled up her ass?
Ribbit fell backwards onto their bed with a groan. One eye cracked open, she could see Jax practically flattening against the wall furthest from the door. Pupils pinprick-small and shaking in panic, the skirt they'd manage to get her into hanging low on one hip and striped, off the shoulder top still riding up high on her chest.
Okay, damage control time- god damn it, Kaufmo, the clam-jamming little- WHATEVER! Whatever. She let out a long, drawn out sigh... now, how to get Jax's mind off of catastrophizing this whole situation...
"... Well, that sure killed my b[%$>!#]r.
Jax choked on a breath, doubling over and pounding her sternum like that would actually help. And hey, maybe it did- psychosomatic stuff did seem to have an effect on their digital bodies. A… really strong effect, even, that had been interrupted and they were perhaps a teensy bit miffed about. Once Jax had gotten a handle on her wheezing, she shot Ribbit an absolutely befuddled look.
"Ribbit what the f[%$>!#]k?"
They grinned right back at her, "Hey, got your attention didn't it?"
"God, you're such a weirdo," Jax said, scoffing as she made her way back over to Ribbit's bed. Had to readjust the skirt and tug her top back down. It still felt a little ridiculous, wearing a skirt on top of her overalls- but the straps almost made it look like she had a… well. Undergarments. That may or may not have made her insides feel like they were about to catch on fire.
"Aaand you're still stuck with me," Ribbit replied back, a hint of a sing-songy tone to her voice that had Jax just playfully shoving them back onto the bed. She had been so… mortified, being interrupted in the middle of all that. Couldn't even form a word- if Ribbit hadn't had taken point there Jax probably would've booked it first chance she got.
She wasn't wrong, though. The mood was six feet under after that, but at least she really could trust Ribbit to keep this all to themself until Jax was ready. Kinda hard to refute, with the way she covered her ass back there.
"Do you wanna spend the night here? Keep those on for a little longer?" Ribbit asked, gesturing towards the cobbled together outfit formed from stolen costume pieces they'd manage to sneak away from various adventures over time, "Can't imagine you'd wanna try bringing those back to your room after that."
"Jeeze, if you wanted to get into my pants that badly- ack, hey!" She fell back, having taken a pillow directly to the face. Ribbit tried to scowl, but it was ruined by the smile desperately trying to worm its way onto her face and the giggles they couldn't hold back.
"We were literally just sticking our tongues down each other's throats a minute ago, you jack[%$>!#]s! You're such a brat!"
Jax just grinned back at her, fluttering her drawn-on eyelashes.
"Yeah well, you're one who chose to be stuck with me."
God, Jax hated being out here without a shirt on. These overalls just made her feel too… EXPOSED, these days. She had to settle for folding her arms across her chest and pray she hadn't been drawing any attention with that. Eurgh… maybe Ribbit was right. It was getting fucking unbearable having to boy-mode pretty much everywhere outside of their rooms, and really fouling up her mood.
She should… also probably apologize to Kaufmo, at some point. She didn't want to keep being so snippy with him lately, he'd just been in the wrong places at the wrong times. Another thing Ribbit was maybe right about.
She'd just wait until they both cooled down a little about all this. She'd probably have already done that if Ragatha hadn't tried to go all mommy-mode and lecture her about it. She already knew she sucked, she didn't need to hear it in stereo!
SCHWING!
"H-huh?"
"Maybe Ribbons?"
"Terrible suggestion, Ragatha! We've got too many R names as it is, plus it sounds too much like Ribbit and that'll just make everything confusing!"
"C'mon Caine, if you're gonna shoot her suggestion down at least do it gently."
"Thank you, Ribbit."
Ribbit clicked their tongue and shot her a wink, and Jax rolled her eyes with a groan. When she opened her mouth next, her voice was dripping with sarcastic snark.
"Sure, go with the obvious descriptive name- why not name her Gangle, since she keeps tripping over her own two feet with those gangly ribbons."
"Great idea Jax! I'll be sure to add that right into the system!"
Wait, what? She snapped her gaze over to Caine just in time to see him snap his fingers and teleport away, her eyes wide with surprise and regret while all the annoyance she had been bottling up vanished into the pit in her stomach, "Wait, what?!"
"Jax, what the f[%$>!#]k!?"
"I didn't think he'd take that seriously!"
"Dude, you know he doesn't get sarcasm," Jax really didn't like hearing Ribbit sound so disappointed in her, and she had to physically bite back any sort of response she might've said. She needed to get out of here before she said something else stupid that she'd probably regret.
Stupid team adventures, stupid randomized teams, this is JUST what she needed! Getting stuck with the girl she'd screwed over on her first day here! Gangle was just… always so fucking timid, and crying, and open with her emotions. It got under her skin, and she didn't WANT to be that kind of person- she hadn't spent more than a few seconds in the same room with Gangle because she couldn't stop glaring at the crybaby while trying to keep her stupid mouth shut.
This was hell. This was her own, personal hell.
"Um-"
Jax clenched her fists for a second, before letting out a sigh.
"What?"
She did her best to keep her tone and expression neutral as she turned to speak to the other girl, but Gangle still flinched back. It took her a moment to gather the nerve to then point a ribbon towards one of the block towers within the tent, "I-I think that's… one of the scavenger hunt items, that Caine mentioned?"
Jax glanced up. Sure enough, hovering at the very top and spinning like some kind of video game collectable was one of the seemingly random geometric shapes they'd been tasked with searching for. This one being a simple, five-pointed star.
She hummed once, changing directions towards the blocks.
"Good eye. C'mon."
"I'm… sorry, okay?"
Gangle blinked in surprise, the pair of them sitting on top of the blocks and taking in the view of the circus its height offered. Okay, that was step one at least, c'mon Jax you're on a roll.
"Just… you need to grow a spine in here, people are gonna walk all over you. Especially Caine, the guy just- he really doesn't get people, okay?"
Okay, maybe that was a step backwards there judging by the way Gangle winced. Jax grumbled, pulling a hand down her face in annoyed exhaustion.
"Yeah, I'm s[%$>!#]t at apologies, I know. I'm trying my best here, I'm not good at being… obvious with my emotions, okay?"
Gangle looked away- not in fear or anything, just tapping her ribbons together.
"I really wish I wasn't…"
Jax sighed, leaning backwards and bracing herself on her palms, "Grass is always greener and all that. It'd be nice to not have everyone always on my a[%$>!#]s for being so "emotionally constipated" or whatever. It's always "Jax, you're so mean", or "Jax, nobody's going to judge you for having a real emotion for once", or "Jax you're gonna drive everyone away who cares about you and die all alone-"
Gangle slapped her ribbons over her mouth, a single giggle escaping her before letting out an "Eep!" for letting it slip. Jax's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"D[%$>!#]n, Ribbons- that's the first thing that gets a laugh outta you? Didn't realize we were dealing with someone so sick and twisted~!"
"N-no! It's not like that-"
"- Okay, but that's still so cringe though."
"You're cringe," Gangle said, managing not to stutter nor look up from her sketchbook, the scratching of her pencil not stopping for a moment. Jax cackled and took a swig of her hot chocolate, ignoring the half-confused and half-concerned look Ragatha kept looking at the pair of them with. This was a LOT more bearable, thank god Ribbit's kept getting on her ass to at least learn how to say sorry at the absolute minimum.
"I… I can't tell if they're getting along now or not."
"Whaaaat? C'mon ain't it obvious Rags, we're absolute besties~!" She said, draping an arm over Gangle's shoulders. Gangle waggled one of her ribbon hands in a 'so-so' manner.
"It's, um… more on probation really."
"Wow. I'm wounded, Ribbons."
Ragatha nodded slowly, but still clearly didn't get it from the concerned crease in her brow. She then clapped her hands together as she switched over to a different topic, "Okaaay… well, speaking of friends actually! Has Kaufmo seemed a bit distant lately? He usually never misses out these post-adventure cafe hangouts…"
Jax just shrugged and took a long, loud, slurping drag from her drink. Ribbit stuck their tongue out in fake disgust, which Jax promptly ignored as she finally finished her drink with an exaggerated gasp, "Eh, probably just figured he'd rather not muscle in on girl's night. You all know how awkward the guy can be, man's game is as bad as his jokes."
Ribbit choked on her drink, the sputtering almost getting regurgitated hot chocolate on Gangle's sketchbook. It took Jax a couple seconds to realize what she kinda just admitted.
"… S[%$>!#]t."