Chapter Text
Tick tick tick tick
Jax groaned as he pulled his pillow over his ears, trying in vain to drown out the sound of the clock. He stared up at the ceiling of his room, his eyes aching as he could do nothing but lay in bed in a fruitless attempt to get any amount of sleep. With a sigh of defeat, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. It's been three or four days now without him being able to get any sleep. The few times he did manage to nod off, he'd wake up a minute or two later, still feeling exhausted. He stood up and stretched his back, feeling a satisfying pop as he yawned. He glanced towards the clock, seeing it was only a minute until morning.
"Here we go." The rabbit mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his gloved hands. As if on cue, a rooster crowed in the distance as the moon dropped down and was replaced with the sun. The circus' lights flashed on, stinging Jax's eyes as cartoonish music began to ring out in the distance. He lazily pushed his door open and stepped out into the hallway, hearing the sound of the others shuffling around in their rooms as the supposedly got ready for the day. He smirked as he slowly walked up to Ragatha's door, leaning against the wall next to it as he patiently waited. After a few minutes, the sound of her footsteps approached the door. Jax held out his hand as the door swung open, catching it by the edge and throwing it back closed. It slammed into Ragatha and sent her tumbling back into her room.
"Dang it, Jax!" Ragatha scolded as she rubbed her plush head. "Did you really get up early just to do that?"
"Wow, you really think I would do something so childish?" Jax asked, peaking around the door with an impish grin. "Jeez Rags, I thought we were friends." Before she could respond, he walked away down the hall, stifling a yawn as Ragatha's angry grumbling grew distant. The amusement he felt quickly faded as he walked into the main area, walking up to the couch and lazily falling onto it face first and staring off into the distance with a frown. He watched as a Gloink hopped by, the bouncing sound it made stabbing into his brain. He pulled at his ears with a groan as he buried his face in the couch's cushions. "Stupid circus." He mumbled to himself. The sound of talking grew closer as the rest of the cast approached. Flipping over onto his back, Jax craned his neck up to see the group approach. Pomni and Ragatha were talking about something that they seemed to find funny, Zooble had a bored expression on their face, Kinger was quickly running towards his impenetrable fortress, and Gangle had her face buried in her sketchbook.
Just another day in the circus.
He laid his head back down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, trying to tune out the conversations the others were having as they took seats in the small furnished area. "I'm telling you, Orbsman would definitely beat The Gloink Queen in a fight." Ragatha said to a rather skeptical looking Pomni.
"Really? Are we talking about the same Orbsman?" Pomni asked incredulously. "The same one that doesn't even speak a human language?"
"Hey, you understood him when he ordered, didn't you?" Ragatha shot back, earning a playful eye roll from the jester.
"Don't remind me about Spudsy's." Gangle said with a shiver, the pencil in her red ribbon hand gliding over the paper in her sketchbook. "That was easily my least favorite adventure in awhile."
"I quite enjoyed it, actually." Kinger said happily, poking his head out from his fortress.
"You weren't even there, Kinger." Zooble said, eyeing the chess piece in confusion.
Kinger placed a finger to his chin and hummed in thought, staying motionless for a few seconds before coming back to life with a scream. "Oh, sorry Zooble," He said with a laugh. "you startled me."
"They startle me too." Jax said as he sat up, a grin stretched across his face. "I mean, just look at them. What are you even supposed to be?" He mocked, earning a glare from the impressionistic character.
"$@&# you, Jax." They shot back, the circus' censor taking out much of the weight of the insult.
"Ooh, someone's testy." Jax snickered.
"Cut it out Jax." Ragatha interrupted, glaring at the purple rabbit, "It's too early for you to be doing this already."
Jax wanted to respond with something snarky or insulting, but nothing was coming to mind. The only thing he could think about was how tired he was and how badly he wanted to just go back to his room. "...Whatever." He mumbled, leaning his head on the back of the couch and staring off into space. Ragatha stared at him in confusion, unsure of why he decided to give up so easily this time around. It usually took Jax himself getting bored for him to stop bullying someone.
"Hello, my wonderful wombats!" A loud voice rang out, snapping everyone out of what they were doing as Caine appeared in a flash before them with Bubble in tow. "Are you ready for another exciting adventure?!"
"I'm out." Zooble said as they stood up, only for a large cartoon hand to appear and push them back into their seat.
"Sorry Zooble, but no one is skipping out on this adventure today!" Caine said, zipping down uncomfortably close to Zooble to look them in their eyes. "The audience wouldn't allow it." He whispered menacingly as he stared intently at nothing, before zipping back to the center of the floor with a laugh, leaving a confused and slightly horrified Zooble sat in their chair. "Now, why are you all laying about?! Come on, up to it!" He clapped his hands twice and looked over at Bubble, who smiled widely as he rushed around the room and scooped all the furniture into his mouth, letting the players to fall to the ground. "That's more like it!" Caine cheered as everyone stood up with a groan, looking up at the ringleader with varying degrees of annoyance.
As Caine rambled on about what today's adventure would consist of, Jax's eyes began to wander around the room, eventually settling on Gangle sitting on the ground as she doodled in her book. He slowly shuffled across the floor, making sure not to draw too much attention to himself as he pretended to listen to Caine's speech. Something about a murder mystery on a train and interrogating suspects. Jax couldn't care less about the details as he grew closer and closer to Gangle, the masked character too absorbed in their art to notice. "We'll be leaving soon, everyone!" Caine finished, snapping his fingers and making a box of deerstalker hats appear on the floor. "Now, get your detective caps on and get ready to go snooping through people's personal belongings with the excuse of looking for clues!" With that, he vanished into thin air, leaving Bubble alone as he slowly began to silently float up and out of sight.
"A mystery, huh?" Ragatha said, plucking a hat from the box and slipping it on her head, "That doesn't sound too bad, actually."
Pomni pulled one out and looked at it incredulously, before dropping it back into the box. "I'm good without a hat, actually." She chuckled awkwardly.
Gangle watched as the hats were discussed, making Jax's grin grow larger. In one quick motion, he bent down and snatched the sketchbook from Gangle's ribbon hands and pulled the comdey mask from her face, leaving a shocked and now crying Gangle scrambling to get her items back.
"Jax, give them back!" She whined, reaching up to try and steal them back from the rabbit's arms.
"What's wrong, Ribbons?" He mocked, tucking the mask into the pocket on the front of his overalls as he began to leaf through the book's pages. "I just wanted to see what you've been doodling is all." He held the sketchbook just barely out of Gangle's reach, raising it higher as she jumped up to grab it. He wasn't really paying attention to what she had drawn, just using it as another way to mess with her. "Wow, for someone who draws all the time, these are all pretty bad." As he said that, he ripped a page out of the book, crumpling it up and stuffing it into his front pocket.
Gangle's eyes widened in horror as he tore the page out, the tears in her eyes growing larger. "Jax, stop!" She screamed, beginning to smack him with her ribbon hands to no avail. Jax's fun was cut short as the rest of the group approached, all but Kinger looking at him with disdain.
"Give her sketchbook back, Jax." Ragatha ordered, glaring daggers at the rabbit.
"What, am I not allowed to look at something she made?" He asked, feigning innocence as he wiggled the book in the air above Gangle's head.
"Quit being a jerk and just give it back." Zooble snapped, their arms crossed defiantly as they impatiently tapped their foot. "I mean, are you really so miserable that you can't let other people enjoy things?"
"Oh, because you're just a giant ray of sunshine?" Jax asked, finding his patience already starting to wear thin. It was annoying when they would intervene with his teasing at all, but today he was finding it especially grating.
"Just giver her back the sketchbook, Jax." Pomni chimed in, not nearly as angry as Ragatha and Zooble, but still clearly not a fan of his antics.
Jax rolled his eyes as he threw the book into where Gangle's chest would be, knocking a breath out of her as he looked back at the people who spoiled his fun. "There, happy?" He asked in annoyance, turning and preparing to leave until it was time for the adventure to start.
"And the mask." Ragatha said, her tone holding a slight smug arrogance at having made him back down. Jax clenched his fists as he turned back to the group, pulling the porcelain comedy mask out of his front pocket and holding it out towards Gangle. She wiped a tear away and slowly reached for it, her hands trembling slightly. Just before she could grab it, Jax reared back and threw the mask on the ground, making it shatter into tiny pieces that quickly scattered across the floor. The group fell silent as they watched the mask shatter, their eyes drifting up towards the smug and angry look on Jax's face.
"Oops." He said, not an ounce of remorse in his voice as he turned and walked away, smiling to himself as he heard everyone start to pick up the pieces of the mask. Another yawn escaped him as he walked to the other side of the room, leaning against the wall as he watched Pomni and Zooble try to comfort Gangle as Ragatha and Kinger picked up the pieces before Kinger got distracted. He watched as the scene before him grew blurry, rubbing his eyes to refocus them and hopefully push away the sense of fatigue that had been gnawing at him all morning.
"Time's up!" Caine yelled as he appeared in the air, holding a comically large stopwatch in his hand. With a snap of his fingers, everyone was summoned to the center of the room as a door opened beneath the floating man. Looking through the doorway, the interior of an old-timey train car could be seen, with featureless mannequin npcs dressed in time accurate clothing. "Hop to it, detectives!" Caine said eagerly, "You still have to find your rooms!"
"On trains they're called roomettes." Kinger chimed in, looking at everyone happily.
"It will be two of you to each room!" Caine explained, ignoring the correction, "Zooble and Pomni, you'll be in room 1."
"O-oh, ok." Pomni stuttered, "Is, uh, that ok with you, Zooble?"
"It's cool." They replied nonchalantly, their hands resting on their hips.
"Excellent!" Caine interrupted, "Ragatha and Kinger are in room 2."
"Oh, hello." Kinger said as he held a hand out to Ragatha, "I'm Kinger. Have we met?"
"So that just leaves..." Ragatha trailed off, silently adding up who was paired with who.
"Correct!" Caine cheered, "Jax and Gangle have room 3!"
"Wh-what!?" Gangle asked in a panic, glancing at Jax with a worried expression. Jax's grin fell at the idea of having to share a tiny room with Gangle of all people.
"Caine, maybe me and Gangle can switch rooms." Ragatha offered, looking up at him with a pleading look.
"Could I just have my own room, actually?" Jax asked the ringleader.
"Sorry folks, but that's not an option." Caine replied as he shook his head. "Those tickets were expensive and nonrefundable!" Before anyone could protest further, a large hand appeared and shoved the group through the portal. They all landed in a heap with a groan, struggling to pull themselves up in the corridor.
"Get off me, Plug n' Play." Jax grunted as he shoved Zooble to the side, earning a punch in the arm from their claw hand in response. Eventually, everyone had clambered to their feet and took in their surroundings. Grassy fields and farmland flew by outside the windows, only taking about a minute before the scenery repeated itself. The train car itself was very detailed, with ornamental details careful carved into the table legs and burnt onto the wooden walls. A patterned carpet covered the floor, the design on it matching the designs on the walls. The npcs stared at the group silently, before abruptly returning to their activities and talking amongst themselves.
"This was honestly nicer than I expected." Pomni commented, looking up at the ornate walls. "Too bad someone's going to be murdered." She laughed weakly at her own joke, visibly relaxing once Ragatha chuckled.
"Maybe we should find our rooms first." Kinger said, his eyes darting around nervously. "I heard there's a killer on the loose."
"Kinger is right." Zooble said, glancing at the chess piece, "...mostly. Knowing Caine there could be something important in them."
Normally, Jax would do anything but help with the adventure if it didn't interest him, but the thought of having somewhere he could try to sleep without anyone bothering him was too good to pass up. Plus, it would get him out of having to help. "Alright, Crybaby and I will go see if we can find them." He said as he grabbed Gangle's hand and ran off, ignoring the worried questions directed toward his unwilling companion and the protests directed at him.
"J-Jax, shouldn't we stay as a group?" Gangle asked as she stumbled along behind the lagomorph.
"No need, they'd just slow us down." He replied, shoving passed an npc as he glanced at the numbered doors around them. He came to an abrupt stop at the end of a car, making Gangle stumble into his back. "Hey, watch where you're walking." He said, pulling Gangle in front of him. "Look, we already found them."
Gangle looked up and, sure enough, they were standing in front of a door, a placard on it displaying the number 3 "How did you find it so fast?" Gangle asked.
"Oh Ribbons, you wound me." He replied with a grin, "Do you really doubt my abilities that much?"
"...A little." Gangle muttered, looking away nervously.
"Well it doesn't matter." Jax said as he slid the door open and pushed Gangle inside. Once they were inside, Jax closed the door and sat on the small bench next to Gangle. "Could Caine make this place any smaller?" He frowned, reaching over and picking up the single chair the room had. He carefully wedged it in the doorway, the back of it pinning the door handle to the wall and preventing it from being opened.
"Jax, we really shouldn't." Gangle said anxiously, "The others will be-"
Jax pressed a hand over her mouth, looking at her with an angry glare. "The others will think I got us thrown off the train or something as long as you keep your mouth shut." He growled, making Gangle's eyes widened with a mixture of shock and fear. "I'm too $@^&ing tired for this today. So unless you want to have to stay up tonight waiting to see if I come in with a pair of scissors, I suggest you zip it, got it?" Gangle nodded softly, making Jax's smile return as he pulled his hand away from her. "You should be thanking me anyway." He said as he rested his head against the wall to his left, "This gets you out of this dumb adventure too."
With that, Jax closed his eyes as he focused on the sounds of the train, trying to squeeze even the tiniest bit of sleep out of the situation. He waited and waited for sleep to claim him, but it never came. After awhile, he sat up straight and leaned back against the wall, hoping by some miracle it would help. The sound of footsteps approached the room, muffled voices being barely audible through the door. Jax opened an eye and glanced at Gangle, finding her asleep against the wall of the train. With a content sigh now that his plan couldn't possibly be ruined, he closed his eyes and refocused his attention on trying to sleep. The sounds of doors being opened and closed invaded his ears, making him grimace. Thankfully, it seemed like the others had searched their rooms and left, leaving Jax alone once more.
Another eternity passed as he kept his eyes shut tight, sleep still eluding him after what had to be at least an hour. He slowly leaned to his right, hoping the wall would feel better this time around. Much to his surprise, it actually did. It felt much softer than before, the movement of the train making it rise and fall slowly beneath his head. He focused on the pleasant warmth that came from it as he felt his body begin to relax, feeling more comfortable than he had in the past few days of sleepless nights. He could swear it felt like someone had draped an arm over him too. Ignoring the sudden shift in comfort, Jax hummed softly as he finally drifted into unconsciousness, the soft, breath-like sounds beneath him helping lull him to sleep.