Chapter Text
Jax grinned, leaning over the back of the common areas couch, sticking his face into view of Pomni and Ragatha, who were mid conversation. “Hey Rags, Pompom, whatcha up to?” Ragatha shrieked, leaping backwards away from him, but Pomni just sighed, turning away from him, and Jax’s smile flickered for a moment.
“J-Jax! Don’t sneak up on people like that!” Ragatha clutched her chest, glaring daggers at him, and he scoffed. This was more like it, Pomni is just annoying.
“Whaaat it’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention. I just said hi!” as he spoke, Jax patted Ragatha on the back, and dropped a centipede down her dress. Immediately, the ragdoll shrieked, batting at her clothes, and Jax laughed, leaning over towards Pomni. “See jester? Hilarious right?”
She glared at him , pushing past him to help Ragatha pull the centipede out of her dress. “Don’t pretend yesterday didn’t happen. Besides, that wasn’t funny.” Jax felt his ears droop slightly, and huffed, stalking away and dropping himself onto one of the other couches.
“Whatever, you just don’t have a sense of humor.” He lounged back in his seat, enjoying the chaos as Pomni finally managed to pull the insect out of Ragatha’s dress.
Another voice spoke up from the hallway, and Jax just barely restrained a yelp of shock. “Or maybe you’re just not funny $#!%head.” Zooble stepped into view, his arm around Gangle’s shoulders, and Jax’s only thought (I miss Ribbit, why do they have to be lovey dovey here) was how he would break her comedy mask today.
“Oh, so sorry Zoobie, did I ruin your afterglow with the sad sack? Not the morning you wanted today? Surprised her comedy mask is intact with you nearby.” Zooble blinked, taking a half step back from him and narrowed their eyes.
“Thought you’d be happy, did getting to kill us all not cheer you up?” She shot back, stepping in front of Gangle protectively.
“Of course it did, it was all just violent fun that meant nothing, right Jax?” Pomni called out from behind him, and Jax flinched slightly. He could feel his pupils constrict on instinct and cursed his stupid rabbit body for the millionth time.
“Yeah, of course! That rocked!” He forced his grin to stay as wide as possible as he spoke, refusing to let the mask slip again. “I hope Caine lets me torment you all again today!” as if on script, there was a popping sound as the Ringmaster appeared above them, spinning like a top. Just another sign they were all NPCs.
“Hello my Bumbling brainiacs! I hope you’re all ready for a NEW adventure.” Caine stared at the floor for a moment, and sad music played from nowhere. “I’m afraid the awards show went a little overbudget, so we’ll be doing another suggestion box adventure today… I’m sorry.”
“Oh, thank god” Zooble muttered to herself, and Caine glitched slightly at the dismissal. The other characters seemed to share the sentiment, all visibly relaxing, and if it weren’t for the stargazing adventure Jax would have agreed. He locked eyes with Kinger, as the man stepped out of his pillow fort, and for an instant saw the same worry in the chess pieces eyes, before the madness took hold again.
He stood up, raising his hand “Nah, not interested in any of Ribbons anim-“
Caine spun towards him, pointing his cane, and cut him off “Oh! But you’ll love this one Jax! The suggestion was made just for you!” a portal opened directly behind Jax, and he was lifted off his feet and dragged into it. Fuck.
Jax landed on his face on wooden floors and could immediately tell something was wrong. His face felt weird, and there was something distinctly off about his clothes. Pushing himself to his feet, he found himself facing a large mirror, hung over a vanity. “You’ve got to be %#&@ing kidding me.” He was wearing a full face of makeup, with black wings around his eyes, and dressed in a flowing floor length black dress, patterned with stars.
He knew this dress. Ribbit had designed it when the two of them wrote this suggestion together. Jax slowly turned his head to the side, and saw, sitting in front of another vanity, a green mannequin, dressed in a matching star patterned suit with wide ruffled sleeves, and adjusting their collar.
Jax tried to breathe, breaths already coming out heavy, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t even have lungs, how stupid was it that he couldn’t breathe? The not-Ribbit ignored him as he broke down, adjusting its outfit calmly, before turning to Jax “Show starts in 20! See you there Cotton!”
Ribbit smiled, lounging across the massive pillow they were sitting on with their feet in her lap. “This adventures gonna be awesome Cottontail!” she laughed, clapping her hands together. “Not that Tooth-boy would ever let us sing properly, but a frog can dream!”
“Nonono” Jax panted, trying to steady himself, to think straight. His hands clenched on the vanity in front of him, tears pouring down her face uncontrollably. Why would Caine pick this adventure. It wasn’t even possible, two of the other characters weren’t even here… why couldn’t he have picked it when they were alive. Jax stared into the mirror in front of him, and the door to the room opened.
“Oh! Hey Jax! Are there any bugs in-” desperately, Jax lunged sideways, flipping off the light, and not bothering to try to catch himself before he hit the ground. Gloved hands shot out and caught him, barely cushioning his fall, as they had nothing to support them. Kinger’s voice trailed off, sounding much calmer now “Your name isn’t Jax, is it?” there was a long pause, only punctuated by Jax sobbing, before the hands pulled him into the chess pieces lap.
“Hey Cotton. How are you doing kiddo? Sorry I wasn’t myself when I came in.” Cotton clung to Kinger’s robe, burying her face into it and sniffling, and his hand came down, scratching at the fur on the back of her head.
“I- I can’t… Ribbit wrote this one, she was supposed to help with it…” her chest was wracked with an even more powerful sob, and Kinger’s grip on her tightened. “M-mom was supposed to be here.”
“I know she was. I was there when you three came up with the idea remember?” he hummed, scratching behind one of Cottons ears, and her chest loosened ever so slightly. “I think it’ll be good for you. They’d want you to have fun anyway. Plus, being yourself will help your mental state.”
Queenie leaned over the two of them, reading the paper Ribbit was writing on. “That suit concept is gorgeous Ribbit, but it needs a little more flare to match with cotton! Here, let me add something ok love?” Ribbit grinned, passing her the paper.
Cotton grinned up at her. “Do you want a song? I bet Dad would love to hear you sing!”
Kinger glanced up from his desk with a wistful smile. “Oh, wow. It’s been so long since I’ve heard you sing honey. You should absolutely sing for us!”
“I’ll add one of our songs to the list then, it’ll be nice to sing again.” Queenie sighed softly, adding a final note to the paper. “Now, don’t let us distract you, focus on your work darling.”
Jax laughed, smiling widely. “What are you talking about old man! My mental health is fine!” the illusion was definitely shattered by his tear-stained fur, but at this point, it was a reflex.
“You’ve been glitching recently.” Kinger’s hand tensed on Cottons head as he spoke, fear in his voice. “Your sister talked to me about it. She’s scared you’re going to abstract soon. I am too.”
Cotton laughed bitterly and shook her head. “Ragdoll? Don’t lie to me dad. She hates me, she’d be happy if I died. And it’s not like you even remember me most of the time.”
“Ragatha doesn’t hate you. None of them do, not really.” Cotton scoffed at that, rolling her eyes, but didn’t interrupt. “They can all see what you’re doing. Even Zooble. They don’t like it, but they don’t hate you. We all understand what you’re going through.”
“Maybe you do. Cause of mom. But none of you understand what it’s like to…” Cotton choked down a sob, unable to finish her sentence.
Kinger sighed, going back to petting her head. “It wasn’t your fault, Cotton. She was already doing badly long before you had that fight. She couldn’t handle your mom and the other’s abstractions.” Kinger choked up slightly, taking a deep breath to steady himself. “It would have happened anyways, just a little later.”
“But... I could have just… said it back, and then we would have been happier. You’ve said it before, the worst thing you can do is make people unwanted.” Cotton curled up tighter on her father’s lap, tears still streaming down her face.
“I told Queenie I loved her every single night. Even when she was getting bad.” Cotton felt tears fall onto her cheek as Kinger spoke. “Ribbit talked to me about you. Other than that one moment, you were keeping them together. You made her feel like there was still something here for them.”
Cotton tried to bury herself into his lap further, but she was already as curled up as she could be. “Sometimes, the struggle of existing in this world is too much for even our love to keep people going. One person’s affection isn’t always enough.”
“But… I never even told her I loved her.” Cotton choked out after a long pause. “Not even when they were… abstracted.”
“You were scared. You’d been burned before, and you weren’t ready to say it yet. But she knew. She was certain you loved her.” Kinger reached down, taking Cotton’s hand and moving it to rest on top of her ring, not covered by her gloves for once. “You know they were certain.”
“She never actually asked… what if she hates me dad? What if she blames me for what happened?” Cotton twisted her ring around her finger, feeling the emerald embedded in it.
Kinger laughed, and Cotton’s body relaxed instinctually at the sound of his genuine lucid laughter. “That girl couldn’t hate you no matter how hard they tried.”
The two of them sat in silence for a long time, Kinger still petting Cottons head, as the rabbits breathing slowly calmed, and her sobs finally stopped. Kinger finally pulled her to her feet, bushing her off and fixing her dress. “You look lovely. I wish your mom could have seen you in this dress, she’d be so proud.”
Cotton laughed softly, wiping her face as the door swung open. “Cotton! You’re on in two minutes!” called a mannequin, poking its head in and flicking on a light.
“Thanks for your help dad. Love you.” As she spoke, she watched Kinger’s body language shift, and his head snapped over to her.
“AAAH! Oh, hi Jax.”