[TADC] 📜🎪 M A K I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C ! - Act 13

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M A K I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C !

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CHAPTERS 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21

⊹˚₊·‧Chapter 13: Surprise!

The next thing Pomni woke up to was her being tucked in, with Ragatha lying next to her, gently stroking her cheek.

“Hey… are you with me again?” She softly addressed her.

“I… huh - I … w-what…?” Pomni asked, disoriented. “oh my gosh, wait… did I fall onto you??”

Ragatha chuckled. “Yes, but that’s okay. You’re so tiny and lightweight. It was rather cute, actually.”

Pomni felt her face blushing… fiercely. At first from shame about collapsing onto Ragatha, then from the memories of why it had happened in the first place.

“Did… did we just…”

“Yes, we did.” Ragatha answered, in a relaxed, almost teasing tone. Dear lord, when did she learn to talk like that? Where was her sudden confidence coming from? Probably from Pomni being an undeniably pathetic caveman for her. It was as clear as day, with no room for anxious doubt for Ragatha.

“I… I can’t believe this… t-that this is possible here…”

“There’s even more.” Ragatha noted, flirtatiously. 

“Even more?!” 

Ragatha nodded, gently caressing Pomni’s face. It felt heavenly.

“I… I can’t even imagine… I mean…..” Pomni stuttered, “... I’m sorry I can’t give back to you, what you just gave me…”

“I told you, Pomni, we just have to be a little creative. Besides, unlike me, you do have noticeable openings.”

Perplexed about Ragatha’s words, Pomni fumbled down her body with one hand, feeling the blank space between her legs.

This made Ragatha chuckle again.

“That’s not what I mean. There’s a much more obvious one…”

Then her finger brushed over Pomni’s lips, carefully—but with assertiveness—diving inside, touching her tongue.

Pomni had no idea how red her face must’ve been by now, but it sure must’ve been at its limit.

“I’m looking forward to exploring this one more… See all the things you can do with it… how sensitive it is…”

Pomni could see in her eye that Ragatha really meant what she was saying. She looked almost as if she was talking to herself, blushing, her gaze focused completely on Pomni’s mouth, hungry and eager. 

Subsequently, and much to Pomni’s regret, Ragatha pulled back her hand. “We should get up, though. It’s time for the evening meeting, I think. As much as I’d love cuddling with you and maybe even doing more… we should go there if we don’t want the others to be suspicious.”

---

On their way to the main area, they briefly talked about when—and especially what—to tell the others about the child NPC. They didn’t really reach a conclusion, but their thoughts on the matter would soon be irrelevant anyway.

When they arrived, the others had just returned from the labyrinth adventure, and by the looks of it, they didn’t seem happy.

“I don’t understand you! One day you say you want boring stuff, like “Just a big box with mandalas and crayons” or “working at a burger joint”, and now that you have boring adventures, you complain AGAIN?” Caine’s voice boomed through the circus.

“That’s not the issue!” Zooble called out, “The issue is that it’s been like this for weeks! Every day another f !$%* g boring adventure. What’s tomorrow? Walking through a mall? Mowing a lawn? Power wash a house??”

“Actually, the last one sounds fun…” Gangle added.

Pomni grabbed Ragatha nervously by her skirt, trying to signal to her that they were walking into a minefield.

But it was too late.

“Are you seriously suggesting to me, my terrifying toybox friend, to put a pregnant person through unsafe adventures!?”

Silence.

So heavy, it could be sliced like a cake.

Pomni started to sweat. She looked up to Ragatha, who was standing a bit before her, so Pomni could only see the side of her face. She didn’t move, frozen in place.

Then she looked over to Jax and caught a glimpse of him looking at them both, his gaze difficult to interpret.

“What the f #* k are you talking, Caine?!” Zooble finally yelled, “Who do you consider pregnant!?”

“Is it me?” Kinger added, his eyes coated in hopeful bliss. “I have been feeling hungrier than usual lately.”

“No, Kinger, it’s not—” Zooble began, but then hushed and turned around to stare at him, with shocked eyes, obviously now considering the possibility. Gangle next to them stared at Kinger, too, her mask pointing at his stomach.

“W-what? No! It’s not Kinger, not after… last time.” Caine stated, ominously. “You guys are jousting, right? A friendly little pull of the leg? One that I don’t understand nor get the appeal of?”

“No…” Zooble replied, now with slight nervousness in their voice.

Pomni caught them goggling up Jax’ middle. Who also noticed and gave her a derogatory clicking with the mouth in return, saying, “Don’t even dare to think about it.”

“I don’t understand this joke! Is it supposed to be funnier the longer it goes on? Every one of you knows all about it! All of you were there when I announced it!”

“Caine… we really don’t know what you’re talking about…” Gangle tried to reach out to him. 

He lifted his hand to scratch the bottom of his lower gums, presumably his chin. “You mean… you truly didn’t know? I see… that explains why none of you ever asked them anything about the pregnancy. I just thought you all were socially crippled.”

Pomni slowly walked backward, trying to pull Ragatha with her, who stood as though she was rooted on the spot.

“Well, that’s no big issue. It actually might be a blessing in disguise! Because now we can all celebrate together and hold a baby shower for Ragatha!” Caine announced.

The very same silence from earlier returned, even thicker than before. Like it had become its own autonomous entity, almost threatening to choke Pomni.

Everyone turned around and looked at Ragatha. And subsequently Pomni, who was still holding her skirt.

Ragatha stared back.

When still nobody reacted, she finally said, “Surprise!” followed by a nervous, anxious chuckle.

That, too, didn’t show any effect on the others. Ragatha’s fake laugh slowly shriveled up and died. 

After some more excruciating seconds of silence, Jax finally ventured an opinion.
“Sheesh, Raggy,” he said while shrugging his arms, “No wonder you’ve been such a piece of work lately. Must feel good to finally have an excuse for your poor character.”

“I… My behavior hasn’t changed!” Ragatha replied, albeit unsure.

“Congratulations, Ragatha!” Kinger shouted out, “Now our babies can grow up together!”

“Ragatha… is it true what Caine is saying?” Gangle asked in a shaky but somehow excited voice.

Ragatha took a deep breath. Then she put both of her hands on her belly, brushing them down to show the rather obvious curve that had been hiding under her dress all along.  

“Oh my god…” Zooble whispered.

“Oh my god!” Gangle called out.

Jax looked at both of them, then rolled his eyes, saying, “Oh my god.” in the most bored manner possible.

“H-how could you hide something like… like that!?” Zooble asked.

Ragatha averted her gaze, afflicted and embarrassed. “It… i-it is rather big now, isn’t it…? Haha… uh… I can suck it in, a bit… a-and… When I lean forward, the dress conceals most of it…”

“But… but who’s the father?” Gangle asked further.

Caine came closer again, stating, “Well, Pomni of course! Are you all still unable to recall the adventure?”

Pomni didn’t even notice the flash of light anymore, with everyone’s eyes pointing at her.

She tried to manifest all of her powers to no-clip through the ground. It had worked before; maybe it could work again.

It didn’t.

So instead she just stood there, sweating like a sinner in a church, looking like she had been caught in the act, even though, technically, she hadn’t done anything to provoke this.

“You must be f !$%* g s ?%$! g me……..” Zooble said. 

“Careful, Zoobie, you might start to sound a little jealous there” Jax commented while crossing his arms behind his back. 

Zooble ignored him. “Pomni impregnated Ragatha? Like, how? Sex??”

Caine slapped a censor bar on their mouth, personally this time. “Timeout! I can sense when there’s a risqué undertone in your words, even when your words themselves are technically not redactable! And I’m done with this stupid game, too. You’ve all been there. Exactly 43 days, 22 hours and 57 minutes ago, I agreed to you all having a pet NPC, and the WHEEL OF ARTIFICAL PARENTHOOD™ had chosen Pomni and Ragatha as the source for the NPC's code.”

“So that’s what that was…” Gangle remarked.

“No but… wait. That wasn’t even two months ago, Ragatha is clearly further along than that!”

“Wow, Zooble, you charming old chum. Maybe Raggy’s just fat, ever thought of that?” Jax commented.

Zooble didn’t even look at him when they punched him in the guts; So hard that he fell on his knees, holding his stomach and whimpering.

“Oh yeah, that’s because 9 months is far too long. Who has time for that, haha? No, seriously.”

With Zooble having obvious troubles accepting the given reality, Jax huddled up against the floor, Gangle staring at Ragatha and Pomni as if she was picturing her next great artwork, and Kinger stroking his plank-flat front as lovingly as an expectant mother could; there wasn’t much to save here right now.

“Ooookie-dokie….” Pomni began, finally letting go of Ragatha’s dress, “I thiiiiink we all might need a brea—”

“We’re also together!” Ragatha interrupted her harshly while clutching the fabric on her chest, squeezing her eyes shut as if she didn’t have the strength to say it while looking at the others.

Nobody said anything. But for probably the first time ever, Gangle’s sad mask broke, revealing another happy mask underneath; One that was staring at them in wonder and surprise. As if some fantasies of hers that she hadn’t even thought about yet had come true.

Zooble, on the other hand, stared in disbelief.

Jax, who was still lying hunched over on the ground, just said: “Ha-ha.” He didn’t laugh. He actually said it. Nobody understood what it meant. But Kinger’s hand started to stroke his head.

Pomni slowly turned her head towards Ragatha. Her neck felt as if it was rusted in place.

What… was she thinking…? You dropped one bomb; now you could drop them all?

“Uh—duuuh?” Caine chimed in, “I sure would hope so, since you’re the parents?”

Pomni didn’t know whether his comment was of an innocent nature, or it actually showed some cunning planning. Whatever it was, she could barely stand the social demand that this situation was claiming.

“Maybe so! But I want everyone to know, anyway.” Ragatha stated, then took a step back to grab Pomni’s hand, who looked as if she was just teleported here, without even knowing what was going on. A moment ago, she just had her first time in the circus, and officially became an item with Ragatha, and besides all that, she was still processing the insane fact that she was going to be a parent soon—and now this? “I would not want to hide this anymore. And I don’t want Pomni to hide. And frankly, I could use one or two open ears for what we both are going through, so… here you have it. There will be an NPC baby, it’ll be based on Pomni and me, and I want it. Dearly. And I don’t care if any of you call me delusional. I haven’t felt this fulfilled since… to be realistic, since I joined the circus. And I’m so happy I don’t have to go through this process alone. I hope I can count on all of you as… as friends. And maybe even… as family, too.”

“You’ve always been family,” Kinger said, sweetly, while putting one hand on Ragatha’s head, gently petting it, “And I’m proud of you. I will always support your candle business! As long as it’s not an MLM, that is.”

Ragatha gave him a funny, but loving smile. “Thank you, Kinger.”

“I have to admit… I’m… I’m not sure how to feel about all this,” Zooble began slowly, “It’s…. a lot. But… what I can say for sure is… that I’m here for you, if you need me. And… congratulations. To… all of that.”

“Yes!! Congratulations!!” Gangle rejoiced, rubbing her cheeks in an excited manner, “I can’t believe this is happening! This is so exciting! I’m sure you’re going to be a wonderful mom, Ragatha!” Then she turned to Pomni, “And you’re going to be—” She hesitated, “—uh, a mom, too! Hurray!”

Pomni’s face felt a little crooked. The shade that Gangle was able to throw was surprisingly dark. 

Jax didn’t say anything. Pomni only witnessed him getting up and walking back to the dormitories, still holding his abdomen.

Though since she knew his rough stance in all of this already, she didn’t mind.

“If I may ask, who’s the seme of you two?” Gangle added, with the sweetest little :3 on her face.

“Ooooookay, I think it’s time for Ragatha to take her… pregnancy nap… Y-you know how she can be when she doesn’t take them,” Pomni quickly interjected.

“No,” Gangle gave back, “How is she, then? Tell me? :3”

Zooble put a hand on Gangle’s back ribbons. “Give them a bit of space. They’ve just been through a lot.” And then, more directed at the both, “Take your time. But let’s call a meeting tomorrow, early in the morning. There’s probably a lot of stuff we should discuss before the arrival of… that.” They said, nodding their head towards Ragatha’s belly.

When Pomni also walked towards the sleeping quarters together with Ragatha, she heard Gangle say to Zooble: “I bet Ragatha is the seme.”

For some reason, this needled her more than it should; even though it was probably the truth.

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