[TADC] 📜🎪 M A K I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C ! - Act 14

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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 14: Patch

“I’m sorry, Pomni!” Ragatha blurted out once they were in her room, after walking in awkward silence until there. “I don’t know what came over me, I just… I’m sorry!”

“H-hey, no, it’s okay Ragatha,” Pomni tried to calm her down, “It really is!”

“We’re supposed to be a team, and I just decided… without asking you…..”

Pomni hugged her from behind, wrapping her arms around Ragatha. This made her pause.

“I mean it. It’s okay. It was surprising, but… I’m happy it’s all out in the open now. We would’ve talked about it over and over again, not ending up actually deciding anything. And now I don’t have to hide my feelings for you anymore… nor your pregnancy. I can look at you whenever I want… and touch your belly whenever I want. That’s nice…”

To reinforce her words, she lovingly stroked Ragatha’s curve. It felt so pleasant in this position.

Ragatha gave a little moan in response. It was likely more a sound of relaxation, but by this point, Pomni's mind had been so conditioned that she immediately felt her legs turning to jelly. 

She slowly pulled her arms back. “Okay… maybe I shouldn’t touch you that often in front of the others. Your effect on me is definitely making me… unserviceable, way too quickly. And I wouldn’t want to add this love-struck idiot version of myself on adventures the others already find boring…”

“Oh no!” Ragatha said, turning around, “I haven’t apologized to everyone for being the reason that the adventures stopped being fun!”

Pomni took her hands, chuckling. “Hey, that’s okay, Ragatha. I’m sure after today's revelations, they understand. But if you still would like to get this off your chest, I’m sure you can do it at the meeting Zooble suggested. For now, I would say you just try to relax, and maybe we can think together about the topics we should focus on?”

Ragatha nodded slowly, visibly relaxing again. When she was about to answer, a knock interrupted her. 

She looked at the door, then at the clock on the other side of the room. Then she made a small, lopsided mouth, giving “Mmmmmmmh” in a conflicted manner.

“What’s going on,” Pomni asked, a little nervously, “Why do you make that face?”

“It’s… uhm. Wait. You’ll see.”

She walked over to the door, opening it—and revealed Jax standing behind it.

Who looked at her, somewhat bored, somewhat annoyed. He didn’t even say hello. But when he saw Pomni, he looked even more… worn out.

“What is she doing here? You know what time it is. I even rescheduled my nap for this. And believe me, I really do need it after today.”

He didn’t even make fun of Pomni this time around, not even a little tease or act to toy with the possibility that he was doing inappropriate things with Ragatha. 

“I’m sorry. I forgot. Things were pretty hectic just now, as you saw… haha…”

He just stared at her. Then sighed, annoyed, not saying anything.

Ragatha remained silent as well. 

After some few awkward seconds, Jax eventually said: “So… you gonna throw her out oooor…”

“Actually, I’d… I’d like her to be here.”

This made him look at her more perplexed. Pomni saw his pupils switching back and forth between her and Ragatha. He started to not only look annoyed, but pissed off.

“She… she knows everything now.”

He stared at her again, his expression not changing. “Wowie, congratulations. Guess you guys learned to talk. How did you like knowing that I f███d dollface?”

Ragatha made a shocked sound, then quickly looked outside to check if somebody had heard him, then pulled him inside, closing the door behind him.

Pomni just gawked.

She hadn’t thought about that before.

But now she did.

She suddenly noticed a lot all at once; Their slight height difference, their diverse bodies, how she touched him on the arm and pulled him confidently, and how he let himself be guided by her, albeit in a bored manner.

Oh.

Right.

They had done that, hadn’t they…

“What’s gotten into you, Jax?!” Ragatha scolded him, “If you don’t want to do it, just say so, but don’t be so hostile and vulgar!”

Jax moaned, incredibly annoyed. “This is all so serious! Way too serious! In case you have forgotten everything about me, Raggy, I don’t do serious. It’s boring, and sucks and doesn’t fit this stupid place at all.”

They… they even fought like an old couple.

“Okay!” Ragatha shouted, but quickly corrected her tone into a less aggressive one, “Okay. …You’re right. Today must’ve been pretty uncomfortable for you. I get it. Should we just… do it tomorrow?”

“You’ll rip open again.”

“It’s okay. I can stitch myself up… roughly.”

“I c-could maybe-” Pomni began to speak, but both of them interrupted her by saying "No!" in different tonations, silencing her immediately. They were probably right; eventually Pomni might do more damage than any good.

“And I know you can't,” Jax continued, directed at Ragatha, “you cried like a baby last time, and correcting your mistakes was even worse.”

Ragatha wanted to respond, but then fell silent, eventually closing her mouth and looking away.

He stared at her for a moment, followed by a defeated sigh, his whole body sludging as if he had just lost a good portion of his energy.

“Fine. I patch up doll. Clown can stay.” He stated and pointed at Pomni. “But keep your mouth shut, or else you’ll make it awkward. If I hear even the tiniest “aw” from you, I’m gonna leave immediately.”

Pomni gestured as though she was zipping her mouth shut. Jax just stared at her, extremely tired, looking as if he was thinking about abstracting just to get away from this situation. Then he slowly walked over to the bed and sat on the ground.

“Thank you, Jax…” Ragatha said softly but also with clear exhaustion in her voice, walked over to one of her cupboards where she fetched a round tin box of cookies, and then handed it over to Jax. As Pomni was asking herself if the cookies would somehow help the situation, Jax opened it, revealing a bunch of sewing utensils and pieces of fabric inside.

Ragatha, in the meantime, lay down on the bed, with her middle roughly next to Jax, curling up her skirt.

This startled Pomni for some reason, even though she knew it was coming; Her brain needed a moment to not see it as something sexual, and to sort and shelve Jax seeing it. When she looked at him, he was absolutely unfazed by Ragatha’s gesture, instead tiredly threading the needle. 

Pomni noticed that Ragatha’s breathing accelerated, and she gently reached for her hand. Ragatha accepted, glumly smiling at Pomni. It was clear that she was not looking forward to it. 

Poor thing… to have to go though that again and again, just because your body wasn’t built to transform this way… Ragatha truly was remarkable for hiding all of these struggles. 

After Jax was finished threading, he leaned forward, scanning her woven skin for flaws. He did it with such strange, almost bored professionalism that it was clear beyond doubt he had done it many times before. 

What even was he trying to find? Pomni had stared at her body just earlier today, and she hadn’t seen any issue.

His fingers traced over her belly until he eventually stopped. As Pomni looked closer, she saw that there was, indeed, a stressed spot. Like fabric that had been stretched too much and was prone to ripping soon.

He reached into the box and handed Ragatha the piece of beige cloth and a pair of scissors. 

“3 by 3” he stated, without looking at her, as he continued to observe her skin. While Pomni was still trying to figure out what he meant, Ragatha let go of Pomni's hand and started to cut out a piece of the cloth—3 by 3 inches.

Seeing them working together so effortlessly was unusual and confusing, but ultimately touching.

Even though Pomni didn’t know how to comprehend her feelings, she felt deeply grateful that he had been supporting Ragatha like this all the time.

After she was done cutting it up, she handed it back to him, with him quickly putting it on the spot he had been observing.

He lifted the needle, then asked, “Ready?”

“A-almost…” Ragatha stuttered, then reached for Pomni’s hand again, who immediately took it. “O… okay. You can start.”

And so he did.

It was afflicting to watch. Ragatha didn’t cry, but it was clear that she was in severe discomfort. And who could blame her? Even though pain worked… differently here in the circus, the thought of being stitched up, especially at such a vulnerable spot that she was so protective about… It was tough. Ragatha’s face turned red due to the effort of endurance, while she began to pant.

Jax, though, was focused on his work; It was obvious that he tried to get things done as quickly as possible. Maybe for Ragatha, maybe for himself so he could get back to sleep. 

Either way… the image presenting itself in front of Pomni was so… substantial. Overpowering, almost. It made her feel many things, some of which she couldn’t grasp. Seeing this usually tactless guy stitching up his ex with surprising care, because she was growing Pomni’s baby…? The feelings this caused inside her were yet to be named.

Thankfully, it was over rather quickly, but looking at Ragatha, Pomni was sure it must have felt excruciatingly long for her. Suddenly, Pomni was filled with guilt. She was the reason Ragatha had to go through this procedure in the first place.

After the last stitch, Jax cut the thread, then brushed over the patch again, which now looked almost perfectly fused to Ragatha’s skin. It looked so… so interesting. So natural. It was clear that he knew her body long and well. Well, her avatar, at least. How must it be for him to see her changing like this after all those years? 

Pomni saw subtle shifting under Ragatha’s skin. She was sure Jax saw it, too. He didn’t flinch, however, nor react in any other way.

“I think that was the only one for today,” he eventually stated.

“T-thank god…” Ragatha replied, visibly relaxing. “My skin really starts to look… well … I mean, there…. are so many by now…”

“Don’t forget, these are trophies.”

“Aw…” Pomni whispered.

Immediately, Jax looked up to her, as if Pomni just told the worst, most soul-crushing dad joke ever. Then he dropped everything he held in his hands onto the mattress, got up, and walked out without saying another word.

Ragatha and Pomni stared at the door he had just closed behind him.

“Well… to be fair, he did warn me,” Pomni ultimately concluded.

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