Chapter Text
Kinger was very happy with his new pillow fort. The previous one had been destroyed by Gloinks, but that tended to happen from time to time, so he wasn’t too bothered.
What was even better was that he had rebuilt it stronger and far more superior than before!
It had very well structured walls using the heavier pillows in his collection, and a roof constructed using the lighter ones. The door was also made of the lighter kind of pillows, so it would be easy to open and close.
Inside the fortress he had made two thrones, fit for a king and his queen (also made out of pillows), and he had a book about bugs for him to read.
He had also put a blanket on the floor and overtop of it, covering the whole thing so that there were minimal gaps for light to seep through.
Needless to say he spent the whole night on it, but he was glad he did, because it was amazing.
He was stood there, basking in the glory of his creation, when he was teleported to where Caine and some others were stood next to a portal.
It looked like the whole circus was there. Wait, who was that Jester girl? No, no, they were missing the clown, was his name Kaufmo?
He shook his head to clear it, looking up to see Ragatha standing directly in front of him, a concerned look in her plush eyes.
He jumped backwards, startled by her presence.
“Sorry Kinger! I didn’t mean to scare you or anything, I was just explaining that we’re going on an adventure now” She exclaimed, apologetic.
“We are?” Kinger was confused, but he was usually confused, so he figured that made sense.
“Yes that’s why Caine teleported you here dumb[%#*!]” Jax was not as kind as Ragatha when explaining, but the straightforward way he said it did help Kinger understand slightly better.
“Oh alright” Sure he was tired from staying up all night, but he supposed he’d just sleep when they got home.
And with that they were pushed into the portal by Caine, appearing on the other side of it in some strange new land, confusing Kinger even more, but he’d learnt to just live with that feeling.
——
Kinger had virtually no memory of the past… Hours? Days? Minutes?
All he knew was that he was tired. Really tired. So when he spotted his fortress and remembered the modifications he’d made to it, he was very excited to go rest in there.
He was stood outside the portal for a while, or so he assumed, because Ragatha did that thing where she poked him gently and asked if he was alright. She usually did that when he zoned out.
“I’m fine.. I think? I’m gonna go sleep, I’m tired”
“Alright, come fetch me if you need anything!” With that Ragatha walked off.
He had no idea where she was going, but he didn’t mind, right now he was trying to focus on getting to sleep. He tried his best to focus on the thought, so as to not let it slip. He even squinted his eyes so he could be in as much darkness as possible in order to help him.
He took his time, but eventually he was over by his impenetrable fortress, and he was just about to enter when Jax came running, holding Zooble’s arm and Gangle’s sketchbook.
Jax crashed into the pillow fort, toppling both him and the fort over in the process. It caused a huge commotion, drawing pretty much everyone to come see Jax struggle in the mound of pillows.
Kinger just stood there.
Zooble leaned in and grabbed their arm and Gangle’s sketchbook, and then handing the latter to its rightful owner, who thanked them profusely.
Kinger just stood there.
Ragatha came and reluctantly pulled Jax out after receiving multiple death threats from the purple rabbit.
Kinger just stood there.
He didn’t know if he was sad.
He should be, right?
He worked hard on it, and there was even a throne for Queenie in there when she came to visit.
He was definitely sad.
He didn’t know what to do now.
He should fix it, right?
But he worked so hard on it, but he was too tired to rebuild the whole thing now.
So he just stood there.
— - Pomni POV - —
Pomni was sitting in her room, trying to relax after yet another terrible mission, when she heard a loud crash that resonated through the whole circus.
A couple rounds of cursing from Jax ensued, and Pomni reluctantly decided to go see what had happened.
Once she found out where it was happening, (which wasn’t hard, given the amount of noise Jax was making), she came across a mess of pillows, Jax in the midst of the pile, and Zooble angrily staring at him while repositioning their arm.
Yeah, Pomni could fairly easily put two and two together.
She lingered a little ways away from the chaos, preferring not to get involved at the moment.
Ragatha taunted Jax for a while before helping him up, and immediately leaving him behind to clean up his mess.
Oh right, where did all those pillows come from? Pomni wondered.
That was until she noticed Kinger, stood next to the pile, staring at it. Her heart sank.
In the scuffle, Jax had managed to destroy Kinger’s pillow fort.
F[#%*!]k.
She watched as his eyes turned glossy, seeming to fill with tears, and she hurried over.
“Hey Kinger, are you alright?”
As Pomni spoke, Jax turned to look at her, and seemed to realise his mistake. He stopped walking away and lingered nearby to see what would happen.
“Gah!” Kinger jumped, startled by her. “What was that… Uhm.. Pomni?”
He was blinking like crazy to try and wipe the tears from his eyes.
“I just asked if you were ok?”
“Oh Uhm yes… I think so?”
“Are you sure? Didn’t you just reenforce the fort? I thought you spent a long time on it… I would be sad.”
Kinger went silent. She didn’t know if he just wasn’t listening or if he was letting her words sink in. Seemingly the latter, seeing as he started trembling slightly.
“Do you want a hug?”
Kinger sniffled a little, which she took as a sign.
Pomni engulfed him in a hug. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being upset, not when he was such a kind person (if you could see beyond his insanity)
“Hey look, me and Jax will help you build it again.” She pulled away after a while, Kinger seemed to have calmed down slightly.
“What! I’m not f[#%*!]ing helping!” Jax exclaimed.
“You caused this mess! See how upset Kinger is! He spent all night working on this, you’re gonna help rebuild it even better than before!” Pomni retorted, silencing him.
Jax grumbled something, but came to join them over by the fort.
“So, what’s the plan.” He asked, seemingly uninterested, but deep down Pomni could sense he felt a little guilt. Everyone cared deeply about Kinger, even though the chess piece made it a little difficult for them to show it at times.
“Well Uhm… I don’t remember?” Kinger murmured.
“Great! We’re getting nowhere with this. Ugh.” Jax exclaimed.
“Wait, I have an idea…” Pomni ran off to find something. She didn’t know if the circus had it, but if she couldn’t find it she would just ask Caine. To her surprise she found it, on a wall right by the stage.
A light switch.
She flicked it off, sending the circus into total darkness. Perfect. She thought.
She heard a bunch of cursing from where Jax and Kinger were stood, (coming only from the rabbit), but she knew that this would help Kinger, and there was still enough light dotted around the place for them to be able to see what they were doing.
She made her way back to them, noticing how clear Kinger’s eyes were, not glazed over like they tended to be.
“How’s that Kinger?” She asked, completely ignoring Jax’s confused protests.
“You remembered?” Kinger looked at her, his eyes shining.
“Yeah, of course! I figured after what happened at Mildenhall Manor, this might help you here too.” She smiled at him, which he returned to the best of his abilities, having no mouth and all.
“What.” Jax was still stood there looking dumbfounded.
Kinger bent down and started arranging pillows. “The dark helps me think straight.” He said, and something in his tone seemed to affect Jax. Maybe he was brought back to a time when Kinger wasn’t insane, a time before Queenie abstracted. Either way, he immediately got to work on the fort, gently asking Kinger for instructions.
Pomni decided not to question this sudden change in behaviour, she just joined in.
“I tend to have an area of five by three pillows, and make it max five pillows tall, usually a bit less.” Kinger got to work laying out the foundation. Jax and Pomni helped out, but he gently corrected them.
“Put the heavier pillows on the bottom, so they’re easier to stack, see?” He sounded like a dad, and there was something very comforting in his tone, so unlike the crazed one they were used to. Pomni could tell Jax was affected by it too.
They got to work building the fort, Kinger showing them the techniques for the most optimal structure. Eventually they both got the hang of it, and Kinger started rambling to them about his bug collection.
Pomni zoned out, not really listening, just enjoying this happier version of Kinger, and she wished he would always be this way.
She was almost sad when they finished up, Kinger carefully draping a blanket over the fort with the help of Jax. She didn’t want this to end, it had been such a nice experience.
She could tell Jax was feeling the same way, hesitating as he was about leave, although he would never admit it.
“Hey uhm Kinger?” Pomni asked as Jax started walking away, causing him to stop and listen in.
“Yes?” He turned to her with his warm, lop-sided eyes.
“Can me and Jax maybe sleep in the fort with you tonight?” Pomni didn’t meet his eyes.
“What! Why me!?” Jax was playing cool, but he did creep a little closer to the fort.
“Sure, I’d appreciate the company!”
Jax groaned, but joined them as they all huddled inside the Impenetrable Fortress™, all peacefully falling asleep almost the moment they shut their eyes.