Chapter Text
Shortly after their revelation, Zooble had sat down in the shade of Jax's abandoned beach umbrella. As they once again thought back to the maid dress incident, their mind was racing.
Oh god oh f#&$ oh god oh f#&$ I can't believe I voted for it!.. he must've been so... Wait... What pronouns should I use?? 'he' doesn't feel right anymore, and 'they' would get confusing for the readers when we talk. Hmm, guess I'm calling Jax 'she' now. Wait, what if-
Zooble's quickly deteriorating train of thought was cut short by the sound of light steps in sand that had now become too loud to tune out. After taking a moment to regain their bearings in the present moment, wondering just how long they'd been mentally monologuing, they looked up from their view of the sand to see who was approaching. (Hopefully not another NPC. Ugh.)
Fortunately, as Zooble took in the sight of red ribbons, Gangle now stood squarely over them; her tearful porcelain face betraying her worry before her voice could.
Speaking of her voice, she began to speak in a meek, hushed volume "Are you feeling okay? you looked upset.", and before Zooble could reassure her, she spoke again "What's wrong? I'd love to help if I can!" Gangle ended with a more upbeat tone and smile.
"Jax..." Zooble immediately recoiled. S&?$ I CAN'T TELL GANGLE, THIS IS PERSONAL!!! So with a (hopefully) convincing tone, and the observation that Gangle was missing her comedy mask, they continued "...didn't already break your mask today, did she?".
Perfect save Zooble. No notes...
waIT NO-
"She?"
F!¢#... F@€%! play dumb PLAY DUMB
"Uhhhhhh what?"
"You said- nevermind..." Gangle thankfully dropped it; her previous, more nervous expression momentarily returning to her mask, before relaxing once again "Anyway, Jax didn't break my comedy mask, I just didn't feel like wearing it today."
Before Zooble could ask about that, Gangle answered their yet-unspoken concern "I just thought, you know... since we talked during the gun adventure, I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't hide my true feelings just because they're not what some people wanna see." Her ribbon spine straightened, as she stood tall in a triumphant, almost heroic pose - now staring upwards vaguely at the sunny sky with a confident smile "So I decided that I wanna try going without my Comedy Mask for a bit!"
Honestly, Zooble had never been so proud of another person before. They took a moment to admire Gangle's bravery to stand tall in the face of a bully like Jax.
On the topic of Jax, note to self; After I make sure she's okay on the gender stuff, make her promise to NEVER hurt Gangle again. I doubt she'll listen, but I gotta try. Wait that ALSO reminds me that I need to go find her soon.
"Hey, I'm sorry to leave you, but I got something important to tend to. You wanna draw together later?"
Gangle's face shifted multiple times as she looked back downwards at them - first disappointed, then much brighter as she processed the end of Zooble's sentence.
"Oh, I'd love to!" she began nervously tugging on one of her arms with her other one and... was that a blush? "Thanks for um. for always looking out for me, I might not have said it yet, but I'm really glad that we have each other here." God, she's adorable "I'll see you then. goodbye!" she turned and walked away.
Once Gangle had left, Zooble rose to a standing position, and embarked on their walk back to The Tent. They were in two minds about the conversation they'd just had. On one hand, they hated having to lie to Gangle like that, but on the other hand, they couldn't just tell her what was really up. They wouldn't out their worst enemy (Which Jax just so happened to be).
As they continued their longer-than-they'd-predicted trek, their inner discussion moved on from the encounter they'd just had to the one they were about to have. They had to make a gameplan, approach this in just the right way; Not so harsh as to scare Jax away, but not so soft as to let her deflect freely.
No matter how it happens, we NEED to talk.
Jax trudged back to his room with all the grace of that Gloink that got into Ragatha's stash of Stupid Sauce that one time.
His head spun, or maybe the room was spinning around him? no, that doesn't make any sense, so his head spun; his mind thick with a fog that seemed to coat each of his thoughts in a sticky grime as they passed by him.
He just needed to lay down for a sec to clear his head, that's all. "That's not all though, is it?" A single stream of thought cut through the aforementioned fog, in a voice unlike his own; One he thought he'd forgotten. "You know that, deep down, Zooble's right, Pomni was too. You're just too afraid to let yourself feel real again, 'cause then you'd have to admit you're a human being with human emotions; human DESIRES." The voice teased "Plus, if Zooble didn't know your little secret before, they certainly do now-"
"I KNOW, SHUT UP RIBBIT!"
Oh F@£&... He's really going crazy, isn't he?? Is this how it starts? Who am I kidding, I started this process when Ribbit abstracted. It's a wonder I didn't check out years ago.
By now, Jax was in his room, in the dark and laying on his bed. Although his mind was a little clearer in this position, the next voice he heard overpowered his other thoughts just as easily as the first had, with the added bonus that he could SEE the f!£%er now, sitting at his bedside and smiling that obnoxious smile Jax didn't wanna admit he missed.
"Is this seriously what you're doin' with ya self? You'd really rather curl up and die than accept the help the others are readily offerin' ya?"
"Screw off, Kaufy."
"No." Huh, guess that only works the first time.
Despite the clown's defiance, silence fell once more, and Jax found himself being the next one to speak up. "Did... Did it feel like this for you, too?" He barely got the words out without choking on them.
"What, Abstraction? Well, not quite, but it's a bit different for everyone, I suppose." Kaufmo seemed to ponder for a moment, though Jax knew that was impossible. "As I reached the end, I certainly saw the writing on the wall. Though if I remember correctly, you saw my room right after, so I guess you must've seen a fair bit of that too!" He chuckled as he finished.
"Now I know you're not real, 'cause that was actually funny."
"Oh, you wound me!" After another hearty bout of laughter, a sullen expression took over his painted face, and he started once more "On a serious note, you know what us being here means." Kaufmo held out his hand for Jax to take and, despite himself, he couldn't help but take it.
As soon as the contact was made, Jax was blinded by vibrant lights. Once his eyes adjusted, he found himself alone again. Looking straight ahead, he saw a kaleidoscopic view of abstract shapes morphing and shifting as he passed by steadily.
His body felt different too, but he was unable to look down to confirm his nakedness, purely transfixed on the patterns ahead of him.
The shapes ahead of him began to take on more distinct features; More specifically the faces of Kaufmo, Ribbit and him. He never thought it would look so pretty, to slip away quietly.
He heard a voice. Not like Ribbit or Kaufmo's just now, but a real voice. Zooble's voice, coming from behind him.
They were mostly repeating "Oh my god!!" He couldn't move to look at them, but their voice became louder and louder, so he could tell they were getting closer.
As soon as he felt their clawed hand on his arm, he could move again. He jolted upright, finding himself back in his room, staring at Zooble beside him. They were holding on tight to his side, and... were they CRYING?
"It's gonna be okay, I promise."