Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jax's room held a lot of secrets.

A small door that led to a different location in the circus everytime he opened it, the burnt remnants of a polka-dotted box he swept under the bed, and his dresser. 

Painted a bright green to match the grassy carpet in his room, Jax's dresser mostly had exact copies of his usual overalls, though some had a few changes, such as sewn-on patches. 

He never felt the need to wear them, though, and thus never went digging around in there.

But there was one other reason he never looked in there.

In the far right corner of Jax's dresser hung a salmon pink pinafore, in the same color as his overalls. It had a chest pocket, and was sewn from a soft corduroy fabric.

It was not too short, clearly made for a tall person, but it still showed a good portion of his legs. He hated showing his legs, for no reason in particular.

He thought about burning it as well, like he did with the other things that haunted him. But unfortunately, he ran out of matches and has yet to find more. 

So instead of looking for an alternative method of destruction, he just stared at it peeking through the other overalls. 

Caine loved mocking them. Caine loved mocking him. Everytime he saw that dress, a disgusting feeling soaked his body and left him cold and damp inside. He couldn't see it as anything but a personal attack.

But a part of him was also tempted to try it on.

He didn't know why. Maybe that whole maid outfit thing tainted his mind, but he couldn't stop thinking about wearing it as of late. He had to get it to stop somehow.

As long as he locked his door, nobody would know.

A heavy sigh. Jax slapped his knees and stood up from his bed. He took the pinafore from out of the dresser and tossed it onto the bed. 

He locked the door.

And slowly, he took off his overalls. 

He was made of a very smooth rubber material all over, and it glistened in the overhead light. He enjoyed the way it felt, actually. It certainly felt better than his skin did. All the pores and bumps and hair... Ew. It was one of the few things that this circus improved about his body, along with his height.

Jax pulled the pinafore up his body. He zipped it up and tried to make out what he looked like through a broken mirror in the corner of his room.

Nope. Too tight. Too short. Too girly. He could tell that much without having to look through a mirror.

Jax slid the dress off his body, and with a force he reserved for little else, he threw it back into the dresser, not even bothering to hang it up.

That was enough of that.

Jax redressed himself and left his room to take a walk and forget about it. His mind was sore, so maybe he'd trip someone along the way to make himself feel better.

---

It was the next day. Jax was back in his room, with nothing to do.

Naturally, his eyes started to wander, looking for anything that could be turned into a prank, or generally entertain him.

His eyes laid upon the dresser, and a piece of salmon fabric caught in the door.

Well, that was gonna annoy him if he didn't fix it. Jax opened the dresser door to coax the overalls back in, when that pinafore from before fell out and onto the floor.

Jax rolls his eyes. He takes a spare hanger and pulls the pinafore straps over it. He parts the sea of overalls to put the dress back, only to see a different article of clothing hanging there.

It was a black maxi dress. It had a hanky hem and long flowy sleeves, also cut asymmetrically. Torn black lace layered over the skirt of the dress.

Jax took out the dress in confusion, only to discover a note stuck to it.

"I hope this suits your tastes better."

It was signed with an elaborate calligraphy 'C.'

Wait- Caine?

CAINE WAS DOING THIS???

Of course he put the first dress there, but- but he knew?! 

Jax crumpled up the note and tossed it into the mini trashcan in the corner. It landed inside. Score.

With a flair of annoyance, he turned his attention back to the dress. Should he humor Caine? He probably shouldn't, but he couldn't deny his curiosity.

Once again, he was putting on a dress. Surprisingly, it was long enough on him. He tied it up in the back to the best of his ability, and turned around to face the broken mirror.

Oh no. 

Why didn't he hate this?

He wasn't the biggest fan of his style of dress, but this.. did he even like this? It felt like he did. At least more than the pinafore.

God, what a foreign feeling, to like an article of clothing on his body. His overalls were great, of course, but this.. it fulfilled him, much to the rabbit's terror. His gut churned as the creeping dread infected his body like a thick black tar, slowly consuming him from the inside out.

Jax's eyes cast to the floor. Maybe he could lounge in this for a bit. It's comfy, was Jax's excuse.

Yeah, comfy.

No other reason.