Chapter Text
Unsurprisingly, nobody seemed to want to go back to their room alone after they had held Kaufmo’s funeral, so most of the cast wandered around the main area of the circus, either in pairs or staying within line of sight of one another.
After a short conversation with Ragatha where she properly apologized for abandoning the ragdoll twice on her first day, Pomni noticed Gangle standing alone towards one corner of the tent. Pomni had spoken with almost everyone in the circus, or at least has been talked to by most, but the closest she had come to interacting with Gangle was breaking her comedy mask when she first spawned in. Seeing as Ragatha was now conversing with Kinger and Zooble, Pomni decided to slowly make her way over to the pile of ribbons.
The jester hadn’t noticed how tall Gangle was compared to her until she was standing right behind her. She had thought Ragatha was tall, but Gangle really towered over her, even with her hunched over stance. Pomni quietly cleared her throat, causing the girl to jump slightly and turn around to face her.
“Oh. Hi Pomni.” The girl softly said. Large tears hung from the corners of her eyes, one occasionally dripping down her face before being quickly replaced by another one.
“Hey. I uh...we haven’t really gotten a chance to actually meet each other. Um...are you doing alright?” Pomni mentally facepalmed at her question. Of course she wasn’t doing alright, she had just held a funeral for her friend. Gangle let out a quiet sigh and shrugged.
“Kinda...I’m still upset, and I still really miss him...” The girl sniffled and tried wiping away her tears to no avail. “But it does feel nice to have some closure. What about you? With Kaufmo abstracting on your first day, and then Caine...” Gangle let her sentence trail off, and Pomni was glad she did. With the thought of Gummigoo exploding now fresh in her mind once more, Pomni sighed, but offered Gangle a small smile.
“I’m...I’m doing better. I still have a lot to figure out about this place, but right now...right now I’m managing it.” She replied. Although she didn’t smile, Pomni could tell that Gangle was happy with her answer.
The jester took a closer look at the girl’s face. The tears had slowed down, enough that one was able to be wiped away, the other simply hanging from her eye. The tear was comically large and didn’t act the same as Pomni's (she had had the privilege of crying herself to sleep the previous night), which made her wonder...
“Wait, hold still. Lemme just...” Pomni reached towards the tear, having to stand on her tip-toes to be able to reach the girl’s face. Gangle recoiled as her glove made contact with her mask and let out a soft “eep!”. Pomni quickly tugged the tear away from the mask with a gentle tink. As she has guessed, the tear was moreso a solid model than an actual tear, one that she could, surprisingly, remove from Gangle.
“Is that, um...any better?” The jester asked with an awkward smile. Gangle raised a ribbon to her mask, gently rubbing the spot beneath her eye where the tear was just a moment ago.
“I...you didn’t...hurt me.” She quietly said. Pomni’s digital heart shattered into a million digital pieces for about the third time today. Was Gangle treated so poorly here that she believes that any quick movements likely meant she was being hit? She could only imagine who’s fault that could be. She was going to strangle that rabbit later...
“What? No, why would I ever-huh?” Pomni was surprised when Gangle wrapped her ribbons around her arm, causing her to drop the tear to the ground. As Gangle pulled Pomni’s arm towards her, she gently leaned herself towards the hand, eventually placing it on her cheek.
“Thank you.” She meekly mumbled. Pomni simply nodded, letting Gangle hold her arm in place. After a few moments she began to gently rub the girl’s cheek with her thumb. It was certainly a strange first interaction to have with someone, but it was obvious Gangle needed the comfort. And after today, she knew how good it felt to comfort someone.
For the first time since Pomni had joined the circus, no more tears appeared on Gangle’s tragedy mask.