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It was a stupid mistake.
Zooble had seen Jax’s form spike a bit in the pillow fort, and without thinking they reached out and touched it to try and calm him down.
It was stupid.
So stupid.
And now, they were fucking zapped into Jax’s weird mindscape Pomni had very vaguely mentioned (after much prodding from Ragatha).
“What the fuck?” Zooble hissed, whirling around in the dark abyss. “Are you fucking kidding me? Even already abstracted, you’re still managing to get me into some- ugh.”
There was no response.
“God dammit.” Zooble sighed.
They had two choices; Sit down and chillax, or find Jax and demand they be let out.
“Option 2 it is.” Zooble sighed.
This was going to be a pain in the ass.
Zooble started to walk forward, looking down as they realized that the base layer of floor had about an inch of standing water. They sighed, and continued on. Everything was black, but somehow, it had started to feel blue. The standing water sloshed just a bit higher, but that was in the back of Zooble’s mind.
”Leeroy, have you seen my $@4=£1#%?”
Zooble flinched.
Where the hell had that woman’s voice come from? And a censor?
A conversation echoed around them in the dark, some sort of remnant from before.
They heard the sound of a door creaking open, yet the abyss around them was unmoving.
”Wait-“ A soft tone voiced back.
”Oh for fucks sake, this again?”
”Mom-“
“I thought you were done with this whole trying-to-be-a-#%¥€ thing!” The feminine voice raised into a yell.
There was some sort of shuffling, before it went silent again.
“Oh great,” Zooble monotoned, “Is this the part where I have to wade through all of your repressed childhood memories in your trauma-mindscape to get to the real you?”
Zooble closed their eyes and sighed loudly.
Of course. Of course it was them who got dragged into this.
“Why are you here?” A meek voice spoke.
Zooble opened their eyes, freezing when a boy stood in front of them.
A human boy.
The child couldn’t have been more than 10, standing with a hoodie 3 sizes too big and loose jeans that they drowned in. Their black hair was unbrushed, frizzy and almost reaching their shoulders. Most notable, red lipstick was smeared all around their lips and on one of their sleeves.
“…Jax?” Zooble hesitantly asked.
“Are you mad at me too?” The child asked, fiddling with their sleeves.
Zooble felt about 90% of their irritation leave them immediately.
“I’m mostly mad at myself for doing something stupid.” Zooble admitted.
The child blinked at them.
“How do you talk if you have no mouth?” The boy suddenly asked.
“I-“
”Leeroy!” A voice snapped, echoing around them.
“Someone is calling for you.” Zooble mildly spoke.
“I hate that name.”
“Huh?”
“I wish I had a different one.” The boy’s voice wobbled.
And then, Zooble was alone again.
What the fuck.
What the fuck?
That almost sounded like-
Zooble was very still as a barrage of their own memories flickered through their head.
“Don’t talk about Jax’s room.” Kaufmo spoke quietly, looking over his shoulder to ensure no one was walking around the corner.
“Wh-“ Zooble scowled best they could with no mouth. “That asshole can make any joke he wants, but I’m the crazy one for making a joke about how he has a bright pink room with-“
“Zooble.” Kaufmo sounded almost wounded. “Just…please.”
“Fine.” Zooble sighed.
”I don’t wanna wear this!” Jax’s hands were clenched as he huffed, shoulders curled in on himself in a way Zooble had never witnessed before.
“I’ve never seen you this worked up over something.”Zooble said in slight awe and glee.
A flash of a memory as Jax laid by the beach, making a snarky comment about Zooble being mad at their ability to change their body parts.
Holy fucking shit.
Zooble forced themselves to move as they started to wade through the water with vigor. How the fuck did they not question it? Kaufmo’s rarely serious response to Zooble’s comment, Jax’s odd reaction to wearing a dress… Most notably, the fact that their rooms were one of the only things that they could modify, yet Jax hadn’t changed the bright pink coloring everywhere.
“Dramatic bastard.” Zooble mumbled.
The water had become deep enough to where Zooble was struggling to wade through with their current form.
“Can’t you make this easier?” Zooble asked aloud. “I can’t exactly swim in this form.”
All at once, the water vanished.
“Huh.” Zooble blinked, “Well…that was…somehow easier than I thought...”
They heard a creak behind them.
An unassuming wooden door had appeared, the only detailed thing in the abyss of black and blue. It creaked open, as if daring Zooble to enter.
Zooble sighed again before walking through.
“Jesus Christ.” They muttered.
It was a human bedroom, except it looked like a tornado had swept through. Ripped clothes were strewn all over the floor, all of the wardrobe shelves yanked open and empty. The room itself was painted green, random posters of bands lining one of the walls.
Zooble took a step, looking down as their foot hit something.
A pair of scissors laid on the floor, locks of black hair strewn around it.
There was an assortment of magazines also mixed in with the clothing, and with a chill Zooble realized it was women’s fashion magazines that had been ripped in half.
The room was deadly quiet.
“Jax?” Zooble asked.
They heard a sudden thud from their left, and Zooble groaned when they realized there was an unassuming closet there.
Of course Jax was inside a fucking closet.
Zooble walked over before yanking the door open.
Jax- the bunny Zooble knew, rather than the human- sat inside, curled up in a pathetic heap in the corner. Gone were the usual overalls, and in their place was a longer pink dress that curled around Jax’s body. Jax had their face tucked into their arms, flinching at Zooble’s arrival.
Zooble just stared for a moment, before waltzing over and sitting down next to Jax.
It was quiet for a lovely 2 minutes before Jax spoke.
“Why are you here?”
“You’re the one who dragged me here.” Zooble responded curtly.
Jax didn’t respond.
“Consider me surprised for once.” Zooble huffed, “I thought I’d have to go through way more memories to find you, but all I had to do was talk to one kid and then I found an open door.”
“I don’t want you going through my memories.” Jax finally lifted their head, and Zooble paused at seeing the mascara that had leaked down their cheeks.
“It wasn’t my idea of a fun time either.” Zooble responded, “But I’m glad that I saw what I did.”
Jax froze.
“We had more in common than I thought-“
“Stop.”
Zooble stopped.
“I-“ Jaxed voice wobbled.
“You don’t have to explain yourself.” Zooble’s voice was softer than it had ever been directed at Jax, “I get it, because I’m the same. That’s all.”
A choked sob was the only response Zooble got from next to them.
“Is it really that obvious?” Jax sounded about 2 seconds away from a breakdown.
“No,” Zooble shrugged, “I just happen to also have been born in a body that wasn’t the right one for me.”
“And you’re not going to…”
“I wouldn’t throw that in your face, even if it’s something you’ve thrown in mine.” Zooble stared at the ruined room.
“Sorry.” Jax murmured.
“I kinda get why now, at least.”
It was quiet.
Jax huffed a bit.
“I hate this room.”
“Then why don’t we leave?” Zooble shrugged without thinking.
“Yeah. Let’s leave.” Jax softly agreed.
And then, Zooble was back in the abyss.
Except this time, there was someone next to them.
“Holy shit.” Zooble blinked, staring at the equally shocked Jax.
The dress had been exchanged for Jax’s usual outfit with overalls, but the smeared mascara had refreshed itself to a pretty curve around Jax’s eyes. It was noticeable but not overwhelming.
It was a start.
Jax slowly blinked before looking down at her hands in contemplation.
“Wait, why are we still here?” Zooble scowled, “I thought-“
The abyss shook.
“God dammit.”
Zooble stared down at a new forest floor that hadn’t been there 5 seconds ago, before realizing that there was a patchy stone path leading to a green bed. It was…a room?
Glancing over at Jax, Zooble paused.
“Hey.” Zooble frowned, but chose not to nudge Jax.
“I can’t do this.” Jax’s voice was small and pathetic.
“Well you’re going to suck it the fuck up anyways because I am not getting eternally stuck here when I have a girlfriend waiting for me!” Zooble snapped.
“You and Gangle finally got together?” Jax blinked, then blinked again.
“What, no sarcastic follow-up?” Zooble scowled the best they could with no mouth.
“I-“ Jax sighed, “No. Congrats, I guess.”
“Thanks. Now can we get this over with?”
“And deal with my traumatic past from my ex? I’d prefer not to.” Jax dramatically sighed, trying to sound humorous despite the very obvious tremor in her voice.
“We never dated in the first place.” A voice quietly spoke from behind them.
They both whirled around.
A green humanoid frog stood behind them (Ribbit, a voice supplied), eyes full of distrust.
“What are you doing here, Jax?” Ribbit’s arms wrapped around themself.
“I-“ Jax was frozen into silence.
“Of fucking course.” Zooble muttered, startling when they realized Ribbit and Jax were staring at them.
“A situationship that’s bled into your current relationships?” Zooble huffed, “Really leaning into the lesbian stereotype, aren’t you?”
Jax turned scarlet.
“Shut the fuck up Zooble, I don’t wanna hear that from the person who has been collecting strap-on adjacent parts for the last year!”
Zooble flushed in turn, “How the hell do you know abo-“
Ribbit marched up and punched Jax in the face.
“You probably deserved that.” Zooble commented mildly.
Jax was laid back on the ground in shock as she reached up and gingerly touched her cheek.
Ribbit, however, was staring at her own hand in shock.
“That hurt.” Jax groaned, “Usually you’re a lot nicer in my memories.”
“That hurt.” Ribbit said at the same time, staring at her own hand.
“Wait…” Zooble was rapidly glancing back and forth between the two.
When someone abstracted, they lost all sense of individuality. In fact, you could consider them to all be a connected system, blurbs of eyes meshed together.
Jax realized it moments later, sitting up.
“Oh shit.”
Ribbit looked just as shocked, taking a hesitant step back.
“Please don’t go.” Jax’s voice was soft, soft in a way Zooble had never heard.
“Why are you here?” Ribbit warily asked again.
“I-“ Jax’s voice caught, lip wobbling. “I’m not exactly sure.”
“Great, so we’re stuck here and don’t know why or how...Remind me not to touch your spiky form again.” Zooble sighed.
“Hey, you don’t get to blame my abstraction-blob’s actions on me.” Jax scoffed, voice still somewhat shaky, “Maybe you pissed it off somehow.”
Ribbit was staring at them both.
“Are you trying to say that you’re really Jax?” Ribbit scowled.
“Unfortunately.” Jax looked at her, before nervously looking away.
“Where’s Kauffy, then?”
“He abstracted.”
Ribbit laughed in disbelief.
“Let me guess, it was you that-“
“Yeah, it was.” Jax admitted, “Are we really surprised, considering that I pushed you to do the same? I’m not a good person.”
Ribbit looked stricken.
“I was so scared of opening up that I pushed you away with all my might.” Jax mused, fiddling with her hands as she sat on the floor, “And then I was upset that it actually worked. I- I wasn’t ready to-“
Ribbit approached Jax, before leaning down in front of her and putting a tentative hand on her knee.
Oh, they were kissing.
Zooble glanced away awkwardly, looking back only to discover they were full on making out.
“Man, they’re going at it like rabbits.” Kaufmo casually commented beside Zooble.
“What the fu-“
The room became blindingly bright.
Zooble opened their eyes with a groan, sitting up as they looked around.
The pillow fort was a mess, the tenting completely knocked down and scattered. Kaufmo, Jax, and Ribbit all were in a heap of pillows, all blinking stars out of their eyes.
“Maybe I can escape without them noticing…” Zooble muttered, planning on avoiding the bullshit that came with being associated with Jax.
Unfortunately for Zooble, life was not that easy.
Pomni, Ragatha, and Gangle had all arrived at the scene, looking between Zooble and the three not-abstracted circus members.
“Damn.” Zooble muttered.
This was going to be really, really annoying.