"I accept this award with great honor to know that me, Ming, have been chosen by the people to-…"

Pomni glared with unamusement at the stage where a relatively unknown mannequin, who was only just introduced earlier this day, started giving his speech. She had more things on her mind to worry about than a monotonous rant that, quite thankfully, drowned the sounds of Zooble's groans. Her heart, if she still even had one, thumped loudly, despite the best efforts of vaguely remembered breathing exercises from a life that might've been her own. The back of her head succumbed to constant prickles, begging her to turn around to hopefully, just hopefully, see that purple rabbit again. He was not there and he would not be there.

Sighing, Pomni turned around to face Ragatha sitting next to her, who quickly adjusted to stare straight forward, not before leaving a quick side eye. The jester turned to face the stage too, her foot tapping against the stage floor. The weight of the two's closeness was more prevalent than ever, and Pomni fought the urge to look at her once more, not realizing a blush formed onto both of their cheeks. Pomni's right hand left her lap and wriggled over to crawl onto Ragatha's seat, where she continued to sit idly, fidgeting with her fingers. They remained like so for a while, unstirring, waiting for movement that never came, seemingly never wanting to.

Without so much as another sigh, Pomni suddenly stood up and walked down the center aisle, away from the stage where everyone seemed to be so fixated on. Her eyes glanced to the empty seat she so fervently checked, then blurred with tears, brisking her pace. Ragatha took notice of her leave immediately, watching the jester's backside slink to the shadows. She scarcely saw Pomni open the door out of the stage and look back, meeting Ragatha's face. A sparkle glinted in her eyes, and then she was gone.

* * *

"Hey Pomni? Are you okay?"

Ragatha rasped on Pomni's bedroom door, finding the door gave way to her knocks quite easily. She peered in through the opening, her one good eye scanning the dimly lit, almost completely dark room. She found Pomni sitting at the edge of her bed, her head low, the ears of her hat dangling in front of her. Ragatha walked in further, continuing her fidgeting motion as she approached. Pomni barely made any movement that recognized Ragatha's appearance, remaining still as the doll sat down next to her, hands clasped in her own lap.

"Hey uhm… do you like, want to talk about stuff?"

Ragatha asked, looking down at her friend, unsure if she should make attempts of comforting touches. Pomni exhaled sharply, her leg starting to bounce again before she looked up at Ragatha with widely dilated pupils with tears forming in the corners.

"It's just Jax being a weird %$!#ing idiot!"

Even in the privacy of her own room, her frustrations could not and would not be let out by swearing.

"He can't ever be serious! I thought we were working well as a team and actually bonding but _apparently_ none of that stuff actually _meant_ anything! Even though I thought it.. did"

Pomni scarcely squeaked out the last words of her sentence. Ragatha barely managed to hide the pain on her face, seeing tears form in Pomni's eyes, pupils quivering as her face turned a pale blue.

"Easy Pomni!- Breathe, just breathe, okay?"

Ragatha exclaimed, shifting further to Pomni and wrapping an arm around her, rubbing her hand across the jester's back. The wool doll saw her shudder as sobs threatened to overcome her breathing. Ragatha motioned to hug her tighter, as if she were gently squeezing out Pomni's sobs. To that she succeeded, and the smaller jester let all of those emotions flow out uncontrollably, droplets of tears flowing down her cheeks. For how uncanny the adventures have been so far, you'd imagine a more cartoonish expression of tears flying outwards, or an extensive floor-flooding waterfall.

"He just.. doesn't make sense! It doesn't seem like he cares about me. Or anyone else in here-"

She quickly added after a quick glance to Ragatha.

"But at the same time he told me so many things about himself and I thought that I actually.. _felt_ something?"

"Yeah Jax is.. kind of like that! You probably knew that already heh, and I know how you feel! I felt something similar too. Just…don't let it go to your head Pomni, okay?"

Ragatha finished with a smile, rubbing Pomni's head through her hat affectionately.

"You know Pomni… I have some stuff I could share too if it'll.. help you feel better?"

She asked softly, taking a deep breath as she looked down at the jester, wiping away some tears out of Pomni's face as she looked up at Ragatha.

"Not to ignore your own troubles though!"

She promptly exclaimed, subverting her gaze timidly, fearing Pomni's response. The touch of the jester's hand on her leg compelled Ragatha to turn back, meeting Pomni's eyes with pupils more wider than before.

"I'd love that a lot actually-"

Murmured Pomni, clutching onto her dress more tightly. Ragatha remained silent for a moment, feeling bewildered that she was given permission for such. The pair moved closer together, legs brushing up against one another.

"Well…" The doll eventually started. "I keep thinking you and I are…drifting away? I mean like- I felt that I failed you, especially with today when you offered to team up and I declined and it's just-"

Ragatha paused, swallowing tears. Her talk with Kinger earlier today made the retelling with Pomni more easier, but did not completely compromise the emotional weight behind it.

"I really don't want you to hate me- And…I'm sorry, for not teaming up with you today"

She finished, lifting her legs onto the bed to curl up with, tears breaking through her eye lids. It was now Pomni's turn to wipe the drops from Ragatha's eyes, looking up at her with pupils of imploring eyes, hands holding onto the doll's knees.

"I don't hate you Ragatha! I never did!- You have always been so kind to me, ever since the first day I got into this…place-"

She looked around the room, her gaze falling on jumbo sized number blocks and the dresser she so scorned for having to use a step stool with.

"And I am so thankful for that! I… yes, I _was_ a bit bummed out to not play with you today, but, I think it was some needed space, you know? I don't hate you Ragatha."

She finished, before looking back at her again, seeing how much the doll's mouth was scrunched up and more rogue tears dripping down her cheeks.

"I think I like you… quite a fair bit actually-"

Pomni added, her heartbeat rising as the blush from her cheeks admitted more than she let on. She saw Ragatha's face light up, almost quite literally as she swore she saw sparkles form in her eye. Ragatha would mimic Pomni's blush as her smile would gleam.

"Really Pomni..? That… even if I'm a little bit _crazyyy_ with giving people space?"

Ragatha said in between sniffles, blushing deeper and making a slight chuckle. Bringing up her hands to hold onto Pomni's hands, still remaining on Ragatha's knees, the doll succeeded in getting a chuckle from the jester, and the latter nodded softly.

"Yes! Even if you ate stupid sauce!"

The pair giggled again, forgetting the reasons why tears were left to dry on their faces. Both bore smiles that wouldn't fade. The moment lingered, and the pair were left staring at each other. Ragatha found herself laying down, propping her body up with her elbows, as half of Pomni's body was laid across the doll's. The jester's eyes shifted with thoughts, and she'd suddenly say:

"You said a while ago that you… 'felt the same way' about something. Was that uhm… about…"

Her question was left lingering in the air, and their was no need for it to be finished. Both of the girls blushed deeply, with Ragatha's eyes darting away while Pomni's stayed fixated on hers, crawling further along her body. Ragatha stammered and tripped over her words, her redness only growing as she tried to make any sort of coherent sentence.

"Ahehhh uhmmm… yeah- Yes, it was- is!- about…us-"

She finally decided on, looking back at Pomni with great hesitance, eyes widening to see her so close so suddenly. The room fell to deafening silence where the two's heartbeats were loud and clear, beating against each other's chests. Hot breaths huffed into their faces, deepening an even warmer blush.

Lead by impulsiveness, Pomni suddenly launched her lips into Ragatha's for a spontaneous kiss. Parting the doll's fabric lips with her tongue, the jester felt the strange texture of wet cloth from Ragatha's own tongue. It did not deter her however, and she pressed on with a meek huff. The two's gazes would lid as Ragatha's shock would end, her arms hugging around Pomni. Spit would exchange as both tongues wrestled, the silent room now filling with huffs, wet smacks, and various moans. Eventually, the pairs' lips would separate, a string of saliva connecting Pomni's lolled tongue with Ragatha's gasping maw. The jester's face was all sorts of colors, and parts of the doll's hair were sticking up. Gradually, both would recover their breathing with heavy pants, stares unbroken, heartbeats strong, chests pressed, and hugs tight.

"Do you want to…continue?-"

Ragatha asked in between pants, her bosom heaving up and down as much as it could with it being constrained by Pomni's. The jester answered with a simple nod and a deepening blush, sitting up on Ragatha's lap. Her hands traveled to the doll's breasts, light purple dress separating her traveling grasp from the other's skin. Pomni's breathing grew harder as her fingers clutched the buttons holding Ragatha's dress together, pausing to look at her again, whom Pomni now realized how much of a maternal figure she was to her. Ragatha nodded, eyes full of yearning passion.

Carefully, button after button, all the way down her clothes, Ragatha's robes would become undressed, and as Pomni would unfurl the loose clothing aside, doll nudity stared back at her. Undoubtedly, she was staring at the naked, warm, and soft body of her dear friend. She should've recognized that nipples weren't going to be present on a cloth doll. In denial, she stripped further down past Ragatha's waist, to her crotch, where no slit was shown either.

"Wha- I..I thought Caine granted Zooble's wish!-"

Such a sight would snap Pomni out of her ravish zeal, at least for a moment, and with quivering pupils she met Ragatha's apprehensive eyes.

"I was worried you'd find out about this one way or another, despite all my… thoughts about you and me not being like… this."

The doll answered back, her heart sinking as she saw Pomni's puppydog eyes pleading and begging for it to not be this way. The jester's hands traversed upwards, placing themselves onto Ragatha's breasts. They seemed as plush, warm, and soft as she expected, especially so with the cloth texture that ran across her entire surface. Both eyes would lock, suddenly aware of the position they were in, especially so as movement sounded from the hallway past the door, and sounds of varying groans, mumbles, and concealed giggling. Panic seized the lustful pair as Ragatha remembered she failed to close the door! Immediately, Pomni straddled off of the doll, and Ragatha furled her dress together to cover up her bare nudity, just in time to see Zooble languidly stumble through the door, Gangle right behind them with a half amused face. Zooble slowly turned to face the nearly caught couple, and raised their brows curiously.

"Woah- You guys are like… lobsters dude-"

They groaned, before being whisked away by Gangle as multitudes of "sorrys" flurried out of her, leaving Pomni and Ragatha alone once again.