Opposites Abstract - Pomni x Male Reader

Chapter 1 - Trust Me

It's been what feels like a few hours or so since Pomni arrived. She wasn't difficult, per se. But she was... uh...

Y/N hadn't seen her sitting still once. She was constantly shifting, shaking or shuddering to some extent, maybe playing with her hands or tapping something nervously. She also had managed to not maintain eye contact once, just spacing out as the group 'ate' their 'food'. Y/N attempted conversation with her, but Pomni managed to get right back to spacing out. If existential crisis were a competition, Pomni was winning with flying colours. After a while, people started to separate, Y/N shot Ragatha a reassured look as she left and allowed him to turn his attention back to Pomni, who hadn't clocked that everyone else had left.

Y/N - "Yo, Pomni."

He waited a few seconds for a response that didn't come, causing Y/N to clear his throat and wave a hand gently over her eyes.

Y/N - "Helloooo? You still in there?"

Pomni snapped back and jumped at the sudden closeness of Y/N. Almost falling off of her chair, she scrambled to stand up and attempted a smile at Y/N.

Pomni - "H-Hi Y/N. Uh, where did everyone... go?"

Y/N - "They left. But I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk maybe?"

Pomni - "O-Oh, a w-walk? Sure. Um... where can we walk exactly?"

Y/N - "Let's stroll around the Grounds. Hey, I'll show you a cool secret spot 'cause I like you."

Pomni didn't respond but rather squeaked in affirmation as she sheepishly trotted behind Y/N. The Grounds was deceptively small; Caine always only mentioned the lake and the carnival-like area, but there were a bunch of little pockets in between that Y/N had managed to find across his many walks around. He offered people to walk with him, but they usually didn't, only occasionally joined by Gangle or Ragatha.

Y/N - "I know how you feel."

Pomni - "W-What do you mean?"

Y/N - "Everyone goes through the same thing when they enter the circus. Like the five stages of grief. Not all of us are even into acceptance yet."

The lack of any ambience in the Grounds made the conversation and long pauses in between it much more awkward. There weren't any bird calls or gusts of wind. Not even the Moon or Sun were speaking. Maybe she wasn't really the talkative type? Or maybe she was still thinking this was a dream.

Y/N - "There's no easy way to say this, Pomni, and I'm sorry, I truly am. But this isn't a dream, you haven't gone mad and you're not hallucinating. This is now reality. I understand how overwhelming that is, and I don't expect you to just accept it and move on, but the sooner you try and reason with it the better."

Pomni's face dropped to one of diluted horror, forgetting to continue walking next to Y/N and instead standing as still as a statue. Y/N turned around, chuckled slightly and kneeled down slightly so he could be at eye level with her.

Y/N - "It may seem like this is hell, or some sort of endless torture, but it could be a lot worse. Everyone is nice when you get to know them. I heard you had a rough first day, sorry about that. Caine's adventures can get out of hand... often, but-"

Pomni - "There's really no way out?"

The age-old question. Probably the most unfortunate truth about this place is that

Y/N - "I... I don't know. I've never stopped looking for one. My running theory is that somewhere in the Void is that freedom."

As soon as Y/N mentioned the Void, Pomni's face lit up with recognition. Had she been out to the Void? Caine hated it whenever they managed to wind up floating around in there.