Opposites Abstract - Pomni x Male Reader

Chapter 29 - Depersonalisation

The threat of adventure had been absent for a while, which meant that Caine was cooking a doozy.

The best adventures were the outdoor ones. They weren't as common as they took a fair amount of setup, but it felt the closest to a normal day out that life ever felt during the circus. The only part that made Y/N worry was that Pomni had never gone on one yet. They weren't taxing, per se, but he was worried her emotions may get the best of her. It happened to him too; the NPCs felt pretty damn real when Y/N first met them. He swiftly found out that to Caine they were nothing more than numbers. Of course, as an AI, Caine would share no emotional attachment to them whatsoever. Sometimes though the people were delightful. Y/N strongly recounted meeting a wonderful dog that followed him around one time in the Zigzag Zoo Kingdom. He tried to smuggle it back to the circus. It... didn't make it.

Sad memories aside, it had been a joyous time in the circus recently. The weight of burden was relieved from Y/N and Pomni now everyone sans Caine and Bubble was in the loop about the secret plot to break free their abstracted friends from the Darkness/the Cellar, but more importantly about their romance. Zooble raised a good point that made Y/N think back on their relationship.

"Haven't you technically been dating for, like, a while now?"

Indeed they technically had. Denial is a powerful force that one can get engulfed by. Denial now aside, nothing but a smile had been on Pomni's face, which meant that nothing but a smile had been on Y/N's face. For the most part; he was still yet to have his ominous meeting with Jax that he threatened. Apparently, there were still a few more layers to this plot. It made Y/N wonder how deeply Caine had planned all of it.

For the first time in a while, Y/N was alone in his room. He had spent the past few days attempting to fix the absolute state it was in with the occasional helping hand from Zooble and Kinger and often helping hand from Pomni and Ragatha. Jax would throw in a snide remark about "getting carried away with Pomni," to which Y/N would scoff and hold down his blush. No such thing was possible anyway. Probably.

Luckily most of his instruments had remained intact. Call it cheesy but the recent confession and subsequent love in the air had made Y/N feel a little more inspired recently. Maybe a bit of composing would do him good. Unfortunately, today was not the day for that as a swift knocking at his door broke Y/N from his thoughts. Before he could answer it the door swung open and Ragatha poked her head in.

Ragatha - "Wow, look at this place! You've really put your back into trying to fix it."

Y/N - "My back's gonna break at this rate..."

Ragatha - "How did you say this happened again?"

Y/N - "Uh..."

That yell he did. The red glitchy whatchamacallit spread into his throat and he almost shouted a wave of energy out. Y/N had been too frightened to try such a thing since.

Y/N - "I got mad?"

Ragatha - "... uh huh. I thought we said no more secrets, but I won't pry. Just know you can talk to me, okay?"

It didn't take a genius to tell that she was not convinced.

Ragatha - "Anyways, Caine has summoned us for a new outdoor adventure; sounds like a fun one too!"

Y/N - "You say that about all of them."

Ragatha - "W-Well they're sometimes good!"

Y/N - "Sometimes, occasionally, never-"

Ragatha - "Oh, you just need to perk up more! I thought you'd be in higher spirits after you and Pomni-"

Y/N - "L-Look, I just don't like the going out and the doing things and the pretending to be grateful shtick. Caine knows I'm not the biggest fan of his excursions but I have to go because I'm the "critical cherry to this digital pie". His words, not mine."