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“Good morning my little roly-polies! Are you ready for today’s splendidly speedy adventure?”
Caine peered down from where he hovered above the head of the circus’s dining table. An incredibly tired, disheveled group of people stared back at him, all with equally annoyed expressions.
Besides Kinger, of course, who was very occupied with staring at a jar of honey covered in cartoon bees.
Gangle rubbed her ribbons together nervously before speaking up.
“…Um, Bubble just served breakfast?”
For once, Jax found himself agreeing with Gangle; he had NOT gotten enough sleep to deal with Caine’s bullshit this early.
“Well, that’s too bad!”
Caine clapped his hands together, causing all the digital food to disappear with a pop.
“There will be plenty of superior food court food where you all are headed in today’s ROLLER DERBY BLOODBATH!!!”
Jax’s ears perked at the word “bloodbath” before registering what came before them. Anxiety started to simmer under his plastered-on smile.
Oh you’ve GOT to be kidding me.
A chorus of groans echoed from the table as Zooble facepalmed into their claw.
Caine's upper teeth furrowed in despair.
“But- but Zooble, this was your suggestion!”
Zooble let out a long-suffering sigh.
“Caine, breaking bones isn’t the fun part of roller derby,” Pomni said. “It’s, uh, kinda the part you try to avoid?”
Ragatha and Gangle nodded enthusiastically.
“And besides,” Zooble added, “no one but me knows how to play. Can't we just have a chill roller skating adventure with no … blood or bodily injury?”
“…I did include knee pads?”
Zooble crossed their arms and glared.
“Oh well all right, fine, if you insist.”
Caine snapped, and a large red switch labeled “VIOLENCE” suddenly appeared next to him. He reluctantly flipped the lever, which promptly evaporated in a puff of smoke.
“Well, let’s get this adventure rolling, my supreme skating sigmas!”
Jax rolled his eyes and began reluctantly walking towards the portal that had just appeared beside them.
Stepping through, the first thing he noticed was the overpowering smell of hot dogs, pizza, and musty carpet.
The roller rink looked like it had been plucked right out of the 80s. Colorful lights cast a soft glow in the dimly lit room, an eye-watering pattern covered the carpet, and royalty-free retro music blasted from the speakers. One corner of the lobby housed a food court, and the other held an arcade. The prize desk was full of plushies in each circus member's likeness, and Jax found himself uncannily staring at his own grinning face.
Crossing his arms in annoyance, he noticed an unfamiliar weight. With a quick glance down, Jax found a loose yellow button-down layered under his regular overalls and matching yellow converse, which were ridiculously proportioned to fit his bunny feet. A bulky yellow belt cinched his waist.
Pfft. Real cute, Caine.
He swiveled his head towards the portal, hoping to find Gangle in some ridiculous getup he could make fun of, but instead, Pomni stepped through.
For once, her silly little hat was gone, revealing a fluffy black bob with bangs barely brushing her eyebrows. Deep blue bell-bottom jeans and a blue and red striped polo replaced her usual gaudy jester costume.
Pomni rushed past him with a quick wave, making a beeline for the skate rental desk with the rest of the cast in tow. Jax begrudgingly followed. Behind the counter, there were rows and rows of the standard tan skates with orange wheels. In the middle sat 6 brightly colored pairs of skates customized for their avatars.
Zooble and the girls were (annoyingly) gushing over each other's roller skate designs, though Zooble mainly focused their praise on Gangle. As per usual.
Jax didn’t see what was so special about a ribbon girl having ribbon laces on her skates. Unfortunately, Pomni seemed invested, and he didn’t want to insult her opinion, so he valiantly shut his mouth, rolled his eyes, and snatched his skates from the worker NPC behind the counter.
Rather than putting them on, he tossed them onto a random bench and made his way over to the concessions counter. He pointed at a big, greasy slice of cheese pizza behind the glass, which the concessions NPC quickly plated for him.
I guess this is breakfast.
He plopped down in a booth and munched on his food while gazing out at the roller rink floor.
Dozens of mannequin NPCs of varying sizes, colors, and skill levels were out there skating, doing tricks, or falling flat on their blank wooden faces.
Ragatha was skating slowly across the rink with her arms held out for balance, making her way towards Kinger, who stood in the rink’s center, mesmerized by the flashing ceiling lights.
In the outer lane, Gangle was attempting to skate beside Zooble but was ultimately unraveled when she picked up enough speed for air resistance to blow her back. Her skates kept zooming forward, dragging her flailing body along as Zooble frantically chased behind to stop her inevitable collision with a nearby wall.
Jax laughed as he watched the scene unfold.
As his snickering trailed off, he realized that someone was suspiciously absent from the rink.
“Is there, like, a reason you’re the only one moping around the food court or?”
Jax jumped slightly in surprise before turning towards the woman who had (rudely!) startled him.
Pomni stood at the booth’s opening and, to Jax’s immense dismay, was holding his discarded roller skates.
Shit. Play it cool.
“Nahhh, I’m not mopin’ . I just wanna see what a fool Gangle’s making of herself, and this is the best seat in the house!”
“Uh huh,” Pomni narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “and the best seat is all the way over here and not in the rink where Gangle’s actually skating?”
A loud crash echoed across the room.
Gangle had once again crashed into a wall, this time breaking her comedy mask.
“… Can ya really call that skating?”
Pomni rolled her eyes with an exasperated smile.
“Not the point. Come on, why don’t you come out on the floor?”
“I don’t skate,” he said with a purposeful air of indifference. “It’s unbefitting of my masculine persona.”
She snorted.
“Don’t or can’t?”
“Third option: won’t!”
He punctuated his sentence with a light flick to the jester's forehead.
“Alright.”
She sighed dramatically, throwing her hands, and the skates, in the air in defeat. She started skating towards the rink entrance and called back towards the booth.
“I guess I’ll just go skate with Ragatha and Kinger then, have fun moping!”
Jax’s ear twitched in annoyance. Before his brain could catch up with him, he’d already bolted out of his seat and snatched the roller skates from Pomni’s raised hand.
“Fine! If you insist.”
He ignored Pomni’s grin and sat down on the nearest bench to pull on his skates. The little jester rolled over and plopped down beside him.
Her pathetically short little legs couldn’t touch the ground, and she freely swung them as she sat.
Cute.
“Sooo, do you really not know how to skate or-“
“What do you think, genius? Is that big ol’ head just there for decoration?”
“Gotcha, so that’s a no.”
Suddenly, a nervous look flitted across her face, and the speed of her swinging legs slowed.
“Do you, uh, want me to teach you?”
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A few minutes later, Jax wished very much that he had said no to her offer.
Pomni had taken him, mortifyingly, to the designated practice square, located outside of the main rink, in the corner of shame.
Jax held out his arms, struggling to keep his balance as he rolled the short distance between the entrance and the nearest wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zooble and Gangle, who had resigned themselves to the arcade corner, snickering at him. His cheeks burned as he tried to stay focused on Pomni’s instructions.
“‘No, no, no, you’re starting out all wrong. Here, watch me.”
She came to a stop directly in front of Jax, positioning herself so he could get a good view of her stance.
“Ok, so first you’ve gotta make sure your feet are facing forward and far enough apart, then you’ve gotta lean your top half over a little and keep your arms spread to balance.”
Her face scrunched as a thought seemed to occur to her.
“Hmm, it might be harder for you with how tall you are and all.”
“Shut up, short stack.”
Jax shakily moved to copy her.
“Ok, so next is the moving forward part. You need to push your feet outward, like left and right.”
She lifted her feet up and mimicked the motion while remaining stationary.
“Use the tip of your skate to push off with, and once you get some speed going, start pushing your feet out as they hit the ground!”
As she demonstrated, Jax cocked a thin black eyebrow.
“Pushing… out makes you go…forward?”
“Yup. It’s like, physics or whatever, just trust me!”
“Pfft, ok Nerdni, whatever you say.”
Hesitantly, Jax pushed off with the skate’s tip like Pomni said. Rolling on one foot, he flailed his arms around and tried to stay upright. The lack of control over his direction and speed were both incredibly alarming, and in his attempts to slow down, he tripped. He reflexively shot out his arms to break his fall, and while it did soften the impact, his knees took the majority of the blow.
Pomni winced at the loud thunk they made as he hit the floor. A faint pain blossomed in his kneecaps, though he knew it would’ve been much more severe in the real world.
“Maybe we should try the skate trainer?”
“I am NOT using a skating trainer, Pomni! I’m not a child.”
“They aren’t just for kids; see, even Gangle and Zooble are using one!”
He glanced out towards the rink. Sure enough, Zooble was zooming around, pushing a skate trainer that Gangle had wrapped herself around. Her happy mask was once again on her face, clearly the victim of a shoddy repair job with glitter glue won at the arcade prize counter. The scene would’ve been adorable (if Jax gave a shit), but the only thing he cared about at the moment was avoiding more embarrassment.
Oh HELL no, I am not stooping to Ribbons’ level.
Pointedly ignoring Pomni’s (frankly insulting) suggestion, Jax quickly scrambled back up and tried again.
And again.
And again.
Fuck I’m such a loser.
Jax gritted his teeth in frustration as he pushed himself off the ground for the fourth time and attempted to regain his balance. His shrunken pupils had long since morphed into scribbly blobs.
“Ooookay, I think you need to slow down a little here-“
“I’m fine, Pom!” Jax snapped before promptly falling again, this time flat on his ass.
“Uh huh,” she deadpanned.
Fuck I should’ve never tried this. I should’ve stayed in my stupid crappy booth eating my stupid soggy pizza and-
Pomni rolled over and held out her hand, snapping him out of his momentary spiral.
“C’mon, get up, I have an idea.”
Jax blinked as his eyes returned to normal. He stared at the cartoony red glove reaching out to him.
With how short she was, the gesture of “helping” him up was almost laughable. Jax took her hand anyway.
When he was finally on his feet again, he noticed Pomni hadn’t let go. In fact, she’d grabbed his other hand as soon as he’d regained his balance.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy-
He let out a nervous laugh.
“Real cute and all, but, uh, how is this helping me skate?”
Pomni snickered.
“By keeping you from busting your a
?”
“You! You shut-“
Jax was cut off by Pomni tugging him forward.
Panicking, he launched himself towards her with the tip of his skate. Almost immediately, he wobbled and felt the telltale signs of losing his balance. He shut his eyes and braced for impact, but it never came.
…
Huh?
Blinking in surprise, he glanced down at Pomni. She still held tightly to his hands, keeping him steady despite his earlier slip-up.
A smug grin broke out on her face.
“See?”
She drifted backwards effortlessly, pulling him along at an easy, slow pace. Coasting was noticeably easier this time around, in no small part due to the slightly crouched stance Jax was forced into to reach Pomni’s hands.
“Now try to pick up your feet and push out like I showed you earlier.”
Jax tightened his grip and followed her instructions. His first movements were hesitant, but with Pomni there to catch him, he quickly became more confident.
He laughed as a genuine smile spread across his face.
“Hey! Hey, I’m doin’ it Pom!”
Her eyes were absolutely sparkling as she beamed up at him.
“H yeah you are!”
After a few laps around the practice square, Pomni loosened her grip on his hands.
“I’m gonna let go now, ok? I think you’ve got this!”
“Pffft, of course I do, Pom! I’m a natural,” he said, lying through his teeth, “but I guess having a great teacher didn’t hurt.”
Pomni laughed as she let go and veered off to the left. She spun around in a fluid, circular movement and began to skate alongside Jax.
Watching her perform such a complex move so smoothly was mesmerizing.
Distracted by her skills and lacking his own, for a second he faltered at the loss of her guidance but quickly righted himself and continued to skate slowly around the square.
“How’d ya get so good at teachin’ this anyhow?”
“Oh!” she exclaimed, flushing at the compliment.
“I, uh, used to work at a skating rink during the summers when I was in highschool. We’d get tons of kids that had no idea what they were doing, and I guess I kinda just fell into the role?”
She seemed lost in thought for a moment before laughing sheepishly and continuing.
“And, honestly, working with clumsy kids was preferable to arguing about skate rental prices with their angry parents.”
Jax snorted.
“Yeah, I bet, huh?”
They slowed to a stop as they neared the practice squares’ entrance.
“So Jax, are you ready for the big leagues now?”
“Duh, obviously,” he said with more confidence than he truly felt.
Skating alone with Pomni was one thing, but putting himself in a sea of speeding NPCs was a whole different ballgame. Especially when the rest of the circus cast was there to see him inevitably fail.
Pomni smoothly rolled over to the main rink entrance.
Burying his anxiety behind his signature nonchalant grin, he began his awkward little shuffle across the carpeted floor.
Jax clung to the rink wall as he carefully stepped down off of the ledge that separated the carpeted common area from the actual roller rink where Pomni stood waiting for him.
With a deep breath, he bent his knees and pushed off with the tip of his skate. Spreading his arms out, he put all of his focus into staying balanced as he gained momentum. When he glanced to his side, Pomni was there, keeping perfect speed with him, moving her feet in time to the annoyingly catchy music that blared over the rink speakers.
“See, isn’t this better than moping in the food court?”
“I dunno, Pom,” he said with a dramatic sigh, "the mystery stains on those booth cushions were real interesting; it’s gonna take a lot to beat that.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Pomni said, rolling her eyes with a laugh. “You’ll have to let Caine know, rave reviews for the seat stains.”
They continued to skate in comfortable silence, going around and around the rink. Occasionally, Pomni would wave to Gangle and Zooble from across the rink, or Ragatha and Kinger, who were playing “Pac-Caine”, a clear Pac-Man ripoff, in the arcade area.
Just as Jax had settled into the flow of rink traffic, a young NPC in basketball shorts and a backwards baseball cap came speeding towards him. Jax swerved out of his path, barely avoiding colliding with the teenager, and fell to the floor with a skidding halt.
“Screw you too ya little twerp!”
Once again thankful for the reduced pain mechanics of the circus, he clutched his knee and waited for the still prominent sting to fade as he seethed.
I’m going to KILL that bastard. How DARE he?
Pomni turned around and came to an abrupt halt where he sat. Concern painted her pale face.
“Hey, are you, like, ok?”
Jax crossed his arms with a scowl.
“I just got mogged by a 13-year-old stick boy; what do you think?”
As Pomni tried (and failed) to hold back her snickering, the same NPC came circling back around the rink, laughing his little wooden ass off and pointing.
“Hey loser, how’s the view from down th-“
Jax shot out one of his abnormally long legs, tripping the boy and cutting his gloating short as his featureless face was plowed into the waxed wood floor.
Pomni and Jax both burst out laughing as he scrambled away in retreat, pressing his hand over what Jax assumed would be a broken nose, if he had one.
As their laughter died down, Pomni offered her hand to pull Jax up. Once again, even after he was stable on his feet, she didn’t let go. They locked eyes, and her face split into a devious smirk.
His face flushed.
“We should hold hands so next time one of those little shs try something, we can clothesline their aes into the Void!”
Jax’s heart skipped a beat.
She’s so fucking cool.
“Heh. You got it, Pompom.” Jax flashed his own signature smirk back with a nod, and they pushed off in tandem.
Unfortunately for Jax, who really did want to make another asshole teen eat shit, no more NPCs engaged in any clothesline-worthy behavior.
After their sixth or seventh peaceful lap, Jax realized that the pretense for their repetitive hand-holding had grown weaker and weaker throughout the adventure.
Just as he had worked up the nerve to make a smartass comment about it to Pomni, the lights suddenly dimmed and a panel of the ceiling opened. A large, sparkling disco ball lowered. A large, sparkling disco ball shaped like Bubble.
Before either of them had the chance to comment on Caine’s frankly abysmal design choices, they were interrupted.
The music faded out abruptly, and a loud voice that sounded suspiciously Caine-like echoed over the speakers.
“It's slow dance time! Couples and pals, please join us on the floor! And remember, slower skaters, please stay towards the outside of the rink!”
A slow synthesizer riff swelled as the announcement ended. A woman’s singing voice faded in, echoing across the building.
Pomni slowed her pace, glancing down at her and Jax’s entwined hands.
“Well…” she started, a nervous tremor evident in her voice, “We’re, uh, pals? Right?”
Pals.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
Heh. Pal. Haven’t been called that in a while.
A myriad of emotions flashed across his face. After a brief, but all too familiar, internal battle, he relented.
“Yeah,” he cracked a soft smile, “yeah, Pom, somethin' like that.”
The jester’s anxious expression quickly melted into a bright grin. She pulled Jax along as she skated towards the center of the rink.
Turning around, she slowed to a stop in front of Jax. She reached out and grabbed his other hand before widening her stance.
“You ready to dance?”
“You know it, Pom.”
Pushing off confidently, Pomni sent them spinning in a circle.
The world around them morphed into a sea of multicolored lights and music. The disco ball’s reflection was cast down on them, leaving Pomni blanketed in a kaleidoscope of tiny lights. Her pinwheeled eyes glimmered as the ever-changing beams cast rainbows of freckled light across her pale white face. The same air Jax could feel ruffling his fur raked through Pomi’s loose hair as she laughed.
They spun around and around and around.
And she looked free, happy.
Beautiful.
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Later that evening, Jax lay in his bed. His legs were crossed, one propped over the other as he lazily spun the wheel of the lone roller skate hanging loosely in his hand.
Flashes of the day’s adventure ran through his mind.
Sparkling red and blue eyes.
Pomni’s hand in mine.
Her smile.
Imagine her lips on-
The soft whirring sound of the turning wheel faltered as Jax froze. Realization washed over him.
“S.”