Chapter Text
Again, they didn't even sleep on their pajama party.
Jax had braided Gangle's ribbons again, and then he had played video games, sitting on the floor in front of his bed, her sitting on the bed behind him and drawing. She showed him her progress whenever he was in between levels, and he offered feedback, with his usual level of sarcasm, but without the usual level of malice. While he was in the levels she fed him chips when he called on her help, and she had to giggle at how clearly concentrated he was.
Without them noticing, morning came, and with it, there was a knock on Jax's door, eventually. "Get up, you're going to miss the theme song. If I have to be there, you do too." Zooble's voice. "Also, is Gangle in there with you? She isn't answering her door."
"I'm here!" Gangle called out, putting down her sketchbook and going to open the locked door. "Good morning! We lost sight of the time again!"
Zooble raised a skeptical eyebrow, looking past her and into the room at Jax, eyes focused on the gameplay.
"Mornin' Zoobie! You look like you slept well!" His voice was dripping with obviously false happiness meant to tease them.
They narrowed their eyes at him. "You haven't even looked at me."
"Sorry, can't! Middle of the level! Gangle, chip me!"
The ribbon character went back to the bag of chips on the bed and chipped him with a little giggle. Then she looked at the screen, her eyes wide and her mouth a perfect little circle as she sat down next to him, suddenly just as fixated on the TV as he was. "Ohhh, you're almost at the final boss!" She said, crossing her legs.
"This is what I've worked for, Ribbons. You're about to witness greatness."
She squealed happily. "I can't wait for the final cutscene! I'm just sad that it's ending..."
"This is a game made by Caine, it's not like the story was very riveting. But the gameplay is decent." He shrugged.
"Ohh, I liked the story! In some places it really tugged at my heartstrings..."
"Of course it did, because you're a sappy Crybaby."
"N-not at all!"
Zooble cleared their throat. "Guys. If you want breakfast before the theme song-"
"No we don't, leave us alone" Jax said, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "We don't even need to eat, and we can't stop right before the boss fight. Now shoo."
Their eye twitched in anger. "Shoo? You did not just shoo me."
"Zooble, I just want you to know that if I wasn't playing a video game right now, I still wouldn't look at you. You're just too ugly."
"A[$$]hole."
"Uhm, we're going to join you guys later, okay?" Gangle said with a shy smile. "It won't take long. Just tell the others we're on our way."
Zooble looked at her for a moment, worry in their eyes, then gave one last frown to the rabbit. Sighing, they turned away and left.
The others were already in the middle of the tent, waiting for a breakfast that was being cooked by Bubble today. He had his chef's hat on, humming a happy tune as he flew out of the kitchen. "Good morning, Zooble! Have you f[§<€]ed tonight?"
Zooble narrowed their eyes at him. "How would I have?"
"Mmmaybe you wouldn't be in such a bad mood always if you f[*%&]ed!"
Zooble frowned at him. "...Yeah, thanks."
"Always happy to help!" He sang, floating back into the kitchen.
The abstract character rolled their eyes and joined the others at the table.
"Uhm... that was something." Ragatha said. "Where's Gangle and Jax? Did you find them?"
"Yep." They replied, brows still furrowed. "They had another pajama party. Now they're gaming. Said they'll join us after they beat the boss."
"Oh." Ragatha said, smiling like she was happy for them, but her lips twitched in poorly concealed discomfort. "They're gaming? Ha... That's good! It's good that he's sharing that again! With someone..."
Her hands were on her lap, grabbing folds of her dress, and her teeth were gritted under her smile. Zooble and Pomni shared a worried, confused look.
"Uhm... is he not supposed to play video games with Gangle...?" Pomni asked.
"What? No, of course! He can play video games with whoever he wants!" She laughed cheerfully. Too cheerfully. "I'm just surprised, is all! He hasn't done that in... years." Her smile turned sad. Ragatha took a deep breath, then tried to smile again. "I'm glad, really. I just hope that he's honest with her about their friendship."
"Yeah... I'm worried about that, too." Zooble added.
"What are you worried about?" Kinger asked, having been completely silent until now, tilting his head to the side. He had one of Bubble's pots on his head. "If they're having fun together that's good, isn't it?"
Zooble sighed. "If this was anyone else we're talking about, yes. But we're talking about Jax here. He might just be playing with her for a prank, or even only because he's bored right now."
"Hmm..." Kinger hummed, looking down at the table. "I don't think he would do that."
"You don't even remember most of his pranks..." Zooble said sadly, shaking their head.
"But I remember the sweet boy he was when he arrived here." Kinger said, leaving everyone wide-eyed with his surprising moment of lucidity. "Of course, he's not that boy anymore... he's a young man now, and this place wasn't good for his character, but deep down he's still the same person. There are lines he won't cross. I know him." He said confidently.
Everyone stared at him in silence.
"...He's a young man now?" Pomni asked, furrowing her brow in deep concern, feeling her gut clench at the implications of his words. She noticed that Ragatha looked uncomfortable and sad. She thought her one eye that wasn't a button looked a little bit wet, even.
Then Jax and Gangle came strolling in. "What's up fellas?" Jax asked.
They all turned to them, faces still strained. Kinger took off the pot and looked down at it. "Oh. Bubble can't make spaghetti without this."
"Uhh..." Pomni looked at him with a frown, then turned back to Jax. "We were just talking about... Spaghetti!" She lied.
Ragatha and Zooble gave her exasperated looks for the bad lie, and she looked back at them like; Well why didn't you help me then?!
Because all of them definitely agreed that they could not tell those two what they had talked about just now. Pomni didn't want Jax to feel bad about how they talked about him, Zooble didn't want to worry Gangle, and Ragatha just didn't want a confrontation at all.
Now both Gangle and Jax were raising an eyebrow at Pomni, clearly not buying it.
"Uhm... spaghetti?" Gangle asked.
"Yep!" Pomni replied, way too enthusiastically, but she had chosen this story and now she had to stick with it. She laughed nervously and waved it off. "I don't know why Bubble would make spaghetti for breakfast, either! That's what we were discussing!"
"We were?" Kinger asked, leaning over the table to look at her.
"Yeah, Kinger." Ragatha said with a smile, putting a hand on his arm. "That's why you wanted to give back the pot, remember?"
Before anyone else could say something about that topic, or doubt it, Caine appeared above them. "Good morning, my superstars! Who is ready for an adventure?!"
Zooble frowned up at their ringmaster. "We haven't even eaten yet."
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to miss our totally real spaghetti." Jax said, arms crossed and a s[#!%]-eating grin on his face as he turned to look at Zooble and the girls again.
"Spaghetti?! Why would you eat spaghetti when you can dine like the gods?!" Caine screamed. Everyone stared at him, so he calmed his tense posture, putting a hand on his lower jaw. "I mean... I don't know if the gods eat spaghetti too. But they eat their spaghetti from nicer plates!"
"I clean every plate myself." Bubble said as he came out of the kitchen.
Pomni cringed. "With a sponge and water and soap, right? Not your..." She gestured vaguely towards his tongue.
Bubble stared into nothingness for a moment, unblinking. "I am soap and water."
Pomni looked like a sad wet cat at that.
"Enough of this!" Caine interrupted, popping Bubble with his cane. "Time for today's adventure!" He snapped his fingers, and everyone got a large piece of paper with their names on it, and a punch of colored pencils on the floor in the middle of them.
"Oh! Are we drawing?" Gangle asked excitedly.
"Indeed! Today's adventure is... Godhood!"
"That explains the fine dining." Zooble drawled, an eyebrow raised.
"What are you talking about, Zooble?" Caine shook his head. "Anyway! Today, you all are a pantheon of gods, going about your godly duties and making sure your human followers are happy! Maybe then you can understand how hard my job is." He pouted.
Zooble frowned, narrowing their eyes at him. "...Do you think you're our god?"
"Well, you said that, not me, but I feel flattered by your assessment, Zooble!" Caine blushed. "Before our adventure begins, you all must decide what role you want to fill in the pantheon! That's why you've got these sheets of paper! Write yourself a title and draw yourself some godly attire, and snap! I'll make it appear! You don't have to worry about making it look good, I'll do that! No artistic talent required whatsoever! The only thing you need is imagination! You've got ten minutes to let your creative juices flow!"
"Mhhh, don't spill your juices, or Daddy Bubble will have to clean up after you nasty [§!%€#]es!" Bubble said, spawning out of his tophat again.
Caine sighed and put a hand on his upper jaw as if he was rubbing his temples. "Bubble, you are so cringe sometimes." With that they both disappeared.
"Wow! A creative challenge!" Ragatha said, smiling down at her still empty sheet of paper. "That'll be fun! I wonder what I should make my role..."
"Oh! I know!" Jax said with an excited smile, raising his hand like he was in school. "Goddess of being annoying! Goddess of ugly pool noodle hair! Oh! Oh! Goddess of fake positivity!"
"That's enough suggestions, Jax..." Ragatha hissed through her teeth, turning away.
They all turned to their own sheets, starting to work in quiet.
Gangle went over to the couch, taking a pen with her. She sat down criss-cross-applesauce, holding the empty paper in front of her, imagining all she could put on it. There was a small smile on her face as she tapped the pen against her chin, thinking about what she should do with this creative freedom Caine had unexpectedly given them today. Maybe he was running out of ideas, but he'd never admit that by taking an idea from the suggestion box. Still, this was a nice compromise. Gangle could work with that.
First things first; she needed to decide what kind of goddess she wanted to be. She needed to know before she could start on her design, after all.
But that's when the first troubles came up.
What should she make herself?
Of course, the first thought that came to her was something with art. That was her thing, right? But... she wasn't very good at it... sure, she liked art, she loved drawing, but making herself the goddess of it seemed very self-absorbed to her. She knew it was just a silly game, but still, she didn't deserve that title, not even in jest... Her drawings weren't that good, anyway. God of art was better for someone like Zooble, someone actually talented.
But... what did that leave her with? Drawing was the only thing she was even a little bit good at... She could just choose something she liked instead of something she was good at, but that thought only depressed her for some reason. Was there really nothing Gangle was the best at?
"Why the long face, Pretty?" Jax asked as he leaned over the back of the couch, looking down at her empty piece of paper, eyes feeling judgmental as always. "Huh. And here I thought you'd already be done. The others are still in the brainstorming phase, but I expected you to be scribbling away oh so enthusiastically."
Gangle frowned down at her name on the paper. "I... don't know what to choose. I've got nothing." She said.
He raised a disgusted eyebrow at her. "Ugh, seriously? You can think of like, a hundred OC's to draw, but not a single thing to draw yourself wearing?"
"It's not the outfit... it's the 'goddess of' part." She said, hunching in on herself, becoming smaller. "I mean... what am I good for usually? I fail at everything already, I don't want to fail on an astronomical scale..." She sobbed.
She just now remembered that she hadn't stopped at her room this morning to pick up her new comedy mask. She hadn't even realized all night, but she felt it like a punch to the gut now.
Jax actually cringed at her. "You're so lame."
"I know..." She sniffled.
He reached his hand out to her and wiggled his fingers as if he wanted her to give him something. "Come on, gimme that, I'll make something up."
Thick tears shook on her mask as she clutched the paper close to her chest. "Y-you'll just make me something embarrassing..."
He scowled at her. "More embarrassing than your self-pity right now? I don't think that's possible." He said. She winced, because... he was right.
He sighed and rolled his eyes, holding out the paper with his name on it. "Here, as a sign of trust. You'll get to do mine. Surely you'll have an easier time figuring out something for someone as amazing and flawless as me." He said, a cocky smile on his face and his hand on his chest.
Gangle stared up at him, hesitantly taking the paper and looking down at it. It read 'JAX', so it wasn't stolen from one of the others. She looked up at him again. "You'll really let me do yours?" She asked.
He shrugged, still grinning. "Sure, why not. Not like any of this matters, anyway. Now gimme yours. I'll make you cool for a change, promise." He raised a hand and two fingers, one eye closed. "Scout's honor."
She looked down at her empty paper again. She couldn't think of something anyway, and doing this for someone else instead of herself would take the pressure off of her to get it right. She could just be creative and have fun with this task.
With a sigh, she handed him her paper. "Okay... fine."
He snatched it away from her with a feral smirk, grinning down at the paper like he planned to do terrible things to it. Gangle would have paled if her mask wasn't white china already.
"Great choice! You won't regret it, Ribbons!"
She already regretted it. She sighed again and looked down at her new character sheet.
So. What should she make Jax? She could make him something embarrassing for a change, to get back at him for all the pranks. But thinking back to the last time she did something like that... Maybe she shouldn't try a repeat of that, given how wrong it went. That fiasco had been more than enough embarrassment, even for someone like Jax. Especially since he'd been better lately. And if he really gave her something cool, she'd feel bad for giving him something lame.
Okay, so she'd do something cool, trusting that he would do the same. But what? Maybe she should go about this through the look of real world mythologies?
What were Jax's best qualities? In her opinion, probably his confidence, and that he was funny. Pretty strong too, but that was most likely due to their cartoon physics. Everything that was in here was their minds, so him being confident about everything he did and having internalized that nothing mattered translated to all the cool abilities he displayed. It was just like he had told Evil Jax before the ice skating race; he didn't think about consequences or what he could and couldn't do, he just did.
Jax was a prankster, most obviously. That reminded her of gods like Loki, for example. A trickster. And he enjoyed violence a lot, at least in here, so something like Ares?
She tapped the pen against her chin again, her earlier enthusiasm recovered. How about the god of war and mischief? That sounded nice! She was sure he would like it, and it was a unique combination she didn't think she heard before.
With a smile on her face again, she started writing Jax, God of War and Mischief, and started sketching an outfit for him. First a rough sketch of Jax, and then she added some greek style armor. A breast plate, that leather-skirt-thing soldiers used to wear, and sword and shield. To give some of that trickster element, she added a small pair of wings to his high sandals, just like Hermes was often depicted wearing. And lastly, a classical helmet that left only his face uncovered, with a fur plume on top. She drew his ears sticking out at the bottom of the helmet above his neck, and put an attractive, mischievous smirk on his face.
And then she got to coloring! The breast-plate was bronze, the helmet was golden, the plume red and the sword he was lazily spinning around his hand with such easy-going confidence was silver. Everything was coming together.
Before she knew it, the time was up. The papers disappeared from everyone's hands, leading to some complaints from the others. Fortunately, Gangle had just been able to finish her drawing. She'd focused really hard after she got a boost of motivation.
"There we go! Now we're ready to enter the world of gods!" Caine said, hastily ushering them through the portal.
On the other side, they ended up in something that was clearly inspired by Mount Olympus. Palace, check. Ivory pillars and gold statues, check. Lush greenery and big pretty fountains, check. And situated on the top of a mountain amidst clouds, check.
Not that anyone was complaining, this one actually looked pretty good.
"Wow... you really outdid yourself, Caine!" Ragatha said, looking around with a big smile.
"Ooooh... look at all the pretty butterflies!" Kinger said, eyes drifting off.
"...I have to admit, it's not that bad." Zooble said with a shrug.
Again, Caine blushed. "Oh, you... I knew you love my adventures!"
No one had said that, but no one said anything to correct him either. He needed that, and they needed more adventures like this, where they got some autonomy. Of course, it hadn't even really started yet, but at least the scenery was nice already.
"Alrighty! Let's get to revealing what you all decided to be!"
He made them step forward one by one, announcing their title and changing their outfits with a snap of his fingers.
Ragatha had helped Kinger out, and so his usual robe was exchanged for one looking like rainbow butterfly wings, and he was the god of... insect collections. He had insisted on that.
Ragatha herself had decided on none of Jax's helpful suggestions, becoming the goddess of happiness, fairness and horses instead. With the role came a big, soft yellow dress, almost a ballgown while still looking light and airy like a summer dress. It had cute ruffles and a subtle sunflower pattern.
Pomni was the goddess of empathy and friendship now, because, in her words, everyone always came to her for those talks. Jax made a joke about her choosing the most My Little Pony thing she possibly could have, saying that she wanted a unicorn horn after all. That hadn't made it into her outfit, which was just a stylish, comfortable looking pantsuit, because that's what she did feel the most comfortable in for some reason.
Zooble became the god of freedom, after their paper had repeatedly deleted their original chosen title, the god of not giving a f[@#?]. Again, Jax couldn't resist making fun of them, this time by sarcastically asking why they didn't make themselves the god of beauty. They just wore a baggy coat hiding most of their body. Clearly, they had put a lot of thought into this.
And then it was Gangle's turn. She sighed as she stepped forward, throwing a pout in Jax's direction. "You better made me something cool..."
"Wait, you let him take your paper?" Zooble asked, eyes wide.
"Relax, Mix'N'Match." Jax said. "She got my paper in turn."
They frowned at him. "Yeah, but only because you know that she's too kind-hearted to use this against you. What did you do?"
"Wait and see." He gestured to the middle of the room where everyone else had been revealed. Caine was already waiting.
Gangle stepped over to him, closing her eyes as she awaited Caine's narration.
"I present to you... Gangle, Goddess of Creativity and Talent, Patron of the Arts!"
She opened her eyes again in sheer surprise at what she heard. She looked down at herself after Caine's snap, and found herself in a dress that looked like something an ancient greek princess might wear. It was a light lavender color, cinched at the waist to give her the illusion of a figure. There was a green laurel wreath resting on top of her mask like a crown, and a sketchbook appeared in one of her hands, a pencil in the other.
She blinked as she took everything in. The others were staring at her, too.
"Wow... that's actually pretty nice, Jax." Ragatha said, showing him a careful smile.
He put a hand on his chest and smiled as well, eyes closed. "I am nice."
"Not... usually. But this time!"
"You..." Gangle started, walking back to the group. She frowned up at him. "Why would you make me that?"
"Because it's the most fitting." He crossed his arms and frowned at her. "But you'd never say that yourself. You'd be all like," He raised his hands and talked in a high, whiny voice in his best mockery of a Gangle impression. "Ohhh, no, I'm no artist, waaaah! Let Zooble have that, I'm so untalented and pitiable! Waaah!"
She blushed, because those had been pretty much her thoughts, except for the exaggerated crying. But that was his creative liberty, she supposed.
"So that's why I had to take your paper away from you. Because if anyone here should get that title, it's you, and I wasn't in the mood to hear you insulting yourself today. That's still my job." Jax said, looking unamused and pointing a thumb at himself.
"But... but it's true!" She protested weakly.
Zooble sighed. "As much as I hate to say it, Jax is right."
"HA!" Jax laughed. "Never thought I'd live to see the day."
They side-eyed him before concentrating on Gangle again. "You are an artist, a d[@%+] good one. You deserve that title more than anyone else here."
Gangle smiled shyly. "You really think so?" She looked at everyone, and they all nodded. "Well then... I guess it's okay!"
"It's more than okay, it was my idea after all." Jax said with a smug smile, strutting towards the middle of the room. "Okay, my turn. Oh, and Gangle?"
"Yes?"
"If you gave me something lame, then may god have mercy on you, because I won't."
She widened her eyes. She just hoped he'd like it.
"Very well then..." Caine said, gesturing towards the rabbit dramatically. "I give you Jax, God of War and Mischief!"
He snapped his fingers, and then Jax stood there in the detailed armor Gangle had drawn for him. He looked down at himself with a big smile, taking a look at his armor and taking the sword, spinning it around. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Congrats Gangle, you didn't screw this up!" He said.
She smiled shyly. "I guess I'm pretty good at this, huh?"
Jax smirked at her, a handsome glint in his eye as he spun the sword just like in her drawing. "Now don't get cocky, Ribbons."
"Hehe!"
"Now that our pantheon is complete, let's get into the adventure!" Caine announced excitedly. "You're all going to get duties based on your chosen roles! Take care of your little humans, don't let them go extinct, and most importantly, have fun, my crazy chalupas!"
"We'll see about the extinction." Jax said with a smile.
Caine disappeared, they all got lists with tasks on ancient-looking papyrus rolls, and they split up. Gangle went her own way with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.
And she still didn't have her comedy mask.
~~~
This whole godhood thing was a lot like the Sims, Gangle realized. She could just part the clouds to look down at the "earth" that Caine had crafted below, full of tiny little humans going about their day in a ripoff of ancient greece. Someone even almost drowned in a pool and Gangle saved them, and now they and their family were making her a sacrifice.
Right now she was watching over the construction of a temple. As the patron goddess of the arts, that fell right into her duties. She watched as the stone masons constructed pillars and slanted roofs, high stone walls and polished marble floors. Statues of herself and her friends were build all over the gardens, as well as stone murals over the entrances and the walls.
When the building itself was done, painters created pictures of their gods, and seamstresses weaved tapestries, all depicting the 'heroic deeds' their gods had done in their mythology. Like Kinger shooting a terrifyingly large head thing with a shotgun. Or Ragatha's victory over the Evil Big Tops through her 'homerun'. Or Jax literally any time he had started to throw hands with an NPC in any adventure in the past. The humans seemed to like that.
To spice up their mythology, Caine seemed to even have added mythical creatures. One tapestry showed the fight between abstracted Kaufmo and the Gloink Queen. That one was quite distasteful, in Gangle's opinion, so she forbade the humans from hanging it on the temple walls. She was sure the others would agree, this was a temple for all of them after all.
"Hey, did you save the guy I threw in the pool?" Gangle turned away from watching the humans. Jax approached, clearly annoyed, throwing his arms up in dramatic exasperation. "What do you think why I took away the ladder?!"
She sighed and turned back to overseeing the building efforts. "Sorry, I didn't know that was you." She said.
He threw his hands up immediately again, looking at her like she was stupid. "Who else would it have been?!"
Gangle giggled. "I thought he just fell in there!"
Jax scoffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, sure. As if anything funny would get done without me. I have to do all the heavy lifting around here!"
She giggled again, and he sat down next to her, looking through the clouds with her.
"So, you're just watching them build us a temple. How interesting." He said dryly. "If you take constructive criticism, less statues of Zooble. You don't want to scare away our worshippers."
She rolled her eyes. "And replace them with more statues of you?"
"Hey, that's an idea." He grinned. He put his thumb and pointer finger under his chin, cartoony sparkles appearing next to his smile. "Who wouldn't want to see more of me?"
She smiled and pushed a ribbon against his face to push it away. "I wouldn't mind seeing less, actually."
He turned away and smiled. "Pssh, you don't mean that."
A comfortable silence settled between them, but Gangle quickly looked back down at her humans when she realized how long she was just looking at his smile. A smile that looked real for a change. Soft. Not like a show he put on, not like the character he played.
And then she realized just how long he was smiling at her like that.
"So... what have you been up to, aside from throwing that guy in the pool." She asked.
Back was the practiced grin. "Bold of you to assume that he's the only guy I threw in a pool."
"Jax!"
"What? Everyone who ever played the Sims did that at least once!"
Against her better judgment, she chuckled. "So you noticed the similarities too?"
"It's not like it's subtle." He said. "But aside from that, I made the most of the role you gave me. Mischievously caused a misunderstanding between two leaders that led to a genocide. Oopsie." Jax smirked, pushing a finger against his cheek, making it look squishy and cuter than it should. Gangle shook her head at the thought.
"What? You're the one who made me a war god."
"Yeah, yeah, that one's on me." She rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I'm sure my war will have some pretty epic battles the muses will sing about or something. Then your followers will have plenty of new scenes to paint. I make history, and you memorize it." He said, pointing at her chest.
She full on laughed about that. One corner of his smile rose, his eye crinkling with mirth. "Amazing."
Gangle stopped laughing, blinking at him. "Uh... what is?"
"You laughing without your comedy mask. Music to my ears."
She looked away, smiling shyly, a blush on her face. "Oh, uh... thank you. Hehe. You're cute, Jaxxy." She said.
"Oh, I definitely am." He said, getting up again. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat for longer, but there's a war to fight and millions to kill. Not that humanity would need my help for that, but I'd really enjoy watching." There was a feral grin on his face as he unsheathed his sword, spinning it. She chuckled and rolled her eyes, and he winked at her. "Later, Pretty."
Gangle raised a ribbon hand to wave. "Later, Jaxxy."
She looked down at her little humans, working away at their temple. Maybe... one more statue. One of Jax and Gangle together. Apparently, if he was to be trusted, the God of War and the Goddess of Art were working closely together, after all.
Of course, the God of Mischief was never to be trusted.
But Gangle didn't mind the stretch if it meant she got a statue of them holding hands.
~~~