Chapter Text
Jax was royally fucked. Down bad, upstream without a paddle. He was completely blindsided when Ragatha suggested their little deal, not that a second chance wasn’t appreciated, he just thought it’d take more than a handshake. Still, Jax recovered quickly, as he tended to do, and kept any nerves underwraps. Instead, Jax exuded forced confidence, and agreed to a terrifying game.
He was good at games, always had been, ever since he was a kid.
He was able to pin-point when it started. In a dimly lit living room, some off-brand board game scattered the carpet. The shocked face his older sister made when Jax knocked over all the game pieces when he won. Victory tasted sweet, the feeling of winning, having every other player bow to you was addictive. It made him feel powerful during a time when things spun wildly out of control for his family.
From then on he was a sore loser. He cheated(only when he was losing), found loopholes in rules, took risky gambles, sabotaged at any given chance, and thought strategically. All that to say, Jax knew his way around a challenge or two.
That was why he got comfortable way too fast, it was the only conclusion that made sense! It was surprisingly easy to adapt to one another, even if Ragatha was stubborn and made certain aspects more difficult than needed. After the agreement passed by, they didn’t speak about it again. Not out-loud at least, but verbal tended to be his least favorite form of communication, so he didn't mind. There was an invisible reminder that floated between the two as they slowly slotted back into each other’s lives.
He got a taste of what her routine was. After all, it’s not like he had anything better to do. Despite his totally very believable lie, Jax was unemployed. He lived off those cushy government checks, accepted every free thing he was given, and mooched those suckers for all they were worth. It was his best attempt at retribution, to make anything that happened in that god forsaken hellscape worth it. Ragatha questioned it a few times, but he waved his hand over his shoulder and told her not to worry about it.
Luckily for him, she was susceptible to most distractions. A fact that didn’t change from their time apart. Even if she denied it, Ragatha was hot-headed. He knew she bottled up anger in the circus, so much so that it would overflow her cup and spill onto him like hot coffee. It was always something stupid too, an accidental nudge, or stealing a piece of pixelated chicken off her plate. However, once the emotion bubbled over it wasn't too hard to stop, it required a certain set of charm to make her forget about whatever she was mad about in the first place. A charm he embodied like muscle memory.
Old habits die hard, he couldn’t help but playfully get in her way. Jax trailed after Ragatha in the late mornings, emphasis on the late part of that sentence. She got up at unholy hours and he wasn’t going to lose precious beauty sleep just to tease her while she fed chickens. No, he’d get up around 10am from bed and bug her in the midst of making breakfast. Even though it became their new normal, Jax tip-toed every morning and then wrapped his arms around her waist in an attempt to scare her. The first few days it worked, but eventually she came to expect touch while she flipped pancakes.
The kitchen was one of his favorite places to hangout, mostly due to the fact he could sit there and watch a confident Ragatha, in her element, making recipes from an old dusty book on the counter. It was her orchestra to command. He tried to beat her to the kitchen and start breakfast a few days ago, only able to take out the dishware before she found him and took over.
When finished with her symphony, Ragatha always pulled her chair next to him so they could sit together, never across. His fingers twitched at the distance that seemed to decrease with every passing week.
They still didn’t talk much about the months between their meeting. Jax had more problems than he wanted her to know, and she didn’t seem keen on reminiscing on her past. To his credit though, Jax didn’t go looking for trouble after the escape.
He came to in a hospital bed, labeled as a John Doe. The agents arrived days after he woke up, flooded in and disturbed the peace and quiet of his recovery. It was in his nature to be uncooperative. Jax spat, threatened, teased, you name it. Anything that stopped the ceaseless wolves from nipping at his ankles. The second he was cleared for discharge, Jax was out of the hospital before anyone could escort him home. Not that he had a home to crawl back to. No one visited him while in the hospital, he assumed whatever was left of his family moved on.
Memories still fuzzy, Jax wandered through whatever city he was in (learned later it was somewhere in Jersey) until a black car pulled up next to him and he was back in “custody” of the government. Apparently somewhere in the interrogation the agents told him he’d be monitored for the next few months. It could’ve been a total lie, but he wasn’t too sure because anything they said was in one ear, out the other.
“Jax?”
Snapped back to the present, he caught Ragatha as she stared back at him in the reflection of the vanity mirror. She clutched a pair of silver scissors in her hand, but set them down with concern etched into her eyebrow. How long had he gone silent? Did she ask him a question?
He was positioned on a plush stool, hunched over slightly so she towered over him. Soft hands sifted greedily through his curls. She kept her nails short, he noted as they grazed over his scalp. Fingertips scratched lovingly, and if he still had ears and a tail there would be a purr that vibrated throughout his skeleton.
“Are you with me, bunny?” She hummed methodically.
“Mmm, yup.” Jax tilted his head, hands chased after him, firmly rooted in faded purple curls “Clockin’ back in as we speak.”
“Good.” Ragatha kissed the top of his head and then her hands slipped down the side of his cheeks and rubbed her cold thumbs on his warm skin.
There were a lot of challenges in picking up where they left off. How they spoke, where new boundaries needed to be drawn, arguing when appropriate, apologizing when not. Fortunately for Jax, Ragatha’s soothing touch wasn’t a hurdle. The way she carried herself was ingrained into how her hands roamed. Like the handshake opened her mind and granted full permission to be selfish for the first time in a very long time.
“Now, how short are we thinking?” She whispered and cupped his jaw to get more angles of his face.
A snort escaped him. She must’ve thought she was so slick. He caught the way her eyes drank in his features and the corners of her quirked up lips.
“The purple was cool, but it served its purpose. Gimme somethin’ easy to manage.” He chased her hand as it pulled away to grab a nearby spray bottle. “Ya sure ya can handle this?”
“Psh, yeah! I cut my hair all the time when I was younger.”
“Mkay, Dolly!” He shifted to sit more comfortably on the stool, “But if it’s ugly ‘m hiding your fabric scissors ‘til it grows out.”
A genuine laugh sounded from behind him.
“You’re so dramatic.” She hummed, then headed straight to work.
Ragatha snipped away at his hair, the clipping of metal created a steady rhythm to match her movement. Clumps of brown-purple floated toward the ground, piled up under the stool. He closed his eyes and trusted her vision. His leg bounced against the carpeted floor and he did his absolute best to keep still.
At some point though, Jax got bored.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t try to sneak a peak at his hair. No, Jax stared at the woman at work. She was being very gentle, focused in such a way that her teeth snagged on her bottom lip. It smudged the cherry gloss across her front teeth, if he wasn’t a better man the leftover residue wouldn’t be just on her lips.
He kept quiet and enjoyed how at peace Ragatha was. It was refreshing to see after all the crying he endured in the garden. It was stupid, to be afraid of tears, but the wobble in her voice, and the full body shaking was the worst experience he’d put her through in recent years.
As sneaky as he tried to be, it was no match for the ever observant Ragatha. Her head lulled to meet his gaze, a few strands of red curls escaped from being tucked behind her ear. Her mouth pursed to speak.
“See somethin’ ya like?” He smirked, beating her to the punch.
He dropped his voice an octave lower than normal. One of his favorite tricks, it broke her more often than not. No matter what witty remark she had locked and loaded, her face always lit aflame at his tone. Today was no different.
“Stop distracting me! I have scissors.” Ragatha scolded, cheeks burned a furious red.
“Aww, is that a threat, Ragsy?” He cooed in amusement.
She ignored the teasing bait he dangled in front of her. Ragatja simply rolled her eyes and got back to work. Thoroughly satisfied with himself, Jax’s attention shifted to his reflection. It looked like she was almost done, most of the length disappeared and the purple was nowhere to be found.
Immediately he felt lighter, it wasn’t his intention to let it grow out so wildly. It seemed to happen with time, and the thought of letting a stranger get so close to his neck wasn’t favorable. It felt too vulnerable, especially since his combative personality followed him outside the circus. He continued his trend of lashing out at others for stupid reasons, at least this time around it was people he didn't care about.
The mandated psychiatrist implied he had anger issues, which wasn’t surprising. Wouldn’t you be pissed if you were separated from society and then forced to assimilate? At first the uncontrollable rage wasn’t a problem, surrounded by medical workers and stuffy federal agents who could care less about building a relationship. After he reunited with Pomni that changed.
It was the kind of reunion you’d see in movies. His hands shoved in his pockets and face in an eternal scowl. Pomni was carrying four coffee cups with one arm, the other gripped a briefcase for dear life. Her heels were also miraculously hanging by her fingertips. A picturesque stressed office worker crashed into a no-good scoundrel.
The collision was fated. They smashed into each other, coffee drenched Pomni’s white button up, soaked his skinny jeans. To top it off, the fright of the impact caused the jester to launch her briefcase straight up into the air. Something straight out of a cheesy cartoon, ironically. It came down, clunked on the top of his head, and knocked Jax out cold.
He was never going to live it down, neither would Mila if he had anything to say about it.
They figured out who the other was when he woke up and introduced himself as Jax. He never bothered with his legal name, too detached from it to claim the damn thing. Pomni offered him a place to stay and the rest was history
His attitude shifted when it wasn’t just him anymore, the warmth of having another living breathing human being in his life was comforting. The anger that festered under his skin at all hours of the day dissipated with playful back-and-forth banter and he wasn’t on guard around her. Not that Jax wanted to admit that aloud. He gave the same answer whenever Pomni asked him why he made an effort to stick around.
Psh! It’s free rent, WiFi, and breakfast. How could I pass that up?
Under the surface it was desperation clinging to the only familiar thing he had left. That was not even a year ago, the progress he’d made was more than he’d done in all his years bound to the headset. Pomni helped him find Ragatha when the time was right and encouraged him to stick around in Kentucky for a while.
“All done.” Ragatha beamed and set the scissors on the vanity.
His curls no longer shagged to cover his eyes and ears, instead they stopped around his eyebrows. All that was visible was his natural chestnut brown hair, just like he wanted. A grin stretched across his face.
“Not too shabby, Rags.” He studied himself in the mirror.
“I told you,” she teased
“Course it helps t’have a handsome canvas such as myself” He snickered and stood up.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.” She patted his chest with a smirk.
Ragatha bent down to clean up the hair that littered the floor. Before she could sweep up too much however, Jax placed his hands on her shoulders and steered her out of the room.
“I got it, you go ahead and start your stupidly complicated ritual—“ he stood up.
“I’m just taking a shower!”
“Uh-huh, and whatever other sorcery ya do in there.” He nodded seriously.
“You’re hopeless.” She laughed earnestly and collected her pajamas from the nearby dresser. “You better not break anything while I’m in there.”
“No promises!” Jax snickered when she closed the door behind her. Riding on the high, he cleaned up pretty quickly and crashed into the giant bed in the center of the room.
Did Jax have his own room? Technically yes, he commandeered one of the empty bedrooms for his clothes and such. The intention was to sleep in that bed, but it was more common for Jax to end up under four piled quilts and an impossibly cold woman. Her bed was much more comfortable, it had something the other one didn’t. Ragatha herself.
So like any other night, Jax sprawled out in the middle of the bed. The mattress swallowed him, wrapped his body in a cloud. Only ten minutes passed by until his brain inched further toward sleep. The inviting nature of her mattress lured him closer and closer.
Rudely, his phone buzzed from the wooden nightstand and ripped that heaven away from him. He ignored it at first, stretched his limbs out with a comical yawn. He didn't get very many notifications, so it was probably nothing, only three people had his number, and with how late in the evening it was he hoped one of them was fast asleep.
Three more beeps followed simultaneously, of course she was awake, when did Mila ever sleep? Annoyed, Jax summoned all his strength to pull his aching bones up. Lazily, he picked up his phone and slid open to the unread messages.
Pomegranate: I should fr switch career paths and be a private investigator.
Pomegranate: Only took obsessive internet stalking, but look who I found!
Pomegranate: [link]
Pomegranate: Looooook familiar? ;)
Confused, Jax tapped on the article and was greeted by a site for a gallery in Portland. It announced the grand opening of a new exhibit that featured local artists that would end in a charity auction. He scrolled further down, it continued in detail about the artists what would be in attendance. Even being so kind to showcase some pieces in the article
And there it was. A complex abstract painting that looked massive in size. At first it was unassuming, however Jax would recognize those geometric shapes anywhere. He spent a good chunk of time pointing and laughing at the amalgamation of those shapes for the last however many years.
“Toybox, acrylic on wood, 202X, Sienna Pierce.
Come see these hardworking artists at the Local Exhibit on September 13th at West Glenn Gallery.”
He groaned and tossed his phone to the side. Jax prayed that her little side-quest of finding the rest of their crew would take longer. Jax was perfectly content with the whereabouts of the crybaby and mismatch being a mystery to him. The old man too, he felt too much guilt when remembering bulging eyes. It was better off for everyone involved if he never crossed paths with any of them again, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Jax sincerely doubted that Zooble of all people would be overjoyed to see him. He made the executive decision to ignore Pomni’s text.
That lasted for all of about two minutes before his ringtone blasted in his ears.
“You left me on read, asshole!” She was already upset by the sound of it.
“Isn’t it like 10:30 over there? Shouldn’t ya be sleepin’ pipsqueak?” He hissed back. “Last I checked you were a ‘responsible adult’ with a job!”
“Oh! I didn’t tell you— They moved me to remote work.” Pomni sounded as though she was rummaging through something on the other end, “I guess my PTSD was affecting office culture.”
“Did your boss really say that?”
“Basically, imagine it in more politically correct terms.”
“Well congrats, I bet Jester really loves that.” Jax flopped backward onto the bed once more, phone still pressed to his ear.
“Yes well he’s very— Hey, wait! Don’t distract me.” Pomni shouted through the other line, “Tell me what you think, has to be Zooble, right?”
Had to give it a shot, he mused in his head. Bringing up that damn alley turned overfed house cat usually worked to redirect Mila.
“Yea, maybe, could also be some random abstract tortured artist.”
“Yeah right, I’d recognize that unicorn horn anywhere.” She huffed and rummaged around some more, “We have to go see them! It’s in Portland, you got time for an adventure? Like old times.”
“Don’t make me barf.” He grumbled. “Look, I supportcha goin’ out there but I think Zoobs would punch me. Yknow, publicly.”
“And? They'd be justified—“
“Aintcha you supposed to be on my side, pipsqueak?” He hissed.
“I’m on my side, the side that misses our friends.” Pomni scolded, “Whatever, if you don’t wanna come, put me on with Aggie!”
“Buzz off, I’m not telling Rags—“
“Tell me what?”
Jax jolted from his place in bed, his head shot up to see Ragatha stood in the doorway. She was wearing a white camisole with blue trimming and light blue polka-dot sleep shorts. Even from his relaxed state in bed, he spotted the brown horse slippers she always sported. Her tousled hair was damp, freckled skin dewy under the low lamplight, beautiful even when she looked half asleep. He chewed on his lip and looked her up and down, looking stupid no doubt. His heartbeat skipped when he met her eyes from across the room.
“Christ, Dolly!” He recovered and clutched the phone tightly in his hand, “I’ve gotta getcha a bell or something.”
“Who’re you talking to, bunny?”She approached quietly and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Just a two-toned freak—“
“JAX!” Pomni’s shrill voice blasted from the receiver. Startled by her volume, Jax dropped the phone onto the blanket.
“Oh it’s Pomni!” Ragatha gasped and excitedly lurched forward to grab the now freed phone, “Hey hun, how’re you doing?”
“Rags!” The other woman squealed, “I’m currently three espresso shots deep, how about you?”
“Three?” Ragatha blanched before she launched into a lecture.
Jax tuned the two out, Pomni was most likely bringing Ragatha up to speed on her so-called amazing discovery. Still, as annoyed as he was, Jax couldn’t help but smile at the animated way Ragatha talked. He wasn’t stupid, when they first reunited he could see the loneliness etched into her features, they’d only just started to clear up with his arrival. The hand that wasn’t holding the phone flapped and waved into the air as if she were preaching. Judging by her stern tone, she definitely was. Jax pressed his face into a pillow while he waited for the tirade to end.
“Zooble?” Ragatha suddenly questioned, “Oh! Of course I’d love to come! When is it?”
Damnit. Foiled again by a sad little jester.
“Perfect, I’ll ask Marcy to house-sit!” Ragatha continued, “Alright, okay, yes I’ll tell him you said goodnight. Sweet dreams, Mila!”
He heard the line click dead from his place buried in the pillows. Ragatha shuffled from her spot on the bed and the space next to him dipped as she scooted closer. She left him to his quiet groaning, but let her fingers carefully slide over his neck and up to his hair. Right where they left off, Ragatha played with his now shorter curls and grazed over his scalp. Every time her nails scraped skin his body shuddered with electricity.
“I take it you're not excited?” Her soft voice prodded his ears, it felt like an accusation more than a question. Like she was talking to a petulant child.
“Don’t patronize me.” He turned his head so that his cheek rested on the side of the cotton. “Dunno why Pom won’t go by herself.”
“I know you and Zooble didn’t get along very—”
“We tried to kill each other one or twice,” He laughed aloud, “good times. Good times. ‘M sure they’d love me to waltz up to their stupid gallery! Give ‘em a good show.”
Her fingers stilled in his curls and the pit in his stomach sunk deeper. Jax risked a glance up at the woman, a sad look swirled in her pupils as she eyed him up. Ragatha played with a silent decision, he could see it in the crease between her eyebrows.
“You both were under a lot of stress, it wasn’t a good environment.” Ragatha tried to play the sweet card again, but he knew better than to fall for it. “I miss our friend.”
“Your friend.” He corrected somewhat bitterly, then rolled over to the other side of the bed. “As far as ‘m concerned they want nothin’ to do with me. I want nothin’ to do with them. Trust me Raggy, ‘s better for everyone if we don’t see each other.”
It left no room for argument, at least that’s what he hoped it deterred her.
“Alright, fine.” Her voice was uncharacteristically tight lipped. “But I’m going, with or without you.”
He waved a hand dismissively over his shoulder and pulled the covers over his body. It got him what he wanted, she left it at that. God he was a piece of work.
The weight of the quilts pushed away the stress that lingered around them. Jax refused to steal a glance at her and instead listened to her quietly getting into bed and pulling the beaded cord that dangled from the lamp. It clicked unceremoniously and doused the two into inky darkness.
The blanket stretched over his body when Ragatha shimmied under it. They were close enough that their backs could touch if he just scooted closer, but stubbornly Jax remained still. Silence enveloped the couple, not comfortable like the last few days had been, no, a thick tension permeated above them.
Jax’s sister always told him never to go to bed angry.
He could imagine her dumb lecture about “every day is a new day”, it annoyed him every time she launched into it. More irritating though was the fact she was right. Frustration wormed its way under his skin, the itching feeling keeping him from falling asleep.
It wasn’t even a full blown argument! They had casual fights worse than this, but the silent disappointment was worse. An apology wasn’t needed or wanted, this conversation was far from over. It was too much to unpack in one night though, so instead he offered an olive branch.
“Night, Rags.”
There was a long pause.
“Goodnight, Bunny.”
Confidence freshly ignited, Jax turned over from his spot. He made his twisting as loud as possible, it gave her ample time to back out if she wanted. Then, careful not to jostle her too much, Jax wrapped an arm over her. Without hesitation, Ragatha adjusted her arm so that he could lay flush comfortably against her. From there Jax wouldn’t push his luck, he kept his head from burrowing into her curls.
They were okay. This was okay.
Ragatha was willing to try, even when they disagreed. Which, annoyingly, made him want to try just as hard.
Eventually he caved.
Of course he’d cave! Not only was it Ragatha pushing his buttons but Pomni joined in. At this point, Jax should know better than to agree to the insanity those women insisted upon, but he, begrudgingly, had a soft spot for them. A soft spot that saved the two of them on occasion he might add.
Jax didn’t like being teamed up against, so whenever Pomni got that sly grin and Ragatha purposefully attempted to look innocent he knew it was over. When Pomni showed up a few days before the girls’ flight to Oregon she had that signature glint of mischief in her eye he should’ve been wary of. Ragatha feigned ignorance when he dramatically accused them of schemes and secrecy.
In the end they convinced him to join their brigade with combined puppy-dog eyes and an already purchased plane ticket. A trap he should’ve seen coming from miles away.
Some part of Jax was secretly proud of their mutual trickery.
The walk to their gate stretched on endlessly. Anxiety festered in the depths of his stomach, he wasn’t able to digest the dreaded feeling. Jax was marching onward to his public execution. Airports freaked him out, too many people, too many kids, too much sound. It blurred into a living nightmare, and before he’d hopped-skipped-and-jumped to Kentucky, Jax managed to avoid them all his life. This would be a grand total of two times he’d been on a flight, but the first time he’d have someone (or rather someones) to sit next to.
Luggage white-knuckled in hand, Jax dragged his feet in protest. One that fell on deaf ears since Ragatha and Pomni chatted unbothered a few feet in front of him. They hovered around Ragatha’s new phone.
It was the compromise he landed on, if Ragatha was going to be wandering a state she’d never been to then a phone was no longer negotiable. He could tell it made her nervous, but a few back and forth flirty texts helped it become more normal. Mila also happily texted her leading up to the flight and was currently showing her different widgets.
“And since you added me I can see what music you're listening to!” Pomni beamed at the taller woman. “It’ll make it easier to send you new reccs.”
Ragatha nodded along with interest. She pulled a rolling suitcase as she walked, but her to-go crafting bag was slung over one of Jax’s shoulders. The weight wasn’t a bother, but the beginnings of a mix of overstimulation ebbed at his mind. Plus, his stomach was beginning to growl at him.
The brewing storm of flight anxiety, memories of his past circus relationships, and this whole relationship deal was starting to show on his face. Despite his best efforts, Jax must’ve not hid it well because when Mila looked over her shoulder pity flashed across her face.
“Who’s hungry? I think we’ve got time to eat.” Pomni quickly found them a spot to sit that wasn’t too packed. “Skipping breakfast is finally catching up to me.”
“Again, I’m so sorry about that! My alarm didn’t go off and–” Ragatha apologized for the umpteenth time this morning. Jax jumped in before she could spiral down that road again.
“Relax Dollface, we’re here now, ain’t we?” He collapsed into the empty seat and leaned his head back with a low exhale. “I could use a snack.”
“I can go look and see what they have!” Ragatha offered and set her luggage next to Jax’s seat. “I’ll do a quick lap.”
“Thanks, doll.”
“Sounds good, don’t get lost!” Pomni called after her as Ragatha branched off and disappeared into the bustling crowd.
Jax waved half heartedly before he sunk further into the chair, if that was even possible. Still, it did nothing to help the loud sounds and the crucial fact that this situation was very uncomfortable for him. He tried to even his breathing and squeezed his eyes tight in a self-soothing attempt. It wasn’t working.
When he opened his eyes again he saw Pomni perched on an upright suitcase watching him. Caught, she sheepishly waved at him.
“Are you upset about Zooble?” She asked and demonstrated a deep breath with the intention of him following.
“I mean, yes.” He tried to disguise the gasping breath, “But also no? I dunno. M’ tryin’ not to fuck this up.”
“Fuck what up?” She held her hands out in front of her, inhaled and brought them up to her chest.
“This dumb deal with Ragatha.” He clumsily mirrored her movement.
“What deal?” She exhaled and pushed her hands away from her as if parting the wind itself, “Do you guys have a weird bet going on?”
“More like a challenge.” He evened his breathing with her guidance, “Gonna sound stupid, but s’important to her.”
Pomni gestured for him to continue the motions and explain.
“Long story short, If we have three big fights then s’lights out.” He rubbed his hands over his knees, “I’ve toldja this, Dunno if I trust her, she doesn’t know if she trusts me.”
Not after what happened in there, the people they became.
“So, let me get this straight. Instead of, I dunno, talking it out like adults, you two landed on some complicated rules on if you can handle being together?” Pomni grimaced, “Totally doesn’t sound like more stress than it’s worth.”
“Shut up.” He huffed. “S’nunya business.”
“You’re right.” She sighed and plopped in the seat next to him, “I can’t stop you. But can I give you free advice?”
“By all means! What wisdom will the great Pomcake display for us tonight?” Jax chidded, which earned him a hit to the arm.
“As long as you tell her what you're thinking about, it’ll be okay.” Pomni ignored his comment, “That’s what trust is, trust that she can handle your feelings.”
Be vulnerable is what Pomni was implying.
“I hate how smart you are.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“Someone’s gotta be the smart one.” She smirked.
Jax knocked her on the back of her head playfully and she elbowed him again. The nervous lingered, but silently this time around.
“Okay so we definitely don’t have time to wait in that insane line, but I found these at the giftshop!” Ragatha appeared from behind, with quite literally an armful of granola bars in a variety of different flavors, “Not the healthiest, but plenty of fiber!”
Pomni and Jax stared at her, bewildered by the sheer amount of snacks in her arms. Uncontrolled laughter erupted from the duo at the absurdity. Ragatha giggled alongside them and dumped the variety of packaged snacks onto the floor in front of them. They proceeded to sit cross-legged around the pile and ate until called for boarding. After gathering up their carry-ons, the trio crossed the threshold. Jax reached forward and intertwined his fingers with Ragatha’s. She looked back over her shoulder at him.
“I’m nervous.” He admitted.
Instead of expected scrutiny, Ragatha squeezed his hand tightly in hers.
“That’s okay, I’m right here if you need me.”
It wasn’t a fix, but it was a start.