Chapter Text
The clicking of computer keys was so rhythmic and repetitive it was putting Pomni to sleep. The steady drone of buzzing that came from the device in front of her only served to further lull her into the half-lidded state she had previously been fighting off. She reached up to fidget with the bells on her hat, and groped only empty air.
Right.
It had been about a month and a half and she still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that she no longer had a jester’s hat perpetually stuck to her head.
It was a sobering thought that pretty effectively woke her up.
Thinking about the Circus hurt her head, but she couldn’t get the memories out of her mind. She stopped typing and allowed herself to think about the night she got back.
-She had woken up abruptly in the same weirdly non-ransacked urbex spot. Pomni took absolutely no time to rip the headset off, hurtling it to the ground as she panted, panic starting to build up. Everything around her was so detailed, it was overwhelming her brain to not see the overly saturated and cartoony surroundings she had grown used to. She had an unceremonious meltdown after tumbling out of the desk chair, sobbing on the floor. After what felt like hours of tears and wheezing breaths, she had peeled herself off the ground and took a few halting steps. She was shocked she could still walk. After all, it’s not like her body had eaten or drank water in the time it had been staring aimlessly at the computer on the dusty desk.
With shaking hands, Pomni had grabbed the long-dead video recorder she had mounted by the computer and sprinted out of the house she was exploring. She almost collapsed more than once, legs absolutely screaming from disuse (though not completely failing), but she eventually reached her car, which mercifully started up and had enough gas to bring her back to civilization.
It was like she was moving on autopilot, and only days after did she realize quite how lucky she had gotten. Her key still unlocked her apartment, and all her stuff remained exactly how she had left it. She was sure her lease was up by the time she had made it back to the real world, but thank god she was wrong. (She would find out soon enough that her mother had paid the next 6 months of her lease, desperately hoping her daughter would come home.) Pomni really did collapse once she got into the apartment, and she had crawled her way over to her ratty couch before falling asleep.
She woke up with sunlight streaming in and her stomach absolutely rebelling. She wasn’t sure how long her body actually thought it hadn’t eaten in, but it certainly felt like far too long. The items in her fridge were sparse, and what remained was most definitely spoiled. Pomni wrinkled her nose when shutting the door, and nearly cried out joyfully when she saw an unopened box of cheezits in the pantry.
After scarfing down half the box, Pomni finally had the wherewithal to plug in her phone. When thousands of texts and other notifications jumped out at her, she felt her heart sink. The date read June 26. She had put on that damned headset in November. Seven months. She had been gone a bit more than seven months.
She called her mom. She left and picked up groceries. And after a few days of shellshocked moping, she had cautiously stepped into the building of her old job. They had luckily taken her back on pretty quickly. Pomni was pretty sure they thought she had been kidnapped and just wouldn’t talk about it. Fine by her if it meant she got to keep a solid source of income.
Part of her wondered if the others had gotten so lucky as she had, they were all in the Circus for so much longer and-
A soft knocking came from close to her, and a familiar face peered at her curiously. Pomni’s supervisor, Damien Roth. He was taller than her, though that wasn’t saying much since Pomni (even without her cartoon body) stood at a mighty five foot even. He was decently built, not overly muscular but definitely familiar with the gym. He had very curly blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and a gap in his teeth that made him look simultaneously younger and more approachable.
“Hey Christine, just wanted to let you know Aaron is taking off extra early today. Could you check over his work?”
Right. Christine. That was her name. Her real name. It sat uncomfortably on her chest like a lead weight. It made her sick that it didn’t feel like hers anymore. Nausea bubbled up when she thought about it too much, so she shook her head gently and gave a weary smile to Damien.
“Check over? I mean I don’t know if I’m really as qualified as Aaron is-”
“Aaron likes to talk himself up and punch numbers in wrong.” Damien said wryly, swinging one arm so it flopped over the top of the cubicle as he leaned.
“Well that’s fucking stupid.” Pomni said absentmindedly, before heat rushed to her cheeks.
Shit. No censor- she’d forgotten. Plus that was really unprofessional. Clapping both hands over her mouth in a panic, she gasped out an apology. It wasn’t like she had anything to prove back in the Circus, or like there was any sort of hierarchy, so she had grown so accustomed to just saying exactly what was on her mind.
“I mean- yes of course! I don’t know why I said that I’m sorry I just…” Pomni’s voice trailed off
To her relief, Damien just laughed, leaning further into her workspace.
“Don’t sweat it.” He grinned widely, “Just, if you would check it over it probably would save me a bunch of trouble, and I’m sure you can handle it. Your spreadsheets have been pretty much perfect so far.”
Pomni quirked an eyebrow.
“No it’s actually just because I want to torture you with more work of course.” Damien said, still smiling brilliantly.
“Yeah ok I got it.” Pomni said, smiling a small smile back and flashing a quick thumbs up. Damn. Her time in the Circus really did absolutely nothing for her social skills because she was still awkward as all hell.
“You're the best!” Damien chirped, and then quickly slipped away from the cubicle entrance.
Pomni turned back to her computer, hands once again hovering over the keys as she refocused when she heard a quiet cough. She turned her head slightly, surprised to see Damien once again leaning over.
“Hey and uh, if you wanted, me and a bunch of people are heading to the pub downtown tonight, around 7pm if you want to join us. Just a bit of unofficial team bonding.”
Pomni was caught off guard. She hadn’t exactly been out anywhere since she… got back. She didn’t go out much even before the Circus because she never quite understood social settings that way. After all that’s why she urban explored solo even though she knew that technically all good explorers bring a buddy with them. And she had also never really talked to any of her coworkers, especially since she’d been moved to a different accounting department within the last few weeks, so any awkward and tentative friendships she might’ve had, had all but been reset.
She looked up, realizing Damien must be waiting on her response.
“Uh I’ll…” She considered turning him down, but then paused. Why the hell not? She wasn’t about to stay holed up just at her house and the office for the rest of her life. A tentative, genuine smile graced her lips. “I’ll think about it. Thanks Damien.”
A quick “No problemo! Maybe see you then Christine!” followed by double finger guns was shot her way, and the man was gone again, leaving Pomni to repeat her former attempt at chipping away at her work.