Chapter Text
4.Who's hungry???
Right after their little 'wager' was settled, the two of them quickly got started on the preparations for the dinner party.
They had it somewhat planned out to the best of their ability and by the best they really they really had no plan only to try to decorate the best they could and serve some food.
Considering there never a reason for either of them to host a dinner party in their real lives things were going pretty well.
Pomni immediately got started with the cooking as she took initiative to have some of the food ready.
She made sure to send Jax to the nearest grocery store to get what they needed and to the party store for some party supplies.
It would be easier for each of them to focus on one on each task individually rather than try to do each task together to save some time.
The rabbit had tried to convince her to let him stay and do his cooking first, it seemed like he was eager to prove himself with his cooking sooner rather than later.
However the jester wasn't having any of that and was ready to get preparations for this party done sooner than later.
Also the fact there wasn't any ingredients in the fridge that was required for his dish.
She let him know that in order for them to actually pass this they would also need supplies and she honestly didn't know how long it would take for all the cooking to get done.
He of course protested and tried to say they could both get it done 'lickity split'.
He immediately stopped once he saw her signature deadpan expression that told him to shut the fuck up and get to it.
Pomni huffs out loud thankful after that he went to the grocery store with no further arguments which was very strange to her.
'He usually argues back at me? Is he ready to get this over with as much as I do?' She questioned herself as she asked.
Although she felt relieved that he complied so easily with that, it still didn't quite ease her nerves about hosting this event.
Admittedly it sounded easier said than done with all the preparations they had to do for it, but Pomni felt a ray of hope light up inside of her.
As long as they made food that was actually edible and didn't taste like garbage, that didn't sound too hard to achieve.
At least she hoped….
The jester sighs as she reads through one of the recipes that was prepared for the dinner party.
There was several sheets of them ready in advance for the event giving her options to choose from.
"Let's see….we got lasagna….roasted chicken….oh and chicken alfredo…" The pale woman says as she reads the suggestions for dinner.
Lasagna sounded pretty appetizing but she didn't want to eat anything with a lot of tomatoes at the moment.
Roasted Chicken also sounded good, but she wasn't sure how long that would take to cook especially with amount of ingredients she would have to prepare for that
So that left her with some chicken Alfredo, it was a basic kind of meal but it seemed prefect for this kind of event.
"Chicken Alfredo it is!" Pomni says smiling feeling giddy at the thought cooking something so delicious.
She would normally be absolutely terrified of screwing this but seeing that she could use the cooking assistant to help, she felt her nerves ease up.
It made things even better for her if her dish defeated Jax's dish thus making her the winner of their little contest.
She giggled loudly to herself with a wide grin this was gonna be a lot of fun!
"Shit where did they keep the Chili powder in this place?" Jax asked to no one specifically as he walks down an aisle with a shopping cart.
Various grocery season goods filled the shelves around him as he tried to seek out the one important ingredient he need for his dish.
He was strangely ecstatic about this little contest they made even if they were supposed to be hosting this lame dinner party.
He had to make this exciting somehow or he was gonna die out of boredom.
It was already bad enough he was forced to work as a desk jockey and stare at a computer screen all day.
Not to mention he was excited to show off his mind-blowing cooking skills, which he hasn't done for a very long time.
He couldn't remember the last time he actually cooked up anything only thing that comes close was that cooking show adventure.
Which was a weird adventure since they had to try to cook up meals made of nonedible ingredients.
Ughhh he couldn't get the taste of soap soup out of his mouth for days…..
He shuddered at the memory and looks carefully at the seasoning aisle, his eyes carefully searching for the crucial ingredient he needed.
"Why is there so much seasoning here?!! I DO NOT MISS GROCERY SHOPPING!!!" Jax yells out loudly looking between the shelves with irritation.
Suddenly one catches his eyes as he spots the chili power and immediately grabs it tossing it in the cart.
He grabbed a couple of other seasonings and spices he needed for his dish as well.
He pushes the cart down the aisle sauntering as he takes a glance around his ears perking up at the sound of screaming.
He took in the scene of a familiar npc who was terrorizing around the store.
The red massive worm like creature with yellow spots spread over her body, eyes all over her face and on the end of her tail was screeching at her little hell spawn who was attacking many of the other mannequin Npcs causing a huge commotion.
"What did I say about making a scene at the store?! How are we gonna get dinner with all this havoc going on?!!" The Gloink Queen boomed at her own little hell spawn, the gloinks who seemed unbothered by her comments.
They continued to bother and harass the mannequins, slamming onto them and kicking at them causing them to cry out in pain and agony.
"Jeez even this store has no chill…." Jax commented as he strolled by with his cart zooming past the chaotic scene swiftly.
The rabbit proceeded to zoom around the store grabbing stuff he needed for the dish he needed.
More and more ingredients filled the cart, beans, all kinds of seasoning, various other ingredients rolled around inside the cart slightly with each movement he took.
It didn't take too long for him to gather everything he needed for his dish as he dashed his way to the checkout area rolling his cart looking around.
He strolled over to one of the lines swiftly just as one of the npcs was done getting checked out.
He looks in front of him freezing slightly as he notices the familiar sight of a red mannequin with a brown cowboy hat as he stood there.
Just as Jax walked up to him and before he could say a word to him….
"Welcome to-" Disappearing guy says before suddenly vanishing out of nowhere.
"So does that mean I get this stuff for free?" He asked around with a blink looking around genuinely wondering.
Apparently it did NOT mean that he got the groceries for free, not that it mattered anyways since most likely the money would generate again in the morning with how this adventure worked.
It did take a while for him to get another clerk to takeover for Disappearing guy even though he was about about book it, having no care for the consequences.
He wondered if he could actually could get arrested in this adventure.
He could try that just out of curiosity if it wasn't the fact that they could potentially be stuck inside this adventure for even longer.
'Yikes yeah no that wasn't a risk worth taking……'
He places the groceries inside the trunk and gets inside with huff starting the engine getting ready to off to get party supplies.
He was so ready to beat Pomni's dish out of the water and show that little jester how much of a chef he truly was.
This sudden feeling to prove himself of capable of doing something really shocked him to core, it was a surprising feeling yet something he oddly welcomed.
He wasn't that worried about losing, it just didn't seem like a possibility to him. However he couldn't wait to see the jester's reaction once she tried it.
Would she actually be upset or would she would feel too much in heaven to even be upset? God he couldn't wait to see the look on her face!
He couldn't remember the last time he genuinely enjoyed doing something like this not since…..
Okay the gun adventure didn't count! That was more of a fun game!
Still….he was at least having fun doing something from this stupid adventure he might as well enjoy the ride for right now.
When he did prove himself to Pomni, he would obviously be the winner and gloat about it of course.
They would not bother each other again after this and they would most likely be able to go back once the rest of this week was over.
He felt his heart suddenly sink for some odd reason at the thought.
That sounded good to him…..so why was he feeling bothered by it all of a sudden????
The rabbit nearly cursed and speeded away not caring that he almost ran over some npcs walking across the street.
Damn it what's going on with him?!!!!!
"There we go and and that's done!" Pomni says gleefully with a prideful look, satisfied with the dishes she cooked up.
She was pretty surprised with herself seeing that she managed to get all the dishes done in that amount of time that Jax was gone.
Made it so much easier for her to get everything done in a swift and easy manner without the rabbit distracting her.
She let out a sigh of relief, she really hoped he wasn't messing around with his tasks and did them like he was supposed to.
He seemed to be in a better mood today, but she still didn't wanna get her hopes up especially with how he handled things before.
She carefully placed the plates of food on the table covering them up to preserve the warmth of the dishes.
She had also decided to make some appetizers for the party. She specifically made meatball parmigiana and some deviled eggs to go with the main dish she made.
The table looked nearly completely except for the decor Jax still needed to bring other than it looked good at the moment. She already placed the tableware and china as elegantly and nicely as she could.
Although the china wasn't exactly what she thought was appropriate for this party….especially when the designs on them resembled a familiar pair of teeth dressed as a ring master.
Guess Caine just couldn't help adding more to his ego…..
She looks at the table, she honestly wasn't sure if they were gonna have enough room for their guests but that was least on her mind right now assuming if all of them were gonna show up or not.
She really needed to ask Jax just how many coworkers of his was gonna show to this…..
Just as that thought entered her mind she hears the front door swinging open and footsteps approaching inside the house.
"Alright Pom Pom! I got the stuff we absolutely need for this lame dinner party" Jax says casually entering the house as he tosses some of the bags on the couch and strolls on inside.
"Hey! Careful with those! If we don't pull this off we'll be stuck here longer!" Pomni says frantically checking on the bags he threw over on the couch.
"Whaaaat? It's just a dinner party? I don't see why we need all this schmancy fancy stuff? If we just make good food I'm sure we'll pass this easily." Jax says with a shrug grinning obnoxiously as usual.
"It won't matter if we don't do it right, whose to say decor won't be a major part of this?" The jester asked him worriedly, slightly frustrated he wasn't taking this seriously.
"C'mon Pom Pom! Who even goes to these to look at the decorations? It's the food they want, since I'm gonna be cooking something they won't be able to complain one bit!" Jax says cockily with that infamous cheeky grin looking at her with a slight smug look.
"I hear you but still we don't know that for sure, maybe we also have to entertain them too? We don't know how this'll work!" She says with a slight groan feeling her anxiety crawling up further at the thought.
"You worry too much Pom Pom let's just go with the flow! Plus I don't think it'll take that much to please our 'guests'." Jax says with a shrug as he started to take some of the pots out, preparing to start cooking up his dish as he laid out his ingredients.
"What makes you say that?" Pomni couldn't help but ask genuinely curious by what he was implying.
"Ehh just a hunch, you're not gonna do any favors to yourself getting worked up over this remember it's just an adventure not the end of the world y'know?" He reminded her as he started to take out the meat from the packaging sliding it into one of the pans.
"Wa-Wait….you're not worried at all we could be stuck here longer? That's no longer a concern for you?" Pomni asked her eyes widened in surprise as she asked, this was a slight 180 in how he acted yesterday.
"All I'm saying is if we stress too much about this then nothing will get done, so let's stop being worrywarts and just do this already." Jax says slightly avoiding her question as he cooked up the meat.
"Ok-Okay I guess?" Pomni says not sure how to respond to that but shrugged it off, he had a point she had to admit.
"Good now I'm gonna have the kitchen occupied it's gonna take a little while" Jax let her know as Pomni looked over at the ingredients he brought.
"What are you making anyways?" She asked him curiosity growing within her as she asked.
"You'll just have to see Poms but I'll tell you right now it's gonna knock your house slippers off!" Jax winked at her playfully which made her heart race slightly causing her face to blush slightly.
"Oh I'm sure you'll wow me somehow…." Pomni says rolling her eyes with a sigh growing nervous, she had to admit she did want to try his cooking just to make sure he wasn't bluffing.
"Uh yeah you'll just have to see for yourself Pom Pom." Jax says sounding pretty confident even thought his wife grin faltered slightly.
"I guess so until then I'm gonna go ahead and change….the brief mentioned we had to dress up so I'm gonna do that!" Pomni says to him hoping he would take the hint to dress up to whenever he was done.
"Kay take your sweet little time because it's gonna take a while." Jax says with a shrug as he cooking the meat mashing at it slightly with the spatula.
It didn't take too long for the cooking to be done once he added everything together and let his dish simmered as the he smelled the delicious scent of his meal travel around the the house.
While it simmered he went ahead and changed into more 'formal clothes' for the sake of their party. Now sporting a dark blue slightly tight fitting sweater that hugged around his slim body. He also sported a pair of black tight slacks that hugged around his tall legs.
He waited in the kitchen waiting for Pomni, he went ahead and started to get the table ready since she was taking so long.
He did tell her to take her sweet time but damn it's like she was taking a whole eternity just to put some clothes on and do her hair.
He didn't understand women sometimes it was just clothes…..
There was nothing to get excited about it just to make them look nice besides what's the big deal? It wasn't like clothing made a person look THAT amazing!
"Jax?" His ears instantly perked up at the sweet sound of her voice as he immediately looked up and they instantly darted up.
There she was dressed in a raven black elegant dress as it framed around her short petite body perfectly. The lace complimented the dress nicely, it embroidered around the black fabric nicely meshing smoothly with the ruffles. It was a pretty long yet modest looking dress covering her arms and went down to her knees. It showed off her pale slender legs. The darkness of the color outlined her smooth and pale skin beautifully making her 'shine' in a way.
It was like she was wearing the midnight sky around her……
She had put her hair in a small ponytail with it tied up elegantly with a black ribbon tied up pretty securely, her inky black hair matching her dress as it framed around her soft and delicate looking face. Her blue and red eyes popped out strikingly with the darkness of her dress.
She wore black flats which seemed a pretty good choice considering that they were the safest option to prevent any 'mishaps' from happening.
She looked like very striking and bold in that dress, the black made her look dangerous yet seductive in a way. Like she wasn't the old fashioned housewife he saw earlier rather a elegant and modern lovely young woman.
Jax felt a subtle blush come to his cheeks the longer he stared at her, god he had no idea how long he looked and for some reason he just didn't seem to care.
"You look umm….great…." Jax says the straightest smile he could muster nearly cursing himself for almost stuttering his words.
Fuck he was gonna go insane if he kept on staring at her like that….
"Thanks….you clean up nice too." Pomni said to him so damn casually with a slight giggle causing his ears to heat up at that.
Damn was he getting flustered over a small compliment? What the hell?!
"Err uh thanks" Jax says awkwardly feeling his blush return to his face hoping their guests came sooner than later he wasn't trying to be a tomato right now.
"Wow you even fixed the table….that's really considerate of you." Pomni says with widened eyes as she takes a look at the table that he decorated, her eyes full of awe at the sight.
"Oh umm no problem? It wasn't hard to do…." Jax says feeling another blush rush to his face as he took the compliment with a bite of his lip.
"Thanks for doing all of this….it's been forever since I actually freshened up and got ready for a party." Pomni says with a soft looking smile, her pinwheels eyes gazing into his own square black ones.
"I figured I know women take forever but you were taking a really long time I was starting to think you got cold feet or something." Jax joked slightly with a light chuckle, a throaty genuine laugh escaping from him.
"Well no….I just hadn't been to a bunch of parties before I got stuck inside here so I'm not used to getting ready like this." Pomni admitted to him with a slight anxious look, she turned down to her dress which hugged around her just right.
"Yeah….but it's just a little party not a big extravagant event…." Jax says with a shrug, not bothered about that.
"I-I just wanna us to do really good….I know you hate this adventure just as much as I do maybe even more." The jester sighs with a frown, her face slightly gloomy and worried.
"Look if we win we win if we fail we fail there's nothing we can do about that. We just have to try to get past this, we didn't get all this done for nothing so might as well try to have a bit of fun with it." Jax says with a deep sigh, a wide grin blossoming on his face as he tried to lighten up the mood.
The jester looks at him not saying anything to him but it was clear she was in thought taking in his words trying to process them.
"Y-You think so?" She asked nervously as if she was testing the waters, like he was about to lead her into a merciless joke and she would have probably been right for thinking that.
"Yeah! So what's the point in worrying?! Let's just have fun with it! My coworkers are pretty entertaining to watch, just see for yourself when they arrive" Jax says with a chuckle his grin stretching a bit more as his heart started to beat more at the sight of a smile appearing on her face,
"Okay okay you got me, I'll try not to worry so much." Pomni says with a giggle and nods, her eyes softening at his words.
"Of course….can't give you a heart attack just yet." Jax joked lightly laughing out a throaty chuckle with a wide teasing grin, poking fun at her slightly.
Pomni smiles widely and just releases a breath of ease, already feeling more relaxed at his words.
"Thanks Jax……." Pomni says with a grateful smile, her face brightening up at his advice feeling warmth creep onto her face.
"Errrr uh no problem" The rabbit says with a sheepish smile, his face grinning widely yet look slightly tensed.
"Annnywayys……we should get stuff ready they'll be here soon." Jax tells her, wanting to move on from that exchange as he starts making his way to the kitchen.
"Oh uh yeah! That's a good idea!" Pomni says with a nod agreeing with him, his ears picking up on the steps of her feet as she moves to the living room.
There seemed to be something weird in the air between the both of them, he didn't know what it could be but he hoped this dinner party could clear it.
They had a dinner party to host and dinner guests to entertain, that didn't seem to be difficult.
How hard could this be?
The doorbell rang signaling that their guests have arrived, Pomni quickly gets up and rushes over to the front door making sure to adjust her dress slightly to make herself look presentable.
'The guests were finally here, here goes nothing' The jester thought to herself trying to keep herself calm as Jax joins her at the door.
She opens it widely as the sight of five mannequins greeted them.
The pink one must be Sophia, Jax told her about much she liked to talk and seemed to be the bubbly one.
The brown mannequin must be Matthew judging from the glasses and how much he claimed to know about everything at their office.
The blue one must've been Jared, Jax only mentioned how he was the most sane and normal one out of all of them.
Last but not least was his boss Paul who was the yellow mannequin who seemed to brought a plus one.
She guessed the orange mannequin must be his wife, Jax did mention that his boss was married so it wasn't too wild to assume that he would have brought his wife too.
"Well hello fellas! Good of you all to drop by thanks for coming!" Jax says with a pleasant sounding friendly voice that almost disturbed Pomni.
She definitely did not expect that……
"Oh hiiiii!!! Good to see you!" Sophia's bubbly and perky sounding voice spoke out eagerly.
"Heya there…nice place." Matthew says looking around at their home, observing the house carefully.
"Nice of you to invite us to your house." Jared says as he takes a look at their house with curiosity taking it in.
"Thanks for the invite son, we appreciate the invite that was very generous of you." Paul says to them hand around his wife as he greeted them.
"Heeeyyy thanks for coming, I wanna introduce you all to my lovely wife this is Pomni." Jax says as he introduces them to her as all of their attention turned over to her.
Pomni shyly looks over to them with a slight awkward expression "Oh um hello! I'm Pomni also Jax's wife it's nice to have you at our home." She says trying her hardest to stutter over her words.
"Hi! Jax told us so much about you! It's nice to meet the misses in the flesh." Jared tells her with a slight chuckle, voice full of amusement.
"H-He did?" Pomni couldn't help but ask as she turns over to Jax only to see that he looked just as confused as she did.
"Only good things I promise! You look just as pleasant just as the pictures he keeps of you on his desk" His boss says with a hearty laugh, a wide teasing grin plastered on his face.
"Err well-" Jax started to say before being cut off by another one of the npcs.
"Yeah! He's a lucky man indeed, how he was able to keep a catch like you is a mystery indeed." Matthew tells her with a playful chuckle, slightly jabbing Jax at the arm clearly trying to rile him up.
"Oh hahaha very funny!" Jax says with a uneasy awkward grin clearly not amused by their teasing.
"We're just teasing Jax you know we love you." Paul says with a light chuckle, patting his head slightly as the rabbit just huffs out with narrowed eyes immediately swatting his hand away.
"Rigghhhht" Jax says with a drawn out voice, not really believing his boss as he rolls his eyes.
"So are you gonna invite us in or we gonna just stand around here like a bunch of idiots?" Matthew asked him taking a look around, noticing how awkward it felt for them to stand around talking outside.
Jax nods opening the door widely letting everyone in allowing their guests in waiting for them to step inside as he closes the door after them.
"Wow what a cozy home! Love the decor really goes for the homey kind of feeling" Matthew says complimenting their home taking in the scenery as they took a look around the suburban home.
"Oh uh thanks….I make sure to keep it tidy." Pomni says with a slight smile, fiddling with her fingers almost expecting one of them to make a negative comment about their home.
"Why haven't you invited us to your house before? It's so lovely here!" Sophia says with a impressed voice, the pink mannequin taking a look at the pictures around their home.
"Yeah you've been holding out on us, this is a nice home reminds me of the house me and my dear wife first bought after we married" Paul says with a chuckle, his wife next to him in his hold joining him her laugh bellowing out with his.
"Yeah it was a nice little house like this." Mrs.McKinney says with a giggle waving her arm around motioning to their home.
"Ohhh I see….." Pomni says awkwardly, a crooked smile on her smile trying to stay in the conversation.
"Yeah but of course we had to upgrade once the kiddos came into the picture, the peace and quiet was nice while it lasted though." Paul's wife said with a light chuckle, wiping what could have been a tear from her face not that Pomni could tell considering they didn't have faces.
"Yeah those little buggers sure were wild, I would hold off on kids for a while enjoy each other's company while you still can." Paul joked slapping against Jax's back in a joking manner.
Jax suddenly let out a loud yelp his body wincing at the contact and quickly rubbed at his back from the stinging sensation.
"Oww! Oh uh I mean yeah we sure will right honey?" Jax asked her, a wide grin stuck on his face trembling slightly which told Pomni how irritated he looked already no matter how good he was at hiding it.
The thought of kids made her extremely flushed, the possibility of having zero chance of happening but the indication still had her blushing.
"Um yeah we will!" Pomni says agreeing with her 'husband' biting her lip feeling her face become flushed at the name he called her.
Honey? God this did really feel like one of those cheesy 2000s romcom with how everything was playing out right now'
"Enough talk! Why don't we eat already? I'm already feeling pretty hungry." Jared says his head looking in the direction of the table full of dishes they made.
"Now Jared! We can't feast without one of Daryl, he hasn't even arrived yet!" Paul insisted to him.
Oh right there was one mannequin missing! How come she didn't notice? Must be the green mannequin, she almost forgot about him.
"Is he actually coming? I would hate to keep you all waiting it he doesn't show up." Jax says with a scoff trying to keep them to sit at the table preparing it.
"Nonsense! We can't wait as long as we need to, it would be inconsiderate of us to start without him." Paul insisted to them shaking his head, he strolled on over to the bright and nicely decorated living room.
"Why don't we find a way to occupy ourselves until our friend arrives, does anyone fancy a game of charades?" Paul asked curiously, glancing at them all.
"Ooooh me me me! I love charades! You know I'm the master of this game Paul." Paul's wife raised her hand like a school kid excitedly bouncing up and down as she was seated on one of the couches.
"I know honey! That's precisely why I suggested it! Who here can take on my wife as master of charades?!" Paul asked them eagerly rubbing his hands together as he awaited for someone to take his challenge.
Pomni eyes at the others noticing Jax looking away awkwardly, the bunny of course didn't want anything to do with this. He whistled out casually trying to pay no mind.
The other npcs seemed as uninterested as Jax did, a couple of them coughing awkwardly silence feeling the room.
"I-I guess we can go for some rounds? What's the harm in that?" Pomni reluctantly takes on their suggestion with a bitten lip.
Jax and even the other npcs gave her a shocked 'What the fuck are you doing' kind of look as they stared at her in disbelief.
"Fantastic! Well let's get on with it then! I'll warn you my wife is the master at this game so she won't go easy on any of you!" Paul lightly chuckling, his eyes seeming to gleam as he said that.
The npcs nodded begrudgingly with small mutters of agreement, not looking very enthusiastic at the idea in the slightest.
Jax chuckled awkwardly as well before leaning near her close enough so she could hear him.
"What did you get us into?!" He whispered in a hiss, clearly not amused by her agreement to his suggestion.
She was asking herself the same thing…..
This was so ridiculous……
"It's a hose! No it's vacuum cleaner!!" Paul shouts trying to guess what his wife was trying to act out as she moves her arm around swaying it around gently.
They spent the last twenty minutes trying to guess what his wife was trying to gesture apparently not a lot them was good at this.
They had already gone through a couple of turns, Sophia and Jared had gone first, their phrases wasn't too hard to guess.
However for some reason everyone was stuck on what Paul's wife was trying to mimic.
Pomni honestly wasn't too interested in the game as she tried a couple of guesses but never got the point for any of them.
Jax was worse off than her as he wasn't even trying letting alone paying any attention. He seemed to be zoning out while they were playing, it was a miracle none of the others pointed that out but that was probably from how engrossed they were at the moment.
She could hardly blame him this was so boring, maybe they should had something planned for this instead of having to play charades. At least they wouldn't be bored out of their minds, but unfortunately for them they would have to stick through this.
Suddenly amidst the shouting of guesses Jax let out a loud exasperated groan and pointed his finger at Paul's wife "Elephant!!" Jax shouted, from the sound of his voice it sounded like he lost his patience.
"Yes that's correct well done!!!!" Paul's wife giggled and cheered out clapping her hands together as the other npcs let out massive sighs of relief now that her turn was over.
"Well done son, it's not every day someone can guess correctly when it's my wife's turn." Paul exclaimed proudly slapping his hand against his back in what was supposed to be a praising manner but ended up as aggressive as Jax looks back at him with a wide grin.
"Thanks…..so much"
Jax was trying his hardest not to show the cracks of his irritation of the mask he was wearing of trying to please their guests.
"Okay now that Jax got the point who wants to go next?" Paul asked curiously looking around for any volunteers as Pomni shuffles shyly trying not to bring any attention to herself.
"Oh I do!" An arm raised up from one of them.
It was Matthew who was wearing a smug looking grin on his face.
Pomni suddenly had a bad feeling about this, she didn't even know this guy but the tone of his voice gave her an uneasy feeling.
"Oh of course Matthew go on right ahead!" Paul says with encouragement motioning for the glasses wearing mannequin to go.
Matthew steps forward as Paul's wife sits down giving him the floor to start.
Matthew started to make a motion with his hand as if he was mocking someone for talking, the other npcs instantly started to guess what it was.
"Talking a lot?!"
"Copying someone that's talking a lot!"
"Waving at someone!"
"Mocking someone for talking a lot?!"
Matthew then started mimicking something else has he made used his hand against his head and started to dramatically pretend he was yelling.
"Phone call!"
"Having a bad customer service agent!"
"Arguing on the phone!"
Suddenly Matthew let out a low chuckle confusing Pomni just at what this mannequin was playing at.
Suddenly Matthew started to make another motion with his hand rapidly throwing his arm out towards them with making an exasperated motion with his hands stomping around wildly as if he was going crazy about something.
"Tantrum!!"
"Adult acting like a child!"
"Having ants in your pants!"
Matthew shook his head as his head looked in Paul's direction with a chuckle as if there was something he was trying to hint out.
All the mimicking of him of someone talking a lot with his hand, the calling motion he made, and him acting like he was chewing out someone just like a boss would…..
Oh dear god…..
Pomni quickly looks over at Paul as a frown slowly appears on his, from that expression alone it looked he was taking in the fact that his employee was mocking him from the the previous gestures he made.
"Are you mocking me?" Paul says, his voice having been warm and cheerful sounding now a deadpan and cold, losing all the amusement it had previously.
The other npcs shuffled in their seats nervously looking at each other with unease at the realization frozen in place at the scene in front of them.
Jax watched just as tensely as her, their fear being the same as they watched in front of them the situation happening.
"Hey now….it's just a joke it's all just a game why don't we just all relax and-" Jax tried to ease the tension as he slowly got up only to sit back down as the sound of Paul's voice rising even more.
"F#CK YOU!!!" Paul says out loud about to tackle him to the ground before being stopped by his wife and Jared, the two of them holding him back by his shoulders.
"Woah! Get a hold of yourself sir!!" Jared says using all the strength he had to keep a hold on him.
"Yeah sweetie! I'm sure it was just a joke!" His wife says trying to calm him down.
"H%$% no!! That b@$%#&$ is so ungrateful! I'm only doing my job! You should be doing yours too instead of trying to set up fake fire emergencies!" Paul shouted with fury, wiggling around in their grasp huffing out loudly.
"It was a joke boss chill out, you can mess around with us but not the other way around? Doesn't seem very fair to me….." Matthew commented with a disappointed voice, shaking his head.
"C'mon Matt he's our boss this is no way to treat him!" Sophia says to him with hands on her hips.
"Oh you're on his side now! Gimme a break!" The glasses wearing mannequin says dramatically throwing his arms in the air.
Shouting and bickering filled the room instantly, terror landing on Pomni's face as she watched the scene play out in front of her.
She felt so useless and weak at the moment as she tried to speak and get their attention.
"Hey….both of you….excuse me?" Pomni says trying to get their attention however their loud and booming voices easily overpowered her trembling and weaker voice.
How was she supposed to get their attention when they were arguing like a bunch of children? It was like trying to talk to a class full of kids!
Before she could do anything else Jax stood up immediately, his shoulders hunched over as he forced himself up and slowly made his way to where Matthew and Paul were arguing.
The two were too busy having a screaming match to notice the purple rabbit making his way over, both seeming to try to overpower the other from shouting as if they were both hoping to intimidate the other into submission when they suddenly stopped by a even louder voice than theirs.
"SHUT THE F%#@ UP!!!!"
Silence filled the room instantly as the shout immediately grabbed the attention of the others as they froze in fear.
Matthew stood there shocked not moving as did Sophia.
Jared watched as well his body not moving.
Paul took deep breaths despite not having a mouth as he watched, his body not moving either as did his wife as she watched.
Pomni felt herself grow concern at the tone of his voice, she didn't even know he could yell that loud not even after that time in their gun adventure.
Jax stood there breathing deeply trying to regain himself after almost bursting his throat from yelling that loudly as he trembled slightly.
Pomni has the upmost urge to run over and comfort him but refrained herself from doing so seeing how overwhelmed he already looked.
"We invited you guys dinner and this the way to repay us after we spent so much TIME setting things up and having the food ready?! Well f#%@ that!! We spent so much time on that, we don't need any of this petty drama at this dinner party especially when my lovely wife spent so much time cooking over a hot stove to feed you all! Do you hear me?! If you can't stop arguing and sit down you will just have to leave! Understand?! It'll suck but I'm not about to have you all ruin this!! We worked so hard on this so quit your yapping and go eat some g%#$&@% food!!!!" Jax shouted furiously, having enough of his petty drama as he breathed heavily his body trembling from the yelling he did.
Pomni looks over at Jax with concern, all that yelling and exploding at them couldn't be any good.
The two looked at, glanced at each other with a scowl before looking at him again and sighed as they stepped away from each other.
"I'm sorry son I didn't mean for it to get out of hand." Paul was the first to apologize.
Matthew just stood there stubbornly, his arms crossed as he listened to them.
Sophia whispered something to him, Matthew gave her a brief looking before looking away and pulled away from her presence with a scoff.
"C'mon Matt!" Sophia pleaded to him, grabbing at the tie he was wearing gently trying to get him to look at her.
"No…." Matthew says not paying any mind to her, his pride seeminly to have his control right now.
"Please….." Sophia softly whispers to him taking his arm, stroking it slightly which made Pomni look over with interest her eyes widened.
Jax never mentioned that they were together…..huh……………….
"Aghhh fine! I'm just doing this for you though! I don't actually feel sorry in the slightest" Matthew says with a irritated scoff before walking up to Paul.
"I'm sowwwwy" Matthew says barely trying to get the words out.
"What?" Paul says not getting any of that looking over at the mannequin tilting his head in confusion.
"I said…..I'm sorrrrrr" Matthew says still struggling to get the words out.
"I still can't understand you!" Paul says to him, arms crossed against his stomach even without an expression on his face he didn't look amused in the slightest.
"I said I'm sorry there you happy?!" Matthew says his voice blowing up in frustration, looking at him.
"Now I am……." Paul says with a chuckle, the smugness revealing that he was fully aware, finding amusement in messing with him.
"Oh f&%# off!" Matthew says walking with a huff as he went over to the corner to brood.
Paul let out an amused sounding chuckle looking at his wife who just shook her head at him.
Pomni approached Jax with concern, hesitating slightly before taking a careful step towards him.
"Jax?" She asked the purple rabbit afraid that he would turn her away.
"Yeah?" The rabbit questioned her.
"Are you okay?" She asked him gently
"I'm…..fine" He says vaguely as she frowns wanting to dig more, she looks over at the the npcs who were completely silent minus that Sophia was whispering something to Matthew.
She looked back at Jax with concern sighing feeling the urge to comfort the purple rabbit but she thought it would be better to leave him be for the moment to recollect himself first.
"Where the h%#$ is Daryl?! He should be here already!!" Jared hissed out, greatly displeased from the fact the mannequin still hasn't made an appearance yet.
"I don't know….but we still shouldn't start without him….." Paul says with a long sigh pinching his face, where his nose would've been if he actually had a face.
As silence awkwardly filled the room once again the sound of shuffling could be heard as Matthew got up with his phone.
He excused himself to the kitchen and pretended he was on the phone, how did she know?
He was making gibberish sounds which easily gave himself away, not to mention his girlfriend was looking over with a odd and knowing look.
He soon walks over for what seemed like a couple of minutes approaching them.
"Oh you'll never guess….I just got a phone call from my landlord and my apartment just got flooded." Matthew says yet there didn't seem to be a lot of concern in his voice.
"Oh no!"
"Yeah it seems to be something with the sprinklers, I should go check on it guess Sophia has to come with me since I'm her ride." Matthew says nonchalantly with a look of slight disappointment.
It however didn't take a genius to figure out these two were bullshiting…..
"Oh you don't have to do that, we can take Sophia home!" Paul says calmly, trying to reassure them.
Just as he said that Sophia's smile dropped instantly, her eyes locking onto Matthew with what looked like a pleading look as if she was silently begging him with her eyes.
"That's true….umm dinner sounded delicious Sophia I'll see you later bye-" Matthew says about to walk out before being cut off by Sophia's sweet yet firm sounding voice.
Wow he was really trying to leave, too bad she and Jax didn't have that option right now…..
"I don't think you're just gonna abandon this party by yourself!" Sophia says, sounding very insisting.
"I don't know because everything I own is there." Matthew says nonchalantly putting his coat on ready to walk out.
"You can buy new stuff but you can't buy a new party!" Sophia says what sounded like in a enthusiastic voice, however the whole situation gave away how genuine she actually was being.
"Y'know that's a great point, c'mon over here." Paul says, trying to clear the air as he took Matthew's coat gently putting it back on the coat rack.
"Be amongst friends and sit down, we're gonna have fun and not think about your stuff being destroyed okay? I'm sorry if I'm hard on you guys I only am because I care!" Paul says trying to make him feel better as he sits him down.
Matthew nods slowly looking around looking stuck, since their little 'plan' didn't work he seemed to be processing that they were stuck there now.
"Yayyyyy! Now we can go back to-" Paul's wife says before being cut off by the front door slamming open.
There he was….that damn green mannequin
"Hey guys…..I made it!" Daryl says casually with a wave, as if everything was just fine and dandy.
"F#%&@$# finally!! Can we eat now!" Matthew shouts like a madman, chest heaving from how exhausted and stressed he must've felt.
"Uhhh yes we can!" Pomni says with a wide smile motioning to the chair ready to finally dig into their food.
She honestly didn't care about his tone or the use of that language, she herself was ready to eat and have fine party over with.
They all finally took a sit around the dinner table plates placed in a neatly arranged manner around with various candles placed around as well with tableware mats placed underneath the Caine china plates with utensils placed next to the plate's neatly.
Everyone took their seats across the table minus Pomni and Jax as they put their dishes on the table to serve everyone.
"Okay me and my wifey here did something interesting and both cooked, my wife made the pasta and appetizers and I made my homemade Chili! I hope you all like it" Jax says looking over at Pomni with a knowing look reminding her of course of the bet.
She felt so clueless for a second, they were so busy trying to keep the party going she forgot about their wager…..
The delicious scent escaped and filled the air, Pomni could feel her stomach grumble even more.
"That smells so delicious I can't wait to try i!t" Paul's wife says eagerly, it was amazing how they could smell without a nose then again she couldn't exactly question herself.
"Yeah that smells really good! I didn't know you were a chef too bunny boy!" Daryl says with a chuckle trying to poke some fun at him.
"Oh har har, wait until you try it" Jax says with a wide grin, some of it chipping away from how irritated he was getting.
"Hush now this man and his lovely wife has served us their delicious food, we will happily eat their food with no more comments" Paul says as Daryl let's out a scoff and nods hesitantly.
Pomni places her food on the table as well taking the lids off then as well presenting her Chicken Alfredo with some appetizers on the side.
She placed the breadsticks next to her main dish, next to the Meatballs Parmigiana and Deviled Eggs she had prepared earlier.
The tender looking noodles with rich creamy white sauce tossed on them with chicken spreaded around the dish, the pleasant snd delicious aroma of garlic and chicken filled the air instantly as she lifts the lid off the pot.
Pomni placed appetizers on everyone's plates putting a little of both on each of their plate.
The npcs stared in awe at the appetizers placed on their plates.
"Wow Misses this looks so good! Can see why Jax married you aside from your looks" Daryl says with a chuckle.
"Are you gonna keep making comments or are you gonna actually eat the food?" Jax asked side eyeing him with a raised brow not looking amused.
"Yeah yeah I will jeez….." Daryl grumbled as he popped it into his mouth somehow the food somehow being devoured into his mouth.
Everyone else did the same eating up the food, letting out pleased hums at the taste.
"This tastes so gooood! You did absolutely amazing" Paul praised her with a wide grin.
A collective of praises followed after that making Pomni blush, as she timidly played with her dress slightly.
"Oh uh thanks!" Pomni says with a smile eagerly taking the compliments her face turning a bright pink from their praises.
"Yeah not bad Pom Pom, but I don't think it'll beat my famous dish" Jax says with a wide knowing grin after eating the appetizers.
"We'll see about that" Pomni says with a playful roll of her eyes.
Pomni then serves the Chicken Alfredo on everyone's plates making sure to put a good amount of it on each one.
Jax did the same putting the Chili but in bowls for all of them, placing the stew of spicy meat next to the plates with a wide prideful looking grin.
As they served the food, the guests looked down to the various delicious meals they were served.
Pomni was sure that if they had faces, their mouths would be watering right now.
"Wow this actually looks really good. You guys can cook" Jared says as he looks at the food.
"Yeah I can't to try this!" Sophia agrees with a pleasant eager tone.
"Looks better than I thought it would." Matthew says to them sounding pretty surprised.
"Okay enough talking let's try this!" Paul says ready to dig in the meal.
"Which one do we try first?" Mrs.McKinney asked curiously.
"It would only be fair if we tried Pom Pom's first…. She worked especially hard on it." Jax says with a wide cheeky grin, winking at her playfully.
Pomni shrugs not minding in the slightest not seeing how it would make any difference "Okay….if you insist" She says chewing on her lip slightly in nervousness as she watches everyone simultaneously take a bite of her food.
All the npcs collectively let out pleased hums as they tried her food, taking more bites as they ate more.
"This is absolutely delicious! You outdid yourself!" Jared says eating the food.
"Yummy!!!"
"This might be the best Chicken Alfredo I've ever had!"
"You did absolutely splendid!"
Pomni felt her cheeks warm up from the praises she got, feeling pride swell in her chest as a smile blossomed onto her face.
"You did really good Poms, I gotta give you credit" Jax says with a grin eating the pasta scooping some up with a fork popping it into his mouth.
"Th-Thanks! Glad you like it." Pomni says feeling her cheeks get even warmer from his praise, cursing herself slightly hoping her blush wasn't too visible right now.
Soon everyone was ready to try Jax's dish, trembling slightly in anticipation Pomni picked up her spoon digging into the stew taking some of it as Jax watches her intensely with that same cheeky ass wide grin.
"Bon appetite" Jax says with a wide cocky grin watching as everyone simultaneously took a bite.
Suddenly pure silence filled the room, Pomni could've sweared she heard one of their spoons drop on the floor from the sheer delight they were feeling.
Pomni's taste buds were instantly overflown with delicious spices, her mouth watering at the amazing taste. It wasn't like anything like she tasted before and for the first time she wanted to cry out of joy.
"This. Is. AMAZING!!!!" Paul praised out in delight clapping his hands.
"That's so delicious!! You did amazing with this!" Jared says eating some more.
"This is absolutely tasty you did very exceptional I'll admit" Matthew says his voice muffled as he stuffed his voice.
"The spices are so good you really outdid yourself!" Sophia says stuffing her face.
Pomni herself had to admit, he was amazing at this. She never tasted anything as delicious, how he was able to cook up something so rich and flavorful she had no idea but he was not bluffing in the slightest.
He was truly a master in his craft…..
She sat there speechless not sure what to say, for the first time ever he had left her speechless to the point where she couldn't even process what to say.
Jax gave her the biggest 'I told you so' smug smile he could muster on that infuriating looking face and for once she felt like it was deserved.
Finally Pomni found the words "This is amazing….you weren't lying I've never tasted anything like this" Pomni says with widened eyes looking at him slightly in shock.
"What can I say? I'm quite a chef! Well not officially but hey good enough." Jax says with a chuckle, his smile big and cheeky.
"Well you sure could qualify, I think you earned that title." Pomni says with a giggle and smiles at him gently with a nod of agreement.
"I see….that's quite high praise I'll take it." Jax says with a large grin, sounding pleased with himself.
"So…..which dish is the best? Between me and my wife here." Jax asked around, trying to finalize their wager as if there wasn't already a clear winner.
"Jax!!!" Everyone says simultaneously including Pomni as he perked up at their answers, slightly surprised yet kept that wide beam on his face.
"H%#& yeah I won!" Jax says looking over at Pomni, his face slightly freezing taking in her acceptance of defeat as she returns a gentle smile with a nod.
She couldn't find herself to be upset or mad but rather proud. She was proud that Jax did something for himself rather than than doing it to torment someone else. It looked like he did something that enjoyed and who could blame him for feeling so proud.
They all continued to eat their food chatting away, the npcs chatting with each other excitedly as she and Jax stared at each other in their own little world as they zoned out the chatter like they were the only two that mattered.
It a while later the two of them finally settled down, the party had been over with and their guests had thanked them eagerly for the good time and delicious food.
They had loudly vocalized how much they were looking forward to having more dinner parties in the future, Pomni and Jax had looked at each other awkwardly before just subtly nodding before gently letting them out and bidding them a good night.
Pomni and Jax laid on the couch, having finished cleaning everything up and setting everything back to how it was.
"Wow what a party!" Pomni exclaimed with a chuckle feeling extremely exhausted as she laid down with Jax right beside her slightly slouched next to her.
"Yeah that was a party….it was a close call with that d%#& npc but we made it." Jax says slouching over rubbing his full stomach.
"Yeah we did make it…..together. " Pomni agreed with a giggle.
"Couldn't have done it without you." Pomni says with a wide smile, a blush dusting her cheeks as she looks at him gently.
"Same to you even though my dish did win…..your food was good too." Jax says not looking at her directly, but he sounded grateful.
"I guess the food did a number on you? I was definitely expecting some gloating right now." Pomni joked with a chuckle, her face perking up in amusement.
"Oh c'mon Pom Pom give me a little credit I know how utterly defeated you feel right now." Jax says teasingly to her.
"Actually I feel pretty great despite losing, this was a bunch of fun. I haven't had this much fun for a while." Pomni admits with a chuckle.
"Me too…….even if the npcs were being annoying." Jax admitted to her.
"Yeah….thank god they seem nice but it seems like there's a soap opera that happens between them." Pomni says with a long sigh.
"Don't even remind me I have to work with these people, you only have to spend an entire night with them." Jax says with a chuckle.
"Suddenly my company doesn't seem that bad then huh?" Pomni asked teasingly letting out a snicker.
"If you praise me on my cooking like that then I guess it's not that bad." Jax says with a laugh.
"Oh shush you don't need me to do that! Your cooking is delicious no matter what I say!"
"Yeah but I still like to hear your opinions and what not." Jax admitted with a scoff.
Pomni gently smiles at him laying her head against his shoulder, not sure what's gotten into her but she was feeling too tired to care.
"You do really?" Pomni asked with a giggle.
"Sure….you're not that bad actually to be around." Jax says, not phased by her head resting against his shoulder.
"Good to hear! I guess you're not so bad either when you're not being a pr%&$" She says with a chuckle with a warm smile.
"Maybe but I'm a very lovable pr%#&" Jax chuckled out with an amused smile.
"Sure if you say so!" Pomni let out a yawn, her eyes starting to close slightly.
"Oh c'mon you love it" Jax says with a cheeky smile yawning as well, starting to lay on the couch back resting against the cushion as Pomni shifted her body to lay with him.
"When you talk I guess so." Pomni snickers out.
"You do that's why you listen when I talk why else would you listen to my voice!" Jax says with an accusing tone, grin growing even wider at as her face gets slightly flustered.
"It's hard not to when you talk so much." Pomni teases back cracking a grin.
"Hey at least I'm not boring, I know how to have fun." Jax says with another yawn laying down fully with Pomni resting her head against his stomach.
"Yeah you do" Pomni agrees with him.
"If we ever escaped from the circus…you have to cook something like that! Doesn't matter what it is! I'd loved to try it with my actual taste buds." Pomni says with a wide smile, her pinwheel eyes staring into his own square obsidian eyes.
"Hmm I'll think about it" Jax says teasingly with a wide grin, winking at her.
"You better!! Your cooking is too good!" Pomni laughs out loud, her smile crooked and wide.
"Fine fine I guess since you're begging me." Jax says nonchalantly with a loud dramatic sigh.
"Good!" Pomni says with an excited smile.
"Y'know you're not that bad of a husband." Pomni says admittedly, a giggle escaping from her mouth her head gently laying against his chest.
"You're not a bad wife yourself." Jax says stroking her head as they embraced each other simply enjoying each other's presence until they started to dose off and fall asleep together.
They laid with each other holding onto each other , their bodies comfortable and relaxed in each other arms as they drifted off to sleep too tired to care about the position they were in.