Crystal [#3]

"Jay, for the sake of satan, at least warn me whenever you're covered in blood!"

With an annoyed huff and an uncaring attitude as to why Jason was covered in blood, Kaleb approached the taller beast of a man. Since the beginning of the second day, Kaleb had managed to figure out excatly how they coud stay away from each other for longer- Physical touch! That's right, by physically touching each other for a while (he discovered that after Jason held his neck for a few minutes before leaving the cabin- the red string looked much longer), the red string can be stretched further out before it needs to snap back. He figured out that if they held hands for 5 minutes- Jason looked frozen like a statue whenever they tried it -Jason could stay away from him for about 2 hours before the string would snap back and he'd be the one teleported back to him.

"I actually learned some things about knives-"

Today was the 5th day that Kaleb came to this world. Nothing much happened, except he managed to "make a connection to nature" and "listen to nature" and learned [Druidcraft] after he spent about half an hour outside, picking flowers and listening to birds. Now he has a small flower garden around the house, the house smells like flowers and not mold anymore, and he even cleaned the outside of the house too! He managed to get Jason to bring him to the abandoned remains of Camp Crystal Lake, where a bunch of shit was left behind. He checked the rations, got a bunch of things- from utensils, a whole ass collection of knives, and food -before coming back. It was kinda nice, not having to worry about things and learn magic...

He knows the Cantrips: [Mending], [Wind Gust], [Prestidigitation], [Create Bonfire], [Control Flames], [Mage Hand], [Mold Earth], [Druidcraft], and [Shape Water]. He is getting better at this magic thing, he barely makes mistakes like almost setting the house on fire accidentally trying to create a bonfire inside. He definitely didn't do that- and Jason also definitely didn't slap the back of his head and silently screamed at him and made grunting noises.

5 days living with Jason was... an experience. He could tell that he had been alone for years by the way he acted a bit surprised whenever he was just- there. Like he forgot he was even there to begin with and got surprised he was. Jason also didn't seem to understand some of the things Kaleb talked about, so he wondered if he could teach him- and as it turns out, Jason is fucking smart as fuck. He grasped concepts Kaleb explained so quickly that it was actually scary! He didn't know almost anything about libraries (because he never left the camp), so Kaleb explained to him that it was a "home for all books" and that they could get more books there!

Sadly, Jason interpreted that as stealing.

On the bright side, they now have a lot more books to read, which made Jason the most excited he has ever seen him- he actually started moving more than once every few seconds! Kaleb wanted to explain why what he did was illegal, but considering the corpses, he felt that illegal meant nothing to Jason. He started working on making another bookshelf, they held hands for about 10 minutes (Jason stood still like a board the whole time) so Jason could leave and get tools to make the bookshelves he wanted, and now he came back covered in blood.

"-and how to use them the right way." With a simple finger snap, the blood clinging to Jason's broad frame faded into nothingness, and he as was clean as a baby. "Anyway, thanks to my incredible cooking skills, I actually managed to make something that won't give somebody food poisoning!" He turned to go back into the improvised kitchen he had made in the corner of the cabin, where Jason had actually made another little door so he could try to cook food outside and not set the house on fire. With a simple willingness to do, a hand appeared before his face- it looked to be made of hard light! The hand moved towards the steaming pot sitting quietly upon a rather thick table that Jason had. The hand, uncaring for the heat, pulled the lid on the metal pot and a rush of steam rose. "See? I actually made food this time- Not some weird crawling mass that cries like a baby!"

That one was weird... anyway!

"Jay?" Turning around, Kaleb was met with the same shirt he repaired for Jason. A black and red striped shirt. Looking up, his face right next to Jason's body, Kaleb looked a bit worried: "Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Jason was quieter than normal, and when he looked up at him, his bright blue eyes seemed more intense than normal too! "Did someone get away this time?" A single nod. "Did they shoot you or stab you?" Another nod, a finger poiting at the large gash on his left pant leg. "Did they call the cops?" Another nod, making Kaleb nod as well: "Are they coming?" This time Jason shook his head.

"Oh, not anymore." A nod.

"Okay then." Shrugging, Kaleb softly sighed- Jason didn't seem to like whenever his prey escapes him. Sometimes, Kaleb will be followed around by Jason because he was still grumpy that he managed to permanently escape from him and yet become his prisoner at the same time. He can't hurt Kaleb, and Kaleb can't hurt him- it was like his magic had a mind of its own and avoided harming Jason ar all costs. "Want me to do something? Besides cleaning and repair work?" Jason hesitated... Kaleb patiently waited until the big guy nodded, hesitantly. "Okay then, whatever you want... But first, can you try the recipe this time and tell me if I used too much salt? I honestly can't tell."

'...oh.' Jason felt a weird deja vu sensation. His mother used to put too much salt in some dishes too, and she'd never notice it until she took a bite, then she'd curse and then he'd laugh and they'd laught- The memory faded away as Jason followed along. He sat down on the floor with a *thunk* sound before he took a deep breath and slid his mask to the side until his mouth was exposed. His mouth was the one thing that was the least deformed on his face, so he didn't mind Kaleb seeing it. He took a bite and- *ppfffft* -spat it out faster than he could think.

It wasn't too much salt- it was lack of it and a large addition of sugar instead.

Jason glared at the little man, annoyed- and then he noticed his smile: 'Little shit. It was on purpose.' He barely held himself back as Kaleb laughed- it was the first time he heard him laugh so... free? It made Jason pause. He shook his head for a moment before picking the little guy by the neck, pulling his mouth apart under the giggled "no, no" and the laughed "Jay, I'm sorry! Please no-" before he dumped the entire bowl of rice meat soup into Kaleb's mouth. He gagged, the sound a bit interesting... he has heard many people gag before, mainly in their blood, but Kaleb's sounded different somehow. He let go of the little guy, who chuckled and swallowed the majority of the food while saying "no food is wasted" with a face of despair and disgust.

Then he looked up, his mouth opened with a smile, and Jason short-circuited.

There was a soft whiteness to his mouth and face- Jason didn't fully understand why, but his body felt hotter all of a sudden. He sat back down again with an annoyed grunt before Kaleb started to speak again, this time that same ethereal hand he could create appearing and picking another pot of the same size right on the top of one of the five bookshelves... He really needs to expand this place, huh? Its getting cramped in here. "Here you go- this one's legit." This time Jason hesitated for a bit before he simply ate it.

"...Jay?" A hand was touching his neck in the next second, and Jason pulled back, getting up immediately. He turned around and walked out of the house- he, he couldn't. It tasted exactly the same as the simple recipe that his mother used to make, even the little too much salt. He needed to be alone for a while, so he walked right into his mother's shrine by a tree and sat down. He didn't notice till then that his vision was blurry and that there were sounds coming out of his mouth, but he did notice and feel her presence as she was suddenly there with him...

It has been years since the last time he heard her voice or felt her presence. He needed her, and today he felt what it was like to have her, or a piece of something that could be like her- or like... similar? Family? Family sounds right. Nobody could ever replace his mother.

"Oh, my little Jay..." Her voice whispered in his ear, bringing him comfort. He felt her touch, he felt her presence, and he felt her weakness. She was fading, and the last remnant of his mother- he's gonna lose her again, and there's nothing he can do about it: "My little angel... What happened now to make you cry? Tell your momma..." Her voice, weak and frail, sounded like she was whispering right to his ear from far away, which made no sense but was equally true.

"Hmm..." He huffed, hating with wll his heart that he couldn't speak back to his mother- why couldn't he at least speak? He could be whatever he is, but speaking? Not even the Entity gave him his voice back, only made him able to teleport and do other things. "Haar uhh." He groaned again, his mother's spirit seemed to listen to his woes, and he cried.

He cried like the day he lost hist mother.

——

Kaleb didn't know what he did wrong.

Was he that upset about the little prank? Oh fuck, now he feels bad! The red line seemed to be tugging a bit, but he let it loosen. It hurt a bit, like he was pulling something out and making it longer forcefully, like stretching but... painful? He sucks at describing things! "Damn." He fucked up, he fucked up hard- What can he do to make it better? If only Jason could talk-

"That's it."

-he would get him talking. Either by teaching his ASL (which he doesn't know shit about), or he figures out how to get Jason a voice by using magic. Or maybe pen and paper? They have books, but not much paper nor pens around... Maybe some other liquid? Blood? As a last alternative only.

"Project Shakespeare is a go." Whispering to himself, Kaleb went through the [Basic Cantrips Guide] on his head and found one thing- He saw a Cantrip called [Massage] and he got a bit interested, and seeing as the requirement was "massage at least 1 person successfully", which he has done before! That person being himself, because it counts it seems! The second one was called [Phantasmal Notebook] and it summoned a small notebook with a pen to write on. To learn this one he needs to "write a book", which was a bit more complicated. "...I hope Jay likes massages?" At that moment, he stopped and waited. It took hours, the red theater got tighter and tighter, until it finally snapped.

And Jason fell... right on top of him.

"Oof-"

Kaleb was sure something popped out of a socket. Jason took his tome to get up, and Kaleb didn't fault him for it because his face buried between two huge bahonkers, so he didn't mind as much as he pretended to.

After Jason got off (not in that way, sadly) of him, Kaleb got up too.

"-...I'm sorry for that prank, Jay. I, uh, I didn't know it would hurt you that way, so I promise not to ever do anything like that again."

Jason responded by lifting his hand and placing it on his head. Soon, he was picked up by the neck, but this time arms wrapped around him, and for the first time, Jason and Kaleb were sharing a bed.

Oh, where did Kaleb slept the past 5 days?

The ground.

——

Jason is hot. Don't try to change my mind, you can't.

'Oh but he kills people' So? He just blanks and commits atrocities. That's cute.