FIREFLIES - Eyeless Jack X Reader

Chapter 19 - Fireflies

We're heading back to the apartment we relocated to after The Rake incident. We're taking the trip much slower this time. Only a few hours of the day is spent traveling while the rest is mainly focused on just...enjoying our time, pacing ourselves. We already faced the big bad, we made our choices and came to terms with them. No point rushing when we've got nothing else to fight for.

Jack's old school and the cave have nothing left for us now anyway.

The trek was done mostly in silence. Jack still spoke with static in his voice, after all. But, it definitely wasn't as bad as it was in the cave. I can hear an undertone of something human beneath the high ringing. Sometimes, if I focus in on that sound rather than the static, I can tune out the rest altogether. The brief glimpses of something nice beneath the horrid is what I find myself searching for. The joy in the madness is all we have left now.

On the journey, I managed to convince Jack that if he wore dark sunglasses and a cloth mask, he could blend into the crowd without much issue. I think he believes me more now than he did before, because he did it without much hesitation. He sat, the dark hood pulled over shaggy brown hair that I know I've seen before. I feel like I'm only just now noticing it, though. Was it darker before? I can't remember.

I caught myself staring at him on more than one occasion during the ride. So much really has changed about him. I suppose that cursed god kept it's word in that regard. The curse is noticeably weaker, even just from a glance.

From time to time I'll catch him staring at his own hands (which he always keeps uncovered, now that the talons are gone.) almost like he can't believe what he's seeing. Whenever we stop, I spend the time asking about what changes he noticed that I can't see. So far, he's told me that the hunger has abided. Even when he gets to the point where the hunger would've triggered a frenzy, there's nothing. That's the one thing he seems most relieved about. He's much less tense when I move close to him now, like he isn't so terrified of slipping up and accidentally hurting me. He's even instigated some of our interactions! It's nice, having him not be so afraid to touch me.

Another big change is his vision. He says that before it was just black and white dots taking the vague shape of things, and the only color he saw was red. Now, he says it's more like an old school technicolor TV, just with a thick static overlay. He can see more details, like hair and clothes. Still no faces, though.

He's been entranced by the window for most of the trip. I can't even imagine how long it's been since he was able to see grass, or stare out at the trees.

At one point, when we were away from the crowds of people, I noticed Jack glancing at my sandwich. I offered it over to him, and I could tell his impulse was to refuse. But then, a question made itself known to the both of us, and we sat there thinking the same thing; If everything else has changed, can he have normal food again?

Surely the answer is yes, right? What else is he expected to eat?

I offered it out to him again, nearly begging him to try it. He nodded, softly, before reaching out and tenderly holding the slices of bread between his fingers. He pulled the mask down over his chin, and I took note of how dull his teeth looked when he opened his mouth. He doesn't have fangs anymore.

Jack took what is possibly the smallest bite I've ever seen, part of me wonders if he only got bread and nothing else. I held my breath as he chewed, knowing what this would mean if he threw up.

He chews, and chews, and keeps chewing past the point where I know it's all ground to hell. It is as if he's afraid anything not pulverized to mush would make him hurl. I can tell he's procrastinating on the swallowing part, since we both know that's where it went wrong last time. But eventually, I watch him gulp it down. And we wait, both of us forgetting to breathe in the moment. Time passes in silence.