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When Jax abstracted it took us all by surprise. Out of us all, he was the one who accepted our reality the best. I believed that too. He told me to just relax and let loose. He would constantly be joking and pranking until he stopped. That was when I saw the real Jax. The one who was scared to get close to anyone. I saw his trauma he had hidden away. I held him as he cried after realizing I wasn’t going to leave him. I am going to make good on my promise. After the rest of the crew pulled me away from him, we set up a tent to keep Jax calm. He would pace around, but the sharp jagged edges of his form stayed smooth. His eyes were not moving frantically, just looking lost.
It’s been a couple of weeks since we made the tent. Caine came back. Surprise! We weren’t expecting him to. He’s different now though. He has been helping us rebuild and even has tried to make amends by helping out with keeping Jax company. We all really have. Every night I stop by the tent to share stories of what we are up to during the day. Some nights I wasn’t alone recounting the stories. Ragatha would come by and add her own commentary. Even Zooble would come by to say hello and then give him the finger as they left. I always laughed when that happened. Jax would always stare at us while we told our stories.
“Hey Jax.” I smiled as I closed the curtain behind me. Jax’s abstracted form stirred from his sleep. He was curled up on some blankets. He almost looked like a puppy waking up from its nap. Jax made a sound in my direction as I made my way to the pillow I sat on. The sound almost reminded me of a purr. I dismissed it as I pulled out a book from behind my back.
“I didn’t do much today, and the others are tired from spending the day at the carnival…” I trailed off, fidgeting with the book’s pages. I stopped and looked up at Jax. I raised the book above my head so he could try and see it better. It was the Odyssey.
“But I brought a book to read instead! It’s one of my favorites!” I smiled wider as I sat down on the pillow.
“It has an epic journey with fighting monsters and gods and then there is some romance.” I could see Jax’s eyes roll at the romance part and I laughed.
“It’s good though. Trust me, I think you’ll like it!” I finished explaining, opening up the book. I saw Jax lay back down on the blankets and he looked at me. I started to read. As I read, I looked back in his direction. He was silent and looking directly at me. His edges were really smooth and eyes were narrowed a little. Jax seemed to be focused.