Jason seemed to release a breath he'd been holding. "I'm sorry,really I am. I mean,I didn't want to at first,I didn't want to risk getting hurt again.And it was scary,but he just...oh gosh,I mean.He helped me understand that love doesn't have to hurt but it can.It can,but it doesn't always.And..." He smiled faintly. "He showed me when it didn't,and it felt amazing."

Ash nodded, not smiling. "Well, I'm glad that you were happy. And then I came in and ruined it again, didn't I?"

Jason sighed and stopped dead in his tracks,running his hands over his face a bit before speaking softly. "It wasn't your fault,It was mine really. I just found it hard to see you in such pain...and then I sorta got rid of the bug,without even asking Puck's opinion. I sorta put myself back into a pool of piranhas expecting not to get bitten."

Ash smiled and shook his head. "He probably would've told you it was too dangerous...that you should just have let me die..."

"I know he would have,he talked with me before we set off.He said he didn't want to see you dead as much as me,a bit more even,but he wasn't about to take a risk of me getting hurt again or further. I understood,but me and my stupid feelings aren't one to just watch someone die or see killing as the first and only option.Hence,Guppy." He said,walking again and pointing at little Guppy who smiled back at them with adorable teeth not even close to sharp,rounded and perfectly white. Her little orange eyes kind and happy,full of dreams.No longer full of rage and fear,she truly was a dream.No longer a nightmare.

"You should've just let me die. Then you could've lived happily with Goodfellow." He smiled a little at Guppy

Jason glared at Ash,but he wasn't mad at him.Not really. "No.I don't care how much it hurt,it was worth it to see you healthy again. And now I see it was worth it to see you smile more than I've seen in a while." He said,but under his voice he wavered faintly,hinting at how much it had still hurt to see him around so much. To see him and remember all the things that had happened and to remember his glare,yet his loving gaze.To see his silver eyes again,to keep himself from falling to another shattering just by looking at him.

Ash shrugged. "Maybe it's because this place--your home--is my escape," he murmured, gesturing around

Jason would have forced a smile but he couldn't when Ash refered to it as his home and he looked away,for once fists clenched. "It's not my home." Was all he said,seeming angry for a few seconds,red in his freckles and underwings,before he calmed and forced it down. He couldn't stand being angry,and it was clear that it was becoming a struggle recently to not be angry.Frustrated.Mad.

"But...you deserve a home, whether it be this place, the human realm, or my realm. Everyone deserves a home, including you, no matter what you think of yourself."