"It was actually a lot of basically normal sentences.  What's ESL?"

"English as a second language, implied speaker of. You said 'there's something there' and I don't know what you were pointing at." Ugh this is so embarrassing.

"...I think I also don't quite know that.  I'm kind of gesturing to the whole cluster of 'you having sex with me' and 'me possessing you and getting us both off' and... ill-defined other stuff.  .....You should untie my hands, because it's not like I couldn't get out of this but the spell did say that you should be the one."

Oh right. He does that.

"I mean, of course I want you to enjoy yourself? Wanting to have sex with someone and not caring if they enjoy themselves is—well I guess it can be kinky but it is mostly rapey most of the time."

"...But it seems kind of about that.  More than I would expect for most people."

"...I guess? Maybe? I like making boys happy, I dunno."

"That's really charming."  He rolls over and, now that his arms are free, wraps them around Jake.  (And also his top leg.)  Being touched by a hand and a mattress simultaneously is weirder now that the arm isn't holding perfectly still.  "I love you.  ...Based on the text of the spell I would expect I'll stop saying that if you tell me to, but not if you don't."

"...under more normal circumstances I'd run for the hills about now," he echoes his earlier thought. "It really, really sounds like you're making a mistake."

"It's very salient to me that that response did not contain an instruction for me to stop saying it.  And also that something about the way this causes me to form sentences involves a lot of saying the same word twice in a row."

"The same word twice in a row?"

"Like, 'that that'.  ....They're kind of different words, though, aren't they, out loud.  Like, I say the first one kind of more like 'thet'.  'It's very salient to me thehhht thaaaat response' et cetera.  And there was at least one or two more earlier but I already forgot them."

"Okay.

"...I, uh. It's the first time a boy's ever confessed to me and I don't know what to do about it? I think—probably—boys who aren't huge assholes like me get confessed to more often? And maybe who are in less homophobic societies than mine? I don't want to hurt you?" Why is he ending every fucking sentence with a question mark. "I don't want to hurt you," he says, without a question mark.

"I will remember that you said this once I'm back in my right mind.  Would it be clear if I said 'him' instead, to refer to me when I'm not under this spell?  It's not really sufficiently clear to be truthful without signposting it but I do feel inclined to.  I think I normally would, for a difference this big."

"If... you want to? I was not thinking of—him—as different or expecting you to forget??"

"It's mostly that I don't feel equipped at all to deal with this emotionally, and even though I can predict very confidently how he'll react to some things this does not seem to be one of them.  So by saying 'he'll remember this' I mean to imply that I don't have anything more useful to respond with, but that you at least won't have to repeat this to his face while he presumably makes pained expressions at you or something."

"Okay. I, uh, kind of like it when you're not making pained expressions at me. ...correction, I like it when you're not in pain."

".....Okay, so it seems like I can in fact get caught up for a moment in having too many ways to respond to something you say—you punched me?"

"Yeah. If you weren't a ghost I wouldn't have. ...are you still in pain? If you still are I wouldn't have if I'd known."

"No, not at all.  But this implies you're not categorically unwilling to put me in pain sometimes?  —I'm curious whether you have anything of a sadistic streak."

"...uh. I mean I've played rough in bed? Some boys like it? But if they don't like it I don't like it. And no I'm not categorically unwilling, I was angry and wanted to get the angry out of the way. ...and I guess if you're a boy who likes it I can also hurt you."

"It would be so nice if you pulled my hair a little except for how maybe neither of you would like the consequences of this.  But no, mostly I mean that he's a sadsack and we all want to get the sadsack out of the way, and I speculate that hitting him some more would be more effective and speedy at this than other methods."

"Really??? And wait what do you mean consequences of this, what are the consequences of this."

"Really; I can't lie to you.  Although I will elaborate that, you know, there's the desire to wallow; he doesn't uncomplicatedly want to get the sadsack out of the way.  But he more strongly than that wants to repay his debt to you and be a good person and stuff.  And pain would feel real and substantial in a way that months of tiny useless favors don't."  Hugsqueeze.  "As for the me that exists right now, the consequences of you pulling my hair are that I would enjoy it, which it seems like maybe you don't want me to do and you maybe also expect that he won't want me to have done."

"What? Why would I not want you to do that. And wait how would hitting you—him—help with anything?"

"Okay!"  Jeremy's hand disappears into the bed for a moment and then is grabbing one of Jake's and pushing it into his curls.  "It wouldn't if you hated it, but if you liked it then it would feel like the net direction of harm was less drastically one-sided.  He hurt you, he feels bad about it; if you hurt him back then you're even.  Or closer to it."