"Sorry about that." Starlight said.
"Hey, no biggie." Jason rubbed a his forehead, the location in which Starlight accidentally rammed her horn into right as she exited the mirror. They now sat facing each other in the closed shed, and though it was dark, the mirror had the familiar water like glow from before, lighting up the shed.
"I'd say it's a biggie," she argued, "most ponies who got a horn jammed in their face would chew me out."
"Yeah, well, uh," Jason, hand on forehead, thought for a second, "I'm not a pony, now am I?" Despite her giggle, she still felt guilty. One glance at his hand showed the area underneath had turned red, it might have been even worse at the center. Yeesh, that looks bad! Please don't tell me I left a bruise. "Although, to be honest, had you been someone else, I probably wouldn't be so chill about this."
"Why were you even waiting here? I thought you left."
Jason raised his hands in defense. "I figured it would be polite to wait for a response."
"Huh." Starlight looked around the shed. The bare, small, dark shed. "Not really spacious in here, is it?"
"Nope." Jason leaned back. "Landlord used to use this to store her lawn mower, but then she built another shed and stopped using this one. It's no longer in use, so I thought 'ey, what better place to hide a magic portal?'"
Something ate at the back of her mind. Something Jason had said. She went back over it in her head. "Why me?" Starlight tilted her head.
"Huh?"
"If I were somepony else, you would be upset with me, but you aren't because I'm not somepony else?" Starlight inwardly cringed at her poor choice of wording. Jason actually ceased trying to soothe his forehead as he stared at her.
"... That is the most redundant sentence I've ever heard, but yeah, basically."
Starlight squirmed where she sat. "Could you, I don't know, elaborate?"
"Well, let's look at it this way: if you were someone I didn't know, I would be incredibly upset-"
"But we're friends!"
"Which is why I'm not as upset as I would be, however, if you and I were even closer as friends, I would be comically upset with you."
"What? Why would being better friends make you more upset?"
"No no, uh... Think of it like an upside-down bell curve." He raised a hand to demonstrate, "this point is where a total stranger would be: someone I have absolutely no history with. It is also the point where my "upsetness" when someone clocks me is serious." He raised another, "this point is where I consider someone as family, whether it be like a sister or brother or such and represents when my anger is more comical or jokey." He slowly lowered his hands and curved the imaginary line inward. "The lowest, middle-most point represents my lack of caring." Starlight leaned a little closer as she thought over the information. "Basically just an acquaintance near this point."
"Where would I be?" Jason looked up in thought as he raised a hand upward a little to the friend side of the curve.
"I'd say you're around here if I were to assign you anywhere." Starlight felt her ears droop as he said this.
"But that's only a little above the acquaintance point."
"Well, yeah," Jason brought his hands back to his side, "it's around the work bud area."
"Work bud?" Starlight narrowed her eyes. What is he talking about? Are we not friends? She couldn't point it down, but there was something off about his expression.
"Have you never had a work bud?"
Starlight shook her head. "I can't say that I have. No." She could taste the bitterness of her own attitude as it left her mouth. Jason noticeably leaned away.
"Well, it's basically what it sounds like; a bud that you have at work. Someone you just gravitate towards when you're on the job." He paused again, looking at a space beyond Starlight. "Like, uh, like... Like... Like..." His eyes widened. "I lost my train of thought." His posture weakened as he rose his hand to soothe his forehead. He winced, immediately retracting his hand to take a look. He said something under his breath, but she couldn't make it out.
"Did you say something?" Starlight asked as politely as she could. Jason opened his mouth to say something, but a loud ringing went off, startling Starlight to jolt up. Unfortunately-
"Hey now! Watch the horn!" Jason fell to his left, narrowly avoiding a second horn smack to the noggin.
"Sorry!" She shifted herself over closer to the shed, only now did she realise how compact it was in there.
From her new angle, as well as Jason's, she saw that it wasn't his expression that changed earlier. The light from the mirror cast something akin to a spot light on his forehead; the spot where her horn grazed his forehead began to bleed. Instantly, her heart felt as if a cold hand had firmly grasped it. Guilt, something she's all too familiar with. Did I do that? Of course I did that! It's right where I hit him! She saw reach for his right pocket, the light streak of a blood stain was on the back of his hand. He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen, putting the cease to the wretched ringing.
"Sorry, I need to get to work," he shifted over and opened the door, "got thirty minutes before my shift and it's a ten minute walk." He steadily got to his feet and walked out of the shed, going down a little wooden ramp. He turned to her and gestured at his forehead. "If you don't mind, I'mma go get myself a bandage for this thing before I go to work."
"Wait," Starlight trotted up to Jason, "I can heal that for you."
"You... You can do-" Jason, lightly, smacked his forehead before he could finish his own sentence. "What am I talking about, you have magic, freakin' magic." Jason crouched down to her level and pointed at his "wound". "Blast me."
"Now, just hold on." Starlight sat on her haunches. "Healing magic takes a lot of power and concentration, it's basically forcing the existing cells to work into overdrive to speed up the healing process. The best I can do is make it a scab if I don't want to be tired."
Jason put a hand on her withers. "And a scab means it's healing, hit me." With a nod from Starlight, she shut her eyes and envisioned Jason's... Scrape? It isn't a cut, and it's too shallow to be a gash. She envisioned Jason's scrape. She channeled her magic into her horn and opened her eyes, letting her blue glow wash over his forehead. "That — that's kinda cold."
"Just give it a second." In no time at all, the scrape had scabbed over, leaving the area slightly tender.
"Is it safe to touch it?" Jason asked as his brow twitched. "Cause I'm not gonna lie, it really itches now."
"It should be, but don't go opening that thing." She sternly frowned at him, but it only elicited a snort from him.
"I doubt very much that gently rubbing it will open it." He placed a hand over his newly "healed wound". "Probably, maybe. Could be opening right now." She stopped her hoof.
"Jason!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He stood back up and lightly rubbed a finger along the small scab. "I should still put a bandage over this, my job needs me to wear a hat while I'm on shift, and I don't want to risk this getting infected." He grabbed the door, about to close it. "See ya later, aight?"
"Right." Starlight stood back and looked at the mirror before looking back at Jason. "See you in a couple days."
"Or sooner?" He asked with a grin. She couldn't help but giggle, thinking that something like this moment might repeat itself.
"Or sooner." She turned back to the mirror, "See you," and hopped through.