Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Dawn broke over the eastern horizon, painting Linkon City in rose golden hues of the morning, and the long shadows of the tall buildings folding into themselves to greet the new day.
Skylar woke with the dawn with the intention of just doing a short jog around the block. She texted Xavier, the coworker, mission partner, neighbor and friend who lived just one floor above her, to see if he wanted to join her run. She didn’t expect him to answer the phone. She wasn’t sure how, but it seems that the only things he did besides show up to work (and not even show up reliably when she needed her mission partner) was eat hot pot and sleep. She wondered how he managed to keep himself in shape.
To her surprise though, he texted back with an emoji that said “Yes!” and a follow up text that read “ill meet u at ur door”
Alrighty then, a run with Xavier, first thing in the morning. Nothing to get excited about . And yet, in spite of herself, she dressed in shorts that were a little bit too short, and a bright orange and green sports bra that lifted and supported in all the right ways. She was just finishing lacing up her runners when her phone pinged from her pocket.
“I’m at ur door” the text was short enough that the preview banner on the lock screen was enough to see what he’d said. Ignoring the sudden fluttering in her stomach, she bounced toward the door and swung it open.
Standing in front of her staring off in another direction, Xavier wore an old pair of tennis shoes, a very form fitting white tank top, and some loose gym shorts. At the squeak of her front door, Xavier’s eyes passed over her full body, not once but twice, before meeting her eyes.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice still thick with sleep, but a small smile played at the corners of his mouth nevertheless.
“Morning,” she said with a smile, trying very hard not to feel self conscious under his gaze. She wondered if he liked how she looked before stamping down the thought and stepping out of her apartment door and clicking it shut, “I’m going to visit my grandma this weekend, so I was just gonna do a short run around a couple of blocks. I hope that’s still okay?” She said as she led him through to the staircase at the end of the hallway and down the stairs, pushing the door open that led directly to the outside.
The sun seemed to rise faster in these warmer months, already having crested over some of the shorter buildings in the city scape, leaving only taller buildings and some trees to shade the sidewalk as she stretched her arms and looked down the street.
“I don’t exercise too often, so that’s fine,” Xavier’s voice, now that he was a little more awake, took on a lighter tone, though still quiet, soft spoken as ever. “You’re going to visit your grandma you say?” He said as he, too, began to stretch.
“I haven’t really been home to visit grandma and Caleb in a while,” she said, a pang of guilt ricocheting through her chest. In truth, she hadn’t seen Caleb since she saw him off to the Deepspace Aviation Administration academy. They talk and text all the time. They even video chat when the situation allows it. But video chats had been… very few and far between. Being in person… Nothing beats that feeling of being around family. Of being at home. She looked at Xavier from the corner of her eye. After Grandma, Caleb was the closest thing she had to actual family, though none of the three of them were technically related.
After Caleb, Xavier was her closest friend. She looked down at her shoe as she stretched her hamstrings, and wondered if maybe Xavier would feel like family to her one day, too. The idea made her face feel even warmer in the early morning sun.
Xavier, perceptive as always, saw this and commented, “Are you feeling alright? Your face is suddenly red,” He reached forward to gently press the back of his hand against her forehead. She leaned back to prevent the contact and he dropped his hand, brow furrowing as his impossible blue eyes swept over her face.
“What do you mean?” She said and made a show of touching her own forehead, “My face is red? But I feel fine.”
“Hmm” Xavier replied noncommittally.
“Let’s get going, then.” She hopped a couple times in place, “Loser buys breakfast.” She said, without giving him the route she planned on taking or any conditions on which he’d be able to win, and darted off down the street. She heard him huff a laugh before she heard his footfalls catching up behind her.
They ran together at a reasonable pace, Xavier seeming content to allow her “race” to end in a tie, and she was content to just have him by her side as she ran. The run helped get the excited and anxious energy out of her system and by the time she’d led them back around to the block where the front of their apartment building, she’d kinda forgotten about the rules of the race that she’d set at the beginning.
About 10 paces from the front of the building, Xavier slowed down. When she made it up to the top of the short staircase from the sidewalk to the apartment building, she looked back at Xavier, who was standing on the ground level, looking up at her with a gentle smile that devastated her as it spread on his face.
“What- what are you doing?” she said through deep breaths and post-run-pants.
Xavier took a couple of deep breaths of his own and climbed the stairs, stopping two stairs down to meet her at her eye level.
“You said the loser has to buy breakfast,” he commented with a shrug, “I guess I lost,” He looked down in mock disappointment and rubbed the back of his neck. Were his ears turning red just now? Or were they already red from the physical exertion? Skylar couldn't quite tell.
“Xavier!” She play-swatted his shoulder, “First of all, I already forgot about that. Secondly, you lost on purpose!” Xavier simply shrugged.
“I didn’t forget, and whether I lost on purpose or not doesn’t matter,” he leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping in volume. “I still owe you breakfast.”
Skylar blinked several times, hoping that her face didn’t betray how she nearly swooned right into his chest. Instead, she took another deep breath and cleared her throat.
“Okay, I suppose if you insist, who am I to turn down a breakfast date?” She said it so casually with a shrug, she didn’t realize what she had actually said until it was too late, and quickly tried to recover the situation, “But not like a DATE date, ha ha. Like a - friend date. Like a hang out. You know, like a-”
Xavier cut her off with a gentle hand on her cheek, warm and a little sweaty “a Breakfast date is fine,” he said, flashing another impossible smile. “Let's go get cleaned up. I’ll meet you at your apartment in a half hour.” He stepped past her and opened the door to the first floor landing of the apartment and held it open for her. She followed him inside and rode the elevator, stopping at her floor first.
Just as he said, a half hour later, Skylar’s phone pinged again from the pocket of the knee length pink skirt she’s decided to dress into.
“Can u let me in?” Was all the text said. She grinned down at her phone before pulling the black long sleeve shirt on and making her way to the door.
Xavier’s eyes swept over her again, only once this time, before he met her gaze.
“Come on in,” she said and stood to the side to gesture for him to go in and sit down, “I just have to finish up a couple of things and then we can go.” He stepped inside and she let the door shut behind him. Suddenly in her personal space, she felt very anxious about the state of it. She kept her apartment generally pretty clean. Would he be put off by the plate, fork and cup in the sink from last night that she hadn’t gotten to yet? Or the laundry basket of clothes she just brought out of the laundry room that hadn’t been folded or put away yet? When was the last time she vacuumed the carpet?
“Your apartment smells nice,” Xavier said, as though he could read her thoughts and was trying to soothe her anxieties, “It smells… floral. Like a candle with a gentle scent. Mixed with your shampoo,” he sat down on the edge of the couch and placed his chin in his hand.
“Ah,” she said, flustered by his unexpected compliment, “Thank you. I… well I just showered, as you can tell,” she pointed to her wet hair, “Be right back,” she blurted before darting back to the bathroom to smooth some moose into the waves of her auburn hair.
She took a moment to splash some cold water on her face. She was usually pretty good at keeping herself composed around Xavier, but something about him today just had her terminally caught off guard. Even in his white pull-over and jeans, he was still so irritatingly handsome. She wondered sometimes what he would say or do if she’d confessed her crush to him, but always thought that it would be better to leave the friendship as it is. She loved him as her friend. Even when he wasn’t reliable to show up to a mission, he was always there when she needed him. She trusted him with her life implicitly.
And above all other feelings or emotions, she genuinely hoped he felt the same when it came to his level of trust in her.
When she stepped out of the bathroom, Xavier was flipping through one of the books she left on the coffee table. He looked up as she entered the room and smiled at her, “Did you have somewhere in mind?” He asked.
“What about that new cafe down the street?” She suggested, “I hear they have a Kitty Cards corner! The owner has an illusionary Evol.” Xavier’s eyes shone in affectionate amusement as she spoke.
“Sounds like that’s where we’ll go then,” he said decisively and stood up, gesturing to Skylar’s front door. “After you.”
They walked down the street toward the new cafe (aptly named The Catfe) walking so closely that the backs of their hands brushed against each other. Once inside, the pair found a two top-table in a cozy corner of the shop, and talked quietly about seemingly nothing at all. Skylar was comfortable in Xavier's presence, like she’d known him for far longer than the 5 months since she found him injured and asleep in that warehouse on her first day. He was so… mysterious and suspicious back then. Seemingly so serious and closed off. If someone had told her back then that she’d grow to learn that he was goofy, soft spoken, introverted, and sleepy… well she certainly wouldn’t have believed it. The Xavier who was her mission partner and the Xavier who sat across from her in this little cat cafe were seemingly two entirely different people. It made Skylar wonder what other sides of Xavier she hadn’t seen yet.
After about an hour, they left the cafe and slowly made their way back to their apartment complex. “You’ll be at your grandma’s all weekend?” Xavier asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive
“That’s the plan,” she replied over the hum of the elevator making its way up the building, "Why do you ask?”
“I didn’t want to be expecting to see you come home if it turns out you weren’t.” He answered simply. She felt her heart flutter at the way he said “come home” like she was coming home to him, and she cleared her throat.
“Ah well I’m sorry to disappoint,” she laughed, “But I’ll text you on Sunday night when I’m on my way back. We can go out for hot pot if you want?” She hedged, trying to sound casual. A gentle smile touched the corner of his lips.
“That sounds great.” He answered with a sincerity that tugged at her heartstrings. When the doors opened on her floor, she stepped out and was surprised to see that he followed her. She chuckled a little bit and ruffled his hair as the elevator doors closed behind him.
“Xavier,” she smiled to him, “Wrong floor.”
He looked back at the closed elevator doors, then turned and met her eyes with his, “I thought maybe I could walk you to your door,” He said.
Gods, she thought to herself, completely caught off guard. She laughed, “Well I suppose I can’t stop you now.” Her apartment was down the other end of the hallway, and while not a long trek, it was still nice to have him by her side. She imagined what it would be like to bring him to meet Grandma. She was sure Gran would love him. They arrived at her front door when her mind started to wander toward how Caleb would react if she’d brought Xavier home.
“Well, we’re here,” she said as they stopped just outside. She looked down and toed at the welcome mat, which read ‘Live, Laugh, Leave. ’ It was a joke birthday present from Caleb, but it made her laugh so hard when she opened the package he’d sent her in the mail, she couldn’t fathom not using it. “Thanks for walking me home. How very romantic of you,” she said with a teasing tone of voice.
“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do after a date?” He replied innocently. Skylar could only stare at him as she watched a smile slowly creep onto his face. “Cat got your tongue?” He said in a teasing tone.
The butterflies in her stomach fluttered so hard that it almost hurt. “Xavier, you can’t just say things like that,” she said with her forehead in her hand, letting out a shaky laugh.
She heard him huff a gentle laugh through his nose and she looked up at him. “Don’t laugh at me,” she said.
“Sorry.” He said, though he didn’t sound sorry at all. His face was still alight with mischief and a smile. She sighed.
“Okay, Xavier. If I don’t leave soon I won't be home in time for lunch. And I told Gran I would be.”
“You still consider it ‘home’?”
“Uh, well yeah I suppose I do consider it at least a home away from home. I grew up there. I still have a bedroom and things there. So yeah. It’s home just like my apartment is home.”
Xavier’s expression changed slightly, and she couldn’t discern exactly what he was thinking, before it returned to a gentle smile. “Then I will see you on Sunday night for hot pot.” He said. “Travel safe.”
He stood there for a moment longer, as if trying to decide what he was going to do next before, he took a step back and made his way to the stairwell just at the end of the hall.
Skylar opened the door, stepped inside and closed the door quickly, taking a deep breath, back against the door and head tilted back. Sometimes, Xavier felt like he was so cold and distant that he was friends with her out of necessity and not out of any genuine desire to be. He looked to the sky like he longed to live, to return to living among stars as stardust. Other times, like today, he looked at her with such genuine kindness, gentleness, warmth and… even affection, that she thought maybe, maybe her quickly growing crush was reciprocated.
With another deep breath, she pushed herself off the door, made her way to her bedroom to grab the already packed suitcase of her clothes and other necessities for her long weekend in the Bloomshore district.