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 Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:36 pm
Xavier was pretty proud of his peripheral vision. It was something honed over the years, between his reading sheet music while playing or having his nose in a book while walking, he had good peripheral vision. He was normally able to sidestep oncoming foot traffic or obstacles, but he wasn’t immune to accidents.
Not that that was reason enough to curb his habit of reading while walking even while adjusting to a new environment.
With the start of the school year, he officially became an Azure Valley Academy student. His parents were quite happy for him, and he was…very quietly ecstatic as well. While he would have been perfectly fine at any school, there was a small part of him that liked the idea of having family nearby. He’d read enough books to glean that these next four years would be some of his most challenging as a student. Not that he expected to be whisked away on some awesome, magical adventure or anything like that, but there’d be a lot of adjusting and learning and growing. Having some extra support couldn’t possibly be a bad thing, right?
So here he was, (very proudly) sporting the uniform and walking the halls half-blind, his nose buried in yet another book. The bell rang ages ago and he had packed up and got ready to head home like every other student, and then…well. He started reading, and sort of just kept on reading. By now most of the other students had gone, and he had barely put his backpack on and started heading out to go home. He was well on his way to the end of the hall, and just about to round the corner to head down a set of stairs when he paused to re-read a line.
“No, he didn’t…!” he murmured, blue eyes wide with disbelief.
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 8:39 pm
Elliot was used to the empty halls after school let out, and his face had been a common one for years–even well before he’d joined as a student. He had nearly free reign to go wherever he wanted, and none of the faculty had stopped him when he was printing out something by the copier. He had a stack of papers in his hand as he walked through the empty halls. He was still wearing his uniform but he didn’t have a backpack.
Nobody ever really gave Elliot a hard time, and it helped that he was a good student. He had friends in every corner, and he was always helpful and polite.
Which was exactly why he couldn’t let someone just tumble down the stairs.
He didn’t quite know him by name but he’d seen him around. He’d grown since the last time they were at a Gallo party together but he remembered his face.
Elliot was coming up the stairs just as Xavier had rounded them, and if they weren’t about to collide then it looked like Xavier was going to miss the stairs. Elliot held his stack of papers close to his chest in one hand and immediately extended his arm as if ready to catch Xavier.
“Hey, there! –That must be a good book, huh? Watch the steps!”
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2024 2:13 am
The voice that drew him out of the world of his book was a familiar one, and for the first time since he opened the book Xavier actually looked, and he saw why. He recognized him from some of the family parties, and he had an inkling as to his name but didn’t want to be rude and guess so he didn’t. Lowering his book revealed a cheerful expression and a grateful smile.
“Thanks,” he said, only then taking a proper look at his surroundings as well. He saw the stairs and imagined, with a grimace, that a tumble down them wouldn’t have been very pleasant, so he set his azure blue eyes on the other teen again and repeated himself. “Seriously, thank you.”
Xavier gave a little laugh at that, quickly sticking in his bookmark and closing up his book so he could have a proper conversation. He could hardly be rude to the average person, never mind someone who saved him from a potentially really bad fall.
“And it is a good book, yeah. Good series, so far. Least I think so; I’m only into the second book. Might be worth a try if you’re into mystery-thrillers.”
He offered the book, which was titled “The Hawthorne Legacy,” in case he was interested. “I’m Xavier, by the way. Good to meet you.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2024 8:40 pm
Elliot beamed and lowered his arm but accepted the book to look it over. As he examined it, he moved to the top of the stairs so they were on equal ground. “This looks neat. I’m Elliot. It’s good to meet you, too. Officially. I think I’ve seen you around before?”
But the Gallo parties were always so big, and everyone was always moving around.
“Is it a scary book? I don’t mind that in my books, but I like to read them with my–have you met Atticus? Michael’s son? I mean,” he seemed pleased with himself, and since they were in school he corrected, “Mr. Gallo’s son.”
Elliot had examined the front and back of the book and then handed it back respectfully. “I like to pick out books we can read together, but he doesn’t like anything that’s too stressful.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2024 10:44 pm
A knowing smirk tugged up the corners of his lips, and Xavier nodded. “At a family party, right?” he half-confirmed, because he wasn’t absolutely certain but he had a good feeling it was at one of those.
“I don’t know about scary, as in horror-scary, but it has its moments of the thriller-suspense kind of scary, if that makes sense?” He scrunched his brows and adjusted his glasses–a habit he had when he was deeply focused or just thinking really hard about something. “I think…maybe it’s the same kinda feeling you get when you’re watching a show and someone gets shot at from somewhere but you don’t know exactly where?” he offered, hoping that would get his meaning across a bit better.
“But it’s mostly puzzle-solving and intrigue, so I think it’s a ‘no’ as far as scary goes. And yeah, I know him,” he said, stumbling a bit. “At least I think I do. My parents keep telling me to stop reading so much at the family parties, but I figure I socialize enough at school, y’know?”
It wasn’t a great excuse, but it worked for him. Social as he was, he was more a believer in the Icelandic holiday tradition of gifting books and spending the evening reading, as opposed to their family holiday parties. Now, he loved his family as much as the next person, but those parties tended to be big and had the potential to be very, very exhausting if he wasn’t careful.
He took the book back, a friendly, understanding smile on his face. Everyone had their own preferences when it came to anything, and it was kinda nice to see someone being so thoughtful toward a member of his family. “I don’t think it’s too stressful. Maybe give book one a shot and see how he feels?”
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2024 3:24 pm
Elliot laughed warmly. “That’s good advice, I’ll have to pick it up and give it a go, thanks.” He could always read ahead if he needed to make sure something wasn’t going to be too startling. Or ask his dad to read the book first so he and Atticus could still read it together.
“Maybe at the next party, Atticus and I can come bother you? We won’t mind if you want to read instead.” Not that Elliot wanted to bombard Xavier with conversation about Atticus but he added, “Sometimes it’s so busy and loud so we like to slip away for a little bit. If you ever need a break from it all, we’ve got your back.”
Elliot could have talked up a storm with anyone he ever met, and Michael had given him a good impression of the Gallos from an early age so he felt comfortable around any of them. He didn’t know Xavier but it felt like bumping into an old friend, anyway.
“I’m glad you wound up at Azure! Maybe we can hang out sometime? No pressure, especially if you’re already socializing enough! I won’t keep you from your books when you want to read. As long as you recommend the good ones to me, deal?”
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2024 10:24 pm
”Yeah, definitely!” the teen said without any hesitation, his eyes going wide, a glimmer of excitement now very visible in them. Half of his desire to bury himself inside a book at those parties was the sheer magnitude of them. If he took the time to go around and greet each and every guest, it’d never end and he’d never get a moment of peace! But having one or two people he could reliably go to for some good company and being given a free pass to read while with them if that was what he wanted to do?
Bet.
“Seriously, if you see me at one of those things, just come get me. Chances are I’ll have my nose in a book so you might literally have to come and get me. If you can't or would rather not, no worries, but feel free to! I won't get mad, promise.”
It never took long for Xavier to warm to anyone new, and it helped that Elliot seemed to be a kindred spirit, with his equally friendly demeanor. They may have just officially met, but it did feel like they were two old friends just catching up.
“Oh, same,” he said with a little laugh, sounding more tense than he would have liked. He’d actually been nervous about the possibility of not getting in. Not that he wasn’t confident, but there was still a chance.
“And I mean, if you guys don’t mind me tagging along? It’ll probably take a while for everybody to settle into their groups.” He shrugged at that, still all smiles. He wasn’t one to settle into just one of those, and in fact he liked the idea of being able to go between them.
“But it’d be kinda nice to be around people I’m already comfortable with while I get used to things here, y’know? Either way, don’t even worry about those book recommendations.” The blonde gave a very confident, almost arrogant nod–playful, to a degree, but arrogant all the same.
“I got you.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2024 9:07 pm
Elliot laughed brightly, obviously fond of the confident air Xavier donned when talking about the books. “All right! I’ll hold you do it! And, for sure, I’ll introduce you to everyone. I’ve got a pretty eclectic group of friends, but that just means you’ll have a lot of different people to get along with!” No pressure, obviously. Elliot thought highly of his friends, and even if he had a few different circles, he was undeniably closer with some than others.
Not that they could say the things that brought most of them together or kept them close was the fact that they were Knights, or close to a Knight.
“Azure’s a pretty easy place. I mean, there’s definitely some people who are, hm, a little more involved in themselves than they should be, but for the most part, I think it’s my favorite school. But my parents work here, so maybe people are just nicer to me because they’re never too far.” He laughed, but it seemed like he was genuinely amused by the idea of his parents having to step in for him. “Are you taking any class with ‘Mr. Reid’? There’s two of them, one teaches math and one teaches english. You’re a freshman, so maybe you’ve got one for Algebra 1? But you might only see the other Mr. Reid if you’re taking the Language Arts elective.” He shrugged. “Anyway, those are my parents. Want a copy of the math test?” he asked, feigning as if he were going to pass it over. “No, I’m just kidding. He doesn’t give tests for the first three weeks, this is just some worksheets.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2024 9:04 pm
”You’re on! I’m looking forward to meeting ‘em.” Xavier looked positively excited at the prospect of meeting some new friends, actually. Of course he had his worries about possibly not fitting in with them, but he had a pretty good feeling about finding a friend in Elliot. At this point, he could only hope it translated over to the rest of the group.
“I…” Yeah, he’d heard the rumors and seen the truth behind it on his first day there, but he shrugged it off. “Think I’ll just focus on the positives, too, mostly. Plus I’ve got family here, too. Not my parents, but Mi–Mr. Gallo and Atticus, are family, right?”
Reaching over, he gave the other teen a friendly pat on the arm and grinned wide. “Frankly, I think if you’re coming to the family parties you’re probably considered family, too. So I’ve got a good feeling about the place overall.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2024 8:08 pm
Elliot laughed warmly and nodded. “I like the way you think. I’m pretty sure I'm going to marry Atticus too, so give me a few years and we’ll be family on paper, too!”
He might have liked to tease about a great number of things, but he seemed fairly confident that was his path moving forward. After all, his parents had met in high school and were still happily married, so why shouldn’t he?
Not that a piece of paper really determined ‘family’. Michael had been his godfather for longer than he’d understood what that meant, and Claire was practically his grandmother, too.
“Atticus and I try not to be too gross about it in public but,” he shrugged. “I’m excited to tell him I ran into you. And that we got a book recommendation out of it. There’s a lot of positives about Azure. I think the first year is the hardest, because you have to get used to the workload? But if you ever want a study buddy or just someone to hang out with while you do homework, I’m usually here for a while. I do baseball and track throughout the year, and I’m on the debate team, but Atticus and I and some of our friends usually try to get our homework done early so we can enjoy the rest of the night stress free.”
Well, as ‘stress free’ as chasing youma and fighting the Negaverse was, at least. Elliot’s smile never faltered.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:43 pm
”Lookin’ forward to that,” he grinned, a little surprised to hear about potentially far-off plans like marriage coming from someone pretty close to him in age. Not that it was a bad thing, Xavier just didn’t think it was all that common outside of books and movies. But it was definitely nice to see! Far as he was concerned, any family that Elliot joined was a lucky one, indeed. “Your wedding and becoming a legal relative, but also to having study buddies. I’m not a bad student, but I know I’m gonna need help at some point.”
Even if they were all doing their own homework, it was nice to have people nearby to commiserate with, or to discuss with or ask help from, so the load of homework generally becomes lighter overall. Going back to Atticus, though, the teen pulled on a thoughtful expression.
“Hey, maybe we can surprise him or something. Not sure if he’s into surprises, but if he is!” He nodded at the papers Elliot was holding. “Were you gonna go see him after you drop those off?”
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2024 11:08 am
“He likes good surprises,” Elliot said brightly. “As long as they’re gentle and not loud. I think he’ll either be in Michael’s classroom or with my parents, do you want to come with me? They’re all pretty close, we could go visit! I’m sure he’d be glad to see you, you’re definitely a good surprise. It’s just down this way, the room I’d headed to is closest.”
He adjusted the papers in his arms and seemed to be in a better mood than before. “Have you visited Michael yet or is it weird? I mean, on one hand, I get it. It’s kind of weird to be in any area with family? But on the other hand, I was hanging out here before I was even going to school so by the time I wound up at Azure there was no way I was going to feel out of place here.”
He waited by the top of the stairs but there was no pressure in his invitation. He seemed like he was happy to have company but if Xavier was busy or shy at the prospect of running into a few teachers, he wasn’t going to push him.
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Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2024 5:19 pm
”Yeah, visiting sounds like fun!” came a quick and energetic reply. Xavier wasn’t one to shy away from or even really be scared of teachers; he had nothing against them, they were just doing their job. Some quite less kindly than others, sure, but being a pretty decent student had mostly kept those teachers from targeting him, specifically.
“I haven’t actually swung by yet, so I probably should. Not ‘cause it’s weird or anything, I just…haven’t…really thought about it.
Xavier laughed jovially at that as he moved to stand beside Elliot, noting the significant height difference with a curious blink. He blinked once, then tucked the fact that he noticed the difference away as a quiet hope to have some kind of a growth spurt sooner rather than later.
“Lead the way!”
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