Greenhouse || Xavier Thorpe x Male Reader

winter grass || chapter 9

a quote to summarize what i want the vibe of arc 2 to be

"You could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand."
-Aristotle And Dante (Benjamin Alire Sáenz)

 It's been about a week since the island stakeout. Yesterday, Sheriff Galpin informed us about Rowan's condition. He's been moved to a high-security prison meant for outcasts. It hasn't been used in a few decades, but after his confession they realized there was no other place he could be. According to Galpin, the story went roughly like this.

After a session with Dr. Kinbott, she told him she was worried about his mental health. His telekenisis was putting it in a 'deteriorating state', and that angered him. He ran away and soon realized he wouldn't be able to survive on his own, so he found a woman that agreed to take him in. She was an outcast as well, but her morals were aligned to the murderous side. She trained him in his powers, and they began to plot his revenge.

Rowan snuck in at the end of the last school year and spent the summer cultivating oleander on Raven Island. Then, on the first day of this semester, the woman snuck in and they made camp on the island. He began to kidnap people, normies, from Jericho and mess with their brains by cutting of part of their circulation with a nonlethal dose of oleander. After ten minutes without oxygen, your brain begins to collapse, or deteriorate.

Sheriff Galpin has him on record, saying, "I wanted to show that [redacted] what a truly deteriorating brain looked like."

People were beginning to notice him, so he broke into Nevermore to get the robe from under my bed. It was then he learned Xavier had a new roommate. They were never close, but the idea of being replaced infuriated him even more. He asked his companion how she felt about taking the next kidnapping further, but she told him homicide was acceptable, to her, only for the guilty. She was buried under the rock Wednesday and Eugene hid behind.

It was at this point that Wednesday had decided on the stakeout. He hadn't heard us at all until we came searching for her, and then he realized we knew. But he was overwhelmed by the amount of us and lost control, causing the wave of his power that slammed me into the tree. The rest we already knew.

The police force has been combing Raven Island diligently, pulling up the beds of oleander and digging up the woman's body. Her face was unrecognizable. Xavier and I have spent more time together either in the greenhouse, his art shed, or Jericho. Wednesday and Enid have been rebuilding the bricks of their relationship after the investigation put too much strain on it. Everything is going back to normal after a single week turned everything upside down.

~=~

"You really need to sell some of these on Outreach Day," I tell Xavier as we sort through the piles of paintings in his shed.

"Are you saying they're good or that I have too many?" he asks jokingly.

"Both. How did you keep them in here for so long without having the shed explode?"

"I don't honestly know. We can put them in a pile over there, though," he says, pointing to a stack of landscape paintings. "Weems said she'd arrange transportation."

We move the dozens of paintings onto the growing pile. Landscapes, mystical dream-like drawings, and even a couple of paintings of Jericho make up the stock for Outreach Day.

"You finished arranging your flowers yesterday, right?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah. I'll need to set up pretty early, though. Arrangements don't travel well," I respond.

"I'll help. Is the beekeeping club selling their honey?"

"Mmm. Eugene is manning the stand, Weems said Wednesday might discourage customers. She'll be playing cello in the background. What about your Advance Art class?"

"Nah, since I'm the only one in there that actually has an ability related to art, they just do something else. I think they designed banners," he explains.

"Fair. Eugene was so excited that the beekeeping club qualified, but because his powers are control over bees, it just made it in," I tell him.

Weems knocks at the shed door as we're finishing up. Xavier lets her in.

"Oh, [Y/N], hello. I imagine you've been helping sort through paintings?" She asks. "That's good. Outreach day is at hand, and tomorrow we'll be in the center of Jericho. Xavier, a truck will pick up your paintings tomorrow, and I've arranged for a similar transport for your flowers, [Y/N]."

She looks around once more before leaving. We follow her out, but walk to the greenhouse instead to prepare the plants for the festival.

~=~

The next morning, I change into our uniform and head down to the greenhouse. As promised, a truck waits outside. The driver nods at me as I unlock the door and put plants in the bed of the truck.

"Principal Weems has told me to take you to Jericho as well. She wants us all there early so we can set up."

I nod and get in the passenger's seat. The driver turns on the ignition and we drive down to Jericho. When we arrive, I unload the plants and place them on a nearby table. I just unload the last one when Weems walks over to me.

"[Y/N], your booth is over there," she instructs, pointing to a wooden table with 'stairs' to show off plants. I move the plants and begin to fix the arrangements when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you got here okay!" Xavier greets me.

"So did you. Any painting casualties?" I ask. He shakes his head. "Good. The plants are all accounted for as well. Eugene and Wednesday are setting up, and some other kids are as well. Need any help?"

"That would be great, actually. Finish your arrangements first, though."

I do so, and then walk over to his booth where he is displaying all the paintings. We hang them up on metal hooks or lean them on another stair-like display structure. When everything is set up, the Advanced Art group hands everyone signs to hang somewhere on the booths. Once everyone has completed that, Weems instructs us to sit behind our booths. I squeeze Xavier's hand and go to mine.

"Every year, Nevermore has celebrated Outreach Day by doing jobs within the Jericho community. Now, it's Jericho's turn to appreciate Nevermore's hard work at the first-ever Outreach Market!" She informs us. "Everything will open at noon. Us teachers will supervise the booths until then. Feel free to return to Nevermore, but be back at 11:30."

The students move away from the setup, some taking the road back to school but the vast majority heading into the town. Xavier catches up with me as I walk further into the town.

"So, what to you want to do with our two hours?"

"I was thinking we could either wait at the Weathervane or go downtown. No point in going all the way back to Nevermore," I tell him.

"Let's go for a walk," Xavier suggests. I agree and we switch directions to walk by the river. The wind rushes through the trees as the frozen grass crunches under our feet. The river is frozen over and it looks like a sculpture of sorts, stopped in the middle of movement. Suspended in time.

We continue along the river, hand in hand. The quiet, ambient noises of winter surround us, and I get lost in the happiness of a quiet walk with someone you care about.

"Are you okay?" he asks, breaking the silence. "You haven't been talking."

"I'm fine," I tell him earnestly. "I'm just enjoying the winter."

"It is beautiful," he notices. I nod and we fall back into the silence. Over the last week, whenever we've been together, we've talked. About life, about Nevermore, about our friends. The silence is a change, but it doesn't seem like an oppressive silence. More like a conversation spoken without words, but purely in the feeling of joined hands.