Chapter 11

"Please hold still." Oz moved far faster than he'd ever expected someone on this world. He splayed his legs into a fighting stance, flipping his cane up and grabbing the bottom end, twisting his wrist under to hold the cane flush with his left arm, and spun around, bending his arm so that the top of his cane poked out from under his elbow, and he slammed the top into Xavier's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him, then shifting his weight onto his other foot and turning his body again, grabbing Xavier's entire face with his right hand and straining himself a bit magically... All in all this maneuver took roughly one second. But other than having the wind knocked out of him, Xavier was entirely unharmed. He knew he should have felt pain from everything that had just happened, when he remembered to breathe again it was slow and deliberate. He quickly looked around and had a small laugh.

"you're fast, faster than... hell i'd put you in about 5th place, without counting time shenanigans," He laughed this off as he attempted to get back onto his feet. Everyone else in the room was MORTIFIED. Even Qrow rushed to Xavier's side to help him up.... From the absolute silence to the expressions on everyone's faces. Even a quirked eyebrow from Ozpin himself, it's clear that whatever that move he tried to do was... Meant instantaneous death. Which Xavier managed to avoid somehow. "...what? what's everyone so terrified of?" Something he didn't expect most people to understand was the rush of finding a good opponent, of actually losing a fight to a superior force. Now he knew that was possible here from at least one man, and it was beyond exhilarating. However, it seemed that no one shared his enthusiasm about the potential demise.

Ozpin took a deep breath, and let out a sigh. "That ability is not one I use often. It allows me to rip the aura... the soul... entirely out of a person, destroy it, and supplement my own with its power." He pushed his glasses up, hiding his eyes. "Naturally this causes instant, often violent death. Unless the person I use it on happens to have no Aura whatsoever."

And like that, Xavier's expression matched many others in the room, the consequences of that particular set of actions seeming to set in after a moment of dead silence. "huh... i’ve known of a destroyer of souls, his power could- ...if that would have worked, i may not have come back,"

"What you call a soul and what we call Aura are different concepts entirely then." Qrow laughed a bit. "Better keep away from Ironwood or he'll want to dissect ya."

Ironwood rubbed his chin a bit, not catching Qrow's last quip which he seemed to be replying to. "Yes, that's true... Though Aura is still not well understood, I think we can say for certain you're an outsider to our world due to your complete lack of it. And I don't think any of us need much more proof. Though I can think of several more experiments for it."

Oh boy did that not bode well with context, Xavier cleared his throat, the color fading from his face. "well if i leave behind a corpse at any point you can have dibs," He seemed a bit tense, but would become more relaxed after a moment, realizing that the immediate danger had passed. "...alright, if my side of things is done for now i've got an important question for all of you,"

Everyone glanced around at Ozpin, who nodded a bit, confirming the switch of focus... But before that. "Miss Schnee, You are excused." Ironwood stated bluntly without looking at his subordinate.

"What..? Sir, I-"

"That is an order. You know there are things you're not allowed to hear yet. Leave."

...She glanced over at Xavier, only to see Qrow giving a mocking small wave to her. She grit her teeth. "Yes, sir. Thank you." With that, she walked out of the room as quickly as she could. Giving the best possible physical metaphor for someone with a literal stick up their ass, based on the way she walked. Xavier had noticed the somewhat awkward gait, giving a bit of a knowing look but keeping his mouth shut until he knew he could speak again.

"...i'm guessing you've already figured out what my first question is then, or at least one of them,"

Glynda nodded. "For the record, please proceed with asking anyway."

Qrow scoffed. "As if any of this is on record..."

Xavier paused for a brief moment, almost getting a laugh from that, before asking. "these monsters you train kids to kill, grimm, what the hell... are they? i've never seen anything like them before,"

That got a laugh out of Qrow. "What? Aura and Semblances you can handwave as some alien stuff from another world, but it's the Grimm that catch your eye?"

Xavier shrugged. "considering the variety basket of powers me and my friends had, yes"

Glynda cleared her throat, giving the official story for the time being. "Long ago, Man was risen from the ashes of the earth by a God of pure light. Envious of his creation, his younger brother, a God made of pure darkness, created the Grimm. Creatures with no Aura, who constantly seek it out to destroy it in all it's forms." She straightened her glasses. "That's the fairy tale origins of them, at least. Their true origin is unknown, but what is obvious is that Grimm are more often than not highly aggressive creatures, especially towards humans and their creations. Weapons and airships and cities are targeted just as often as humans and faunus themselves. The Creatures of Grimm naturally pose huge threats to both individuals and society at large, so we train warriors to hunt them down, and build walls to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

He paused thoughtfully at the explanation, considering the pros and cons of this entire system as well as the necessity, however... "...that's very noble of you, from my experience these things usually have at least one entity that controls them, or at least keeps making them, but that's neither here nor there..." He paused in consideration, but knew his next question nearly right away. "oh, ironwood, something to test maybe, what is this dust stuff? during a uh, sparring... lecture... let's go with that, i found out that the stuff charged with gravitic power nullified an antigravity field i set up,"

Ironwood was more than prepared for that question. "Dust is found and mined from the earth in vast quantities. It's a nonrenewable resource that powers everything we've got. From the lights on the streets to the stove in our homes. The rarest form of dust is Gravity, one of the 8 basic elements alongside Fire, Ice, Electricity, Wind, Water, Rock, and Plant." He nodded, standing up straight as he spoke. "Gravity dust can be used to manipulate gravity in several very complex ways, including increasing the gravity around a bullet to effectively drag it's targets towards it, causing it to move faster." He rubbed his chin again. "Supposing a gravity bullet came into contact with an Anti-gravity shield designed to stop bullets... I suppose it would simply pierce through as though it were a regular bullet, counteracting the force. Or perhaps slowing but not stopping based on the amount of anti... or rather counter-gravity that was applied."

"the former over the latter in my... admittedly limited experience,” Xavier couldn’t help but crack a smile at the memory. “...well, i'll be honest, that was most of what i needed to know, there's alot that i'm sure you all can't tell me," He gave Ozpin a knowing smile. "especially you, ...but, to get the rest of the basics out of the way, i don't have any enemies after me, none of my old friends would be able to find me, and only me and my partner are traipsing around the cosmos as the rest who are still presumably alive just... are living their lives, probably done with the crazy adventures,"

Ironwood seemed a bit relieved to hear that, however, he furrowed his brow after considering something. "A better question is... For having been shot with a gravity bullet without an Aura... didn't that hurt?" Glynda snorted a little at how unspecialized his language was for that last sentence.

Xavier laughed a bit, finally breaking his mask. "my clothes took the impact, what hurt was getting smashed through the floor by a hammer right after,"

Qrow scoffed a bit, not believing that very much. "So... Even without any Aura, you can withstand blows from Huntsman in training? Including bullets? ...So if I shot you in the shoulder right now, you're telling me it wouldn't just incapacitate you like any helpless civilian?"

Xavier nodded, pulling his shirt out a bit for emphasis. "that's pretty much it, this is called the spiral overcoat, it's... a piece of the fabric of my reality, it's capable of withstanding any level of heat, cold, blunt force trauma or... well, most things, but any edged weapon from glass to a razor will cut right through it, i suppose the fabric of reality is still fabric in a way,"

Everyone seemed to baulk at that notion, but Glynda especially sounded disbelieving. "All that and a sword is all it takes?" She shook her head a bit. "Alright, i think we're done he-"

Ozpin cut her off by raising his hand. "One... last thing..."

"alright, shoot..." Xavier gave Glynda a knowing shrug, it was ridiculous, he warned her.

Ozpin took a seat once more as he spoke. "The Rogue of Space, you said, essentially means the Borrower of Creation... In that way, you could say I have something very, very similar."

Xavier gave a slight smile. "...no kidding?" Ozpin now had his undivided attention.

"I'd like to test how your powers work in the absence of knowledge." He smiled a bit, resting both hands on his cane. "Please borrow my creation, now."

Xavier raised a brow. "...so you mean to borrow some of your aura? the essence of your soul as your creation or am i missing something here?" He wasn't sure that he could absorb such a form of energy in the first place, maybe a Rogue of Heart but not Space.

Ozpin shook his head a bit. "That is definitely not what I was referring to. I'll ask again. I would like you to borrow the creation which was given to me."

"..." Xavier paused, handing the emerald back. "you... you really want me to do that? are you sure?" He was very serious in his expression, wondering if Ozpin actually knew what he was asking for.

"Well, if you believe that what I'm asking you to do would bring harm to me, then I think that your assessment of my request would once again be incorrect." Ozpin would once more grab his mug. A sign that things had well and truly cooled down, but the expressions of the others were a mix of alarm and, in one particular case, anger.

Xavier thought it over for a silent moment before shaking his head. "...then i'm afraid i don't quite understand, this might be a different universe lost in translation type thing but, yeah..." He said while making a plodding gesture. "...what exactly are you asking of me?"

Ironwood immediately interjected. "Oz if you let him do that you will be jeopardizing everything we've-"

"I was simply testing him, James." Ozpin turned to Xavier with a smile. "It appears that your powers are in fact limited by what you know. This is a tremendous weight off of all of our minds, Xavier. At the very least you pose far less of a threat to us than we feared."

Xavier chuckled a bit. "know what? i'll take it..." He looked to Glynda, then Qrow, then Ironwood. "...are you satisfied? i don't mean to sound like an ass, but i know that you've been just shy of an altercation since this meeting started,"

As soon as he said that, everyone in the room relaxed, though Ozpin had an amused expression. "Ah, so you noticed?" He tapped the bottom of the cup with his cane as a bit of red dust flashed along the rim, steam rising from the cup before he sipped it. "Yes, I had instructed Miss Goodwitch, Mr. Branwen, and General Ironwood to attack you the moment you succeeded in this challenge. As I am aware it wouldn't have truly killed you, it would have been best to remove you from our world as soon as possible, and make sure you never returned." He flashed a smile. "Thankfully it won't come to that."

Xavier paused in thought for a moment. "i'm guessing whatever you were trying to test is something that can be given willingly then, meaning you're not immortal, but reincarnating?"

Oz simply laughed. The boy had hit a strike, in the lane on the other end of the alley, not even swaying one of the correct pins... "No, no nothing like that. What I was referring to is a physical object. But again, I'll tell you no more. I think it's late enough for you to head back to your room."

That got a smile from Xavier. "if i'm formally dismissed... i could use a nap," He sighed, something beyond exhausted now. "i hope to see you all again under better circumstances," He gave a wave as he got onto the elevator and began to leave, he felt a weight leave his shoulders. The sun had already gone down and the halls were mostly quiet, that whole ordeal took longer than he expected. But there may have been time for a little stress release before bed. He went outside in the courtyard, and lit up a smoke at the first place he figured he could get away with it.

The last airship up from the city appeared, letting a bunch of sad, tired students back up into the front courtyard for sleep before school began anew on Monday Among the group was a sleepy looking Belladonna... who spotted him off on his own... and began approaching! Lost in a haze of events, Xavier was staring right up at the stars for comfort... He didn't notice until it was too late. Mid-puff, he saw her coming right up to him and choked a bit. Hopefully that would have been enough of an ice breaker. Blake at least was willing to speak. "H-hey..." She sat right next to him. Her ribbon back on her head for now as she sighed... not looking at him still.

He crushed out his smoke and tried to look at her for a brief moment before looking back up at the sky, genuinely admiring the view. "...hey," He seemed to be smiling, if nothing else.

"I... I tried texting you, but..." She sighed. "W-we need to talk." Xavier seemed willing, but Blake took a deep breath and shook her head. "Not here... C-can we go to your room?"

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"uh-" He hesitated, but soon nodded. "alright..." He wanted to make a joke, but could practically feel how thin this ice was. He would try to make sure they weren't followed as he led Blake back to his dorm. The walk was entirely silent, incredibly awkward, and the only saving grace was that no one around seemed to be paying attention to either of them as they made their way to the smallest wing of the school.

Once inside, she collapsed onto his bed. Sighing hard as she put her hands on her face... "I-I'm sorry..."

He would carefully close the door before taking a seat in his desk chair. "...why are you apologizing? y-" He wanted to say she had nothing to be sorry for, but, she probably had something he didn't know about. Something that she immediately made clear.

"B-because... I let myself lose control." She sighed, sitting up on his bed, but facing the wall to avoid eye contact. "Um... I-I don't really know where to start."

Xavier interjected immediately to avoid an awkward silence. "i'm just as guilty, i could've fought harder instead of caving like that..." There was a genuine guilt in his voice as he looked down to the floor. "...are you okay?"

Blake's fists clenched, holding onto his blankets. "I... I don't know. In some ways, yes. In others no..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I... It's not like I regret it but... We shouldn't have..."

"yeah... just glad you had protection," Despite his tone, that wasn't a joke whatsoever. "...can ...i ask you something?"

Blake actually looked him in the eyes when he asked that. "Wh-what?" She tensed up, her voice a bit shaky.

The surprise of her golden eyes looking into his own caused him to stammer out the awkwardly worded question... "do you maybe... want to try again, but, start over?"

Oh god... oh god oh god oh god man, terrible TERRIBLE PHRASING! She spun around, her face dark red as she stared at him, scooting back so her back was against the wall, her hands shooting to cover her most sensitive areas despite being clothed. "I-I LITERALLY CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD SAY THAT RIGHT NOW, YOU PERVERT!!!"

"huh-" ...Xavier sat slack-jawed for a moment as soon as he realized what exactly left his mouth, and soon brought his palm to his face. Followed by the other one, and giving a deep sigh. "not- not that, i meant us... gods above i know i'm terrible at this but that was a new record of fuckup,"

Blake's ears immediately dropped as she had her own realization. "O-oh... Um..." She cleared her throat, spinning back around to hide her face again. "S-sorry for yelling..." Start over, huh? She thought about it... "I... I don't know. I-I know it's my fault but... I-it's been so long since we talked."

"no, no that one was my fault..." He honestly had a laugh about that, realizing just how stupid the whole thing was up to this point. "...i know we haven't been able to talk, i don't blame you for avoiding me, but... i like you, and, not for the reason i thought... if you don't want to, i get it, if you need more time to think, i don't need an answer now,"

"It's... not just that." Blake quickly managed out before she sighed. "I-I know it's on your mind, so... I don't want to not talk about it." She glanced back at him, hoping he wasn't mad... before pulling his blanket up over her head to hide under it for extra protection. "There's... S-sun."

And on with the poker face to hide a spark of clown-level rage, but a deep breath cooled that. "the blond guy from the other day, yeah... kind of obnoxious," Pot, meet kettle. "but um, what about him?"

"Well..." She sighed, fidgeting a little bit. "I don't know... I-It's not that I'm in love with him now or anything but... I-it complicates things, you know? That's... That's why I can't give you a straight answer..."

Xavier's face didn't portray much of an expression as he simply said "ah," This was another tricky situation... "i get it, i'm not gonna get all jealous or possessive or yell, it's not like we're official but, um... maybe we could... hang out later?"

"That... Sh-should be okay, I guess..." She sighed, pulling the blanket around her tighter. "Wh-what about Yang?"

Xavier gave a slight chuckle, seeming to have an answer immediately. "we're hanging out, bonding over a mutual love of terrible movies... please tell me you haven't heard anything, i'm still not sure if she was going to start that rumor," He was already exhausted, and it was evident in his voice as such a rumor was really the last thing he needed, fortunately it seemed like Blake was clueless as to what he meant.

"She told me the same..." She sighed a bit, trusting her friends. "Alright... Um... D-do you have anything more to say?"

"...yes, but, ...nothing that would make sense," He sighed before gently pulling the blanket off just enough to see her eyes underneath, he hesitated once more, but gave a soft, sincere smile. "...you know, even if this doesn't work out, i still want to be your friend,"

"What do you mean..?" She glanced back at him for just one more second...

"..." He shakes his head a bit. "...blake, haven't you noticed how strange i am? what i can do? i'm... not from around here,"

She finally looked back to him for a moment. "Neither am I... That doesn't bother me."

"no, i don't mean from another country..." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, though decided it may be best to be direct. "i just cleared the air to alot of stiffs and higher ups, so, i figure i may as well start sharing with the people who are actually close to me, but... it may not make sense,"

Blake actually cracked a bit of a smile. "No, I get it... You told me your semblance was telekinesis. Ruby said it was teleportation. It was kind of obvious you were... Hiding something."

Xavier was struck silent for a brief moment, it seemed Ozpin was right. He figured he may as well get the hard one out of the way. "okay so, first and craziest... i'm still human but i'm from another planet, called earth, it... doesn't exist anymore,"

Blake actually giggled a bit at that... Before seeing his serious expression and getting a bit nervous. "N-not to be rude or anything..." She gulped. "But what does this... have to do with us?"

Xavier really couldn't stop himself once he started talking again. "...well, before diving into my tragic backstory™ i just... okay, full disclosure, i really like this world, it's already felt more like home than anywhere else, and well... i've met people that remind me so much of dear friends that i'll never see again, you were one of them, it... occurred to me that might have been why i liked you, but... that's not it, ...i'm rambling aren't i?”

"A little." She laughed a bit before awkwardly starting to pull the blanket off of herself.

Xavier also got a bit of a laugh from the awkwardness in the air. "but... i figured at some point i'd have to be completely honest with you, especially if ...we work out,"

Blake seemed to deflate a bit as she looked down once again. "I... Understand." She grasped the blanket tightly in both hands. "...You're ...Actually an alien?" She seemed honestly ready to believe it from what she had seen.

Xavier shrugged a bit. "i mean, i'm still human just... does that even count?" It seemed neither of them had an answer for that, but instead, the awkwardness seemed to boil over and they both began to laugh... A laugh that lasted awhile until their sides were hurting. Blake found herself lounging a bit more, far more comfortable than when she originally entered the room, though Xavier stayed upright. "...trust me, if you can accept that about me, i'm more than willing to listen to your plight,"

Blake hesitated a bit... But he wasn't the only one that had revealed everything to close strangers recently. She felt herself stalling right out of the gate. "I... I don't know how much you'll even understand... You're not from here, right?"

Xavier shook his head. "maybe, but you'd be surprised how much life experience i have..."

Blake seemed to steel herself as best as she could. "Well... I'll just pour it out and you can ask questions, okay?"

Xavier nodded. "sounds reasonable," And that was the last of anything that resembled a joke that came out of him.

"I was raised as... I-I guess a p-princess." Blake began with a blush, hiding her face with her hands. "My father was the leader of the nation of the Faunus, Menagerie. It was um... An inhospitable island to the southeast, where many of us were chased out to when Humans stopped putting up with us... and then others came by choice."

Some things didn't change it seemed. He'd picked up that Faunus were often treated as second class citizens but that was something else. Besides... Menagerie, that was one helluva name. "i won't start calling you princess unless you want me to," Okay, maybe one small joke, but hopefully that would be a bit of reassurance.

Blake shook her head a bit. "I... I gave it up. There was a group of Faunus called the White Fang. Who fought for equality. My parents were their leaders, before... Something happened. During a protest, a few Humans were killed while trying to suppress us. And my Father denounced the White Fang as terrorists, and claimed that Menagerie was to be ruled with a message of peace... I thought he was being too weak..." She took a deep breath and let it out. "They were only killed because they were attacking us... A-and we'd lost thousands. It... It didn't seem fair." She sighed, rolling over so her back was facing him now. Bending her knees a bit to relax. "So... I ran away from home. There were more than a handful of Faunus who lived homeless, even on Menagerie. So... they took care of me. I was only 9 years old back then, so I was younger than anyone else who had dedicated my life to the cause." She gulped a bit. "Eventually... When I was able to take care of myself, they brought me to the mainland to participate in active protests. That's where I met..." She trailed off, rubbing her eyes to dry them, but tears wouldn't stop.

She met someone who obviously hurt her alot... He would grasp one of her hands, and she would squeeze his in turn. Hard. "if... you don't want to continue, that's fine," This was obviously a story that would hurt more and more whenever it was told. But Blake continued, looking Xavier directly in the eyes as she spoke, there was a purpose in her stare that he hadn't seen from Blake before.

"His... His name was Adam Taurus." She took a deep breath, there was an uncharacteristic venom to her voice. As she continued, she spoke with a fury of a woman truly scorned. "He taught me how to fight... Told me we'd take equality directly to the people who needed it the most... We started..." She took another deep breath, trying to steady herself. "We acted like bandits, you know? Attacking mines where Faunus were used unfairly for dangerous jobs... hijacking trains full of dust, kidnapping officials involved in the companies... Th-th-things like that..." Some would call that terrorism, others a righteous cause. Xavier... Couldn't form any strong opinions one way or another. Though as he looked into Blake's eyes, he saw they were full of regret and sadness, red and swollen already from crying... she hated that he saw that, feeling it in his face, and wanted nothing more than to hide her own. She closed her eyes briefly before managing to look up at him once more. "He... I... I thought that he... h-had the strength to do what needed to be done. I thought that... he wasn't afraid of evening the odds, no matter how hard it got... I... I loved him... I loved him so, SO much..."

And there it was, someone that she couldn't imagine her life without. She hurt without him even now, and he could tell. He wondered if she broke down like this when she spoke to Sun... But, that wasn't necessary now. "so... what happened?" He waited a few minutes before asking, and wondered if she had the will to continue.

"We..." She shook her head a bit, sparing herself the messy details... "We started going too far... We went from pushing back people who were accepting money to beat us... To taking down people who were only being paid to protect others. To... Raising our weapons on people who just wanted to get away from us... He didn't want to save Faunus from suffering... H-he wanted to make Humans suffer... So... I came here. I... I'll never... NEVER be able to make things right, but... B-being a huntress is all I can do to... to try and help the people I hurt."

He considered her perspective, it wasn't invalid, he felt that... there must have been more, but he didn't know enough to make suggestions. "...you were right, i don't understand your struggle from a personal perspective, but ...i understand how you feel, looking back on things wondering if there's anything that could have gone different, something that could have changed..." He sighed. "...you're going to make an excellent huntress, but don't back yourself into a corner by believing you aren't capable,"

"I... I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." She sniffled, rubbing her eyes to dry her tears, but openly sobbing now. "There's... th-the reason... I'm sorry..." She had more to say, but it was getting hard.

And now, now she deserved more. If nothing else, he hoped knowing that she wasn't alone in this moment would help, and he embraced her warmly. The position may have been a bit awkward since she was laying down, but still. "it's okay... you don't have anything to be sorry about to me,"

"Y-yes I do!" She scooted away from him a bit, sitting up and facing him... looking down towards his face, sitting together with him in the same bed... Her face was dark red as tears streamed down her face.... He spooked it out of her. "I-I only slept with you because of the way he treated me! The way... h-he u-used me..." She pulled her turtleneck over her face, balling her hands into fists as she held the neck part... She wanted to just stop existing for a while... Eventually she took a few deep breaths, pressing her hands against her mouth through her sweater and screaming for a short while, before pulling her turtleneck back down to look him in the eyes... Red, swollen, exhausted, guilty... But not crying anymore. "That... That's why I'm sorry... I... It's not that I don't like you, I... I do like you... but... I-I needed to apologize for u-using you like that... I-it was a c-carnal hole left in my life, and... a-a remnant of him that I wanted control over, and I wanted gone... A-and I used you to do that when... wh-when I shouldn't have. So... L-let me apologize."

"..." He slowly nodded, fighting every instinct to try and make it better, to say he wanted it too, or worse, but if this would let her feel better. "...okay, i accept your apology," It was admittedly difficult to meet her gaze with his own guilt weighing on him. "...i like you too blake," That... made her break again... Crying as she hugged him. Openly sobbing now as she laid on top of him once again, but this time with pure intent... or, maybe no intent? She was so messed up right now... She was hurting, and he hoped to make her feel better, by being there for her when she needed him. He would hold her as she laid on him, he would keep her close and keep her safe... And now he felt something inside of him, rage. A kind of rage that he hadn't felt for a very long time. Adam Taurus, if they ever met, he could imagine plenty of ways to make this guy hurt. ...That was ...A strange line of thinking, but something in the back of his mind kept up the idea.

Their moment only lasted a minute... She very slowly slipped off to the side, standing on her feet and rubbing her eyes... Bowing her head to him a bit. "I... need sleep..."

Xavier took her hand briefly. He wanted to... to tell her she could stay, that he would keep her safe but... "...will you be okay?"

She blushed a little, only a little. Squeezing his hand. "I'll be okay... My team knows."

Xavier nodded, and there was a long silence between them before Xavier cautiously reached up. Blake tightly squeezed his hand as the other approached her face, she hesitated, shaking a bit, ...But soon leaned into his touch as he carefully caressed her cheek, wiping away her tears as they came. Blake gave a soft smile and planted a kiss on his hand as he pulled it away. Wordlessly, she would turn to leave, giving Xavier a warm smile before closing the door.