Chapter Text
Today is one of those rare days for Xavier. Normally, at this time of hour, he would be out with you to do missions together until late afternoon. But instead he is at home, head resting on Rafayel's lap as the artist sketches in his book.
It has been a week since Rafayel has been injured and his recovery is going well. Thanks to doctor Zayne’s skillful care, the drug that prevented wounds from healing has been drained out of his system. Though the artist’s super fast healing is back and running, the doctor still insisted for him to take a day or two of relaxing at home. And since he knows how restless alone, he told Xavier to keep him company.
At first, he didn't want to accept it. Not because he doesn't want to spend the entire day buddling up with his mate, he would want nothing more than that. It's just that there are many Wanderers out there causing destruction all across Linkon. If he can prevent any more unnecessary deaths then he would do whatever he can to protect those who can't.
But to his surprise, Captain Jenna gave him a day off and told him to come back next week, no less than that, which is a little…suspicious. But he doesn’t dare to question her decision (He learned it the hard way how scary a woman can be).
So, now here he is, enjoying the quiet moment between him and his artist. It’s been so long since he had a moment with just the two of them. When he was the first out of the others who got to Rafayel first, something he can always brag about to the others and is glad he got to experience. The times where it was only the two of them were something Xavier misses. Sometimes, he wishes he could turn back time to experience them again.
“You seem happy there, bunny,” Rafayel said as he looked down at Xavier, a soft smile on his face. “What made you so happy?”
“You” the Hunter bluntly replied, earning a beautiful blush on the artist’s face.
Rafayel huffs and throws his face away from him in an attempt to hide the blush on his face. Xavier let out a small laugh and reached his hand to touch the other’s face.
The artist leans in his touch the second his hand touches his skin, looking like a cat no matter how much he denies it. It’s funny, the person who’s scared of cats is the most cat-like person. Maybe that’s why Zayne can’t stop petting him whenever Rafayel lays on his lap, the ice doctor is the biggest cat lover he has ever met, only second to you.
“You’re so cute” he let the word slip out of his mouth, fully aware of how red the artist’s face is getting. He never gets tired of making him blush.
“Do- don’t just complement me out of nowhere! And don’t give me that damn smile! You will ruin a fish's heart with that smile!”
Xavier smiles at him, eyes feeling a bit heavy. He’s been getting sleepy lately even though he slept more than the others, he made sure of it. So why is he always sleepy…
“Bunny?”
“...”
“Xavie?”
“...”
“Xavier…”
“...”
“...Shi–Zayne!!”
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He's back at the peaceful void again. He's not sure how he can tell it's the void he's been before but he's too tired to figure anything out. The void offers him something rare, peace and silence, far away from the weight of responsibility and expectations on his shoulder. Here, he can let himself rest until eternity, which is forever. Yeah, he can stay here forever.
It's just…there's something missing. He remembers something warm he can't get enough of. What was it again? Did he leave it behind somewhere?
He tries to open his eyes, but his eyes don't want to like there's something blocking his eyes from opening. He knows he needs to keep trying to open his eyes but he's just so tired. He deserves a little rest, right?
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Rafayel is pacing outside the medical wing, biting on his thumb nail until blood is dripping down to keep himself from making any noise.
“Raf, calm down, okay? He won't give up that easily. We're talking about Xavier here. I'm sure he'll wake up soon” you tried to comfort your panicking fish, placing your hand on his shoulder to stop him from pacing.
“But, cutie, what if he–”
“No what ifs, Raf. Xavier will be okay and safe, you have to believe in him” you grab his hands and lead him to sit down on a chair, smoothing his messy hair with your hand.
He looks at you with glassy eyes but you can see that the panic is slowly calming down. He leans in and nuzzles his face to your stomach, pulling you in.
You continue caressing his hair, whispering smoothing words to get him to sleep. And within seconds, the artist is fast asleep in your arms.
You sit on the chair beside him and put his head on your lap to get him more comfy and to also continue to caress his hair in an attempt to ground yourself from your swirling thoughts. You are aware of Xavier's sudden growing tiredness for the past few days. He is the light that shines upon you when you are in your darkest hours. His light never failed to guide you back to home, warm and always present.
And, now that once guiding light is slowly fading in front of you, and you can do nothing about but just watch.
Just then, the door to the medical wing swings open and Zayne walks out of them, taking off his mask.
“How is he, Zayne?” You ask, bracing yourself for any outcome.
“Xavier is physically in a healthy and strong condition but…there is something wrong with his Evol” he answers, looking unsure. “I've run some test on him and the results says that his Evol is drained”
“But he hasn't been using his Evol since morning. How can his Evol be drained?”
“Yes. Normally, with his skill of control, there wouldn't be any problem if he uses his Evol the whole day with a certain limit. But from the tests I ran, his Evol is drained despite not being used”
You take a deep breath, forcing yourself to not panic. Not the time to panic, you remind yourself. Zayne can help Xavier, he's the best doctor you know. But you know he can't cure just everything. He has limits and you know he has hit it.
“He will wake up, right, Zayne?”
“He will,” he answers quickly, too quickly. “Xavier will wake up”. You can tell that he's saying that more to himself to ease his heart. Poor him, he must be feeling helpless since he can't do anything.
You motion your hand to the seat beside you, urging him to sit down. He obeys your command, slumping to the chair and slowly leaning his head to you. You can feel his body relaxes upon your touch, and eventually, he lets himself be taken into the realm of dream.
You let out a sigh of relief. You feel bad for Zayne. You can't imagine having to rush back home in the middle of surgery, not to mention the patient was a child no older than 5. He must have had a big internal battle with himself.
You hope that your knight wakes up soon. You could only imagine your other two lovers' reaction when the news gets to them.
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Xavier wakes up after what feels like a long sleep. His whole body feels heavy and there's a slight headache pounding in his head. When his vision slowly cleared, he could see a familiar white ceiling above him.
He groans and shields his eyes from the harsh light above him, frowning when his body takes too long to respond. He tries to get up with the support of his hand, feeling that he’s been laying for a little too long and his back will experience back pain if he doesn’t move a muscle and let his back rest when suddenly there’s a hand placed on his shoulder, stopping his attempt.
“Don’t get up yet”
He barely registered the words out of the person’s mouth but obeyed the person’s order, laying back down on the bed.
He focused his attention on the person beside him, relieved to find a set of hazel green eyes looking at him.
“Zayne…” he mumbles, wanting to say more but his throat feels dry.
“Don’t talk yet. I’ll adjust the bed so you can drink some water, okay?”
He nods, and lets the doctor do his work. He feels the bed lifts his upper part until he’s in a sitting position. Zayne takes the cup of glass on the bedstand, helping in drinking the water, being careful as to not pour too fast.
“Thank you”
“Don’t mention it” Zayne said, brushing a strain away from his eyes. “Do you need anything else? Do you want me to call the others to tell them you’re awake?”
“Can you stay?” Xavier asks without hesitation. He doesn’t know why but the thought of being left alone makes him uneasy. Maybe it’s because he was alone in that void for who knows how long. He hasn’t asked Zayne how long he slept, fearing it was longer than he expected.
“Of course” the doctor pulled out a chair from below the bed and sat down, gently intertwining their hands together. “I’ll stay for as long as you want”
The hunter smiles and brings their intertwined hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the cold hand. He loves it when the doctor’s ears get red whenever any of them have contact with him. He knows that the doctor never lets himself lose control before them, always maintaining his perfect cold mask to everyone. He admits, the ice he built around himself was a little harder to break than a Wanderer’s shield. It took a lot of patience and gentleness to fully melt the ice away.
Xavier looks at the doctor in front of him and imagines the cold doctor he was before and can’t help but feel proud of both him and the other. They have come a long way since they began. He’s glad he gave them a chance. Imagine if he didn’t give them a chance and continue to carry the burden all by himself, maybe right now he would die because of himself, or he would still search the endless universe for you, alone.
“I love you” he mumbles against the other’s hand, placing another kiss on the hand. “Thank you for taking care of me”
“I will always take care of you, no matter how far you are, I will always rush to you” Zayne huffs a smile and brings their intertwined hand towards him now, kissing the place he kissed him. “And I love you too”
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You sigh for a hundred times and slam your head on the table. This is getting nowhere. You’ve been searching for any information regarding Xavier’s suppressor on his neck for 2 days now and all you got is useless information you already know.
You can feel your anger boiling inside of you from the thought of EVER putting that suppressor on Xavier’s neck. You know it's for his own good, the more he uses his Evol the more he fades to dust, but must the suppressor make your knight sleep for 3 days straight? The suppressor must have more use to EVER than just suppressing his Evol. If he can use his full power, EVER wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
“You good there, pipsqueak?” Caleb pops up from beside you with a tray of food in his hands, wearing nothing but an apron to cover himself. “You haven’t had your dinner”
“Ah, I guess you're right” you mumble and take a sip of your cold coffee, internally cursing at how bad the coffee is. “Thanks for bringing dinner, Cal”
The Colonel smiles and puts the tray on the table. “No prob, pip” he leans down and kisses the crown of your head, patting at the same spot. “Don’t forget to sleep tonight, Raf has been whining about the bed being too big and cold”
You chuckle and return his kiss with one kiss on his cheek. “Okay. I’ll entertain our fishie this night”