2021-02-22 - Dreams Hurt

Xavier had a very rough night. He used to like dreaming! They used to be a wonderful escape from his very droll life, but now they're just painful, in the physical way. Thankfully Turner did some healing on him last night, and his aunt helped this morning by patching him up. He may have cracked a rib, but he's bruised them for sure, and every movement comes with a hiss or groan of pain. Still he was determined to go to work! His aunt Annebelle insisted on driving him, and scolding him all the way there. So by the time he slowly pulls himself painfully out of the car, his aches are not only from the injures, but the headache coming from his aunt.

He's walking slowly and carefully into the bookstore, putting on a pained smile. "Good afternoon!" He says with a pained smile. "Sorry I'm a touch late I had a rough evening last night." Thankfully most of the flesh wounds are hidden with his hair, or under his shirt. "How's business today?"

Within the shop, Elias finishes ringing up a customer and takes the next one. There are a few people in the shop during the day given its the middle of the afternoon and people are coming and going a bit with it being mid-week. He glances over toward Xavier for a moment when he says he had a rough night -- expecting perhaps a hangover. One brow ticks upward, however, and he studies the man a little more closely, but for whatever reason, doesn't seem to be able to detect exactly the nature of what ails him. His lips tick slightly into a frown, but that's quickly replaced as he turns back to the customer that he's helping. "Business is good. Why don't you grab some coffee or something. I have this handled for the moment."

Xavier is pleased to see a fair amount of customers in the shop because that should distract Elias enough for him to sneak past him. "Yeah of course, I could use a bit of coffee." He says brightly, though his smile does not reach his eyes. He attempts to walk normally but he's not the best of actors. Once he is out of sight he'll set his bag down and decides it'll be easier if it just lives there for now, as picking it back up is a terrible idea. He curses in French as he fetches some coffee, and checking the time. Too soon to take more Advil, but the urge is tempting. He remains standing as he leans on the counter and deflates in a sigh. This is going to be a long day.

The only coffee in the shop is in the break room, as the shop does not sell coffee or any other food stuffs to the patrons themselves. So it's a minute or two later when Elias comes into the break room looking for Xavier. "What happened?" he asks and holds up a hand before Xavier can even answer, "And don't tell me that it wasn't some sort of insanity, because I've lived in this town my entire life and you don't have a hangover." Even if he can't exactly tell how damaged Xavier is or what the damage is precisely.

Xavier doesn't realize that he's been standing in the break room motionless for several minutes. He actually found a position that doesn't hurt and he doesn't dare move from it. When Elias comes in, he is about to spout out something out of his arse, but the hand pauses him and he sighs. "Would you believe I dreamed I was in a library with a deranged version of Alice from Wonderland who attacked myself and a few others with living bird books? Several times? I woke up like this." He clears his throat and turns to look at him. "Everyone warned me about darkness and the woods, they didn't tell me it wasn't safe to sleep."

"Nothing and nowhere is safe in Gray Harbor," Elias admits with a slight shake of his head. "Some people go through much of their lives without experiencing its dangers, and some -- they draw it to them like a flame." He makes his way over to Xavier and holds his hands up near to him, but doesn't touch him at all. He draws in a slow breath and then there's a faint shimmer around his fingertips and hands, and a sensation that probably itches a little as all of the flesh wounds on Xavier's head, chest, and abdomen completely heal and vanish. The wounds in his chest as well, begin to knit and heal faster, leaving only the worst of the wounds on his abdomen to remain more than a flesh wound. There's a slight shudder through him when it's over and he glances around the room, as though expecting someone or something to show up before he says, "You'd be wise to leave town, move away from here, and forget about this place entirely." Though the tone with which he says it indicates that not only does he suspect that Xavier won't, but that he knows very well that he's hardly taken his own advice -- coming back.

"Noted." Xavier replies through gritted teeth. Though he can't say he wasn't drawn to this place either once he heard his Aunt moved out here. Granted he had a lot of other reasons for leaving New York but there were other places he could have gone. He quirks a brow when Elias holds his hands up to him, and shivers when he feels his wounds knit closed. His eyes close as relief washes over him, it still fucking hurts, but it hurts a lot less and he'd likely be able to function has a human again. Well if functioning was laying motionless on a couch. "You are better at that than I am." He replies as he opens his eyes and frowns at Elias. "Would that I could. I know about dreams now so I can better defend myself when they happen right? Besides, if I left now I highly doubt my new boss would give me a reference." He chuckles, which is a terrible fucking idea and the grimace on his face shows it.

"You know, you make your new boss sound kind of like a dick," Elias observes as he takes a step away from Xavier now that he's healed him as best as he can. He nods toward the couch in the break room and says, "Just sit. You're not working today. If you insist on doing something, I'll bring some paperwork in here that you can go through that doesn't require you to get up." And with that, he starts to move away again, as though to go back out into the front of the store. He doesn't answer the question about being better able to defend himself. He knows he has nothing to say that Xavier wants to hear.

"I, no you're not, I don't mean it that way." Xavier says with a frown as Elias steps away. "You're not a dick. Thank you." When the couch is gestured to, he nods his head, taking the cup of cooling coffee and walking over. He gingerly sits down on the couch and frowns. "I'll do anything you need me to do, except stock shelves. I uhm." He sighs as Elias starts to walk away. "I really don't have a lot of other places to go, and none that despite all the weirdness and pain has lead me to believe I could be myself. I don't want to run away from that. I know it's stubborn of me."

"I'm not letting you stock shelves anyway," Elias points out, pausing near the door. He watches Xavier gingerly lower himself to the couch, and seems satisfied when he doesn't look like he's getting back up. He leans against the doorframe for a moment when he speaks again, and studies Xavier's features, considering his words. "There aren't other places where you could be yourself where the very nature of the place isn't trying to kill you?" He smiles a little wryly. "No, I suppose there are few places like that. Not if who you are is part of all of this." Which who he is, clearly is. "No more stubborn than I am." He then disappears out the door. There's the sound of the bell dinging in the shop, and he is likely taking care of another customer before he returns with a couple of folders worth of paperwork to go through. "See if you can make heads or tails of this mess," he says as he sets it all down on the coffee table.

"Great, I would be terrible at it right now." Xavier smiles through the self depreciating humor. "I mean maybe? I've kind of spent the last few years in a haze. Like a robot programmed to through the motions, and feel nothing about what was going on around me. At least here I feel something, even if it is fear and doubt, it's something. I also don't have to hide what I can do here, as my parents were so afraid of it they wouldn't even let me tell my fiance about them. I have no idea how I was going to spend a whole marriage hiding that." When he says he's stubborn he smirks. "It's probably why we get along." When Elias leaves he'll lean back on the couch and sigh, and enjoy not being so pained. When he returns with the folders, he uses his powers to float them over to himself and smirks. "I like making sense out of paperwork."

"No, I suppose I couldn't imagine going through a life with someone who couldn't know who I was, all of who I was," Elias agrees. "What about now? Now that you've found a place where you can be yourself and have the freedom to tell them? Will you tell your fiance?" He leans against the wall not far away, arms folded lightly in front of him. "You're welcome to make all the sense you want out of it. I'm glad not to have to do it," Elias admits.

Xavier actually has to think about that for a moment, as it's probably a question he hasn't asked himself. "No I don't think I will. I came here to take a break from wedding planning, apartment hunting, job having, her. I knew I didn't want to marry her when I left and despite my mother's best hopes, I don't see that changing now that I'm here. I know it makes me a horrible person but am I wrong to not want to set myself up for misery?" He chuckles dryly as he digs into the paperwork. "But you're not here for my sob story." He smiles weakly. "I'll make sense of it, it'll keep my mind busy and off of all of this." He gestures to his chest.

Elias doesn't seem to judge all of that. He just nods a little bit and says, "Starting over. I know what that's like." He's starting over, in a sense, himself. "I don't think you are a horrible person. Better that you not make both yourself and her miserable if you know you're not going to be happy. At least this way she has a chance to find happiness with someone else. And you can start over and see where life takes you." He pauses for a moment and says, "I cared about someone very much before I left. But I could clearly sense that he was more drawn to someone else. And while I tried to get along with that someone else, there was always this pressure, this feeling that nothing I said or did was ever going to release that pressure. Eventually, I couldn't really deal with it anymore. There was an open door filled with promises of knowledge that I was seeking, and here? There was that last.. final shove.. that just pushed me to walk through it. So I did." He smiles a bit ruefully as he looks up and back over at Xavier. "You're not here for mine either. But we're here, and at least you're not thinking about your chest for a few minutes."

"See, you get it, my aunt gets it, but back home, I'm the villain." Xavier tosses hands up in the air, a terrible idea met with a pathetic noise and a wince. "But yes." He says as he gingerly set them down and resumes the non physical paperwork. He listens to the story and frowns, but appears very interested. "That sounds like a very difficult situation. I'm glad it pushed you to try something new." Though he's back from it so he isn't sure what to make of that yet. "I'm sorry you were put in that situation though, it must be hard." He nods his head and laughs. "Wanna sit here and tell me more so I don't have to think about being in pain?" He smirks.

Elias shakes his head slightly, "It pushed me to do something reckless. I grew up here with all that is strange about the Veil, with the Dreams, with abilities that I learned how to use. And I'd suffered some backlash, but not much in comparison to others. I thought I'd found a way to walk the line between Glimmer and the normal world. I thought that by following a trail of information, that I could research it, learn more about how it works, learn about my family's connection to it." He lets his shoulders rise and fall, "And that's when they took me, when I was feeling at my lowest and alone, and willing to walk through the door without a safety rope." He pulls away from the wall and makes his way over to the chair across from the couch and sinks onto it. "I didn't find the answers I was seeking. I found something else entirely. And now I'm back, and nothing and everything is the same." He tilts his head, regarding Xavier, "There's nothing to be sorry about. I put myself into that situation. I let myself stay there. But it wasn't just that. I had a few lovers at the time but I was always the side piece, the second or third, or even fourth or more choice down the menu, and after a while I didn't want to be that anymore. It wasn't any one thing. It was many things over time."

"Oh." Xavier says hearing the description of what went on and furrows his brow. "That sounds stressful." He can see why he may be grumpy about the return then, he has noticed some apprehension about the subject. When he sits down he shifts and makes himself comfortable. "So who was it that took you?" He's a little confused there, as there is a lot he needs to learn about the veil. When he mentions his lovers he purses his lips. "I've only been with Chloe, in my whole life." He feels a little embarrassed by it. "I figured that if I didn't like being with her or anything we did then I likely wouldn't like it with anyone else. I'm wondering if I was wrong about that." He says with nervous laughter. "But no, you shouldn't just be someone's side piece."

"I think I would have been fine going on like that if there just hadn't been this constant pressure, as if even when things /were/ okay, that I was somehow supposed to be /not/ okay, until it finally got to the point where I was no longer okay. And by that time, the disappointments and frustrations had just added up to be too much," Elias says with a slight rise and fall of his shoulders. "I thought a couple of weeks of research would help me shake it loose, come back with a better idea of how I wanted to deal with everything." He draws his legs up, sitting cross-legged in the chair.

"Who took me? There are things that operate within and around the veil, agents of the Dark Men, begins who are only whispered about that feed on the glimmer, our abilities. The veil is thin around Gray Harbor. It makes it easier for us to slip in and out of it. Someone contacted me, someone who turned out to be an agent of the Dark Men, with promises of knowledge and understanding, but told me the window of opportunity for doing the research was short. I had to make a decision quickly. They knew what I'd do. They've watched me follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole my whole life." He spreads his hands, "And then I was trapped in a nightmare."

He looks a little surprised when Xavier says he's only ever been with Chloe. "For a long time it was just me and Frankie. She was my best friend, partner in crime. But then we both had others after a while. Neither of us were the jealous type. We both just wanted to enjoy life, and people, and all the experiences we could drink in. I was very much into enjoying every little pleasure that life had to offer, for a while. Now.." Elias lets his shoulders rise and fall. "I don't know what I should or shouldn't be anymore."

"No, I know exactly how that feels. Who wouldn't have wanted my life? I made good money, I was on the fast track to having a fancy title. My fiance was not only beautiful but successful in her own right, and she didn't want to just pop out children and stay at home, she had her own goals. Our apartment was going to be amazing, with a view of something that wasn't a brick building and the wedding was going to be the event of the season. I had everything nearly handed to me on a platter so what did I have to complain about? So I didn't. I kept following the script, checking off boxes that I was supposed to check off." Xavier also shrugs and fiddles with the papers to keep his hands busy. "So I bottled everything in and kept a smile on my face. Then when that bottle would overfill I'd make another, and another. It got to the point where I would cry in the shower every morning, but I would pull myself together and go to work, because that's what you did." He sighs as he frowns. "I finally broke one morning, must to the detriment of the glassware in my mother's kitchen. I spent a few nights under psych eval and tried to call off my engagement. Needless to say my parents are not happy that they lost their deposit, I was supposed to be married a few weeks ago."

When he hears about the Dark Men, Xavier frowns. "Okay that one is also new." One of these days he is just going to have to sit someone down and ask them /everything/. "Again I'm sorry. I can't imagine what it would be like trapped in a nightmare. If this is what happened after one bad dream I.." Maybe he should leave town, but he frowns. "They manipulated you, and I'm sorry that happened. Even if that doesn't fix anything." His lips twitch in a frown.

The look of surprise makes his cheeks redden a bit. "I uhm, well it was easier having an out of country girlfriend. I didn't have to date anyone I went to school with, I could just do my own thing. I am not realizing that it might have kept me from exploring.. everything, or anything for that matter." He blinks a few times and clears his throat. "That sounds uhm, nice. For a while at least. I don't think you have to have that answer though. Maybe you should just write about your Fae orphan and run the store until something speaks to you. That's what I'm attempting."

"It sounds to me like you had everything that everyone but you always wanted for you," Elias says as he listens to Xavier. "I'm sorry that it had to reach the point of breaking before you realized that you needed to do something for you." He shakes his head slowly. "Frankie was supposed to be married by now. I'm not sure if she ever did. She kind of vanished after she got engaged. I stopped hearing from her." He smiles a little wryly. "She didn't even tell me she'd gotten engaged. I found out at an event here at the bookstore when she showed up with a ring on her finger and was showing it to someone else."

"This town, and where you were if you were able to manifest anything at all, are thin spots. It makes all of this possible. On the one hand, it lets you have these abilities. On the other hand, use of them makes you delicious brightly lit buffets for those who want to feast on your negative emotions. It's a risk you take. Every time you use your abilities, you are sending off a little ping into the universe, and that ping can have consequences."

he smiles a little faintly and says, "Sorry. That was probably a lot of over-share. I haven't had anyone to really talk to about.. people things.. in a very long time." He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah.. that's what I'm doing. I work. I write. And I keep to myself. It's safer." Not safe, mind, but safer.

"Yeah that's what I learned. I didn't mind having the smaller apartment further away from the center of the city, it would have been all mine and not co-signed by my father. I kept hearing how self made everyone was, but I knew nearly all of the men I was working with had their position secured through nepotism. I have more pride in myself than that, and I didn't want to be another one of those idiots." When he hears about the engagement and Frankie he furrows his brows. "Well that was rude. I'm sorry but if she couldn't tell you then I don't think she was worth your time."

"I was warned not to use them too much, especially in dreams. It was easy not to honestly, as I didn't want to freak anyone out. I'm not sure where it was in New York where the veil was thin but it had to be close to where I lived. I don't know why no one else in my family had problems with it. It was strange being the only one aside from my aunt. Maybe their minds were too closed?" He frowns and looks down at himself. "So how big of a ping was that healing trick?"

"No please, I don't mind over sharing. I also haven't had many to talk about these things with, and it's good to talk about them right? Letting them fester isn't going to help anything." He sighs as he mentions things being safer and tilts his head. "Take some time to get your bearings but.. don't hide away. I like you, and I like writing with you, but there is more than life than the Society of Literary Faux Pas."

"I inherited this place from my family," Elias says, nodding to the store. "It's kept in the family, passed down from generation to generation. Someday I'll pass it on to one of my cousins or one of their kids, or a niece or nephew if my sister has kids." He smiles a little wryly. "My writing is my own, though. No one helped me with that. So I have that as mine." He lets his shoulders rise and fall, "It hurt. It was sudden, and surprising, and there was no warning that she was going to break things off. But I hope she's happy, wherever she is. I hope everyone's happy, wherever they ended up and with whoever they ended up, honestly."

"It was a pretty decently loud ping," Elias says with a faint smile. "Don't worry. They've done enough to me. I can take whatever more they decide to do." He pauses, "Or I can't. Either way, it's my choice. I don't regret it. You looked awful."

"Don't worry, Xavier. I'm not going to be here all the time bothering you, being the ever-present and annoying slave driver," Elias says, lips quirking a little bit at the edges. "I've already lived more than any one person should. A little hiding away will probably do me some good."

"Still it's something your family have built themselves, it's not some money grubbing corporation whose only goal is more money. I would have taken pride in that myself." However there is a tinge of jealousy as he nods his head. "You've done several books as well that's a good thing to have pride in, you earned it." He smiles, and it's genuine this time as the conversation is distraction from the pain in his chest. "It's my hope that I can say that about Chloe one day, I want her to be happy, just with anyone else but me."

"I felt awful." Well he still feels awful, but less awful. "At the very least let me buy you dinner, or a beverage. We could see each other outside of the bookstore. I know, scandalous talk." He smirks. "But I really appricate it, that sort of power doesn't work well with me, or my aunt."

"Good, because I can't slack off when you're here, I have to keep myself looking busy." Which he is not doing at all right now as the folder is sitting next to him. "Just don't hide away forever, there might be something out there that you'll miss."

"It is," Elias agrees, about the book shop being something that his family built themselves. "They built it when the town was founded and have kept it going since." He laughs a little. "Nobody who wants to really make a lot of money owns a book store these days." But it makes him happy, at least a little, and so he's glad to be back in it. It's definitely not for the money. He nods then and says "You'll get there."

Elias' brows go up a little at the offer and he says, "You really don't owe me anything for it. I did it because you were hurting, that's all." He shakes his head slightly. "You sure you want to spend /more/ time with me than you already do?" Then he laughs just a little at Xavier not being able to slack off when he's around. "Oh, right, the slave driver." It's a small laugh, but a laugh none the less. On the topic of missing things, though, his gaze only slips away.

"Sure there are online places you can get stores, and as much as I love my kindle, there is nothing like having the book in your hand and smelling it's pages." Which a thought occurs to him and he quickly fishes around in his pocket for his phone and writes off a quick text. "I will, in time, but first I need to write more than two men in a library." He smirks.

"Elias, I am half Canadian, it's insulting if I don't shower you with gratitude. I'll wither if I at least don't buy you maple syrup as thanks." Xavier shrugs and thinks to himself. "I've made a whole two friends here and one is a librarian, so yes, I would like to see you outside of work. I'm also using it as an excuse to get out of the house." He winks. Though he notices the slipped away gaze and bites his lip pensively.

"Yes, you do, so that I can find out what happens with the rest of the story," Elias says, watching as Xavier dashes off a quick text, but making no comment on it. His own phone remains silent in his pocket. It rarely makes any sound at all. Though he may just have it muted all of the time. That's a possibility. One brow ticks up at the claim of half-Canadian-ness and he shakes his head with an amused smile. "Fine, you can buy me dinner if you like. And I suppose I can go somewhere other than my shop and the house to do so." Though there's some faint resistance there, it's clear that he's trying.

"I have a few vague ideas of where I want it to go, but I'm trying your method of just writing and seeing what happens." Starting over is all about trying new things right? Xavier sets his phone aside and frowns at it. "Sorry there were others in the dream and I haven't thought to check on them yet. I'm a horrible friend." He says with a sigh, before Elias agrees. "Excellent, pick the place as I have no idea what's good here, I just sort of live at places that serve coffee and don't other you if you sit there and type on a computer for hours. Or read. I'd invite you to my aunts but... she's an experience."

"There aren't a lot of restaurants around here," Elias considers. "There's the thai place, a pizza place, the fish fry, bar food at the bar.." And he kind of trails off there. "Unless we head out of town, but that's a bit of a drive to find a variety. Oh, there's the waffle place, too." Then he nods toward the phone and asks, "Are they alright? Do they need healing as well?" Because it seems at least that, he can do. "I don't think I'm quite ready for your aunt."

"Oh. Well I'm fine with fish, or bar food. Just give me a few days to heal up and we'll go," When he mentions his friends he shrugs. "I'm checking, I know Turner was pretty bad, but I think Conner got off with a few scratches?" When his phone buzzes he looks at it with a frown. "He took a day off work, but he sounds functional? Head pains and chest pains like mine. He healed me a bit, I did a horrible job at healing him back." He laughs dryly. When he looks back up from his phone he shakes his head. "No one is ready for my aunt. She's a wonderful woman, but she's a whole personality. She almost followed me in today, I was lucky to slip out of the car fast enough to keep her from doing so."

"We can go to Fried Fish," Elias says, then. "The food is good. It's by the water. I used to know the family that owned it, but I'm not sure that Julia's there anymore. Either way, we can get some food." He then listens as Xavier describes his friends' injuries. "If either of them need help, you can have them come here. I'll do what I can for them." He raises both brows and says, "I'm surprised you were able to move fast enough to dodge anything."

"Excellent, I enjoy fish and I enjoy your company so it will be a good evening. That way we can not have to keep an ear open for the door, and have a beer, or whatever beverage you prefer." He nods his head to Elias and continues his text to Turner and awaits the answer. "Well, the car was running and it might have hurt like hell to do so." He grins. "It's probably also why I was looking as bad as I did when I walked in. I've never been the best patient."

Elias smiles just a little bit and says, "True. No worries about having to get up to help customers in the middle of dinner." Not that they had to very often with the pizza the other night. Some nights are just quieter than others. He does shake his head slowly though at Xavier's poor-patienting. "Well.. you should be in much better shape when you leave here. And I can try again tomorrow when you come back in."

"Yeah we'll be the customer's for once. People can wait on us hand and foot, like royalty." Xavier laughs sound just a touch loopy. Looking at his phone he nods as he types a quick response. "Turner is going to swing by, he'll take an Uber though as he doesn't think it's good for him to be driving and I agree with him." Turning her attention back to him smirks at Elias. "Aw, and here I was going to have a day in bed." He wasn't, that's a lie.

"If you want a day off," Elias points out, "you can have a day off. You realize that, right?" Then he smiles a little wryly and says, "It's Fried Fish, not the Ritz. No one gets treated like royalty. But they will give us a big cardboard boat heaping full of artery-clogging goodness for reasonable prices."

"Please, you're a far better nurse than my aunt. She'd make me drink things. Unsavory things. Green things." Xavier narrows his eyes and smirks. "It doesn't need to be the Ritz, I just have to not cook it myself, that's the best sort of food. Especially if it's going to kill me faster." He smirks. "Turner is on his way, he should be here shortly." He leans back in his chair and chills until then.

The rideshare takes very little time getting Turner to Likely Stories. He's dressed in a very oversized blue sweater and a pair of worn jeans, a pair of slip on shoes, and the young man carries a Kindle hugged to his chest, either like the Kindle is precious... or his chest really hurts. Not long after that announcement, Turner arrives in the shop, moving carefully. His hair looks freshly washed and dried, curl pattern going wild at the moment, a carefully applied bandage above his temple. "I brought your Kindle." he says softly, blushing slightly.

Elias can't help but laugh just a little bit at that list of things that Xavier's aunt might subject him to. "Green things," he repeats. He nods about the food and says, "Well if you're looking at death by cholesterol, then Fried Fish is definitely the way to go." He pulls himself up out of his chair and goes out front so that he can meet Turner and direct him back to the employee break room where Xavier is settled on the couch. He flips the "CLOSED" sign on the shop, not feeling like going back out there if someone shows up at the moment. There are perks to being the owner, and then accompanies him back. "Make yourself comfortable," he tells Turner once they've rejoined Xavier.

"Green things should never been in liquid form. Kale is a salad, not a beverage." When Elias walks out to fetch Turner, Xavier finally picks up the paperwork and looks it over. He should at least try and earn his keep today! Once he spots Turner he smiles but worry is clearly on his face. When the Kindle is presented he takes it and clears his throat. "Thanks, sorry for, ya know, leaving it behind." He's never taking it out of his house again, he even carefully slilps it into his bag as Elias joins them. "He helped me a lot, it was unbearable when I got here. He's way better at this than I am."

Moving stiffly, Turner finds himself a seat and gingerly lowers himself into it, wincing as he does. He looks like he got into a bar fight... but he doesn't look the type to get into bar fights. There's a sigh of relief as he sits. "It's okay. I didn't mind looking after it, I made sure not to feed it after midnight or get it wet." He laughs, then lets out a little gasp of pain, clearly having thought better of it. "So... I've had broken ribs before... and I'm pretty sure... I have a broken rib." He leans his head back, looking up at the ceiling and breathing slowly, carefully, in through the nose, out through the mouth. "Thank you, Elias. For... letting me into the employee only section."

"Kale is not even a food," Elias says with a faint smile. He glances between the pair as the kindle is exchanged but makes no comment. Instead, his attention shifts over to focus on Turner. He takes stock of his wounds and then very gently moves his hands over the general area. There's a slight shimmering around his hands and the sensation is decidedly odd, a little itchy, tickling, as the wounds seem to improve a bit, though perhaps not as much as Xavier's given that he's already used a lot of energy today trying to heal Xavier up. The result is not what he'd hoped and he sighs. "I may need you to come back tomorrow to do this properly. I'm.. a bit tired from having healed Xavier earlier." He looks a bit apologetic.

"Kale is actually a food and I do like it. But to eat, not to drink and this fish place doesn't sound like a drinking kale place." Xavier smirks and turns toward Turner. "Good, I'm sure it felt very safe with you." However he grows quiet as Turner makes a gasp of pain and sits back to watch Elias work. He was a little distracted when he did it earlier. Hearing the news that he's tapped out for the day, Xavier frowns. "Oh, damn I'm so sorry to drag you out here tonight then. I feel bad." He bites his lip and turns toward Elias. "Thank you though, I appreciate you doing what you can."

"It's... okay. Something happened a while ago. I haven't been able to... heal people more than every couple days..."he explains to Elias. He sounds winded, and with his head tilted back like that, the faint bruising extending up from his sternum to his collarbone is more readily visible. "Thank you for trying. I thought maybe it was just me..." he lifts his head both men are favored with a wan smile. "Nice to see you when things aren't trying to murder us in our sleep."

"Well, more for you, and there definitely won't be any at the fried fish place," Elias confirms. He rubs at his face a little bit with one hand and says, "Things are the same, but different. Everything is always changing a little bit in unexpected ways." He looks apologetically at Turner and says, "I can get you back home so you don't need to find another ride, and I can always come to you tomorrow to actually do something more substantial than this."

"Great, I'll sit on my throne and eat a bowl of kale." Xavier says, wondering why he's talking out of his ass. IT's probably the pain. "Oh, where are my manners. Elias, this is my friend Turner, Tuner this is my boss Elias. He's letting me reward him with Fish for healing me. Greasy fish." Looking between the two of them he shrugs. "I've always been terrible at it honestly, so I haven't noticed a difference."

"Small town..." Turner murmurs, still smiling. "I think Elias might have been in school when my brother and sister were seniors... Kenzie and Cooper Quinn." His smile turns a little wistful. Locals would know about the car accident that claimed most of Turner's family, and that he and Kenzie were the only survivors. He shrugs slightly, then winces. "Yes... I think home might be a good idea. I think I still have some pain meds from when I fell down the stairs last year, and they are calling my name right now."

"You have a throne?" Elias asks Xavier, one brow raising. "Fancy. More kale for you." Then Xavier is doing introductions a bit after the fact and he can't help the faintly amused smile. "Nice to meet you, Turner." Elias says, "Would that it were under better circumstances." Then he nods at the names, remembering them. "I remember them." And he does remember the accident, which he makes no comment on. No need to bring it up. He tells Turner "Whenever you're feeling up to getting up, I can take you." He then looks over to Xavier and says, "I can drop you off after if you want, too. Then you don't have to have your aunt come out."

"Just a small one." Xavier smirks, though he frowns to Turner and nods his head. "Right, sometimes I forget that most everyone probably knows each other already." He gives them both a sheepish smile, and when Elias offers to give the both of them a ride home he nods. "Or, I could crash up stairs and then my commute tomorrow is real short." He's mostly kidding. "If you're sure you don't need me the rest of the day I'll take you up on that, but I can also take all this home and turn it into something coherent."

"A ride home would be good. Uber is expensive... and I am a humble librarian." He climbs to his feet once more, gingerly, keeping one hand on the chair as he stands to maintain his balance. "I would offer to make you both a meal, but... I don't think I'm going to be doing much cooking... not that I am a great cook anyway, so you have missed nothing, regardless. It's a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance, Elias." he tries a friendly smile, but he mostly just looks... tired. "Shall we?"

"You're not crashing upstairs. First, you're not climbing upstairs. Second, I'm closing for the rest of the day, so there's nothing for us to do here," Elias says in a tone that brooks zero argument. It is what it is. He grabs his things and moves to hold the doors for them to go through. "I'll come to you tomorrow, Turner, that way you don't have to go anywhere. That way you'll have only paid for one ride." Then he smiles a little and says, "A pleasure. Next time hopefully it will be under better circumstances."

Xavier slowly and carefully gets off of the couch and manages to do so with only a few noises and grunts of complaint. He grabs his things and follows them out the door. "You're no fun." He smirks and really is getting loopy from all the pain. He's going to need to nap soon, so it's good that the store is closing for the rest of the day. "I'll deflect my aunt, so she won't try and put any green drinks in you." He turns to Turner and shakes his head. "You don't have to cook, we'll just go have hot beverages again sometime."

"Hot beverages sound lovely. Maybe this time I'll forget my Nook. It's old, but I still love it." He smiles at both men, moving gingerly to make his way through the shop, though a bit more steadily on his feet than he was on his way in, allowing himself to be led wherever Elias needs them all to be herded.

Elias herds them both out to his car, a modest but comfortable four door silver sedan that sits fairly near to the shop. He helps each one to settle and then gets in the driver's side, letting Turner give him directions to his place first since he is the more severely injured of the two. He's quiet as he drives, just letting the two of them talk, for the most part.

Xavier is easily herded and settles in with a wince as they get to the car. "Great, I'll have my people get with your people and we'll make it happen." With that he'll settle in and get quiet, watching the town pass by as he lets his mind wander. It really was a bad idea to show up to work today, even if it turned out well.

There's not much in the way of talking from Turner, either, who leans heavily against the car door and braces himself against it. Soon, they're in front of a smallish, well maintained Victorian two story home with lots of architectural interest and a well landscaped yard, despite the winter cold. Shifting about in his seat, Turner smiles at both men once more. "Thank you for the ride home. Enjoy your meal... I'll text you, later, Xavier." there's something about the way he looks at the older man, despite the pain plain on his face. Oh. He does his best to hurry out of the vehicle and up the well kept front walk. In the front window, downstairs, a Ragdoll cat is plainly waiting on him to get back inside.

Elias waits and watches to make sure that Turner actually gets into the house and does not collapse on the lawn or the walk or the stairs before he pulls away and then turns toward Xavier's place. He only knows where he lives because it was on the employment application, but he knows the town well enough that he doesn't need directions. "He likes you," Elias observes, having caught that look that Turner gave Xavier before turning to leave.

Xavier looks up at the house as the pull up outside. "Your house is cute." He says offhandedly as Turner gets out of the car. "Again, sorry I dragged you out." He can't get off that sorry record that keeps playing in his head. "Stay safe." Or awake? Can you tell a healing person not to sleep? He tilts his head at he is stared at but smiles and waves all the same once Turner takes off. When the car gets rolling again he furrows his brows. "What? Me? Why would he do that?" Which he realizes that he's asking the wrong person.

"Why not? You're an intelligent attractive man who is good conversation and good company," Elias says as he pulls down the street and makes it to the end, turning onto a side street, focusing mostly on the road though he does glance over at Xavier and raises one eyebrow just a little.

"Because I'm a mess?" Xavier reaches over and rubs his face, shaking his head a as they drive. Thankfully Elias knows the way. "I'm also confused and that makes me feel more confused." His legs begins to bounce in the car and he shakes his head. "He doesn't need someone like me coming in and making things.. confusing."

"We're all a mess, Xavier. If you're waiting for that to change, you're going to be waiting for a very long time," Elias says with a slight shake of his head. "I just thought you ought to know if you hadn't picked up on it." Which he assumes he hasn't, because of the aforementioned mess and only having ever been with one person before.

Xavier frowns at Elias words, probably because they're true and he doesn't want to admit it. "Thanks, I hadn't. I'm not good at that sort of thing." How many people has he come across and completely ignored their signals. Probably all of them. Looking back to the street he remains quiet until they pull up to his house. "That's me. I'm going to get inside." He's trying to flee from the conversation, that's obvious. "Thanks for... everything today. I'll see you tomorrow." He gives him a weak smile and slips out of the car.

"Try and rest," Elias tells Xavier, leaving him to flee the conversation and flee into the house. He watches to make sure that he too gets inside without passing out on the lawn, and then he pulls away.