Xavier's Day Off [Xavier/Raphael]

Xavier sat in his seat, in the waiting room of the hospital. He wore the deadpan expression on his face that he always did. He was leaning forward in his chair, staring at the checkered tiled floor, he kept his mind preoccupied by darting his gaze between the black tiles and the white ones. However now and again his mind would drift back to the reason why he was there. Why he was at the hospital. He pressed his thumb into the joint that connected his right pointer finger to his hand, cracking it. While doing so he twitched his left eye.

At the Farm, Xavier’s father collapsed. They were tending to some of the chickens. Collecting eggs. Going through the feed. And then, out of nowhere, he just collapsed. When he did, Xavier’s heart jumped. His signature blank face dropped from his face, leaving wide eyes and a jaw that he had dropped. One phone call away, he’s in the waiting room of the hospital. Xavier doesn’t have many run ins with emotion. But that was one of the few times in his life something truly scared him.

He continued to count the tiles. He thought about what could be wrong with his father. What were to happen if he had died…

He jumped up from his seat. The eyes of others fell on him just as sudden as his movement. He sped walked down the hall, with the receptionist at the desk giving him odd looks. Xavier went to the vending machine full of beverages. He placed his hand on it, and looked at it up and down. He reached in his back pocket, and pulled out some change. His shaky hands struggled to place each coin in the slot. He started to slowly calm down. After the payment was doen, he pressed a random button. A can fell in the socket below. He knelt down and grabbed it, opening the can. He didn’t look to see what flavor it was. He didn’t care. He sipped the can. He couldn’t tell what flavor it was. He didn’t care. He slowly walked back to the waiting room, his normally brisk walking pace now sluggish and droopy. He went back into the same position he was in before, the only difference he had a can between his hands.

"You are in perfect health Mr. Gatsby. I don't see any sort of abnormalities within your condition or anything of the sort. "

Raphael grunted as he looked over the papers, trying to see if there was anything similar to his brother getting sick all those years ago. Whatever that was, it didn't happen to Raphael. WAs it because of the stressful incident that happened during the time of their birth? They were separated, did anything else happen to him or at the time of the hospital.

Either way, he started to make his towards the lobby and noticed the face of a rather sickly and beat down looking gentlemen. He didn't know what's wrong with him, just sat down in one of the chairs a few spaces away as he crossed his legs.

"Worrying yourself like that doesn't necessarily incite a change. This place is as depressing to be as it is hopeful, try to think of the positives. Don't know what you're going through, but wanted to say that. "

Xavier’s eyes left the floor, left the useless action of counting the checkered floor to face the man in front of him. He was tall and wore glasses. His statue was slender and rather weak looking to the farm boy. In Xavier’s eyes, he looked like a bit of a pretty boy that hung out in a city. His voice was rather calming. But Xavier responded with his own emotionless monotone voice. “My father collapsed and I don’t know what’s going to happen. We run a family farm. I thought about my father’s death before and believed I could take care of myself in every way possible. I knew I was always going to inherit the farm even before I found it in his Will that he is terrible at hiding. I thought I was prepared. Turned out I wasn't prepared as I thought I’d be.”

Xavier took a gulp of his soda. He finally noticed it was cola. “If he gets out I hope it's at least today. The cattle need to be killed.” He stood up to make his way back to the vending machine, taking a few more gulps of his soda before tossing it in a trash can.

"Hmm......."

Raphael hummed as he nodded his head, listening to every word that Xavier was saying and taking it all into account. This guy had a bit of a heavy burden, having to take care and handle something all by himself. At times, people could start it to be a hard situation that they had to deal with, even more than most. Was the emotionless attitude a way to make himself numb to it?

"Forgive me for being so frank, but you spoke a lot about the desires that your father had for you. But what about the desires that you have for yourself? Is running the farm something you would want to carry on for the sake of the family business, or do you feel like there is a sense of duty that's holding you from thinking about anything else? From what I hear, hard work is a template of the true men of our time, it builds character, I actually respect that notion if your father is one of those men, trying to instill that into you. "

He did, there was a hint of honesty in Raphael's voice.

As Xavier walked he stopped and listened to the man. He stopped dead in his tracks. What I want to do? Xavier never thought about what he wanted to do. He never thought about working anywhere else but the farm. The farm was the only thing that normally preoccupied his thoughts. His actions. His life. Xavier was just a robot, following its programming without a thought. He never thought about weather he enjoyed it or not. He looked up and down, wrapping his head around these thoughts.

I don't know. Never thought about it. I'll probably just stay on the farm. Its all I know how to do. Its not awful...

His voice trialled off. Its all he ever knew. Its all he knew how to do. He looked at his hands. They were chafed, calloused, and grizzled from manual labor. He rubbed his thumbs across his palms. "Hm. Guess I'm still young. Guess I have some time to think about it..." Xavier's mind started to move. He started to ask himself questions, about himself. There were voices in his head, all of them replicating his own still voice. He looked down at the floor, his fingers attatched to his chin, moving around in deep thought. Until the revelations came across his mind. He looked up to face the man before him.

Its...boring...the farm is boring. I work all day. All day. Both me and my father. We both work all day. We both lead the same mundane life. Probably wouldn't have been like this if my mom was still alive. My uncle told me that he wasn't the same after she died. He didn't work as much...I didn't get much of a chance to...

He looked at the floor, his eyebrow furrowed.  He snapped his head up. His eyes were more open than normal, bringing the smallest hint of life to his face. He reached his hand out to the stranger. His voice would be as dead as ever. But his words will be exotic to him. "My name is Xavier Cain. Its nice to meet you."

"Ahh... that's the way... that's the only way to do it. Utilizing one of life's most invaluable commodities to your advantage.

....Time......

It's all you have at the end of the day, using it wisely is only a benefit to yourself. You wouldn't want to make a decision later in life that you could have made sooner, right? I'm not knocking the family business, I'm just saying that "where do you see yourself in five years" moniker has a lot more truth to it than you think. "

Maybe his words were getting through to this fellow after all. At the very least, Raphael hoped that he was feeling a better now.

"Cain.... good name... I like that name... Cain. I'm Abel..... joking..."

Raphael said this with a sly smile.


"My name is Raphael Gatsby. If things are so boring for you, I do have something interesting to show you. With the amount of hard labor you went through, could you ever imagine that there was a big prize at the end of it? That's archeology, I own a museum downtown. "

After pulling his hand away, Xavier raised an eyebrow. His joke was lackluster, but Xavier wasn't so socially inept to know that he was the last person to tell someone if something is funny or not. "A museum..? I'm interested. And if you're looking for a handyman I can do some work. They have my number, so if something turns up with my father, they'll call me."

Xavier saw an opportunity. An opportunity he had never thought of. A life other than the farm. A life other than tending to the animals or harvesting the crops. With this change in his life. He could finally get some excitement in his life. Take me to your Museum. I want to know what's there. I probably won't be able to enjoy the rest of the world, but at least I can enjoy some of Endymion.

"Well, you have a bit of size on you. If you find yourself to be capable, I could always use the extra muscle. I'm not exactly the president but if the middle man is the one who interprets the wishes of the wonder not wanting to sell a piece to another, I become the....how do I put this... a substitute for their negative feelings. When civility is out of the window, It can be dangerous, people naturally want what they can't have."

But there were other things.

"Rough hands with a gentle touch could work, Maintenance around the museum that's effective enough for the job to be done without damaging all of the products. You are coming from an agricultural background, so i'm not too sure how well you'll fare, so it would be a probationary hire at best to see how much of a good fit you are. You have no problems with that...correct?"

But if he was ready to go to the museum, Raphael would take him.

"If you are done here, follow me. It'll take your mind off the morbid feelings this place brings. Do you like wine?"

Raphael said this as he began to lead away.

Xavier cocked his head at the comment made to his side. He looked down at his body curiously. I mean...I guess..?

Xavier followed the taller man "More than farming. During the winter time, I work in other areas, like maintenance and fixing things. Factories here and there, work for my Uncle's Garage, just a lot of fixing and cleaning. I'm good with my hands."

Xavier continued to walk with him. This was his chance. While walking behind him, for the briefest moment, he stopped and looked back at the double doors that led to he emergency room that held his father. He shrugged, and continued to follow the man. If you want something done efficiently, don't hesitate to utilize me. I'm both effective and efficient.

-Exit

"If that's the case, then forgive me on holding you to that statement if you are as skilled as you say. It's hard to find good help these days."

- End