Quality Time (Xeryth)

[Phoebe]

It had been a long time since she had made this treck. A full month and now she was a bit nervous. She had to admit. Though she didn't know why there really was no reason to be. A book in her small delicate hand as she stepped out of her dorm room which wasn't far from her destination.

She checked herself over once more. Dressed in a skirt for once it was made of denim and pleated like a cheerleaders skirt about as short too. She had borrowed it from her sister, as Phae tended to have a few more girly things than she did. On top was a tank top of a soft lavender color that was a bit tight but hung just right on her frame. Her feet were bare as she usually ended up falling asleep next to Xeryth anyway on nights like this.

She carried a small bag with her jammies in it so that she could change for bed later when it was time. She stepped over the hundred feet or so rather quickly to his door. She took a deep breath with her book hugged against her chest. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

This was their first reading night in a month and she was really looking forward to it. She tucked her hair behind her ears it hanging loose around her shoulders. When the door would open she would smile and the very first thing he would get was a hug from Phoebe.

"Hey, Xer." she would say softly as she nuzzled into him slightly.

[Xeryth Varson]

Xeryth heard the knock, and smiled faintly as he stood from his desk chair, leaving the lamp light on and the book opened to where it was. He quickly traversed the short distance to the door, looking through the peephole to ensure that it was, indeed, who he was expecting for the evening. Upon finding the person on the other side appealing much to his expectations, Xeryth opened the door, revealing Phoebe Weiss in the hallway's light, spilling into the room. Xeryth smiled, opening his mouth to say something to her, but before he could do such a thing, she came forward and hugged him close to her. Xeryth's hands, almost without his own thoughts guiding them, came up around Phoebe's body, holding her close to him as he whispered to her after she greeted him.

"Hello Phoebe... I missed you..."

Xeryth closed his eyes, smiling to himself as he took a few steps backwards, still refusing to let go of the hug and walking the girl into his room by doing so. With a wave of his hand, the door telekinetically shut tight, again lapsing the room into general darkness, with only a faint glow past the small sphere of light granted by the desk lamp. Finally, Xeryth released the hug and smiled at Phoebe.

"Would you... rather have some more light?" he asked innocently, worried about her comfortibility in the room all of the sudden. While Xeryth was used to going about things in relative darkness, he doubted that Phoebe was the same, and would readily offer more light if she so desired.

[Phoebe]

To get a return hug from Xeryth was nice. Not only because she had been slightly unsure if she would get one after all they had only just gotten back together after a short break up over.. Phoebe moving too fast. She wasn't planning to make that mistake again and kept her feelings about Xer to herself now. Though she knew he could feel them and that was enough but she wouldn't say it again, which admittedly was hard, until he did.

But when he said that he missed her she couldn't help but smile brightly. She had missed him more than she could say while they were apart and now that they were finally reunited she felt better about them then ever. He led her into his room and she followed a smile still on her face as she looked at him shyly.

He pulled back and she looked into his eyes and blushed. He asked her about the light in the room and it was only now that she took her eyes away from Xeryth to look at it in the first place. It was the same room she had seen a month ago, not a thing had changed. Her sweet Xeryth.

"I missed you too Xer." she said softly and kissed his cheek gently. "As for the light, maybe a bit lighter, but I know you don't like it too light. So just a little, okay?" she asked setting her bag on the bed.

"Hey Xer, thanks for letting me come." she said softly and shyly as she looked down for a moment. She was a shy girl but right now she felt even more shy around Xeryth than ever. She assumed she would eventually get past that. But she was trying to be careful now. Now, more than ever that he was back.

[Xeryth Varson]

"A little? Well... I can do that. It is rather dark in here... is it not?"

Xeryth smiled weakly, though he was trying his best not to show it, he was quite nervous as well. It had been a long time since the two had been together, either like this, or in general, and he was worried that he, once more, would do something stupid and break her heart again. Maybe he didn't understand what he felt, or what it meant, but he did know that, for days after he had walked away from Phoebe like that, he had felt nothing but sorry for himself, and for Phoebe.

And now I'm going to set things right.

He nodded again, another gesture of understanding, and crossed to his lightswitch, turning it on and lowering the dimmer so that there was light enough to see by. He then returned to his bed, sitting upon it and looking up at the ever so cute Phoebe. He smiled faintly up at her once more, beginning to speak, albeit rather awkwardly.

"So... how... how are you? Good... day?"

[Phoebe]

Xeryth moved away from her and Phoebe sat on the edge of the bed as he went and played with the lights. She smiled as she watched him. She liked the way he was so shy and so quiet. It was sweet. Made you want to hug him even more and that was hard enough not to do all the time as it was.

The lights came on gently and she smiled. The light was perfect. Just for reading. It wasn't too bright so it wouldn't bother Xeryth but it was just bright enough that she could read and not strain her eyes. Her blue eyes followed him as he came back to the bed and sat down looking at her. She took his hand in hers softly.

"My day was very good. But, it's better now." she blushed and smiled looking into Xeryth's ever beautiful eyes. "I didn't do much, just visited Phae, she.. she's doing better. How was your day?" she asked softly.

[Xeryth Varson]

"Uneventful as always," he said, laughing ever so quietly and carefully. Xeryth shrugged apologetically and smiled accordingly. "I just... walked around the Academy, really. Slept a bit... that's all.

His hand was in hers, and he squeezed it a bit, but gently, smiling into her eyes as he did so. Maybe she couldn't feel the emotions of others as he could, perhaps not yet at least, but it wouldn't be so hard to see that he was happier than he had been in a very long time. Sure, tonight was supposed to be a 'quiet reading night', but right now, the only thing on Xeryth's mind was just being with Phoebe.

"You said... you said Phae was doing better? That's... wonderful. I... didn't think anyone else but me, and... well... you, of course... had noticed she was still feeling really down. What... what was it that's gotten her spirits up?" He asked curiously. Phaedra was a very important person in Xeryth's mind, one of the few he had gotten closer to, and almost like a 'big sister' of sorts to him. When she had her problems with Junpei, he was the one who had brought her to the hospital wing, and he, along with Phoebe and Winters, had stood alongside her, only to have Junpei barge in and act like he was the only one there for her. Xeryth shook his head at the thought. Junpei may have had his flaws, but he was Xeryth's first friend at the Academy, and things like that just couldn't be overlooked.

[Phoebe]

A smile crossed Phoebe's face when his hand squeezed hers lightly. She returned the squeeze as she looked into the most beautiful crystaline eyes and she smiled. It had been a very long time since she had truly wanted to smile and now here she was with the sole person that had made it happen in a month.

"Well, Phae has met someone, actually. It was by accident. And well she and Junpei.. have kind of been on not such good terms. I think it's just that Phae feels lost with him and she can't trust him still. But, she met this new guy and he seems very devoted. They aren't dating, but they spend a lot of time together and it's helping Phae. Helping her heal. But she's been thinking about dating him. She says, that she never trusts Junpei anymore." she said softly looking down.

She never particularly cared for Junpei, but her sister was so devoted. It was all she ever wrote about. Yet, lately Phae had not been herself. Since, waking in the hospital few had noticed because Phae was good at hiding it, but at the event it had really come out that Phae was indeed hurting very badly. She had never seen Phae shut out people before like she had at the event. Phae's wounded heart had never healed yet now, every day Phoebe saw a remarkable difference in Phae regaining who she really was.

"I'm happy for her though. She's healing. If Junpei can't do it and I can't do it. I'm just thankful someone can." she said looking up at Xeryth. She smiled shyly and touched his cheek with the palm of her hand.

"Hey, Xer.. would you mind if I came over tomorrow, and we had dinner here? Like, maybe.. if you want.. I could cook for you?" she asked hopeful her eyes gleaming slightly her nerves would show only to him as he would feel them. Nothing like the nerves she had shown him on the day she had told him how she felt.

[Xeryth Varson]

Xeryth listened quietly as Phoebe spoke about this new entrant into Phae's world, who, apparently, as a friend, had come to meet her, and somehow had begun to help heal the wounds that Junpei had caused so long ago. This brought about a very confused state of mind for the poor young psychic, as he found himself torn in his feelings on this matter. For one, Phae was like an older sister to the boy, someone he cared greatly about and had lent his own hand in helping her during Junpei's sudden betrayal, up until his return. Thus, anyone who was doing so much for her so easily should be good in his book, but yet, there was the other hand...

Junpei, for all his faults, was still Xeryth's first real friend at the Academy, and perhaps his first real friend ever. Loyalty to one's fellow men and one's superiors was an important trait taught to him, and if Phae wasn't staying loyal to Junpei...

Can it be justified? Can something that seems so wrong on the surface be quite alright once one looks deep enough? For all I've learned, the real world continues to throw curve balls in my direction.

Raising his head to answer Phoebe's final question, Xeryth could only grin a small, cute grin as he considered her offer. "Well... of... of course, Phoebe. I... I'd love... love that." He made no motion toward her at this, but his grin seemed to widen a little, happy with the thought. Speaking of healing, it seemed that he and Phoebe were taking great steps in their own relationship, since Xeryth so sullenly shattered things last time around.

Thinking on that very note, Xeryth was suddenly reminded of something he had been meaning to ask the girl, concerning a note that had been slipped under his door one day.

"With... with that... now... I... I h-have... I have something to ask you!" Xeryth suddenly blurted out quickly at the end, forcing the words to come out, and the result was them rushing a little fast and sounding just a bit muddled.

"Will... you.... will.... will.... you.... you.... g-g-g-.... Phoebe...."

With an exasperated sigh, Xeryth closed his eyes, and this time spoke directly into Phoebe's mind using his telepathic abilities. Strangely, enough, though, it seemed even the Mental Xeryth, usually so much more collected than the physical form of him, was faltering a bit at the question.

"Phoebe Weiss... would you... like to... well.... would you like to go to the Prom with me?"

[Phoebe]

Phoebe let her hand fall from Xeryth's cute face and she took his hand in hers. She was happy they were back together and happy they were once Phoebe and Xer. The month they had spent apart had been very hard on the shy quiet girl that had become a recluse. Yet, now that Xer wanted her back in his life she was back to the normal Phoebe. Not only Phae had been healing.

When he suddenly blurted out that he needed to ask her something she was all ears. For Xer to blurt out anything remotely unbroken he was nervous and to ask her anything she new it would be important.

He began and she waited patiently. That was one thing that she had in infinity and something she had even more of with Xeryth. Even when he needed space she gave it to him and said nothing on the matter til he suddenly kissed her at the event.

But he couldn't seem to ask. And she saw the concentration and new only mere seconds before it happened that he was going to ask her mentally. Her eyes lit up exponentially at the question and she blushed deeply but moved in hugging him tightly to her. Her head on his shoulder and her loose red hair hanging around him. She pulled back and looked at him in the eyes a shy meek smile on her face.

"Xer, my lo..., I mean Xeryth, I would love to go to prom with you." she said happily but in that same sweet soft voice that was Phoebe. "Thank you for asking me."

She reached up and tucked his hair behind his ears her very favorite move and one she did quite often. Touching his cheek lightly she smiled.

"Should we.. read or maybe.. cuddle.. or something?" she asked softly as she looked into Xeryth's azure pools and stroked his cheek gently with her fingertips.