Xavier had been flooded with words of condolence the moment he reached the academy group, but he had kept his posture poised and taken every word with a calm but empty gaze.
Eventually, they had all finished, professors and students alike, and he had gone right back to standing with Ezra and Julian while they waited.
What he would never have expected was for Elion to show up like this, looking completely unbothered.
There had to be a limit to how thick one's skin could be, after all, but now he knew he was wrong.
You would have expected Xavier to lash out, or at least rush over to stand among those waiting to ambush Elion and ask him the question ringing in his mind.
Had he done it?
But Xavier had done neither.
He was still standing frozen near the edge of the docking area overlooking the ocean, unable to move. Not because he was too afraid to approach Elion, but simply because he was too shocked.
