.blue is the same old misery

[Xaver]

Xaver returned her smile, his own with what used to be a rare warmth, planting a kiss over her forehead, and squeezing her hand back, clutching his injured arm to his middle - and more or less ignoring it.
He led them out the door, and slowly down the staircase, his eyes flickering over the door of his old bedroom. One of them. He frowned slightly, only in slight interest, and continued downward, not stopping to enter.
That bedroom was probably empty, after all these years, right?..
He glanced at Ginny, and then blinked, almost missing the next step.

"My shirt?.."

He looked at her, in a sort of when did that happen?
That black, that size, that material..

[Ginny Weasly]

"Yea, mine was covered in blood...it made me cold." Ginnyshrugged and smiled at him, half laughing.

"It looks better on me," She joked. And while she joked, she watched him. Watched the way he held his injured side, watched how he walked. She was careful to keep an eye open for any signs it was getting worse.

[Xaver]

"MMmm, it does, too."
Xaver waggled his eyebrows playfully, and glanced back up at the door they had passed.
She had to have gotten it in there. It was the only rational idea.
He smiled slightly, and started down the steps again, gently tugging her hand. His gait was slower, now.

"Been a while, as well, since I've seen that shirt. Training years."
He shook his head.
"At least I washed my clothes. Poor you would have smelled the less attractive side of me."
Xaver glanced at her, winking.

[Ginny Weasly]

"Darling, I smell that side every morning before you take a shower." She teased him gently, smiling brightly.

[Xaver]

Xaver tried to scowl, as he glanced at her over his shoulder, but his expression quickly melted into a grin, a low chuckle rumbling within the confines of his chest, before he winced at the movement, and looked away.

"I meant," he said, his tones still light, "worse smells than that. Darrrling."
He cast another grin over his shoulder, before watching the steps before him, taking them carefully. Falling down them wouldn't nearly kill him, even in the worst of cases - but it'd hurt like hell, right then.

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny laughed at his attempt of a scowl, then grinned back.

"Baay-beee," She said, drawing out the word has he had drawn our 'darling', "you know the only smell I truley hate is blood."

And that was only because it turned her stomach.

[Xaver]

"Baay-beee.."
Xaver grinned to himself, but then, as she finished, he didn't look at her.
Hating the way his thoughts darkened, and not wanting to ruin the mood.

"I know," he said softly.

Not saying, that those were the smells that had most commonly accompanied him at that time.
Kylie had hated the smell of blood, too, now that he thought about it. He could see her face, her nose wrinkling in dusgust.
" 'Aaaverr," she would say, annoyed. "I can smell them."

Them.
His stomach churned - and Xaver realized it was because he was falling. Caught in a daydream..

He stumbled, shaking the memory from his head, and releasing her hand, he pushed himself against the cold, stone wall, pressing his forehead to the uneven surface. He bit back a groan, turning, and sitting down, shaking his head again.

[Ginny Weasly]

"Baby," This time seriously, "are you ok?" Ginny sat beside him, her stomach jumping with concern for him.

She put a hand on his knee, biting her lip slightly. Her eyes were wide, and slightly scared. She wasn't sure how to help him if he wasn't ok.

[Xaver]

"...Yeah."

The hand of his uninjured arm running through his dark hair, he looked over at her, almost ashamedly.
"My memories.. Daydreams.. It's a jumble of reality and the past.."
Xaver shook his head, tiredly.
"I keep... seeing her. Sometimes it's real memories.. Sometimes I don't know."
He looked at her, uneasily, through a side-long glance.

His nightmare, not too long ago, had awoken both Ginny and Cody. Even brought in a worried friend..

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny was silent, understanding who he meant and how he felt without question. She nodded, "Maybe..your subconsious is trying to tell you something." She suggested, quietly.

[Xaver]

"That's what I'm afraid of," he admitted.
There was guilt, regret, and everything in-between, but something was wrong.
"I just can't.. place it. And my thoughts were going back and forth, and I sort of.. missed a step."

He smiled, sheepishly, waving his good hand almost airily.
It didn't help he couldn't walk in a straight line at the moment, but he wouldn't say that..

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny nodded, but said nothing back. On one hand, if Kylie was still out there and alive, by all means, she wanted to find her. She wanted to find Kylie and love her just as she had before and just as she loved Xaver now, unconditionally.

But if Kylie was dead...then what was this? Some guilt associated with her death? Something he;d have to overcome sooner or later? Something he may never get over completly? She wasn't sure and it worried her.

[Xaver]

Xaver sighed, finally, reached over and took her hand within his own (uninjured one), and grazed his lips across the top of it.
"I don't know.."

He shrugged his shoulders - and regretted it instantly. Xaver winced, paling slightly, before he got himself under control, and stood.
He shook his head and started, slower, down the stairs, glancing up after a moment to see if she was following.

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny sat for a moment, watching, then got up. She followed him slowly, deep in her own thinking, keeping her eyes on him closely.

[Xaver]

The spiral staircase finally ended.
It opened into a long, well-lit hallway, doors on each side in various places, a pair of swords, crossed, on both sides. One pair made of gold, and the other of a black metal. Xaver walked past them both, without looking at them, his eyes flickering, almost absently, over a few of the doors. He was silent, looking around, lost in his own thoughts. Almost too much so to pay attention where he was going, again.