Greenhouse || Xavier Thorpe x Male Reader

hive checks || chapter 19

this chapter was sponsored by caffeine

 The five of us sit back at our usual table in the quad, finally having a complete group again. After the conversation last night, Xavier has begun to spend more time with us again, even though he's not fully back to normal. I appreciate it, but the dynamic of the whole group seems to have shifted from carefree and live-in-the-moment to more reserved and calculating.

"I'm glad all the hassle of Parent's Day is over. Now we just have a few months of nothing until school ends for the summer," Enid comments. The rest of the group nods.

"We've deserved the break. I mean, ever since the incident at the island, we've kind of been going nonstop with events," she adds.

I lean against Xavier and think about the upcoming lull in events. Just classes and whatever we do on the weekends. No more growing plants to sell or childhood trauma brought to light by late events. Calm, for once. We can finish the year without getting into too much trouble.

We, of course, not including Wednesday. The thought of a break seems to harden her already stone-cold expression. She never liked sitting idle, just waiting for trouble to come find her. I have more things to worry about than the crimes she's bound to commit, though. The school year ends in the beginning of June, which is just two months and a week away.

"I need to clear out the greenhouse soon, then," I say, voicing my thoughts. "Can't leave plants there over the summer."

Xavier chuckles and puts a hand on my shoulder. "[Y/N], it's not even April. Let yourself relax a bit."

"Well, I should clear them out before we have exams and I don't want them to be in a shipping container all summer, so it's either I sell the plants or start clearing them."

"You could clean them out in May. Take a month before you start throwing yourself into a new project. You spend every waking hour in the greenhouse, anyway."

"I'm here right now, so not every waking hour," I correct him.

"Most waking hours."

I shrug and the conversation turns back to the group again. The exams, the summertime, plans, all normal conversation topics. Maybe we, too, have a shot at being normal. Not the wolf-less werewolf, psychopath, plant kid, tortured artist, and out-of-place gorgon, but just outcasts. One less level of freaks.

~=~

Weems stops by for her monthly greenhouse check again as I work on cataloging my plants for shipping in a few months.

"So, [Y/N], you're focusing on tropical plants?" she asks when I let her in. I nod. "Excellent."

She walks around the greenhouse, noting the quality and quantity of different plants. The trees now standing in the center are a surprise to her, but she reacts positively. When she circles around to where I stand, she pauses.

"Bit of wear on that table, you know. Did you grow a tree on it?"

"No, Principal Weems, I just grew a larger plant that I didn't realize would be so heavy," I lie. She accepts it and continues on.

"Don't put too much pressure on the wood. Keep it under a hundred pounds."

I lock the door after she leaves, thanking whatever gods exist that all she assumed was a tree. The wood is worn down a bit, but nothing too bad. I sit down again and continue my cataloguing work for the plants.

Genus, species, quality, quantity, description, date grown... I'll need to ask Xavier if he can draw some pictures of the plants or loan me his camera. I can't draw a leaf to save my life. If I keep all that information in this one notebook, that will make shipping a lot easier. I know Xavier usually just leaves his stuff in the shed, but art and plants are different. If I just left them in the greenhouse, they would die.