Tears In The Bushes

Jude was good at a lot of things, but finding efficient routes of travel was not one of them. He was used to the city, to the alleys, to memorizing giant maps and finding his way around that way. But much of the island was just forest, all but unmapped in any sense but the most general. If Jude wanted to find the fastest way, he would have to physically find the fastest way, wandering through the woods, finding the best routes, and then manually timing things to make sure he'd be able to get between classes and work.

At least he had time to figure it out.

Jude looked pretty scratched up after several hours of cutting through the forest, forging his own paths with a body that was definitely not intended to do that exact thing. He wasn't quite dirty, but he had given up on trying to keep the leaves from getting on his clothes, and there were plenty of small scratches on his skin from pushing through.

And that specific trek through the woods would have been fine... if Jude hadn't abruptly heard a noise. He went still, trying to be quiet, trying to listen but still so painfully unfamiliar with the sound of the woods. He wondered if he'd ever really be in tune with nature like people said they were. Probably not. Probably never. There was too much randomness, too much he couldn't handle.

But the sound was a human sound. Crying, if Jude was right, and his first thought was that someone had gotten hurt.

So he listened carefully, reoriented, and cut a careful path towards the noise. From the sound of it, they couldn't be far, and it wasn't more than a minute before he spotted Xavi, sitting at the base of a tree and hugging his knees.

He was crying, but he didn't look hurt, and Jude's brain abruptly screech to a stop as he tried to assess the situation and came up with... nothing.

He was just crying.

So maybe not hurt at all.

He was definitely crying. No two ways about it. Even if he tried to play it off, rubbing at his eyes and hiding his face, there was no way that Jude could fail to realize. He wasn't sure there was even a point of trying to play it off as something he'd failed to notice.

After a moment, Jude decided there was no point in playing pretend.

"I'm fine," Jude said. "I was just cutting through the bushes. Are you alright?" From the looks of him--and his insistence and that it wasn't what it looked like, he was pretty sure that he wasn't physically hurt. If he'd broken his leg or something he wasn't going to say 'no, this isn't what it looks like!' because it'd be exactly what it looked like.

He was just upset.

Which was normal.

Jude's face looked pinched in concern as he watched Xavi.

"I'm just trying to figure out the fastest way between the transit hub and my classes," Jude said, not feeling any need to hide it. It was simple enough. "I'm short on time getting back and forth."

It was a nice distraction, a quick explanation, and it seemed to give Xavi a bit of time to get himself together. Wiping at his eyes. Swallowing down the lump that was almost definitely in his throat.

"Well," Jude said, weighing his words. "I mean. We're not super close or anything, but sometimes that can be helpful? Like, explaining your concerns to a stranger, because you know the stranger doesn't know enough about your situation to judge you or anything like that. Because you can just say whatever, and you don't have to worry about their own viewpoint adjusting things."

Which was a very roundabout way to just say I'm here to talk if you want, only significantly more elaborate then it needed to be.

Jude leaned against a tree and tried to look casual.

Jude reached up with his good hand, rubbing at a cut on his forehead with his thumb. It wasn't that bad, but his finger still came away red, and he grimaced.

He was going to need a shower.

"No, it's fine," Jude said, trying to reassure him. "I've had way worse--I just need to clean off the mess I think." He didn't really feel hurt or anything. All the scratches were minor. So there wasn't anything to worry about there.

"It's fine if you don't want to," Jude said, feeling the bark of the tree against his back. "We could talk about other stuff. But, uh, I should say-" Okay, well, no, he was going to say he wasn't judgmental, but he was, just not normally for stuff that people would get judgmental over. His father was a damned mafioso, he had a pretty high tolerance for things that defied the social spectrum.

"But I won't judge. I can promise that," And if he did? Well, Xavi would never know. He was crying out in the woods alone. He needed someone to talk to.

Jude accepted the bandaid, even if he didn't think he needed it, and then carefully selected the worst of the scrapes before applying it. He dropped the wrapper in his back, careful not to litter before turning his attention back to Xavi.

Oh. This was going to be, uh, awkward. Did he just say it? Considering what Jude knew, it was a pretty safe bet what it was that they were talking about. Jude actually looked genuinely embarrassed as he shifted in place, reaching up to scratch absentmindedly at his face as he weighed his options.

Honestly. That's what Rory had wanted, and even if he barely knew Xavi, it felt... disingenuous to try and hide it.

"Well, I..." Jude admitted. "I can actually tell what people's powers are, just from being around them. So if you're talking about having to feed, then I know, uh, what that entails."

Which was embarrassing, no two ways about it, but Jude was making an active effort to not look embarrassed. To look like it was just any other day. Like it was any other question.

"If you want to talk about that, you, uh, can."