That's a Familiar Name!

Xavier listened with interest, which reflected on his face. He never pried too much into Marissa's friends since they seemed to have a bit of a rough patch. Xavier never wanted to bring up something that could be painful for Marissa, especially stuff he felt a bit useless with helping. He loved her, and he wished to protect her wholeheartedly, but he didn't know these people. He didn't know how they acted or why there were these issues, and frankly he wasn't one to get involved to fix anything.

But, in the meantime, Xavier would take the opportunity to learn more about Marissa's friends. Plus, it was a way that would mean he wouldn't accidentally bring up sour experiences for her. "Oh wow, you seem pretty close then! I'm not sure if she's mentioned a Parker though..." He smiled initially, then his face dropped a bit in thought. He hadn't intended to sound suspicious or anything, he just had a curiosity as to why he had never heard Marissa talk about a Parker.

Xavier got even more confused as Parker laughed at him. The poor teenager had no idea that the Duke Marissa had talked about to Xavier was in fact this person. How did one even get Duke from Parker in the first place? Not that Xavier could exactly argue... with Vortex. But he looked extremely embarrassed when Duke revealed his nickname. “Oh... Duke. Yep she’s talked about you.” Xavier spoke as he facepalmed.

But he couldn’t help but quirk a smile as Duke said the mommy thing. It was amusing, yet cute in a way. It was a humour not lost on him, Xavier had always been the class clown plus he hung around people who made similar jokes. But as Duke spoke about how people got confused, Xavier’s face dropped into a deadpan. “I have a little sister called Danielle. Me and my family called her Dani, and she calls herself Laser Kid. Just call yourself whatever you want.” He attempted to be a bit humorous, but in a way had been dead serious.

Xavier smiled a little bit. As much as he complained about Dani calling herself Laser Kid, he also knew it kinda resulted from the world she grew up in. She had a pretty notable power, and lived in a world with superheroes. In a way, Xavier found it endearing since he knew that it would stay with her. "Lotta people call her by it. She always gets so smug whenever someone does." He shook his head with a light laugh.

"Probably. She's met Dani a few times since we met. Dani quite likes Risky, she hasn't said it to her but she actually loves her hair. You know, with the red streaks." Xavier smiled as he remembered Dani mention that. Dani was stubborn, in a way similar to Xavier. She never liked admitting someone else could be cooler than herself in any way, but she still found a lot of aspects about people cool. Just wouldn't admit it to them.

Xavier smiles a tiny bit. He gathered that Marissa’s parents probably wouldn’t have liked her hair, lot of parents didn’t exactly take too kindly to their children suddenly dying their hair. Xavier couldn’t say he disliked the red streaks, it suited her perfectly. “Not surprised. My oldest sister would freak out if I came home with my clothes dirty, let alone if I did something like that.” He shook his head slightly, his lips quirked in a smile again. Moments he wished he cherished more.

At Duke’s question, Xavier rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, no. I’m from a different dimension, somewhere called Halcyon City.” Although he attempted to speak neutral, Xavier was a creature of honesty. A sad look had crept into his eyes, and his voice had taken a more somber tone compared to the cheerful one he just had. “I live here on the island now, though.” He nodded slowly as he spoke.

Xavier nodded. He knew some of the situation from Marissa, and he felt empathy towards it. To leave the home you knew, and be thrusted into essentially magic island... It would be overwhelming. Xavier hoped that her and her friends could go back to a home that still existed, something Xavier himself couldn’t do anymore. But a part of him flinched at the thought Marissa leaving... he didn’t want her to go.

“Well, there’s a lot of dimension hoppers on the island, maybe they could help? I came here thanks to someone who could create a portal between dimensions.” Xavier didn’t mention the evacuation part of the whole jumping dimensions. “I think you all have a good chance of going home.” He smiled brightly at Duke.