See-Through (Cath!)

[Rii]

It was late evening - just before all good dragon candidates were expected to be in bed - and the common room was empty except for one. Sora had taken this golden opportunity to sit in a real chair instead of staking out on the barracks roof for a little while before she’d attempt to go directly to bed with minimal roommate socialization. Not that Addy was terrible, she admitted to herself silently. She’d come a ways from the time when she’d nearly pulled out her hair in frustration over the other candidate’s energy. Standing for a bloodbath of a Hatching together did that. Just… she was just a bit much, when Sora wanted some quiet.

Taking quiet time to think had been much more productive after her talk with Jyderin and his ironrider son. The first sevendays after the Hatching had been an utter mess in her head with the attacked-by-hatchlings disgruntlement, everyone’s trauma and shock, new colors, nightmares, helplessness, Orkia. All of it had been so tangled up she hadn’t had a good place to start unraveling it, but spilling it to the tanner - however he’d managed to become her confidante, because she didn’t usually allow herself such things - had helped more than she wanted to admit. Afterwards, it had been much easier to think things over one at a time.

Her psyche wasn’t the only one starting to scab over. When Fenrisk had clutched, there were actually people that were excited. In fact, Sora was a little bit surprised at how many were excited, how many of the wher and dual candidates there were that seemed ready to go back on the Sands again. Herself, she was just as happy that she was a dragon candidate. After the chaotic dual hatching, she had less desire to stand for whers than ever. Stupid iron had bit her, Faranth knew why, and she hadn’t been able to climb for three sevendays.

But some were recovering less well than others. And in flopping down in the deserted common room to relax, she’d unthinkingly all but hung out a welcome sign to anyone else who might be hanging around at this time of night.

[Cathaline]

It wasn't fun to be expected to be in bed when you were suffering from nightmares every time you closed your eyes and let the darkness in. Recently, Newt had come up with an extremely simple solution to his pain.

He would stop sleeping.

Oh, not entirely. He knew more than most laymen about the effects of exhaustion on body, mind, and soul. But if he slept less, maybe he could trick himself into being so tired that sleep would be fulfilling instead of distressing. Yes. It was a good plan. It was at least worth the experimentation.

So here he was, around the time all good dragon candidates ought to be in bed, and Newt was just breezing in the door, just in time to avoid getting laid into about curfews if anyone saw him.

Fortunately, there did not appear to be any Candidatemasters around. Just Sora, who he didn't know very well just yet. She was a fellow CalKal survivor, though, and Newt knew all of them. They'd all shared a trauma, in a way. And frankly, even if she had been a total stranger he'd never seen before in his life, that would not have stopped him anyway. As it was, he felt enough natural camraderie that he didn't even hesitate before he went and draped himself on a chair nearby.

"Hey," he said. "Sora. Hey. What's up? It's late for you to be up, isn't it? Are you getting a cold? Did you know that it's a complete misnomer, 'cold,' because you can't get sick just from being cold, actually. It's been proven. It makes you more susceptible to things you were fighting off without noticing. Also being cold makes you want to group up, and in a pack, things get passed around more easily - things like colds. And yet people insist on blaming the temperature itself - what's that about? Were you aware that whers can get colds?"

[Rii]

Sora knew who Newt was. She’d never talked to him, but it was pretty much impossible to not know who he was. More’s the pity, she thought wryly. She’d honestly done her level best to avoid the young man. He was, by her observation, an incessant chatterbox, not particularly polite, and absolutely mad about whers.

Or at least, he had been. Now though… well, everyone had heard about the little black that had bonded to him and been killed, hadn’t they? And she remembered how poorly he’d reacted to the iron wher at Callistath and Kalesk’s hatching. Add that to the amount of time she spent perched on the candidate barracks roof, watching people’s comings and goings… well, she had suspicions. He certainly wasn’t acting like a completely fervent convert to the wher program. Not anymore. Not like he had been.

Of course, she wasn’t about to run around telling the world. That would require talking to people. Telling them stories that weren’t hers to tell. And that just wasn’t her thing. Besides, if anyone was watching, really watching, they’d figure out for themselves, she told herself. And she could always be wrong, so… she just wasn’t going to risk it.

But argh, she had not predicted getting accosted by him tonight of all nights. Sora let the wave of babble wash over her, inhaling a slow breath through her nose for patience. You think you can just say one thing at once? Sheesh. Breathe already, she bit back the sardonic thought. He deserved something a little less curt, she had to remind herself. “Hello, Newt. I could say the same for you, you know. Are you on wher or dragon time today?” The girl studied him seriously, deciding that he was playing dragon candidate today. “No, I’m not getting sick. Just unwinding a little before curfew. We don’t absolutely have to be in bed yet.”

She laced her fingers together. Did she really want to further a discussion like this, or get rid of him as quickly as possible... “They probably blame the temperature because it’s what’s behind the other things you mentioned,” she offered sensibly. “If it wasn’t cold, they wouldn’t be weakened or huddling up inside so much for warmth, so it’s the temperature that’s the common factor. And I wasn’t aware that whers got sick. I know it doesn’t really happen to dragons - assuming they don’t eat something wrong.”