The dormitory building was quieter than the competition grounds.
William climbed the stairs to his floor and found the corridor empty, most students were still at the venue or gathered in common rooms processing the day's results.
The particular aftermath energy of a competition day, where no one quite wanted to be alone with it yet and the social spaces filled with people needing to talk about what they'd seen.
He didn't need to talk about it.
He needed to think.
His room was dark when he entered. Kai wasn't there, which meant he was somewhere doing the particular things Kai did in the margins of events — watching, assessing, monitoring the operational situation that hadn't resolved just because the competition bracket had.
William sat on his bed and looked at his hands.
