It would almost be easier, if it was just the old nightmares from the journey. And those had resurged, of course, as familiar as the shape of first aid was by now, dreams of being always too late, too unskilled, watching everyone she cared about die before her with all the healing artes in the world not enough. But save for the added cast members, nothing else had changed, and Raine could cope with those as she had then.
What was new was waking in the middle of the night with the sudden, certain panic that something vitally important was missing. It took her a week to realize that all the familiar pieces she'd been through in the Dreaming, positive and negative both, had taken her right back to those months of crossing two worlds in the effort to save both, when quarters were close and constant threats closer, and someone missing usually meant something had gone horribly wrong.
Adjusting when she'd first arrived in Keeliai had taken time, too, but she'd done so well enough eventually. But those had been more peaceful times. Now there were at least three weeks gone since they'd returned and Raine still woke grasping for a familiar mana signature nearby, anyone at all, something to tell her things were right in the world.
There was a very obvious solution, if she looked at those in the city she'd spent enough time with to learn the particular feel of their mana, and by her third week of interrupted and insufficient sleep, Raine was exhausted and frustrated enough to give in and ask. This time when her failure to find familiar mana woke her, certain that Colette had been kidnapped, that Mithos had done something to Genis, she simply breathed until her heart was back to a normal rate, and left her room at the Hotel in favor of finding Solomon's.
Outside his room Raine stopped, rested her forehead against the door, considering the wisdom again. Bakura still slept comatose within, as well, something that had stopped her making this short trip earlier. Even her efforts hadn't been able to do much for him. But even so-- if he woke, that could only be good, and if he did not, his was also among those mana signatures she was beginning to know well enough to pick out individually. It could only help. Raine sighed, softly, and lifted her hand to knock on the door.
closed to Solomon | his room, in the middle of the night | fairly early Jan
What was new was waking in the middle of the night with the sudden, certain panic that something vitally important was missing. It took her a week to realize that all the familiar pieces she'd been through in the Dreaming, positive and negative both, had taken her right back to those months of crossing two worlds in the effort to save both, when quarters were close and constant threats closer, and someone missing usually meant something had gone horribly wrong.
Adjusting when she'd first arrived in Keeliai had taken time, too, but she'd done so well enough eventually. But those had been more peaceful times. Now there were at least three weeks gone since they'd returned and Raine still woke grasping for a familiar mana signature nearby, anyone at all, something to tell her things were right in the world.
There was a very obvious solution, if she looked at those in the city she'd spent enough time with to learn the particular feel of their mana, and by her third week of interrupted and insufficient sleep, Raine was exhausted and frustrated enough to give in and ask. This time when her failure to find familiar mana woke her, certain that Colette had been kidnapped, that Mithos had done something to Genis, she simply breathed until her heart was back to a normal rate, and left her room at the Hotel in favor of finding Solomon's.
Outside his room Raine stopped, rested her forehead against the door, considering the wisdom again. Bakura still slept comatose within, as well, something that had stopped her making this short trip earlier. Even her efforts hadn't been able to do much for him. But even so-- if he woke, that could only be good, and if he did not, his was also among those mana signatures she was beginning to know well enough to pick out individually. It could only help. Raine sighed, softly, and lifted her hand to knock on the door.