Ning noticed the door before he reached it.
It stood slightly ajar, open by no more than the width of a finger, which would have been easy enough to overlook if Ning had not been the one who had closed it firmly that morning before leaving for class.
He did not need to extend his senses to know that someone was inside, though he did so anyway out of habit, and the familiar presence waiting beyond the door made the corner of his mouth lift slightly.
Ning pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.
The room looked exactly as he had left it, with nothing moved from the desks or storage cabinets, except that the bed on the other side of the room, the one that had remained untouched since his arrival, was no longer empty.
Liam lay stretched across it with his hands folded behind his head and his boots resting on the clean bedding, as comfortable as if the room had been assigned to him from the beginning.
He turned his head lazily toward the doorway as Ning entered.
