After Liam finished speaking with Sheila, he did not return to his room immediately.
The conversation had taken enough from the night that hunger finally became more irritating than the cold. He made his way to the cafeteria, bought enough food to avoid needing to leave again, and carried it back to his dorm room without allowing himself to be dragged into any of the conversations still spilling through the hallways.
The second-years were still speaking about Beacon Hall, Eldervale, commander choices, the Warden, and the unpleasant possibility that the academy considered fourteen days a reasonable assessment duration. Liam ignored all of it. He had already spent too much of the day dealing with other people's thoughts, motives, and looming disasters.
By the time he returned to his room, Mabel had not come back from her patrol.
That was fine. Her work was her work. His was finished for the night.
