Elara didn't sleep well.
Alistair knew because he didn't sleep well either, and at some point before dawn, he heard her shift on the floor where she'd set up a bedroll against the far wall. Not restless exactly, but the sound of someone who was thinking instead of sleeping.
He didn't say anything. He lay in the dark and ran his scan once, picking up her signature across the base. Warm and steady. Favor running constantly, the way it always runs when she's near people.
He wondered what it is like to carry a Characteristic that is always on. That reaches toward everyone around you, whether you want it to or not.
'Exhausting. To never know if anyone chose to be around you.'
***
Morning came, grey as always.
Elara was up before him. Already moving through the base with the energy of someone who had made a list in her head during the night, and the water was heated.
The remaining rations were divided into portions that would last three more days.
