Key stayed at Hawthorne House until eight forty-five when the others waved her away, making her promise to return the next time they had a pageant. She rode her bliss all the way back to Victoria House, when her mood dropped upon entering the common.
The main lights were out, with only a few small lamps overhead, so people could see at night. The room was empty, except for one person on one of the couches up against the wall.
Mat's leg lay on the ground and he had his other knee pulled up to his chest. His thermos sat on the table in front of him as he stared at something that wasn't there. Key walked up to him quietly and sat down next to him. When she did, he jumped and turned, his hand instinctively going to cover his mouth, to prevent himself from crying out. When he saw her, a shudder ran through him and he burst into tears, folding his lips in, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Key wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he leaned into her, sobbing. "I can't... I can't do this..." he said in Zhohu.
She rubbed her hand along his shoulder and responded in the same language, "Hey, you're at Faraday now, remember? It's all going to get better."
His body shook as he continued to cry. "I can't... sleep here."
"Shh." Key rubbed his arm again.
Mat pulled back and tried to explain between ragged gasps. "When I got back, Reed... Reed was gone... I fell asleep. And I dreamed... I dreamed..." He trailed off. Key took his hand. "I went to get the thermos from you, but you... you weren't there. I..."
Mat let Key pull him in toward her again. "I'm sorry, Mat. A girl from my electricity class invited me out. I've been nervous about it all day. I should have told you."
Matsias sniffed and nodded against her shirt. "I didn't mean to cry. I thought... I thought I was okay again."
Key adjusted herself on the couch and Mat laid his head in her lap. It was the kind of thing he wouldn't have done if the common hadn't been empty. She found the tie on the end of his braid and undid it, combing his hair out with her fingers. As she did so, she hummed a familiar tune.
Key opened the door to her bedroom slowly. Matsias had only been living with them a couple of days, and had been sleeping in her bed. In fact, he rarely left her room, except for meals and the bathroom. Key had been sleeping on the couch, until they got a second bed, but she had left her carving tools in her room the night before.
The door opened with barely a swish across the carpet. Some light came in through the windows, but the heavy curtains, necessary in the southern continent, blocked most of it.
Matsias was motionless in bed. She could barely see a tangle of black hair sticking out above the top of the blankets. Fortunately, Key knew exactly where her tools were. She opened the drawer of the night table under the window. As she did so, she heard the faintest of whimpers. At first, she thought it was the drawer squeaking, but it hadn't come from the wood. Key turned.
Now that she was standing next to the bed, she could see that Mat's blankets were pulled up to his nose. Above them, his eyes were shut tight, not in peaceful slumber. "Mat?" she whispered, but he didn't respond.
Key drew back the covers slightly, and found that Matsias had stuffed his knuckle into his mouth. His eyes snapped open.
"Mat, it's me." Key said as she tried to extract his hand from his teeth. His finger had several small indents in it.
Matsias gasped and squinted at her. "Key..."
Key took the glass of water from the top of the night table and handed it to Matsias. "How long have you been like this?"
"I... I don't know. I thought... I dreamed... I didn't remember where..." With a shaking hand, he accepted the water glass and downed its contents. He had dark rings around his eyes.
"You're safe now." He nodded as she removed the empty glass from his hand and placed it back on the nightstand. Key nudged her new brother until he moved enough for her to sit next to him on the bed. She wrapped her arm around him and sang a lullaby that had always helped her sleep.
"Softly steal the stars by night
whispering their dreams so bright.
Before they sleep at break of dawn,
You shall see the world beyond"
As she sang, Matsias joined her, but in Epaluno. "Favifu mo etahu, ovu'i hu a'evvu, me lebepo hu tanexu."
Key pulled back slightly to look at him. "You know this song?"
"My ma..." He drew in a sharp breath. "My mother used to sing it to me."
"My mother used to sing it to me." She hugged him again. "I'm sorry. If I had known, I'd have picked a different song..."
"Key," Mat's eyes met hers. "Please don't stop."
Now, as Key ran her finger through Mat's hair, she could feel the shudders in his body slow and his breathing smooth out. "Did you know Tilli has Marcus and Ida Pfieffer's journals?" he asked.
Key looked down at him and couldn't help but smile. It was just the sort of thing Mat would say. "I didn't. When did you find that out?"
Mat wiped his face on his sleeve. "When I went to get the thermos. Marcus's journal was sitting on her desk. She said she's reading it for class. But it didn't look like the books they gave is in my literature class. It looked like her copy."
"Do we need to take that class next year?"
Mat sat up. "It's in Imk."
"Oh."
"She said she'd lend them to me, but I can't read them." He looked down at his hands.
Key gave his shoulder a small shove. "I bet we can find a bookstore in Shakif tomorrow."
Mat's face lit up. "Are you coming?"
"Of course." She looked at her watch. "But we should probably get some rest first. You want me to walk you back to your room?"
"Okay." Mat swung his good leg off the couch and found the end of his loose pant leg. When Key's father made Mat's trousers, he'd sewn a button onto the right leg, so he could tie up the loose end if he didn't want to use his prosthetic. He picked up his crutch from the floor, pulled himself up and balanced on it. Key grabbed his leg, along with the thermos, and the two headed back to Mat's room.
