:Yes: And, for the next while, Moondance just wants to sit with Abras, head on his shoulder, taking comfort in each other's presence. 

...This is inevitably going to turn into Moondance gradually dozing off, because he's a lot more tired than he's been letting on to Abras or himself. 

Leaning on each other and just being there with someone else who understands is nice.

Moondance falling asleep is very reasonable, but Abras can't seem to do the same. Eventually he'll notice his thoughts circling the drain that is "thinking about Tylendel being DEAD" and go looking for something else to think about. :Hi Yfandes. Are you busy?:

:I'm never busy if you need me, Chosen: Yfandes wafts love in his direction. :Why don't you come sleep under the stars with me tonight, since your bed is taken? Er, maybe wait just a minute. Starwind is heading this way to check on Moondance: 

Indeed, a couple of minutes later, Starwind pokes his head in through the door of the ekele. He opens his mouth to speak, notices Moondance fast asleep in the bed, and Mindspeaks instead. :How is he?: 

: Sleeping under the stars with you sounds nice. Today was . . . intense.: 

When Starwind arrives, he answers, :He was feeling a lot better when he woke up earlier. I think he's mostly just tired, now. I'm planning to stay with Yfandes tonight.: Even if there was a second bed in here, Moondance doesn't need the risk of being woken by Abras thrashing around in a nightmare.

:Thank you for staying with him: Starwind sends, soberly. :I...worry. He works so hard – I fear that he overextended himself again today, and hid from me how tired he was before we took on the queen: His mindvoice is softer than usual; there's a hint of guilt in it, which is very weird coming from Starwind. 

Abras isn't sure how to answer that in a way that doesn't contradict Starwind and doesn't feel unfair to Moondance and also is true. :He was very brave.:

:Yes: Starwind smiles fondly at Moondance's sleeping form, then turns back to Abras, pats his shoulder. :As were you:

:Thanks. It all happened so fast I didn't have time to be scared.: He stands up from the bed, slowly so as not to shift it.

Starwind just nods to him, and equally carefully takes his place on the side of the bed. 

Then Abras can go find Yfandes. :Hi. I'd like to talk about the fight sometime, but it can be tomorrow.:

:I think tomorrow would be better: Yfandes agrees. She nudges him toward a mossy little clearing behind the ekele, dim in the fading sunset light. There's a hammock strung there, next to a hollow that's around the right size for Yfandes to curl up beside him. :I love you, Chosen. We can talk about other things, if you're not sleepy yet: 

He climbs into the hammock and reaches over to stroke Yfandes' mane. :Um. How much were you listening to my conversation with Moondance? I just realized I don't know if he meant anything he said to be private from you.: 

:I wasn't listening in on your thoughts – I thought it might be a time you preferred privacy. Though I did pick up on, er, rather a lot of feelings: Yfandes wriggles slightly so he can reach her mane more easily. :I would guess that Moondance takes for granted that Heralds share everything with their Companions – he knows Savil – but since you yourself haven't had that conversation with him, it makes sense to me if you'd preferred to wait and ask: 

:Yeah, I don't want to say anything he might have wanted to keep private. Sorry for making you listen to a bunch of feelings with no actual content.:

:Please don't be, Chosen: She nuzzles his hand. :From what I sensed, it seemed - valuable. For you and him both, I expect. If you wanted to talk about the feelings you had, at all, without mentioning what he said, I'm here for that: A mental chuckle. :It's also perfectly fine if you've had your fill of that for today: 

:It was . . . a conversation very worth having. But yeah, I think what I want right now is sleep. Lots to do in the morning.:

: I'm really glad you're here,: he adds, and it's not clear to either of them whether he means here next to him or here in his life before he dozes off.

It's a pretty good night's sleep, considering that he's in a hammock outside. 

After that, the next few weeks pass in a blur of revising lesson plans with Savil and Starwind, and practicing, and being asked about scout missions, and practicing, and spending time with Yfandes, and more practicing. 

Midwinter approaches, and then arrives. It doesn't feel very wintery at all in the Vale but the atmosphere is certainly festive. One of the first things that happens is that Moondance grabs Abras outside the ekele and drags him outside for a snowball fight. 

Abras practices a lot. There are so many things worth learning available, Farsight and Fetching and what little Healing he's capable of, keeping multiple pieces of magic going at once, doing things with his eyes closed or in the saddle or both. The more his physical and magical stamina increase the more of each day he can spend keeping himself too busy to think--about Tylendel, about his eventual return to Haven and its memories and a set of responsibilities he still hasn't quite mapped the edges of.

He agrees to every scouting mission he's invited on. They're better practice than practice, and more distracting, and he does keep managing to avoid making things go worse than if he hadn't been there, but the real reason is that if he ever said no he wouldn't trust his own motives for saying it.

He's always loved midwinter, as a time of year when the ordinary cycles of things pause and everyone turns from whatever they were doing to focus hard on enjoying themselves. This is the first time he's ever cared about his performance in a snowball fight; his aim with thrown projectiles is still terrible but he does at one point manage to Fetch a snowball into Moondance's stomach shortly before getting pasted himself.

Moondance thinks this is absolutely hilarious. 

The rest of the day goes by with various festivities, games and songs and dances and ceremony. It's loud and exhausting and there are people everywhere – k'Treva has about two hundred human inhabitants and it feels like every single one of them is within earshot – but it has the virtue of being very distracting.

Late in the evening, Savil nabs him. :Want to go join Starwind and Moondance in one of the private pools? I'm getting a little tired of these crowds: 

:Oh gods yes. This party is awesome but if I have to make small talk with one more person whose name I've forgotten my head is going to fall right off.:

:That's about how I'm feeling now too: 

Savil leads him down a narrow path – it's dark out, but the path is lit by coloured mage-lights, someone's been hard at work today readying the Vale for an all-night celebration.

In a different pond than usual, Starwind and Moondance are sitting. Or, rather, Moondance is sitting; Starwind is sort of half-floating, held loosely in Moondance's grip. It's a very weird way to see his teacher, but Moondance smiles brightly at Abras. "I am glad you wished to join us." 

He joins them in the pond. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Nightsun is headed our way with some snacks," Savil says brightly, stripping off her robe and slipping into the pool as well. Starwind is sitting up; he and Moondance keep giving each other odds looks and occasionally glancing sideways at Abras. 

Nightsun arrives a minute later, unrolls the picnic-blanket under his arm and lays out food from a tray, and then slides into the water as well and kisses Abras' aunt thoroughly.