"No need to apologize for looking out for your people. I hope he feels better soon." She keeps putting sprouts in her face.

"I hope so too. ...Apparently it's been five months." He shakes his head, unhappily. "Also apparently he was worse than this before, though, so." Shrug. 

"He perked up for a second but then - I don't know, was it something I said?"

"- Uh, sorry, I'm trying to remember what that time even was. I feel like he looked upset at something one of us said at least five times. ...That might've been about psychic mals? I don't actually have any more idea what happened to him than you guys do, Larisa was going to fill me in later when she has time, but maybe he's got trauma about those too or something." 

"I bet there's someone in his year who knows what happened but wasn't personally there and doesn't mind talking about it."

"Cassie's a sophomore too. Maybe she knows, or at least knows who his friends are who I could ask?" 

"I could ask Suze, but I don't know if she knows them and she's gone back to her room for the night already."

"I should head out soon too; we still have some furniture mods to do before curfew." Also she wants to stop repeating small talk and grind mana alone for a while before sleeping.

"It was lovely meeting you, Marcy!" 

"Likewise!"

Bella forces down the last bite of her terrible meatloaf. "I need to take my furniture apart too."

"Right. Well, have a good night." 

"Thanks. See you tomorrow." She busses her tray with some trepidation and then catches a clump of students heading up the stairs to her section.