The notice had been pinned to the barracks door sometime before dawn. By the time Squad 7 found it, the ink had smudged in the morning damp, but the message was legible enough.
Rotation suspended. Report to standard post at fourth bell.
Four hours.
Drake read it twice, then looked at the sky. It was grey and low, the kind of morning that couldn't decide whether to rain. "Fourth bell's not until noon."
"I know," Xander said. He was already sitting on the low stone step outside the barracks, a book open on his knee. He hadn't turned a page in five minutes.
Kara leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "So what are we supposed to do until then?"
The question hung there.
The barracks yard was small and quiet. A single bench against the north wall. A water barrel. A stretch of gravel that had been raked smooth the day before and was now scattered with leaves. No drills. No proctors. No assignments.
James sat down on the bench. Not because he had decided to sit. He just did.
Luna settled onto the step beside Xander. She didn't take out anything to do. She just sat, hands folded in her lap, looking at the yard the way someone looks at a room they've been in a thousand times.
Drake remained standing. He looked at the water barrel. Then at the gate latch. Then at the bench James was sitting on.
"The bench leg's loose," he said.
Kara groaned. "We have four hours off and that's the first thing you notice?"
"It's been loose since Tuesday."
"Then it'll be loose on Wednesday."
Drake didn't answer. He walked to the bench, crouched, and inspected the leg. James shifted to give him room. Drake tested the joint with his right hand, the left hanging at his side.
"Needs a wedge," he said.
"Needs a day off," Kara said.
Xander turned a page. Or maybe he just moved the book. It was hard to tell.
Luna watched Drake for a moment, then stood and walked to the woodpile at the corner of the yard. She came back with a thin scrap of pine and handed it to him without a word.
Drake took it. He wedged it under the leg. The bench stopped rocking.
"Thanks," he said.
Luna sat back down beside Xander.
---
The next hour passed slowly.
Kara eventually gave up standing and dropped onto the ground with her back against the barracks wall, legs stretched out. She picked at a loose thread on her sleeve.
"This is boring," she announced.
Nobody disagreed.
"I could be training."
"You could," Xander said.
"So could you."
"I could."
"But you're not."
"No."
Kara stared at him. Then at Drake, who had sat down on the now-stable bench. Then at Luna, who was watching a bird on the wall. Then at James, who was doing nothing at all.
"You're all just... sitting here."
"Yes," James said.
"That's it? That's the plan?"
"There's no plan," Drake said. "That's the point."
Kara opened her mouth, closed it, and slumped back against the wall.
---
Around the second hour, Xander closed his book.
He didn't say anything. He just set it aside and looked at the yard. The bird Luna had been watching had flown off. The sky was still grey. Somewhere beyond the barracks wall, the distant sound of a drill instructor's voice carried across the quad.
"First-years," Xander said. "Kinetic drills."
"How can you tell?" Kara asked.
"The cadence. They're two counts behind the standard."
Kara looked at him. "You can hear that from here?"
"Yes."
She shook her head and looked away.
Drake reached down and tested the bench leg again. The wedge was holding. He nodded once to himself and sat back.
Luna pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. She wasn't watching anything in particular.
James stayed where he was.
---
At some point, Kara got up.
She didn't announce it. She just stood, walked to the water barrel, and drank. Then she walked back and sat down in a different spot — closer to the group this time. Not next to anyone in particular. Just closer.
Xander noticed. He didn't comment.
Luna noticed. She didn't comment either.
Drake noticed. He glanced at Kara, then at the space she had left, then back at the bench leg. He didn't say anything.
James noticed.
He didn't say anything either.
---
The fourth bell rang at noon.
They stood up slowly, the way people do when they've been sitting for too long and their bodies have forgotten what movement feels like. Drake stretched his right shoulder. Kara rolled her neck. Xander picked up his book. Luna straightened her tunic.
James didn't stretch. He just stood.
"Alright," Drake said. "Let's go."
They walked out through the gate together. Not in formation. Not in step. Just together.
The gate swung shut behind them. The yard was empty again. The bench sat where it always sat, the wedge still in place under the loose leg.
They'd stayed.