Quietly, Jethro slipped down from his sleeping pod. The dorm room's silence, broken only by the soft snores of his roommates and the purrs of their mechbeasts, made the space feel thick and watchful.
Jethro paused once his feet touched the floor, checking if anyone had woken up or had stopped snoring. Thankfully nothing but the soft cadence of sleep.
Cogsworth, Kekius's Brain Turtle, lifted its head from the circuit board it was tinkering with. Its green, glassy eyes fixed on Jethro, unblinking and keen.
Sizing him up for a few seconds, it simply lost interest and returned to its meticulous wiring. Jethro couldn't afford to sigh, but he was relieved.
He was still dressed in the same clothes from earlier, knowing full well that volcanic caverns and flame forests would likely ruin anything clean for tomorrow.
