The laundry smelled like cold coffee and relief.
Rell noticed it the moment he came downstairs.
Not the usual smell of detergent and damp metal and too many people in a small space.
Something softer.
The specific quiet of a room full of people who had finally, collectively, exhaled.
Nia was asleep on the floor with a jacket over her face.
Tal had made it as far as a folded pile of clean sheets before giving up on the idea of finding a real surface.
Suri was curled in the corner chair, shoes still on, head tipped sideways at an angle that would hurt later.
Ivo had fallen asleep sitting upright against the wall, empty caffeine can still in his hand.
Rin was the only one who'd made it to an actual cot, but she'd taken her recorder with her, fingers still loosely wrapped around it even in sleep, like a journalist who didn't trust the world to hold still without documentation.
Rell stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked at all of them.
