Like a fungus? All six of his good fingers tighten on his arms, feeling in his throat like there isn't any oxygen left in the breath it's suddenly holding. He sucks a fresh one through his teeth, and weird a feeling as it is, after months--

Alone. The word is alone. He blows the breath back out in a huff; if she means what it's weird enough to hope she does--yeah, he knows about military school. "Yeah," he sighs, rolling his shoulder on the post as he makes the final, careful step onto the porch. "Spent, five, seven years in one? It's been awhile."

One more breath, he takes the dive. People's pasts are their own business, but he has to know. "You--you mean the cordyceps, right?"