Teige's brow scrunched together. "I kin�tell," he said pointedly, knocking Hawk's hands from his shoulders, "Stop�doing that. Relax."

"That's�it?!" Hawk barked, as Teige started to get to his feet, "That's�your advice?"

Teige looked at him scornfully. "What," he said, "are you suggesting I don't know about shape-changing?"

He offered Hawk a hand. "It's just a surface change. Everyone learning t'shift does it on accident at least once. It's just extra feathers and skin. A hot shower, and it'll peel straight off. You'll be just fine."

Hawk paused, and then took the offered hand, allowing Teige to haul him to his feet. Teige kept a loose grip on his feathered arm, guiding him swiftly away, up the road, away from the 'Drive Safe' sign with its dried flowers and its worn, forlorn stuffed bear sitting at its base.

"Exorcising ghosts with your feathers, though,�that's�a new one," Teige remarked, with a stab at lightheartedness, "Where'd you ever get the idea that they're magic fucken charms?"

"Huh?" Hawk asked, for a second forgetting what Teige was referring to. "Oh. I know they ent magic. That's just somethin' I used to tell my little sister, whenever she was scared of bein' alone."