< Ashes, > the Cynn in the overcoat muttered, and he leaned over the desk. The other Cynn sat up straight and allowed the one in the coat to un-pin the copper brooch from his sash. As he did, a quiet, bright flicker of greenish lightning flared up around his fingers, and the Cynn in the chair began to warp and fade into smoke, his colors running together.

Cynn Numair did not watch the double evaporate that closely; he was already turning away, unbuttoning his coat and then the black shirt underneath, as the double faded into nothing.

< Do I have a ride waiting? >

< Yes, > Sraddi answered, and added as the Cynn brushed past, shedding his clothes as he went, < Do not forget your medicine. >

< Yes, yes, > the Cynn said absently. The shirt and coat once stripped away revealed a thin, open-backed undershirt, which in turn revealed a massive, old, pale scar that sprawled across the Cynn's back, from hip to shoulder blade. Sraddi hopped down from her perch and waddled after the Cynn as he swept from the office and into the room adjacent, leaving his boots in the doorway.

After a period of thought, the Cynn said, < Please ask Kurogane to have tea waiting when I return. I will be working late. >

< Yes, > Sraddi agreed. The Cynn bunched up the olive skirt he wore and pulled it off as well; there was another outfit folded up and waiting for him on the table at the far side of the room, beneath glass windows that were frosted slightly, distorting the scene of grey and green outside.

< Also, please contact the Enodian City Council, > he told Sraddi. < See if they will meet with me early tomorrow. I may have a solution to their refugee problems. >