"All kinds a' stuff, I guess," Hawk said dubiously, freeing one hand and rubbing the top of the turkey's head with his finger very gently. She tilted her head back, shutting her eyes. "Where the food is, interestin' stuff they seen. Some of the birds in Violetta got t' knowin' me so well, they'd tip us off to where the violence was goin' on."

He paused a moment. They'd find him even in the most overgrown of orange groves, where he and Liya and Emry would be stealthily loading laundry baskets and plastic buckets full of ripe oranges that loaded the abandoned trees. They'd light on the branches just out of his reach--sometimes ravens, sometimes crows, sometimes pigeons or sparrows--and tell him about the great gold and red snakes being overrun by fire ants somewhere in the distance, and how it was moving their way.

"It was only weird monster talent a' mine that my brother an' sister ever really appreciated," Hawk said after a long time, and then took a bit of hamburger. He'd barely gotten through it, though, before something occurred to him. "...I think the birds just kinda felt bad for me, though. To them, I was just this big dumb bird that never learned to fly. But when I�did�learn...?"

He smiled without really meaning to, glancing down.

"It was like havin' a thousand people all around you, congratulatin' you on somethin' you did all yourself."

He suddenly realized Teige had gone silent, and looked over sharply. Teige was merely watching him with his chin in his hand, smiling in an unnervingly savvy way.

"...What?" Hawk asked warily.