"Uh, s'cuse me," Hawk mumbled, sidling past the buffalo man and out of his shadow. The man let him, but as Hawk strode quickly down the hall with his wings hiked up around his shoulders, he heard the buffalo man scoff.

"Oh gross," he said, as he stooped to get into the room Hawk had just left. "Was that a halfbreed?"

"Fuck off," the peryton said, from somewhere in the room. Hawk cast a look back over his shoulder, but did not stop.

"This is what you're into now?"

Parker placed another empty rocks glass on the windowsill, where it joined three others. "--And I'm just like, no, Mom," she was complaining, "this ain't shapeshifter's syndrome, I'm just a girl, is all."

Teige nodded sympathetically, his arms folded. "Aye, I know that," he agreed. "Got the same from my da. Rather I think I'm a wild animal than transgender, he would."

"Ugh," Parker sniffed. Hawk, who had just emerged from the hallway back into the main room of the bar, spotted them from across the room and made for them. "My mom came 'round after a while, but."

"'S a good job she did!" Teige replied. "My da still calls me by my girl name whenever I see him."

"Unbelie--" Parker started to say, and then realized Hawk had very quietly joined them. Her expression immediately brightened. "Oh! Hi there, angel face!"

"Hey," Hawk said, somewhat sheepishly. Teige surveyed him with a smirk.

"And where've you been, eh?"