"They'll need counselors, after all."

Vlad looked pleasantly surprised. "Absolutely, hon. I wouldn't be here without mine."

"Well, there you are," Teige mumbled. "And shame on me, besides...coming up here like I've owt to prove...'stead of doing what work needs to be done...as if there were some border to it..."

His voice got softer and less coherent as sleep started to overtake him. Vlad grinned.

"Oookay, you're not making any sense," he said gently. "Go to sleep."

There was a large vaguely bird-shaped iron thing sat to one side of the bed, which Vlad now pushed closer. He knelt and placed a hand on its head; the gauges in his ears illuminated with a cool light, and in response, a deep glowing warmth bloomed in the chest of the bird thing. He got up again and was creeping away when Teige said, "hey."

Vlad paused. Teige's eyes were just barely cracked open.

"Love ya ennyway," he murmured. "Just not like that."

His eyes fell fully shut. Vlad answered softly, "...Love you too, hon. Just not like that."

[This is the last page of Reification by Spirits! Click through for the 'epilogue' and hiatus information! Thanks for reading!!]