"Wow," Vlad said after a time. "Instant dispersal on contact. How did you--"

"I gotta leave," Hawk said. He had not risen from his crouched position, and didn't turn his face back to Vlad either, his wings slightly unfurled.

"Huh?" Vlad blinked at him, replacing his glasses. "But--"

"I gotta leave now, Vlad."

And without a look back, he took off from his crouch, kicking up a cloud of dirt that trailed after him and a gust that buffeted the people on the ground. In a wingbeat he was above the buildings, a silhouette in the dusky sky.

Vlad's glasses were on crooked; he put his hands on his hips, and said to no one in particular, "I really wish he wouldn't do that."