The hands that encase his are warm and calloused, and Tuo curls his fingers around Dain's without thinking, like it's the most natural thing in the world. (It is.) He looks up into his friend's dark eyes and finds that he is much closer than he'd originally realized. (It was always very easy to be drawn into Anja's orbit.)

Some things never change--except for when they do.

It takes him a moment longer than normal to find his voice. "What about Alvi?" He makes himself look away from Dain to where the magpie still sits amid the blankets. "I can't leave him here, he won't survive."