Marco leaned his head on Thatch's shoulder and let years of stress wash off him. He grinned slowly, put his hand on Thatch's that was holding him close and laughed softly. "You always know what to say, eh?" Not just what to say, but what the problem was, how to fix it, and how to part those gathering clouds so that Marco could see the light again. "That's why I missed you. Even more than Pops, believe it or not. You always know how to get through to people." Marco moved his free hand in a wiggly loop of a pattern as if to gesture the means Thatch knew how to connect the dots and connect to people.

"Come on," Marco rose to his feet, his hand still holding onto Thatch's and he turned to pull his best friend up. "Let's go flying, eh?"