Marco did understand. Intimately. So he was extra relieved that Namur had come along to help give Thatch some of that track back. He quietly headbutted his best friend and ruffled his feathers into a puffball. "Idiot." But not for the reason Thatch probably thought. "That's not something to be ashamed of. Isn't that why most outsiders are here? At least you did a lot of good with it. Teaching. I just stuck to missions. Something I knew from home." He ruffled his feathers again and rolled around onto his back to proudly display the tattoo. "Like I said, I just wanted to run off and find some cave somewhere and hole up." But that would have been running away, and he promised not to. A long time ago. "Supposedly there's a phoenix GF that did that. I can't say I'm surprised. I want to meet it though."

He gave Thatch a sly birdie grin. "Most people do think I'm a GF in this form you know. Want to help me beguile the gullible ones? You can tell them I'm yours and they'll stop trying to catch me."