Perhaps it was irrational, but then often fear was. And too long had he held these things close. Even if he did relax a little, here, he could never truly let down his guard. Maybe no one cared, but he was openly accepted here as a comrade. He didn't want to be dismissed as a thing.

"Nothing," came Felwinter's reply, but there was no heart in it, a breath of a whisper. He realized Kaz's closer distance and staggered back against a tree with a start. "Leave me be."