"Change can be good." A sliver of a smile twitches onto his lips as he looks down at his drink. Cole's story reminds him of his own development over the years. How naive he was, at the beginning of everything. How long it took him to learn anything of real value. "And hot cocoa. I'm a big fan of hot cocoa."

"it wasn't the first thing I ever ate, but once chocolate started showing up more places I was all over that. Especially the sweet kind." He takes a sip from his mug and savors it for a moment. The marshmallows are melting down into the cocoa now and the sip he gets is extra sweet. "The first anything I had was bread and beer. Good, but I think I like this better."

The phrase 'compassion without confusion' replays in his mind for a little while. Was Cole a healing spirit, going around and helping people without any real needs of his own? That's the impression that he's getting, and not hard to believe after how Cole had found him. If that's true, it must be so strange for Cole to be anything approaching human. He can see why the hat would come in handy now, if he's not used to people looking directly at him. "I doubt your Spirits are anything like angels," he says after a moment. "We were soldiers first."