"Of course," Gabe said as he opened the door to usher Melissa and Stephanie into the car. It was a little bit awkward, given Melissa was still refusing to really let her go, but after a moment she squeezed into the back and pulled Stephanie firmly down onto her lap, wrapping her arms around the teenager's waist.

Gabe grinned over the car. "Let's be fair. He's disconcerting even when he's got his skin on."

"You're a little bit biased," Melissa pointed out just a bit tightly, because it was true.

"True," Gabe admitted. "And I put all that effort into making it, so he'd better use it."

"You made it?"

"I'm a musician," Gabe said simply as he moved around to get into the other side, almost as if that explained everything. "You can do a lot with music, magically I mean, if you know what to do with it."

"I didn't hear any singing when he pulled it up."

"No, it's just some notes carved onto his breastbone, really. Words can have a lot to do with musical magic too."

"Oh." It wasn't exactly a shock. It was just some more information about something about which Melissa had only dreamed. Gabe talked about it so matter-of-factly that it was easy to not dwell too much on how absurd it really was. "Are you teaching Stephanie that too?"

"Not exactly," Gabe admitted, but then grinned at Stephanie. "Unless she suddenly decides she has a burning passion for singing."