They sat in an awful silence that made seconds feel like minutes. Seth stared straight ahead out over the outlook, but he didn't actually see any of the lights, while he waited for Alex to process and react to everything he'd just said. At this stage, Seth had expected an argument. He'd expected a lot more shouting. He'd expected to get to the point where he had to prove it with a clenched jaw and tense fingers while he tore off his tie and kicked off his shoes.
Instead it was quiet. It was quiet until Allie finally spoke, and when she did, Seth only swallowed and nodded. “Yeah.” There was a pause before the word. “I thought you might say that.” He rolled the window all the way down and then started loosening his tie, and unbuttoning his shirt while Seth removed his right shoe with his left foot and then vice-versa. “This is going to look very freaky, okay? I know you'll do it anyway, but you don't have to watch.” Seth didn't bother with his pants since he was just going to shrink anyway. He folded his shirt and placed the shoes and tie on top of it and then gently tossed the bundle behind him and onto the back seat.
Seth turned back toward Alex. Black triangles that were soon going to be feathers started to spread all across his skin. “I'll see you at home.” For a raven, the key to shifting in a tighter space was to make sure you got smaller faster than the other changes could occur. Luckily, Seth had always been a little shyer than his sister about being naked or shifting in front of the whole town. His entire life, Seth's focus when shifting had been efficiency. Body shrinking and bones sliding and contorting into place in the proper and best order while his feathers grew and his beak elongated. Seth was not as fast as Abbie, but in competing with her and his cousins, he'd gotten close. Right now, Seth shut the world out and focused on the shift. His last human thought was the image of Alex's suitcases still in the trunk.
A few moments later, a raven flew out the window and out across the overlook.