Ford watched Cash unbutton his pocket with a thoughtful frown. He still didn't know if this would work, but he didn't know if anything would work, and he had to try something. This was the best idea either of them had at the moment — Cash's best idea had been throwing himself in the lake.

"Thanks," he said. His tone still sounded uncertain, but he nodded as he said it, willing himself to be satisfied with it. "I, uh," he began, then reached out and put his hand lightly on Cash's forearm. "Thank you. I don't — this kind of thing really freaks me out. Magic that messes with your mind. I don't — so — thanks."

He took his hand back and swallowed hard, feeling the weight of Cash's pocket watch against his breast. He really hoped this worked.

"We don't have to talk about it," he was saying, while he looked down at a rock he was holding in his palm. He didn't remember what it was, he realized, but it must have been something either he or Cash had just said — how could he have forgotten something that happened less than a minute ago? "But we should talk about..." He left off mid-sentence, struck by the feeling that something was wrong but unable to put his finger on what it was. Where had he gotten this rock? From the shore beneath his feet, obviously, but for some reason the first thing that came to mind was that he had plucked it out of the breast pocket of his coat, but that made no sense. He wouldn't have been walking around with a rock in his pocket.

Ford blinked, frowning. He looked at the rock in his hand and idly reached his other hand up to brush against his hair near his temple.

---