Moonspear and all the people in a dream wait for the machine

she assures him that she knows she is safe moments before she presses her face back into the wispy fur of his mane. this time, he is more prepared for it, and after the initial shock of closeness the cogs in his brain begin grind for a moment before they start back up and begin to turn. he feels a bit hot beneath the swarthy fur of his cheeks but he's not sure if it's his seething anger at iliksis or the coming down from the high the adrenaline had left him with or if it was her closeness. maybe, drogon thinks, it's a mixture of all three. he regrets not chasing after the coywolf but then reminds himself that patience is a virtue. there would be time for that, time to get revenge for hurting and almost kidnapping his girl.

vela brings up a second time the question of what she could have done. "i always assumed that if you were scruffed and on the ground that that was it. you either yield or you die," drogon admits, hating how the words tasted in his mouth. "though make no mistake i am glad that you did neither." he adds quickly. "i don't know. we can work on trying to find out, run through practice scenarios. later." his shoulder was still smarting from where he'd rammed it into iliksis's body and for once in his life he's not in a sparring mood.