Whitefish River always protect ya neck

Flat and mistrustful and unattached to Vercingetorix as Dragomir felt on the inside, he also felt a little better each and every day, and that made it easier to muster a small smile for the man's joke. Big-ass moose, indeed. He might never be the same wolf he was meant to be prior to Sanguinus' deceit, but someday, if things kept improving the way they were, perhaps he would reach a semblance of normal once more; and being a kid, it was impossible not to marvel at the size of the fictional beast whose antler may have produced this tine.

It was equally impossible to deny that his passion lay in this—he was a hunter through and through and he enjoyed all the spoils of the hunt, including trinkets such as this. So even though he felt unable to really speak to his father or relate to him much these days, Dragomir's interest was piqued sufficiently to mask this. Just 'cause you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, he suggested, and he even managed a well-meaning flap of his tail over the ground.

But his expression fell when the subject turned back to his well-being. It was exhausting to think about how far he still had to go and even more exhausting to try to talk about it. He had no trouble discussing it with Speedy, but for some reason his tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth when he attempted to open up to Vercingetorix or Aurëwen about it ... as if he simply couldn't open up to them at all anymore. So instead of saying what was really on his mind, which was more along the lines of what had really happened to him and how his mental state was still frayed and unwell, Dragomir answered, better. My back really hurts and my legs are super stiff, but I think it hurts less. He looked better, too; the swelling around his eye was gone, leaving just a bit of lopsidedness to that side of his face where his fractured cheekbone had healed a little crooked, and his wounds were mostly gone. It was just his legs and his sore ribs left now.

And his mind, which would take much longer to heal, if it ever did.