Sleeping Dragon i’m not in love so don’t forget it

Niall did not hesistate when the female growled back at him. When she moved no closer, he felt comfortable and assured enough to sit in her presence and tend to his eyes, nose and throat which were now burning with the scent of the volcanic ash he had unwittingly inhaled. 

The male's shoulders sagged visibly when the stranger initially offered him no information of use, however his ears pricked up again at the next thing she mentioned. She brushed it off like it was nothing important, not worthy of uttering, but to Niall it was exactly the kind of intel he wanted. "A vol-cane-oh." Niall repeated, testing out the unfamiliar word. He looked around him, gazing up at the mountain looming behind her. "Is that another name for a mountain?" He asked, giving a curious tilt of his head. 

Truthfully he had never encountered a volcano before, hailing from much cooler climates where the only warmth to be found was that of the heat rising from his own body or that of someone else.