He nodded quietly, accepting the shortness of her tone without objection. How could he blame her for not being very talkative? She'd been forced here after all, and for a reason that seemed more and more obscure.
"I'm doing fairly well" he answered, somewhat absently. "Things have changed around us recently, but I think it might be for the better." Golden eyes regarded the sturdily built mare, the expression hard to read. Within the mind was a seething torrent of emotion; happiness over seeing the Tor again, disappointment that she had left in such a manner before, nervousness and blame, anger, fury over a betrayal that forever marked her as a coward and untrustworthy, that made him want to sink the teeth into that pale skin and burn with crimson flames... He blinked, realizing that the emotions of the dragon was beginning to cloud his own judgment. Is it really what I feel? he pondered, while a sense of regret over the whole situation steadily grew.

"I.." he began, only to interrupt himself as a familiar presence drew closer. Lace turned an ear, knowing better than to try and spot the shadow mare before she chose to reveal herself; though once she did, he somehow wished that she hadn't.
A faint grimace slipped over the masked face as her words reached him, the regret growing strong enough to leave a foul taste in the mouth.
"My bad." he mumbled in response, accepting the punishing bite without a flinch; perhaps he did deserve it. Lately he had acted without thinking all too often, all too soon forgetting that he was responsible not only for himself anymore. The true meaning of being a member of a herd evaded him, so much that the reprimand from his leader stung less than the criticism of his friend. There was a distinction there, a difference, but it was not easy to grasp where the line went.

The stallion slipped to the back of the conversation, listening to the mares and the chatting dragons with half an ear as the bite throbbed painfully on his neck. He felt like withdrawing from the situation, leave it to Mirage to clean up his mess and just take off somewhere. A place where his mind wasn't turning on itself, where the anger of his dragon would dissipate and no one demanded an explanation he couldn't give. It was so tempting, but his sense of justice was too great to allow such selfish impulses. He sighed inwardly, and managed a faint smile as the healer chose to cover for him rather than complain about the rough 'invitation'.

"Thank you" he said quietly, presence diminished and decidedly more sedated as the warmth of a dragon hidden in the flesh of a mare radiated against his shoulder, reminding what manners demanded of him. "Again, I'm sorry for the way I carried this out. Next time, I'll make sure to be more discreet." Indeed, he still wished to speak to her, but not right now. The opportune moment had passed, his thoughts were a mess and Mirage was somewhat displeased with him; besides, he didn't know exactly what it was he wanted with the painted outcast. Just her company, the exchange of words, or something else? He really didn't know.

[ooc: No, I don't mind. Sorry for being so slow. :/ ]