They saw her coming through the mist and waited patiently for her to approach, statures relaxed and casual. At least, on the outside. His insides however felt like a stirred up ants nest, with tingles crawling through the gut and legs and urging him to turn and run away.

Why nervous? Fajira asked from her perch in the tree above, and turned the hazy eyes down toward him curiously. She ran first, when the wolves came. Lace hummed faintly, remembering the dripping wet night when they had met in the depths of the eastern forest. The brief conversation, the sudden appearance of a group of predators and the just as sudden disappearance by Tor. He guessed it was reason enough to want to talk to her, reason enough to call her out in such a way. Demanding, leaving little room to decline the 'invitation'. He sighed, not sure what to make of the situation.
It's not that simple he replied quietly, before returning his attention to the painted mare.

"Welcome to the Edge, Tor" he greeted with a slight smile and downed the head in a slightly formal greeting. Come to think about it, he knew little more about her than that she was called Tor, was a healer and had been unaffiliated with a herd last time they met. It was quite possible that it had changed since their last meeting though - just look at himself.
He met her eyes and noticed the flurry of emotions she must be carrying, the questions and - he flinched almost unnoticeable - the hurt. Ouch. He hadn't meant to make her worry, but perhaps it was inevitable. With such a summons, and from someone that might be a friend but in reality probably wasn't more than a stranger... Guess he couldn't blame her.

"First of all, I would like to apologize for the way I called you" he began, taking shelter behind politeness and formality in order to hide his own confusion about the situation. Better that she saw the polished smile, the soft glint of the eyes and listened to the smooth voice - calm, soothing, reassuring. Liar

"I came out a bit more forceful than I had intended. Basically, I simply wished to talk to you, but without knowing how or where I might be able to find you... I hope you can forgive me." He shrugged with a slightly sheepish look, gaze wandering as if he couldn't quite manage to look her in the eyes. The perfect image of someone who was ashamed of what he was doing - only, was he really ashamed? Lace wasn't sure himself.

"How have you been since last time we met?" he continued, an ear twitching barely noticeably at the subject.

"The time-night-storm-raining-forest you turn-back-ran, leaving us-white-fire-spider-web and white-as-cloud-Sohalia to snarling-hunger-teeth-snapping-wolves."

The dragons voice tried to penetrate the barriers of Tor's mind, reaching out accusingly with a language that was heavily riddled with images and emotions rather than words. Lace was astonished, enough so that he forgot to reprimand the little White for intruding into the mind of someone. He hadn't known she felt so strongly about what she saw as a betrayal, a cowardly act. The stallion had barely even reflected upon it beside noting a vague feeling of disappointment in the mares actions. She was a healer after all... Yet still, somehow that didn't feel like enough of a reason to abandon others in order to save her own skin.

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. :/ ]