Ember stood against the cave wall, watching him as he collected the items from his home. She had been quite taciturn since the plateau, and for a while, he was worried that she was mad, but every time he looked at her, she gave him a wide smirk. Spike was no expert on body language, but he was generally a good judge of creatures, and Ember seemed to be, well, proud. That made Spike’s chest tingle. He had not done anything worthy of merit but break into the most sacred dragon shrine in all the world and sit there as some…thing talked to him. He didn’t remember much else. It was all such a whirl. 