There was something different in Crimson's face now. Something hard and hurt and quiet. Tiana stepped forward, wanting to comfort him but not knowing how or why.

"Sorry you had to see that," he said in a low voice. "I lost my temper. Shouldn't have done that."

"Uhhh it's ok," she said. She tried to cover her shock with a grin. "I was gonna ask you to borrow that cape to cover up my- ahem," she gestured to her bare, burned chest, "but now I'm not so sure I want it on me."

He glanced at her as if he hadn't registered her words, then his eyes focused. First on her burns then on her-

"Oh god!" he yelled, throwing the cape at her. His face was as crimson as his name as he turned away, holding his hands up, shielding her modesty or his eyes. "No, no it's ok. It only does that when I activate it. And- oh god. Your burns! Are you alright? We have to get you help. Do you have doctors in this world? Hospitals?"

She chuckled, holding the cape closed around herself. "That formin must have sucked some of the sense out of your head. We're in the same world! Of course we have hospitals. But no need for that."

Loosening her grip, she let the top of the cape fall open to show her neckline. Crimson kept averting his eyes so she said, "it's ok. Look."

When he did, she activated her healing ability. The burned skin rippled with magic. As it faded away new, healed skin took its place.

Crimson gaped. Between her nudity and her healing, he seemed to be at a loss for words. Must be from a really far away place for him to be so sensitive to tits and heroic powers.

"Healing gifts are pretty standard for resident heroes," she explained. She pulled the cape back up around her shoulders, around her bust, and tied it in the back. It was barely a shirt, loose enough to come apart at any second, but it would suffice.

The ogre head was unfortunately damaged beyond worth. Chunks of its face were missing along with its eyes and teeth. Clearly attacked by a formin. The council were sticklers. She could hear them now, arguing about whether she had rightfully killed the thing or if she just scavenged a formin attack. Either way- not worth the hassle. She left it where it was.

"Come on," she said. She punched him lightly on the arm. "It's almost light out. That attack was good timing for us to hit the road again." 

The squeezed their way out of the crevice. Seeing it in the daylight, it was a pretty obvious formin hunting spot. They loved tight, narrow spaces that they could trap and devour their prey in. But she had never encountered a formin around here before. They weren't big on climbing, preferred to stick to the ground. She made a mental note to include this in her monthly mountain safety report.

"Sorry about that," she said as she scrambled down a rock face. "That was a judgement error on my part. I take full responsibility. From here on out, we will only stop at pre-determined safe zones. You entrusted me with your safety on this trip and I will not mess up again."

"Thanks," Crimson replied, making more cautious progress through the boulders. He was still pale, his thoughts obviously somewhere else. In the sunlight, the formin marks on his face were more noticeable: bright red blotches surrounding his mouth and cheeks. But she decided it'd be best not to point it out for now.

“Alright!” she said as his foot squeezed out of the crevice. “On the road again and off to Wexteria!"