[Oh. Oh. The warmthing is doing something that feels quite pleasant! It is a thing she likes a whole lot. ...Did headbutting the warmthing make it do the nicething?

She wriggles insistently, pushing against his hand wherever it comes into contact, testing this new theory to see if it prolongs the scritching.

Zack, meanwhile, lets out a quiet but rapid string of beeps and boops that, a minute later, elicits a chuckle out of Carmen.]

Zack would like me to tell you that you're good with dragons. Something we all already knew, obviously, but it bears repeating.

[She looks the little scene over, considering.]

I think I'll call her Abbie.