“You did get pretty beat up, not to mention the muscle strain of struggling to get free.” Shang Beida spares a concerned glance up at him from his focus on picking crap out of Casper’s other arm. “And the, er, adrenaline crash or whatever. Is that the right word? It’s been a long time since I thought about like… biological chemicals. Hormones? Is that one a hormone? Whatever, not the point. The point is it would be weirder if you weren’t sore. I should have a set of acupuncture needles if you want to try that I guess? I’m not like, a doctor, but I know enough to carry on with, I have to tweak my own meridians sometimes and Mu Qingfang isn’t always available, like when I’m at my king’s palace, and I’m not going to trust a demon healer to stick me with needles.” He progresses through the scratches as he talks, increasingly efficient at prying out the bits of bark without doing any further damage.

“I’m fine, baobei, I’m not the one who got attacked by the flora, I was safe up in the cafeteria when the plant bomb went off.” His tone is self deprecating and a little bitter. He knows he’s a useless coward, he just… feels worse about it when Casper is out getting hurt alone. “You’re the one I’m worried about.”