Yes

"You're perfect!"

Everyone is caught off-guard. Even her companion, Roberta, seems flummoxed.

"Uh...huh?" Nightwing isn't sure how to respond. Her menacing gaze has been replaced with a perplexed, fidgety expression.

You rise to your feet, dusting your pants off as you watch the elf.

"You're the perfect subject! I need to get readings on you - stay right there!"

The elf runs off to pry open the crate with her metallic hand. She immediately returns to Nightwing, holding what looks almost like a crossbow, but with a large metallic dish on top, and a strange, illuminated square near the trigger.

"Okay, now stand riiight there, and don't move at all."

She points the odd device all over Nightwing's body for a few moments, before turning away from her and staring at the illuminated square. You can hear her humming to herself as she occasionally taps at it

"What...what just happened?" Nightwing approaches you, her wings nervously twitching as she does. Roberta takes a small step away from the dragoness.

"What happened is I made the discovery of a fucking lifetime!" The elf paces, staring at her device with a wicked grin. "So much magic and mass condensed into a small space... and stable! And without needing nanotech to dismantle and reassemble anything..."

The elf charges Nightwing, grabbing her by the shoulders before she can react. "You need to tell me everything! How did you meet? Why are you travelling together? Why has a dragon taken human form? Are you and him actually having sexual relations?"

Nightwing attempts to back away, but it would appear as though the grip of the elf's right arm is too strong, even for a dragon.

"Demetra, that's enough!" Roberta grasps the elf's arm. You didn't even see her rush over to the elf - who is apparently named Demetra.

For a moment, you expect Demetra to push Roberta aside, like she did yourself. However, something about her companion gets her to calm down, and she releases Nightwing, taking a large step back.

"I...apologize for my behavior."

"As you should!" Nightwing huffs. She approaches you, and stealthily places her hand on your back, whispering into your ear.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just kill them? The elf is very annoying."

You just roll your eyes. "So, who are you, anyway? And why did you just wave that thing in my friend's face?"

"My name is Demetra," the elf finally introduces herself. "And this is my assistant - Roberta. I am traveling the globe to research magical phenomena to better understand its many facets." A hungry gleam comes to her eyes. "And while I have seen dragons, I have never once met a dragon such as yourself."

She's about to launch back into her stream of questions, but a nudge from Roberta reminds her to calm down.

"I would not imagine that you have," Nightwing remarks.

"Please, if you would...may I ask you some questions?"

"You can shove your questions up your ass," Nightwing growls. You're surprised that she knows of such a phrase. "I will not entertain as such from such an arrogant, rude-"

Now it's your turn to reign in your companion. You step in front of her with a stern expression, which is hard to pull off when you're not tall enough to look her in the eyes.

"We should talk to her - if we help her now, she may be willing to vouch for us in the future. Plus, she said she has a horse, and likely a cart - maybe we could incur enough good will, to be able to use it to get to your brother."

Nightwing narrows her eyes at you, but eventually sighs. "Fine. You're the expert on dealing with people."

You nod, and inform Demetra that you'll answer her questions.

"Wonderful!" She claps her hands together in excitement. "Roberta, make a fire, would you?"

Roberta nods, and wordlessly goes to collect firewood. Demetra takes a moment to set up her own tent, notably using the same tech as your own, before using the massive strength of her arm to drag a few logs over.

"Alright, have a seat - I've got a lot of questions."

As if on cue, Roberta returns with a large bundle of sticks in her arms. She arranges them in a pile on the ground.

"Since it's cold, I'll do you the honors of lighting the fire," Nightwing announces with a grandiose air.

Roberta seems surprised for a moment, before backing away with a nod.

Nightwing inhales, and you realize that you've never seen her breathe fire. You lean in in excitement, and you notice Demetra doing the same.

Nightwing lets loose a concentrated stream of fire, barely as wide as your finger. It immediately sets the wood on fire, and she stems the flow of flames.

Once everyone is comfortably seated around the fire, Demetra begins her line of questioning.

"First and foremost - how did you two meet? Why are you travelling together? And why has a dragon taken human form?"

"That's three questions!" Nightwing protests.

"But they can all be answered at once, at I have a sneaking suspicion that the answers are all related."

Admitting that she's right, you and Nightwing begin to recount the events of the past few days. You skirt around the fact that you're her ****, and frame your arrangement as more of just a mutually beneficial agreement. You also skip past anything, and everything, sexual in nature - quite frankly, it's none of her business.

You decide to not disclose the nature of Nightwing's curse. Instead, you leave that up to her judgement, and when she doesn't mention it, you decide to keep it to yourself.

Demetra furiously writes on a notepad as you speak. You're not sure where she got it from, but you're glad you won't have to repeat yourself.

Once you're done recounting your brief story, Demetra nods and looks over her notes.

"Okay - do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

Nightwing rolls her eyes. "Go right ahead," you respond, before the impatient dragon can say anything.

She asks a few questions of Nightwing that you don't really understand. You half expected her to ask questions about your mother's condition, given the esoteric nature of it. However, she seems to be entirely focused upon Nightwing.

"Okay, last question - what are your scales in respect to your skin?"

"How would I know?" Nightwing haughtily replies. Now it's your turn to roll your eyes.

"Her scales appear to be somewhat subcutaneous. I can't really tell, but it seems almost as though there's a slight layer of epithelial cells just above the scales. It's entirely possible that what I thought was epithelial cells, is the start of her first shed in this form, but I have no way of knowing."

Both Nightwing and Roberta stare at you in apparent surprise. Demetra simply scribbles the answer down, apparently not too shocked by your thorough answer.

"How do you..." Nightwing seems conflicted by your intimate knowledge of her body. You shrug, not wanting to get into it right now.

Demetra looks over her notes. "Roberta, scan these for me." She hands the notes to Roberta, who immediately flips through the pages, staring at each in turn for a few moments.

"What's she doing?" You watch inquisitively as her eyes flit over each page.

"She has a visual pro-"

"Photographic memory," Roberta interrupts Demetra, casting a pointed glance at the elf. Demetra purses her lips, blushing a little as she nods.

"Ooo-kaaaayy..." Nightwing and you share a glance. You're not quite sure what to make of it.

"Anyway, your answer leads perfectly to my next question..." Demetra collects herself quickly. "Are you two intimate with one another? I'm assuming that's the only way Peter would have been able to make these observations. And before you ask, I'm not going to record your answer - this is more of a...personal inquiry."

"No," is your immediate answer.

"Yes," is Nightwing's.

You and Nightwing stare at each other for a moment, the both of you confused. Roberta looks between you both.

Roberta abruptly stands. "Uhh, Demetra, I think we need to go do maintenance on your arm. In our tent."

"What? No we don't, it's working just fine."

"Just...come with me." Roberta grabs her by the arm and drags her away.

"We'll give you two some time to talk," she informs you above Demetra's protests.