It took a lot of pushing and prodding on Zaphkiel's part, along with a few bruised bite marks along the way, before he had managed to get her to this point. The point where she simply accepted his presence in her life despite all the havoc that seemed to follow. Zaphkiel was nothing if not persistent in all things and he was growing more adult by the day. Although being of an adult mind did not mean he would give up his adrenaline junkie pursuits, only that he would plan them better for the future rather than run in with reckless abandon screaming like some age old Apache. Astrid was of a more sombre mindset than Zaphkiel, but she should never get it too confused that beneath the playful veneer of the dream-walker boy nothing of importance lay. His thoughts were always churning and twisting and planning even though he was young yet with much growing to do.

His head cants in her direction with that sly smile still lingering on his lips, his eye gleaming in appraisal at her words. "A mighty hero, m'lady!" He answers, dipping his fluffed head down in a half-bow in his already prone state. "Heros are always good trackers, are they not? They are charged with tracking down the evil naysayers or the flame breathing dragons to slay and rescue fair maidens." Now he squints his one good at her, trailing it from her head down her chest to her feet. "You wouldn't be in need of a hero to save you, would you, my Queen Astrid?"

Her laugh elicits a rumble of his own pleasure in response, his tail sweeping the ground unconsciously. This spar of words was enticing and he felt an edge of excitement that he had gotten past her grumpy exterior, finally, to find a wolfess who needed more than just the battle of bodies. As she circles around his left side to start he pauses, not turning his head to follow her as no matter what she will end up in his blind spot without quick work, and it is a subtle sign to prove his trust of her. Then she emerges on his right and lays herself down and that too is a win for him.

Her duel colored eyes turn to him and his eye flicks between them, his smile falling into a more serious expression as she suddenly - quite suddenly - reveals information about herself. Astrid does it in a way that is reminiscent of his own speech and it draws a rumble of approval from his chest, nodding at intervals as he listens with rapt attention. "Ah but a One-Eyed Hero doesn't have quite the same ring, don't you think? For many will think a Hero cannot be one if he is not whole and strong." The words are in jest and yet beneath them is a grain of truth, the revelation that he tries to hide his weakness because it galls him, because he does not want the world to think him incapable.

The mood breaks the moment she speaks again as a bright smile encompasses his maw and he leads his shoulder over to gently bump against hers, not hard with the lack of space between them. "Come on adventures with me and I can prove them to you. I have seen and heard mighty things while I was away. Did you know, Astrid, that I can see into the star-realm?" Again he falls into seriousness, blinking his eye as he looks at her. "It is a gift from my mothers lineage and it affects us children differently. So I am not only a hero in this world but also in that one. I wish I could show it to you. I wonder what you would see with those two different eyes and only half a soul."