[despite how tense he was at first, when she hugged him back and nuzzled into his shoulder he seemed to relax quite a bit, exhaling slowly. No matter how unused to this he was, he felt like it was doing some good and that was all that mattered... Besides, he was starting to become more comfortable with it]

[he noticed the little scratches and small wounds on her sadly. His back and dorsal fin had gotten scraped pretty good from being dragged across the ground and they did sting a little bit, but not too much to ignore. Other than those his only other wound was a pretty distinct bruise around his neck]

[he felt like he should say something to her to try to cheer her up, but try as he might, he couldn't think of anything adequate. So he just leaned his head against hers softly and held her a little tighter with one arm, and his other hand rubbed her upper back lightly. He didn't realize it but his tail sort of curled up around her, too]