[With permission granted, Noctis starts petting Ruddiger, scritching behind the ears like he would to Fluvius, who's taken the scallop off his chest and is tossing it up in the air and catching it.]

If someone's going to get injured it ought to be me. I can handle some pain. [He's been managing pain for most of his life, a little bit of bruising in the pursuit of science won't be too bad.] Anyway, someone needs to record it, and I'll leave that to the experienced scientist.

'Sides, [he adds, glancing to Fluvius,] the little guy here needs to practice his aim with that shell, anyway.