Everyone was relieved when, at morning, Tiny finally woke up.
And even more relieved that he didn't remember much of it, including the knockout, since it guaranteed there wouldn't be reprisals.
But he too felt so weak he could hardly move.
The Commandos decided to pay for two more nights at the inn, so they'd be able to rest for two days.
After a huge breakfast and a good, long shower, they went to buy supplies for the last stretch of the journey.
Except Kong and Tiny, who were still recovering from the elesdee.
And Dingodile, who muttered angrily he wanted to be left the fuck alone and stayed alone in one of the rooms.
Rolling exesperatedly their eyes, the five others and the critters went in the streets of Rella.
Rella was a bit bigger town than Sinta, so they had a greater choice in the supplies they could buy.
And they bought a lot. They still had three days of road before finally reaching Muros, and with their luck, there'd probably be another crap falling on them...
So they bought for one week.
In their way back, they noticed a little building of thermal baths, which interested them.
They came back at the inn in time for lunch, which they happily honored.
Their good mood was downed a bit, however, by the fact that Kong, Tiny and Dingodile didn't come down. The latter two still were too sore and tired, and the former muttered "fuck off" when he was invited.
"What is wrong with him, dammit?" grumbled Pinstripe as they took some shares of the meal for those three. "I understand being in a bad mood after what happened to him, but he's overdoing it."
"Yeah, I almost died too, you don't see me whining," agreed Moe.
"Look, let's leave him today to get a grip. If tomorrow, he's still a dick, we'll have words then."
Everyone nodded.
After the three ate their meal, everyone decided to take a nap.
They woke up in the middle of the afternoon, and decided to try out the thermal baths.
"You'll tell us how it is," sighed Kong, since he was still too tired to try and go.
"Yeah, same," added Tiny for the same reason.
"Whatever," grumbled Dingodile, indicating he still wouldn't leave the room.
Thus, once again, only five Commandos and the four little ones left.
They came back much later, very happy, and talking about how great these thermal baths were.
Dinner time came, and this time, Kong and Tiny managed to get out of their bads to go down and savor a good meal with the rest of the team.
But Dingodile made it clear he still was going to stay in his room.
"Fine, we'll bring you leftovers," snarked Pinstripe, not wanting to waste his time with making him change his mind.
As they went down, bringing the critters with them, they noticed with surprise that Penta, instead of following, went back to Dingodile's room.
"You're wasting your time!" barked the uplifted.
He didn't listen.
"Too bad for him."
The dinner was just as delicious as the lunch.
Once again, they took a share for the jerk, and went to bring it to him.
And froze in shock because of the tableau in front of them.
It wasn't that Penta was hugging Dingodile, they noticed that the penguin had surprisingly developed some affection for the hybrid (they didn't know about the ice cream).
It was that Dingodile, even though he wasn't hugging back, wasn't trying to push back either.
And that he was crying.
The brutal difference compared to his recent behavior, heck, even his normal behavior, was striking.
Which one of the Commandos let escape a surprised noise? Impossible to tell.
But Dingodile heard it and saw them.
"Oh. Hey mates."
The others' shock grew. The hybrid's tone was despondent, something he didn't do, normally.
"D... Dingodile?" they stammered. "What happened?"
Dingodile sighed.
"You know I love burning stuff, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well... Getting almost roasted by fire made me think. Like, really think. The pain, the heat, how terrifying it was... And I thought "That's what I want to inflict to others?! That's horrible! I'm horrible!"..."
"That's why you couldn't use your flamethrower on the guarimpeiros?" realized Ripper.
"Yeah. You were spot on, I was afraid of doing it, afraid of the fire. I don't want to do that anymore..."
Anger came back to his expression and his voice. But this time, towards himself.
"But... But I still love burning stuff! I still love watching things burn, make things burn! I don't want to be a pyromaniac anymore, but I still am one! I..."
Anger weakened, and sorrow returned.
"That's why I've been so much of an asshole. I took it out on you, I refused to admit it, that was my way of denying it..."
He softly petted Penta.
"But that little mate wasn't fooled. He sensed I was hiding something. I yelled at him to leave me alone, he didn't listen, he hugged me... And... I dunno, maybe that's the fact he wanted to help and comfort me in spite of what I did to him, but that broke me. I couldn't deny it anymore. I had to admit to myself that... that I'm fucked up..."
Penta hugged harder.
A painful silence stretched. The Commandos had no idea what to do, they knew to attack Crash, to serve Cortex, but not how to react about that kind of stuff...
Finally, awkwardly, they went over the hybrid, clumsily hugged him, whispered words of comfort they weren't used to say.
Dingodile still felt like crap.
But a bit less.

Art by  caseyljones
Original here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/30814176/
Dingodile and Penta © Naughty Dog