"Please, PLEASE," the dragon plead in hushed tones. "You can't tell anyone. No one's supposed to know." Era was past the point of trying to keep it from Penny and, after all, her warning was confirmation, wasn't it? But that didn't mean she didn't worry about anyone else finding out. Or about Emi discovering she'd told. Even if technically she hadn't.
"And," she added hunching her shoulders and looking down at the ground, "I ran into a tree. So I should probably stay all humanish," she wrinkled her nose and pouted, "for a little while at least. But if people knew, it wouldn't be safe."
Era tried, but she couldn't even imagine the situation she might be putting the other woman in. She just wasn't used to any of the nuances interactions tended to have. But she genuinely believed her safety would be compromised if Penny didn't understand how important this was.