Lorcan abruptly dropped the dog. "Ouch," he said, and then to the wildly barking dog, which had landed on its feet, "Bad dog." He examined his finger, but the dog had only nipped at him without breaking the skin. He muttered something in a language that wasn't English, then added to Lucia, "That scared me."
He bent down to recapture the dog and then scanned the sky. "How did that happen?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "I hate this," he added.
He shook his head and then looked back at Lucia, who seemed to be taking this relatively in stride. "I guess you're right," he said.
But apparently the light from the fires had done them one favour at least -- a woman in high heels carrying a leash attached to an empty dog collar was hurrying toward them, babbling something about "poor poor Diva" and "could have been killed". She held out her hands imperiously, and the dog (unsurprisingly) barked.
Lorcan handed over the dog in the woman's waiting arms, and she babbled at the dog; the dog stopped barking and started licking the woman's face. She examined the dog with surprising tenderness, and then, apparently deciding that the dog wasn't harmed, snapped on the collar and set the dog down. It started barking as the woman dropped a kiss on Lorcan's cheek, making effusing thanks that left no room for Lorcan to say anything. Lorcan smiled and nodded at her graciously.
"Hush, Diva," the woman said, and turned to Lucia to thank her as well.