Zea bent sideways to look around Oblirin's body for the alleged answer to her question. Berries, maybe? Well. It was certainly a start, though something a little more impressive might be exactly the sort of trick she'd advised against. Propping the coca back up would be one thing, but encouraging spready vines could get destabilizing very quickly.
"Don't worry about whether they might close. I can dig right back in if I need to, and then close you back up. And you said.." Zea walked her fingers further down the bloodied scales of the dragon's back. "Yep. You've got a hole here. These seem to be the real pissers so I'll get them first."
If they left in a needle or two... eh. Zea wasn't too worried. People could live long and productive lives with staples or bits of gravel embedded in their bodies. A dragon that could self-heal shouldn't have any such difficulties once all the disabling stuff was gone.
Getting into a rhythm now, and getting familiar with her predecessors' work, helped Zea reach more quickly to the usual depth. This bit was almost perfectly spherical, which was the weirdest of all. Would a sphere not have worked? Why? Why the little lumps and raised parts? This was really strange. Fascinating, but strange.