First Meeting (Water&Air)

[Jeremy Silcith]

"Laughing so hard until you cry?" he frowned a bit, trying to remember if he ever had. He'd heard and seen other people laugh so hard that they cried but he couldn't remember ever doing it himself. His dad wasn't one for a lot of jokes. "No, I don't think I have." although he had started laughing a lot more since he found and hatched Kinon. He let go of her shoulder when she started babbling about Knucker. "He was what?" he asked, brows furrowing.

But then the subject was changed and he eyed Bri suspiciously. "Hmm..." Well... she obviously didn't want to talk about it, she seemed rather flustered, Jer noted after watching her for a few moments. "Shopping.... right." he steered her farther into town. "I guess we should buy groceries first..."

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri frowned at him. Never? That seemed kind of sad... Eh, never mind. It wasn't her place to judge. "Groceries." She repeated after him, right. She fell into step beside him, rather than being steered. The steering/dragging thing was becoming a recurring pattern with him.

"What do we need from the Grocery Store? I mean, how long do you reckon it'll take to cross the Atlantic?" She lowered her voice, "It won't be a problem for Knucker and I, he'll eat whatever and we can sleep underwater, but can Kinon fly that long?" She immediately realized how that must have sounded and back peddled, "Not that I doubt that he can fly that...I mean, it's not that I meant to say....at least...." She stuttered, searching for the right words, and finally settled for "No offense." and an apologetic smile. A part of her wanted to change the topic and put this behind them, but he probably figured she was bipolar enough as it is.

[Jeremy Silcith]

Jeremy glanced over at her as they entered a grocery store. "Just some supplies that'll last on our trip. Kinon can carry some of the food so I'm not too worried about packing light. I have two bags that I can attach to his wings. I just hope that will work." he told her then glanced over his shoulder as he flashed her a grin. "He's never flown with anything but me on his back. He'll have to get used to it." he grabbed a cart and started down the first isle, grabbing two boxes of gram crackers and tossing them into the basket.

As they went down the isles he picked up a couple apples and a few oranges, saying as he did so "They won't last long but it'd be nice to have some fresh fruit at the beginning of our journey."

Down the drink isle he paused, glacing over at her. "Not sure how long it will take. Not too long I hope. But I'd rather pack too much food and have some left over then not pack enough and have to eat raw dolphin." he laughed and turned to some canned goods, making a face at the canned raspberries.

"Err..." he looked over at her, slightly amused. "You do realize that 'no offense' usually means "I'm going to offend you, but I'm going to do it in such a way so that I won't seem like such an ass.""

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri trailed along after him, feeling decidedly useless as she listened to him talk, he obviously traveled a lot. She grinned at the dolphin comment but didn't say anything.

"You do realize that 'no offense' usually means "I'm going to offend you, but I'm going to do it in such a way so that I won't seem like such an ass.""

Bri's eyes widened at this, she had truly meant 'No offense!' She hadn't meant to actually offend him. "I'm a-" She began, but flushed, jaw tensing. "I'm sorry." She began again, more quietly this time, "I really didn't mean anything by it, I just wasn't sure how far Kinon could-I mean, I wasn't sure-" She started to explain several times, but figured that might be even more offensive. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as an-a butt." She forced herself to meet his eyes, rather than hiding behind her bangs like normal, her sincerity evident in her wide eyes.

She sighed, what was it Knucker said the other day? Oh yeah, 'Open mouth, insert foot.' "What else do we need, I can grab a basket and get half the list, things will go faster."

[Jeremy Silcith]

He hadn't excepted that reaction. Jeremy blinked in surprise and his mouth opened a bit. "Oh.. geeze. No I didn't mean that you were meaning to be an ass. I just meant that, that saying normally means that." he shook his head a bit, unscrambling the words. "I meant that as a joke. I was kidding with you. Kinon probably can fly that far. I'm not sure though, We'll just have to see." She was meeting his eyes now, her brown to his midnight blue.

"Um err.." her eyes were very wide, very sincere looking. Jer blinked and looked back to the shelf. "Ok um. Well we could always use food that will keep. Canned goods, things that won't grow mold easy. Bread we can take but we'll eat it first, before anything else." Jer's eyes flicked back to hers, briefly meeting her gaze and then looking back at the canned spinach on the shelf.

"Try and stay away from too much junk food. We're going to need drinks. I have a water purifier but that won't work for sea water. So the twenty-four bottles I brought won't be enough..." He picked up the can of spinach idly and turned it over in his hands, not really looking at it, not really noticing what he was holding or doing as he tossed it over into the basket.

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri cleared her throat, glancing at the shelves. Joking? She gave up on the whole gaze-meeting thing and retreated behind her bangs. "Yeah, drink first, then eat." She gave an unhappy sigh at the mention of not to much junk food, but didn't protest.

She bit her lip, "Water, um, sure. I'll get another pack." She cast a forlorn glance at the cookie aisle, teasing Jeremy, grinned at him, and headed down the water isle, grabbing a case off the bottom shelf and grunting a bit as she swung it up to brace the pack against one hip.

She glanced down at the cans and frowned, "Do we have a Can opener? I mean, I'm sure Knucker or Ki could get them open, but it'd probably be more shrapnel than spinach in the end."

"So, water, canned goods, and then Florida. Huzzah." She confirmed, peering in the basket to check what they had so far. "What do we need next?"

[Jeremy Silcith]

He was looking at the cans again, really looking at them when she started speaking again. "Yeah, I have a can opener." he informed her, looking over his shoulder as she glanced down the cookie isle. He gave her a disapproving look and then offered Bri a smile. "You already have your oreos." he warned her as he pushed the cart down the next isle. "Spinach is gross." he called over his shoulder. "Only good spinach is fresh spinach." he paused, considering. "And it has to be drenched in Ranch Dressing." He wheeled the cart down the frozen isle and peered at all the frozen foods.

Jeremy chuckled when he saw packaged food that had already been cooked and leaned over into the cooler. "What do you think about this rack?" he asked, looking at the ribs. It wouldn't stay frozen for long but it would save all the canned goods for later on in the journey. Jeremy paused in reaching out to grab a set of frozen ribs. He realized how that might have sounded. A flush started at his neck and traveled up. "I... I mean you know, the ribs... not your... I mean..."

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri trailed along after him, she personally thought that no spinach was good spinach, but didn't say anything. SHe peered over his shoulder at the ribs, frowning. She wouldn't know good ribs if they were still on the cow, but she liked ribs, and figured she'd trust his judgment.

When he started blushing and stammering, it took her a long moment to pick up on what he'd said. Oh! She blushed, clearing her throat awkwardly. Wow. She started to reassure him that she hadn't taken anything from it, "No-it's all right, I mean, I didn't, I don't-" She babbled, her cheeks reddening, but couldn't get a coherent sentence out, so she turned away, searching for something else to say.

She gestured helplessly to a stand full of assorted melons and honeydews, "How about these melons?" It took her a solid minute to realize what she'd said, and then blushed again. "Screw it." She muttered, frustrated, under her breath. Again, it took her a few seconds to realize, she blushed even redder. She couldn't win, could she? She turned away and picked up a pack of frozen peas, turning them over in her hands, considering them as if they contained the secret to life itself.

[Jeremy Silcith]

He ignored the ribs then. Meat fresh, frozen, cooked or raw, it'd be best to just leave it there. Awkward. Very awkward. He coughed once, looked away from Bri as she tried to reassure him that she hadn't taken offense... But it didn't help. Not at all. He turned away from her, still flushed around his ears as he poked around the frozen section. He was about to say something when Bri spoke "how about these melons?" and he froze, mind working. Wait did she mean.. no... no well.. He glanced up with shock on his face "Melons? You..." and he noted the cantaloupes and honeydews she was pointing at. He flushed again and looked away. "No... Um, let's not get those. However um maybe some apples, bananas... Um... you know. Things that are easy to carry. Um." he tried to turn the conversation around. "Sausages, little wieners." he was pointing at the refrigerated packages of the small party wieners that would usually be mixed with chilli or beans of some sort. And then Jer scowled. "Just.. you know, never mind. Let's go." he wheeled the cart around and towards her, grabbing a couple boxes of crackers and a loaf of bread as he came up to her. Then he grabbed her wrist gently and guided her to the check out. "Let's just go. We've got everything we need right now." He didn't look at her, couldn't meet her eyes as he unloaded the cart's items onto checkout stand.

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri couldn't help but crack a small inward smile at the wiener comment, wow. They were the awkward pair of the century weren't they? Knucker was going to die when he heard. She sighed, following him to the check out stand, helping unload the cart onto the conveyor belt, pulling out the canned spinach with a smile, "Um... Did you want this?" She asked.

She reached back to set the can on the magazine rack for someone to get later. She smiled at the cashier, digging around in her bag for her wallet and pulling it out, flipping around for a few bills to pay for half the food.

"We should probably get back, Knucker will want to grab some food." She smiled awkwardly, shifting back on the heels of her feet, twirling her hair around one finger at the sheer awkward of the past moment.

When the cashier had finished, she took one of the bags and led the way to the cave, a bounce in her step as they turned back towards the ocean, the awkwardness fading away as the sound of waves brushing the shore reached her ears.

When she slipped the last bit to the cave, she grinned at Knucker holding up the bag, "Look, packages for ya'll to carry." She teased.

[Jeremy Silcith]

As they neared the checkstand Jer flicked a glance around him, bit his lip and sighed, gently feeling his forehead. "I... forgot.." he shifted away, leaving Brianna to watch over the groceries and unload the cart. He 'stealthily' ran over to the makeup aisle and scanned the products. He bit his lip, grabbed a container of water proof concealer. He darted back to Bri, not meeting her eyes as he tossed it onto the conveyer belt. When he looked up he noticed the chekcer staring at him curiously. "Um... err... It's her's, she forgot to grab it..." he mumbled weakly. Yeah, Jeremy felt bad about the whole "Grab make-up, blame it on Bri" thing but... he'd make it up to her later... when they got to the states.

As they neared the cave Jeremy sighed and opened his connection to Kinon, who flooded into his mind with a grumble. "That was harsh." Jeremy snorted and ignored the comment, holding the bags up for inspection as they walked in. "Food." He stated with a small smile. "We'll have to spend the rest of the day packing but we should be ready to leave by tomorrow morning." he informed them.

Kinon was curled in a corner of the cave, head resting on his hands as he stared at the two humans through slitted eyes. One whisker twitched and Kinon snuffled softly, as though hurt. "That doesn't look like enough food for all of us..."

Jeremy sighed again. Apparently Kinon was trying to put the prank that had happened behind them by making half hearted jokes. He could do that too, he supposed.

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri set her bags down by Knucker's left fore paw and stretched, wiggling her fingers in the air above her head. Turning, she shook out her head and bent over, flipping her head upside down and gathering her hair in a knot above her head, fishing around in her bag for a hair band to secure it. Straightening again she poked the half hearted bun experimentally, fingering the purple band straining to hold her thick locks in place.

"I give it ten minutes." Knucker commented, and Bri sighed. Her thick curly hair couldn't be restrained by an average band for more than half an hour on a good day, and today was not a good day.

"Are you done making fun of my hair?"

"For now. I'll take a few shots and Jeremy's make up and get back to you."

Bri sighed at him and opened the bag, pawing through the contents and shoving whatever she could fit into her duffel bag. Once the bag was as full as it would get, she stood up again, crumpling the empty plastic bags up in her fist and shoving them in one of the side pockets. "That's all we'll hold." She informed Jeremy and Kinon, leaning back against Knucker's side, her hair band snapping to fly across the cave.

"I win." Knucker declared.

[Jeremy Silcith]

Kinon lifted his head and fully opened his eyes to look over at Brianna. "I give it fifteen." he announced before looking over at Jeremy. The tone of his voice may have been joking around but his eyes told a different story. His gaze was serious, the normal joking sparkle was lacking as he turned his mental connection to just Jeremy.

"About that joke..."

Jeremy waved his hand "Don't worry so much about it. It's forgotten." he made his own tone flippant as he turned away to unpack the bags. Kinon snorted lightly, snaking his head around Jeremy, cutting off his movements.

"Really though, do you think we are ready for this journey?" He asked eyeing Jeremy with one large skyblue eye. Jer shifted a bit and laid his hand on Kinon. "We'll be fine, we have what we need." he spoke aloud with a smile and scratched just behind Kinons' eye.

Jeremy turned around and got a face full of hairband as it smacked him right across the forehead, leaving him stunned.

[Brianna Hollion]

Bri tracks the flight of her hairband before clapping her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh goodness! Sorry!" She exclaims, noting that Jeremy doesn't seem to be having a great day.

She pushes her bangs up on her forehead, pawing around in the bag and grabbing an Oreo, pulling the halves apart, licking the cream filling off of one half. She glances at Jer's bags, frowning at their supplies, it seems like an awful lot to her, but she's never been the outdoorsy type. Behind her, Knucker turns in a slow circle, curling up like a cat, his tail wrapping around to hook over his front paws, the fin at the end folded in.

Bri finishes munching on her Oreo and closed the bag, slipping it back into her duffel bag and flops on the ground next to Knucker, rolling over to lay on her stomach, kicking her flip flops off as she does so. Shaking her hair out, she runs her fingers through the ends, attempting to finger comb a few of the snarls out, with no avail. "Need any help?" She offers Jeremy, pulling at a particularly stubborn tangle and wincing as she does so.

[Jeremy Silcith]

After a second of standing there Jeremy shook his head, feeling the sharp burning sensation as he reached up to rub his forehead. "Jeeze, keep your hair under control will ya? Maybe we should get some steel bands for you, industrial strength... something..." Obviously he wasn't mad or seriously injured as he turned around with a shake of his head. Jeremy came nose to nose with Kinons' sparkling eyes. "Stuff it you."

"Where and when shall I stuff what?" Jeremy shoved the large dragon's nose aside to get the the groceries with laughter that was stifled into a heavy cough. Jeremy unpacked some of the groceries, putting all of the plastic bags that he emptied into one bag.

Jeremy made quick work of all the plastic bags, stuffing them in an empty corner of the room. He shoved Kinon's snout out of the way again "Come on, move out of the way." Kinon chuckled softly through his nose before the great white dragon untwined himself from where he lay and gracefully moved to Brianna, on the opposite side of the cave. He coiled himself beside her, much like a snake would on a cold day. He rested his head and front paws on the top most coil, eyes slitted as he watched Jeremy arrange things.

"Mmm? No, no it's fine. In fact, I hate to ask you but... could I get the things you already packed? I want to pack everything just right..." he sounded rather absent minded as he moved the perishables to one side and the boxed items to the other. He moved canned goods and easily squished items apart, gathering the items into certain groups.

(Note to readers: Great White Dragon... don't stick him in the water and play 'Jaws' music kay?)