Even Downtime is Busy.

[Simplicity]

“So it’s settled?” She smiled ignoring Adrian’s comment, “Girls ride together and Jefferson rides with the dogs? And I would rather not ride in the back, hence the claiming.”

Simplicity had walked over to Adrian giving him a welcoming smile. She walked up to the dog just as she had been taught when she lived with her mother’s family and held out a closed hand in front of Fluffy. The dog had growled at her but stopped to sniff her hand and seemed to just accept it. Calmly she began to scratch under his chin and Fluffy closed his eyes in response.

“Such a cutey,” she practically cooed as she moved to scratch behind his ears, “please don’t tell me you stole him.”

With Fluffy getting his fill of attention for now, she returned her attention to the humans standing around her. Sausagefest? Simplicity shook her head and let out a long suffering sigh. “Obviously you two have never been to a military bar,” she said dryly.

She turned and walked back to Kit. Simplicity set a hand gently on the side of the truck and couldn’t help but smile. Seemed like the strange things got, the more familiar they stayed. That included clichés apparently.

“Drinks sounds like a plan,” she agreed, “Do we need to stop by the hotel first or just going straight to some bar?” Simplicity looked down at her clothing. It wasn’t that she was vain but hiking clothes weren’t the best for doubling as barhopping clothes. That and she wanted to drop off half of the crap in her backpack since Jeff was around now, the freaking Swiss army hunter. Everything she could possibly need was already in his pockets.

[adrian]

"I wouldn't do that," Adrian said with a smile that clearly said otherwise. "My friend was moving away, dog needed a home, we have one. No big deal." He looked between Kit and Sim. "So no one explained the travel arrangements to me. How about we let Jeff ride with Fluffy here," Adrian said, briefly returning his attention to the dog. She stood up and bore the attention, her nub of a tail even waved slightly as she butted her nose into Adrian's face. He truly loved dogs. One of God's uncomplicated creatures. There was no such thing as an evil dog, just a hurt one. Then again, maybe there was no such thing as an evil human either. No way to really know.

"It'll give them a chance to bond and I can catch a ride with you two and get to know our new friend. Sounds like a perfect plan to me. Everyone wins. I'll even ride in the back. Anyone want to join me?"

[Jefferson]

Jefferson was petting Fluffy, getting ready to leave. He agreed with the idea to take Adrian's car, plus he didn't mind bonding with a dog, especially since he couldn't feel animal emotions. Taking Adrian's car keys, Jefferson opened the passenger's door and put Fluffy inside. Jefferson went around and stood by the door of the car.

"Let's stop by the hotel so Kit can drop off her weapons if she wants to," turning to talk to Kit, "you don't need to worry about getting any of it stolen, seeing as I have a basement filled with weaponry, and the whole room is made out of iron. It's pretty much a safe zone, plus the place I go to when I wish to get away from Adrian and Simplicity."

Jefferson climbed into the car and put the key's into the ignition. Turning on the car, Jefferson put his head out the window and said, "I'm going ahead, follow me if you want or stay here and bond some more." With this Jefferson went and drove off.

[kiturian]

Kiturian waited quietly while the others discussed plans for what to do. Really she was fine with most anything. It seemed getting drinks worked out for all, which was perhaps a good thing. Gave a chance to relax, unwind and play getting to know you and all that. Or get drunk. Either way fun times. The others worked out ride arrangements and she grinned internally. Advantage of being one of the people to have a vehicle; ride was guaranteed.

She turned to Adrian as he offered to ride in the back and shrugged. "Well you're more than welcome to sit back there if you want, though the front might be a bit more comfortable even if it is a little crowded," she said lightly. "Just move the computer before you sit."

Jefferson mentioned stopping at the hotel and she nodded. "Sounds like a good plan," she said. She'd have to take both boxes in though. Weapons were important, but the books and papers were also something she did not want to risk loosing-it had taken her a while to amass all the information, and it was a useful thing to have. Not to mention it all cost a hell of a lot more than her few weapons.

As he drove off she turned to the other two and smiled. "So ready to get moving? Unless of course you prefer to stay here of course."

[adrian]

"Hey, Kit, how old are you? Just wanted to know so I know what bars to suggest. If you're twenty or so there are some that are sticklers for the ID and we can go somewhere else but we can figure it out on our way to the hotel. I'm up for leaving too though this is kind of pretty," he said, looking out over the Colorado River and watching the moonlight sparkle on the flowing water. "I do enjoy moonlit walks by the beach, especially when accompanied by two attractive young women, but I'd enjoy getting those weapons out of sight more."

" So since Jeff took my car it seems travel arrangements are settled," Adrian said, walking over to the car. He pulled open the door and looked over at Simplicity. "Do you want to try to squeeze side by side or would you rather I sit in your lap? I know you called shotgun and I would never violate such a sacred covenant as those passed down to us by the first road trippers. I wouldn't mind especially since you are wearing my shirt. I'm used to women stealing my clothing but normally they take me home first but, hey, I don't mind skipping steps if you don't," he said with a shrug and a smile, still holding the door open for her.

[Simplicity]

“Thanks for the lift,” Simplicity smiled at Kit and reached into her bag. She held out a water bottle to the other female before taking out her own, “Thirsty? Might as well get a head start on Jeffy.”

She took a sip of her own and listened to Adrian. Had to admit she was curious about Kiturian’s age as well. If she was underaged, Simplicity didn’t really have a problem with that. Since she started developing her alcohol tolerance before most her age. Being a hypocrite wasn’t on her list of things to do today.

Simplicity gave a mock curtsy with shirt edges and smiled at Adrian before stepping into the truck. Sitting he patted her lap to answer him. It wasn’t the first time she had someone sitting on her lap, how else could you get ten people in a five seater compact? Memories of random nights like that made her certain she’d rather have someone sitting on her lap than be squished between people.

“It’s that or the trunk bed,” she restated the other option, “As for the shirt, I needed something to cover up with. I think that might have been the opposite of what you were hoping for or we skipped a lot more steps than you intended.”

[adrian]

Adrian didn't have a witty come back and he felt no need to come up with one. He just laughed instead. Simplicity was quickly becoming one of his favorite people. She was pretty fun to hang out with and he liked the fact that she kept up with him if not beat him as far as verbal sparing went. In fact she was becoming more a best friend than a romantic option. Then again, he had never been strict about keeping the two separate so that really didn't bother him.

"Ladies first then," he said motioning to the car. "Though," he said, leaning against the car door, his arms folded and his head framed by the window he was looking at Simplicity through, "I'm pretty heavy, muscle weighs more than fat and all that," he said shrugging, "I wouldn't want to crush you. Maybe you should sit on my lap instead?"

[Jefferson]

Jefferson went into a quick pit stop at the pet store, in order to pick up some food for Fluffy. Jefferson had no idea whether Adrian did get the dog some food or no, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He wondered if he should let Fluffy stay in the car, but the dog's beady eyes did not allow Jefferson to stay far from the dog. Taking it beside him, Jefferson walked into the store. Making his way to the dog food aisle, it occurred to Jefferson he had no idea what kind of dog food would be good for Fluffy. He never had a pet, unless you count the werewolf's head his brother kept as a souvenir. Not thinking it really mattered, Jefferson grabbed the closest bag, plus a bowl for the food, and went to pay for it. Jefferson reached for his wallet and pulled out the sufficient amount of money and paid for both items. Leaving the store, Jefferson made his way back to the car and drove to the hotel.

Time had passed, and Jefferson had finally arrived. From the lack of cars he could easily tell that no one had made it back yet. Wondering what was keeping them caused Jefferson to start to worry. He wanted to head back, mostly cause he was responsible for them. Even though they were old enough to take care of themselves, they were hunters now, inexperienced one's for that matter. Jefferson had been teaching them the basics, but that wasn't enough if a demon popped up. That rarely happened though, so there was nothing to worry about.

Jefferson walked into the hotel, followed by Fluffy. He headed to the other side of the desk, poured Fluffy some food, and left him there. Jefferson made his way to the basement, in order to rest. While downstairs, Jefferson sat down in the only chair in the whole area. He looked around the whole place, wondering which weapon to teach Adrian and Sim next. He was sticking to much with only talking, and to become a good hunter required hands on experience. He knew exactly what to teach them next, as soon as he saw an object on the wall. Standing up, Jefferson took down his sword. Smiling to himself, Jefferson realized how much fun he was going to have with Adrian, Sim, and Kit (if she didn't know how to use a sword). Sitting back down, with a sword on his lap, Jefferson closed his eyes, waiting for the slow pokes to finally arrive.