"Why aren't your friends here?" Jes asked as she held onto Davin's arm as the two of them sat together on the new couch that she had picked up while he was on his first adventure.

"Here? In your small apartment? I think that would be a little awkward with you clinging onto me the way that you are." Davin rested his head on top of hers as she kept trying to nuzzle closer.

"Hmm, you know… that is a good point…" Lacing her fingers in his.

"Plus we have plenty of time to see them, I have a ton to do here, and I wouldn’t want to fight more than one of you while I do some more baking." Saying it in a way to make it sound as though he was going to be greatly inconvenienced by the whole thing.

Jes let out a girlish giggle. "Those brownies were divine! I almost didn’t have enough of them to last me the week."

Davin chuckled. "The lasted you a week? That is more than twice as long as I expected them to."

Jes let out a huff. "You warned me…" The tone coming out in a near whine.

"I have a few stops to make before I get started on the next batch, did you get some more of the ingredients that I asked for?" Davin partly turned to face Jes.

"Oui." Her natural accent came out more as she moved in closer.

Davin laid back on the small couch. "Perfect, Big Green wanted me to teach one of his guys while I'm in town, so I may dip into your stash to show him."

Jes let out a puff of air between her lips. "Why do you think he asked you to teach him? I shared a few of the pieces you made and he already has a supply of the same ingredients that you asked me to get."

"Oh? That makes so much more sense than… thought it was weird how accommodating he was about asking to use his kitchen…." Davin shrugged as the two of them got more comfortable.

"Awe, that means that it won't smell like baked goods here all week." Jes let out with a pout.

"Don't worry, I have a few that I want to make if I can get a few extra ingredients," Davin said as his mind trailed off to the strange odds and ends that baking made him look up in fugues of hyperfocus.

Davin spent a good chunk of the afternoon writing down the notes that he had remembered from his previous life. Which sent him down his own warren of thoughts, thinking about the few things that he could remember about his life, he was largely finding that he could remember things he'd learned, but he could only remember glimpses of his family. This wasn’t the first time that he had found himself doing this, and he could see why memories were muted more and more as time went on.

Davin and Jes walked down to the tram that would take them to Edges Rest.

"So you want to talk to the brew lizard about some of the ingredients you need for baking?" Jes sounded confused about the whole idea.

"Yes," Davin looked over his notes. "Need to about getting pot ash…" Davin trailed off again.

"And then we get to see Truck?" Jes bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Yes, I think we can even take him for a short ride if you want, how far would you want to go?" Davin looked at her with a smile, mischief in his eyes.

"I am not sleeping outside, that was the biggest sell to becoming a member of the training guild, I never have to sleep in a strange bed, on the ground, or in a moving vehicle ever again." Jes crossed her arms as she huffed exaggeratedly."

"So not far enough to stay out tonight, got it." Davin nodded. "You know what? I can fully understand that, I used to hate camping."

"Used to?" Jes asked as she looked at him with curiosity.

"Yeah, it was more to do with camping in my world being more a pastime or hobby, rather than being a need, so I just never really found it all that relaxing like many others."

The trip on the freighter that Davin had done so many times before felt as though it had gone by in a flash. Edges Rest was bustling, the new week seeming to reawaken what had been a sleepy port. They wove through the crowd, making their way to where Ezeirk's brewery. Glad that they hadn't already gotten to Truck, but since he had left Truck all the way out in the Ranger Enclave they were easily able to move between the crowd.

"What want to make so-dah?" The lizard fork asked as they looked Davin in the eye.

"Yes and no, while it will be one of the things that can be made, I have a few more things in mind than that," Davin stated as he showed his notes to Ezeirk.

"Hmm, I don't know what so-dah ash is…" She responded as she tapped the notes.

"I can get that, just need to make a run out to Long Dock." Davin thrust out a thumb in the general direction of Long Dock.

"Ash from Long Dock?" The orange lizard looked up at Davin.

"I'm honestly hoping that I have a friend who can help me out on that, but I was hoping to get you on board first," Davin stated.

"Hmm, If you can get me the parts, I can easily set you up with what you need." She nodded while smiling.

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"Perfect!" Davin said with excitement, as he held out his hand for the notes.

"Just be sure to keep me in the loop," Ezeirk said as she passed back the pile of notes.

"Gladly, and if things go right, should have some of it here before the end of the week."

Jes stood out front the whole time that Davin was talking with Ezeirk, her excitement building, she hadn't seen a new creature in the wilds in an age. Her curiosity climbing, based on what Davin had told her about the beast he was like a tortoise, only big enough to ride with a mace for a tail. So when Davin came out of the Brewers shop and spoke, she felt as though she'd almost jumped out of her skin.

"Ready to go?" Davin asked as he closed the door behind himself.

"In the name of the patrons!" Jes yelled as she grasped at her chest.

"What happened?" Davin jumped into automatic trauma action.

"Huh? You almost startled the merde out of me!" Patting her chest as if she was trying to restart it.

"Merde?" Davin asked as he thought about the French he could remember. "Death?"

"Que? Oh, I keep forgetting that you know of my home language, but oui." She was half bent over taking deep breaths.

Davin covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh. "Been stuck in the Bastion too long?" The hints of a laugh in his voice.

"NO…. It hasn’t been that long, I... Was just lost… in… thought…" her voice growing quieter as she finished the statement.

"Well if that’s what you think, I won’t stop you." Davin smiled as he started towards the Rangers Enclave." If you're planning on coming, better hurry up."

Davin had only made it a few paces down the road before Jes caught up, punching him in the arm before grabbing his hand. The Rangers Enclave was far less busy than it had been at Edges Rest, but from what he had experienced it was about average for the suburb. Several of the rangers that Davin recognized waved at him as he made his way towards the stables that Truck was being kept in. Jes's steps mixed between normal and skipping, the bounce in her steps becoming more pronounced as they got closer.

"Truck!" Davin yelled out as he called into the stables as they got closer, the 'roar' was louder than anything that Davin had ever heard come from the beast. The sound caused Jes to jump again, the loud 'Ka-thunk' rang through the mostly open space.

"NO! Stay put Truck! I'll be there in a bit!" Panic filled Davin's voice as he could only imagine his massive mount crashing into the gates of his stall. Davin dropped Jes's hand and ran into the stable.

The yell that came out of Davin made Jes's blood run cold, pulling out the dagger that she kept hidden at the small of her back and rushed into the commotion.

"Davin!" Her words fell short as she came to a staggering halt.

The Massive spiked creature had his head on top of Davin pinning him to the ground, its large tongue lapping at the man that she found herself loving's face as if it was a dog. The squeal that came from Jes was almost as loud enough to count as a warning siren.

Davin laughed as the big mount saw that there was someone new to inspect looked up and sniffed the air, sensing the scent of Davin strongly on this person he moved in, at the same time Jes ran in, her arms spread wide, the two crashed into one another and Jes let out a 'whoomph' as all her breath was knocked out as she threw herself onto his head and began hugging him. Slowly pulling himself up, looking around at the newly fractured gate.

"Good thing that friend-shaped thing is friend…" The low chuckle that came from Davin as he watched Jes hug Truck's massive head as he sniffed her trying to catch any piece of the 'Davin smell'.

"He's precious!" Rubbing her arms on Truck's head the strange chortling that Davin could only compare to purring started rattling out of Truck.

Truck had to be encouraged to go back to his stall so that they could get his saddle back on so that they could go for a ride, Davin handing over a few tokens to repair the damage that was done. The road was largely open at this point since most of the larger groups would have already been well on their way out. Keeping a steady pace as they got used to having two people on the saddle, which was luckily large enough for them.

"And you found him in the woods in the tail edges of winter?" Jes asked encouraging Davin to tell the story again, to which Davin humored her and retold the story, embellishing where he could.

Jes surprised Davin with a small picnic, where she hid the sandwiches and other small treats baffled Davin, but he wasn’t planning to press for it, let a girl keep her secrets. When they had finished the meal Davin pulled out a large blanket from the magical storage that he had been given, spreading it on the ground, they lay together in the late afternoon sun watching the clouds drifting by. Chatting, enjoying each other's company as the sun began to sink off to the west.

"As great as this afternoon has been, I think that it is time to call it a night, I do not want to get stuck outside the bastion if I can avoid it," Jes said as she began to stand.

"Luckily we aren't too far out, and I think we can get Truck to put on some gas." Davin followed suit pulling the blanket up from the ground and with a quick elaborate action tossed it into the pocket space that he shared.

"Gas?" Jes looked mildly disgusted at that statement.

"Huh? Oh, right, gas is what vehicles ran on, and if you applied more of it, they could go faster." Davin shrugged as he moved over to start the process that was to get Truck on his feet.

"Applied? That seems like the worst way for a vehicle to work." Jes shook her head a bit of a laugh mixed in.

Their ride back to the Bastion was full of Davin trying to explain how combustion vehicles ran and some of the terms that were coined from it. Davin knew that Jes was just letting him info dump, but it was comforting, he by comparison came from the wildest world, with no magic, no real monsters, no classes, and a slew of other things that he felt made him the outsider. She would ask questions from time to time, but she just let him keep talking, so by the time that they had made it back to the Rangers Enclave his throat felt dryer than it at any time before.

Truck was not happy to be left back in the stables, luckily the damage that the big beast had done to the stall that was dubbed as his was repaired and reenforced so it looked like it would do a much better job at helping prevent him from wandering about on his own. Davin felt bad about leaving Truck behind, but he knew that trying to maneuver him through the city was going to be far more difficult than he was prepared for.

"You know, If I find any more creatures, I may have to find a place outside of the city to live," Davin said somberly.

"Hmmm, that is a fair statement, and if that is the case, we either need to find a way that I can still do my duty as a trainer of the rogues guild, or I find a very good replacement." Nodding in agreement she helped pull the saddle off of the dinosaur.

"Gale can do it? He's not a complete moron?" Davin said, his voice full of sarcasm.

"No he isn't, but he tends to fall back on his own style far too easily, there are a few potentials, but for now I do request that you do not try to put the ranch before the horse." the fumbled idiom falling a bit flat as she said it.

"I think you mean the 'cart before the horse'?" Davin asked curiously.

"No, I know the phrase, but last I checked, you don’t keep animals in a cart, or if you do, it is not for very long." The smile spread across her face.

"Finding where we could have a ranch would be your doing anyway." Davin pointed at her as they began the last leg of their journey to the bastion, walking quickly.