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Tianara frowned a little bit, and eventually nodded. "Should we start now?" she asked at last, quietly. The musical accent to her voice was growing even more pronounced, as it did when she was nervous or extremely excited. "I mean, we can't leave it all until people start arriving. And I suppose getting...heaters needs time."

What on earth was propane, anyway? Was a space heater some sort of magic, too? How many people would they need to hold up that magic? Confused, she went back to things she understood. "We can make pads to sleep on," she said assuredly. "There are all sorts of things in the waters that are soft enough for that, and some of it is stuff that humans have just thrown away."

She smiled weakly. "I've seen them made before. That would be a little easier, right? Than buying them?"

That still left food to stockpile, and these 'heaters' to find, and all that sort of thing. But Tianara couldn't help but feel better, knowing that they were at least beginning to head in the right direction.

Tianara looked up at him with a slight wrinkle between her brows. She thought it would be a little tough to explain returning so soon after having left. Especially if they had to go into any of the same stores.

Well, maybe they could pretend they had never left? She didn't know. She and Joshua could figure something out on the way, Tianara figured. How hard could it be?

"What will we say to explain why we came back?" she asked, getting up. She didn't even glance down at her wet clothes, and didn't seem to worry about it at all. That wasn't surprising - it would be more unlike her to even realize that she was wet. "I mean, we were just there. It's a long way to go just because we forgot something, right? And how will we explain what we're getting?"

Ever since Adrian (a faint blush rose into her cheeks again as she thought of it) had caught her by surprise with his questions, she was determined not to leave anything to chance again.

Tianara thought for a minute. "You could say you're stocking up," she murmured at last. "After that storm, maybe you're afraid of being cut off if another one happens?" She looked at him consideringly, as though wondering about the possibility of this answer. She didn't really know too much about how isolated humans worked - for all she knew, Joshua would remain self-sufficient in that sort of case, and it would confuse people if he claimed to be stocking for emergencies.

"And we could do that after we finish with another town," she offered at last. She looked hopeful, like a nervous puppy hoping it had done the trick to please its master.

At his question, however, she blinked at him in surprise. Her big dark blue eyes were confused. "Am I?" she asked, touching her cheek as though feeling for heat. "Oh. I was...um...just thinking." That sounded weak, so she elaborated. "About making all those mistakes with the questions that...that Adrian was asking." She shrugged, glancing away. "It's nothing."

Tianara looked down, interpreting Joshua's raised brow as amusement or possibly irritation. "Okay," she said, endeavouring to sound as relaxed and casual as he did. But she knew she wasn't going to forget about it any time soon - and not just because it had nearly cost them secrecy they badly needed. She was...embarrassed about making a fool of herself. In front of Joshua, or in front of Adrian? she wondered. Then she resolutely pushed the thought away. This wasn't the time to worry about that.

Smiling a bit nervously at Joshua, Tianara pulled herself into the boat. She sat down and looked at him cautiously. "Is it safe?" she asked uncomfortably. "I've never...never been in a boat before, except for...you know."

Now her hesitation was more understandable. The girl probably thought they were both going to die.

((OOC: Whatever happened to Joshua's dolphin buddy?))

Tianara offered a tentative smile as she sat back in the seat. "It's okay. I didn't really expect you to remember." It wasn't as though she expected him to keep a running tally of everything he knew about her - just because she always tended to remember what she knew about him.

Although she struggled to keep the smile on her face as they skipped through the waves, her hand was gripping the side of the boat so tightly that it was white, and she was sitting rigidly straight. It wasn't that she didn't trust Joshua to drive it properly...she just didn't know what 'properly' was. She was accustomed to traveling underwater, not over it. The change was a bit of a shock.

Well, it was something she would just have to get used to, she told herself. Wasn't she going to try to be as human as possible when she had to leave the clan for 'good'? And if humans rode boats, she'd have to learn to ride in boats and act as though it were normal.

I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die, she thought repeatedly, keeping her eyes fixed ahead. Muscle by muscle, she made herself relax - until she caught Joshua glancing her way and went stiff again. "Yes?" she asked nervously.

((OOC: Yay. I like dolphins. biggrin ))

Tianara felt a kind of shy pleasure in his words, although she couldn't fathom why. He tended to be kind to her, that was all. And he was her friend, he looked out for her, he...

She had no idea why she was worrying so much about it. Had Kiro been there, he might have laughed and quoted quietly, Methinks thou doth protest too much, leaving Tianara even more bewildered. Perhaps it was a good thing her brother wasn't around. "I'll try," she said uncertainly, wanting to please but not quite sure if she could manage it. Once more, she tried making each muscle relax, one at a time. She closed her eyes and listened to Joshua's words, tilting her head back a little - thrilling, though she wouldn't have said so, to the unfamiliar warmth of the sun on her skin.

She actually began to relax a little bit, her smile starting to emerge. When Joshua spoke again suddenly, however, she went rigid and her eyes snapped open. But as she turned to look and spotted the dolphin, a real smile emerged. "Who's this, Joshua?" she asked curiously, leaning back a little to get a better look at the dolphin.

"She's beautiful," said Tianara softly, and meant it. She had always loved dolphins, even if sometimes they got kind of pushy when all in their pods. She'd been nudged around by them plenty of times, but it had never lessened her love or awe of the creatures.

Her face changed a little at his next words, confusion and concern chasing each other over her face while she tried to cover it up. "But if you're lonely..." She trailed off, trying to find the words. "There have to be people like you. Like Allen and Aria. Why didn't you find them?"

The question wasn't accusing or angry. It was just quiet and a little sorrowful. She'd never been one to push or demand answers, but she understood loneliness. Despite her family's love, she'd always known she wasn't really one of theirs. It had just been her and Kiro for a very, very long time.

"You're not lonely now, though, are you?" she asked, as the thought occurred to her.

Tianara's eyes were sorrowful, and understanding. "No one?" she asked softly. "No one at all? But...surely there was someone...?" She went quiet for a moment or two. Being that entirely alone...how much it must have hurt him. She remembered how he was with her, with Sorry and Nezik and even the Siren siblings. He needed companionship, even she could see that. He was one of those who needed people. Why could no one else see how special he was?

Realizing she wasn't listening, she tuned in again. She smiled a little at his words. It was nice to hear. "No," she said, lifting a hand as though to touch her finger to his lips, but stopping before actually doing so, "don't say sorry. It's nice to know that. Then next time I worry that I'm being annoying and a burden and useless, I can remind myself about that."

She gave him another shy smile, and then scooped back some of her flyaway dark hair with one hand. Turning, and always keeping that white-knuckled grip on the boat's rail with her other hand, she scanned the waters for anyone she knew, or anything of interest.

That kept it light and relaxed when she added, "I'm glad you're not lonely anymore." At least, she hoped it did.