Guiding Light

"Sounds nice," Flame commented, "Headin' somewhere in particular? Or just explorin' the region?"

She pulled out her phone and glanced down at it, noting the time of day. The device was promptly returned to her pocket afterward.

"Heading in a particular direction." Wolf replies, "Guess I'll see what I find along the way."

He glances towards her.

"How about you?" he asks, "You mentioned you were passing through."

"Yyyyeah, just cruisin'," the hedgehog replied, making a smooth gesture forward with her free paw. "Travelin' around in a random pattern and seein' what I find and who I bump into on the way."
She let out an amused little breath and added, "Granted, I, uh, didn't realize I was quite so far out in the boonies, though. This was just a re-fuelin' stop."

"I see." Wolf replies, "Do you have a vehicle nearby? You don't look like you're carrying enough to be traveling on foot."

Flame glanced back at her backpack briefly. A grin crossed her muzzle. "Nah." She shook her head, quills swaying back and forth with the gesture. "I don't drive. Let's just say that when you're me, nothin's ever really that far away," she replied.

"Uh... okay." Wolf replies.

He's confused by her vague answer. It leaves him pondering what she means as they continue walking to the grocer's.

"Don't worry about it too much, I'm sure you'll see what I mean eventually," Flame assured him. She fell silent as they approached the store's parking lot. Her paws lowered down to tuck into the front pockets of her shorts.

"Perhaps. Guess that depends on how soon we part ways." he replies.

"Or right when we do part ways," she added, "I'm not exactly subtle with my exits." Changing the subject, though, she asked, "So is it just food you're lookin' for?"

Wolf nods in response.

"Yes. I think I'm good with water and other supplies." he says, "Just want to have an adequate amount of food before I head off."

Flame nodded in return. "Yeah, I'll bet what you need should be here then," she said simply.

The hedgehog glanced around the parking lot, taking note of the still relatively quiet day. And here she was just walking to the local grocery store with some stranger. A bit unusual for her, buuuut it would have to do. Her stomach still felt too full for her to take off just yet.

"Guess we'll find out soon enough." Wolf replies.

He sees that the squirrel has disappeared into the store by this point. Apparently all of the unloading had been taken care of. The truck that had brought him into town now sat there unoccupied as he and the hedgehog walked past.

Flame paid the truck no mind as they walked by it. She was looking over the sky, noting the weather now. Or... she did until her phone made a short little sound in her pocket and she turned her attention to pulling it out and looking at the screen. It seemed the hedgehog had run out of small talk for the moment and instead took a couple of moments to smirk and tap out a reply to the text she had received.

Wolf sees the hedgehog withdraw her phone and start using it. He considers trying to glance over to see what she was doing out of curiousity, but quickly dismisses the thought.

Instead, he turns his attention to their surroundings. He note that there appear to be a few more people around than a few minutes ago. Apparently things were starting to get busy in this town. At least as busy as small towns could get.

((Yeah, you nosey wolf, you keep your eyes over there. :P))

Whatever Flame was texting, it took her several moments to type it out before her phone was put away again.
As they approached the automatic doors of the grocery store, she glanced over at the wolf again. "So, hey," she started, "You gotta name?"

"Of course I do." Wolf replies as he glances back over to her, "I'm known as Wolf."

"Wolf, huh?" she commented, raising an eyebrow slightly for a moment. "Straightforward enough, I can dig it."

Wolf nods to her slightly.

"Glad you approve." he replies with a small smile.

"Well, not that my approval changes anything," Flame admitted. She walked in through the open doors and began to look around the grocery store, primarily looking for signs indicating different sections of where things were located.

"Of course. But it does beat the alternative." he replies, "You could have said it was an awful name."

The interior of the grocery was taken up by many large, open displays and bins covered or filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. There was another section that had sealed bags of some processed foods, things like flour.

"So true," the hedgehog agreed with a smirk, "But considerin' my name is Flame, I don't think I should take it on myself to tell other people whether their names suck or not."

She peered around the grocery store, but didn't stop walking. Everything seemed pretty straightforward and she adjusted her course to head for the part of the store that held processed items.

"Oh. That does seem like a different name." he says as he follows her along, "Does it have a special meaning for you?"

"Ehhh, not really," she replied, shaking her head a little, "I mean, my mom's a pyrokinetic and I'm... kind of one." Her eyes squinted a little for a moment before she just let out an amused breath. "Tell the truth, I'm still pretty convinced that she was just making fire puns when she named me and my brothers." Flame shrugged her shoulders.

"What is a pyrokinetic?" Wolf asks, looking at Flame curiously.

Flame glanced over to Wolf. "Oh, that?" she replied, "It's a person who can, like, control fire or that has fire powers in general. Or that's what I've learned it as."