Ghent was startled by the negative response to his innocent inquiry. What was wrong with wanting a pet? Drust sounded especially annoyed; Ghent suspected the Knight's patience was beginning to run out.
	“I was only asking!” Ghent held up two hands to show he wasn't pursuing the idea. Minus the tension, the situation was similar to when he asked his parents for a lizard. He wasn't allowed to have a pet on Earth, or Wonderland. It sucked. 
	As Elayra removed the backpack from her bag, Ghent forgot all about owning a tichari. He just wanted to eat. 
	“I’d be happier if you brought it to me, but I guess that’ll do.” Slowly but surely, Ghent got to his feet, blinking away the splotches of light assaulting his vision. He crossed the distance between them, leaning forward to grab the loop of his backpack. It was heavier than he remembered; Elayra’s pack weighed much less. “Thanks, Blondie.”
	Returning to his original spot next to Drust, Ghent dropped the pack to the ground with a gentle thump and sat beside it, sitting cross legged. “Well, yeah. Provisions were the first thing I packed,” he used Drust’s word to describe his hoard of snacks. “I have a couple of sodas in here, so we should probably drink those. They’re making this thing heavy.”
	Unbuckling the outer flap, Ghent dug through the oblong backpack. It wasn’t long before he produced a can of soda. The beverage was soon followed by an entire bag of Cheetos, a half-eaten bag of trail mix with the M&M’s missing, four completely flattened Zebra Cakes, assorted candy, and close to a dozen chocolate bars. 
	“Here we go.” Ghent unearthed two additional drinks, each identical to the first. “You guys [i]have[/i] to try this. Earth is pretty much famous for Pepsi,” he held up the dented can so they could have a better view. It was like show and tell featuring nothing but junk food. 
	“I have a water bottle somewhere around here, too…” he peeked into the backpack, unable to see much inside. Articles of clothing were making it difficult to maneuver. “Oh well. You guys wanna try anything? Most of the candy’s sour, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”