Squidge, in the meantime, tagged along with Dawn as the dog-boy (dog-girl? funny the things you don't know you don't know) as she went on her shopping trip.
"So...hey," she said with excessive casualness after the first few purchases, "I kinda feel like some air-clearing could be in order here? I mean you're clearly in charge, which is cool, there's this big honking elephant here. Like right here."
Squidge stepped back and waved at the spot between herself and Dawn.
"I was Coalition. Psi-bat. I served with psi-hounds, and when I went off the reservation I spent a lot of time staying ahead of them. I know you can probably tell I'm nervous around you...just thought you should know why. It's nothing personal. I'll get used to you."
She took a deep breath and added, "I figure you've got a dragon with you, so you're probably over the conditioning...but just wanted to check in to make sure we're good."