[Open] Pearl Steps Through the Rift (Grant Park)

[pearlapothecary]

Thirty seconds ago, Pearl had been walking through an antique shop, trying to find a pair of rings that looked old enough that she might have owned them before the United States had its little unpleasantness. Suits made of fine fabrics paired with classic jewelry spoke of old money. Everything depended on giving the right impression. Then she

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[and_dontgetcute]

It's late. Flack knows he shouldn't be in the middle of Grant Park this late at night -- this is usually when the very interesting monsters come out to play, and Flack isn't in the mood for his night to be interesting. He just wants to make it back to the Kashtta and home.

But when he sees the woman standing in Grant Park, he can't help but stop in his tracks for a moment and stare. It can't be. "Maka?"

[pearlapothecary]

"I beg your pardon?" asks Pearl. She sounds confused, not offended. Her voice is a little strained, though, given everything she's been through tonight.

It seems pleasant outside tonight, and, if the air is a little chilled, it's not something she takes notice of. The weather is about the only thing she's come across that's ordinary.

[and_dontgetcute]

It's then that Flack actually looks at her. Not to say that his friend wasn't ever well dressed, but this woman is a great deal more formal than Maka ever was. She's just another wanderer who happens to have her face -- nothing more.

It's a little depressing, for a man who hasn't seen anyone from his own world in over a year, but he pulls it together as best he can. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else." There is a beat, because he's fairly certain that the look on her face is a 'Recently Rifted' look. "Is everything okay?"

[pearlapothecary]

If there's one thing Pearl's certain of - though she's going to be very surprised someday - it's that she doesn't have a doppelganger.

"Just fine," she says, with a pleasant, if distant smile. If vampires could be said to go into shock, that description would certainly fit her tonight. "It's been a very long night. I'm Pearl, by the way."

It would be rude not to introduce herself, and this man seems nice enough. He's tall, well-dressed, and has a care for those around him. She could do far worse than chatting with someone like him in a nearly vacant park in the middle of the night.

[and_dontgetcute]

"Don Flack," he says with a nod. "I work for a branch of the police force." He doesn't want to drop in the fact that he works for the Wanderer Police Force if people haven't explained the fact that she's a Wanderer to her yet. One step at a time.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

[pearlapothecary]

'A branch of the police force' sounds secretive. If there's anything Pearl has learned over the centuries, it's how to keep her thoughts from showing on her face.

"I'm afraid I'm a little bit lost," admits Pearl. As if stepping from one place into another, hundreds of miles and a universe away, as Damon had told her, counted as just a little bit. She's going to have to find a place to stay for the foreseeable future, and find a way to pay for it. Thankfully, Pearl has never lost the habit of carrying around large amounts of the local currency.

[and_dontgetcute]

He nods. The question is -- how lost is she? Is he talking to a turned around tourist, or someone who's taken a hop skip and a jump from their own world and landed here?

"I know the city pretty well -- what are you looking for?"

[pearlapothecary]

"Can you recommend a good place to stay?" asks Pearl. She's a reserved person, especially with those she's just met, but she's sensible enough to get a good recommendation from the locals.

If she happens to ask a local that's on the lookout for Wanderers from another world, they could probably figure out from where Pearl is and what she's asking that she's from another world.

[and_dontgetcute]

He can and he does, but he won't draw attention to it. At least not at first. "The Kashtta is one of the safest places in town. They offer free room and board, and is actually pretty nice, all things considered."

[pearlapothecary]

"Free room and board?" Pearl looks skeptical. In her experience, free often has hidden costs. Or it's just being used as bait. She has to ask, though she doesn't expect to get the real answer. "What's the catch?"

Pearl is a suspicious woman, all things considered. It probably shouldn't be taken personally.

[and_dontgetcute]

And Flack's a New Yorker. He asked the exact same question when he first arrived, and he doesn't blame her now. It does make him smirk though. "The place is a little haunted. Nothing life threatening, but ... enough creaks and moans to keep you on your toes."

[pearlapothecary]

"Ghosts." Her voice is flat. It's not that Pearl doesn't believe in ghosts, though anyone listening to her might not realize that. It's that she hates dealing with unknown elements. "Are these the kind that make noise and show up as apparitions, or would I need to keep my breakable objects packed away?"

Not that Pearl has anything other than her purse, but it's the principle of the thing. Also, she might need to make sure not to buy wooden furniture that can be easily splintered into stakes.

[and_dontgetcute]

"Mostly making noise. It's the teleporting kittens you need to worry about when it comes to the breakables."

... Yes, the Kashtta has an infestation of teleporting kittens. The Rift probably though people needed cheering up and gave them kittens. You have been warned.

[pearlapothecary]

"That seems dangerous to the kittens," says Pearl. Her eyes glimmer with amusement. "Not just the breakables."

She's going to have to check out the Kashtta just for the kittens alone.

[and_dontgetcute]

He chuckles. "They do okay. And their owners take pretty good care of them, for the most part."

[pearlapothecary]

"This Kashtta Tower, it seems like it's not for--" Pearl pauses for a breath, trying to find the most ambiguous phrase, but one that will get her meaning across to anyone who knows about the supernatural. Which he clearly does. "--anyone normal."