"It's so DARK down here!" "Oh NO! What a NIGHTMARE!"

[heartheearth]

Sarah Tapper is in the basement of the Conrad Hotel, with a guitar on loan from the music room, muddling her way through some chords on a sheet of notebook paper extracted from her backpack. She's pretty pleased with the setup down here, even if everyone's an adult, it seems like. It's comfortable, there's enough stuff to do to keep her from

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[nothingsodivine]

Des has taken his prowling around and thinking to the park- it's a good day for it. This side of the globe seems to have finally acknowledged what heat is, even if being weaned into summer seems to be a pipe dream.

And... Oh, what have we here. He studies the tiny girl and while he's only got a vague feeling when things aren't what they seem leftover from being an Emissary in his own world, he can generally feel out a wanderer when he sees one.

"You new around here, darlin'?" He asks, tilting his head a bit at her. It's possible he could be totally off-base here, but, well, doesn't hurt to ask.

[heartheearth]

The girl turns her head sharply - but not to look at him, just to face him more directly. Her eyes, behind her bangs, are cloudy green, and she doesn't seem to be focusing on anything.

Her feet turn in the grass with a certain precision, like someone unsure whether or not they will be attacked shortly. "Uh, yeah! I was outside Ba Sing Se, and this place feels and smells and sounds totally different! Where am I?"

[nothingsodivine]

Des blinks a few times. Oh, he'd recognize a blind person, even though she's... Not really like any blind person he's ever seen before. They never seemed so... Fighty.

"We call it Chicago. There's a, uh... Rift." He has to resist the urge to wave his hand in front of her face to confirm that she's blind. "You fell through it. Hi."

He's not sure what to think about the tiny, blind girl who is kinda giving the impression that she can and will punch him in the stomach and probably rupture something.

[heartheearth]

"What does that even mean?" she snaps. "Where's Aang? And Katara, and Sokka? I didn't fall, I know when I fall, I took a step and everything just changed. There are too many things moving here, they're all... big and loud and it's making it hard to see."

Basically, Des, she's expecting you to explain.

[changingtheodds]

Ruvin has never been to the coffee shop before.

She would pick today to find out if they'll display her paintings for sale.

She would get herself a drink (decaf grande white chocolate mocha with whip, because the person in front of her asked for it and it sounded impressive) in one of the coffee shop's own cups.

She would fail to notice Dusty until it was too late to get one of the paper cups and save herself from an awkward conversation.

Hi Dusty! Have a Ruvin, dithering around next to the counter and trying to decide what to do.

[please_see_me]

Dusty sees Ruvin and pops up as soon as she's got her drink and seems like she's done with the ordering and stuff. "Hi! I didn't know you were going to be here! Do you wanna sit with me? You can share my danish. It's cherry!"

...Sorry, Ruvin.

[changingtheodds]

"I wasn't planning-- I'm not really-- Very well."

She wanders over and sits down, looking helpless. She takes a slurp of the drink and registers that hey, that tastes good, before she registers that OW, THAT'S REALLY HOT, and starts spluttering.

[please_see_me]

Dusty's eyes go wide, and she flails a bit. "Oh! Are you okay? That's really hot, did you burn your tongue? I can get you some ice if you want..."

Ruvin, don't make this into the Circle of Flail. It's hard to rhyme things with "flail" other than "fail".

[allmydiredreams]

Babel walks into the sunroom with a worn copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell in her hands -- two-inch-thick books of modern-day victoriana is not her usual style, but she was tired of comic books and this was one of the actual books she'd had in her duffel when she came through the Rift. She was feeling a more laid-back day of reading rather than...rocking out on the Gauche's roof or going into town to pester people to buy her coffee or hang out on the Pier.

She notices Mat right away, though she was really not expecting to see him here. She only really knows him as 'that sad kid at the Christmas ball', but he still seems sad (though not nearly so much, as it's mostly nerves she's getting from him now), so she plops herself down next to him and leans over. "Whatcha playing?" she asks.

[guardsintheory]

Mat looks up sharply and then blushes rather brightly. "Um. Nintendogs," he mumbles. "It's a thing where you have a dog and you... raise it."

He pauses. "It doesn't really have a point, but it's still fun."

He looks up at her, just long enough to take in her appearance, and then focuses somewhere over her shoulder. "Have we met? You look sorta familiar."

[allmydiredreams]

Babel squeaks. "Nintendogs! I played that for awhile, before I got bored and switched to Resident Evil, before I got bored and gave my boyfriend my DS," she says. As per usual, she's kind of just talking stream-of-consciousness. "But they're good for cheering oneself up, little pixelated puppies." She smiles over at him.

At his question, she nods. "Felt your broken at the Christmas Ball," she says. "I'm the bright yellow one that gave you a hug?" She waves a little, as if that will help him remember. "Though if you're here, maybe you've seen me around anyway. Though I haven't seen you." Never mind the fact that Mat is a terrible recluse and Babel can't stay in one damn place for any length of time, so she's not seen most people that live at the Gauche.

[guardsintheory]

"Oh! Yeah, I think I..." He shakes his head a little, looking apologetic. "Sorry, just... I had a couple of months there that are just... sort of a blur."

He's doing better, though! He doesn't lose time nearly as much! Though he still has days and hours that he can't remember living through. He's getting better.

[hey_capn_jack]

The annoying thing about coming back to Chicago to pick up Rift flotsam, Jason thinks, is that the places with the most Rift activity tend to be the places with the most activity of people who may or may not want him dead. Or at least locked up somewhere he'd never see the light of day again, which is the option much more likely to happen.

The nice thing is that he's discovered a useful little talent on his two-month vacation from the city which might just help him avoid detection if he does need to scope out places like the park and the old warehouse.

There's a big male rottweiler with a piece of machinery in his mouth - probably nothing alien, which is disappointing, but random electronics are always useful too - trotting through the park when Toph comes through, and he... stops. Quirks his head. It's not like he can do much for new wanderers in this state, and not like he should really be concerning himself with anyone else in any state, but... it's a person! The animal part of his brain is very clear on this. You

[heartheearth]

See, animals are cool. Toph learned to earthbend from badgermoles, and animals aren't going to tell her that she's too helpless 'cause she's blind.

She tilts her head a little, then crouches down and extends a hand in Jack's direction. "It's okay, I won't hurt you," she says encouragingly, though her head's still sort of ducked. Hey, she doesn't have to have her face turned towards something she can't see if she doesn't want to.

[hey_capn_jack]

Well, that's something, at least. The kid seems pretty sanguine for having stepped through a Rift, and she... sensed him. The posture, the movement is all wrong for having seen him, but the tilt of her head is just a shade off from where it'd need to be for her to rely entirely on sound. Huh.

He trots up, keeping his head high, ears perked, steps light. No aggression. I don't suppose you can hear this? he thinks - psychics are another can of worms entirely, and if she's even the slightest bit psychic, every reaction and instinct would holler GET AWAY!

[heartheearth]

There's no reaction to his thought, though she reaches out to brush her fingers over his muzzle, and then scratches behind his ears. It's not that she's perfectly calm and more that she doesn't want to freak the animal out.

"I don't suppose you know where we are?" she asks. "Or where Aang and Katara and Sokka are?" She sighs, and drops her chin into her hands. "Not that you could tell me if you did."