You catch your breath and winter starts again, and everyone else is springbound...

[w_for_wizard]

In the alley behind the Empress Theatre, there's the loud crack of a pistol, easily mistaken for a car backfiring or something else entirely unnotable. There's no reason to be alarmed about it, either - if anyone happens to poke their head into the alley, they'll just see Harry, tucking his pistol away and moving forward to inspect a small leather

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[neverinportland]

Juliet's out for a walk, despite her bitter, seething hatred of the snow (although not as bitter and seething as other people we might mention). She figures proximity will eventually give her something akin to tolerance.

She stops just short when she passes Claire, not capable of ignoring the fact that the woman looks vastly uncomfortable. She backtracks, hands shoved into the pocket of her coat.

"Are you okay?" She asks.

[best_is_past]

Oh. It's a person. Claire was not expecting people to take notice of her, despite the fact that people are actually a common thing in the outside world.

She gives the woman a smile, though a slightly shaky one. Open spaces are not Claire's favorite thing ever, but assuming there's no sudden flash mob or anything, she should be okay.

"I'm fine. I'm just not very good at... being outside." Which isn't the most normal thing to say, but never mind that. Between the scars and looking slightly panicky, the things that come out of her mouth are the least of her problems when it comes to normality.

[neverinportland]

The scars are more worrisome than the words in Juliet's eyes. The fear of open spaces, she can grok. "I had an aunt back in Miami who was agoraphobic. If she so much as walked out to her mailbox, she froze." She gives Claire a slightly lopsided smile. "Do you need to be somewhere? I don't know if people around a stranger will exacerbate the problem, but it's better than being stuck out in the cold."

[best_is_past]

Claire can't decide if it's a relief or slightly annoying that it's so obvious what's wrong. "No, thank you. I wasn't actually going anywhere, I just... needed to get away from the people in the building where I live."

Well. Person, mostly. After a while, even tormenting Topher gets aggravating.

[nothingsodivine]

And lo, Grace, there was a Des leaning over you.

"Your file cabinet's broken," he says, very astutely. "You know, when things like this happen, you should call me. I am the mystery guy, you know."

Gets right to the point, this one. Mostly, he's just looking for an excuse to have a conversation. HE DOESN'T GET TO SEE HIS GRACE DARLING OFTEN.

[2ndchanceacharm]

Grace doesn't even look up, just pauses in her flipping through folders and smirks a little.

"Yeah. I noticed that, Sherlock, but thanks for the reminder." She spins around, after a moment, and smiles up at him. "Do you really think I need you for the mystery of the mostly-unimportant file cabinet?"

[nothingsodivine]

Des takes a seat across from her and props his feet up. "Yep. Because you miss me and you want an excuse to see me, and because if I don't cater to your whims every now and then when I have downtime, I'll start hunting monsters in Grant Park with a golf club again."

It's true, Grace. Des has to stay busy or it's golf club time!

[2ndchanceacharm]

She pauses a second, considering that, and then frowns slightly. "You know... that's a very good point. Let's not do the golf club thing again."

If nothing else... it's a little embarrassing. For both of them.

"Anyway, nothing's missing or anything, so there's not exactly reason to panic. For all I know, this is just some strange side effect of having an office so close to the Rift opening."

[callyourselfa]

One For Sorrow is not supposed to be in buildings, but he gets in from time to time. Especially when those buildings are establishments for the preparation and distribution of food, which this diner is. And as he's already managed to steal a good bellyfull of scraps from plates the wait staff hasn't gotten to yet, now he's just enjoying the warmth and indulging his curiosity.

At the moment, this takes the form of settling onto one of the windowsills by Casey and tilting his head at her. Sitting here and not availing oneself of the wonderful comestibles? Humans make no sense.

"Try the patty melt," he suggests. "It's delicious."

[andwhosearmy]

There was a time Casey would have been at least somewhat surprised by the talking bird approaching her in a diner. These days, she just stares at him for a second, blinks a couple times, and answers, "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

She wonders absently if he's a shapeshifter with a very unusual ability, or just a bird who wandered through the Rift and was lucky enough to gain the ability to speak rather than get morphed into some man-eating monster like most animals seem to.

Instead of asking about any of that, though, she just asks, "Should you really be inside? Someone's going to notice sooner or later."

[callyourselfa]

"And at that point, I'll be sure to be chased out, with brooms and terrified lunchmaids squawking, after I've already availed myself of the warmth and the food you humans just get careless and throw away." One For Sorrow snorts, in a way that birds are not generally assumed to snort. "I'll take my chances, lady law."

He bends down, wiping his beak on the sill.

"Speaking of wasting food, there's all manner of stuff in the kitchen just waiting for a lady like you to order it. I'm told that's why they build these places."

[andwhosearmy]

"So I've heard," Casey answers, and pauses a moment, frowning slightly. She's less concerned about the food in the kitchens than she is... "How did you know I'm a cop?"

Talking birds are one thing. A talking bird who knows something about her when they've never met before is just a little creepy.

[despite_myrage]

((OOC: semi-late tagging ftw! Also, I'm sick so I apologize if anything doesn't make sense.))

Robin stops by the Conrad to do work on occasion. One time he stopped by to pick up a penguin. The narration digresses.

He pokes his head into the medical room to say hi to Grace, if she's there. Robin pauses at the expression on her face... and the broken file cabinet, which seems odd.

"Something the matter?"

[2ndchanceacharm]

Grace sets the files down and turns to face Robin with a faint smile. "No, it's fine. I was just... checking my files. In case... I don't know."

But except for the file cabinet, nothing appears to be out of place, so there's nothing to worry about.

[despite_myrage]

"In case, something... happened to them?"

Robin looks over the file cabinet, stepping inside. He can't really imagine what anyone would want with those files either. Unless they were looking for specific information about a wanderer. Still.

He takes a closer look at the file cabinet, reaching out to examine it.

"It seems odd that it would simply break like that. I suppose it wouldn't be the first time something... odd happened. Certainly not here. I'm not exactly an expert on file cabinets," he admits after a moment, making a face at it. "Believe it or not."

[2ndchanceacharm]

"I am shocked to hear that," Grace replies, somehow managing to remain straight-faced as she does. "I think my entire world view's just been shattered, now that I know you're not an expert on file cabinets."

She gathers the files into something resembling a neat pile, setting them on top of the cabinet to be put back later.

"Nothing seems to be gone, anyway, so I think it's okay. ...and hi, by the way. I haven't seen you around in a while."