Talk to the beggar

She made her way forward, walking down a straight path whilst observing this woman. She seemed filthy, her dress may have once seemed beautiful but was now torn up and stained, much like its current owner. To be fair the beggar herself didn't look too bad, aside from a thin face and an empty stomach she could pass off as a peasant woman on some sort of diet perhaps. What odd choices led this woman down the path that had her stuck, homeless and unwanted, forever begging for change?

Curious how fate has a way of planning things.

"Hey."

The beggar lifted her head up from her knees, sitting against the alley wall. Her eyes carried soft bags underneath, the poor soul hadn't had a good night's rest in some time now. Despite her appearance, her smile was genuine and heartwarming, the kind that would make the whole room glow. It gave Xitlaly pause admittedly, she didn't expect that kind of reaction.

"Hello there, nice evening we're having."

Xitlaly tilted her head, analyzing this woman. Something was off in her, she didn't seem completely right. Aside from her poor state, her smile was something not common for even middle class women around here, and why was she not asking for some coin?

"Uh, something I may help you with miss?"

"Huh?" Xitlaly shook her head, had she been staring? Time was frozen around them, she must have stood there standing idly by for who knows how long? She shifted a bit, feeling awkward about herself. Why had she approached this woman again?

"My apologies, I just wanted to introduce myself to you. I am Xitlaly, and I don't think I ever saw you around here. Are you new here?"

The strange woman nodded, scooting her feet up to carry herself forward before standing in front of her, dusting off her ragged dress. "I suppose so, you can say that. I'm Reta, Norowa Reta. I'm new here and uh, yea I was just enjoying the sights." She said, glancing up at the sky. Xitlaly turned her head to see what she was looking, nothing but the night sky. Clouds were appearing around the darkness, obscuring the moons silver glow behind it.

"Beautiful night, is it not?"

Reta rubbed her arm before stepping back into the alley, under the shadows as a sliver of moonlight peeked through where she once stood. She chuckled before shaking her head. "One can say that."

This woman was a bit strange, yet something about her appealed to her. Xitlaly didn't feel right observing her, perhaps it was a mix of guilt and pity towards her, perhaps it was the ideas the doll had for the beggar. She approached her originally for pleasure and experience, she had plans and curiosity coursing through her plastic being and with a touch of magic, Xitlaly wanted to explore the possibilities of what she could conjure, of what she could create. Also can't say no to a bit of relief.

"Well Reta, I was just closing shop and arrived here to greet you. Do you not have any place of shelter for the night?"

"I... cannot say that I do, Xitlaly. I hadn't planned to arrive her, it was incidental really. But no, do you know of any place that accepts strangers for the night? A place with a soft bed for some coin?"

"Do you have any coin to spare, if I may ask?"

Reta grasped her dress before releasing an audible sigh. "I suppose you have me there, I seemed to have misplaced my purse ahaha."

Xitlaly smiled, this woman seemed like a curious one to observe. She is definitely not ordinary, that much is certain. Not a beggar at all, that slowly became clear through their talk. So nothing much has changed from originally intended, she could ask this woman for some much needed 'assistance' in exchange for a bit of coin, or she could play the good samaritan and invite her to her own house for the night.

Seline would definitely approve of the latter, but her curiosity pushed towards the former...