Pearl had all but dropped the crockpot on Mala's head when the small child opened the door and wrapped herself around her legs. She staggered a bit, but managed to not cause an accident as the child shoved her into the home. Despite Mala still growing, she was already quite big for her age, given her mother's genes', and almost came to Pearl's chest. So calling her a 'small child' was likely a large understatement. But she seemed happy to see her nonetheless and Pearl had to admit she truly missed Mala's chipper attitude during practice. "Of course I would come! I don't go back on my wo--ooh..." Her statement fell off as she glanced around the apartment. It was true she felt like she must of had the wrong neighborhood when she first drove down their street, but this was clearly the right house. The interior was gorgeous and Pearl found herself having to bite her own lip to not ask how they could afford such luxury when she and Jasper had similar paychecks. Pearl likely even made more on the side with her lessons and still she lived in one of the scarier parts of town; another reason for her having taken up fencing in the first place.<br/><br/>Being lead again by her pupil, they were next in the kitchen and Pearl was relieved to have a place to put the heavy crockpot down. She looked down at Mala and ran a hand through the young one's hair. They'd grown close as friends over the last month and she was just happy to see her little protege doing so well. "Have you been practicing your parry and thrusts while absent from my classes? I have a lot more to show you when you come back! I'm excited to see how quickly you take to it all." It was true. Mala was one of her best students, afterall, and between all the classes she taught and the side lessons, Pearl didn't find much time for friends so Jasper's pipsqueak had quickly become a good friend of hers. Though, it rarely showed up in class as she didn't want the other children to start berating her.<br/><br/>When Mala mentioned the inactivity of her mother, Pearl glanced at the boxes stacked on the table and frowned. For the most part, the apartment passed even<i>her</i>standards' of cleanliness, but this stack of boxes was an eyesore. She glanced down at Mala and gave a bit of an awkward grin. "I ah... made you both some homemade soup. Why don't you start dishing some out for your mother, Mala?" Truthfully, she hadn't had the time to cook for herself often, but once a week, Pearl would cook up all her meals for the following week and freeze them. The soup was the result of one such a meal that she had grabbed out of her freezer after talking with Mala on the phone and popped into her crockpot. It likely wouldn't be enough for everyone since she already ate light as a bird as it was, but she hoped having something homemade would make Jasper smile. And as Mala went about gathering the necessary tools to dish out the soup, Pearl made quick work of breaking down and compacting the take out boxes into their trash.<br/><br/>With the task done, she felt a little more at ease in their home and smiled over at Mala once the child was finished dishing up the food. "Does your mother like kale and sausage?" Even if there wasn't much, it was meant to be a hearty and filling soup, so hopefully it would do. Pearl was nervous sharing her cooking with others and was edging on worry over how they'd respond. She'd only shared them with one other person and she wasn't in town very often, but always gave her the best compliments. She blushed at the recollection and finally stripped out of her scarf and coat; laying them by the door on their way to Jasper's room. Pearl even had a small bag of items with her she was preparing to give her fellow instructor, should the woman have need or want of them.<br/><br/>"Jasper?" she called softly, politely knocking on the bedroom door, but it was Mala who burst through with the soup in her hands, exclaiming how her teacher had brought them dinner. Pearl shivered and flushed red at the suddenness of the child, but still felt bold enough to peek into the room; her rather prominent nose leading the way. "Mala, honey, you shouldn't just barrage into people's rooms'..." Her scolding was soft and fell short when she remembered they weren't in the classroom anymore and she had no say in this household.