The man nods to Ali. "Yes, this little...person told me that there was food in these things, but she left without telling me how they work. I'm not sure if it was a gnome, or a halfling, or what...they all kind of look alike to me, you know?" he says, speaking comfortably until he begins to study Ali's features, his eyes resting on those horns. "Y-you're a Tie---OOOF!" he is cut off as a round object, later revealed to be an apple, hits him in the head. His assailant would appear to be a young woman, perhaps 3'6" tall, with olive-tone skin and dark brown hair. She is holding hands, as a child would, with a taller (5'3") woman with a slim, delicate build, a slightly sun-kissed complexion, and light brown hair shorn into a pixie cut. If you had to guess, this looks like a gnome posing as someone's child. Those of you who live in the small apartment complex one block north of here recognize these two as your landlord (the gnome) and her assistant. The assistant, Elizabeth, is dragging a cart laden with clothing. The gnome rushes forwards towards the confused man, yanking on his shirt to get him to bend down far enough for her to whisper to him.<br/><br/>"Tholar, you idiot! I told you to stay here quietly until I came back...I could hear you banging on the machine outside. Do you want a job or not? 'Cause I've got about two dozen goblins who say they can do maintainance work as well as any human. And they know how to keep their mouths shut!" she whispers with a scowl. Turning to Ali, she breaks into a polite smile. "Thank you very much for looking after my uh...older brother here. He kind of...fell behind us after we finished our last load of laundry...good thing we came back with more, or who knows what he could have gotten into. I'm Isabelle, by the way." she says, whispering loud enough for any eavesdroppers to hear "he's retarded" with a wink.<br/><br/>=================================================================<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the young Drow woman, overjoyed at Trouble's agreement to help her, rushes out of the laundromat, tripping over one of the wheels of Elizabeth's laundry cart in the process and landing hard on her side. Cursing again, she pulls out her cell phone and starts to dial. She's out there for about a good 15 minutes, arms frantically gesturing during her phone conversation. It's not really possible to hear her outside over the noise of the machines in here and the traffic out there, but it is possible to read her body language/lips (when you can see her face) with a Sense Motive Check, DC 20. DC 15 will give you a general gist of what's going on .<br/><br/>Feeling somewhat ignored, Elizabeth inserts a dollar into the snack machine, retrieves a bag of chips, and tosses them to Tholar. Smacking her forehead, she walks over, opens the bag, then slips away, plopping herself down a few seats away from Irennan.