Where: Sheriff Offices When: Utp Whom: @purgatored Elm

"Well, unfortunately, I'm the sheriff, so yeah, I'm a cop."

He lowers his hands and gestures around his waist, where it's very clear he doesn't even have a holster. Hopefully, that lets her trust him more.

"I don't like carrying a gun around town unless I have to."

He steps closer, even stuffing his hand in his pockets to seem more casual.

"I understand that you need to be in control of yourself, and me dragging you away would do the opposite of that. So I'm just going to say this: if you want to risk your life against those monsters, we can't stop you. We can't protect people who don't want our protection. I just hope you decide that our protection is good enough for you as the others have."

— A scoff escapes her lips before she can stop it , her scowl only furthering at the words of the other . “ what're you , a cop ? ” she asks with a scrunch of her nose , tapping some ash from her smoke while disdain drips from her every word . “ being cautious is one thing , threatening people with physical restraint so they conform to your so - called safety standards , that's another thing entirely . very authoritarian of you all , i must say . ” there is something comforting , almost nostalgic , about being a smartass with authority ; a sense of warm familiarity , in a town that is entirely unknown to her .

where: colony house when: Halloween night whom: @hcartcorruptcd El

Adrien moves through the house, taking a break from dancing to find people he knows.

He's spotted and chatted with a few but there's one in particular...

There they are.

He grins and runs up to El. He throws his arms around them in a huge hug.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," he says excitedly.

Adrien hums, listening to her. Seems like she's still spiraling after arriving in town recently. He moves to sit against the wall across from her, their shoes inches apart.

"Sorta? I came in a few days ago with the huge storm. But I'm guessing you're even more recent than that? And to be honest? If having a party is delusional, I'd rather be that than dead."

He shrugs. He knows he's an outlier amongst the people of Oblitus, but he's used to that feeling. And he's happy to share it with others when he can.

"I didn't catch your name," he adds with a friendly smile.

Catie’s eyes narrow as Adrien slides to a stop in front of her, his enthusiasm jarring compared to everything she’s felt since arriving. She folds her arms, glancing around with disbelief.

'Company?' she echoes, almost laughing despite herself. 'Yeah. Sure. Not like I was having a ton of fun hanging out on the floor. By myself. In this creep fucking house.' She shakes her head, almost hesitating but not quite catching herself. 'Just, are we seriously doing this? Having a party while there's all that actual shit out there?' She glances at Adrien, her tone sharper than she intended but held back by a thread. 'I can’t decide if everyone here’s delusional or if I’m just the only one who thinks this whole thing is completely insane.' Her voice drops, anger simmering just below the surface as she forces a smile. "But you—you look like you’re actually having fun. Guess you’re not new here?"

Lucas's smile softens to a concerned look.

"Do you want someone to talk to? Or to talk at? I'm a pretty good listener."

He flips open the counter and gestures to a chair next to his desk.

"I can try to answer questions. I know sheriffs out there are... not great, but here? We're here to help."

Catie narrows her eyes. 'You’re kidding,' she says, the disbelief in her voice impossible to miss. 'A sheriff. Deputies. What, have you got a judge and jury hiding somewhere back there?'

She doesn’t mean to sound so harsh, but the absurdity of it all—the structure, the formalities, the idea that any of this town could resemble real life—is too much. Her gaze flicks to the desk behind him, cluttered with papers and a coffee mug, as if this were any normal police station.

'Sorry,' she adds after a beat, though her tone is only slightly softer. 'I just... I don’t get it. I don’t get any of this.'

Lucas sighs as well.

"Yeah, I get it. Is there at least someone here to confirm you were here during the storm? I'll confirm with them, then cross you off my list for good."

He really isn't in the mood to fight with Cherry today. And he's only really doing this to get the shop keep off his back about this.

" CAUTIOUS ." cherry repeats, her brows raising at the words before she's ultimately sighing and dragging a hand down her face . she leans against the door frame for another few beats before she's rolling her eyes and saying, " look, it was a real stressful night, alright ? maybe someone was locked in lally's and just helped themself ! can you blame 'em ? everyone copes with stress differently, right !" there's no hesitation before cherry raises a finger to add, " and before you ask i was locked in here the whole time !" she points down to the motel .

With his ankle now secure, he slowly moves to stand on it. It's just a sprain. It can't be that ba-

"Shit!"

He falls back onto his ass, relieving the pressure from his ankle. How is that only a sprain?

"Doesn't matter if they understand," he grits through the ebbing pain. "It's still my job."

He tries to stand again.

she rolls her eyes; sometimes the pain is more convincing. "alright, let's try it." becca stands and goes behind the bar, hoping for anything that could work. everything's a little messy, but she manages to pull out a couple of washcloths from behind a box. at least they smell clean.

"you won't be useful to anyone out there if you're limping along, too." with a handful of barspoons and folded towels, lucas' ankle is barely held in place as she finishes the knots. it won't do much if he's out running around. "jim will understand- everyone will."

He's nursing a barely healed sprained ankle, his town is basically in shambles, his ex/friend is going through an emotional collapse and trying to hide it, his friends are struggling to lead this town of scared people, and all Lucas wants to do is curl up onto his bed and cry. So...

"As good as can be expected," he says, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible. "Lots of things to do and people to help. How about you? How's the non-dead side of the infirmary?"

"right," carrying out the syllables a little too long, erin sent lucas a grin and tightened her grip on the rather large branch. on three, she pulled and kept pulling until it was back out of the way where it needed to be. dropping it onto the rather large pile of branches and debris from the storm, she sighed and wiped her hands on her worn jeans. "how are you holding up?" she normally wasn't one to make conversation but it seemed right to ask him now that he had helped her.

Lucas takes a deep breath before he starts talking.

"I mean, I was running around town, seeing what needed repairs, checking that people were okay and not trapped anywhere. Not to mention wrangling the deputies to do their jobs."

Lucas smiles. A lot of people say they're glad he's here, but it feels a little different — a bit better — coming from Bruna.

"He was a better hunter than me," he says. "And he was way funnier. Got him more dates in high school than I did, though coming out of the closet did change my odds slightly."

He chuckles.

"And he may have been younger, but he showed me how to be a good son to our parents. He seemed to always know what to do and helped me when I didn't."

He wipes some tears away and looks back to Bruna.

"What about your sister. What was she like?"

"We did miss you at dinner, now that you mention it. Had your hands full today, huh?" she gets up on her feet, preparing to makeshift a sandwich. "Tell me about it. Your day. It's what normal people do, right? Out in the real world. I forget sometimes how simple things used to be -- how we took such things for granted. Or, well, I did anyway..." she was often uncomfortable with silence when in company, so questions came almost naturally, as did the thoughts and loud observations. "Rae and Ana will be alright...don't even let your head go there. We have just enough worry in us for things that are real to also venture into those that aren't." it's something she learnt the hard way, even if she did worry daily about all the things that could possibly go wrong. She tried not to voice them -- for the most part. "I lost my sister too. In here. I'm sorry that happened to you -- but, in a weird fucked up way, I'm glad you're here. We're all better off with you around." words of comfort came almost natural to her these days, it's like nothing regarding loss was even surprising anymore. "What was he like? Your brother?"

Lucas shakes his head.

"There shouldn't be. We're all scattered about doing what we can. You looking for someone? We're having a town meeting later to check who all is missing or..."

He clears his throat, his meaning clear.

"Anyway, if you're not busy think you can help me with that?"

He tilts his to where a large tree branch is just sitting in the middle of the road. Definitely a two person job.

the air still feels damp when yasin steps out onto the road, surveying the aftermath of the previous night. he watches the townspeople already outside, helping each other clean up debris, repairing fences, patching up a town they can't even leave. it doesn't take long until someone pushes a broom into his hands, but every sweep feels pointless.

their first morning in town, his eye had caught onto a building tucked away off the main road, its sign barely readable -- county jail. it looked mostly abandoned, but yasin doesn't hesitate before dropping the broom on the ground and heading towards the building, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure nobody's watching. if the town has sheriffs, they have to have guns, and his gut tells him they're most likely kept in there.

he's not stupid enough to try anything in broad daylight, but he lingers at a distance, eyes flicking between the windows and the main entrance when a voice calls out from behind him, forcing him to pause and consider his next move. he turns around, gesturing towards the jail, "i thought i heard someone yelling for help. do you know if anyone's in there?"

Lucas grunts, hating that he knows she's right.

"I can't just sit around, Becca. I've got a job to do. People are in danger out there."

He nods at the suggestion of a brace. At least then the pain will be contained.

"Just do it. Jim is probably wondering where I am."

He'd lost his radio somewhere out there which really was the cherry on top of this shithole cake of a day.

based on what he could tolerate, it was definitely a bad twist. even as she was testing his ankle, she could feel where it was starting to swell and get stiff. "that depends, lucas; how far can you get around on it? do you want to try to stand, or wait?"

becca could only guess at this point. her expertise was mostly in the aftermath of lingering injuries, not diagnosing or treating new ones. "i'll try to make a brace either way, but you know it won't heal right without rest."