[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/P6N7Lc2.jpeg[/img] [sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img] [color=808080][color=#00aeef][b]#00aeef[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://imgur.com/DmrgFtI][color=808080][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [b]Dev's House -> Sheriff's Station[/b][/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/sup][/center] [indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080] [color=00aeef]"[i]In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don’t ever shine…[/i]"[/color] The voice came out more like a croak, whispered softly through lips that still stank of burnt coffee and liquor. The scents got lost in the odors of the old house just off Main Street; a musty leather sofa, old newspaper, cooking gas, bacon, old wood, and that crisp smell of cold air coming from the bathroom window. Dev had been meaning to call Harlan up to get it fixed, but he’d been too busy. He was busy buttoning his tan uniformed shirt and smoothing the freshly ironed fabric to make himself presentable. He caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror, frowning as he caught the glint of yet another gray hair in his eyebrows. [color=00aeef]"[i]I will shiver the whole night through…[/i]"[/color] He stepped out into his bedroom, quickly walking past the old mattress and box spring that laid in the center of the cramped room. He never quite got around to buying himself an actual bed frame. His foot caught an empty bottle of whiskey, eliciting a wince as it tipped and rolled under his dresser. It was an old, unbalanced thing that came with the house, more of a hassle to move than to just let sit. A couple old mysteries still sat atop it that had a coat of dust on their covers. There wasn’t much time for reading these days, at least when it came to fiction. [color=00aeef]"[i]Her husband was a hard-working man…[/i]"[/color] The TV in the living room hadn’t seen much use lately. It was hard to catch a signal on satellite when the weather was bad, and the days he came home sober enough to turn on whatever new shit the networks were broadcasting often left him disappointed. Not like he paid much attention to them anyways. Several oversized brown folders were sprawled open on the coffee table, containing incident reports and lined yellow paper with hand-written notes sprawled illegibly. The wall next to the TV had a large map of Pine Ridge taped to a very large cork board. A few little scraps of notepad paper were pinned with red and black thumbtacks containing names, dates, and times. It was unorganized, unconnected, and useless. He had hoped that staring at it enough might eventually provide some insight on what the fuck was happening to the people of Pine Ridge. A couple mostly-empty beer bottles were lined on the floor next to his spot on the couch. He’d clean them up another time, when he could finally muster up the energy to do anything but stew in the defeat that came from his thankless job. He didn’t even look at the map or the files that morning. He shoved his work into a black leather briefcase with his initials engraved on the handle, the last birthday gift he had gotten before the big fight in Chicago. It was the last vestige of a time when he actually felt accomplished and in control, of a time when cases had answers. He didn’t even know why he bothered keeping the files open, bringing them home and reading them again and taking the same notes over and over. It was sisyphean, his own personal punishment for years of neglect and selfishness bundled into a never-ending cascade of having to repeat the same tired platitudes to the worried people in town. Pine Ridge was a black hole that would suck them all in and wipe them from existence if they stayed long enough. Dev was just one of the sorry souls who had to wait their turn. Or maybe that was just the alcohol talking. The song died in the sheriff’s throat, as he closed the latch of his briefcase shut with a sharp click. He let it sit on the coffee table for a moment as he moved to the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of mouthwash that sat next to the dish soap and old sponge. He swished the liquid around in his mouth until he felt satisfied the cool mint would disguise the whiskey enough to pass before spitting it onto a small pile of old dishes. He grabbed his coat, his briefcase, and slipped out the front door that slammed far too hard when it closed. It was going to be a long day.[hr] [color=00aeef]"Terry… I need you near the mine, just in case some tourists want to try and sneak in early for a private tour. Last thing we need is a repeat of last year."[/color] It was hard to call it a roll call when it was just Dev and his two employees in his office. He had a small map in front of him, a photocopy of the festival layout he had gotten from the mayor’s aide. He didn’t have the extra deputy they had last year, given the former sheriff’s untimely demise. All he had left under his purview was a solitary deputy and his desk officer. Deputy Theresa Leighton, Terry for short, was a stocky woman with a warm smile permanently etched on her face. She was in her late twenties, having grown up on a farm two towns over. Her family had sold their place a couple years back, which left her needing a new job. Not a lot of folks were exactly clambering to join law enforcement in rural South Dakota. She was good at her job, if a little too polite and green around the gills. She was another body with a badge to keep things civil, which was about all Dev could ask for these days. Officer William Gibbons was a crotchety old man who had been working at the front desk longer than anyone could remember. His shock of white hair was delicately combed over, his eyes laser focused on Dev behind a set of horn-rimmed glasses. He was taking this far more seriously than Terry or Dev were. The sheriff shrugged his shoulders. The assignments were easy. Terry would stick around the far side of town by the mines for most of the day, mostly to make sure that no one got lost in the mines and needed rescue. Dev would stick around Main Street with most of the festival. It would do well to keep up appearances, and to be near where the drunkest and rowdiest tourists would congregate. He was expecting to put at least a handful in the drunk tank to sleep things off, if he was lucky. And, of course, Officer Gibbons would spend his evening when he had his fill of the festival reading at his desk and babysitting the poor saps who Dev brought in. It was a functional enough system, if things went according to plans. If they didn’t, he’d think of something on the fly. [color=00aeef]"If either of you need a few hours this afternoon to rest, I can cover for you. It’s a long shift."[/color] Terry nodded appreciatively. [color=gray]”I… wouldn’t mind seeing some of the festival. Halloween only comes once a year.”[/color] Dev sighed, leaning back in his chair as he looked up at the deputy. He lifted a pen to scratch at the back of his head. She did deserve a chance to participate in the festival, at least a little bit. She had a lot of years left before she grew jaded with large gatherings. [color=00aeef]"That’s… yeah. Ok. Let’s see."[/color] He glanced at the schedule of the festival, mulling over the idea in his head. He did need to be in the thick of it from the jump, and most folks didn’t get too belligerently drunk until closer to the end. There was a sweet spot in the middle where things should, in theory, be a little less chaotic. [color=00aeef]"Tell you what… We can swap for a little bit after the first hour. No drinking while on duty, but you can mingle with folks and participate. Deal?"[/color] Terry nodded appreciatively. The sheriff looked to Officer Gibbons expectantly, but he simply shook his head. The old man was happy to sit in the quiet station and read, as his festival days had long since passed. With no other questions or concerns, Dev just clapped his hands together. [color=00aeef]"Alrighty… Radio in if something comes up."[/color] [/color][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [center][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img] [color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/sup][/center]