The Muse

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

---

Good morning, sir. Do you think Sheriff Williams will give me some time to personally eat some breakfast? I don't think the day's going to get wilder than that driver.

Levi smiled a bit as he read Jake's text message. The kid was still in the phase of doing everything by the book. He couldn't blame Jake though, he was still relatively new and Levi did the same thing for a few years, they all did.

I doubt he'd even notice. Meet you there?

Levi pulled out of the parking lot of the police station and began to head towards the Cosy Bear Café. This town was so small he'd reach it in about five whole minutes. At times it was nice that the main part of town all had their businesses fairly close to each other, it was very walkable. Other times it made Levi feel claustrophobic.

After parking his black Ford F-150 into the cafe's parking lot, Levi glanced inside from the window and was surprised to see how many people were inside. Levi had only been here once before and during that time it had been dead as a doornail. He sighed, hoping that his police uniform didn't gather too much unwanted attention. No doubt word had gotten out that the town had someone new on the police force, and they likely weren't thrilled about it. Levi had found that most folks loved the Sheriff and that was largely due to how much he had let slide.

Steeling himself, he entered the bustling café and found an empty table. Just a few tables down, two women appeared to be having a lively conversation with one another while two other women sat at the counter. Trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation, Levi grabbed a menu and pondered to himself what sounded good to eat.

"I am so sorry everyone! Two seconds!!" Levi looked up to see the brunette he had seen at the café the last time he was here. She had been a good server the last time, so he was happy to see her again. Hopefully he'd get the same sort of service, even if she did appear to be late.

---

_{Interactions: @Inertia
Mentions: @Artemis Arts@Rodiak@ArticBeaver}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

---

"Dude, watch it next time."

Lily furrowed her brows and pursed her lips in a bit of a pout, upset that this stranger had taken such a stern tone with her. "I didn't even reach for it!" She thought, leaning back into her chair as to further herself from the girl and her artwork.

As the woman turned the sketchbook back to show her more, Lily's concerns instantly melted away. Her bright green eyes scanned the paper excitedly, taking in every bit of the detail as she could. "Woooooow. That's amazing! A tattoo artist, huh?" She turned her gaze back onto the woman, looking over her body to look for any tattoo's she might have.

"Please don't ask me to draw you."

Lily looked up to see if the woman had been talking to her, although her eyes looked past Lily instead. She turned her head in the direction the woman was looking, finding another person staring back at them.

"Oh, but she'd be a beautiful drawing! Look at her gorgeous hair! So bright and wonderful!" Lily giggled, smiling at the red-headed stranger while she admired her. She turned back to the blue-haired girl, holding her bright smile, "Draw her, draw her, draw her!" She chanted playfully, giggling again.

_{You're so loud! Shut.UP!}

Suddenly, Lily's demeanor changed and her giggle died down while her smile slowly faded away. There was that voice in her head again, that intrusive little voice that repeated phrases she had heard in the past. She took a deep breath, keeping her previous therapist in mind. "It isn't real. You're here, now. Focus." She thought, shifting uncomfortably in her chair as her eyes zoned in on the ground of the cafe.

Pulling herself back into reality, Lily cleared her throat and turned back towards her table, grabbing a menu that had been sitting there. "So what's good to eat here?" She glanced over at her two new "friends" in the cafe, forcing a smile onto her lips again.

---

_{Interactions: @ArticBeaver@Rodiak}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

---

Although Reya didn't always enjoy the waitressing duties, she did often appreciate the way that it almost never gave you a moment to yourself while you were working. On your feet, greeting people, taking orders, serving drinks, entertaining conversation, cleaning tables, restocking supplies... depending on how busy you were, the tasks went on forever. It could be exhausting, she imagined, if the tavern had been a more popular spot. They were never extremely busy, but just busy enough that Reya didn't have to think about her own problems for awhile. Thoughts about her mother, her sister, her father... she didn't have to worry about that. The things she had to worry about in this moment were simple problems, things that could be changed and fixed at a moments notice. It was comforting in a way.

Currently, there were five guests sitting in the tavern. Two of them were a couple, they had stayed for just the night to get rest before getting back on the road - apparently they were making a cross country road trip with one another. The other three were truck drivers who had either stayed for the night or just took a stop to grab a hot meal while they tried to wait out some of the weather. This was just about as busy as the Fox Hole ever got in the morning. The night shift was typically their busiest, as people usually came to the tavern to grab a drink and relax, although even then it was not much busier than this.

"Here's your drinks. I'll be right out with your food."

Ten minutes earlier Reya had made her rounds to each table, took their orders down on a small notepad, and hastily gave the orders to Ruben in the kitchen. One "Pancake Special", one omelet with hash browns, and three "All-American Breakfasts".

Just as she turned to go into the kitchen she heard the door open. She turned her eyes toward the door and beamed a smile when she recognized a familiar face. "Ulises!" She called, raising her left hand in greeting while she held an empty serving tray in her right. "It's good to see you." She gestured toward the remaining tables that were open, "Take a seat wherever. I'll be right over!"

Returning to her original mission, Reya headed into the kitchen. "Phew. It's a little busy out there today." She set the serving tray down on a counter and let out a sigh of relief as she leaned herself back against the counter, watching Ruben work his magic in the kitchen while she waited for him to finish up the orders.

Suddenly, with just another moment to herself, a wave of sadness rushed over her like an ice cold shower. Her dad normally would have been helping her with the guests at this time of day. Although he wasn't all that much help with serving, he was great at keeping up conversation with the patrons and distracting them while they waited for their food. She missed his gruff laugh and the way he would ask each person one thousand questions about their life. How nosy he was use to embarrass her, but now she found herself missing it.

"Hey..." She looked at Ruben, her voice having lost it's more chipper tone that she had been managing to uphold, "Er... Do you want to grab drinks at Bandits later tonight?" A sheepish smile crept up onto her lips as she waited for his response. Bandit's Bar had been well known to be one of her fathers favorite places to be. If he couldn't be found, you'd likely find him there by happy hour. Reya wasn't a big drinker typically. In fact, she hadn't had a drink for over two years at this point. Today, however, felt like it called for a special occasion. At least to her.

"I just... was thinking that I need to get out for a bit."

---

Interactions: @Rodiak @OddApproved

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Hi Everyone! Just a few updates:

• I've added an NPC list on the character tab, the 1st post on there. I'll add to this as we go along. Please let me know if you want me to add anything there.
• The Dive Bar in town has been officially named to "Bandits Bar"
• A new location has been added to the location section of the main OOC post - Casa Blanca's Market!

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

---

_7:45am

This place is a shit hole, Spade.

Levi glared at his phone as he sent the text message to his previous boss, who also happened to be one of his closest friends. He sat outside under the cover of his front porch in a rickety old wooden chair, hidden from the downpour.

It's only been three months! Give it time.

He rolled his eyes at the reply, taking a long drag out of the cigarette hanging from his mouth. Slowly he let out his breath and looked up from his phone, just barely able to see the surrounding mountains in the area due to the cloud coverage. The scenery was the only saving grace to this town and now he couldn't even see it. Great!

Feels like a goddamn eternity. You can't get me transferred somewhere else? ANYWHERE?

Flicking his cigarette on the ground, he stomped it out with his boot and stared at his phone again, awaiting a reply. To his dismay, all he got was "READ" and silence.

_9:00am

"Morning, Brooks."

Levi looked up from the paperwork that littered his cubicle desk, his icy blue eyes meeting the gaze of the local Sheriff in town; John Williams. The sheriff was a man who was far past his prime, though he had obviously seen much in his day. His left eye was damaged from some kind of altercation he had in the past, though Levi hadn't directly asked him about it yet. The towns folk seemed to like him well enough, but that was probably because he let most criminal offenses slide if you stayed on John's good side. Levi had been extremely unimpressed with him from the get-go. Unfortunately this man was who he reported to now, so he'd have to play nice if he wanted to keep a job.

"Mornin', sir." He feigned a half hearted smile, hoping the old man would leave him to his paperwork instead of draw out another fifty minute conversation about the type of bird he had seen this morning.

"Some weather out there, eh?"

Levi nodded, "Mmhm... sure is" This idle chatter felt like nails on a chalkboard.

"I've got Jake out there manning the speed trap" He let out a chuckle, "Kid must be bored to death. No one would be speeding in this weather!"

Levi forced a "heh" and nodded, glancing out the window at the rain. "I don't know, back in Denver people didn't seem to care if it was dangerous weather or n-" Suddenly the sound of a police siren passing by the office cut him off, and Levi smirked and pointed towards the window, "And, there it is. Sounds like he's not too bored."

John shook his head and took a sip coffee from the mug he had been holding, turning his gaze toward the window as well. "People these days. Humph. Well, I ought to let you get back to it." The old man started walking towards the window, opting to watch the weather instead of go to his office. Levi watched him for a brief moment, taking note of the slight limp in his gait. "He should've retired years ago..." He thought, shaking his head before turning his attention back to his paperwork.

Most of the files were about domestic disputes, a majority of it nothing too serious but nonetheless had to be put into their filing system. Busy work was Levi's mortal enemy. For years he had gotten away from it, and now he felt as if he were right back at step one. It made him want to crawl right out of his skin...

"You know, I'm going to grab some breakfast. You want anything?" He stood up from his desk, slamming a pen down into the mess. He was already completely over this day. The sheriff turned to him and smiled, "I'm fine, thank you. Take your time, I can't imagine things will be too busy today."

Levi practically ran out of the room, throwing on a coat and pulling the hood up over his mess of hair. While he sat in his truck, letting it warm up for a few minutes, he pulled out his phone and brought up Jake Matthew's number and sent him a quick text.

I'm grabbing breakfast at the Cosy Bear. You want anything?

---

Interactions: @Inertia

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Significant NPC List

John Williams - The Town Sheriff

Johnathan Williams

Age
67

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

_8:30am

---

"So this is it, huh Nathan?" Lily cocked her head to the left as she stared down a very long main road which appeared to lead right through the middle of town. About 10 minutes ago a taxi driver had dropped her off at the beginning of the road into town, per her request. The driver had asked her if she was positive she wanted to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere while it was pouring rain, but she insisted and he obliged her before turning back around to make the one hour drive back to the airport from which she had came from. She stood there in silence, holding her curious gaze with one medium sized rolling suitcase in hand, her mind racing as she listened to the rain pitter patter against the hood of her sweater. Breaking the stillness in the air, a car flew by, ignoring the 25 mile per hour speed limit sign as the road led into town. Not long after, the familiar sound of a police siren began and an officer pulled out from behind a billboard sign in pursuit of the disobedient driver.

"Hm."

She began to make her way down the sidewalk, in no real hurry to get out of the rain although her clothing would soon become soaked through. She took in the sights, although there didn't seem to be much to see. The weather was awful, which didn't provide much of a view to the surrounding environment due to the low clouds and fog creeping in. The roads were poorly taken care of, many of the buildings looked decrepit, and any people she saw looked at her as if she was some creature immerging from the swamp. So far, her impulsive decision to come here wasn't feeling so smart.

_9:00am

"Cosy Bear Cafe!" Lily picked up her pace as she set her eyes on a little cafe with some adorable little bear signs on the outside. She burst through the door, a little bell chime ringing as she entered. "Oh my GOD. Finally." She exclaimed, uncaring of who could hear or see her. Her clothing was completely soaked, along with her suitcase. She laughed at herself and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ahh... so warm in here." Lily then began to peel her hoodie off of her body, revealing only a black tank top underneath; clearly, she was new here. Setting her wet hoodie atop her suitcase, she walked over to an empty table along the window line and sighed in contentment as she sat down. "Walking for half an hour can really take it outta ya..." She spoke to herself, resting into the back of her seat.

At the table in front of her, a blue haired woman sat with a laptop and a sketch book. Curious, Lily leaned toward the table and tried to get a look at what the girl was drawing. Her eyes grew wide as she looked it over, "WOW! You drew that? It's beautiful!" She exclaimed, loud enough to get her attention and likely everyone else in the restaurant along with her. "Are you an artist?"

---

_{Interactions: @Rodiak}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

---

Reya's eyes darted to the kitchen door as Ruben walked in, his greeting immediately snapping her out of her thoughts about her father. She gently smiled as she watched his eyes glue to the dripping ceiling, unable to look away. "Hey Rue." She took her eyes off him and looked up at the ceiling again, sitting in the comfortable silence as they both thought about what to do about the issue.

"I am so sorry! The big oven stopped working last night and we can't- ... Leaking again? We have a guy we can let you use."

Reya let out a small laugh, recognizing that chipper voice immediately. "I know, I know..." She muttered, feeling a ping of guilt for forgetting to get it fixed immediately. She had so much else to worry about when her father had passed though; it must've easily slipped her memory due to the dry season they had before winter arrived.

Hearing Rueben's nearly silent offer to fix the roof, she smiled and shook her head. "No, it's okay... I'll take you up on that offer, Emma, when the weather clears."

Just as Emma offered up breakfast pastries, Reya's stomached grumbled right on cue. "Oh, I've love one! I skipped breakfast this morning..." Reya grinned and swiped up one of the scones and began digging in. "These are delicious, Emma. As always!" As she picked apart pieces of the scone to eat, her mind unavoidably wandered back to her father. He had a love for sweet baked treats and so Emma had quickly become one of his favorite people to come around the tavern. No matter the mood he was in, she could always cheer up his day when she came in offering a treat or two.

As she devoured her breakfast, Reya listened to Rueben and Emma chat with each other. Her brow raised as Rueben offered Emma a genuine compliment. "Does Rueben have a little crush?" She thought, a little smirk appearing on her lips as she ate her scone and tried not to make direct eye contact with them.

"I'm going to go check on our guests." Reya decided to leave them on their own, just in case Rueben did actually want to do a little flirting for once. That, and the fact that she hadn't checked on the couple of people out at the tables in ten or fifteen minutes. "Thank you again, Emma. I'll call you about that roof guy you have." With that, she headed out of the kitchen and shoved the last piece of scone in her mouth.

---

_{Interactions: @Artemis Arts@OddApproved}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

@Hawlin Oh no! That's awful, I'm sorry. Thanks for letting me know though. I hope it works itself out soon!

Did you want me to go ahead and reserve that Dive Bar for your character you were thinking of? Or do you want to stick with the diner idea still? I just wanted to check since I was holding off on naming the dive bar until then haha

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

@OddApproved Haha thank you! and no worries at all, I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't get too far ahead while Reya is just silently watching them awkwardly or something hahah!

I'll work on her post now, and then the two new additions.

Also, for everyone, you guys don't need to post the day in every one of your posts, unless you skip ahead or behind (flash backs or something). Just fyi, its not necessary unless you really really want to haha I just did that to give everyone a reference to go off of.