— town square (ic)

Miyeon pulled up her sleeves and continued to look in pots, alleyways, bushes and even the restaurant merlot. all to find her dog, sherry. "That...ugh! Little rat." she grumbles under her breath as she enters the town square area. "Oh, sherry. When I catch you, girl." she mumbles as her eyes squint, bending down low, nearly getting to her knees. Yet, the beagle still hasn't been found or seen. Feeling somewhat dizzy from bending so much, she huffs a deep breath and reaches into her pocket for a cigarette. Hanging the cancer stick from her lip, she lights it up, inhaling long a deep before slowly breathing out a thick cloud.

@carlos morreno Lucy at this rate had no idea what was normal and what was normal no longer, in the past couple of months she arrived her shock at things become less and less minimal, until perhaps this faithful morning.

On the look out for the fountains pisser, she made a sigh of annoyance as she just leaned up against the statue of the mayor, keeping a close eye on the fountain only the become distracted for a moment upon seeing what appeared to be a man with a rather large bag, and what looked like a weapon. The down side on Lucy's behalf is she was completely unarmed so if anything was to happen she would just have to use her fists. Shaking her head at the questionable man, her focus went back to the fountain and using the only light she can manage, she silently wrote notes of the mans description yet how many people could fit the description was almost limitless. Except for one distinguishing feature, that he was in a uniform.

Holding her badge in her pocket, Lucy was tempted to follow the man to get a closer look upon what uniform he was wearing but knowing if she left her post, and the police department found out, she could kiss any chance of being an actual officer and a uniform goodbye.

@lucy lee To normal standards, if thyself were to be stationed inside a small town they would immediately want to familiarize. To normal standards, they would memorize said town's layout. To normal standards, they would kindly acquaint themselves with the residents. To normal standards, they would automatically attune themselves to protecting and serving under the position of a county sheriff.

What isn't apart of these normal standards, however, was satisfying one's thirst for revenge; a body bag being dragged in the dead of night by the possession of this presumable lawful good. Carlos didn't bother covering his face unlike his hands that spared fingerprints and freezing blood underneath the skin. It was two in the morning and nobody in their right mind- except for Carlos' potentially questionable one and his first victim's- would be out roaming dimly lit streets, and during the middle of Winter at that. All the better for this particular sheriff to partake in his undisclosed vigilante antics.

The public would never suspect a thing, not if he were to be dressed in uniform as he revisits where he plans to dispose the fresh corpse. In a business' garbage bin. As his footsteps guide his path, Carlos idly scans the empty streets before him. He never felt more assured of not being watched.

Being in the town for only a few months, Lucy was yet to get used to the almost blistering cold, so she walked into the square with a short sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts, looking down at her boots before looking up towards the sun setting sky. Finding a place to loiter, she managed to find a random light post and leaned up against it, breathing in the cold air which almost became irritating to her nose and throat. "Well they told me to get used to the weather before I was transferred here, question is can I? can I really? well going cold turkey is one way to do it." She muttered to herself, looking around before seeing a bar near by and nodded to herself, due to her never going out, she never realised that things closed from 3pm on wards.

wonjae's sole companion was strapped around his neck, hanging before his chest. another treasured, old beauty handpicked from his vintage camera collection. hopeful to capture some great pictures for his upcoming exhibition.

but alas,
the winter chill broughtforth a bitter nostalgia in the form of consistent, subtle prickling sensation within his left eye, the iris covered by an ashy grey haze. normally accustomed to the ache, he'd ignore it and get on with his day. however today, the pain had definitely reached climbed a higher pain threshold, enough for him to search the front pockets of his jacket, to find his eyedrop.

".."
he groused lowly, when the plastic vial slipped out of his gloved hand and rolled onto the flood, exaggeratedly, like a dead log downhill.

olly eventually pinpointed an occupied bench with empty space. there was only one person sitting on it, and he was sitting on the very side, allowing lots of room for anyone that needed the seat. olly made their way to the bench, intending to sit a bit further from the existing occupant.

however, as they drew near, the crowd became thicker. they tried to avoid the passer-by, but still bumped into a few of them, a litany of apologies leaving them for every brush of shoulders. when they finally reached the bench, they were shoved by a particularly hurried townsperson.

olly lost their balance and ended up falling into someone’s lap—the very person who made plenty of space on the bench they planned to sit on.

his lighter flicks to light and smoke fills his lungs as altair finally takes the first drag of his cigarette, a content sound openly escaping the depths of his chest. he allows himself a moment longer to linger by the bike before pushing off of it, his now freed hand pushed into one of the pockets of a black leather jacket, face turned towards the sky. the warmth of the mid-winter sun feels like a kiss, a little blessing upon his tan cheeks, only further encouraging the grin blooming across his features. his steps are lazy, languid, slow as he moves towards one of the benches he has taken residency on multiple times during his short time in wineport, a lovely little spot overlooking the place. there is great care in the way he makes sire not too take up too much room even as he leans back with his legs lightly spread, eyes falling shut in what obviously is utter and complete comfort.

olly hobbled their way to the town square, keeping close to the edge of the sidewalk so they wouldn't block any pedestrian's path. to begin with, they didn't like crowds, preferring quieter areas to linger. however, under their family's insistence, they challenged themselves to mingle amidst the townspeople. their family said, and they quoted, 'maybe you'll meet someone interesting while there!' they sighed. they could do that too at a local park. although, considering there were lesser people at a park than at a town square, perhaps the more interesting individuals could only be found in such a crowded area. with that in mind, they idled by the sidewalk, glancing around the venue and hoping to find somewhere they could sit and people-watch.

the grin on altair's lips as he slips off his helmet once the roaring of his bike dies dowm can only be describes as cocky - sharp around the edges, canines lightly biting into his lower lip, paired with the slightly wild look in his dark eyes that usually comes with the adrenaline of riding through narrow streets; he pushes his hair back, even if he knows that it will do little to help with the messy state it most likely is, and leans against athena's seat, free hand already pressing a cigarette between his still grinning lips whilst he scans the plaza for anything of interest.

a small laugh escapes him as he looks towards the camera, teeth sinking into his bottom lip sheepishly. was he shy? nervous? he couldn't tell. he didn’t think he was the type of person to be camera shy. he tosses an accusing look at rico and calms his expression just as quickly, catching himself before the camera does (hopefully). “I wish the arsonist crawled up my ,” he mumbles under his breath, flashing rico the sweetest smile he can muster up. ”mian. it’s a joke. but nemo is cute.”
“ah! the library! I remember hearing about it… maybe the place is just old and creaky… or they have those hologram projectors just to scare people— are you thinking of exploring it soon?”

"ah, about that—" dami's pupils shifted around in an excited yet curious manner. her lips curved into a smile as if her mind was already wondering to places she could go to, imagining what would happen and how she would film them. "i've heard about some people seeing sightings in some place. it was even written in the recent newspaper i think? but i've never really got to explore yet!"

Regardless of the possibility of suspicion being raised, rico isn't alarmed, not even the slightess. Even though her channel is about paranormal activities and whatnot, and that the vlog might seems off as it has no correlation to the channel's content, rico believe dami has the right to post whatever she wants, related or not. "That's interesting. Are there ghosts in Wineport?"

still letting the camera rolled and recorded everything—although rather unfocusedly—on her hand, dami looked back at rico, pursing her lips slightly. she realised they might know straightaway that the contents on her channel was nowhere about her daily life and this kind of /vlog/ she mentioned about probably would never even get uploaded. but whatever, she took the risk anyway. "ummmm, some supernatural, paranormal things. i cover some urban legends and talk about it, also go out and explore haunted sites? sort of. heh."

"Spooktacular shin dami- what's the channel about?"

"You're a pleasant one, officer." Instead of feeling insulted, Rico find it amusing just how grumpy siwoo is. Probably a bad day, "who crawl up your ? The arsonist?" A smile spread across his face as a pair of glasses is put on to aid his sight. Hearing dami speaks, rico turn his body around, hands still nestled inside the pockets of his jacket. "Yes, Nemo," he plays along, "isn't it? I think the officer finds me cute," he speaks to the camera, gesturing to siwoo with his head.

"you are all definitely handsome so don't worry you'll look so fine on camera," dami smiled at the guys before she started recording and speaking to the camera. "hi guys. dami here, and I've met some cool guys at the square." she turned her head towards the men, looking at them one by one. "you guys should subscribe to my channel, okay? it's the spooktacular shin dami." she switched from the front to the back camera, started filming a close up scene of them one by one. she focused her video on rico. "and apparently your name is... nemo? that's cute." she smiled widely in a cheeky manner, half teasing the man.

yes. if you’d like to be known as trash, just let me know. we’re working towards a more inclusive and welcoming society, after all. using someone’s preferred name shouldn’t be too hard, tra- nemo.
the look of intimidating doesn’t scare him and contrary to altair’s words, he didn’t miss the unpleasant crawling sensation of having so many people close to him. he leans back in his seat and hums in thought.
mmm… as long as you get my good side? just in case my father sees.

He bows his head at dami, "that's why I move away," then turn to altair, "so the lady could breath." He steps forward so his legs touch the bench, "since you like how I smell, I'll just stand closer. Mhm despite being cozy, the town is quite dangerous. Such a shame," when dami speaks, rico looks at her and shrugs, "sure,"

she glanced back at altair, looking a little helpless as she nodded at his question. "yea... but it's fine, at least you guys are enjoying it." she grins sheepishly as she pulls out her phone, putting it to the video mode. internally, she only thought if these guys that were bigger than herself two times do something wrong, she would have some proof for it. "wanna be on my vlog, guys?"

wasn't sitting yet, but you smell nice enough to be close, sugar. just sit back down, the officer's missing you.
with another sound that speaks of pure amusement, he lifts one of his elbows from the bench, running a hand through his hair.
dognappin', yeah. think the paper spoke about it, got it delivered and could not help but peek. and arson, suppose, but no idea how the boys in red are plannin' on stoppin' those anytime soon.

leaning forward to peek past siwoon and towards the female voice, altair flashed a bright grin towards the lady, doing his best to hide a snicker.
these two joined you without asking, ma'am?

He shoots siwoo a playful intimidating look, "so if you met me by the trash bin, are you gonna call me the trash guy? Since you call me Mr. Nemo then just stick to that." A soft chuckle emits at the amusing conversation, "the dognapping is interesting actually-"

her eyes shifted to the two men next to her. her gaze lasered out in a borderline judgy look. "uhhhhh, gentlemen. don't you think the bench is too small for all of us?"

Rico stand still with hands tucks inside the pockets of jacket, "who knows? But it's good to be positive," he meets Altair's gaze, declining the offer with a shake of his head and thought of teasing him a bit, "do you like sitting close to me?"

ah. my warmth is gone.
he offers a playful glare towards the male that just got up.
dognapping? horrendous. nothing can be worse than that…
he looks back towards rico, his shoulder lifting up into a lazy shrug.
I met you at the port. isn’t that where fishes are or something? I have trouble remembering names. what was yours again?

awfully so. could almost forget how ing cold it is, with a sight this pretty.
drops his own gaze back towards the company instead of the sky and leans slightly forward, though he remains in his spot.
town as cozy as this, don't think anything bad or nefarious could be ppssibly happenin', mh? 'sides the dognapping...
he trails off, looking up once more, though this time towards rico, the movement pulling a laugh from his lips.
sit your pretty down, man. i'm comfortable back here.

"Good thing I have my umbrella with me, " he turn to greet the other with a smile, "Altair," since he's quite big, he stands up to give more space for the two, "Mr. Nemo-" a quizzical eyebrow raised, follow by a finger pointing at himself. "Me?"

eyes shift back and forth between the sky and rico, weary of birds ting on him.
well... if birds start dropping from the sky, that might be a bad omen. maybe moving here wasn't such a grand idea. mr. nemo. catch anything good lately?
cozy, isn't it, altair?
he scoots over as much as he can.

reckon th'clouds look particulary interesting today?
throws in with a small laugh, leaning his elbow against the back of the overly occupied bench.

"Probably the consistency of bird's dropping," he nods to himself and smiles at siwoo as a greeting, "officer,"

head lolls to the side along with his eyes to rico.
mmm. nice to see you, again. what's she staring at?