𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐄

Adrien glances at the crowd, then back to Muz.

"Okay. So we don't dance with them."

He steps away from the crowd and closer to Muz.

"And I don't need a partner to dance. Just thought you might wanna join the fun."

He starts swaying his hips and stepping in a personal circle. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes, feeling the music.

"What's your favorite kind of music," he asks without looking.

Muz stumbles a bit as Adrien pulls him into a spin, feeling a mix of surprise and something very close to enjoyment. He can’t remember the last time someone dragged him so effortlessly into their orbit, and it’s funny how he almost goes along with it before his instinct kicks in. He gently pulls back, just slightly, taking a step as he raises both hands in mock surrender. 'Alright,—you got your spin,' he says, giving Adrien a playful side-eye. 'If you’re looking for a full-on dance partner, I’m the wrong guy. Besides,” he adds, nodding toward the swirl of people, 'I’ll probably end up trampling someone.'

Adrien laughs with him.

"Yeah. Figured I could get my hands on new phones and figure them out better."

Adrien looks at the panel again.

"Maybe. We've got a radio station, right? There any other satellites or power lines?"

Then he laughs even louder.

"God, I almost worked at one too. Are they as stuck up as they sound?"

'T-Mobile, yeah?' Before he can stifle it, a huff of a laugh pours out. Not at Lucas, mind you - just that he'd run through a great mound of jobs in his adult life and since arriving here, had cursed himself for not settling into something handy job-wise as an adult. Something that could have been practical and put to use in a place like Oblitus. Not having these kinds of skills in his repertoire makes him feel less than more often than not. It's these little slips of information from past lives of other people stuck here that remind him to not be so hard on himself with that. Though he doesn't doubt life on a farm might give Lucas a leg up here.

Muz nods at the panel in Lucas' hand. 'You should start work on a cell tower with that there. I worked at the, uh... The Apple shop. Once. The genius bar - I thought the title was funny so I applied but hated it.'

Lucas hums.

"How many thoughts does a penny get you. I've got a few but I don't know how much you earn."

He smirks, enjoying the teasing conversation more than he usually would.

He looks over to the man with his smirk still in place.

A soft laugh escapes him. 'Exactly. You need to stay sitting for a few hours or I'll be out of a job.' He enjoys scavenging, more than he thought he would at least. When he first arrived Muz opted for what he though of as the least trying job with the least of a social aspect. Between trash collecting and scouring the place the way he does, he's happy with his decision. 'Go on. Hurry up, penny for your thoughts - or I've got a killer game of eye spy for us.' He raises his eyebrows in mock enthusiasm. 'Riveting.'

Lucas looks up and smiles at Ana, which quickly turns to a grimace at the mention of Cameron. Lucas has heard all about that rocky relationship, and he knows even making sure the town is okay isn't enough to fully distract from that.

"At least she's still here. Not everyone got so lucky. We found Kina and... yeah, I'm gonna check up on Rae later."

He looks back down at the supplies.

"We're okay for now. I just don't know how best to ration anything in case something like this happens again. Is it too much to ask for a semi-truck full of survival supplies to come into town?"

He gives a weak chuckle at the old joke they've shared probably a hundred times in the years since he became a sheriff.

The sky feels too bright for what last night was. It shouldn’t be this quiet, this deceptively calm. Anastasia pulls her coat tighter, as if that could keep out the weight of exhaustion. Her hands still smell faintly of rain and the damp clothes she sorted, her mind circling back to Cameron more times than she’d like. She finds Lucas by the sheriff’s post, bent over a table littered with supplies—medical kits, rope, lantern oil. Seeing his familiar face pulls a tired smirk from her, brief and fleeting. “Hey,” she says, stepping up beside him. She breathes out slowly, "I just came from Colony House." Her words are low but steady, like it’s a confession that only Lucas can hear. "Saw Cameron." She waits a beat, rubbing a hand over her face as the memory settles like stones in her gut. "It went... like it always does." Her voice softens, brushing against old wounds. "She’s holding it together. But she's fine, thankfully." The silence between her and Lucas is easy, a quiet understanding built over years of shared burdens. She glances down at the supplies, her gaze flickering across the bottles and bandages with the detached focus of someone always on edge. “How bad is it? I know we lost some people... How're we on supplies?” she asks finally, her voice edged with exhaustion. @patroclusblossom

"I can definitely handle that," Lucas replies with a snicker.

He looks up at Ana, smirk softening to a smile.

"And I appreciate you. Lesbian drama and all, because I know you've got my back too."

Anastasia smirks back, crossing her arms and giving Lucas a playful nudge. "Exactly. I expect a perfect balance of polite intimidation and subtle protectiveness. Think you can handle that?”

She raises an eyebrow, teasing. "I need you to be just threatening enough to keep her on her toes but not so much that she thinks she’s about to get ambushed every time she looks at you." With a laugh, she adds, “But really, you’ve always had my back and I appreciate you."

"No, no, don't apologize."

Adrien looks around and grabs a pencil and some scrap paper. He draws a crude but clear image of windmills on top of a building.

"I figured if we built them on top of tall major buildings, we would have less stress of the monsters trying things. Plus, if we’re strategic with which buildings, we could use those as reliable shelters in emergency situations."

He looks back up to her.

"What were you thinking? Because we'd still need water. Plus, you never know for extreme situations."

"I thought about that too, maybe using water, but that would require digging-" she said not finishing that thought. "Or we could try and use waste, too gross though for my taste- or induce, which would require a lot of...Sorry I did it again," she said standing up from where she was on the floor.

"Wanna show me what you've got in your head."

Adrien waits for the little girl to leave. God he really hope he didn't scare her anymore than she might've already been.

His false smile drops and he looks back at the guy, staring up in shock as he answers the questions.

"What the fuck? Are you serious? Is that door gonna hold?"

He looks at the door. It does look solid, but this place just feels... off. Maybe those things have super strength and could blast the door off with a light tap?

with  the  door  locked, the  talisman  still  secured  on  the  wall,  and  bella  out  of  his  arms  to  roam  freely,  daehyun  could  finally  turn  to  inspect  the  newcomer  who  had  scrambled  in.  the  questions  weren't  anything  new--he  had  answered  them  a  hundred  times. taking  in  a  deep  breath,  he  moved  to  the  other,  offering  a  hand  out.  "  those  things  want  to--do  some  really  awful  stuff,  so  it's  best  you're  not  outside  right  now--or  at  night.  "  it  was  as  gentle  as  he  could  be  in the moment ,  as  his  adrenaline  was  still  racing.  and  when  bella  seemed  to  make  herself  known  once  more,  daehyun's  attention  quickly  turned  to  the  girl.  "  hey  princess  ,  head  upstairs  and  see  if  grandpa's  awake,  okay?  "  there  was  no  objection  from  the  toddler,  who  scurried  to  the  stairs  and  ventured  up  at  her  father's  instructions.  now,  with  tender  ears  upstairs,  daehyun  felt  he  could  finally  speak  freely.  "  we're  all  stuck  here.  don't  know  why--don't  know  how.  and  those  things  outside?  they've  killed  a  lot  of  us.  "

Adrien's smile twitches but stays in place. Honestly, he'd rather save the crying for at night when people are less likely to hear him.

The silence is awkward, but Adrien doesn't break it. If he's learned anything from the past few days is everyone here has their idiosyncrasies and just let them be themselves until they come back.

Adrien shakes his hand.

"Thanks. Muz? El mentioned you. You're one of the scavengers, right? What's that like?"

He walks further into the shop, looking around, eyes wide in excitement.

'New?' Muz asks. 'Bit smiley for new...You're working in here?' There was a beat of silence as Muz held Adrien’s gaze, letting his standoffish response to a simple introduction settle. Then, as if shrugging off a heavy thought, he jerks his head toward the row of beat-up cars and sighed, 'Well, you’re here now.' He gives Adrien a half-smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. 'Welcome shop, kid.' He moves forward a few steps, hand out. 'Muz.'

"A good point," he says, dropping his arms into a relaxed casual stance. "I guess we just wanna be 100% certain, you know? Doesn’t hurt being cautious."

He smiles warmly at her, hoping that maybe he can get her to drop her guard enough to at least let him look around.

WELL, WHEN HE PHRASES IT LIKE THAT SHE CAN KINDA SEE WHY SHE'S FIRST ON THE LIST . she crosses her arms she moves to lean on the doorframe, easily replying, " well, i'm not gonna tattle ." she huffs a bit, gesturing with a hand . " how do they even know the booze is really missin' ?" she tries with an arch of her brows . " maybe it's just lost !"

Adrien nods, sitting down and starting to carefully pull the phone apart.

"Anything is useful, just gotta figure out what use it's for."

His tongue sticks out as he manages to pry the phone open without making more cracks.

"Yeah. They basically run the place. They're really cool. You met them?"

He glances up and smiles at Charlie.

"I'm settling fine. Really crazy. Like I'm honestly surprised I'm even here crazy. How about you? Where'd they put you up at?"

charlie shrugged, it was weird because two days ago, her phone was her whole life and now she was stuck in a place where it was basically useless. at least to her, if they could use it for something else, then more power to them. she had no clue how things worked around here. "yeah, no problem. i just figured it could be useful in some way. i mean, who knows?"

she looked around the shop, taking everything in. this place was still so new and confusing, she wondered how this other new guy was taking it. he seemed so chipper but maybe he was just better at holding things together than she was. "el works here?" she asked, looking back at him. she thought back to how el talked about helping people and it being their duty. this made sense considering what they talked about their old life.

"how are you settling in?" she dares to ask, mostly just killing time before she has to be alone with her thoughts again. "crazy first night, huh?"