𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐬... ❧ ᴏᴅᴜ & ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

🌱EP. Nine; During a Placid Night

The skull boy is here at last :)
(the picture looks like the park mentioned!)

Y'ALL, AFTER THIS EP, WE ONLY HAVE ONE MORE CHARACTERS TO GO!!!1!

LES GOOOOOOOOOOOOO 🗣🗣👹👹

(IMPORTANT;
This EP was written before I was made aware of Placid's old admin being exposed in the early autumn of 2023... Had I have known about his actions prior about this, I would have excluded him from this fanfic.
I'm leaving this up purely because I worked hard writing it, so please don't hold anything against me.)

．．． Ｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｉｎｇ ．．．
．．．
．．．
．．．
．．．
．．． Ｌｏｃｋｅｄ ａｎｄ Ｌｏａｄｅｄ ．．．

𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵; Placid_Day
(ᴬᵖᵖᵉᵃʳᵃⁿᶜᵉˢ ᴹᵃᵈᵉ; ᴹᵃᶜᵃᵇʳᵉ_ᴰᵃʸ || ᴿᵃᵈⁱᵃⁿᵗ_ᴰᵃʸ )

⭒°☆✹°☆⭒❖°⭒°☆✹°☆⭒❖°⭒°☆✹°☆⭒❖°⭒°☆✹°☆⭒❖°⭒°☆✹°☆⭒❖°⭒°☆

The wind creates shrill sounding whistles through the alleys outside, and within the warmth of your residence you currently prepare for patrol.
        After buttoning up your jacket and remembering this time to put on your cleaner's cap, you reach down and collect your gloves– this is when you notice the hole in them, and as you inspect them further you find even more holes.
        They are old, so wear is natural... Nevertheless, this won't do in this weather.
        When you woke up in the morning, you discovered that it snowed all night, leaving the lower class to be outside extra early in order to shovel pathways for everyone else.
        For now though, they are better than nothing; as well as they're the only pair you have...

You walk out into the cold, amazed to see a grey blue sky above the city.
        It's just like the sky in the painting you made for Dynamic.
        Smiling to yourself, you get some extra skip in your step as you make your way through the neighborhood.
        Your fellow civilians are out and about as well, walking their kids to school while also on their way to their work-places.
        Some even recognize you from last night at the theatre, and give you smiles and waves.
        It left you flustered a little bit, as you are not used to the attention at all... Still, it felt nice.

The hanging sign of the homemade clothing goods' store catches your eye, and you slow your pace to stare at the store front.
        It's been a hot minute since you first stumbled across this place by accident. After all, it isn't near the actual shopping district, and you wonder how come.
       A familiar person of short stature stands in front of the store, wiping the windows down with a rag.
      "The nice shopkeeper," you remember, a small smile gracing your lips as you recall their kindness on that rough day.
       You start walking forward; and when hearing your crunchy steps against the snow they turn to look over their shoulder.
       They raise a hand to move their bangs out of their face, and they give you a surprised smile upon recognizing you from the other day.
       "Hello again!" You greet with a wave.
       They turn to wave in return– and as they do so they start wobbling back and forth on the stool before slipping off.
       "AAH-"
       The shop owner opens his eyes, surprised he didn't have a hard landing against the pavement, instead he landed within your open arms.
       You stare at them with shock, and their cheeks flush pink when they realize what happened.
       "I'm so sorry!" They cry out, pulling away from your hold on them to stand on their own.
       "You're fine! It would've hurt if I wasn't here to catch you," you tell them, tilting your head with a smile.
       They hold their hands together, looking from you to the cold street below your feet.
       "R-right, thank you kindly," he bows, which makes you smile harder.
       They're so modest and cute.
       "I never got your name," you comment, and he lifts his head to meet your gaze.
       "Oh, my name is Dot, but my friends call me Dotti," he replies.
       Before you can utter another word, they add. "I know your name already, you're kind of the talk of the town lately," they explain; which leaves you surprised, as well as a little nervous.
       "Please, come inside," they offer, turning to lead you through the front door. The shop bell dings above your head as you enter the warm building.
       You stop after the door is closed behind you, and breathe in the light aroma of vanilla and leather.
      "Welcome to my store, [Name]!"
      Dot stands behind the counter now, with arms spread out and bangs already falling back into their brown eyes.
      You chuckle, stepping forward to start exploring the small, yet cozy building.
      Leather and wool-made clothing is displayed everywhere, and in front of the counter are three baskets– each being full of different tea flavours, candles, and kids' toys.
      "This place is amazing," you say, still taking in everything around you.
      On the wall behind the counter is one of Dynamic's paintings– it's of a park; raining, yet the colors are orange, red and yellow– squinting, you read the title on the frame, "Autumnus".
      Seasons of course are still a thing, but you know autumn like it's any other season, dark and dead looking... Not colorful as depicted here.
      Dot runs a hand over the countertop. "Thank you," they reply, following your gaze to the painting.
      "The [ARTIST] gifted that to my family many years ago, before I was even born," Dot explains, staring at it with fondness. "It comforts me, yet at the same time, fills me with sadness that I can't experience the autumns that The Artist has seen..."
      Your eyebrows lower and pull closer together, feeling the same way as Dot.
      The shopkeeper turns to you, changing the sad look on their face to be cheerier.
      "Say, I've heard you're friends with lots of the operatives, is that true?"
      You raise a hand to rub your neck, unsure of how you feel that everyone seems to know about your inner circle now...
      "Yeah, some of them at least," you respond, and Dot perks up when hearing your reply.
      "Wow! That's so cool!"
      You give them a nod, feeling a bit prideful that you're actual friends with people of such high rank.
      "The job's a lot more bearable with their help," you tell him, and he nods to your words.
      "It sounds very exciting."
      Those words make you realize just how old the job would grow if you hadn't come to know the operatives on a more personal level...
      I truly am a lucky civilian.