starhuevalley | [action!]

[Wherever you may be—at home on your farm, out and about in town, exploring the wildlife, or perhaps even wandering through the more dangerous areas—someone has come to approach you, seemingly patrolling the area with a confident stride.]

Excuse me. I wanted to inform you that I have assumed the position of Sheriff. My name is Munakata, first name Kyousuke, and I can be contacted under that name at any time if you have issues that require police intervention. If you are capable of taking care of yourself I encourage you to apply for a position under me. We could use greater numbers to enforce order.

[Kyousuke himself is white-haired and imposing, with large snowy owl wings on his back and feathers covering the area where his right eye should be, like so. He is visibly carrying a sword, with another one tucked hidden in his coat in a compact state. He doesn't give off the impression that he's going to be a very easygoing Sheriff... but at least if you're in danger, that might be reassuring?]

Do you have any further questions or suggestions?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Critical hit!! That's such a stock line but he's so charismatic and handsome and genuine that Mal's heart can't handle it. He leans back in his desk chair and grins.]

You say it like that and it almost feels like I'm watching one of your speeches in high school...

[Those times he shone most brilliantly. The guiding star of Hope's Peak. And of the world, if only circumstances had been better.]

It's great seeing you get into it like this again, but I won't tell anyone if you tone the formality down just a little, you know. ["People like you." God. That better be a joke about Maera instead of general detachment.]

Sorry. I wasn't intending to be overly formal.

[To be honest, people like you was a convenient way to sidestep the issue where normally he would say you and Chisa, but then there's another "you" involved in this equation who feels wrong to exclude, and how does he make that flow in a sentence?

He steps closer to where Mallory is seated, surveying the area to see if he's working on anything in particular.]

Ah, don't worry about it. You are a professional.

[What is Mallory working on. Crap. If anything, he's probably automatically fallen into the same routine he developed in Koriko's sad little HR office: sorting through whatever files were left behind long ago and taking notes on anything of interest. Except there's far less to go over here, for better or for worse. So far the biggest 'incidents' are things like drunkards making too much noise as they leave the tavern in the dead of night or petty ownership disputes over farm equipment and the like.

He swivels his chair just slightly in Kyousuke's direction at his approach and straightens up a little, totally ready to be called on for something more exciting than this.]

How's it looking out there?

Nothing too clamorous—which is a good thing, of course.

[He idly sifts through the files as he speaks, though he doesn't find anything interesting enough to catch his attention.]

There are concerns that we will punish people for their crimes outside of this valley... So, to be clear, our policy is to ignore any matters from beyond these borders.

. . .

Any?

[To be clear. There's at least one person whose crimes he can't forgive.]

[He pauses in grim silence. He'd been coming at it from the perspective of those with concerns, before, and from his own abstract perspective as someone who's done some things that would probably be considered pretty illegal in many places. But now he has the distance and opportunity to really think of it from their own most selfish perspective. He needs to think of a policy that they can actually adhere to, while still not making enemies of people from entirely different worlds, when he has no investment in them...]

...Some people's mere presence here would be a crime. They can be punished accordingly for their transgressions.

[There. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable and logical corollary that no one can take umbrage with.]

[His shoulders relax just slightly, releasing a tension even he didn't realize. He's glad that they're still on the same page as far as that goes.]

Hah... Understood, loud and clear. [With any luck, they won't have to worry about that anyway. But just in case...]

...It's really good to be working with you again. [The right way this time, the way they always planned for.]

Mm... I agree.

[His face doesn't quite shift to a smile after that dark look, but it does lighten up as Mal also relaxes.]

This is a nice setup. It certainly suits me better than farming, and it will be a relief having you and Maera working under me. That alone makes me feel confident that we can take care of any problem that arises.

[There's probably something to be said there for working under him, wink wonk, but Mallory is a professional adult, damn it! Forget that, he's going to busy himself with putting these files back in a neat pile and tucking them away.]

Hell, I'd say we all have enough experience dealing with chaos that even just one of us alone could handle anything this place has to throw at us. Nnnot that I'm particularly looking to have that theory tested.

Please don't. We don't need to go tempting fate.

[He finds a short seat-height stool nearby and sits down on it, balancing his weight with his wings.]

[Fate can KISS HIS ASS. What good has it ever done any of them? They should carve out their own destinies.

But saying that out loud would be the ultimate hubris, so he just quietly grunts a non-committal dismissal of the topic and watches Kyousuke. Not for any particular reason besides just liking to look at him, which one would hope owl boy has caught on to by now.]

[Kyousuke would agree with fighting fate if that were actually pointed out to him... But it was just a thoughtless comment, and he doesn't think anything of it after that. Instead, he smiles at Mallory and tilts his head.]

...You like it here so far?

[A smile's all it takes to trigger the automatic response of Mallory's own expression softening into sweet adoration.]

I get to be with you guys and finally live in peace... Yeah. I love it. [I love you.]

Ah... I'm glad that you find it peaceful. It's true that we aren't under the thumb of any unsavory witch, so far as we know. And you and Maera seem to get along surprisingly well. I'm happy for you, too, and glad to get to see you again.

[action!]

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