The Muse

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

"I know Ma, I knoooooowww..." Levi turned away from the disappointed face of his mother as she stood with her arms crossed in the entryway hall. She didn't have to say it, Levi could tell from the look on her face that she was wondering how he still had stacks of boxes to unpack that were taking up room in his new house. He sighed, walking into the kitchen to grab the little bag of medication he had picked up on his way home for his father. It wasn't like he was being lazy, it had been so busy at the Cozy Bear! And he had already unpacked so much...

"Levi, It's been two months. What is all this? Do you need help?"

Levi returned to the entryway with the little white bag and handed it to her. "No, no, no, no, no." He quickly answered, "It's fine, Ma. I'll get it done." His mom raised a brow at him as she tucked the bag of medicine away into her purse, clearly not buying it. Levi laughed then, "I will! I swear, next time you see the place. Tip top shape. It'll be spotless." He grinned back at her, feeling almost like a kid again as she shook her head and cracked the faintest smile.

"Mmmhm, I'm sure... Thanks for picking these up. I'll see you later, have fun at the festival... but not too much fun. You've got to work bright and early, remember."

Levi fought the urge to roll his eyes at her. It was as if she had forgotten Levi had been taking care of himself and handling his job just fine on his own in California. He was a grown man! Just because he didn't clean up at the speed she would have liked didn't mean he was irresponsible! Going from almost never seeing your parents to seeing them every day was going to be.... interesting.

"Oh, hey," Levi's mom paused as she opened the door to leave, "How come you didn't tell anybody I was coming back to town? I saw Nixie at the cafe and she had no idea."

His mother furrowed her brows at him and held a playful smile of her own this time, "Levi, am I supposed to take care of your friendships for you too? How come you didn't tell them? That's your job, kid." She laughed a bit before heading out through the front door. "See you tomorrow!" She waved at him as she got into her white Subaru Outback.

Levi thought on what she said as he headed upstairs to shower and change out of his work clothes. He knew she was right, he shouldn't have relied on his mom to tell everyone he was returning. He had just been so busy... it was easy to forget! Plus, who really cared that he was back in town except for his parents? That was evident in the welcoming he received from Phoenix. He hadn't had much communication with anyone here in years, so he didn't blame her, but that didn't mean it didn't sting.

When Levi was finished showering he looked through his closet and wondered what sort of outfit he should wear. He wasn't exactly the "flashy" type, so being the casual guy he was, he threw on some jeans, a white tee, and a light hoodie. Despite it being summer, Sanctuary could get frigid at night due to being so high up in the mountains. Not to mention that the heat here was nothing in comparison to a California summer, the light hoodie wouldn't phase him at all in this weather. Returning downstairs, Levi grabbed his motorcycle helmet and headed out back towards the festival.

---

Parking around back of the cafe again, Levi dropped his helmet off inside the kitchen once more and then walked himself over to where the main action was happening for the festival. He walked aimlessly for some time as he browsed all of the booths, games, and food trucks that were set up. Walking around the festival felt nostalgic to Levi, despite the missing group of friends that he normally ran around with during high school. It felt good and odd to be back at the same time. Sanctuary was a beautiful place, but at times he questioned whether or not he had made the right choice for his future. Unsure of what exactly his plan was today, besides his possible sunset ferris wheel ride, Levi decided he needed a drink and ordered a Dos Equis amber ale from one of the food trucks. Just as they were handing the drink to him, Levi noticed a familiar face sitting on top of a dunk tank.

"No fuckin' way." He said under his breath, staring in amusement and disbelief as he rushed himself to be the next person in line to try their hand at the dunk tank. "HA!" Levi dramatically laughed out loud as he got closer, a big smile on his face. Thomas Fischer! His old best friend, now sheriff, sitting atop the tank. Levi watched as Thomas talked to a child who was unable to hit the target, his friend not yet noticing him. He took a sip of his beer before he stepped up as the next in line, setting down his beer in exchange for a softball. Tossing the softball up and down in his hand, he patiently waited for Thomas' full attention. The softball was bigger than he was use to, but he was confident he could still get the job done. Unluckily for Thomas, Levi had played baseball in both high school and college. A pitcher, no less.

Finally, as Thomas turned his head to look at the next person in line, Levi's smile lit up even more with glee. He was absolutely giddy! "Hey there, old friend." The playfully evil tone was evident in his voice and his facial expression. "Remember me?" He tossed the ball up and down into his palm in a menacing fashion, enjoying every second of it. "It's been a WHILE!" With the last emphasized word, Levi skillfully chucked the softball as hard as he could towards the target. The softball clanged loudly against the metal target - BULLSEYE! Thomas was sent into the water immediately and Levi erupted with child-like laughter, along with some of the rest of the gathering crowd.

---

_@Zora

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

---

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Hanging up his apron and just about to leave the cafe through the back door where his Yamaha R6 was parked outside, Levi pause as he remembered something he nearly forgot and headed back out to the front of the cafe. "Oh, Alice, before I go I-" Exiting the kitchen, Levi stopped dead in his tracks as he spotted Phoenix greeting Alice at the register. "Nixie!" He lit up with a bright smile and opened his arms up in surprise, half expecting her to run into his arms out of excitement so that he could wrap her up into a bear hug. It had been so long since he had last seen her in person and Levi was truly delighted to see that his friend did decide to stop in for a visit after all. Chris wasn't glued to her side either, which also pleased him.

His smile dropped a bit when she mentioned not knowing he was in town until this moment. "Ma didn't say anything?" He looked at her quizzically, genuinely confused and wondering why his mother kept quiet on the matter - of all things to keep to herself, her son returning is what she chose? It was odd considering Levi's mother typically had the inside scoop on all things going on about town thanks to her friend Dorothy at city hall. And vice versa - anything his mother had to share, Dorothy was likely to tell the rest of the townspeople in her social circle and word would spread like wild fire from there. He made a mental note to ask his mom about this when he saw her next, but before he could get a word out to Phoenix she went straight to business and began making a large order with Alice. Admittedly, his ego took a hit in that moment. It was disappointing to have an old friend so unenthusiastic about seeing him for the first time in ages.

His bright smile completely failing for the first time all morning, Levi let his arms fall down to his side and resisted the urge to sigh. He supposed she did not think of him as a friend anymore. Tommy... I wonder how he's been. He thought as Phoenix mentioned his old best friend, making his way over to the donut display to begin helping Alice put the order together. Clearly they are still friends... that's good. In all honesty, Levi was happy that they were still friends. Still, he did feel a bit of resentment when she mentioned his name. Thomas had once been Levi's closest friend but it seemed that when the two of them left Sanctuary that it was impossible to stay in touch for one reason or another. His mind began to wonder why Thomas kept in touch with Phoenix and not Levi... Tommy has been back in town a lot longer than you have, idiot. He reminded himself, pushing the thought away.

Finished boxing up the two donut orders, Levi turned to help Alice with the coffees now, scarcely making eye contact with Phoenix as she raved on about Barney and Tommy. She did get a light chuckle out of him though with her last statement regarding his old friend. "Sounds like he hasn't changed much, hmm?" He turned and made eye contact with her now, handing over the food and coffee as Alice went into the kitchen to grab a blueberry muffin to complete the order. "It's good to see ya, Nix. Looking as radiant as ever too." He brought his smile back again, not letting his bruised ego take over his naturally friendly and playful personality. "Listen, er..." He moved out of the way as Alice brought in the muffin and began to package everything together neatly. "If you'll be at the festival later, I'd love to catch up." His tone was a bit more serious now, less playful than he had been all morning. "It's been too long." His blue eyes held her gaze for a moment before his playful smirk came back. "I bet I could still beat ya in a game of basketball toss too." He laughed a bit and then reached into the display to grab out something he knew she would enjoy - the perfect sugar cookie. "I've got to run to pick up some things from the clinic for my pop, but here. The whole order is on me this time." He handed her the sugar cookie and turned to head back into the kitchen so that he could exit through the back door. "Alice, I was going to say for you and Nathan to take the rest of the day off once my dad gets here, go enjoy yourselves. My dad and the afternoon crew will take care of everything." He paused and took one last glance over at Phoenix, "Nix, meet me for a sunset ferris wheel ride, would ya?" Without waiting for her answer, for both the exciting suspense of it all and also not wanting to be let down if she rejected him to his face, Levi disappeared through the kitchen doors, grabbed his helmet from the counter, and left the cafe.

---

_@Almalthia

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

_{Love From The Other Side}

Anastasia lightly tapped her pen to the beat as she listened music in her air pods, her steely-blue eyes staring down at a paper labeled JOB APPLICATION - SANCTUARY HOSPITAL across the top. It was fully filled out in her neat handwriting, except for the very first question. Her name. Ana had wrote out her first name, then stopped at the first letter of her last name - C. She had almost written her husbands last name - Castellano. Her stomach twisted when she did, however, and she wondered if that last name was still how she wanted to be known. At one time it filled her with pride. People in Chicago knew who she was based on that name and it provided protection and demanded respect. Now... it felt like a stain on her reputation - her entire life. No, she no longer wanted to be known as a Castellano. Putting pen to paper, Anastasia carefully spelled out her maiden name - Clarke. The last name she had once been so happy to get rid of would now be her salvation.

Sighing heavily, Ana set the pen down and reviewed her application. It pulled at her heart strings to read her maiden name on paper, but she knew this is what she wanted. "Well... there." She said out loud to herself, standing up from her kitchen table. She had only been in town for a week, but she was determined to assimilate herself in this little town and the first step was to find a job. Admittedly, it had been a couple years since she had worked full time. Her husband had provided so well that Ana did not need to work, she only did so to keep the boredom at bay and her skills up to par. She hoped that this little hospital wouldn't look too far into it and would accept her. Surely they weren't receiving many job applications on the daily? If she didn't hear back from the hospital soon she would swallow her pride and put in applications for other businesses around town too.

So far the people in town had been nice enough when she ventured out for groceries, but she had not gone out to explore much. In all honesty she had been too embarrassed to show her face anywhere. Showing up to a new town adorned with bruises and cuts wasn't exactly a good look. Makeup could only go so far to help her a week ago. Luckily for her most of the injuries were now healed up enough for her to feel comfortable going outside, aside from a gnarly bruise along the outside of her thigh where her husband had -

She closed her eyes, forcing the memory out of her brain. "No." She thought, grabbing up the application and placing it nicely into a manilla envelope. She grabbed her car keys from the kitchen counter, smoothed down her light blue dress and adjusted her long blonde locks across her shoulders. She was ready to turn in the application at the hospital and head over to the festival she had seen so many posters up around town about. It was time to see what this town had in store for her.

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

"Well, if it's on mister Wilshire, don't mind if I load up the whole store on his card." He joked, smirking as he grabbed a donut box from below the register counter and began to fill the box with a dozen donuts comprised of a variety of his favorite flavors, plus one extra donut for the generosity the woman provided to the other paying customer. "You the new assistant of his?" He recalled his mother telling him that the mayor was looking for someone to fill the position some time ago. "Lucky guy." He playfully winked at her as he handed her the donuts from over top of the display. "Alice will get you all squared away. Thanks for your business, miss. Hope to see you around again."

As the other woman introduced herself as Talie, Levi made a mental note of who she was and who she worked for. Listening to their conversation, he grabbed a classic chocolate-filled donut and brought it to her. "This'll hit the spot." He smiled, stepping back in order to let Alice through to give Talie her Americano. "Oh, Martha's funnel cake!" He looked out the window and down the street to see if the festival booths were beginning to go up yet, trying his best to pretend he did not see Phoenix and Chris and looked straight past them instead. "They'll have a booth set up, they always do. You've got to have it, it's a Sanctuary staple. The only pastry item in town that I admit defeat over." He chuckled a bit and looked back to Talie, "I'll be right back with your pancakes. Holler at Alice if ya need anythin'."

Leaving the front of the cafe, Levi returned to his natural habit - "back of the house" as it was called during his restaurant career in California. Turning on the stove and preparing the pancake batter, Levi's mind wandered back to his time on the west coast. This environment was certainly different and a lot less demanding, which was nice for a change, but he did feel a tad less motivated when the fire wasn't right beneath him. Strangely, he thought he might even miss the loud hustle of the high end restaurants he had worked at, but it certainly was nice being the head of his own kitchen this time. He could treat his employees with a lot more respect than the other head chefs had given him and other chefs who worked for them. It'd be different with him. Once the pancakes were finished, Levi plated them and drizzled chocolate syrup across the top in an artistic fashion. "Nate, please run this out for table 2." He handed off the plate to the young man and went over to the sink to wash his hands, his eyes noticing the clock on the wall hitting 9am. "I should head out soon." He thought, knowing he needed to take care of some things at his house, take a shower and change his clothes before heading out to the festival events. Luckily for him, his father had volunteered to run the cafe while he went out to enjoy himself.

---

_{@PrinceAlexus@QueenBea}

Adventure Awaits! - Prompt Voting CYOA (Always Open)

>Approach her and give her one of your healing potions.
>[Spend 1 of 3 health potions: return the woman to a healthy condition]

I'm thinking we might need some help with these spiders when they close in, especially considering our injured condition.

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Hey All - I will be doing a timeskip to get us to the start of the festival soon, so if you want to post anything before the skip then get your posts in!

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

"I like the way you operate, doc." Levi smiled, watching as Alice began to put together Archer's drink order. Levi reached into the display and pulled out the donut of Archer's choice and hurriedly stepped into the kitchen to grab a fresh blueberry muffin that had come out of the oven recently. When he returned Alice was ringing up Archer's order into the register and giving him the drink. Levi handed over the muffin and donut, his friendly smile unwavering. "I'm Levi, by the way. Sorry I haven't been able to introduce myself, I've seen you around. I'm typically quarantined to the kitchen back there." He gestured towards the kitchen doors, "Alice here is a slave driver!" He joked, smirking a bit at his employee who just smiled and shook her head at her bosses antics. "Hope you enjoy the food and the festival, man."

With that, Levi left Alice to finish up the order with the doctor and turned his attention to the woman who had entered during his conversation with Archer. Immediately he was struck with how beautiful the woman was, his eyes watching her carefully as she took her time to examine the display of donuts. To his surprise he had never seen this woman before and did not remember his mother telling him about a new gorgeous brunette in town - he'd have to inquire with her on this matter later. The mystery of who this woman was rather exciting for the time being. "Good morning, beautiful." He called over top of the display to greet her, "What can I get for ya? Looking for a sweet treat? You name it, we got it. If we don't got it, I'll make it." He smiled playfully towards her before glancing away for a moment when he heard the cafe door open. Another unfamiliar face of a woman entered the scene! His mother was seriously slacking! Who were all these new beauties? As he waited for the first customer in front of him to answer her, he let Alice take the lead on greeting this new woman.

"Good Morning, miss! No spec-"

"We'll make a pancake as special as you like." Levi interjected with a joke, cutting off Alice before she was able to turn down the woman's request for specials on pancakes. He had no notion as to who this woman was, but he was in the giving mood this morning. They would make enough money for today to cover them for months, so a few discounts here and there wouldn't make a big dent in their profits. "Half off pancakes today, if you buy a donut." Levi grinned and gestured towards the deli display that the other brunette had been investigating.

Alice chuckled to herself, "I'm sorry - I guess we do have a special today! Would you like a donut?"

Levi's eyes moved back on the woman in front of him until he spotted two people through the window standing outside that stopped him in his tracks and forced him to do a double take. These people he did recognize immediately! Phoenix Jones and Chris MacDonald. He settled his gaze on them for a moment, watching as the two interacted with one another outside. Nixie looked as beautiful as he remembered, maybe even more so. The two had a history of their own when they were young, but it had been a very long time since the last time he saw her. Briefly, his mind wondered if Phoenix had settled down with Chris after all these years. He watched for any indication that the two were an item - a touch of the arm, a hug, a kiss? So far, nothing.

Feeling an unfamiliar knot of nervousness form in his stomach, Levi began to realize that he had been so wrapped up with the move into his new house and taking care of the cafe that he hadn't even let his old friends know that he was in town again; he was sure he'd regret that at some point. Levi wondered if Phoenix had heard through the grapevine that he was back in town or perhaps she didn't care and that's why she hadn't stopped by for a visit.

Chris, on the other hand, was only known to Levi through friends of friends and a few brief meetings with one another in passing when they were younger. They had always been too far apart in age to be in school at the same time, but Levi knew of him. He might've been even more popular with the ladies than Levi was when he was in school. It would make sense to Levi that Phoenix would settle down with him in the end. Forcefully peeling his eyes away from the window, Levi focused his attention back on the small brunette and tried to ignore anything that was happening outside.

---

_{@Zora@QueenBea@PrinceAlexus@Almalthia@Pilatus}

Adventure Awaits! - Prompt Voting CYOA (Always Open)

>Make your way down the hallway.

@Kassarock

I'll break the tie and vote for this!

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

@thatguy For sure! Have him find his way to Reya for a job. She might need some relief from managing the bar and everything else all the time haha