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[b][u]MY PLACE s01:e06 - Town Hall Introductions[/u][/b]

The walk to town hall was impressively awkward. Neither of us said a word for the entire journey, and I didn’t even look back to face her. I knew she was still there, though – the bells in her headband made a distinctive and delicate jingle with every step she took. The building wasn’t hard to find thanks to Place’s sparse landscape. Like I saw from the train, a few trees here and there, there was a bridge we had to cross too. There was a fair number of flowers dotted around in seemingly random spots too. The village was so ramshackle when you observed past its external appearances.

We eventually made it to the front door, which she opened for me with a smile. I slowly stepped inside. “Quaint” is the word that best descried it. A single room with two desks: one placed at the front with two small seats, large stacks of paperwork and a nameplate I couldn’t read. The other was at the back, with a large leather chair, a computer and even more piles of documents. There appeared to be no lights, the only illumination coming from the huge windows on the left wall. I could see air particles dancing in the sunlight in front of the old bookcase at the far end of the room. When the dog closed the front door, I couldn’t help but notice how stuffy it suddenly got.

“Feel free to hang your coat, mayor” she chipped “It’s quite warm out today, I’m surprised to find you wearing one!”

“Well” I said, taking it off “It was pretty cold when I got on the train. Can’t say I really expected… err, the weather changing so fast…” I hadn’t even noticed the nice weather when I arrived. Thankfully, I was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath. Mum did look at me funny when I insisted on wearing that with a coat instead of something longer. Well, who’s laughing now?

The pup cleared her throat and outstretched her arm.
“Mayor, this town hall will be your base of operations. Oh! And I completely forgot to mention, I’m on staff here too! I’m Isabelle, your secretary, and I’m here to help you in anyway I can. But if I may be frank” she smiled “I was surprised to see someone as young as you step off the train. I mean, our former mayor held the position for many, many years and was… quite set in his ways.” She gestured to a large painting of an elderly tortoise wearing a top hat that hung above the fancier desk at the back. I suppose she had a point, mayor is kind of an old man job. That’s what first comes to mind anyway. As far as Isabelle’s age went, I wasn’t too sure since she was a different species than I, but she came across as around the same age. Then again, do dog years come into effect here? “But…” she continued “youth is a breath of fresh air. And exactly the new image our town needs! You’re perfect for the job!” Somehow, I doubted that.

Isabelle hurried to the first desk, retrieving some neatly organised forms and quickly flicking through them. “All right… of course we need you to get started right away on your work as mayor. Therefore, first we must complete your resident registration. A mayor really should be a resident!” she giggled.

I definitely had no plans of staying here but for some reason I never spoke up. The way she kept babbling on and on made it both impossible to interject and, to be honest, I’d feel rude if I did so. She was clearly trying her best, throwing off her groove now would be a bad idea. She handed me a form in which I had to sign my name and… address? Do they want my human world home or something?

“Hey, uh, Isabelle? Where… where do I live?”

Understandably, she didn’t have an answer right away, but she didn’t look at me as if I were an idiot. For that I am very thankful. I’ve done more than enough to earn looks like that today.

She suddenly jumped, nearly spooking me in the process “Oh no!!” she cried “This is BAD!! I can’t believe I completely forgot something so vitally IMPORTANT!!!” She tapped herself on the forehead in frustration. She was visibly panicking now, as if this one mistake was causing the world to fall apart. “In order to register you as a town resident, we need your ADDRESS for the FORM!!!”

“I know that!” I cried “But I don’t have one here!!”

Isabelle took a deep breath to resume her composure. She sighed. “…mayor, there aren’t any vacant houses here… BUT you can build one!”

“…sorry?”

“We really should have you decide where you’re going to live before we proceed.” She sighed again, sadder this time “And here I made you come all the way to the town hall for nothing. I apologize for being so flaky!” Hanging her head in shame, I could tell that this mix-up had actually depressed her.

“Hey, err, don’t worry about it. When you say ‘build’ a house, you don’t mean with my own bare hands, right?”

“Hm? Oh goodness no!” she laughed (maybe at my expense but at least she cheered up) “Um, on the other side of the tracks, on Main Street, is Nook’s Homes, the real estate office. Ah, yes! This might make more sense if you take a look at your map!”

I brought the map back out from my pocket and spread it wide so that she could point to what she was talking about.

“See the railroad tracks on the top of the map? Head north from there to get to Main Street.”

I had known of Main Street from the maps Isabelle and the train cat had shown me, but never seen it with my own eyes. A shopping district in a small backwater town like this? Maybe it’ll make up for the less than stellar village portion.

“Some fresh air and exercise would do you good” Isabelle waved as I opened the front door “A trip to Main Street may be just what we both need! It’ll give me a chance to stay here and continue with your registration and you need to find Nook’s Homes.” At was if saying this was her reassuring herself that things weren’t falling into chaos. “Once you’ve got a place to live, please come back here and let me know right away!”

“Sure” I said “See ya”
And with that, I set off for Main Street. By now I had calmed down a little. Don’t get me wrong, I was still very much terrified of my situation, but the friendly face inside Town Hall helped cool my nerves.

Dang it! I thought, I never told her about what’s going on! Oh well, maybe the real estate animal can help me…

~Author’s Notes~
There’s a lot of subtle hints at Isabelle’s personality quirks and flaws here. Most of the dialogue is taken straight from New Leaf, as you might have already noticed, with some stuff added in to better suit the My Place story.

Tried something different with the picture this time. I was planning on using the crayon brush to colour the characters in these, but this time I used water colour. Not sure if it’s even noticeable but I’d like to know what people think and which they prefer.

After a lazy and ego-driven guy finds himself in a wild world populated with talking animals, he is inexplicably made the mayor of a quiet little town and given the unthinkable burden of responsibility.

Created by CookieBoy011.

[u]Later Seasons:[/u] "Season Two":https://e621.net/pools/50043 - "Season Three":https://e621.net/pools/52413