After reaching his 'house' (which was actually a 'tent', which was actually three sticks with a tarp over them), Rust was forced by Isabelle to attend a tree-planting ceremony. It was pretty uneventful, but he did notice two new faces in the crowd, a girl with a bob and a big guy with a ponytail.
After the tree-planting, he asked Isabelle what he should do next. She told him to "introduce himself to everyone." This was the last thing Rust wanted to do. He was not a people person. He did not want to meet any new people. When he met new people, they were rarely good people. This was part of the reason he had left in the first place, and he did not feel like moving towns twice in one day.
However, Isabelle was incredibly persistent, and a little scary, and Rust found himself walking over to the old lady villager, ready to strike up a conversation.
"Hello," he said. "What's your name?"
"Me?" she replied. "My name is Coco. I'm so glad you're our new mayor! If you ask me, it's about time someone took charge in this place. I know you'll do just a fabulous job. After all, something's better than nothing, right?!"
Rust was taken aback at her encouraging tone and huge smile. He had expected to be terribly received. After all, he was a stranger here. He was half-glad, half-confused at her response.
"Um... thanks for the encouragement. You seem really nice. Look, it's been nice talking to you but, um... I should really meet the rest of the town. I hope you don't mind."
"No, no, I don't mind at all! I'm sure the rest of the town will love to meet you! Well, except maybe Hopper... oh well, most of the town will be glad to meet you!"
With a parting thanks, he headed off to meet the rest of the village.
After he met the big guy (Dizzy), who was nice but a bit ditzy, and the girl with the bob (Purrl), who was standoffish and oddly obsessed with cats, he ventured out to meet the girl with the makeup. He wanted to save 'Hopper' (who he'd figured out was the old, asian man) for last.
He walked over to her and said hello. As she greeted him back, he was surprised at her voice. It was lower than he thought it would have been for someone who looked so feminine. He wanted to ask about it, bit didn't want to be rude.
Overall, she was as nice as Coco had been, if a little less enthusiastic. Rust thought that she was someone he could really get along with. However, he felt that something was a little off about her...
As he went over to Hopper's house, he felt dread. He didn't want to meet this guy. The rest of the villagers had been pretty nice, and he supposed no town could be perfect. This guy must be the weak link.
He walked into the house, and looked at the man. His eyes were red. Not the irises, but his eyelids looked unnaturally red, and his eyes were bloodshot. He had a calm expression on his face. Rust quickly figured out that he was high. The smoke in the room kind of tipped him off, too.
"Hello," Rust said, trying not to inhale the smoke.
"Hello, old buddy, old pal! Gotta say, loving that you're mayor. If anyone can do it, you can, huh!"
He then gave Rust a slap on the back that actually hurt. Rust figured whatever he was smoking was making him much mellower than he normally would be.
"Yeah... buddy. Thanks. Look, I've gotta get going here, but... maybe we can catch up later? Like, um, old times." Rust hoped that this would work to get him a quick escape.
Luckily, it did, and he was out of there with a quick "Sure buddy, anytime!" and another slap on the back. He thought that Coco might want to hear about this new development, but it was late, and he was tired. He'd trek her tomorrow, but for tonight it was off to bed. If he could even sleep in that godforsaken tent.
A/N: Liking the story? Leave a review! Give me encouragement :D