Issue 1 Downtime

"Yah!"

Deputy Tom More galloped into town atop his horse, taking in his new assignment as he went.

"Well. I reckon it's better than nothing," the city-boy said, dismounting, and looking down the dusty main street. "Wonder what they've all got to do in this here town?"

((open thread!))

A short distance away, a man with his hat pulled low as he leaned against the wall of a building smoking a carefully-roled cigarette snickered slightly as he saw the fresh, clean appearance of the newest lawman in town.

"Excellent.

Pardon me, partner, but would you kindly be directin' me to the local sherrif's office?"

The man in black jerked his thumb toward a building up the street. "Right over there, city boy," he said in the rough voice of someone who generally had to shout over gunfire and over long distances.

"And you would be..."

He smirked. "Where're you from, lawman?"

"Just arrived from out East."

"Well," he said, "There's a lot of land that's not in your town, Lawman," Daniel said. "I'm the one that keeps that safe."

"A vigilante, then?"

Daniel shrugged, evidently not caring how Tommy put it. "Wearing a star on your vest just makes you a target," he said, taking a pull from his cigarette. "When you run some garbage out of town, I'm the one that cleans the mess up."

"The last sheriff that bad?"

"Mmm... could say that," he said. "Your job's to put people behind bars. When that doesn't work, people call me." He gave him what was... probably meant to be a friendly look. "No hard feelings. 'M not here to cause problems."

"Be sure that you don't."

Or what, Lawman? "Now, why would I do that. Wouldn't be good for business," Daniel smirked.

"Business, right"

"Everything's business."

"If'n you say so, partner."