Late that Sunday afternoon, the usually crowded streets of Rhy'Din were empty - most families were indoors, together, having their Sunday supper. There was little human traffic on one particular block of 3rd Street, except for one peculiar caravan, consisting of a thin man with a ponytail hefting an enormous box of records and CD's with the help of a mohawk-wearing, grinning punk rocker, two more with spiky, tousled hair carrying a couch, and an enormous but good-natured bald man carrying a variety of instruments in his arms.
They approached the small black front door of a four-story, skinny brick building, with a small alley on one side and one broad enough to drive down on the other, the door's slightly small size marking it as being very old and located toward the left side of the front of the building. The bricks were aged, very smooth by now, though the mortar had been touched up in recent years, and while the first two stories had few windows, the third and fourth likely bragged a great deal of natural light. It was on the left side of the street coming from the inn, and facing it, to the right was a squat, single-story music store, its bricks painted a very dark green color that made it stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the other old, remodeled buildings on the street. "Big, Friendly, and Green's Music Emporium" was written in ironically ornate black lettering across the front windows, and it was run by the large bald man currently carrying Keaton's instruments, a very exuberant petite young woman, and a man by the last name of Green.
On the other side was Hands Over Hollywood, nestled onto a corner of the street, a two-story white brick building, and much of the paint was chipping away - giving it a "vintage" look that actually attracted much of the crowd they were looking for. Facing 3rd Street was a bright red door and a window that let passerby peer over a variety of very small round tables for two people, bigger round tables for four, booths, and a long bar adjacent to the stage. Coffee, tea, chai and hot chocolate were mainstays, with pastries, bagels and breakfast platters in the morning, soup and sandwiches for lunch, and in the evening they began serving alcohol. It was not popular as a bar alone, but popular for the crowd it attracted and also for the shows they hosted that catered to the independent music scene. The interior was a stark contrast to the exterior, cozy and wooden, the walls decorated with old sci-fi movie posters, magazine covers from old issues of "Weird Tales," and, of course, concert posters, many of these from Earth's entertainment, though a great deal from other realms as well and some native to Rhy'Din. In one corner, a profusion of Audrey Hepburn movie posters looms over three of the booths, known by the owner, employees and frequenters as "the Audge." The second floor was host to a cozy apartment, where the cafe owner, landlady of the apartments nextdoor and ex-bassist of the Daisies (theirs was an amicable parting - she still encourages her former bandmates to play at her cafe) resided.
Keaton and the members of the band the Freaks made their way through the door and into a short hallway that, to the two carrying the couch, must have seemed impossibly skinny. They made their way past the door to the apartment that occupied the first and second floors and struggled up the stairs, all the way to the third floor, which had a very small landing, allowing for much more space on the third floor. Putting one arm and all of his strength into the box, Keaton fished around in his pocket for the key, then managed to open the door.
The living room was white and enormous, occupying two-thirds of the first floor, with an open stairwell on the opposite wall and five windows letting a great deal of light in. Around the corner to the left was the doorway into the decent-sized kitchen, with a counter, a kitchen island and a few stools, and a bathroom connected to the kitchen. The couch was deposited on the wall near the door, with a low table bearing a TV and a decent entertainment system tucked against the stairwell. Though others had already helped move things in, the living room remained extremely spacious.
The CD's and instruments made their way up to the second floor, where there was a hallway running along three rooms - one of them a bathroom, the other two both designed to function as bedrooms, all of them painted a classy couple of shades softer than medium blue. His bed had been set up in one, a large, low, comfy double bed, with a few posters arranged on the walls; the other room was dedicated to music, with a large old stereo system, a phonograph, his vinyls and CD's, the few pieces of recording equipment he personally owned, and all of his instruments. It was all stacked throughout the room, far from organized by now... then again, he had plenty of room to work with.
A few hours later, the last of his belongings were moved in - a bookshelf on the short wall by the door, a low table in front of the couch, a chair and a couple of cushions nearby, and plans to purchase a recliner. His shoulders sore, completely exhausted, Keaton crawled up the stairs to the bedroom of his new apartment and curled up in his bed to pass out for the night... before dropping off to sleep, noting just how happy he is to at last have a place to call his own.
They approached the small black front door of a four-story, skinny brick building, with a small alley on one side and one broad enough to drive down on the other, the door's slightly small size marking it as being very old and located toward the left side of the front of the building. The bricks were aged, very smooth by now, though the mortar had been touched up in recent years, and while the first two stories had few windows, the third and fourth likely bragged a great deal of natural light. It was on the left side of the street coming from the inn, and facing it, to the right was a squat, single-story music store, its bricks painted a very dark green color that made it stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the other old, remodeled buildings on the street. "Big, Friendly, and Green's Music Emporium" was written in ironically ornate black lettering across the front windows, and it was run by the large bald man currently carrying Keaton's instruments, a very exuberant petite young woman, and a man by the last name of Green.
On the other side was Hands Over Hollywood, nestled onto a corner of the street, a two-story white brick building, and much of the paint was chipping away - giving it a "vintage" look that actually attracted much of the crowd they were looking for. Facing 3rd Street was a bright red door and a window that let passerby peer over a variety of very small round tables for two people, bigger round tables for four, booths, and a long bar adjacent to the stage. Coffee, tea, chai and hot chocolate were mainstays, with pastries, bagels and breakfast platters in the morning, soup and sandwiches for lunch, and in the evening they began serving alcohol. It was not popular as a bar alone, but popular for the crowd it attracted and also for the shows they hosted that catered to the independent music scene. The interior was a stark contrast to the exterior, cozy and wooden, the walls decorated with old sci-fi movie posters, magazine covers from old issues of "Weird Tales," and, of course, concert posters, many of these from Earth's entertainment, though a great deal from other realms as well and some native to Rhy'Din. In one corner, a profusion of Audrey Hepburn movie posters looms over three of the booths, known by the owner, employees and frequenters as "the Audge." The second floor was host to a cozy apartment, where the cafe owner, landlady of the apartments nextdoor and ex-bassist of the Daisies (theirs was an amicable parting - she still encourages her former bandmates to play at her cafe) resided.
Keaton and the members of the band the Freaks made their way through the door and into a short hallway that, to the two carrying the couch, must have seemed impossibly skinny. They made their way past the door to the apartment that occupied the first and second floors and struggled up the stairs, all the way to the third floor, which had a very small landing, allowing for much more space on the third floor. Putting one arm and all of his strength into the box, Keaton fished around in his pocket for the key, then managed to open the door.
The living room was white and enormous, occupying two-thirds of the first floor, with an open stairwell on the opposite wall and five windows letting a great deal of light in. Around the corner to the left was the doorway into the decent-sized kitchen, with a counter, a kitchen island and a few stools, and a bathroom connected to the kitchen. The couch was deposited on the wall near the door, with a low table bearing a TV and a decent entertainment system tucked against the stairwell. Though others had already helped move things in, the living room remained extremely spacious.
The CD's and instruments made their way up to the second floor, where there was a hallway running along three rooms - one of them a bathroom, the other two both designed to function as bedrooms, all of them painted a classy couple of shades softer than medium blue. His bed had been set up in one, a large, low, comfy double bed, with a few posters arranged on the walls; the other room was dedicated to music, with a large old stereo system, a phonograph, his vinyls and CD's, the few pieces of recording equipment he personally owned, and all of his instruments. It was all stacked throughout the room, far from organized by now... then again, he had plenty of room to work with.
A few hours later, the last of his belongings were moved in - a bookshelf on the short wall by the door, a low table in front of the couch, a chair and a couple of cushions nearby, and plans to purchase a recliner. His shoulders sore, completely exhausted, Keaton crawled up the stairs to the bedroom of his new apartment and curled up in his bed to pass out for the night... before dropping off to sleep, noting just how happy he is to at last have a place to call his own.