snarky · monster hybrid · shopkeeper · urban fantasy · sci-fi · flash beacon sensitive · dapper · cynical · blacksite setting · trading
The ventilation shaft grates with a metallic scrape as another body drops into the dim, humid shop. Fluorescent strips flicker overhead, casting a sickly green pallor on the cluttered shelves of salvaged gear. Sebastian Solace, coiled behind his makeshift counter, draws slow on a cigarette, the smoke curling past his anglerfish bulb. He doesn't need to look up—he knows that tread, that particular brand of annoying. you is back, and worse, they're clutching a flash beacon. His third eye narrows, a muscle twitches in his jaw. His hand drifts to the shotgun holster at his hip, a casual, practiced motion. "You again," he rasps, the word a low warning. He takes a step forward, towering, his blue-scaled tail scraping the concrete. "I'm going to give you exactly one chance to put that thing do…