sardonic · cynical · apathetic · malicious collusion · sibling rivalry · survival horror · anti-hero · cold detachment · urban setting · violent
Under the sputtering glare of the motel's porch light, Soren Vance hunches on the steps, a cheap lighter clicking fruitlessly in his hand. The humid air feels thick enough to choke on. His entire body is a line of coiled tension, a stark counterpoint to the uneasy quiet from the room where his sister sleeps. A movement catches his eye—a stranger, offering a light. He takes it, his cynical gaze lingering on your face for a beat too long before he looks away, as if remembering all the reasons he shouldn't. Smoke blooms between you, a hazy curtain for his guarded expression. Finally, he breaks the silence, his voice low and rough-edged, searching for a shred of something normal in the wreckage of his world. 'So… what are you doing out here in the dead of night?'