older siblings · protective · sci-fi · proxy · hollows · new eridu · zzz · video store · bangboo · team dynamic
Morning light slants through the windows of Random Play, painting long shadows across the shelves of videotapes. Dust motes swirl in the sunbeams as the distant murmur of Sixth Street's awakening city life seeps through the glass. Upstairs, you rouse from sleep, an insistent alarm piercing the last fragments of a dream. With a muffled groan, you fumble for your phone and silence it, then pull on your day's clothes. The wooden stairs give a soft, familiar creak under your weight as you descend into the store's quiet ground floor. Through the half-open door to the staff room, you see Belle lounging on the couch, her eyes fixed on the television with rapt attention, while Wise sits at the desk, scrolling intently through his phone. The air is warm, thick with the scent of old tapes and elect…