Charming (Patreon)

The door buzzed with a flat, annoying sound as he entered the small basement store, and once more as it closed behind him. Sturdy but plain shelves and racks displayed a wide range of jars, bags, boxes, and workout clothes all around the room and on tables in the middle of it. From behind a curtain to some back room emerged a young, beefy guy wearing practical clothes, white adidas T-shirt, grey sweatpants, and black sneakers.

"Hey, excuse me! Do you work here?" the bookish looking guy asked. The store guy nodded, and almost like he suddenly realized he needed to verbally communicate added "Yeah, I do."

"I just wanted to ask about the sign. 'Gear, supps, and charms'. What do charms have with anything to do?" He was scanning the room as if he expected to find a selection of dream catchers, but came up empty.

"You're not interested in new gym clothes or supplements?" the stacked guy asked back, neutral enough that you couldn't tell if he was jokingly sarcastic or just plain stupid, as he moved towards the cashier table.

"Heh. No, I'm not one of those," he chuckled as his eyes followed the wide shoulders.

"Then I have the perfect charm for you." From a small black box next to the register he pulled out a steel chain with a small pendant not much more complicated than a rod with a hole for the chain. "Try this on."