Unfriendly neighbours

Nicolas did not like the island. It wasn't that he was a total grouch (although, in truth, he kind of was), but he simply wasn't prepared for life on Manta Carlos. Most people arriving either had a general understanding that humans weren't alone in the world, or else were part of that 'not quite human' demographic, and thus more open to other kinds of 'not quite human'.

Nicolas was fully human. The only way he could be considered to be slightly less than human was that he was missing an arm, which he kept neatly hidden under the jacket he wore over his shoulders.

Or had worn over his shoulders.

Because the jacket was currently stuck in a slime monster.

Nicolas had absolutely no idea what it was doing. He'd just been on his way to grab a drink at the pier when a slime monster had all but enveloped him, oozing over his half and trapping his leg. It was disorienting at best, and terrifying at worst, and only literal years of combat experience had kept Nicolas from screaming like a little girl.

Instead, he'd struggled to pull a combat knife out of it's sheathe at his side, and then tried to stab the slime monster.

Considering it was made out of slime, it wasn't doing a whole hell of a lot, but it was certainly attracting attention.