THE MOMENT
"I'm afraid that's not a valid option," Phoenix shook his head with a smile. "Is there anything else you'd like?"
"No, wait a minute, what do you mean you can't?" Larry tilted his head. "You said anything!" He had the luck to find himself in a potentially rewarding situation and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers. The red-haired man in a crisp white suit offered to buy his soul in exchange for anything and was now backing away from that promise.
Larry wouldn't have taken the word of any random stranger interested in purchasing his soul before the government revealed the existence of Fae creatures and the soul bargains they liked to deal in. That had been a couple of years ago already and life had found a new normal. He'd never been interested in selling his soul before but on that particular day he heard of a Soul Fair happening at the municipal convention center and he was interested enough to browse. He wasn't necessarily looking to sell; but, he didn't know what kinds of rewards were even on offer.
Without knowing what to expect exactly, he still found himself mostly disappointed. He chatted with fairies and several other strange humanoid creatures that he didn't want to insult by asking what they were. All were friendly and interested in making a purchase; but, not one offered an interesting deal. They only offered pre-packaged stock rewards for his eternal soul, and they were almost always financial boons. He didn't have a clear idea of his goal; but he knew he didn't want money.
Then, he came across the white and red table of 'Sharp Development' and Phoenix greeted him with a warm smile and the words 'anything you want'.
"You might've missed the part where I said 'within the power of Sharp Development'," Phoenix replied with a smile; but, it no longer felt friendly. Instead, Larry began to feel like the man was annoyed being there.
"What does the company have to do with giving me your soul?" Larry asked. He wasn't after Phoenix's soul either, he hadn't decided what he wanted yet. Still, it was a good opportunity to be the squeaky wheel. He started hearing about Sharp Development shortly after the veil was broken, and they seemed like a major company with limitless resources. If he could pile up this molehill enough, maybe they'd give him a mountain of cash just to go away. He'd at least report this peon to the company heads, or even the government if he didn't get his way. They shouldn't be able to promise 'anything' if they weren't going to deliver on it.
"As an employee, Sharp Development already owns my soul," Phoenix chuckled. "At that point, the company would essentially be trading me out for you, and... they're not going to," he said as he made sure to give Larry an extra thorough glance up and down. "It wouldn't be worth it."
"So you're reneging!" Larry said.
"No," Phoenix shook his head. "We haven't made any deals."
"You said you'd give me anything in exchange for my soul and now you're saying I can't get what I want."
"That's right," Phoenix agreed. "Clarifications were given before any deals were made. At this point, you can choose to proceed with the deal or move on to the next vendors. Sharp Development doesn't owe you anything," his smile regained a hint of sincere joy as he explained the situation to Larry. "And, since deals require two parties, I can safely say that Sharp Development has no interest at all in making a deal for your soul. You can keep it."