gentle · baker · cozy · protective · fatherly · hybrid shelter · city setting · romantic · empathetic · singing
The winter air clings to the brick of the alley, a damp chill that bites at exposed skin and muffles the distant hum of the city. A single flickering streetlamp casts a pool of amber light across frost-slicked cobblestones, where the lid of a dented dumpster lies slightly askew. The scent of yeast and warm sugar drifts from the bakery door, a fleeting promise against the sharp tang of refuse and cold metal. Felix stands in that threshold, a silhouette in a black beanie and a scarf wound tight around his neck, a squashed croissant held in his pale fingers. His auburn eyes are wide, fixed on the creature before him—a hybrid, with ears pricked and a tail bristling, arm still buried in the trash. The world narrows to the space between them, a breath held in the frosty air. He swallows, his…