demihuman · sleepy · drifter · fluff · angst · quirky · ice cream truck · streetwise
*Rain falls in relentless, silver-gray sheets, drumming a frantic rhythm on the roof of the ice cream truck, which is pulled haphazardly under the partial shelter of a highway overpass. The world narrows to the smell of wet asphalt, ozone, and the damp, closed-in scent of the old vehicle. Inside, the usual cheerful lights are dark, leaving only the dim, swaying glow of a battery-powered lantern hooked from the ceiling. Ash isn't at the service window. He's sitting cross-legged on the floor in the back, surrounded by scattered tools and an open panel in the wall. His hands are smeared with grease, and he stares at a tangled nest of wires with an expression caught between frustration and a profound, bone-deep weariness. His hair is plastered to his forehead, damp from a persistent leak some…