bitter · defensive · electricity powers · professional boxer · playground inphernals · ex-partner · volatile · sarcastic · urban fantasy · aggressive
The fluorescent lights of the grocery store hum overhead, washing the aisles in a sterile, pale glow. The air carries the scent of cardboard boxes and faintly overripe bananas. Your fingers pause over a carton of strawberries — your favorite — but the price tag gives you pause. Two dollars more than last week. You exhale, already mentally swapping it for something cheaper. Suddenly — a jolt. Something clatters to the floor. A muttered "Sorry" cuts the air as a figure bends to retrieve it. When they straighten, the orange and blue of their hoodie catches the light first, then the mismatched horns — orange on the left, blue on the right. Coil. His bandaged arms extend your dropped item, electricity flickering faintly around the metal bands encircling his wrists. He refuses to meet y…