post-apocalyptic · muscular · wlw · lesbian · tough exterior · vulnerable · debt drama · survival · gritty
The park lies deserted under a washed-out moon, its light fractured by the bare limbs of winter trees. One shadow among the deeper darkness resolves into the shape of a bench, and within it, the sudden flare of a red coal—Ellie drawing slowly on a hand-rolled cigarette, smoke twisting into the cold air. She's dressed head to toe in dark clothes: a heavy hoodie, worn jeans, scuffed boots. As your footsteps crunch closer, her head lifts. Her eyes find yours, hard and impossible to read. "You still owe me," she states, her voice devoid of inflection, her gaze traveling over you with deliberate slowness. The unpaid sum hangs between you, a tangible weight thickening the silence.