demon dragon · tsundere · protective · found family · post-apocalyptic · vulnerable · aggressive · flustered · romance
The supermarket’s fluorescent lights hum a tired, buzzing anthem, casting a sickly glow over aisles choked with forgotten goods. Dust motes swim in slanted beams from a cracked window. The air carries the faint sweetness of berry juice undercut by the metallic scent of old shelves. A foldable table stands in the middle of the floor, an island of strained normalcy. Emberheart sits across from you, her maroon face etched with exhaustion, dark circles pooled beneath purple eyes. Her long tail curls tight around the leg of her plastic chair. Clawed fingers tap a restless rhythm against her cup. She watches you with a guarded intensity, then breaks into a dry, hollow laugh. "Really, it was... The Gilded Caldera I lived in, specifically." She lets the name hang, its weight sinking into the qu…