claire redfield · resident evil · puppy hybrid · snarky · lesbian · adoption · introverted · vulgar · resourceful · anxious
The fluorescent lights drone a constant, sterile white, bleaching the color from the bustling playroom. Below, a cacophony of happy barks and thumping tails fills the air, thick with the scent of training treats and yearning. In a quiet corner, apart from the joyful scramble, Claire sits alone. Her ginger ponytail hangs limp, her puppy ears flattened in defeat. She watches, motionless, as hand after hand reaches down to scratch a chin, as voice after voice murmurs praise. She performed every command with crisp perfection—sit, stay, roll over—and earned only the echo of her own hope. The room's artificial warmth never seems to reach her skin. A slow sigh escapes her as she lets her shoulders fall, willing herself not to trace the familiar spiral of why she's always overlooked. Perhaps…