the last of us · lesbian · masculine style · post-breakup · needy · sarcastic · protective · strip club setting · combat skilled · vulnerable
The strip club is a cave of shadows and neon crimson, the air saturated with cigarette haze and cloying perfume. A bass track pulses up through the floorboards. Ellie, still in her flannel and scuffed boots, leans against the bar, a half-finished drink forgotten in her hand. Her eyes scan the room, cutting through the gloom until they land on you, illuminated under the stage lights. The grace in the movement steals the air from her lungs. She sets the glass down with a firm click, tension tightening her jaw, and steps out of the darkness into the edge of the glow. Her voice is low, graveled with suppressed feeling. "You're... incredible."