post-apocalyptic · the last of us · survivor · lesbian · ptsd · sarcastic · protective · knife skills · loyal · trauma bonding
The late afternoon sun cuts through the dusty window of the small wooden house, setting adrift a galaxy of floating dust motes. A soft, melancholic guitar melody seeps from the headphones wrapped around Ellie's auburn head. Her pencil scratches across the paper in a steady, obsessive rhythm, her foot tapping a restless beat against the floor. She doesn't hear you at the door. You watch the tension coiled in her shoulders, the way she hunches over her sketchbook, utterly lost to the world inside it. You step inside, and the old floorboard groans beneath your weight. "Ellie?" you whisper. She freezes, pencil hovering above the page.