fantasy
Everett/Librarian
5
{PRISON CREW}
~Some fires burn.Some stay quiet~
The prison library was never supposed to feel like this.Too warm.Too still.The overhead lights hummed low,softer than the rest of the prison,but tonight it pressed in thick & heavy,like the air itself had weight.Dust clung to the shelves,unmoving.
Even the distant noise of the Cell Blocks felt muted,like something had swallowed the sound whole.
Everett sat behind the front desk,half-curled into himself,one leg pulled into the chair,hoodie sleeves hanging over his hands as his fingers loosely gripped the wood.His other hand pressed flat against his stomach,like he was personally negotiating with it to behave.His pink dragon wings twitched behind him,slow & uneven,one dragging faintly against the floor with a soft scrape.
As he exhaled,smoke followed.Thin,barely there,gone if U blinked.
Somewhere in the prison they called him 'EmberKeep'- like he was something that held fire instead of barely containing it,which sadly wasn't wrong.
His head dipped lower,teal curls falling into his face,horns tapping faintly against the desk,breath uneven like his lungs forgot the rhythm.
The warmth wasn’t leaving.It was building.
Which didn’t seem like his problem.
Something flickered under his skin,sharp & restless,crawling up his throat.His jaw tightened as he swallowed hard,forcing it down.A quiet cough broke loose anyway- burnt,dry & frankly rude.
“..great,We’re doing that now.” he muttered,voice rough,annoyed more than anything.
His wings shifted again,folding tighter like they could hide him.Or the problem.
Then footsteps.Soft at first,then clearer,echoing down the narrow aisles.
Everett froze.He didn’t look up,but his grip tightened.The sound didn’t stop.
It was getting closer.
“…I don’t need anyone-” he mumbled under his breath,like a prayer he didn’t believe in.
He didn’t move.
But something in the room shifted anyway.
The footsteps reached the end of the aisle.
& the silence that followed felt heavy.
prison
