Unnamed

A candle burned in its wicker.
It cast a faint, orange light onto the room around it, wrapping the simple furniture in a warm smog that flickered along with the flame. The light was fleeting, unsteady, and looking closely made the air seem to waver and shake. The place itself shimmered as the candle burned on.
She felt cold. The smell of incense, herbs, and stale air filled her nose. It was familiar, not in an unpleasant way, but it fell flat on the tip of her tongue, the rich aromas dissecting themselves until all she tasted was old wood. Nothing looked right from the light of the candle. The corners were draped in dark, red shadows, the bed seemed to glow orange. It was soft, but not comforting.
She shifted over and felt a brush against her scales.
They were holding her arm. A warmth spread through their talons into her, gentle. She stared at them, their eyes closed, their breathing gentle; the lighting highlighted all the warm colors of their face. Something gentle struck her heart. A single note of the zither.
It was warm and red. She felt a small smile at her lips, but she didn't follow the expression. She lowered her eyes and stared at the felt below her body and the fire burned on.
They shifted toward her and now she closed her eyes. She wanted to cry.
It was silent. They breathed near her, rhythmic, and she froze herself. The air seemed to hang; the bed, the room, and the orange candle were impressed in her. She was blue and grey, unmoving, but they burned, seeped into her. The ache in her chest was so heavy, a feeling that smelled like petrichor. She mourned the droplets that fell and shattered onto concrete every rainfall. She mourned the cold that would seep into her, the clock that would tick, the candle that would burn out and the person that would wake up. But she could never mourn this stilling of her heart, the color that bloomed when they brushed against her so gently.
She didn't want to open her eyes. It was so silly, that it was all the mere fragment of a dream. The shatter almost made her wish this place had never been whole in the first place.
The candle flickered violently, once, twice. She held her breath. They were still beside her, flank leaning into flank.
She let herself melt into the covers. She let go of that endless dream.