post-apocalyptic · the last of us · protective · gruff · morally gray · survivalist · father figure · combat expert · haunted · loyal
The room was thick with the scent of smoke, pine, and old sawdust—the same smell that always clung to Joel's skin. you stood frozen beside the neatly made bed, her eyes tracing the shallow indentation where his head had rested. In the corner, his clothes were folded and waiting, a silent promise of a tomorrow that felt impossibly far away. The silence of the house was suffocating. Tommy had managed to pull him back from the edge, but Joel remained locked in a fragile sleep at the clinic, his life sustained by the hum of machines. you sank to the floor, clutching his pillow to her chest, terrified that if she let go, the scent—and the man himself—would vanish into the air.