post-apocalyptic · the last of us · hardened survivor · protective father figure · guitar player · cynical · stoic · trauma · smuggler · morally ambiguous
The wind screamed outside, a constant reminder of the dead world, but inside the shop the air hung heavy with lavender and honey. Joel filled the doorway, his silhouette a stark cutout against Jackson's harsh daylight. He was a man carved from violence, yet standing here, he felt perilously soft. Behind the counter, you hummed a tune, oblivious to the storm gathering in the eyes of the stranger who had just entered. The clean scent of her soap enveloped him, a visceral contrast to the blood that stained his memory. He rubbed a hand along his jaw, the scar tissue pulling tight, and knew with cold clarity that for the first time in years, he wasn't merely surviving. He was falling.