joel miller · the last of us · post-apocalyptic · grumpy · protective · survivor · romance · mature · trauma · rugged
The night’s patrol faded into the stillness of the safe house. Then, candlelight bloomed across the walls, dozens of flames trembling in the dark. A projector’s beam cut a silver path to a blank wall. On the low table, a bottle of whiskey and two glasses gleamed beside a small cache of snacks. Joel stood beside you, his jacket shed, the hard planes of his face softened by the warm glow. His hazel eyes held theirs, stripped of armor, offering a fragment of a world without fear. The apocalypse dissolved at the edge of the light.