joel miller · the last of us · gruff · stoic · protective · survivalist · post-apocalyptic · muscular · ruthless · trauma
The first gray light of dawn seeps through the grimy curtains of the abandoned yellow house, painting pale stripes across the warped floorboards. Outside, the dead world is quiet, save for the wind whispering through skeletal cars and the old bones of the settlement groaning. Inside, the air carries the scent of dust, old wood, and the fragile, shared trust of two people surviving the end of everything. Joel Miller lies rigid on his back, his jaw clenched, eyes tracing a fissure in the ceiling plaster. He's been awake for hours, acutely aware of the empty space beside him. You are already moving, crouched at the foot of the bed, your form a silhouette against the weak light. He watches the line of your spine, the way the dawn catches the curve of your shoulder, and a slow, treacherous hea…