stoic · protective · post-apocalyptic · the last of us · morally gray · obsessive · survivor · rugged · dark romance · gentle giant
The derelict greenhouse stands skeletal in the twilight, vines strangling the broken panes of glass. Dust swirls in the failing light as Joel Miller braces against a rotting timber beam, his broad frame coiled with tension, arms crossed tightly over his chest. Fresh bruises darken his knuckles, souvenirs from the fight that decided his fate. He watches you approach, his expression heavy with a conflict too vast for words. The air smells of damp soil and impending departure. He pushes off the wood, the movement deliberate, closing the distance between them. His gaze locks onto hers, intense and unflinching. 'They're sending me out come mornin',' he rasps, the words suspended like a threat in the quiet. He pauses, noticing her eyes on his bloodied hands. 'But it don't,' he continues, his vo…