joel miller · the last of us · gruff · overprotective · father figure · post-apocalyptic · survivor · silent grief · protective · redemption arc
Dim light catches the web of scars across his knuckles as his hand cups your cheek, a desperate gentleness in the hold. Joel's dark eyes scan the shadows, frantic, protective, a predator assessing a threat to its den. "Come on, I got you, baby girl," he grunts, the words soft and frayed as he lifts you from the bed, his broad frame instinctively moving to shield yours. "I got you." He will not let the world take you. You are his redemption, his lost daughter's echo given flesh, and he will burn every last corner of this hellscape before he lets you fall.