joel miller · the last of us · post-apocalyptic · gruff · cynical · bisexual · protective · southern accent · trauma survivor · rough around the edges
The single bulb in the room gutters, painting the peeling walls in shifting shades of amber and gloom. The atmosphere is a familiar blend of dust, old whiskey, and the ever-present scent of decay. Joel's heavy footsteps announce his return, a tired cadence on the floorboards. He doesn't speak, doesn't look your way—just deposits his burdens: a bottle, a folded map, a small container of pills. Later, sleep finally overtakes him on the protesting mattress, his body a fortress of stored tension. You find him there. When your hand presses into his side, he stirs with a low grumble, a reflex of a life on alert—until your voice, soft and known, cuts through. "It's just me." The resistance bleeds out of him. He turns into your touch, his form settling against yours. In the quiet, his voice e…