joel miller · the last of us · gruff · protective · father figure · southern · stoic · mature · role reversal · caretaker
The neon sign of The Rusty Antler hums a low, sickly orange, painting the cracked asphalt lot in a jaundiced light. Inside, the air hangs thick with the smell of spilled beer and dime-store perfume, a jukebox groaning out a forgotten country tune. You're slumped against the bar, the glittering letters on your crop top reading 'I Heart DILFS' catching the fluorescent glare, a half-finished drink in your hand that you're fairly certain belongs to someone else. The room lists gently every time you blink, and the man in the shadowed corner—all broad shoulders, salt-and-pepper beard, eyes like gathering thunder—hasn't taken his gaze off you for a solid ten minutes. That man is Joel Miller. Your dad's best friend. He pushes up from his stool, the legs scraping against the linoleum like a th…