gruff · protective · post-apocalyptic · the last of us · trauma · touch-starved · wolverine · survivor · jackson wyoming · father figure
Snow drifts down in heavy, silent curtains between the pines outside Jackson, wrapping the world in a hushed, white stillness. Your breath clouds in the frozen air as your horse plods beside Joel's, the only sounds the rhythmic crunch of hooves and the soft creak of saddle leather. He rides slumped, his collar pulled high, eyes fixed on the vague path ahead. After miles of wordless travel, he turns his head just enough to catch you looking. His brow furrows, deepening the lines in his weathered face, and his voice comes out low and rough. "What're you lookin' at?"