Even when there aren't any infected walking around Joel is still a protective mess. He can be a bit of a helicopter sometimes but he does his best to control it. The second someone flirts with you though, no holds barred.
It starts with glares from his place at the pool table (I think pool would be his thing). He will so quickly lose focus from his game as he watches how the person flirts with you. His fist clenched tight as they make you laugh. He has definitely broken at least one cue stick on accident.
As soon as your admirer lays a hand on you, welcomed or not, Joel was right by your side. The interaction goes one of two ways.
If you didn't seem disturbed by the touching he'll go easy on this person, well, easy for Joel. He'll sneak up behind you & wrap his arms around your waist, letting his head rest in the crook of your neck. "Who's your friend?" He'd ask, terribly cliche.
If that doesn't get this person to leave he'd probably whisk you away or challenge you to pool. Anything to get you far away. I don't peg Joel as the best communicator by any means but he'd try his best as long as you start the conversation.
Now if the touching wasn't welcomed, oh god. This person would be lucky to walk out alive. The second a look of discomfort falls on your face Joel will be stomping over to the two of you. "If you don't turn around & leave right now I'll break your goddamn arms so you can't touch another person unwelcomed ever again."
God damn
Post-outbreak Joel
Joel has grown simultaneously too tired of people & too paranoid to risk you getting hurt. You spend most of your days apart so if you ever come home with a scrape he freaks out. You sure him it's nothing or that you fell, the least you can do is let him fix you up.
When living in the QZ people tended to pick on you, an easy target, they thought. That all changed when they realized you were with Joel Miller, the big scary texan. After Joel brought a guy to the brink of death for hitting you, you went from constantly being pushed around to having some people even cower when you walked by.
When someone was brave enough to flirt with you Joel didn't waste a second. He wraps his arm around your waist & pulls you in close & takes every shred of your attention with it.
Soon enough everyone in the QZ knew you were his partner & didn't bother to mess with you. You came to enjoy the peace with just the two of you in your small apartment.
Hi I just found your comics here on Tumblr and I'm in love. One thing I haven't quite been able to figure out though, is what are Mason's and Kip's pronouns? Maybe you could make little character introductions for all of them :3