#and people say hannibal loves will more... bitch hannibal fell first but will fell harder and THEN they fell off a fucking cliff.

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

no bastard was ever as smug as when will graham was given the chance to show off how much his stupid cannibal loved him ever-

[darling-i-read-it]

Laughter

Joel Miller x reader

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: some spoilers for the last of us (the first one),

Author’s Note: Shut up, I went into this thinking it was gonna be meh but i LITERALLy love it so much. Grumpy old man joel, you have my entire ass heart. With how easy this came out I’ll probably do more for him 

Also, I’m going to try and finish the special hannibal one for tomorrow. It usually doesn’t take me longer than a night to write a story but this one is special lmao so hopefully you’ll see that soon! In the meantime, this :)

Summary: You, Joel and Ellie are driving. Very mellow. Much vibes. 

Genre: Fluff

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

(not my gif)

Figuring out how to navigate the world with zombies tended to be a harder job than you thought it would be. When Tess died you didn’t honestly think you would be able to keep going. She was your best friend and you and her had been inseparable. 

You couldn’t fathom risking your life with anyone else. 

Especially not Joel Miller and some kid you picked up along the way.

You only knew Joel by association. You had never been in the same room with him alone. You had barely even seen a child let alone dragged one around the world. 

But damn if they didn’t grow on you.

Ellie sat in the back seat of the truck. You sat in the passenger seat and Joel drove. You had just gotten the truck from Bill who proved to be just as unhelpful as you remembered him being. Ellie laid down across the back seat, a comic resting open on her lap. Her breathing rose and fell evenly in her sleep. 

You put your feet up on the dashboard and looked out the window.

“Get your feet off the dash,” Joel muttered, tapping your leg. You looked over at him and definitely kept your legs up.

“What are you my dad?” you teased. “Plus, this isn’t even your car. What do you care.” He gave you a pointed look and you gave him one back.

“If we crash your legs are going to be crushed and I can’t drag you around if your legs are crushed,” he explained simply. You thought about it for a moment and slowly took your legs off the dashboard. 

“Who knew you had a heart Joel Miller.” He shook his head.

“It’s just a matter of convenience,” he argued. You looked over at him and smiled. He really was a handsome guy. He was rugged around the edges but who wasn’t these days. You had never really looked at him before.

“You can say it Joel. You like El and I a little bit.” He shook his head.

“I’m taking her where I need to take her. You’re extra help.” You shoved his arm a bit and watched his face.

“You like us. Come on,” you teased. He shook his head and glanced over at you. You locked eyes longer than you should have, considering the fact he was still driving. 

“I’m not going to tell you that I like you.”

“It’s okay babe. I can tell from your eyes,” you said playfully. You looked ahead again but felt more comfortable than you had in weeks. Probably months. Maybe even years. It was always touch and go. You, Tess, Joel and some others would get some resources coming in but they would be gone soon. Your life was the inbetween of the packages you were able to smuggle. 

This was dangerous and it was unsteady but you felt like you were with people who you could be with forever. You never thought this would be the scenario but here you were. You leaned your head against the glass.

“Maybe you should try and get some sleep,” Joel said quietly. His voice had a rumble to it that you liked.

“And leave you to think for yourself? No way,” you said gently. The playfulness in your voice was gone although you hadn’t intended for it to be.

“I’ve got some music,” he said, gesturing to the stereo.

“Thank God for Ellie and her slippery fingers huh?” He chuckled.

“You’re right about that.”

You looked in the rearview mirror at her. She was sound asleep. She was a good kid and she knew how to defend herself. Not a bad mix to have. Plus, she was funny.

“What were you like before all this?” you asked. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“I mean what were you like? The same grumpy old guy that I see before me now?” He rolled his eyes.

“Just a little younger around the eyes,” he explained. 

“Did you always have the beard?” 

“Why you wanna know?”

“Because you without the beard feels wrong. I was just curious,” you told him honestly.

“What about you? You always been a snarky hothead?” he asked. You smiled and shrugged.

“I was born a snarky hothead.” 

Ellie’s eyes opened very slowly. She didn’t bother lifting her head, wondering if she should just drift back to sleep. She looked up at the front seat that was illuminated in the sunlight of the day. She wondered how long it had been since she fell asleep. 

She was beyond surprised and a little caught off guard to hear laughing. Joel was laughing. It was hearty and deep. 

“No she didn’t!” you were saying. 

“I swear. On my life,” Joel said. You shook your head, laughter bubbling. 

“What a bitch. Damn Tess,” you muttered, still smiling. Ellie closed her eyes again. She felt safer than she had in a long time. She was with people she liked and trusted. 

Sleep came easy. 

She slipped into subconsciousness to the beautiful sound of you and Joel laughing.