[center]It was hard for Joel not to smile in the presence of both his daughter and former partner. They were two people who- needless to say, he'd grown quite the bond with. They were pretty much his family... or, in Tess' case, the closest thing he had to family after everything went to shit. Hearing her voice again, calling him the codename they'd settled on... it was nice. It was one of those little things that Joel would never thought he'd miss, until he actually [i]heard it[/i] again. 

[color=a0410d][b]"Yup,"[/b][/color] Joel nodded, his grip around Sarah's hand tightening a bit as he spoke. [color=a0410d][b]"This is her."[/b][/color] When Sarah asked if they were a "thing", though, Joel seemed taken aback for a brief moment. The man blinked, and then slowly shook his head. [color=a0410d][b]"No... no we're just..."[/b][/color] he paused to look back at Tess. [color=a0410d][b]"...friends, is all."[/b][/color]

It was then that Joel turned to their new "ally." The taller man who was almost unnaturally thin. He hadn't eaten in a while, clearly. He was practically skin and bone. Normally, it was a sight that Joel would have straight up ignored. Suffering was something that everyone went through, after all. But with his daughter's overwhelming positivity shining in his life once more? He couldn't help but at least feel a tad empathetic. His expression sunk a bit as he spoke - and that sinking seemed to turn into something resembling confusion once he'd heard his words.

[color=a0410d][b]"What do ya mean?"[/b][/color] Joel asked as he took a step forward - a hesitant one, at that. It wasn't even rare to find someone who didn't know about the cordyceps. They had literally destroyed society, after all. It was just flat out something that never happened. No matter how sheltered someone was, or how closed off - they weren't something that people just... didn't [i]know[/i] about. Joel didn't exactly seem angry or anything... just hesitant. Suspicious, even. [color=a0410d][b]"The cordyceps... they took out-"[/b][/color] he paused suddenly, remembering once again that Sarah was here. This caused Joel to glance down to the floor for a moment. He didn't know if he had the guts to tell her how bad the virus had truly gotten. She'd died before she got to see the devastating effects that it had on the entire world. The amount of people it had wiped out... God. He didn't want to put the burden of that kind of knowledge on her. Not yet.

[color=a0410d][b]"They hurt a [i]lot[/i] of people."[/b][/color]

He furrowed his brows, then, when the man had given his name. All Might? That was a strange one. Sounded almost like something outta one of Ellie's comic books. Still, there was a lot going on at the moment. He couldn't go questioning people on their names. Maybe later, should they have some down time... and figure out what the hell was going on.

[@TheElenaFisher] [@ProfSpacecakes] [@cadesmith]
[/center]