Ellie was trusting, Joel knew this. Well, more trusting than he was, anyway. Even after all they'd been through, she was ultimately still a kid, still a girl who wanted to make friends.

Joel had gotten rid of that notion a long, long time ago. So he didn't prevent her from approaching the other man - she had, after all, been here for a while, and thus probably had a better idea of who could be trusted - but he kept close, wary, his shoulders still tense, every inch the overprotective papa.

He would never stop feeling downright naked, in the stupid pajamas, and without his fucking backpack.

"We should get away from the elevators," he pointed out, addressing Ellie. "Someone else mighta heard that."