Oh, I know Tess has called Joel good boy at least once just to see what his reaction would be. She asks him a favor, like, maybe she asks him to fetch something for her from the other room or something. And then when he hands her whatever it was that she asked for, she tells him "good boy. thank you" and he pauses for a second before just giving her a nod and walking away feeling all sorts of giddy and weird on the inside. He'll never admit he kinda liked it.
The first time Tess called him a "good boy" Joel froze mid-step like someone just tased him. His brain did a full system reboot. For half a second you could actually see the smoke coming out of his ears while his dignity and his praise kink had a very awkward standoff.
He eventually managed a gruff little nod, muttered something that sounded vaguely like "yeah" and walked off trying to look like the same brooding apocalypse dad he's always been.
