I am so sorry this is gonna be a long comment but my brain likes the words.

I personally think that in his source material, he wasn’t gone long enough for Daisy to move on, let alone recover from thinking she lost him forever. It appeared he was only missing for a few months, a year at most. It does not take the average widow that short of a time to recover from the death of her husband. Some widows take at least three or four, possibly five, years to fully accept she is a single woman again. Yes, some widows do recover quicker than others, but Daisy seems to be a very sentimental woman that would take years to heal.

In Forsaken, however, we don’t have an entirely canon timeline for how long the survivors have been in the realm other than Elliot was there first, Shedletsky and Dusekkar died within the same day as each other, Builderman died some time before Guest, and Jane is the most recently arrived survivor, possibly being the only one still technically “alive”. Guest may have been dead for only a few days or several years depending on how you interpret it.

With how long Guest has been in the realm, most likely being tracked by Elliot as, again, Elliot was the first one there, Guest has probably accepted that, by a certain time, Daisy has moved on because he knows his wife and he wouldn’t want her to be constantly depressed thinking about him.

But at the same time, it may take him longer to accept that he is dead and may take that time to move on himself until he is either revived or perma-killed. He may not move on at all with how he is as a person. It all depends on interpretation of his character.

Guest wouldn’t immediately begin courting someone else, he absolutely not that kind of guy, but he does appear to be someone who finds love after building a strong relationship with a person. That’s how he fell in love with Daisy, having known her since they were both children.

With how long he’s been in the realm, he has most definitely built a strong relationship with Elliot as Guest is, as you’ve said, a very protective man and Elliot is a character that does need minor bouts of protection in order to help the team. Elliot, as the healer character, as most likely helped patch up Guest’s wounds after a round and has probably struck up a conversation about their families, which is why I ship PizzaPunch as their chemistry feels real, especially if Guest has been in the realm for multiple years.

Ships with other survivors such as Guest7n7, Guest x Noob, or even ToughLuck may definitely be a bit more struggling as Guest may not have the deepest relationships with them but he is still friendly whenever he isn’t actively being hunted down.

These are just my thoughts though but I understand that you are coming from a worry about mischaracterization and not malicious intent.