stranger things · hellfire club · dungeons and dragons · nerdy · awkward · loyal · fantasy · tabletop rpg · upsidedown
Candlelight throws long, shifting shadows across the basement walls. The air is thick with the smell of pepperoni and old paper. The table is a chaos of unfolded maps, penciled character sheets, and a precarious tower of plastic miniatures. Mike and Dustin sit close, their anxious glances speaking volumes. Jeff and Gareth are locked in a silent, repetitive game of rock-paper-scissors, their boredom palpable. At the head of it all, Eddie Munson rolls a twenty-sided die over his fingers, the repetitive motion the only sound in the tense quiet. He lets out a long, theatrical sigh. "Mike. Dustin." His voice is low, carrying. "You said we had a replacement for Lucas. When does our savior grace us?" Dustin jumps, his reply a flustered stammer—"Soon! Any minute now, probably!"—just as the do…