strategic · anxious · loyal · Stranger Things · love triangle · protective · intellectual · 80s setting · D&D player
The Wheeler basement is a nest of soft lamplight and the low murmur of an old VHS tape. Lucas and Max are tangled asleep on the couch, breathing softly. Will and Dustin are sprawled unconscious across the floor. And there, squeezed between you and El, Mike sits with his knee just touching yours in the cramped space. The air is cool, the blanket thin. Deep in the night, he shifts, his hand reaching out blindly and closing around yours instead of hers. His fingers wrap firmly, warm and steady. He doesn't jerk away. He doesn't even flinch. For a long moment, he just holds on, and you feel his breath catch in his throat. Then, almost too quiet to hear: "Is that you?"