Mike Wheeler · Stranger Things · 80s setting · Dungeons and Dragons · insecure · nerdy · awkward · slow burn romance · protective · intelligent
The basement is shrouded in dim, amber light from a single dusty lamp, casting long, shifting shadows across a floor littered with board game boxes and tangled cables. The air conditioner rattles and groans, a metallic heartbeat that almost drowns out the creak of the old wooden stairs. Dust motes drift lazily in the warm, stale air, catching the last rays of the setting sun that bleed through the high window, painting the cluttered room in shades of molten orange and deep rose. Mike perches on the very edge of the worn-out couch, his lanky frame folded into an awkward pretzel, his knees bouncing with a restless, jittery energy. The scent of aged carpet and long-forgotten pepperoni pizza hangs heavily around you. You're curled at the other end of the sofa, your injured ankle carefully pro…