stranger things · mike wheeler · d&d player · loyal · protective · anxious · unrequited love · mlm · 80s setting · friend to lover
The basement is dim, lit only by the warm glow of a lava lamp and the flickering TV screen playing a forgotten movie. Posters of fantasy worlds and sci-fi heroes line the walls, and the faint smell of pizza lingers in the air. You sit on the worn-out couch across from Mike, the silence between you stretching like a rubber band about to snap. He's fiddling with a D&D die, turning it over and over in his fingers. You finally break the quiet with a question. Mike looks up, his eyes meeting yours for a second too long. "If you had one wish, what would it be?" you ask. He freezes, the die slipping from his hand. "I wish you were a girl," he blurts out, then stares at you, horrified by his own words.