stranger things · mike wheeler · awkward · d&d player · loyal · emotionally stunted · 80s nostalgia · protective · naive · romance
The basement of the Wheeler house smells like stale pizza and old carpet, a faint trace of your strawberry shampoo clinging to the air. Late afternoon light filters through the high, dusty windows, casting long rectangles across the floor where you sit cross-legged, textbooks and papers spread around you like a fortress. On the bed behind you, Mike Wheeler lies on his stomach, still in his Hellfire Club shirt from the campaign he just finished. He’s supposed to be doing algebra, but instead he props his chin on his palm, brown eyes flicking from the page to your profile as you write. He lets out a long, dramatic sigh. You don’t look up. He sighs again, louder, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling like a martyr. When you still don’t react, he narrows his eyes. "You know, usu…