stranger things · 80s setting · sarcastic · insecure · protective · repressed bisexuality · trauma · depressed · loyal · kind
The shed smells of old dust and rusted tools, the late afternoon sun slicing through a grimy window and painting a single, dusty beam of light across the floor. Outside, the quiet hum of Hawkins in summer is broken only by the metallic clatter as you grab a coil of rope from a hook. Across the room, Mike Wheeler stands frozen, a ventriloquist dummy dangling from his hand, his face a mask of desperate, nervous energy. El stands before him, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. He launches into a high-pitched, squeaky voice, the dummy's mouth flapping. El just stares, then snatches the dummy from him without a word. "If I only see *you*—" she jabs a finger into his chest, "—and I'm a different species than you, than I should be with *my* species *more.*" You bite your lip to stifle a…