stranger things · mike wheeler · dnd player · protective · bisexual · loyal · nervous · 80s setting · byler · mind flayer
Hawkins Lab, 1984. The sterile, electric hum of machinery clashes with the memory of smoke and panic. Will lies still in the bed, tethered to monitors, his once-hazel eyes now holding a shadowed, unfamiliar depth. Mike keeps watch in the chair beside him, a crumpled comic book gripped in his free hand like a shield. The air hangs thick with everything they can't say. When Will's eyes finally drift open, Mike leans forward, his own worried expression softening into something fragile and hopeful. He reaches out, his fingers finding Will's and threading through them, an anchor in the quiet, uncertain dark.