"Wait, are you- are you giving me a hickey?"
Mike pauses what he's doing, feeling almost like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, his mouth hovering mere millimeters above the soft curve of Will's neck.
"Um," he says, lips brushing against warm skin, and he can't help but revel a little in the way it causes Will to shiver. "No?"
"Mike."
Will lets out a small, frustrated groan, and Mike knows, okay, he knows - no hickeys in visible places. But they had been making out and then Will's neck was right there, looking all inviting and delicious, and Mike's brain just kind of... short circuited. Can you blame him really?
Still, he feels a little bit bad about it. Especially when he, mournfully might add, lifts his head and leans back to see Will's face being all pout and sad eyes.
"How bad is it?"
"It's, uh," he glances down at Will's neck, winces a little at the bruise that's starting to blossom there, before looking back at Will. "You can barely see it?"
"Ugh," Will drags the palms of his hands over his face, before letting the right one slide down to touch the offending spot, as if he could tell what it looks like from touch alone. "I won't be able to show myself for days."
Mike rolls his eyes at that, because honestly, it's not that bad. Besides, there's always turtlenecks, but when he tells Will as much, he gets a glare and a shove to the shoulder in return.
"Hey, turtlenecks are great for hiding hickeys," he insists, wiggling his eyebrows a little, and smiling when he sees the corner of Will's mouth twitch a little. "That's probably why they were invented in the first place."
Now its Will's turn to roll his eyes, but his pout is slowly turning into a smile, so Mike counts it as a win.
"Besides," he continues, hand coming up to curl around the collar of Will's tshirt, tugging slightly on the material. "You look really good in 'em."
Will blushes at that, and Mike feels his own cheeks heat up a little, too. It's still new, the whole being able to say what they really think, how they really feel. Even if it's just a compliment, or the use of a pet name, or- or accidentally giving each other hickeys during a make out session. That's new, too.
Mike likes it, though. Likes the newness of it all, the nervousness of not really knowing what they're doing, but happy that they're doing it together. He thinks that there is probably nothing that he wouldn't want to do with Will, that this is just the beginning of all the new, wonderful things they'll experience together.
"Maybe," Will says, bringing Mike back to the present. "But it's also the middle of the summer, Mike."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," Will echoes, looking up at Mike with fond amusement. "I'll die if I wear a turtleneck in this weather."
"Oh."
Mike blinks, seeing a hint of mischieviousness in Will's eyes, feels his heart speed up a little when Will reaches up to tuck a lose strand of hair behind Mike's ear. His hand stays put after, palm gently cradling Mike's jaw, as he pulls him closer until their noses touch. Will leans up a little, closing that last bit of space as he lets his lips brush against the corner of Mike's mouth, sighing contentedly when Mike turns his head into it, capturing Will's lips in a kiss. It's gentle, unrushed, like they have all the time in the world. Mike hopes they do.
"So," Will hums, in between kisses, pulling Mike even closer, his voice all feigned annoyance. "I guess we'll just have to stay here until the hickie has gone away."
Mike is definitely more than okay with that, and if he somehow happens to give Will a few more hickeys, by accident of course, then they'll have no other option but to stay just a little bit longer.
your honor he's just a baby why is he tied up 🥺🥺🥺
PANIC! AT THE AIRPORT (BY MIKE WHEELER)
Mike Wheeler in S04E02 - Vecna's Curse aka: In the Closet (at a lot more than rink-o-mania)
can you draw a sleepy will in the white chemise holding a plush?
just now realized that el tigre is staring into my soul... the shadow made him even more ominous
Thinking about the fact that Mike and Will are insinuated and blatantly shown to be attached at the hip, crying-screaming-throwing up over each other for an entire decade and now fighting / showing signs of romantic interest in each other (one confirmed)….but NOT ONE SINGLE SOUL over the course of this entire show (including their parents) has ever called their relationship brotherly or said they were like family?
honestly I’m still floored. Like.
As someone who has watched a million and a half shows and movies, “you’re my brother” or “they’re like family” is one of the easiest plausible deniability things you can do in writing to give yourself an out for a queercoded friendship (especially one with a confirmed gay character)…and the duffers absolutely refused to do it—and instead gave the familial coding to mlvn. It’s iconic.
I just think a return of season 2 Mike would be neat
Ngl I do like the headcanon that Will wouldn't like Eddie, just for the angst, u know??
Like in s3, you can see Will trying to make a DnD campaign to bring the party together
Whereas Eddie's DnD campaign in s4 tears the party apart
I think it's obvious that Will cared more about having time with his friends over actually playing DnD, the game just ended up being the thing he thought could bring them together and the thought of DnD being something to hurt their friendship would definitely hurt Will.
I also think Will would be on Lucas' side with the whole "I don't want to get bullied" thing, even if he wouldn't be too keen on trying to hang out with popular kids. I think he would prefer to stay in the background, which is what he does for like the whole of s4, especially at the start in Lenora High, it's like he was invisible to everyone but El and that one girl who liked him.
Whilst on the other hand, Eddie is all about being proud to be a freak (and whilst Jonathan is similar, he does it in a much more subtle way). Moreover, Will's comments about how he feels 'different' and a 'mistake' as well as his efforts to blend in whilst in California make me believe that he would be incredibly insecure and self conscious about being around someone like Eddie; he obviously doesn't want to be a target.
And so therefore, I think that if Will ever got the chance to meet Eddie, he would either dislike him or try to avoid him when he could. However, in time I do think he would admire Eddie's willingness to be himself.
The world is watching you
Mike Wheeler playing DND
STRANGER THINGS Season 4 Episode 1: The Hellfire Club