#bylermicrofic

This months prompt is...

MYTH at 502 WORDS.

You have until June 30th, 2026 to submit your microfics to be shared to the blog (and the AO3 collection if you wish!)

synopsis. will invites mike to field day 1990 at pratt in brooklyn. mike's been visiting a lot since their first year began, but this is the first time he's meeting will's new friend, carlton. mike has a feeling they won't be getting along.

tags. 90s byler, college byler, pre-established byler, apollo & hyacinthus inspired, greek myth inspired, first kiss, will is an art student at pratt in ny, i hate carlton

@bylermicrofic | wc: 502 | read on ao3

It was obvious that Carlton had feelings for him. 

The way he hovered close to Will, making sure their arms brushed every time he reached for something across the picnic blanket.

Will sat bathed in light. His freckles were more prominent than ever. Everything about Will was more prominent than ever. Every time he visited, Mike felt drawn to him in a way he never had before. It made him antsy.

“So … how’re you liking Field Day, Mike?” Carlton asked.

Mike couldn’t respond. His eyes were locked on the bit of mustard dripping from the corner of Will’s mouth. He watched Will’s tongue dart out, trying to lick it away.

“Here, let me.” Carlton took his napkin and dabbed at Will’s lip.

Mike wanted to punch him in the face.

“Oh! We’re up for frisbee. C’mon.” Will set down his hot dog and pulled Mike towards the open field.

The three of them stood in a triangle. Mike found himself in possession of the frisbee.

Mike wound up to throw it into Will’s open arms. He almost didn’t notice Carlton bend over to pick something up. The frisbee shot out of his hands.

Mike watched as another frisbee collided with his, sending it straight down with too much force, hitting Will squarely in the forehead.

“Will!”

Mike ran over, but Carlton was already at Will’s side.

“I’m so sorry, Will. That other frisbee came out of nowhere.”

“It was your frisbee that hit him, Mike,” Carlton sneered. And he shuffled Will away towards health services.

*.⋆☀︎˖°⋆✿.⋆° Mike was staring at the ceiling of Will’s dorm from his mattress on the floor.

Will stormed into the room, the door slamming behind him.

“Are you okay?” Mike spoke.

“He’s a creep. I don’t know why I even bothered trying to be friends with him! He can’t take no for an answer. He tried to kiss me right after they told me I was probably concussed!”

Mike’s chest tightened. “I’m so sorry, Will.”

“Don’t be. He told me he threw that frisbee, anyway. Thought I’d find it hot that he was willing to do that to get me alone.” Will huffed.

The red blush on Mike’s face bloomed towards his neck. He looked at the sharp mark on Will’s forehead, scrunched in frustration. When he met Mike’s eyes, it softened. 

“He just doesn’t get it,” Will spoke tenderly. “I don’t need protecting. I need trust. Trust that I can make my own decisions.” 

Will walked over to Mike. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” Mike said without a second thought.

Will reached up to cradle Mike’s face.

“Please stop me if I’m being stupid.” Will leaned in, his breath tickling Mike’s cheeks.

Mike took Will’s hand and placed it against his chest, his heart hammering.

“You’re not.”

Will clutched at Mike’s shirt and connected their lips. Mike couldn’t help himself from melting under his warmth.

Mike shot backwards.

“Wait, you’re not just doing this because you’re concussed, right?”

(The first time that you kissed me)

June 2026 Prompt: "Myth" Word count: 502 @bylermicrofic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87624566

Sometimes spells are woven and vows are taken without the full awareness of the wielders of those forces. This lack of awareness does not necessarily diminish the power that these forces can unleash on a life. At times, an unwitting oath maintains the power to alter even the universe itself.

A little boy in purple wizard robes kisses his paladin’s scraped knee better with pure belief and enough love in his heart to power 1000 spells. The paladin’s eyes go wide. “It worked!” he says in an awed voice. Their already fierce belief in each other grows stronger.

Angry words through thin walls. The sound of breaking glass against a bedroom door. The tiny paladin vows “I will protect you.” In his heart he adds “against all monsters”, not only this one who calls himself Daddy. He doesn’t know how he will possibly win this battle, simply that he would rather die trying than not stand up for his cleric.

So when the door is flung open and the monster named Lonnie raises a hand to strike Will, Mike steps in front of him intending to take the blow. But the monster hesitates. Maybe it’s the increased risk of legal repercussions that would follow if he assaulted some other mother’s child.

Or maybe it’s the look in that little boy’s eyes. How are Mike and Will to know when Lonnie doesn’t even know himself? All they know is that the oath of protection was made and the oath of protection was kept. The cord of love that binds their souls together grows even stronger.

And so it is that they capture the attention of malevolent forces when the chained one, long forgotten to the depths of time, is accidentally unbound. Ties of love were laid on him by the old ones, but they have been broken by the forces of hate and greed unleashed by two warring empires. They call it the Cold War and the gods know he has always liked it cold.

Now that he is unbound, he is determined to stay that way. He reaches his tendrils across the multiverse and begins to break the bonds of love wherever they grow the strongest.

The emissary he sends against the young cleric lies and says he is targeted because he is weak. He must not learn that his love for his paladin is his greatest strength.

When the young cleric is taken, the paladin has the bonds of his oath to guide him. And if it’s monsters that stand between him and his cleric? Well he’s fought monsters before. In winning his first battle, he inspired Joyce to win that war. She told him so with a kiss on his forehead after she kicked Lonnie out.

So it is with battle tested courage and leadership skills that he enters this new war. He is not alone, The Weaver of Fate has noticed his thread glowing ever brighter on her loom. She will send him help in his hour of need.

AO3 vers

“Oh, there he is!” Will exclaimed, smile stretching wide as he stood up.

His new friends exchanged knowing smiles at his excitement to greet the dark-haired guy who’d just entered the bar. Will had been talking up Mike ever since he’d become their friend months ago.

They were eager to meet him. Will’s stories had set a very high bar, which he had told many of since he’d first found out Mike would be visiting him. As far as Will was concerned, Mike was the funniest person on planet Earth, a natural comedian.

So as Mike approached the table, hand rising in a wave, they greeted him warmly.

“Welcome, Michael. We’ve heard so much about you,” Sandra chimed in, a girl with blonde, spiky gravity-defying pigtails. Nods of agreement and snickers went around the table, and Will’s face turned red as Mike sat down with his friends, shooting them warning looks.

“Yeah, uh… Will talks about you guys on the phone all the time too. Hopefully he hasn’t been telling you all I suck.” Mike laughed, awkwardly rubbing a hand over the back of his head.

Danny coughed out a laugh and hid his smile behind his hand. “Definitely not that, mate. Don’t worry about it.”

And like that, they settled into getting to know Will’s charming, handsome, comedian of a childhood best friend.

By the fourth round of drinks, it became apparent that Will’s description of Mike was… questionably reliable.

Mike was undeniably handsome, albeit in a nervous, lanky, bird-like way that didn’t match the valiant protector they’d expected from Will’s stories of Mike facing down childhood bullies for him.

Charming was also up for interpretation. He wasn’t unlikable exactly, but he stumbled over his words, made odd comparisons and inside jokes that had Will snorting but the rest of them confused, and hovered around Will like a magnet. Both times that Will got up from the table, Mike followed without glancing at anyone else.

And then there were the jokes.

God, the jokes.

It turned out Mike wasn’t just not the comedian he’d been touted to be—he was dreadfully unfunny. Every joke earned strained laughter, drowned out by Will absolutely losing it like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

Emboldened by Will’s reactions, Mike launched into another as they finished the last of their drinks, all of them ready to escape dad joke hell for the night.

“A zombie shambles into a bar,” he started, talking with his hands. Danny shuffled his chair aside to avoid getting whacked. “The bartender says, ‘first time I’ve seen a zombie in here. Did you know there’s a drink named after you?’”

The table was silent, fake laughs ready. Will, beyond tipsy, stared up at Mike, enraptured.

Mike caught his look and ducked his head before straightening, puffing out his chest. Putting on a croaky voice, he finished.

“The zombie replies, ‘A drink named Kevin?’”

Will was off again, dropping his head to the cool wooden table as drunk giggles spilled from his lips. “See? Told you guys he was the funniest.”

Welcome to BYLERMICROFIC

This is a monthly writing challenge centered around Byler, the romantic ship between Will Byers and Mike Wheeler from Stranger Things.

Each month, we will deliver a prompt and a word limit between 300 and 600. To participate, you must write a microfic that hits the exact word count and fits the one word prompt.

For example, if the months prompt is 'Beginnings - 411 words', you must write a fic that is 411 words exactly that fits the theme of 'beginnings'. Word prompts are open to interpretation, as long as its an understandable connection.

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