#mwtfdyd

So my updated take on these looks is another mwtfdydgate, where Mike is still closeted but does some gay shit, and Will 18 months later (thanks to Robin) can tell perfectly well when Mike does. So they’re not canon yet, and that’s why Mike cries at the end, thinking that Will won’t ever be his, while Will’s working on the strategy for moving Mike from brushes of his knees and elbows to aggressively and possessively making out in bathrooms of all their friends. (They’ll be alright and endgame by the very same evening.)

"Woah. Will, this is incledible! The lines are so clean… She looks like El. Seriously, man, this is mental. I didn't know you could do realism like this."

"I'm happy, you liked it, Mike."

"But... Why did you draw El?"

"I mean, she has to hide all the time, and you don't see each other much… And you won't in the near future… You must miss her a lot."

"Right. I miss her a lot."

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you look kinda... Dissapointed?"

"I'm not 'dissapointed'. Sorry. Your present is very cool, I really liked it... But... This is stupid."

"What? You know, you can tell me."

"You've given me D&D art like... every single year since kindergarten. So getting something else now feels… unsetteling, I guess?"

"Oh. I have some D&D drawings in my scetchbook. You can pick one as a bonus birthday present. If you'd like."

And that's how Mike ends up with a drawing of Will the Wise spellcasting in a flower garden, flowers drifting and swirling around him.

Sign 1

Hand on Will’s back, just between his shoulder blades. The touch is light, pads of Mike’s fingertips. His hand must be curled. But the meat of his palm presses hard into Will as they stomp up the stairs, running, rushing.

Sign 2

The fingertips find the same spot between his back whenever he leaves a room. It seems like Mike has to go whenever Will does. He says, “Oh, I forgot my backpack,” or “Wait, the batteries in the walkies need changing” (the batteries always need changing), or “Just do it in my room. I can make space on my desk. And, hey, we can just work on the bed. It’s more comfortable anyway. I used to do it with El all the time.”

You used to do it with El all the time?

What is he saying? What do you mean, Wheeler? What do you mean?