#thanks brain

Lovers

---

They believed I was their figurehead, a woman who led them during times of crisis.

I was taken on a tour. I saw half grown creatures and fetuses in tubes, all experiments to better society. I felt lucky to be walking around. I was shown scenes of elaborate clay dolls dressed and arranged to display historic moments. This is the Betrayer I was told, the other half of my pair who would inevitably betray me. In the scene his cheeks were bright red and he was surrounded by women.

Later I got to meet his incarnation, a tall lad with a joyous smile and wild dark hair. I was shy but he was gregarious and friendly. We spent time together every day. I loved him, not romantically, but without reservation. One day while out walking together we passed by a huge open room full of musicians. The music reminded me of ATLA but with some odd notes and changes.

I was so enthralled, I stopped to stare. The music was beautiful but the people were busy with recording devices and I didn’t want to interrupt. But my friend grabbed my arm and hauled me in, swinging me in a dance until I stopped caring about being a bother and just danced with him, both of us laughing and delighted. And the musicians were happy too, delighted to please us, their very important people who were still growing up.

Another scene later was waking up in darkness and the head of security being in my room. She led me down the hall and to a secret desk where she pointed at an alphabet arrayed on the desk. She didn’t want a puppet figurehead. She wanted a leader. She began to tutor me in secret to learn the things a leader must know.

Later I remember sitting in a panel of judges looking down at a woman who wore my face. The director was forcing her to abase herself, to grovel and I snarled, wanting to defend her. My friend wrapped his arms around me, holding me close while he whispered in my ear that that’s what the director wanted. The girl was led away sobbing. We never saw her again.

I slowly gathered power to myself, trying not to tip off the head of the facility to my rebellion. But one day I couldn’t find my lovely friend, my other half. Someone trusted whispered “His cheeks are beginning to turn red.”

I began tearing through the facility screaming as he was nowhere to be found until finally I tore open a paper door and there he was at a low table, surrounded by anxiously smiling women plying him with drink.

I shrieked and launched toward him, and he slowly fell backward as I came close. His cheeks were red with poison, he didn’t move again. I raged and wept on his unmoving neck and the director entered.

“He betrayed you,” she informed me.

“You betrayed me,” I countered and rose to rip her apart with my bare hands.

Mike died in the final battle and Will and Jane defeated Vecna and the Mind Flayer. Months later, the Wheeler family is moving out of Hawkins and the party comes over to help clean out Mike’s bedroom and the basement. Will ends up going to Mike’s room alone and finds a box at the top of his closet, it’s taped shut at the sides. His curiosity gets the better of him and he opens the box—it’s filled with unsent letters addressed to him— every single one signed “Love, Mike”

Will cries as he reads the letters, sentences crossed out when they sounded too heartfelt. At the bottom of the box was a paper folded as small as it could get, when he opened it, it was a love confession. Mike was in love with Will the whole time, but he was too scared to say anything or even try to admit to himself that he was gay. He felt guilty about using Jane and lying to everyone he cares about. He feels like his love is wrong, but loving Will feels so right.

Like what do you MEAN for the next few hours my brain wants to explode and it hurts to think (<- is CONSTANTLY thinking and brain doesn’t know what being quiet is)

Me: I see you have chosen the deluxe tic package