Eleven is giggling when she rushes back to Mike. Mike is confused to say the least.
"What? What's so funny?" his furrowed brows drawn together.
"Stupid boys were going to have a fight over a girl," she gestures with open hands to Max. "Then, the drunk king kicked them out," she laughs.
"Wait, who got kicked out?" Mike asks nervously.
"NOT US!" Dustin follows up behind and puts both hands on El's shoulders surprising her. She bursts into giggles. He even gives a high five to Will who still looks a bit shaken by the prospect of having to fight or in his case, if he's being honest, probably just get beat up. He knows his mother would never let him leave the house again if he returned home with any visible bruise. He could even imagine her accidentally barging into his bedroom or the bathroom to see if he is lying to her. His shivers are very much real.
"Guys, guys, come on it's serious," Lucas says without humor. Eleven bites her lip and tries hard to compose herself better. "El said you wanted to talk to me," Lucas says and replaces Mike on the couch. He gives Max the water and Ibuprofen that Troy never returned. Max lifts herself up and takes both from him. She looks up and has 4 curious faces looking at her.
"Do you mind?" Max asks them. They grumble to themselves and make themselves scarce.
"So, what have you been working on?" Will asks. They got a rectangle of wall space halfway to the garage and laundry room and the music from the other is pumping louder than Will's usual volume.
"Fault lines," Dustin responds instantly.
"What?" Will replies confused. He wonders if he heard him wrong or if Dustin actually said "four slides."
"You asked what I've been working on. As much as I love physics. Mr. Clarke will always be the Master in my eyes. My curiosity door has opened again to something completely different."
"What?" Will asks now with his customary awed tone.
"Have you ever wondered about the Earth's moving tectonic plates?" he looks both ways dramatically, before leaning closer conspiratorially, "Did you know Sattler's Quarry falls on the New Madrid Seismic Zone?"
"Are you talking about earthquakes?" his friend inquires. Dustin shushes him so Will repeats his question in a quieter voice that barely makes it over the music.
"Oh yeah!" Dustin smiles and nods eagerly.
"But Indiana doesn't get earthquakes. Earthquakes occur along the fault lines and most of those of those are along the coasts near water."
"That's mostly true, but this Seismic Zone has a history of earthquakes and pretty big ones too. It stretched over 300 miles from Indiana down along the entire Mississippi River. You got to admit it's cool!"
"Yeah pretty cool, so what exactly are you studying?"
"I have a soil collection kit to measure any changes in granular configuration, depth, that sort of thing. Let me tell you based on all the sources of information out there we're about due for a another one."
"Another what? Earthquake?" Will's eyebrows raise. Dustin confirms it with a nod.
"The last one over 150 years ago levelled a whole town. Cat-as-tro-phic!" Dustin emphasizes each syllable. Will gets a shudder that reminds him of bad feelings he would rather forget.
Eleven catches her breath after a super intense kiss.
"I thought you wanted to go to a party."
"We are at a party," he smiles devilishly and El smiles back gleefully. He gives her a smaller peck that works its way into another super intense kiss. She missed this.
After they were banished from the living room couch, Mike led the way, holding Eleven's hand as they climbed up to the second floor. The music got quieter and the voices became more of an echo. Mike peeked into the rooms first in case something was going on that would freak El out. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea or be traumatized. The room he found empty was a study, not a bedroom, and the moment he opened the door he knew it was meant to be. Eleven saw it too and her eyes widened.
An exquisite specimen… a chocolate brown La-Z-Boy.
She rushed in smiling and threw herself into the chair. It rocked back with her weight before coming center again. Seeing how happy she was made Mike laugh. She patted the little square of chair next to her. Mike raised his eyebrows cheekily. He knew he would be too tall to fit comfortably but that just meant they'd have to sit extremely close together. They shifted awkwardly until they found a good place.
"OOH!"
"What?" Eleven asked him nervously.
"This feels good," he smiles back at her wickedly.
"That's not funny," she said seriously, but now the tables had turned and he couldn't stop smiling inappropriately. "Not funny!" she cried again pounding his chest but eventually finding the humor in his prank.
"I'm sorry I just I had to. I had to!" his Adam's apple bobbled.
"You didn't have to," she reaffirmed.
"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me for my grave error?!" he said wistfully leaning his head closer. He stared at her lips. She faintly nodded and kissed him first.
~A.N. So clearly I love Mileven and enjoy writing it. I did my research looking at previous seasons and was really happy I can nod to the first season by bringing back the La-Z Boy. Stuff like that makes me happy. Leave a comment if there's a good throwback from Mileven S1-3 that might fit in my story. I'll see how to include it. TY :)