September 1986
Will is standing at the Galaga arcade cabinet in the Hawkins arcade. Mike had finally convinced him to come out with him again, after a few weeks of trying. There had been a slew of new games added that Mike wanted to show Will. Of course, with Will, nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Mike watched in awe as Will crushed the top score by nearly double its total. When Will finished the game they moved on to Gauntlet 2. Will was excited to try it.
Unfortunately Mike couldn't settle in to watch. He had finished his blueberry slurpee and had to pee. He let Will know he'd be back as quick as he could. Will was engrossed in the game and so he didn't mind being alone for a little bit. Will had his hearing-aids in anyway so he didn't feel too vulnerable. Will smiled as he found a groove within the strange beeps and barely intelligible musics. He never saw the hand reaching for the side of his head.
And he never would as another hand harshly closed around the wrist of the hand's owner. The hand squeezed the wrist violently and Will heard a yelp which caused him to jump.
"You don't wanna do that, asshole." Lucas said in a cold sharp tone.
The kid who looked a year younger than them tried to pull his hand away and yelped again. This drew the attention of the arcade owner who happened to be making his rounds to check on the games.
"Hey, are you causing a problem in my place again boy?" The owner barked.
Lucas knew he didn't mean him. The kid he grabbed must have caused a lot of trouble here. Lucas watched as the boy was dragged by his arm out toward the door. Will stood and looked at Lucas.
"What happened?" Will asked.
"Don't worry Will, it was nothing." Lucas lied.
He wanted Will to feel safe to come out here. Lucas knew if he told the truth, Will might avoid coming here again and he'd just started to really have fun in this place. Mike returned after a bit too and apologized.
"Sorry, also poop too." Mike said smiling and slapping both his friends on the back. "Oh no! I forgot to wash my-" Mike burst into a fit of giggles. "Hands-"
"Dude that's just nasty, ah, god." Lucas squirmed in disgust and Will laughed knowing or perhaps hoping Mike was kidding.
"Did you come to find Max?" Will asked after a few moments passed.
"Huh? Oh, no I was actually looking for you guys. Dustin says Hellfire starts next week." Lucas smiled.
"Oh yeah, it's the D&D club at school, right? Dustin kept begging us but Will isn't sure." Mike said.
Will nodded.
"I talked to the DM and he said you can try a one off special consideration session. If you don't like it, you can leave. No pressure for either of you, but Will, I think you'll really like this guy. Truly."
"I'll think about it. Do they mind if I use sign language?"
Will was setting boundaries to try and get a no. Mike knew that. Even so, he did not interject his own opinion.
"I don't see why Eddie would mind. He's the DM. He kinda collects nerds and weirdos like us."
"Nerds and weirdos?" Mike fired back.
Lucas starts to answer the allegation when Will speaks up again.
"Yeah, sure okay. We should try at least." Will lets a smile creep out over his features.
"Are you sure?" Mike's voice sounds concerned.
He knows Will hates intense social situations.
"Yeah." Will nodded.
Before the three boys continue to talk the arcade owner walks up to them. All three stiffen wondering if they might be in trouble. Their fears are not soothed when he asks them to meet him up at the counter. They all look confused and follow the man to the counter and wait for him to walk in behind it. Will, Mike and Lucas all watch as the man picks up to sheets of paper handing one to Will and one to Mike.
'Local gaming contest Saturday October 11th.'
"What's this?" Mike asked confused.
"Can you not read?" The owner teased. "It's a local game contest. Highest cumulative scores across five select games get entered into a regional tournament."
"But I don't play the-" Mike started.
"No, you don't, but he does." The man points at Will who looks at him in surprise.
"Okay but why us?" Mike words are more confused now.
"If he wins here and then at regionals he can get up to $1000 in prize money and my arcade gets mentioned. Then if he wants, he could head to nationals. If he decides he wants to do any of that, I'll be happy to sponsor him." The owner's words are tinged with excitement.
"You could have just pitched this to Will. He's right here and he can hear you." Mike said a little too coldly.
The man was taken back by the tone. He looked at Will and flushed and sputtered in embarrassment.
"We'll talk and you'll have our answer by next week."
"That will leave you three weeks to practice up. The machines will be free when you do."
Both boys' eyes widened. They had a lot to discuss now.
"We got another hour and I have five bucks to kill. Should we check out something else?" Will asked.
"There is this one game I wanna try. Come on, I'll show you."
Mike put his arm around Will's shoulders. Lucas said goodbye and left without confirmation he'd been heard. The boys got two more rounds with a pair of new games before Joyce finally showed up to take them home. They both tightly clutched the fliers they'd been handed.
"What are those, boys?" Joyce asked warmly as they got into the back seat of the car.
"The arcade owner wants me to enter some local game contest or something. He said he'll sponsor me." Will explained.
"Here."
Mike hands Joyce the flier and she looks it over.
"Well, you definitely can go if you wanted to honey. We don't have anything special that day. Maybe Jonathan can bring you." Joyce said handing the flier back to Mike.
"I wanna do it, but Mike, you gotta come, okay?" Will sounded a bit afraid that Mike would say no.
"Of course, Will. I couldn't miss you beating all those wannabes." Mike smirked.
The week flew by as they got closer to the Hellfire meeting. Will and Mike told their parents enough about where they'd be without saying the name. Neither had met Eddie directly. They always stayed near the back exit of the lunchroom. They heard a couple of his famous rants, which actually almost scared both of them away at first.
Both of them stepped quietly into the Hellfire meeting as if hoping they wouldn't get noticed. Neither really realizing how dumb that was.
"Ah, our esteemed guest players are here. Welcome gentlemen." Eddie's voice dripped with foreboding.
"Yeah, uh, hi." Mike waved stupidly and put his arm down in embarrassment quickly.
"Take your seats at the end, next to Sinclair." Eddie commanded.
Mike signed to Will and they obeyed.
"Can he not hear us?" Eddie asked in a direct tone.
"Uh, sorry. It's just that new voices can be confusing for him. It takes some time for his brain to pick things up and fill in gaps and stuff. So if this is a problem-"
"No. No no no, it's fine. I just must have misunderstood Sinclair and Henderson. As long as you can translate, he should be fine." Eddie replied while passing their character sheets down the table. There is one thing that becomes apparent almost immediately. Eddie Munson is an absolutely killer DM. Mike keeps up with his story telling easy despite also signing it to Will.
This Village their party came across needed help containing some evil that was cursing it. Because Will's character had sensory magic he was on the spot in several of the early rounds of playing. Lucky for him, Will's roles were fantastic. Everyone kept cheering when a new roll would come. Even Eddie was getting into it. Mike on the other hand, he must have channeled all his rolls to Will. Three natural 1's in a row and his character was on just five hit points.
After two small fights Eddie called the session for the week. Everyone groaned but they knew the big battle was close. The battle would likely take an entire session if not two to complete. The party hit a groove though. It was like cutting off your favorite song halfway into the chorus. Everyone started to pack up and Mike and Will got ready to leave too.
"Yo Newbies, wait up. I wanna have a chat real quick." Eddie called.
The two boys waited while watching Eddie put his game stuff away in his bag. Will wondered if Mike was as nervous as he felt right now. They both tensed when Eddie headed toward them. Feeling an opportunity, Eddie jumped at them and this freaked Will out quite a bit.
"Sorry, sorry. Terrible force of habit." Eddie apologized. "Anyway, you two did really well today. We have open slots if you want to join. A few notes though." Eddie clasped Mike's shoulder. "You need some better luck my friend." Eddie reached out his other hand and clasped Will's shoulder. "You both need better clothes. Jesus Christ. If you join, I will meet you to roll your new characters for the next campaign since this one is almost over."
"We will join." Will said causing Mike's head to snap to him in shock.
"He speaks." Eddie grinned taking his hands off of them.
"Sorry. I wasn't trying to be rude."
"No worries, Bowl cut. We're all weirdos and freaks here. No one is judging you. Oh, speaking of which, write down your sizes so I can get your shirts made. See you next week." Eddie said, slinging his bag over one shoulder.
Mike was awe struck. He never imagined one guy could be so freaking cool. He was actually stunned into silence and it took a few tries for Will to get his attention.
'Time to go home.' Will signed.
Will took out his hearing-aids and put them in their case. These new smaller ones were form fitted using a mold but, they still hurt after awhile.
Life was on the upswing for everyone. Mike's grades were way up. Lucas and Dustin were around a lot more. Max was hanging out some with the group. Will, Will was smiling so much more than usual. Seeing Will like that made Mike happier than he might have felt otherwise. He didn't exactly know why. He could have been in a decent mood and then he would see Will and it would become a great mood.
They both headed to the Arcade for their training session. Well, more specifically, Will training and Mike observing. They both negotiated a three night a week schedule as long as both boys kept their grades up. The games were free as the owner had said. Mike used this as a chance to waste all of his money on blueberry slurpees and fries if the concessions were still open. He always shared of course, Feeding Will a fry or a sip of his drink. Not even using a separate straw. He never even considered that weird. To Mike, he was Mickey and Will was Rocky.
Will stepped away from his current game and looked entirely angry.
"Dang. I just don't understand the process for this one." Will said voice constricted by frustration.
This caused the uniqueness of his voice to stand out. This was one way Mike learned to gauge the boy's mood, despite having heard his voice difference for so long.
"You still have four more sessions to figure it out. Besides, you don't know they'll pick this one."
"Oh great, you've cursed me with Wheeler luck." Will smiled.
"Ouch Byers, ouch. You are a cruel and ruthless man." Mike laughed.
All too soon their time alone in the arcade training together came to an end. It was time for the local tournament. Only about twenty people signed up to participate. Neither Mike, nor Will found it surprising that Max was here. It did make Will a bit nervous for her to be here. Max was the only one who could match him in video games.
Five games. Cumulative score. Those two phrases were in his head repeating. Once the games were picked, Will would know how to mentally proceed. Introductions were issued and the game list was posted along with brackets. Will didn't even bother with brackets. He didn't care about his opponent. Mike was saying something encouraging, Will was certain of that, what the actual words were lost to his iron concentration.
Mike watched in awe as Will crushed the first three games. One of which was Galaga which was an unfair contest. It was Will's most favorite game. The fourth game was a struggle but even so the fifth game was a formality as Will took first easily. Second place was Max but she was quite distant due to inexperience with 3 of the 5 games. Will was impressed with how fast she adapted though.
Mike watched as Lucas, Max and Will started talking. By rule he had to sit back in the spectator pool away from Will. Now Mike seemed stuck there. Unsure if he should go up and congratulate or wait for some kind of public ceremony. Mike got up from his seat, pushing everything else aside went up to Will.
"You did amazing dude." Mike said giving Will a high five.
The owner did eventually present a small trophy and ask for a photo-op. Will smiled and was generally in a really great mood. He didn't seem to be overwhelmed by all the people. Mike watched him like a hawk though. All four of them moved to a booth and had some sodas and fries. Max and Will were chatting away while both Lucas and Mike watched.
"It looked like you died on purpose on level fifteen, Will." Max asked with some fries in her mouth.
"Yeah, I did. You don't do it at the start though, if you die in the middle of the level it reverts the enemies to their old pattern in level one through 14. So even if the speed is way up, your brain just follows the original pattern."
"God, it's so nerdy that you figured that out." Max Smiled.
"Yeah." Will took a sip of coke. "I just always had an eye for that stuff. It's how I got so good at Missile Command."
"I wanna play you again sometime, okay?"
"Sure. That could be fun."
"Can I pick the game though?"
"It's only fair."
They all got ready to leave after some of the activity died down. Mike's mom would be there in a little bit and Will finally needed some air. The owner followed them outside and wanted to speak with Will.
"Are you gonna go to regionals, Will?" He asked loudly.
"You can just speak normally." Will said "And yes, I'm gonna go to that. There was no sense in doing this if I wasn't going to. At least, that's what I think."
"Okay. Well, I'll get you all the paperwork you'll need and then I'll set aside your sponsorship. The regionals are this winter in Whitestown. Pretty lucky they're in-state, right?"
Will shrugs.
"Anyway, come by next week. Maybe Thursday? That should give me enough time to get everything done for you."
"Thanks." Will said politely.
"Okay I'll see ya Thursday then. Bye."
"Bye"
Mike and Will watched him go back inside and Will blew out a nervous breath.
"I wanna go home Mike." Will said quietly
Mike knew Will was starting to become done with Ppople.
'Okay. My mom will be here soon.' Mike reassured him in sign.
"Do you two have a way home?" Mike asked
"Yeah, my dad is com-in fact there he is now." Lucas said.
Lucas and Max each hugged Will and then Mike offering goodbyes and going to get in the car. They all waved to each other as the car pulled away.
Will squeezed his eyes shut and started to bounce on his heels. Luckily it wasn't too long before Mike's mom showed up. They got in and Mike's mom immediately asked how it went, failing to notice the trophy.
"Will got first mom. He qualified for the regional competition. It happens pretty soon in Whitestown. Can I go?" Mike asked in an unintentionally whiny tone.
Will gave him a confused side glance.
"As long as your grades continue to stay up. I don't think your father and I will see any harm. When exactly is it?" She asked.
"Dunno yet, we'll find out next Thursday. Will has to comeback for paperwork and stuff." Mike answered.
They drove back in silence. Will was exhausted and overloaded. Mike hoped his mom didn't break the silence and thankfully she did not. When they pulled up to Will's Mike signed to him.
'Want me to walk you in?'
'It's okay, I just need to be alone for awhile. Too much.'
'It's okay Will, I will see you latter. Bye.'
Mike watched as Will got out and walked up to and then inside his house.
"He usually says goodbye to me, is he okay?"
"Not really mom, being around that many people is pretty upsetting sometimes."
"I can certainly imagine." She said.
Inside his head Mike replied. 'No mom, you really can't.' He hoped Will would be able to bounce back quickly. Mike's worry only increased the more he watched Will's house shrink in the rear window. His fears were eased on Monday when they all returned to school. Will had a small smile on his face.
The weeks until the regional took forever to pass by. The tournament actually started on December 27th and went to the 29th which meant Jonathan, Will and Mike would have to travel the day after Christmas. Mike thought whoever scheduled this thing was an asshole.
Even though the grind of the weeks slowed the boys still had Hellfire Club and their campaign was going well. Mike had rolled a paladin and Will rolled his usual cleric. Eddie called Mike a vanilla player which actually hurt Mike's pride a bit.
"You like what you like. He doesn't matter." Will had encouraged.
His words had actually helped a little bit. In fact, Mike had ended up being a huge key to their win in the group's last major battle. They all were enjoying the game. Even Lucas who was splitting his time between basketball and the club.
The last session before Christmas break, Eddie had pulled Mike and Will aside to wish Will luck at the regionals which made Will blush a bit. Mike felt a bit left out if he was honest. He knew he wasn't in the tournament and that made him feel a bit useless. Little did he know how much Will would need him.
Will nearly panicked when they entered the hotel and convention center. There were hundreds of people there. Press and everything. The brackets were posted and there were 54 competitors. Over the first two days that would be reduced down to 13 using a single game, Gun Smoke. Mike breathed a sigh of relief. Will knew this one and should advance easily.
They got set up in a pretty amazing hotel suite and Jonathan was excited because they'd be spending 3 full days here. They had a voucher for one complimentary room service order for each day, though it had a spending limit of $15. There were two big beds and Jonathan claimed one and Will spread himself out on the next one.
Mike realized he'd probably share with Will and suddenly his chest burned for some reason. He tried to stop the feeling but nothing worked as he watched Will flail on the bed like a fish. Mike finally decided to plop down next to him.
"Holy shit this thing is way comfy." Mike said letting out a moan of tiredness.
"Yeah, it's amazing." Will said continuing to roll around like an idiot.
"Stop." Mike complained.
Mike retaliated by rolling around also bumping into Will quite on purpose.
"Hey. You ruined it. I hate you." Will playfully slapped at Mike.
Mike slapped back and now they were rough housing on the bed. Will started to win easily as he outweighed Mike by about 20 pounds. Mike was long and skinny now and didn't have more than 115 pounds on his frame.
When Will pinned him flat on his back with his arms held down above his head, Mike felt a tiny problem that he hoped Will did not notice.
"Give up." Will breathed.
"No." Mike grunted in defiance.
"Give up, Mike." Will smiled.
"No way Will." Mike struggled against him.
Jonathan feeling a little bit uncomfortable interrupted the two boys' wrestling match.
"Hey, you're being loud. Quit it." Jonathan whispered sharply.
Mike and Will had forgotten anyone was in the room and both of them had the color drain from their face as a result. Jonathan did feel a bit guilty about that. All three boys stayed up way too late watching the cable tv they had in the room. Will fell asleep first and Mike followed. Jonathan turned the light out around 1am. He was the first to hear their 8:30am wake-up call.
He got both boys up and they took turns taking showers and dressing. They needed to go grab the continental breakfast to save on costs. After they all had something to eat, it was time to draw numbers to see where Will started in the bracket. Will drew 38. Now was the agony of the wait. It wasn't too bad. They had about 14 cabinets so the initial set of games would fly by. It was the final 10 competitors where things would be complicated.
Mike stayed by Will as much as possible to keep him calm. Mike knew full well this was probably really overwhelming to him. Will for his part was hiding it well. In the first two matches, Will won easily. It seemed like his opponents didn't know enough about the game to handle it. The first match was such a lopsided contest, it was called before the game was complete. The other player decided he would forfeit, realizing he couldn't catch up.
The next match was tense for about two-thirds of the game. Then, as if he hit a switch, Will pulled away far enough that the game seemed lopsided again. Mike wanted to celebrate when the referee called it, but he was concerned for Will being overloaded. With the final 13 competitors decided, last year's regonial Winner would get a bye into the semi-finals. Leaving just 12 players to compete for the last 3 spots.
When the referees cleared the convention floor, Will breathed a very tired sigh and headed back to their hotel room. Mike was worried when Will was completely silent. He usually at least said he was doing okay. 'Maybe it was just hyper focus.' Mike thought to himself. He wouldn't push, Will could talk for himself if he needed to.
The next two matches for Will playing Donkey Kong were absolutely brutal. He managed to win but it had been an absolute blow for blow fight. When his second game concluded, Will nearly collapsed against Jonathan. If it was quiet the night before it was more quiet heading into the semi-finals. Will seemed so tense and focused. Mike was doing his best not to be worried. It was hard considering that Will barely ate anything and then threw up what little he did eat.
"Were you able to get him to eat anything?" Jonathan asked.
He had waited till his little brother was asleep to ask. Mike shrugged slightly.
"A little, not much. He's never been stressed like this before. I think he threw it all up." Mike whispered.
Will moved a bit next to him on the bed. Jonathan knew they were both worried about Will so he tried to make sure he didn't press Mike too much.
"Okay. Let's try to give him a light breakfast in the morning. These last matches are supposed to run over forty minutes each. They don't start until 1pm."
Will continued being in his own head and quiet, but Mike was able to get food and drinks into him in the morning. Jonathan didn't hover believing Will was already overwhelmed enough. Mike always managed to pull Will out of his funks. Jonathan really hoped his girlfriend's little brother had that in him now.
All the remaining contestants waited by a special entrance before being introduced into the convention hall. Will did his best to block out this extra noise and the headache that was building from relentless camera flashes the last few days. Despite feeling awful and hating this, he put on his best face for the crowd. Mike knew Will though, he could see past all that and wanted to go hug him. In fact, Mike felt himself getting overwhelmed now too.
Will was feeling the effects of the last few days and it took everything he had to focus mentally and physically. He nearly collapsed again when he finished his pac-man run of fastest to level 50. Luckily they had a 90 minute break before the finals. It would be Will Byers vs Last Year's Winner. Mike didn't like the look of the kid who was maybe a year younger than they were.
Jonathan got Will to sit down and picked up a cookie and some lemonade for his brother. Mike noticed Will was squeezing his index and middle fingers together on his right hand and wincing quite hard. Mike didn't know why, but he was scared to offer or ask anything of Will. Mike was trying not to stay but it was really hard not to with this much worry inside him.
Will was at least sipping the lemonade and nibbling the cooking. He was only using his left hand though. Mike suspected that Will was hurt. How badly Mike didn't know.
It was a slow 90 minutes for Will, which allowed him to feel recovered. He had two cookies and a cup of lemonade and went up unassisted when his name was called. The cabinet for the final game was gauntlet. Will smiled. He knew this one well enough. He looked at his opponent and then was suddenly jolted by the sound of an older man yelling something about protesting? Will couldn't be sure he heard right since the voice was unfamiliar.
"WHAT?!"
Now Will knew that voice. It was Mike's and it seemed to be upset about something. He soon felt Mike's hand on his shoulder and was momentarily confused.
'Need to go to the referees table. Asshole is protesting you.' Mike signed.
'Me? What did I do?' Will signed back shock and confusion on his face.
'Dunno, I'll let you know what they say.'
Mike walked slightly in front of Will, making sure to seem like Will's representation. He might as well be, Mike thought to himself. He listened in to who he guessed was the father of Will's opponent.
"I just don't see how that's not a physical advantage and a violation of the rules." The man said in a whiny tone.
"He's deaf you idiot." Mike snapped.
'Mike, cool it.' Will signed.
Mike turned to Will with an angry gaze.
'He says he's protesting because your hearing-aids are unfair.' Mike's face is all that kept Will from laughing in disgust.
'Then I'll take them out. Don't need them. Ask if he'll withdraw the protest if I do that.'
"He says he'll take them out if you'll withdraw your protest." Mike relays in an irritated tone.
"He's gone through this entire tournament with that advantage, he shouldn't be allowed to compete." The man seemed to sneer at Mike and Will.
"Sir," One of the officials stepped in. "You may file a protest on your own behalf, but you cannot retroactively contest concluded matches or matches in which you were not a participant. Also, due to your previous history regarding protests, a loss issued by the competition committee will result in a 2-year ban from any regional competition. Is that clear?"
"Yes." The man says begrudgingly.
Will began to take out his hearing aids and hand them to Mike.
'Will the protest was withdrawn, you could leave these in.'
'Don't need them. Fuck them, I'll beat him easy.'
"Said he doesn't need them." Mike quipped. "The second thing he said I cannot repeat as there are ladies present."
There are three things Mike Wheeler knows about Will Byers when it comes to video games.
1) He's an extremely competitive person to the point of blowing up if he thinks he's been cheated.
2) Will does not like to be accused of cheating.
3) Heaven help you if you do either.
Mike could tell from the look he got from Will that his opponent lost. What he couldn't know was just how bad Will would crush the kid. It was harsh. Will was clearing a single level in Guantlet at roughly the pace of one level per minute. He hit level 50 at just over 52 minutes. His opponent didn't even hit level 20. When the referee called the match and raised Will's hand, he immediately searched out Mike.
Mike was already pushing past people and ran up to Will who crushed him in a hug. Mike felt himself spin around a bit. Then all too fast the hug was over. Mike handed Will his hearing-aid case and asked if he needed help putting them in. Will nodded and Mike carefully put in the devices and Will snugged them.
Adrenaline was keeping Will from feeling his exhaustion right now. He did all of the post match press stuff, photo-ops with the big prop check for $1000 and an absurdly unnecessary trophy. When some magazine reporters wanted to talk with him, Mike thankfully ran interference. Will's headache got worse with more flashes popping off. Mike was doing the best he could to get Will off the convention floor.
When they cleared the threshold of one of the sets of double doors, Will slammed himself into a wall. He slid down it and curled up. Exhausted and overwhelmed, Will started to sob.
"Too much. Sorry. Too much." Will sobbed.
"I'm right here Will, I have you." Mike said gently.
Jonathan tracked them down a few moments later and slid down on the other side of his brother. Mike had his arm around Will's shoulders so Jonathan decided to stroke Will's head softly. Will leaned into both their touches.
"You did so good Will. You were so brave. There's no way I could have been in your shoes buddy. It's okay." Jonathan said.
"Shhhhh, it's all over. You did so amazing." Mike said.
Will shuddered.
A few flashes and all three boys knew they were being watched.
Will finally composed himself after about five minutes. He apologized again and then when Jonathan went to help him up, Will yelped and pulled his hand back. Mike remembered instantly that Will had been holding his fingers.
"Will, what's wrong?" Mike asked worried.
Will opened his hand showing to white swelling blisters on his index and middle fingers on his right hand. It also looked like the fingers themselves were swelling. Jonathan didn't seem worried for some reason.
"Come on guys, there's a medical table over there." Jonathan said calmly.
He guided them to the table and helped get the official's attention.
"How can I help you?" The older woman asked.
She was sitting at the table with her arms folded. Mike thought she looked like one of their high school teachers. Will didn't hesitate and quietly extended his hand. He was nervous and Mike knew that so he began to rub Will's back lightly.
"We'll have to pop these, is that okay?"
'She says they have to get popped first.' Mike signed
Will nodded.
She was definitely experienced. Probably a nurse now that Mike thought about it. She jabbed both blisters with a thin needle and squeezed. Then she cleared the dead rubbed whitened skin away. Within a couple of minutes she finished and wrapped up both fingers.
'Thank you very much. Ma'am.' Will signed.
"He says thank you very much." Mike translated.
"It was my pleasure young man." She smiled at the two of them. "Is that everything?"
"Yep." Mike said.
Now it was Mike who wanted to leave this place and go back to their room. About halfway back Will started to lean on Mike who offered words of reassurance.
"You're okay Will, I gotcha. I gotcha."
Jonathan had needed to get their stay wrapped up so they just needed to check out tomorrow morning. This left Mike with making sure Will got back to the room okay. The click of the door latch never sounded so glorious to either boy. Will instantly collided face first with the bed. Mike took Will's shoes of so the boy could crawl into bed. He covered Will in the blankets and sat on his side of the bed next to Will. He pressed his back against the headboard and turned on HBO. Return Of The Jedi was on and seemed to have just started. Mike grinned. He didn't bother Will. He figured he'd let Will sleep until around dinner time. Without realizing, Mike began to stroke Will's upper arm with his hand. Will didn't acknowledge it.
Mike let Will sleep instead of waking him to order room service. Mike knew how to do it and he also knew what Will liked. He ordered Will some chicken and mashed potatoes. He ordered himself a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich and french fries. He also got 4 cans of coke for them to split. Jonathan had come back and then left again to go grab something for Will. Mike didn't know what was taking so long.
When the food arrived Mike brought it in and lightly woke Will up.
'food' Mike signed with a smile.
'I thought we didn't have anymore food things' Will looked confused.
'Don't worry about it, just eat.' Mike smiled.
Mike started to eat some fries he dipped in tartar sauce. He opened a coke and ate a bite of his sandwich. When he looked at Will over and noticed him struggling to hold his spoon. Mike set the lid back on his meal to keep the fries warm and went to sit by Will.
Mike thought he might have to sign until he noticed that Will put his hearing-aids in.
"Let me help you out." Mike said softly.
He took the spoon out of Will's hand scooped up some mashed potatoes and encouraged Will to open up. Will did, but as he was swallowing he started to laugh behind his closed mouth. He didn't spit anything out, but of course, this gave Mike an awful idea.
"Open up, here comes the airplane neeeeoooooooow."
Mike swerved the spoon around and then flew it into Will's mouth. Will did his best to keep his mouth closed, but he laughed a bit and small bits of potato went everywhere.
"Don't laugh, chuckles the clown. Now there's potato everywhere." Mike teased while laughing.
Mike fills the spoon again
"Here comes the choo choo Wooooo Wooooo" Mike guides the spoon to Will's mouth.
Will for his part manages to keep everything in despite blowing air out his nose. He would punish Mike for this later.
Mike gathers another scoop.
"Here comes the Imperial Star Destroyer. Pew. Pew. Pew."
Mike was laughing too hard now and had to set the spoon down for a minute to gather himself. Will is glad for the reprieve. They both calmed down and Mike carefully helped Will eat until the potatoes were gone.
"Can you eat everything else by yourself?" Mike asked.
Will nodded as Mike cracked open a coke for him.
"Okay, I'll go eat my dinner now then."
They ate in silence and took turns with a shower. Mike was sitting in the bed when Will came out of the shower. Mike looked at Will's wet head and was stunned how different, or maybe older the other boy looked. Will was still trying to dry it.
'Was your shower okay?' Mike asked.
'Yeah, it was fine.' Will replied.
He was still attacking his hair with the towel. Mike moved the blankets to make it easier for Will to get in next to him. He looks at Will, seeing the boy is still tired from the last few days. He wants to talk about things with Will, but Mike knows Will isn't up for it.
Will slips into bed and turns himself to his side. He's facing Mike again just like earlier. Mike decided he was tired too and turns out the light to go to sleep. He slides down into a laying position and turns to face Will. Not knowing what pushed him to do it, Mike kisses Will's forehead.
In response, Will kisses Mike's lips. Will's eyes are closed so Mike doesn't think Will even realized what he'd done. He closed his eyes and both boys were soon asleep.
Jonathan opened the door around 11pm and quietly as he can. He sets a package on the table and went to get himself into bed. It's a bit too dark to see his brother and Mike but he knows they're sleeping. He can hear the stereo of even breathing. Jonathan smiled. Those two, they were really close and Jonathan understood how they both felt.