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Mike didn’t understand why Will refused to eat.
Will loved Mac and Cheese, Mike knew it. So why was the plate untouched again?
He didn’t understand why Will kept crying either. They were together now! They finally could love each other without the fear of being judged or ostracized by others. And Mike knew Will loved him just as he loved Will. Vecna showed him. And Mike had built a little nest for them two, so they could be happy together forever. So why was Will constantly crying?
“Will,” he asked gently, “Baby. You need to eat. I made them just for you. Don’t you like it?”
Will looked up, his face leaving the confinement of his arms around his knees. When he saw Mike staring at him, his face broke into a grimace and his sobs doubled up.
Mike frowned again, “Ow, my love. Why do you keep crying?”
He reached out but Will tried to push himself into the wall and Mike didn’t understand. He touched Will’s smooth cheek. It was wet from the tears and brown with the grim of the days. He smiled tenderly at him. Will’s face expressed nothing but absolute repulsion.
“Hey,” he said again in a gentle voice, brushing the softness of his skin, “Why do you keep away like that? It’s me! Don’t you see? It’s me! Your Mike!”
Will responded with a sob, trembling like a leaf, “Please…” he begged, his voice broken.
Mike’s frown deepened, “Do you want to take a bath? I can draw one for you if you want.”
“No! Please…”
Mike bit his lip and bent forth. He reached out to touch him again, approaching his face. Will welcomed the gesture with a moan of anguish, trying desperately to shun away from his hand.
“You are so beautiful,” Mike said, admiring him, “I love you so much. My beautiful Cleric.”
He stroked the side of Will’s face, dropping his eyes to his lips. He had always loved Will’s lips. And Mike wanted to kiss him so much. He tried again but Will snapped his head away with a sharp cry of disgust and terror. His reaction broke Mike’s heart.
“Why are you like this?” he asked sadly, “I would never hurt you. I just thought…”
Will sniffled and hiccuped. Mike bit his lip again, dejected. Vecna promised him that Will liked him back. He had showed him. Obviously, he lied.
He shrugged, accepting defeat once more. He would try again later. Vecna promised they would have all the time in the world after all. Maybe Will needed more time. Maybe Will was shy like he was. Mike loved him so much, he would wait. He had made that deal for him after all, so they could be happy together…
As he turned away, Will’s stomach heaved with a new wave of nausea. He watched the form of Mike’s rotten corpse wobble away into the damp and moldy basement of what used to be the Wheeler’s house. In his hand, there was the plate covered with a green and smelly mush that he kept trying to feed Will everyday. Will swallowed as a tiny piece of rotten flesh detached itself from Mike’s skeletal wrist and fell to the floor. But Mike didn't notice. He never did.
He dragged the red bones on which he was standing toward the door instead and raised his yellow face to Will once more as he closed a scrawny hand on the handle, pushing the emaciated lines that now served as his lips into the semblance of a hideous smile he probably thought gentle. When Will only responded with a sharp intake of air, Mike gave him that same pained expression his sunken eyes could barely reflect.
The door closed and Will remained alone on that bed, pushing away the wet blanket with moth holes Mike kept trying to cover him with. Out of the tiny window, he could see the red stripes breaking the sky as demobats screeched and battled and the decaying trees bend to the icy wind and eternal night. He was exhausted and weak and famished but didn't want to fall asleep and awake to the walking horror Vecna made of his beautiful Paladin. He didn't know how much time had passed since the end of the world and he found himself locked into that basement with nothing but cold, dark and death all around him.
Mike would come back, he always did. In a few hours, he would waddle into the basement with that same plate covered with that green and smelly mush he kept trying to feed Will everyday and he would try to touch him, putting his rotting hands all over Will, pushing in for a kiss Will felt too repulsed to give in spite of his love. And he would cry and shake and Mike would frown and try some more, asking the same questions, making the same offers. And Will would pray for Deliverance and weep for the soul Mike had forsaken for the fantasy of an imaginary happiness that would never be.
“If you come with me, I can give you what you want. I know your dirty little secret, Micheal. Join me and you and Will will be together. Forever. You will never have to worry yourself about what the others could think if they knew who you really were. I can make it happen. I just need one thing from you. Just one. And you will be with Will. I promise. Do we have a deal?”