Work Text:
Will was lying in a damp, stuffy and cramped room in pitch darkness. He didn't know how much time he spent here, but he was sure that he had been here since his birth.
Sometimes there were smooth red glimpses in front of his eyes and the ceiling. As if he was lying in a large mail box or a closet that fell on its back.
Will remembered those short moments when the room seemed to become more spacious and illuminated by a dim but soothing yellow glow.
like from a night light in childhood.
these moments were when someone close was nearby.
someone named Mike.
next to him, the whole life of young Byers acquired new colors and became completely different. he was pleased with the warmth inside, almost leaned to sleep every time from a feeling of imaginary security. but more often this proximity led to a constraining darkness and a feeling of hatred absorbing every inch of him.
Will remembered his delusional ideas and feelings.
how the blood boiled in his veins in a bout of hysterical laughter. he felt the same native warmth, but it was different at the root. it was spreading from the outside on his clothes and hands, with which he struck on the wheeler’s face.
the smell of metal, sweat and vomit filled his nostrils and foaming saliva dripped from his mouth.
Will got irritated absolutely about everything in Mike, from a sweet smile to a stupid manner of non-stop talking.
but at the same time...
Will was in love.
irrevocably and strongly in love with the infantile idiot with whom he lived side by side.
Will perceived this emotional swing as a roller coaster without insurance. he knew that he was about to break away and crash to death. but he did not want to leave. more precisely, he could not.
thinking about the passed events over and over again, Will could not come to an unambiguous answer, because the vivid images of imagination and reality mixed into one big pile of misconceptions.
is it his distorted perception, Mike’s madness or a complete loss of mind by both of them?