[Will makes a quiet "hmm" sound, low in his throat, shifting so his cheek is pillowed on Mike's shoulder instead, so he isn't staring at him quite so intently. He stays there, though, expectantly, looking down at Mike's hands fluttering and fidgeting on the soda.]
You do? [It's a prompting thing, gentle, patient. He doesn't immediately deny it or try to argue, because if Mike's saying it, he must believe it a lot.]
[It's different than last time, when it turned out it was just El watching him. He never felt anyone breathing down his neck, then. He always had the same dreams, of that night in the school, over and over again, instead of this endless loop of every awful thing that has or hasn't happened to him or his friends.
Hesitantly, he lowers his head to rest against Will's a little. His eyes keep chasing around the room, looking for something he's yet to catch a glimpse of, outside of brief, darting shadows.]
It's like I'm being watched, all the time. Like something's right over my shoulder.
[That sounds -- well. It sounds familiar. It sounds paranoid and illogical and just like Will for the entire past year. There's a crawling fear in his gut for a moment, and he almost pulls back so he can look into Mike's eyes and see if there's curling, twisting tunnels of smoke and ash there.
But he doesn't. The Mind Flayer left with Billy. All that's left is the old wounds inside Will himself, the gouges left behind when the monster was wrenched out of him. That's all. So it must be a Deerington thing.
So he settles back against Mike, reaches out to touch the back of his hand, feeling the twitchy, frenetic anxiety.] What kind of something?
[Fortunate or not, Mike hasn't thought to liken it to the Mind Flayer. He knows what the touch of psychic energy feels like, another consciousness tapping into his, but this isn't like that. This is like... like being hunted. Like watching a scary movie, and feeling the Wolfman right behind you as you climb the stairs. It's not what he thinks it would feel like, if something was trying to get into his head.
One shoulder prods against Will in a semblance of a shrug.]
I don't know. [And he really doesn't. He has no idea what it is, or if it even exists. And as someone with a deep emotional investment in the Scientific Method, part of him needs to before he'll admit that it's not just his own mind shitting itself.] I don't have any proof, it's just- ... I think I hear someone talking, sometimes. Like, whispering.
Oh. [Whispering is -- different. The Mind Flayer didn't whisper, it howled. It broke it's way through any defenses Will had tried to put up without caring about what damage it left. This sounds like something...smarter. More subtler.
That's almost scarier.
So Will tucks himself a little closer, like his presence will somehow drive away whatever this whispering thing is.] You don't...have to have proof. I believe you. [Of course he does.] And I don't think you're...y'know. Going crazy. It's the town doing something. It's not you.
[Mike wants to believe it, so he tries. He pictures all the other shit Deerington's done to his mind and to his body - stolen memories, false memories, those six weeks of being a ghost - and tries to absolve himself, to picture this as just another violation.
A shadow passes along the bottom of the door. He doesn't even bother to ask Will if he can see it.]
Would you tell me if you did?
[It's not serious, or at least not entirely. He even gives the faintest edge of a smile.]
[Will catches the smile, returns it with a faint one of his own and lets his hand walk over to touch the back of Mike's, lightly, knuckles to knuckles.] If you were, I'd be too, remember?
[Crazy together, that's the promise. Then and now and always.] So I probably wouldn't know.
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sforzinda
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Date: 2020-09-10 11:52 pm (UTC)You do? [It's a prompting thing, gentle, patient. He doesn't immediately deny it or try to argue, because if Mike's saying it, he must believe it a lot.]
no subject
Date: 2020-09-11 01:25 am (UTC)[It's different than last time, when it turned out it was just El watching him. He never felt anyone breathing down his neck, then. He always had the same dreams, of that night in the school, over and over again, instead of this endless loop of every awful thing that has or hasn't happened to him or his friends.
Hesitantly, he lowers his head to rest against Will's a little. His eyes keep chasing around the room, looking for something he's yet to catch a glimpse of, outside of brief, darting shadows.]
It's like I'm being watched, all the time. Like something's right over my shoulder.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-11 02:52 am (UTC)But he doesn't. The Mind Flayer left with Billy. All that's left is the old wounds inside Will himself, the gouges left behind when the monster was wrenched out of him. That's all. So it must be a Deerington thing.
So he settles back against Mike, reaches out to touch the back of his hand, feeling the twitchy, frenetic anxiety.] What kind of something?
no subject
Date: 2020-09-11 04:20 am (UTC)One shoulder prods against Will in a semblance of a shrug.]
I don't know. [And he really doesn't. He has no idea what it is, or if it even exists. And as someone with a deep emotional investment in the Scientific Method, part of him needs to before he'll admit that it's not just his own mind shitting itself.] I don't have any proof, it's just- ... I think I hear someone talking, sometimes. Like, whispering.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-15 10:58 pm (UTC)That's almost scarier.
So Will tucks himself a little closer, like his presence will somehow drive away whatever this whispering thing is.] You don't...have to have proof. I believe you. [Of course he does.] And I don't think you're...y'know. Going crazy. It's the town doing something. It's not you.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-16 09:06 pm (UTC)A shadow passes along the bottom of the door. He doesn't even bother to ask Will if he can see it.]
Would you tell me if you did?
[It's not serious, or at least not entirely. He even gives the faintest edge of a smile.]
no subject
Date: 2020-09-17 09:42 pm (UTC)[Crazy together, that's the promise. Then and now and always.] So I probably wouldn't know.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-18 12:19 am (UTC)Maybe we're hallucinating each other.
[That... makes no sense, but he's barely slept in like a week. Cut him some slack.]