I don’t think we talk about the fact that Will probably gets BAD nightmares from his trauma regarding the upside down. So I headcannon He had them frequently after he was possessed.
Sometimes he’d deal with it alone and freak out to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes he just wouldn’t sleep at all. If he was at his house, his brother or mom would hear him when he woke up screaming or whimpering and of course rush to go soothe him, even though Will would constantly plead with them to go back to sleep (he insists they’re babying him and he can figure it out himself).
With the literal apocalypse happening the nightmares probably only get worse, except this time when it happens he’s alone. His brother is with Nancy and his mom is talking with Karen or something. Despite the slight wedge in their friendship ever since California, Will finds himself jolting awake and calling for Mike just like he’s 12 again. After all, it had been a flashback of that Halloween night before the mind flayer violated him.
Within 30 seconds Mike appears at the entrance to the basement. His hair is shuffled like he had just woken up, and he has a sort of sleepiness in his voice when he speaks.
“Will. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” His voice is urgent, yet somehow still carries the gentleness that Will has always heard from him.
Will tries to tell Mike that he just had a nightmare and to go back to bed, but ends up choking back a sob as tears begin to spill over.
Mikes breath catches in his throat a little as Wills eyes well up with more tears. God he’s pretty. Shaking the thought away (cause his friend is literally crying and scared) he moves to sit next to Will on the bed and hesitantly puts his hand on his lower back.
Despite Mikes fear that Will does not want any comfort from him, he feels Will lean into the touch. He slowly starts rubbing circles on his back to try to calm him down a little.
When Wills heart wrenching sobbing sounds turn to little hiccups Mike finally speaks again.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Will thinks about it before shaking his head. “Just a nightmare… I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of them Mike.”
Mikes heart rips into pieces at his confession. The knowledge sinking in that he can’t do anything to protect Will this time.
“I don’t want to keep feeling like this.”
Mike stops rubbing his back to grab his shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry Will. Can I do anything right now? Water? Do you wanna watch a movie or something?”
“I’m so tired. I just want to sleep. Actually sleep.”
A beat passes.
“Please just… please just stay with me?”
The way Wills voice trembles makes Mike want to hurt every single person that has made Will feel like this. Scared. Exhausted. Alone. Even if that means him too.
“Always.”
And with that they just quietly sit next to each other. If Will ends up slowly falling asleep with Mike laying right beside him it’s no one’s business but his own. And if Mike hears Wills steady breathing and wraps his arm around Will when the world is still too quiet to make him feel bad for loving such a sweet boy, it’s no one’s business but his own.
If Will cuddles further into Mikes embrace so he can feel his soft breath on his neck and remind himself he is alive and nothing bad can get him when his paladin is protecting him, it’s no one’s business but his own.
And if Joyce walks in the next morning and sees her son and his best friend cuddling together despite the Queen sized mattress they brought downstairs when the Byers first moved in, it’s no one’s business but her own. (Well hers and the boys when they recieve constant glances from her the next morning).
(If this is trash I’m sorry. I wrote it half dead in my bed and didn’t proofread 😭😭)
posting this in celebration of me FINALLY getting Zhongli and being able to put him on my wanderer team!!!
summery: Zhongli wants to get closer to wanderer, so he invites him to get tea in the mornings, though he usually refuses. This time he didn’t though 💥
pairing: WANDERER X ZHONGLI!!!!
tbfr I wrote this at like 1am a couple months ago so it’s not the best but I might as well post it. Can you tell that I’m horny for both of them I hope it’s not obvious 🙏😔 the ending is kinda ass but eh I don’t write very often
@vixcynthic bc you said you wanted to read it :p
When Zhongli first came to wake him up at the crack of dawn, knocking on his door at the inn until he got out of bed, Wanderer couldn’t decide if he wanted to kill him or slowly torture him until he realized what it felt like to have his almost nonexistent ‘me time’ inturuppted by an invitation for tea of all things. All in all, he was not happy.
“Wanderer- would you like to join me for tea?” Once again, at his door at an abhorrent hour, the sun just starting to rise. Zhongli wasn’t in his usual suit, rather he was wearing what looked to be his version of ‘dressed down’, a sweater vest over a black button up shirt with nice dress pants to complete the look. Wanderer, in contrast, was wearing next to nothing, just a plain shirt used as a nightgown. Despite this, he didn’t feel underdressed, rather he felt like Zhongli shouldn’t be near him in the first place.
“For the last time, consultant, I am not interested in getting tea at the crack of dawn- especially not in some dinky tea shop in the middle of nowhere.” Wanderer sighed, his mood somewhat worse than usual due to his lack of sleep.
“Well, my dear scholar, today I made sure to book the nicest tea house in all of Liyue.”
“How could you possibly afford tables at Yanshang teahouse? You can barely buy lunch by yourself,” The shorter mocked, though he was genuinely suspicious. The idea of Zhongli, who forgot he needed to use money on a good day, affording the most expensive teahouse in the city seemed almost far-fetched.
“I have my connections, now if you would please consider-“ The door shut in his face suddenly, shocking him into silence. This was, overall, not something that should have surprised him. This was often Wanderer’s response to being awoken at such an hour, if he opened his door in the first place, but for some reason, Zhongli genuinely thought a nicer place would convince him to actually join him on a date. Well- not really a date. More like an intro to a date. He wasn’t sure how Wanderer viewed their relationship, but he was sure that he could get Wanderer to come around to him. Zhongli had asked Nahida what he liked most, and she had shared that he enjoyed drinking tea in his free time. He had felt like he quite lucked out, as tea was one of the things he knew the most about.
The door suddenly opened, and only then did Zhongli notice that he had just been standing there, thinking. And man, was he distracted again. Wanderer had opened the door and he was now dressed in his own sweater, buttoned down his front, with a pair of shorts not too different then his normal ones, just a bit darker in color. It may not seem like something to be so enamored with, but Zhongli found it so endearing to see him in casual clothes (though Wanderer himself would call this outfit ‘quite nice’) and he felt like being allowed to witness it was very intimate.
Wanderer suddenly was snapping his fingers in Zhongli's face, “So? Are we going now?” And Zhongli came out of his stupor. He reaches out a hand and bows his head.
“Of course,” Wanderer smacks his hand away, and steps out of his room pushing past Zhongli. He just chuckles and closes Wanderer’s door for him before catching up with the puppet.
They walk mostly in silence, as Wanderer prefers. They pass several of Zhongli’s friends as they walk, they greet him and mostly ignore Wanderer. They don’t do it out of any malice, mostly just because they don’t know how to deal with his less than palatable personality.
“Must we stop for every person that wants to talk with you?” He unconsciously grabs Zhongli’s hand, and tries to pull him away from getting distracted again. Zhongli responds by squeezing his hand, and turning towards Wanderer again.
“I didn’t expect you to be so eager to go, my dear lily, considering your previous opinion on going,” Zhongli teases, his eyes crinkling with his smile.
Wander scoffed, and almost pulls his hand away before he decides not too. Not because he likes holding his hand just so he can… Can make sure he doesn’t get distracted again. “I already told you don’t call me that, and I’m not eager, I just don’t want my time to be wasted talking to useless mortals.” Zhongli sighs, but looks at Wanderer with a softness in his eyes that makes the shorter feel a slight he prickle in his chest, and it’s then that he pulls his hand away, looking away from his gaze.
“Lets just go,” Wanderer suddenly picks up in his stride, making his way to the tea shop, whether the taller comes or not.
Zhongli stood for a moment, and felt for a moment as if he had lost something dear to him, an emptiness in his diaphragm. He ran a hand down his face, trying to gather himself before following after Wanderer. Why does he always do this? Always driving him away right when he has him? Even though Zhongli has no idea what he’s done this time, he still feels bad, scratch that he feels horrible. As he caught up with him, they had just arrived at their original location. Yanshang teahouse.
“Finally… only took us an hour.” Wanderer grumbles, his arms crossed. Wanderer didn’t mean to run away- he never means to. He just can’t handle that level of softness, can’t handle the affection that comes with it. He doesn’t want to seem weak, especially not to some ex-archon. But he’s not just some ex-archon… he’s Zhongli.
Aforementioned god placed his hand on Wanderer’s shoulder. “It appears we have, and right in time as well,” He walks forward, and speaks with the glorified bouncer at the door. Wanderer stayed behind him, giving the man a dirty look when he glanced his way. Once both him and Zhongli had confirmed his reservation, Zhongli grabbed one of Wanderers hands gently, as though he was giving him an out if he didn’t want to hold his hand. But Wanderer did want to, so he did. Zhongli seemed to be pleased by this, as he smiled at him lightly. They walked over to their table together and sat down across from each other.
“This place had better be worth it” Wanderer broke the silence, propping his head up on one of his hands, his elbows on the table. Zhongli sat up straight and proper, his hands folded in his lap. “How does ordering here work? Do they have a menu?” The shorter asked, frowning as he usually does.
Zhongli chuckled, “no, no. They have a daily recommendation- you don’t get to pick the kind of tea you get. Though you can pick any add ons, such as sugar or cream.” Wanderer sighed, and almost looked offended at the suggestion. He started tapping his fingers on the table.
“I don’t take my tea with cream or sugar- there’s no point in trying to cover up the truth of the bitterness of a good cup of tea. Only cowards and children feel the need to do such things” He monologued, looking down at the table, a certain fire in his eyes. After he finished speaking, a waiter came over, a wooden plate with two warmed tea cups and a pot full of tea.
“Thank you,” Zhongli said quietly, already taking the two tea cups and placing them in front of their designated drinkers. The waiter placed the plate down and grabbed the pot of tea and poured it into the cups.
Once he had poured a decent amount into each cup, he placed the pot back into the plate and somehow procured a small jug of cream and a cup of sugar with a tea spoon next to it. “It’s sobacha, imported directly from Inazuma. It has earthy undertones with a hint of sweetness. Please feel free to use the complimentary sugar and cream.” He then left, leaving them to their drinks. And therefore, left Wanderer glaring at Zhongli.
“Was this planned?” He accused, lifting the cup up to examine the tea.
Zhongli looked at Wanderer fondly, though it went unnoticed. “There was no way for me to have known- we got here right as it opened and it changes every day. Do you not like this kind of tea, my lily?” As he said this he poured a bit of cream and sugar into his own cup, mixing it before taking a sip at the end of his sentence. “Ah- they steeped it too long,”
Wanderer didn’t respond to the question, rolling his eyes. He raised his cup to his lips and took a small sip, ignoring the way it burned his tongue. At first the tea tasted exactly as one would expect, nutty and slightly toasty, but once you let it sit for a second the bitterness spread on his tongue. It was better than he expected, the over-steeping leaving the tea more bitter then most would prefer. He let out a soft sigh, his face relaxing.
Zhongli looked up, about to ask Wanderer if he regretted not using any sugar only to see something he had never seen before. The shorter man was… smiling… genuinely smiling, his face relaxed and his eyes soft. Zhongli's own widened, his mouth closing into a surprised frown. Zhongli watched as Wanderer drank, his eyes shut calmly. He was so distracted watching him that his own tea had gone forgotten, placed on the table between his hands, loosely clutching it.
Once he had finished his cup, Wanderer finally opened his eyes, with the intention of pouring himself another, only to be met with the strange expression on Zhongli’s face. “What?” He asked, still not realizing he had relaxed so much. “What’s with your face? Is the tea too bitter for you- even with the cream and sugar?” He jabbed.
Zhongli quickly schooled his face, and put on a soft smile. “Oh no, I just… I got distracted. Did you enjoy your tea?”
“It was better than I expected, though it was only due to human error. Oh how they wish to do something right for once,” he faux-laments, pouring himself another cup, and immediately taking another sip.
“Wanderer,” Zhongli said suddenly, his voice serious. “How do you always manage to surprise me?” Wanderer chokes on his tea.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means only what I’ve said, my lily. Everyday I spend with you brings new meaning to my feelings for you, new inspiration for poems about you, and each new thing I learn about you contradicts what you say about yourself. Do you do that on purpose?” Zhongli had folded his hands beneath his chin, eyes locked with Wanderer’s own.
And he didn’t know how to respond. How does one respond to that? Such a self revealing question, and he had decided to ask it in a tea house of all places? “What makes you think-“
The waiter then reappeared. “Hello sirs, was everything to your likings?” He started to clear off the table, placing everything onto the wooden plate he had brought earlier. “I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation but your time is up at this table and we have another party coming for it soon,” he smiled at them both, but upon seeing the face Wanderer made at him, he scurried away. Wanderer stood up almost immediately, pushing in his chair and leaving the shop. Zhongli tried to follow him immediately, but his chair was up against a wall and he didn’t want to disturb the other patrons, so he had to slowly shift his way
from behind his table.
By the time he had left the building, Wanderer was already gone.
