brutal ━ mike wheeler

two. mr. whatsit

two━━━━
MR. WHATSIT

stranger things;
season 5 ep 1

ADRIAN GROANED AS HE peeled his eyes open to look at the clock sitting on the nightstand beside him. It was just barely 6 in the morning. Pulling himself up with a yawn, he squinted his eyes as he looked outside. The sun was already starting to rise, so that meant that a certain blonde energizer was, too.

Almost as if he had spoken it into existence, he heard a knock on his door before it was pushed open. Holly beamed at him as soon as the door was pushed open all of the way, her hands full with her shoes, some hair elastics, and a brush "Adriannn," she sang, already halfway into the room before he could even respond. "Wake up."

Adrian let his head fall back against the pillow with a quiet groan, dragging a hand down his face. "It's six in the morning," he mumbled, voice rough with sleep. "Normal people are unconscious right now." Holly looked at him with an offended look on her face. "I'm normal," Holly shot back immediately, kicking the door shut behind her with her foot. She marched over to his bed like she owned the place and dumped everything she was holding onto his chest. "Get up."

He blinked down at the pile—bright elastics, a brush that still had strands of her hair tangled in it, and a couple of hair clips—and then back up at her. She was already bouncing on her toes, eyes wide, like she'd been awake for hours just waiting for this. "What?" he asked, squinting at her.

"Do my hair," she said, way too fast. Then, quieter, "You do it better." Adrian stared at her for a long second, still halfway asleep, like his brain needed a minute to catch up.

". . .Hollyyyyy." She clasped her hands together under her chin, already swaying side to side. "Please." He let out a slow breath through his nose, pushing himself up enough to sit against the headboard. His hair was a mess, eyes barely open, but he reached for the brush anyway. "You woke me up at six in the morning," he muttered, voice still thick, "to be your personal hairstylist."

"You love me," Holly said instantly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And you were already awake!" Adrian paused for half a second, then huffed out a quiet, tired laugh. ". . . Yeah. Unfortunately."

She grinned like she'd just won something and scrambled up onto the bed, turning her back to him without being told. He adjusted the pillow behind him with one hand and gently pulled her closer with the other, settling her between his legs so she wouldn't wiggle too much.

"Sit still," he mumbled. She froze immediately and sat as still as she could as he pulled her hair into the two pigtails she usually wore. She happily pushed herself off of the bed as soon as he was done, thanking him as she grabbed her items and rushed out of the room.

He shook his head with a slight smile as he set her brush to the side, stretching him arms over his head as he finally got up. He grumbled as he threw on the first clothes he could grab, running his hand through his hair a few times to make it look like he tried. He walked out of his room and into the bathroom a few moments later, quickly brushing his teeth before anyone else woke up to avoid getting yelled at from outside the door.

He splashed some cold water on his face to wake himself up a little more and looked at himself. He has noticed himself looking a lot more alive ever since he had started staying with the Wheeler's. He would be eternally grateful for them.