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Mike has never been a big fan of History class.
It’s always been super boring. Having to hear their teacher go on about the Founding Fathers and about the two big wars gets tiring after a while. It’s nothing compared to something like Science, where he actually likes listening to Mr. Clarke talk. History is the subject where he doesn’t feel bad about falling asleep. Which is what literally everyone does, thank you very much! There probably has never been someone with a more sleep-inducing voice than their teacher.
For that reason — and more, honestly; Mike was just never that interested in learning about world history to begin with —, Mike rarely pays attention to History, even if Dustin bothers him about it when he inevitably goes to him to ask for notes — he’d go to Will, but he sees him doodling on his notebook for most of the class anyways, so it isn’t like he’d be much help, as much as Mike loves studying with him —.
But for some reason, the lessons they were having right before summer break really stuck with him.
They started talking about the Medieval Era, and for the first time maybe ever, Mike started getting really interested in class.
Their teacher showed the class a slideshow of Medieval paintings and scriptures, and one drawing in particular really drew his attention.
It was a painted drawing of a young man with dark hair, clad in shiny silver armour and riding a big horse. The young man was brandishing a sword, and he had a very determined look in his eyes. ‘A Young English Knight’, the slideshow spelled underneath the picture. The knight looked ready to ride into battle, and he looked so confident. Mike had never seen anything cooler in his entire life.
‘I wanna be like that’, he thought, his eyes shining in awe. ‘I wanna be a knight.’
He was already the paladin of their party, and that was super cool, but a knight? An actual knight, with cool armour and a big sword and a horse? That’s cool, and it wasn’t anything from a game, it was actually something that people could be in real life. Well, not anymore, technically, but still.
And so began Mike’s obsession with Medieval knights.
He doesn’t think he’s ever been to the library as much as he has this summer. He’s been checking out book after book about the Medieval times and about knight stories. He wants to learn as much as he can about them. It’s his newest summer obsession, and he’s even convinced Lucas to go with him so they can both learn some cool swordfighting moves!
(That did not end up very well, seeing as they both just ended up hitting each other with some sticks they found on the floor — sticks that ended up being covered in Poison Ivy, and they had to explain to their moms why their hands and faces were all itchy and blistered. It was not a fun recovery for Mike.)
He even found the picture that he saw in History class, and he begged Will to make a copy of the drawing for him. Will, of course, drew it for him, and Mike taped the drawing to the wall next to his bed, and he looks at it every night before bed, imagining himself as the dark-haired knight, storming into battle and protecting his friends from the bad guys, slaying the dragons with his sword and then coming back to the castle to be greeted by the king.
(And maybe, maybe, the king had soft brown hair, big green eyes and a mole just over his lip, but Mike didn’t seem to connect the dots. He was too busy dreaming of bowing in front of the king and having a sword tapped over his shoulder.)
Mike likes to think he’s been using his newfound thirst for knowledge for good, seeing as his mom is thrilled that he’s been going to the library in his free time and everything, even if she doesn’t really get the appeal of the Medieval times. He’s been weaving a lot of his new history knowledge for the party’s campaigns, and he began writing a new campaign recently that has to do with the four of them needing to find a crown that got stolen by a big dragon. It’s been really fun to write, and Mike has never felt more inspired in his life — well, not since Return of the Jedi came out last year, at least.
But, most of all, he’s been using his new knight knowledge to find ways to cheer up Will.
For the past few months, since November, Will has been feeling down. He’s still dealing with a lot of trauma from his week stuck in the Upside Down, and he’s still going to the lab every week for checkups. He’s been jumpier, too. Like something might come out of the shadows and snatch him back up at any second.
He looks sadder, too. He looks down at his feet when he notices Mrs. Byers looking frazzled, he calls out to Jonathan, letting him know exactly where Will is when he can tell his brother is looking for him. He tries to ignore the mean comments at school, the shouts of ‘Zombie Boy!’ from people like Troy and James.
He confessed to Mike one time, during a sleepover just with the two of them, that he feels like a burden sometimes. That he wishes he was never found, because maybe then his mom and Jonathan and the rest of the party could stop worrying about him. He looked so sad when he said it, and Mike felt like Will had just told him he’d be moving away to the middle of the ocean, or something drastic like that. He couldn’t wrap his head around Will, soft and caring and wonderful Will, thinking he was a burden to anyone, especially after everything his family, Nancy, Hopper and the party did to find him last year. It feels insane to Mike, the mere thought that Will would be better off never being found, being left to rot in the Upside Down. Mike thinks he’d have lost his mind if that were the case — if the body in the quarry was real. He wanted to cry, back when Will told him that, but he kept it together — kept himself strong for Will.
That night, Mike hugged him harder than he had in a long time. All he wanted was to keep Will close to his heart, and to make all of those bad thoughts that were whispering horrible lies in Will’s ear go away forever. That night, Mike took Will’s hand and dragged him up towards his bed, away from his sleeping bag, and they laid together in silence until they fell asleep. It was the best sleep Mike had in a long time, and the first time he and Will shared a bed in years. It felt really nice.
But anyways, Mike noticed that Will has been feeling down lately, so he wants to find a fun way to cheer him up. He’s always been a bit protective of Will, with everything that happened with his shithead of a dad and all, but since the Upside Down, that feeling has grown a lot more. Now, he gets antsy if he spends more than a day without seeing Will. He always hovers around him when they’re in school, even when they’re together with Dustin and Lucas, having to resist the urge to wrap an arm around his shoulder when he notices Will looking gloomy. He’s been going over to the Byers’ house more often, hanging out with Will, playing games with him or just talking about everything and anything, on those days where he can tell Will doesn’t feel like talking.
Today seems to be one of those days. They’re hanging out in Mike’s room, the window open so that the humid summer air can circulate — and so that they don’t get baked alive in Mike’s stuffy room —, and he’s reading one of his library books on his bed while Will sits on the floor, doodling something on his new sketchbook. It’s peaceful, for sure, but Mike has a sneaking suspicion that something is off. He’s been noticing this lately, that he always seems to know when Will starts feeling sad all of a sudden. And he thinks this might be one of those random Will-got-sad-must-cheer-him-up moments.
Looking over to his best friend, he sees that Will stopped drawing, the pencil he’s holding now still on the paper. Will has this far-away look to his eye, and his lip is trembling slightly.
Mike puts his book down and gets off of his bed, gently making his way towards Will.
“Hey, you alright?” He asks, lightly placing a hand on Will’s shoulder. Will startles, looking up, and the alarm in his eyes melts away when he sees Mike looking back at him. Mike’s chest tightens at that flash of fear in Will’s face, and it tightens further when he sees what Will was drawing. A broken down, slimy version of Castle Byers, with vines enveloping it and with shadows that shouldn’t be there staining the image of his best friend’s safe space. He also sees a scribbled out drawing of something that looks scarily similar to the Demogorgon.
Mike has to hold back a frown. He wants nothing more than to go find the Upside Down again and fight whatever monster that took Will himself. Will is the last person on the planet who deserves to have been through all of this — to be going through all of this. It’s not fair.
He needs to find a way to make Will feel better. As soon as possible.
Then he spots another little doodle on the corner of the page. It’s Mike and Will as their D&D characters — Will with his purple pointy hat and scepter, holding it up as if he was casting a spell, and Mike with his paladin armour and sword, brandishing said sword as if to ward away whatever creature the two of them are battling in the drawing.
And that gives Mike a brilliant idea. Possibly the best idea he’s had all year. A giddy smile appears on his face before he can stop it, and Will tilts his head at him, like he’s confused at something Mike did.
“Why are you smiling like that?” He asks, but Mike can see the ghost of a smile on Will’s lips, and that confirms to Mike even further that his idea is absolutely genius.
“I want to show you something— wait here!” He yells, then scrambles up to go fetch the book he left on his bed. Will stays exactly where he was, now even more confused than he was before, but he’s fully smiling now, as if Mike was the most amusing person on the planet.
Mike flips the pages without a care, not caring that the book isn’t his, and that if he damages it he’ll have to face the wrath of the librarian. He searches for one specific page — one he’s read through again and again and again, one that he almost has memorised at this point.
“Mike— what are you doing? Can I see?” Will asks from across the room, moving to get up.
“You can’t look yet! Just wait there, promise!” He calls back, looking over his shoulder to check if Will listened to him, then looking back, satisfied, when he sees that Will listened to him — and that he was right, Will is smiling now. It feels nice when Will is smiling —
There. Page a-hundred-and-seven. Knighting Ceremonies around Europe.
He grabs the book and runs back to Will. He places the book on the floor, careful to keep it open on the right page, then he holds a hand out to Will, who accepts it with a laugh. He pulls him up, almost jumping around with excitement.
“Ok, so—” He ducks down and grabs the book, holding it up really close to Will’s face. Will takes the book, reading over the title, then he looks back at Mike with a puzzled expression. “I want you to help me with this.”
“...With what, exactly?” Will asks, and Mike rolls his eyes fondly. He runs over to his bed, carefully removing the knight drawing from the wall and running back to Will, shoving said drawing on top of the open page.
“You know how I’m our party’s paladin, right? And how you’re our cleric?” Will nods, and Mike smiles wider. “So I was reading up on knighting ceremonies, and it says that normally a knight has to swear an oath in front of someone important in order to actually be able to become a knight. So—” Mike taps the drawing again, then taps his finger on Will’s nose. “You’re going to help me become a knight!”
Will stares at Mike for a moment, and then he bursts out laughing. Mike’s ego would normally get bruised at this, but right now he can only think about the fact that Will is laughing, so the plan must be working. He feigns offence anyway.
“I’m serious, Will!” He whines, giving him a playful shove, and Will’s giggles don’t stop. Mike takes the book from him, reading the contents of it again. “It says here that clergy can grant a squire knighthood. That’s close to being a cleric, right?” Will shrugs, smiling up at Mike.
“I don’t know, probably?” He says, and to Mike that’s good enough.
“Cool— so, will you help me, then?” he asks, giving Will his best puppy-dog eyes. It works wonders on Nancy and Mom, so it doesn’t hurt to try it out with Will. Said boy just stares at him, a very faint redness dusting his cheeks, and he eventually sighs.
“Alright— yeah, we can do it.” He breathes, and Mike lets out a loud cheer.
He carefully puts the book on the floor, then looks around his room, searching for something — there. Right by his closet, the wooden sword he used for Halloween last year, when the party decided it would be fun to dress up as their D&D characters. He picks it up, then walks up to Will again.
“Ok, so— this is how you do it, I’m pretty sure.” He says, then he kneels in front of Will, bowing his head and holding the sword up to him with both hands.
“What— what the hell are you doing, Mike?” Will laughs, and Mike raises his head again to make a face at Will. Will’s face looks even redder now, but Mike doesn’t notice it, too busy being annoyed that his friend is laughing at his super cool imitation of a squire.
“That’s how you do it! You offer the sword, then the person takes it and then you say your vows!”
“I don’t think that’s how it works, though,” Will laughs again, and Mike huffs at him. “Doesn’t the person who does the knighting already have the sword? I’m pretty sure the knight only gets his sword after the ceremony—”
“Yeah, but this is our ceremony, so we make our own rules.” He whines again, and Will rolls his eyes. Mike bows his head again, shaking the sword again to motion for Will to just take it already. Eventually, he feels Will take the hilt of the sword, and then the wood is lifted from his hands.
“Alright, what do I do now, sir Wheeler?” Will teases, and Mike raises his head again.
“First of all, I’m not a sir yet, that’s only after the knighting. And second—” he shakes his head dramatically, almost like a dog shaking off water, then he looks back down at the book, “now I have to say my vows to you, and then you do the shoulder-tappy-thing.” He says, and Will nods.
Mike reads through the page again, trying to figure out what the hell he’s going to say in his vows. Always defend a lady, only speak the truth, loyalty to their lord, devotion to the church, never shy away from danger, blah, blah, blah… A lot of it is stuff that Mike either doesn’t care about or that he already does, so he’ll probably have to improvise a bit.
“Did you think about the vows already, or am I going to have to stand here forever?” Will says, and Mike gives his knee a playful shove, which almost makes him topple over. Will yelps, and Mike moves to make sure Will doesn’t fall. “Your first action as a knight is to try to shove your cleric? Seriously, Mike?” Will laughs, clearly not hurt by Mike’s carelessness, and Mike can’t help but smile.
“I’m not a knight yet— you’re distracting me, Will, shut up!” Will giggles, but stops talking.
Mike goes back to thinking. His vows have to be something meaningful, something that tells Will how much he cares about him. It needs to come from deep within his heart.
He takes a deep breath. You can do this, Mike. Come on.
“I, Michael James Wheeler, swear that I will always fight to protect those I love the most. I swear to always tell the truth, to be strong in the face of danger, to carry myself with grace and— with honor, and to never, ever run away from battle.”
He pauses, thinking again. There’s one little thing bubbling up at the back of his throat, and Mike knows that it’ll definitely make Will happy.
“I swear to always be brave, to always fight fairly, to never attack an equal when they have their guard down, and most importantly, I swear to devote myself entirely to protect my cleric — sir William Byers.”
Will gasps, and Mike hears him almost drop the sword, but he continues with his oath.
“As a paladin— knight, as a knight, I promise to always be there to protect you, Will, and to never leave your side. As you are my cleric, I will be your sword, your shield, and I will always be by your side in the face of danger. I swear to ward off any— uh, any evil creature that might come your way, and I will do so without fear. I swear myself to always fight for you, Will.
Mike breathes out. He doesn’t know where all of that came from, but he knows it came from somewhere deep within his heart. It’s all true, though. He’ll always do his best to keep Will safe. He doesn’t have powers, like El had, and he can’t shoot a gun like Nancy, but he’ll always protect Will. Always.
“You tap me with the sword now.” He whispers, still not looking up, and for a second nothing happens. He’s about to whisper-yell to Will again when he feels a very light tap on his right shoulder. The sword stays put there for a moment, and then it slowly lifts up and taps his other shoulder. Will’s shaky voice pipes up above him:
“Y–you are now officially a knight, Mike.” Will says, his voice airy, and Mike has to force himself not to break character and keep his head lowered.
“Michael.” He hisses back, and Will chuckles.
“Michael. You are now— a knight, sir Michael Wheeler.” Will breathes, and there’s something in his voice Mike can’t exactly pinpoint, but that makes a funny feeling burst in his chest.
Still looking to the floor, Mike extends his hand, making a grabby motion, and Will hands him back the wooden sword. Mike digs the end of the sword on the carpet, mimicking another picture he saw in the book, and then he raises his head, meeting Will’s gaze. He puts out a hand, asking for Will to offer him his own hand.
Will, his eyes wide, slowly places his hand on Mike’s. Said boy smiles, and he copies something he read about — something that knights and other people would do for the kings and queens. He raises Will’s hand to his mouth and places a light kiss on his knuckles.
Will’s breath hitches, but Mike doesn’t hear it over the sound of his own pulse. This feels special — like it was the right thing to do. Will may be playing a cleric right now, but Mike feels like he’d be doing the whole ceremony completely wrong if he didn’t do this.
He then presses his forehead to the back of Will’s hand for a second or two, and finally lets go to hold the hilt of the sword with both of his hands.
“I promise to bear the title of a knight with pride, and to always, always follow you wherever you go. I promise to always be there for you, my dearest cleric, and to be your paladin ‘till the day I take my final breath.”
The room is silent after that. Mike feels this crazy energy coursing through his body, like he just won a medal or something. He feels great. This is the coolest thing he’s ever done in his entire life — and he’s seen a van be flipped in the air!
Mike finally breaks character and looks up, a big, goofy smile on his face, clearly very proud of his definitely super cool declaration of loyalty and devotion to the most special person in his life.
“So, how did I do?” He asked, preening over the fact that Will is a hundred percent feeling better now. When he met his eyes, though, he saw that Will wasn’t laughing like he assumed he’d be, but that instead he was looking at Mike in complete awe.
Will’s eyes are wide and shiny, and he’s looking down at Mike like he’s seeing the most beautiful artwork in the world. His cheeks are very red, and he’s clutching the sword really hard. His eyes roam around Mike’s face, as if he’s trying to take everything in, and Mike sees his fingers twitch, like he knows they do when Will wants to draw something really bad.
Will’s whole attention is focused solely on Mike, and it hits him really suddenly — how nice it feels, to be the sole focus of Will’s attention. He’d feel self-conscious if it were anyone else, but with Will it feels different. It feels special.
Mike doesn’t know what to think about it.
Will smiles, more genuine than Mike has seen him smile in months, and it’s a beautiful sight.
“You did great, Mike.” Will praises, and Mike looks away, feeling bashful all of a sudden. “But you missed a very important step, I think,” Will adds, and then he reaches over for the book. He sits down on Mike’s bed, and Mike sits down next to him, curious but also somewhat worried. Will smiles, something almost mischievous, and hands him the book, pointing at something in the page.
“The squire would take a ritual bath on the eve of the ceremony.”
“Oh, come on, Will!” He groans, shoving Will’s shoulder and burying his head in his hands. Will, in turn, burst out laughing, nudging him with his arm, and Mike shoved him again, eventually ending up in a wrestling match between the two boys, the book left completely forgotten and fallen to the floor right next to the wooden sword.
The rest of the day, Will did not stop smiling. He looked happier than he’d been in a long time. It made Mike’s chest warm. When he had to leave with Joyce to go back home, he gave Mike a big hug, which Mike returned tenfold.
When the two boys split apart, Will tapped a hand on Mike’s forehead.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, brave knight Wheeler.” He whispered, and Mike’s smile was bright enough to rival the sun.
“I’ll see you too, my dearest cleric.” Mike replied, doing an exaggerated imitation of a curtsey. Will laughed, gave him one final hug, and then he and Joyce were out the door and getting into the car, slowly driving away.
Mike wouldn’t stop thinking about the feeling of his lips on Will’s hand for a very long time after that day.