Who: Mike Hanlon and Bill Denbrough What: Just a couple of Losers reuniting. Again. Where: Around the Dog Park When: Just after Mike's arrival Rating/Warning: TBD. I'm thinking low
Was he being obvious? Bill didn’t think he was. Yes, he’d asked about Mike first and had been disappointed that the other hadn’t been there to share in the second reunion of the Losers (featuring the triumphant return of Stanley) but not in any way that he thought telegraphed his feelings. He and Mike had grown closer since the return to Derry and, what he hoped, was the actual death of It. Bill had, maybe, become just a slight bit dependent on the librarian. How could he not be? Mike's presence throughout the entire thing had been calming. He'd been a much needed reassuring hand on Bill's shoulder, back, wherever. The person who'd helped him up when he fell, the one he'd clung to when Eddie's death proved just how much there was still left to lose. Sure, Mike had drugged him and had lied to all of them a couple of times but that was easily forgiven. He'd done what he had to keep the group together, keep them moving, and keep them fighting. He knew he was going to miss the other once he left Derry and returned home. To the notes of several different people on the ending of his book, his deadlines, and his wife.
He wasn't going to think about Audra now. As much as he cared about her the two of them just weren't right for each other. Was it possible that Bill might've never married her if he'd remembered any of the other Losers? Probably. He would've liked her, obviously. She was a likable person when the two of them weren't arguing over stupid shit but he probably wouldn't have told himself he was in love. Not when everything he felt with and for his friends felt like so much more. Not when Mike Hanlon was able to make him feel butterflies in the pit of his stomach with a simple smile or warmth by simply existing in the same place as him.
Speaking of which... Bill froze as he caught sight of the other man across the street observing the dog park and the portal to Hell that existed within it because, apparently, that was a thing in Nightvale. "Mikey..." He breathed, breaking into a smile that he was sure he hadn't worn since his arrival in the town. "Ma-mm-" He opened his mouth but the word wouldn't come. He wasn't sure if he was nervous or excited or a little or both but he was overjoyed to see the other. He just had to remember to be patient with himself. Slow down. Find his words and, maybe, he'd be able to spit them out. "Mikey!" He did it! He managed to get it out and then proceeded to do something incredibly stupid like toss himself into traffic without looking. Like dodge a couple of cars as he raced across the street, probably nearly getting hit once or twice, only to launch himself at the other man. Well, if he did do something like that, if he managed to piss off a few residents who could've killed him, thanks, then maybe Eddie didn't need to know.