CHAPTER FOUR:
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
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DANNY WOULD'VE LIKED to say that he awoke the next morning with the sound of birds chirping or the smell of pancakes but that didn't happen. Instead, Danny woke up to the sound of medieval music playing loudly from a boombox. At first, Danny thought that he was still dreaming. Dreaming about some imaginary kingdom in his head with princes and princesses, kings and queens, and magic and wizards but no. Danny wasn't in a kingdom. Danny was in Mike Wheeler's basement which is still something that he never thought would happen in a million years.
Danny slowly opened up his eyes, the light from the warm lamps in the basement shining into them. Danny groaned slightly as he closed his eyes once more. He had gone to bed extremely late along with the rest of the boys, so being awoken early in the morning wasn't exactly something that Danny was happy about. Danny turned over and felt a body beside him jump at the sound of the music. Danny opened his eyes once more and saw Lucas Sinclair staring into them. Lucas immediately sat up. Danny looked up and upon seeing Will clad in a wizard's outfit complete with a hat and a staff, Danny closed his eyes once more and laid back down.
"What are you doing?" Lucas asked Will.
"Yeah, Will, can you turn down the music?" Mike asked, jumping up as well.
"Please address me by my full name!" Will ordered. Danny sighed and opened up his eyes once more before rolling them, starting to regret agreeing to the sleepover even if it meant pissing off Lucas Sinclair. Mike questioned Will before ordering once again, "My full name!"
"Oh my God," Mike sighed, rubbing his eyes. Danny pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing once more. "Okay, Will the Wise, can you please turn down the music?"
Danny furrowed his brows at the name, "Will the fucking what?"
"That is not music. That is the sound of destiny!" Will exclaimed. Danny sat up and furrowed his brows at Will. Danny knew the boys were nerds but this was taking it to a whole other level. "I have seen into the future, and I've seen that today is a new day, a day... free of girls!"
"What is happening right now?" Lucas asked, voicing Danny's thoughts.
Mike sighed, "Will, come on."
Will went to the table and leaned down. Danny saw the board was already fully ready for Dungeons and Dragons. Danny wondered if he would be able to leave before any of the boys dragged him into playing, "A tribe of villagers are under threat from an evil force from the swamps of Kuzatan."
"Will, it's so early," Mike complained.
"Is it? Is it early, Michael?" Will asked, his brows furrowed. Lucas and Mike shared a similar look of confusion and annoyance. "Tell that to the villagers crying for your help, the children so frightened, they cannot sleep. Are you truly going to let them perish or are you going to come to their rescue and become the heroes you were always meant to be?"
Lucas raised his hand, "Uh... can I at least take a shower first?"
"There is no time for showers! The villagers need you!" Will denied. Danny slowly started to get up, wanting to get out before he couldn't. "Now, are you going to let them perish or come to their rescue?"
Lucas and Mike shared another look before sighing and standing up. Mike grabbed a half-empty can of soda, chugging it down before going over to the table. Danny started to move toward the stairs until Will stopped him, "Not so fast, Daniel!" Danny sighed and threw his head back. "We need another brave soldier to defend the villagers! Do you accept?"
Danny slowly turned around, "As fun as that sounds, I gotta get to Scoops Ahoy. My dad and Robin will kill me but to be honest, I'm more afraid of Robin than my dad, so —"
"Nonsense!" Will shouted, shaking his head. "Come, sit!"
Danny looked at Lucas who was smirking at Danny, looking smug. Danny glared at him before slowly going over to the table. Will brought another chair over and Danny sat between Lucas and Mike. Danny sighed as Will sat down at the table. Will grabbed the Dungeons and Dragons book, looking happy. Danny hated being at Scoops Ahoy sometimes but all he wanted in that moment was to be at Scoops Ahoy in the backroom, reading comics and sketching.
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Danny, Will, Lucas, and Mike had all been playing Dungeons and Dragons for the last three hours, and Danny was ready for death. He was fully ready for the Grim Reaper to take him from the suffering of Dungeons and Dragons, and drag him off to hell. Danny didn't necessarily hate Dungeons and Dragons but he didn't necessarily like it either. He knew for a fact that he hated how long the game was. There was absolutely no reason why the game should last as long as it did. Danny understood that there was a whole campaign to plan and a whole storyline to go through but did it have to take several hours? He thought that was a little dramatic.
As the thunder and lightning clapped outside, Danny sighed. If he had left earlier, he could've avoided the storm but now, he would have to ride home in the rain without a hood. He had his leather jacket but it didn't have a hood. He would ask to borrow a hoodie from Mike but he knew that Mike's clothes would be too small for him.
"Do you hear that? It sounds like... thunder," Will said in a hushed tone. Danny listened to thunder outside and the fake thunder in the music that had been playing for the last few hours. "But, no, wait, that's not thunder. It's... a horde of juju zombies!" Will threw the playing pieces on the table. "Sir Mike, your action!"
Mike sighed and turned to Lucas, "What should I do?"
Lucas shrugged, "Attack?"
Mike shrugged as well and picked up the dice, "Okay, I attack with my flail."
Will watched what number the dice landed on, "Whoosh! You miss. Your flail clanks the stone, the zombie horde lumbers toward you, and..." Will rolled a die again. "... the juju bites your arm! Flesh tears! Aag! Seven points of damage!"
Mike grabbed his arm and sarcastically whined, "Oh no, my arm! Lucas, Danny, look, my arm!"
Lucas snickered while Danny chuckled softly before looking over at Will who looked sad. Danny stopped chuckling as Will looked over at Lucas, continuing the game despite his friends clearly making fun of him, "Sir Lucas, the zombie hoard roars! Do you fight back or do you run?"
Lucas looked like he was about to answer until the phone rang. Mike and Lucas whipped their heads toward it, their eyes wide but Will stood up, "No, it's a distraction! A trap! Do not answer it!"
Lucas and Mike ignored him and scrambled up. Danny watched in amusement as they sprinted toward the phone. Danny knew they were hoping it was one of their ex-girlfriends. Mike grabbed the phone and put it on his ear, "El?" Mike sighed. "No, sorry. Not interested." He hung up the phone before turning around and leaning on the wooden post that the phone was on. "Telemarketers."
"Maybe we should just call them," Lucas suggested.
Mike furrowed his brows, "We can do that?"
"I wouldn't," Danny warned.
Lucas looked over his shoulder and glared at Danny before turning back toward Mike, "Let's do it."
"What would we say?" Mike asked.
Danny was about to tell them again to not call the girls. He knew that the girls needed space to process their emotions and when they were ready to talk, they would. Danny almost started his advice until Will interrupted, "We'll say nothing! The Khuisar tribe still needs your help!"
"All right, then," Mike sighed, nodding. "I'll use my torch to set fire to the chambers, sacrificing ourselves, killing the juju, and saving the Khuisar. We all live on as heroes in the memories of the Kalamar"
Lucas held up his hand, "Victory."
Mike high-fived Lucas as Will sighed and threw down his staff and his wizard hat. Danny frowned at Will's reaction, not liking that his friends were making fun of something he really wanted to do. Danny took a step back, sensing that an argument was about to break out and he was right as Will yelled, his voice harsh, "You guys win! Congratulations."
"Will, I was just messing around," Mike explained as Will turned off the music and took off his wizard robe. Mike stepped forward, not wanting his best friend to be angry at him. "Let's finish for real. We can show Danny what a campaign is really like. How much longer is it —"
"Just forget it, Mike!"
"No, you wanna keep playing, right?" Mike asked Lucas.
Lucas's eyes widened as he nodded, "Uh, y — yeah. Yeah, totally."
Danny rolled his eyes at Lucas's horrible lying. Will grabbed his bag and started to stuff his things into it. Danny wanted to attempt to comfort Will, feeling bad about what was going on but he knew it wasn't his place. Mike stepped forward once more, "We'll just call the girls afterwards."
"I said, forget it, Mike! I'm going home!" Will called out.
Danny stepped aside as Will headed toward the stairs. Mike and Lucas tried to stop him but he didn't listen to them, instead choosing to shove them away. Mike followed Will up the stairs as Lucas stayed and sighed. Danny looked at Lucas, feeling awkward at the situation. Danny sighed, "Um... I'm gonna get going, too."
Lucas nodded, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."
Danny didn't say anything snarky, feeling like it was a bad time. Danny grabbed his leather jacket and threw it on before heading up the stairs. He passed by Karen Wheeler who waved him goodbye. Danny waved goodbye back before stepping out the front door. He wrapped his jacket around himself before hopping onto his bike and heading off down the road. He knew he needed to head to the mall since he had ditched Robin the day before and now was ditching her this morning, so he headed to the mall, getting drenched in the process.
When Danny finally got to the mall, he was completely soaked as if he had just taken a shower. Danny groaned as he walked into the mall and slipped off his leather jacket. Somehow, his shirt had only gotten a little bit wet but his jeans stuck to his legs, and his boots were soaked down to his socks. Danny begrudgingly stomped toward Scoops Ahoy, seeing Steve and Dustin hiding in the bushes by the fountain, a pair of binoculars up to their eyes. Danny furrowed his brows but continued on his way, ignoring the strange behavior of the two strange boys.
As Danny walked into Scoops Ahoy, he spotted Robin behind the counter. She had a Walkman out and was mumbling something to herself. As Danny walked up to the counter, he tapped the bell, prompting her to roll her eyes. Without even looking at him, she said, "I already told you, no more samples today. You're abusing our company policy."
"I would say she's just using it to her advantage," Danny shrugged.
Robin whipped her head toward Danny and her eyes widened, "Dude, what the hell? Where have you been? Your dad is gonna kill me!"
Danny rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Only if he ever finds out which he won't unless you tell him."
"Or if he decides to pop in unexpectedly to make sure his delinquent son is serving his sentence," Robin retorted before a knock sounded from the backroom.
Before Danny could say a good comeback, Robin opened up the window and hopped into the backroom. Danny went behind the counter and grabbed a sample spoon, taking a bite of the peanut butter chocolate swirl. He took a peek at what Robin had been reading on her notepad. Danny furrowed his brows at the sentences until he saw the Russian-English translation book, realizing this must be the translated Russian code Dustin and Steve had been working out the day before. They had translated it but it seemed to be some kind of code.
The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly.
Danny took another bite of his ice cream before shaking his head. Danny didn't give a fuck about the stupid Russian code they were trying to figure out. He didn't believe that it was actually from Russia or possibly Russians in Hawkins. It seemed really stupid but after working in an ice cream shop all summer, Danny figured that Robin and Steve needed something different to do.
As Robin came out of the backroom, looking frazzled with her eyes wide, Steve and Dustin walked back into Scoops Ahoy, "Robin, you're not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian... Oh shit, Danny? Where you been?"
Robin pushed past Dustin and Steve, rushing out of Scoops Ahoy. Danny watched as Robin jumped onto the fountain and started looking around. Danny furrowed his brows at her, wondering why his cousin was standing in the middle of the mall, looking around like a crazy person. Dustin and Steve looked at Danny who shared a similar look of confusion.
Dustin and Steve left Scoops Ahoy, Danny following behind them to see if Robin was okay or if she was losing her mind. Steve walked up to Robin, "Robin, what are you doing?"
"I cracked it," Robin smiled, her eyes wide.
"Cracked what?" Danny asked, still eating his ice cream.
"I cracked the code," Robin specified. Danny raised an eyebrow, not exactly caring. Danny figured the code was some sort of prank. It was random sentences that didn't seem to mean anything. Robin hopped off the fountain. "We're checking it out tonight. It has something to do with the mall." Robin looked at Danny. "Danny, you coming?"
Danny scoffed, "Fuck no. Sounds stupid. I got better things to do."
With that, Danny went back to Scoops Ahoy and stole more ice cream. Robin was too excited about the code to lecture or scold him. Danny thought the super secret Russian code was weird but it wasn't weird enough for Danny to be interested. Danny lounged in the backroom once more like every other day and grabbed a comic book, starting to flip through it, the code leaving his mind.
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[ 2.4K WORDS ]
Danny genuinely doesn't give af about the code which is so very accurate for his character
this was more of a filler chapter but the next chapter will be getting into the plot a little bit more and i'm so excited to write it! i know exactly how danny is going to be getting into everything!