tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

five.

CHAPTER FIVE:
VELVET MEMORIES.
MIKE'S POV.

it had been a little over a month since the boys had been interviewing jim hopper every week and in all honesty, they haven't learned a lot about the man.

occasionally the boys would be able to find something they had in common with him or maybe even spark up a conversation where they were able to learn more about his personality, but other than that... nothing.

however, what they did notice is jim hoppers's mood changing significantly over the past few weeks.

some days the man would be very quiet and others he would over the moon with excitement. but unlike those days, today he seemed - stressed to say the least.

mike and lucas have been at jim hopper's humble home for maybe twenty minutes now, both of them quite suspicious of the man's attitude since the moment they arrived. he wasn't as happy today, definitely not as talkative. it was almost like he was lost in thought.

"um... sir?" lucas interrupted shyly as he put his pen down on the notepad in front of him, making the older man shake his head like he was dismissing whatever was on his mind. "are you okay? you seem a bit off."

"oh! i'm fine - yea i'm fine. just have a lot of stuff to do before my guest arrives next week. i think i told you boys about that right? when this all started?" hopper started to ramble as the boys processed the information. in all honesty, they both had forgotten about this "guest" that was supposed to be arriving soon. maybe that's good since technically they weren't allowed to speak to whoever was coming anyways.

"oh, we remember sir." lucas exchanged a glance in mike's direction before continuing cautiously. "is there uh... anything we could do to help you... um set up?"

mike immediately looked towards lucas defensively. for some reason, jim hopper still unsettled the boy. he didn't want to give the man any more reasons to hate him, which was why he'd rather just do his job and leave without developing any sorta bond with the man. wasn't it safer that way? to not get involved?

"actually, i could use some help cleaning up. just to make sure it doesn't look as - "

"lonely and depressing in here?" lucas blurted out, earning him a slap on the shoulder from mike. the raven haired boy was about to intervene and apologize for his friend's rude comment until he heard the old man start to chuckle with laughter.

"well that is a more honest way of putting it." hopper pulled a smile before standing up from the dark wood table and making his way towards the kitchen. as if on cue, both the boys stood up and followed the man further into the home.

"if one of you can sweep and the other dust the bookshelves in the living room - that would be extremely helpful. i'll do the kitchen and the dining room. at least the down stairs will be done and i can do the upstairs closer to when el- i mean they arrive." the other man stuttered over his words, looking quite flustered even though the only thing mike and lucas heard was "sweep and dust the living room".

so that's exactly what they all did. they spent their few hours together cleaning and dusting their clients living room. in all honesty, it wasn't too bad. well, only considering the fact that the living room wasn't really that dirty to begin with.