soon we'll be shipbuilding

"dustin henderson, head of IT at Hawkins library? father of the year ten years running? small-town inventor? jesus, i'm an old friend. just put me through!"

[artificerdusty]

DUSTIN HENDERSON

father, inventor, IT expert at Hawkins Central Library

biography. character sheet. musing tag. connections. inventions. rpg.

[artificerdusty]

who: Dustin Henderson & @sinclairss where: Yoda's apartment (Lucas pays the rent)

After another unsuccessful search for Luke, complete with another Hawkins perimeter search for any gates or electromagnetic disturbances of any kind, Max had gone home. Or, somewhere. Dustin didn't really know where she went-- he never had. But he was glad to finally have Lucas alone, because he'd been buzzing with questions since he'd found them in their compromising situation earlier this morning. The second the door clicked shut, Dustin listened for Max's footsteps to recede and turned to Lucas, with an only-slightly-crazed look on his face.

"Okay! So!" he said, expectant eyebrows raised at Lucas. When his friend didn't jump at his prompt, Dustin crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, come on. Tell me! What's going on between you two?" he demanded, then looked around the room to avoid Lucas' eyes. "You don't have to... it's okay, obviously, I'm over it." And he was! The tightness in Dustin's gut when he saw Max was so much more than an unrequited middle school crush-- it was a longing for simplicity. For a time before shit got so... complicated. God, he hated being an adult. More than that, he hated how completely he'd messed everything up. Maybe it was too late for him, but it definitely wasn't for Lucas.

Dustin doubled down on his line of questioning, threatening: "Just tell me or I swear to God I'll call Mike! And we'll fucking... we'll fucking wet willy you!"

[theweddingguest]

Dev Patel ©Andréanne Gauthier // TIFF 2018 x Huawei Portrait Studio

[artificerdusty]

@hcllywheeler

 it’s reassuring hearing that the other wasn’t annoyed about her interrupting the conversation. god forbid she found someone who was engaged with talking and didn’t want to do anything else right now. “you’re fine, as long as you can help me out with these, we’re even - i felt weird just standing around in there.” holly admits under her breath, hands tapping the top of the coffee pot. she was here for her family but she even felt out of place here, like maybe she shouldn’t have even came back to hawkins for all of this. maybe it wasn’t at all worth it.

   “only at coffee pots?” there’s a touch of amusement in her voice, turning to look back at dustin with a raised brow. “it’s a good thing i just need the coffee for everyone outside, huh?” making herself busy, not allowing herself to get caught up in the stories about joyce that she definitely didn’t remember. it sucked to be one of the few people who didn’t remember much about the woman. “so… were you close to..” did she keep it formal? informal? “- mrs byers?”

Dustin's flirty smile tightened for a second at the reminder of why they were there-- Mrs. Byers-- but he figured everyone was wading through those complex emotions today. And, well... Will's mom had always liked him. Dustin thought she'd even liked him best, definitely more than Mike but maybe not as much as Lucas-- surely she'd want Dustin to be happy, even if right now being happy looked like flirting with a cute girl. The more he thought about it, though, the guiltier Dustin felt, which made him clumsy.

With a playful grin, Dustin gathered the coffee pot in his hands, accidentally sending the lid clattering to the floor. "Shit!" he called, shifting his weight in a pathetic attempt to catch it. "Uh... yeah. Coffee pots only, not even lids," he said, joking in an attempt to salvage his coolness. Still, he followed the blonde dutifully, placing the pot where she showed him, and only felt a little out of breath by the end of it all.

Were you close to Mrs. Byers? It was a fair question, one that Dustin had been asked multiple times already, but... he still didn't quite know how to answer, without bringing up the Will and El of it all. Perfect way to make a bad situation worse. So, vaguely, he stammered: "Uh, yeah, I was... close to her son." Maybe she'd assume Jonathan. "You-- uh-- you a friend of the family?" Dustin asked, peering closer at the blonde in an attempt to place her face.

[artificerdusty]

@ssuzieo suzie didn’t know what was worse-- the bat attack, or waking up in dustin’s bed? she understood he was worried and trying to be nice, but suzie didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. in fact, she still wanted nothing to do with him, unless he was ready to cough up some answers. she appreciated his willingness to sleep downstairs at least, but when morning came, everything, especially her body, stung the same. she groaned a couple of times, tossing and turning as she slowly came to. when suzie felt another mass beside her, she groaned and began to lecture, “dustin--” suzie scolded, “what did i tell you--”  “oh...hello...” suzie let out a breath, blinking down at one of the famed, deliberately hidden children. she felt uncomfortable, not sure how to make this situation comfortable for a kid, so she just kept blinking. willa, suzie figured, took it upon herself and started with a you’re not katherine. suzie actually laughed, and although willa was being serious, she sympathized with the kid, “you’re telling me.” she sighed, but dustin’s daughter seemed to have more questions: so what are you doing here then? how do you know my dad? can you split custody three ways? suzie did her best to answer, but was relieved when dustin scurried into the room.  “no, no, she’s fine.” suzie shook her head, not trying to get a kid in trouble. instead, she was more intrigued by the plate in dustin’s hands, “you didn’t have to.” she told him, but took it gratefully anyway. the screeching chorus from the bat attack bounced from the back of suzie’s skull to the front, leaving her without much an appetite. she didn’t want to be rude though, so she winced when she grabbed the plate and left it sitting in her lap. “i...” she didn’t even know where to begin with dustin. suzie clasped her right hand around her left wrist and idly began to twist as she thought. “i’ll probably be going here soon.” -- to a hospital, probably. no times for baths and breakfast and playing house with dustin. suzie figured maybe they could have in another life where he didn’t-- there was one matter that held the most precedence above all of her other questions, “did they find luke yet?” 

Dustin couldn't help but flinch at Suzie's unreadable expression... Maybe it was wishful thinking, but was she... relieved to see him? It was the food, just the food, he chastised the childish part of him that still wanted to know if the pretty girl liked him. They had bigger problems now, way bigger.

As Willa climbed off the bed and turned to the kitchen, Dustin placed a hand on her head and kissed her hair, hesitating for a minute with his eyes shut. God, Luke being gone made him sick. "Wills, no playing outside today," he said, the unusually stern look in his eye for once earning Willa's compliance.

He turned to Suzie with a guilty smile, wringing his hands in his lap and debating whether or not to take a seat on the edge of the bed-- if that was too close after the fight they'd gotten into the outside of the funeral, or if the bats and Luke had overshadowed all of that. "Yes I did," he answered quickly, Dustin's words characteristically tumbling over themselves off his tongue. "I did. Have to. And I-I wanted to."

The tips of his ears were warm, despite everything, and Dustin shifted again, shoving his hand down the front pocket of his jeans. "I almost forgot." He presented a napkin with three pills crumpled inside it. "For-- your head. You can have Advil in six hours if you need it, and I can... I'll keep track of it," he offered, hoping his message was clear. Please stay.

Darkness passed over his face at her question, and Dustin glanced at the floor, gaze fixed on his socks. "Not yet, they will-- just-," he let himself plop onto the bed, head in his hands. If he wasn't so worried, he'd be embarrassed by the childlike tremble of his hands. Still, he can't shake the feeling that this was all so... Well, he'd stopped beliving in coincidences when he was thirteen.

"Please," he managed, tearing his eyes up, "I just need to know you're okay." Don't leave, please, don't leave me.

[artificerdusty]

who: Dustin Henderson & @kathcrinefms where: Melvald's general store parking lot

With Luke being missing and absolutely no answers and everything going wrong, Dustin was more on edge than usual. If Willa had complained about him being overbearing before, it was a completely different level now. Every time they left the house, Dustin was plagued with ideas of them being snatched by whatever-- whoever-- had nabbed Luke... which was why he'd packed both kids with 'survival packs' for the walk from the house to the car-- complete with walkies with extended range, enough protein and astronaut food to last two weeks, a canteen of water, a flashlight and several batteries.

As they clamored out of his van, Dustin double-checked the contents of their bag. "And if anyone approaches you, you say....?" he asks, looking from Ward to Willa, who doesn't try to hide her eyeroll. "Wills, this is serious! I'm not dicking around! This is--" he pinches the bridge of his nose, willing himself to calm down and stop yelling at his kids in public. Not a good look. "This is real, okay, it's real," he whispers, pulling the twins into him and squeezing tight. He opens his eyes to see Katherine standing across the parking space, and Dustin's mouth goes dry.

Seeing her hasn't gotten easier, not even a little. A fresh wave of guilt washes over Dustin and he feels queasy, but still he straights out his posture and offers an awkward smile, lifting his hand in greeting. "Uh- okay- you got your water?" he asks Ward. "Flashlight?" he asks Willa. When they nod, he kisses their foreheads and they climb off into Katherine's car.

Dustin clears his throat, approaching her slow and steady, like she's a skittish animal or like he might... like he might hurt her if he gets too close. "I-- uh-- with everything... you know... I wanted to make sure they were prepared. I guess. It's stupid, but if you could... if you could makes sure they have their packs. Just so I could sleep better." Not that Katherine owed him anything close to good sleep. He raked a hand through his hair and glanced at his feet, chewing intently on the inside of his cheek until he tastes copper.

"So.... how are you? All- all things considered?"

[bubblegumpcp-deactivated2023082]

It had been a very long day and she had been feeling very exhausted. It was easy to go grab a drink for everything inside her screamed that she needed one. It was even easier, however, to get tipsy rather quickly due to the lack of food, the lack of energy and the need to escape.

Sarah found herself by Dustin's side, who seemed to have the same idea about how to end this terrible day. Their first cheers had been one of sorrow and forced optimism. But overtime things grew more lighthearted as she simultaneously started to feel more lightheaded.

Brows were dropped into a confused frown as she was considering what he had mentioned. "---It is like you are speaking another language, I don't understand any of it." the brunette admitted before amusement broke her expression, a laugh rolling of her tongue as her head fell back a bit in amusement. "Gosh, it's like science class all over again. These assignment --- asking us to make a volcano and me wondering how I could possibly do that when I am not.. mother earth --- or god!"

@artificerdusty

[artificerdusty]

The search for Luke had been fruitless, which, statistically meant nothing. It didn't statistically mean anything until it'd been twenty-four hours, and it'd only been... Dustin glanced down at his watch. Twenty-one. Shit, shit, shit, Twenty-one hours. But surely there was an over/under on these sorts of things, taking into account it was Luke, taking into account he was Mike's kid. Mike, who had been to hell and back. Mike, who would do anything for his friends and even more for his son. God, it made Dustin sick.

He nursed his third beer on the curb outside the convenience store off of Main. It was a pathetic sight, two crumpled cans by his feet and a now-lukewarm beer clutched between two shaking hands. He welcomed the distraction of Sarah Kline-- any distraction, really, other than images of Luke and Willa and Ward in the clutches of a Demogorgon. "This shit is so messed up," he'd said in greeting, and in his beer-induced haze (which Max would totally make fun of him for being a lightweight), he'd launched into a jaunt down memory lane.

"Everything used to make so much more sense... Will and--" he choked, remembering who he was next to. "And Jane, and Mrs. Byers, and before everybody went away. We could do anything, you know?" he rambled, only stopping to take another drink when Sarah spoke. Dustin thanked his lucky stars that most of his intended meaning seemed to go over her head, and a watery smile pushed his lips upwards.

"Oh, yeah, the volcano!" he gushed, remembering when he got split up from the party because they were an odd number and Mike refused to leave Will. Asshole. "When we were lab partners and I told all my friends you went on a date with me," he laughed, taking another swig of the beer only to... completely miss and pour it down the front of his shirt. "Shit-- fuck-- shit!" he called, standing up with a stumble as the sticky liquid channeled down his chest.

[artificerdusty]

WHO: Dustin and @ssuzieo

WHERE: Henderson house hostage situation!

Between Suzie being attacked by bats and Luke going missing, Dustin had about a million reasons to be anxious. He hadn't slept more than forty minutes all night-- not because the couch was uncomfortable, and not because he wasn't bone-tired, but because he was afraid that every creak and gust of wind was it. Whatever had taken Luke, whatever it had sent them to the time capsule.

When Ward padded into the living room just after seven, Dustin accepted that he wouldn't be getting any more sleep. His anxious energy would be better served making breakfast for the house, anyway. In a frenzy, he whipped up scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast-- which he then turned into French toast at Ward's request.

"Willa! Breakfast!" he called over his shoulder as he made a plate to take to Suzie. He looked to Ward, who just shrugged, and took the plate and a glass of orange juice back to his bedroom, where he'd insisted Suzie spend the night-- at least until morning, just to make sure she was okay. Dustin knocked on the door, even though it was already cracked open, and pushed inside to see his daughter sitting on the foot of Suzie's bed.

"Willa, breakfast in the kitchen," he said, shooting a confused look between the two of them. As she skipped out, Dustin set the plate on the bedside table, wringing his hands and standing awkwardly to the side of the bed. "Did she bother you? I'm sorry--" he started, then stopped himself. "I'm-- how are you feeling? Did you sleep okay? I have Epsom salt if you want to take a bath-- it's good for soreness, you know." He took a deep breath, finally saying what he was really thinking: "I was so worried."

[expldn]

𝐖𝐇𝐎: mike wheeler & @artificerdusty​​​​ 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: the weekly dustin-mike-lucas sleepover (before lukey arrives <33) 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄:henderson’s house this time !!!

going to joyce’s services had been surreal and brutal for a number of reasons. there was a part of his childhood that died, a part mike didn’t know he still had. when he was a kid, he thought adults were invincible, and while mike had come to learn that nobody, not even el, was invincible, there was never part of him that considered joyce would die one day. mike had known her as long as he’d known will, and she was kind to him through it all, cindy and the institutionalization. no matter what, joyce still used her spit to wipe his face as if mike were her own boy. she never let him feel alone, she never let anyone. 

mike knew that post funeral it was time to wrap things up in a neat little bow, or pack it away in their adult sized brief cases. he could sometimes be really good at that, an expert even, but other times, he was just stubborn enough to cling onto something. in this case, it had been the lights that weren’t allowing him to rest as much as he wanted. what did it mean? the only difference between this time and all the other times is that mike didn’t want everyone to think he was having another psychological break. that made him think of joyce even more. her and murray never accused him of anything like that. not even once. 

whatever luke was saying to him from the passengers seat was lost on mike and he sighed as he put the car in park on dustin’s driveway, he waved luke off, “go say hey to your uncle…” luke only looked back at him skeptically, “you’re not gonna ditch me here again are you?” he said pointedly. mike merely rolled his eyes, “no. i’m not.” fuck his goddamnit fucking minute to take a breather, he guessed! he walked inside with luke, not bothering to knock, “hey-o!” mike called throughout the house, setting their things by the door. “where’s lucas?” he asked nobody in particular as he moved into the kitchen. mike made himself at home and grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard to put some snacks in, but willa sprinted by and mike jumped, dropping the bowl. “shit! shit!” he yelled, exasperated. wondering why dustin was nowhere in sight, he beckoned through the house, “dustin! where are you? i need the broom!” 

[artificerdusty]

Joyce's funeral had brought up way more than Dustin had anticipated. The car radio thing... that was one thing. That he could possibly write off as a glitch. But the lights? And the box? It was all too... Well, Dustin had learned long ago that nothing was a coincidence. Everything had a rhyme and a reason, whether or not he understood it yet.

As a result, he'd spent the last several hours hunched over his car radio with his toolbox in the passenger seat. The radio was completely pulled out, wires tangled between his fingers, as Dustin looked for something-- anything-- that would indicate technological failure.

He must've lost track of time in the dark of his garage, and was only shaken out of his obsessive haze when Willa thrust the door open and informed him: "Dad! Uncle Mike broke a bowl!" Shit. Mike was here already? Dustin abandoned his radio, dropped the screwdriver in his hand into the cupholder, and grabbed the broom just as he heard Mike's yell.

"I'm coming, I'm coming-- Jesus!" he yelled, turning the corner and surveying the damage. "Shit, Mike, you come over here just to break my dishes?" he joked, immediately beginning to pluck the bigger pieces off the ground. "You okay?" he asked, expression clear that he wasn't talking about the glass.

[artificerdusty]

@sinclairss

pinball wasn’t his best game by any stretch of the imagination. actually, the only arcade game he was worse at was probably digdug. but he still had the high score on this particular machine, probably because it was seen as kind of a relic now. kids these days. his gaze didn’t lift from the game as he spoke. “what do you think i am? some kind of rookie?” unfortunately for lucas, as he was trash talking, he took his eye off the ball and lost it. 

he played it off like he’d done it on purpose and made a show of taking his next shot, careful to shoot it off to the right so that he could pull off the move dustin had mentioned. it took a little more effort than it had when he was twelve, but he rocked the machine up on its side to save a lost ball, using geometry to bounce it back through the paddles and back into play. “guess there’s a reason i still have the high score on this machine, huh?” as if on cue, he lost another ball.

instead of taking the final shot, lucas kept it in the starting spot and reached up to eat a handful of popcorn. “what’s sad about it?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “i don’t have to share my snacks and i get to pick the movie i want instead of switching off every week. and i get to pick the seats i want.” he launched the ball and refocused. “what are you doing here anyway?” his tongue pressed into his cheek. “i don’t see any kids here. so technically, you’re here by yourself, too.”

Dustin happened to find great comfort in the fact that some things never changed. Pinball and Lucas Sinclair were two of those things. With the funeral coming up, and once-familiar faces returned to town, it was easy for Dustin to get bummed out about what could've been. Who he could've been, where he could've lived, what he could've done. But all of those things would mean missing this: pinball with Lucas.

And watching Lucas suck. "Dude, stop trash-talking when you're making rookie mistakes," Dustin egged him on, though he watched in awe as Lucas rocked the machine and somehow saved it. "Unbelievable," he scoffed. But just as soon as he'd earned Dustin's quiet, Lucas lost another ball and Dustin exclaimed: "Ha! What was that about a high score?"

Dustin shrugged. It didn't sound all that bad, actually, he just much preferred going to movies in a group. "Don't you like talking to somebody about it afterwards?" At the mention of not sharing his snacks, Dustin took another handful of popcorn from Lucas' bucket. He chuckled at Lucas turning his words back on him, and shrugged, "Drop off. Katherine... doesn't like coming by the house if she can help it," he admitted, with a glance at his feet.

[artificerdusty]

@stevehharringtcns steve looked over at dustin and he smiled fondly. it still surprised him how much the other had grown up, and if he was being honest, it made steve feel old. he still remembered the time, even if twenty years had passed, where steve would have to take care of dustin. but it didn’t do him well to think about the past, but focus more on the present. dustin had become more than a friend to him over the years, he had become a sort of brother that steve had never had, and he was thankful to have him in his life. but, just like any sibling relationship, steve was still used to teasing him like he always had done. at the mention of ward wanting to count dustin’s teeth, steve let out a small chuckle and shook his head. “i mean, i would say i’m surprised but he is your kid. so that’s not the weirdest thing he could have asked to do.” steve said with a small shrug of his shoulders, before he took a sip of his beer. dustin being a dad before steve had been a shock to him, but it had only showed him how much he had wanted kids. and now that he was a dad too, that was one more thing they could talk about.

“i don’t know why you carry that thing.” steve said, talking about the compass that the other always carried. at the mention of gates, steve just shook his head softly. “don’t even talk about that, makes me shiver.” he said, thinking about the events of all those years before. he was glad that it was over now… it didn’t even seem like it had happened, for some reason. it was too far away. “holly wheeler, actually. she’s in town, i guess for the…” steve said, before saying what he was going to say. it was obvious that everyone would be back for joyce’s funeral. “i ran into her and she was kind enough to accept my offer.” steve said with a small shrug. “it’s been a shitty week, uh?” he asked, looking over at dustin. he hadn’t had the time to ask him how he was feeling about the whole thing.

"I am not weird," Dustin protested, gulping his beer before his addendum. "Anymore." He leaned forward, for some reason feeling like this needed to be top-secret, "I even flirted with a girl. And it worked." He would leave it at that, but every now and then it was nice to remind Steve "The Hair" Harrington that Dustin wasn't such a dweeb anymore. The sentiment was all but lost by the time Dustin pulled out his old compass.

He sighed, setting the compass down on the table and flicking the needle, "It's, like, survival 101. Always be prepared. Obviously you weren't a boy scout." Not that Dustin was, either, but he liked to think he had common sense and some sort of survival instinct... even if sometimes that instinct said to hide behind Steve. Survival of the smartest! But, he agreed that gates weren't the lightest conversation topic, and moved on.

"Holly Wheeler," he shook his head, not able to wrap his mind around little Holly being old enough to babysit Fordie. "Terrible." It was unspoken around town, but Dustin wondered just how much more Jonathan could take. His brow furrowed, and he looked at Steve over his glass. "Have you, like, seen Jonathan?"

[inhvritance]

𝐖𝐇𝐎: holly wheeler & @artificerdusty​  𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: some lols and a lot of awkwardness <3 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: joyce byers’ wake :(

 grief was a weird thing and it wasn’t something holly knew too well, at least in relation to a death. intense sadness did hit her in waves though - the sadness that she didn’t get as much time with her siblings as a kid, heartbreak that her parents relationship didn’t last as long as little holly would have wanted and just overall hopelessness when she felt like she was all alone. it was even weirder to be at a wake for someone that she didn’t know all that well. she had heard plenty of stories about joyce byers - but who hadn’t? she wasn’t religious in the slightest but joyce was someone she’d consider a saint, at least from what she had heard from other people. all she truly remembered about joyce was some random, stupid christmas lights and even that felt like she was totally making it up.

  it was easy to feel so out of place but she was a respectful young woman, she was paying her respects and she’d be there to do whatever was needed. having said that - it was a little overwhelming. the mix of emotions between mourners was completely drowning her, hence the reason she had to move and do something else. she couldn’t stand about anymore, she needed to be useful, she needed to do something. eyes land on the coffee airpots sat on the nearest table and she makes a beeline for them instantly, lifting the empty ones and rushing towards the kitchen with them. the struggle is real — she’s a weak, delicate little thing. even carrying the cannisters herself had been difficult, so it’s a no brainer for her to kick into action. she’ll find a man, she’ll work her charm if it didn’t work.. but who the hell was going to deny holly when she was doing something nice? when she was looking out for everyone at the wake?

   and so she doesn’t even bother with sorting out the coffee and instead goes on the hunt for someone to help her beforehand. it doesn’t take long, eyes landing on someone’s back. that’s all she needs.. she doesn’t need someone huge to help her carry something that she was simply too weak to handle. hand gently reaches out to touch the other’s elbow, small smile resting on her lips. “hey.. mind helping me with the coffee? i’m gonna need someone strong to carry it out and you look like my guy.” she knows exactly what she’s doing - the touch, the annoyingly sweet tone of voice. the wheeler women way. “please?”

[artificerdusty]

Truthfully? Dustin had been planning his escape. Or, trying to. He couldn't possible stand another minute of Mrs. Jenkins talking about how her cat-- who was from the same litter as Tews, if he had forgotten, they were brothers!-- had picked up a nasty habit of clawing at her drapes. Dustin sort of understood the cat in that instance. If he had to listen to her drone on and on about the vintage pattern her mother's sister's cousin had passed down, he'd claw the damn drapes too.

His savior came to him in the form of a light touch to the elbow, a pretty blonde asking for help. Dustin happily excused himself, which he would've done even if he'd been talking to the President, and smiled in relief. "God, I don't know how to thank you," he breathed, light laugh rumbling in his chest. "That was like... shit, minute twenty at least." Dustin nodded at the girl's request, though, straightening his posture when she called him strong.

It was silly, maybe, how easy he was to manipulate, but Dustin had wondered what it would be like to be the guy girls approached for years-- and on the rare occasion it happened, he let himself savor it. "I should tell you now that my talents stop at coffee pots," he said, mock-seriousness overtaking his face. "So you'll have to find another strapping gentleman for your next quest," Dustin clicked his tongue.

[jojojoanie]

after the unfortunate discovery of the missing coffee maker in her parent’s household, it came as no suprise that adam and midge’s ‘health kick’ included a strict ban on alcohol as well. joanie had toyed with the idea of driving down to the nearest gas station, sneaking in a bottle of wine and having that in her parent’s basement - all while constantly checking that nobody would discover her.

but she’d quickly discarded that train of throught. fucking hell, she was approaching fourty. what was it about hawkins that slowly but surely made her think like a teenager again? god forbid she’d start acting on it too.

no, see, one of the many perks of adulthood - if you discarded being a corporate slave forever trapped in an endless spiral of taxes and insurances - was that you could go and have a drink, wherever, whenever. sure, that proved a little difficult in little towns at the arse end of nowhere, that, if anything, only had a measly gas station where the local teens would hang out outside of, hoping to come across some gullible soul to buy them alcohol.

hawkins had changed, of course, with the times. but so many things had stayed the same, and jo suddenly felt weirdly comforted by the mere sight of the hideaway as she approached it. pushing the doors open, catching sight of all the older versions of people she’d seen here in her youth, when she’d sneak in through the back door or with a fake i.d. to see the odd punk show.the whiff of cheap cologne applied very, very generously, cigarette smoke and spilled alcohol that made the floors sticky still lingered in the air. for a second, jo allowed herself to close her eyes and take it all in. and for a second, she wasn’t joanne foreman but joanie, ‘that crazy chick that works at the post’, strutting around town with a walkman clasped to her belt, worn out dr. martens, a shaggy wolfcut and not a care in the world what anybody thought about her. man, she sorta missed the person she’d been back then.

when she opened her eyes, though, jo was startled to find she’d locked eyes, not with some old regular, but dustin henderson. admittedly, it had taken her a beat to figure out that it was, in fact, dustin. for one, he’d never seemed like the type of person to visit the hideaway. also - and, god, jo hated to say it - he’d sort of .... gotten .... hot? in a weird, fucked up way, because the last time she’d seen him, he’d approached max with a shirt of his little dice club, asking her to join.

“oh, shit.” jo nodded towards him, and, since she really had nothing better to do, she took him up on his offer, sliding onto the seat next to him. “nerderson, it’s been a while. didn’t think you’d be the type to frequent this joint.” an amused smile pullig at her lips that soon faded at dustin’s cut-off question. “yeah, i’m in town for joyce. well, my parents wanted me to go. and - how about you?”

she briefly wondered if they’d ever really had a conversation back then. jo had usually only stumbled upon him while out with max, and, back then at least, max didn’t have the highest opinion of dustin, or so it had seemed. here he was now, offering to buy her a drink. well, stranger things had happened. a shrug, a nod. “why not? if you’re offering, i’ll have a beer.” @artificerdusty

[artificerdusty]

Dustin hadn't been the kind of guy who frequented bars in high school. Hell, he didn't step foot into a proper bar until he was 22-- his entire twenty-first year, he'd gotten enough of a buzz by ordering wine with his dinner. It wasn't until Mike and Lucas dragged him out that Dustin had his first "real" bar experience... which ended with him huddled around Mrs. Sinclair's toilet.

He hadn't been the kind of guy Joanne Foreman talked to in high school, either, unless it was through Max, but he supposed times changed. At least, he hoped they did. Some days, he worried that he'd taken a giant shit on his life and that it was too late to do something different. Something... new.

It seemed Jo hadn't had a problem, breezing out of Hawkins and starting a brand new life. He hadn't kept up with her-- and Dustin wondered in the back of his mind if she'd heard from Max at all-- but for some reason? Dustin felt a sick need to impress her. Old habits die hard. "I'm not--" he informed her. "Well, I wasn't. I grew into it."

Dustin nodded, tight-lipped at the mention of Joyce. Even with everyone saying she was gone, it didn't feel real. He wondered if it ever would, or if she would exist in the same place as Will and El in his mind-- forever alive, forever frozen in time. "Uh... yeah. Well, I never left." That sounded lame. "I mean, I left! To travel, but..." It was kind of a stretch; He'd been to California for his first honeymoon, Chicago for his second, and a brief stint back in Silicon Valley most recently. Dustin glanced around the room, as if taking stock of the entire town in one gaze. "Home is where the rent is cheap."

He was pleasantly surprised whens he took him up on the offer, and Dustin flagged down the bartender, before she could change her mind. "Two more, please," he said, tapping his bottle nervously. "So... you left town. Where'd you wind up?"

[adahgio-deactivated20230624]

why is he making small talk with her right now? serena's cheeks are flushed with embarrassment over the scene he'd caused, and though anyone who had glanced their way had now looked elsewhere, she couldn't shake the shyness. she doesn't respond to him at first.

"yes," serena lies. "just visiting."

[artificerdusty]

Dustin had really only asked out of a desire to seem polite, but when she stared at him for so long before answering, he shifted his weight to his back leg, looking at her expectantly. She looked familiar in the way that most people in this town started to blend together after decades. God, it made him feel old.

He wondered if she was visiting for something in particular-- the funeral dashed across his mind, and once again Dustin tried to figure out if he knew the girl. Nope. The only thing he knew was that she had shitty taste in coffee, but that was a secret he'd take to the grave. "Oh. Well.... uh, welcome to Hawkins, I guess," he mumbled out, before turning away and finding his own seat. By the time he'd pulled out his notes, the interaction was all but forgotten.

THE END.

[bubblegumpcp-deactivated2023082]

People staring at her wasn't a new thing for the brunette. It usually had two causes; her favorable looks or her surname and the baggage that brought along. Perhaps even a combination of the both. She had learnt how to ignore it, but mostly she was usually too distracted to even notice. This time, however, it was quite obvious and she had to stifle a laugh by biting on the inside of her lower lip.

Her eyes widened at the number and her expression fell a bit. 200 bucks? How was she gonna pay that now that she was not just providing for herself but also her father..

But that anxiety was quickly taken away by the other and a relieved sigh escaped her painted lips. "Oh gosh, that's very generous of you. Thank you --- so much!" A grateful smile grew upon her features. "I mean, you'd think stuff like this would actually make me a bad secretary right? Forgetting about details like that." she nodded towards the book and chuckled lightly. "No, but thanks, really."

[artificerdusty]

Dustin felt a pang of pity at the way her expression changed-- in a weird way, it reminded him of his mom. Even if he never had to worry about money as a kid-- not in the way Max or Jonathan had to, he remembered a few tight months where child support and his mom's disabilty didn't quite cut it. He felt proud of himself, for the first time in... a while, for helping out a peer.

"Don't mention it," he waved it off, with a slightly-more-confident smile this time. Then, his expression fell and his brow furrowed, "Actually, though, don't mention it. I could get burned." He hadn't thought about the consequences of his actions, but Dustin figured it would be pretty untraceable; he would just go into the back-end of the system and log the book as checked in on time.

He chuckled at her elaboration and shrugged, "Isn't it true that whatever you do for work, you can't do at home?" At least, that's what Mike always said when Dustin asked for help on taxes. Dustin searched for something to say, something to keep her talking, and only managed to come up with: "So... how are... things?" God, had he learned nothing from his two marriages? "I mean... at home. How's--" Well, he didn't really want to know how her dad was doing. "How are you?"

[artificerdusty]

PLAYER, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS TOP SECRET AND NOT TO BE SHARED WITH ANY PLAYERS IC OR OOC FOR THE NEXT WEEK! YOUR CHARACTER, HOWEVER, MAY ALLUDE TO WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE. FOR THE NEXT WEEK, THEY MAY EXPERIENCE INCREASED PARANOIA, EXTREME MISTRUST, FLASHBACKS, NIGHTMARES, SORE THROAT, AND RESTLESSNESS. WELCOME HOME!

Having twins, a library job, and an illustrious inventing career leaves you with very little down time, but one way you can unwind at the end of the day is a good book. Lately, you’ve been on a kick with the classic Sherlock Holmes novels. You open the Hounds of Baskerville, sinking into your designated chair and amusedly reading the lines. You flip the page though, and it’s blank. Frowning in confusion, you flip back to the page you were on, only to find it blank once more. In a hurry, you set the book down on your footrest, trying to flip from front to back to find any words. An increased sense of panic is growing when you can find none and you slam the book closed. Your chest rises and falls rapidly as a couple of seconds pass when you try to open the book again. This time, you’re met with transcripts of your aol logs with Suzie, phone calls, each page you turn the more incriminating things become. A ringing swells in your ear as it all becomes too much and you throw the book at the wall. 

[tay-swifts]

SCREAM 6 (2023) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

[maxmayfieldlaw]

@artificerdusty