Character Name: Dustin Henderson
Series: Stranger Things
Timeline: Episode 8, just before the epilogue.
Canon Resource Link: wiki link.
Character History: Prologue: Early Life
Dustin moved to Hawkins, Indiana when he was around four and quickly fell in with his group of three friends: Will, Lucas, and Mike. The three are inseparable, and have been since Dustin arrived--their daily life consists of the usual things middle school nerds would do in the 80s: dungeons and dragons, reading Lord of the Rings, riding bikes around, and being part of the audio-video club. Dustin and his friends lived a rather charming, small-town life. It was all incredibly idyllic, save for the bullies, until Will Byers disappeared.

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Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers
During the first scene of the boys we know immediately all there is to know about the rag-tag group: specifically, where Dustin’s concerns are. Will is given a choice to defeat the Demogorgon in their game, and while Lucas wants him to cast Fireball, which will incinerate him but the chances are low, and Dustin wants him to go the defensive route. If will casts protection, he might survive a hit. As Will goes missing shortly after the foreshadowing of this scene is brilliant, but it also indicates how Dustin is always trying to take the most defensive position and be the most cautious. He’s willing to go with whatever crazy plans happen, but he wants to be prepared.

The game is interrupted by Mike’s mom--the boys have been playing for ten hours at this point--and they’re all told go go home. Dustin is kind enough to bring Nancy Wheeler, Mike’s older sister, a slice of pizza. He’s also observant, expressing mild concern that Nancy has a ‘stick up her butt’ ever since she started dating. The three kids that don’t live there bike home, and Will and Dustin are the last ones together, living the furthest. They take Mirkwood, a street intersection they named after a location in Lord of the Rings, but not without a race. Dustin is competitive to a degree, going along with the bet where the winner takes the losers comic. It’s less about who wins and more about what seems more fun--he goes with the flow, easy and happy.

Dustin is the last person to ever see Will when he disappears.

The next day, Dustin and the group don’t find anything strange about Will missing--they figure he’s just gone to class early. They’re stopped by the local bullies, being the losers of the school, and Dustin is singled out for having cleidocranial dysplasia--he’s missing his front teeth from a genetic disease that slows the growth of bones and the like around his skull. It’s earned him the charming name Toothless.

Surprisingly, while he’s down about the name calling, he’s not absolutely devastated--he’s actually rather used to being bullied. All three of them are, and the scene immediately afterwards is incredibly important. All three kids lift each other up, and Mike even says Dustin probably has super powers. He knows it’s not true, but he’s at least visibly feeling better by the time they head to science.

Will isn’t in class, and that’s when all of them start to worry. They think maybe he’s sick before they’re distracted by a gift from their science teacher to Hawkins Middle School’s AV club: a giant HAM radio. The three of them immediately try to contact Australia, including using funny voices, and it’s only when the Police Chief interrupts them to ask about Will Byers that it hits them. Will really isever.

They all have dinner at Mike’s house, and Nancy explains that there’s a rally for Will. She’s using it as an attempt to go out and see her boyfriend, but her mom asks if she could take Mike and company--to which all of them respond with a vehement ‘no.’ They know Will is alive somewhere--or they think they do--and they’re not letting go of that sign of hope. Eleven walks out of the room and, to distract the table, Dustin shows off his quick-thinking abilities and bangs loudly on the table, claiming it’s a muscle spasm--for a kid, he’s quite sharp when it comes to reading situations and knowing what needs to be done in the moment.

They bring food down to the basement where Eleven is, and Lucas and Dustin promise they won’t tell anyone about her. “We never would have upset you if we knew you had superpowers,” Dustin explains. They just wanted to find Will and got upset when Eleven refused to tell anyone.

They explain what friends are and how friends always tell each other everything, and everything calms down. Eleven heads to the dungeons and Dragons board and Dustin is the first to notice--ever observant--as Eleven picks up Will’s character piece. She turns the board over and puts Will’s piece on it--explains that Will’s hiding, which means Will’s not dead. Dustin watches as Mike asks who Will’s hiding from, and Eleven grabs the piece meant for the Demogorgon. Dustin doesn’t say anything, trying to be brave, but he is obviously panicked.

---
Chapter 3: Holly, Jolly
They decide on Operation Mirkwood: trying to get Eleven to find Will. They all bring supplies. Lucas brings everything to come prepared, flashlights and the like, and Dustin brings an entire back full of snacks. His reasoning is that they need stamina and don’t need weapons because they have Eleven.

He’s excited about it--he thinks Eleven is a weapon but never thinks she’s after them or can hurt him. It’s never crossed his mind. This is probably a testament to children thinking in very straightforward ways, but it also proves that Dustin believes the best in pretty much anyone until they betray his trust. They go to school and have Eleven stay home, readying the plan for after school.

They do, however, spend the entirety of recess picking out rocks for Lucas’ slingshot wrist rocket. Dustin, ever curious about how things work, wonders if Eleven acquired her powers like Green Lantern or was born with them like the X-Men. It sparks a debate which leads into Lucas teasing Mike about his crush on eleven--something Dustin’s already noted and hasn’t said anything about--and they’re interrupted by the two bullies that normally harass them.

They joke about Will, claiming he’s dead and he’s a queer, and none of the group takes it well. Dustin is about to do something very dumb and probably punch them when Mike intercepts. He tells Dustin it’s not worth it, and as he walks away the bullies trip him. Mike lands with his chin on a rock, and as the bullies leave Dustin helps him up.

Mike diffused Dustin, so Dustin will help Mike. Simple as that--he picks up the rock that cut Mike’s chin and claims it must be the rock that’s going to kill the demogorgon. Lucas is quick to agree, and Mike feels a bit better about things just because Dustin could easily change the subject and ease them to a different path.

After school, they catch up with Eleven and head to Mirkwood. Dustin watches as Eleven and Mike flirt the entire way, but doesn’t say anything. Eleven takes them to Will’s house and explains that this is where will’s hiding, and Lucas doesn’t believe it. Dustin doesn’t, either, but he’s the one that notices something first--police sirens. They immediately follow on their bikes.

They make it all the way to the nearby quarry with a lake in it--only to arrive just in time for them to drag a body out. It’s Will’s. Dustin is devastated, to say the least--the entire crew is. They’re seeing the dead body of their friend being hoisted out of the water, and are perfectly normal 11 year olds who are completely unprepared. This is probably why Dustin didn’t stop Mike from yelling at Eleven--normally a peacemaker, he doesn’t get in between the two because he’s still reeling as he’s watching Will’s body be put into a vehicle.

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Chapter 4: The Body
Dustin heads home, and it’s safe to say he doesn’t handle finding the body well, just putting together his personality so far and how Mike reacted--and the fact that they’re just kids. Dustin gets a call on his walkie-talkie from Lucas, explaining that Mike thinks Will’s not dead and that Eleven showed him that Will’s not dead.

They immediately head to Mike’s house where Eleven shows them Will's voice via walkie-talkie. Lucas thinks Will’s voice is just a baby monitor, but Dustin is more inclined to believe it, likening Eleven to having powers like Professor X. Dustin suggests it’s his ghost, since they’ve seen the body--showing just how much of an interesting perspective he has. Dustin is completely open to super powers and ghosts and the like since he lives in a fantasy world as a means of escapism from the small-town, bullied life.

They decide Eleven needs a stronger radio, and in order to use the one they have in their science class, they have to disguise El so he looks like a normal girl instead of, as Lucas puts it, ‘a weirdo.’ Dustin immediately heads for the dress-up stuff and finds a wig, and with their combined efforts, Eleven’s ready to go. Dustin and Lucas both immediately notice when Eleven steps out in a dress and wig that Mike is head over heels--and while Lucas is weirded out by it, Dustin clearly thinks it’s cute.

They usher her to the school and their plan works until their science teacher catches them trying to sneak in. Dustin insists they’re sad and in mourning, and the others latch on. They say they need some alone time to mourn--to cry, is Dustin's exact words--and the science teacher gives them a deal: they can have the ham radio all day, as long as they attend the assembly for Will that’s going on. They decide to do so--and barely escape their teacher being suspicious about El, claiming she’s from Sweden.

They enter the gymnasium and Dustin accidentally slams the door open in the middle of a speech. It’s obviously one of Dustin’s worst nightmares to get all of that attention, but Lucas pushes him forward. They have a mission to do.

They sit through the assembly, and Dustin makes sure Eleven feels as comfortable as she can in this situation, offering one of his toothless smiles to her when she looks over at him, lost. It’s evident he already cares about Eleven and considers her a friend, where Lucas is still on the fence about it--Dustin is always the peacemaker and often one of the most friendly of the kids. They catch the bullies laughing about Will, calling the assembly stupid, and Dustin watches in horror as the assembly ends as Mike confronts him about it.

The bullies mock Will, continuing to call him queer and a fairy, and Dustin sees Mike actually push one of them over. Eleven freezes him before it can escalate and the bully urinates himself--and they watch in delight before they all zip back to the radio room without another hitch.

They sit Eleven in front of the radio and have her concentrate. The power flickers as Eleven and they all hear a banging noise--of course Dustin is the one to ask what it is first, ever curious, and they hear will calling out for his mom. They try to talk to him but to no avail--Will is panicking, explaining that where he is is just like this world but dark and empty. The radio catches fire and Dustin reaches for a fire extinguisher, taking care of the immediate problem as Mike handles the long term one: Eleven nearly passing out because of all the energy that took.

---
Chapter 5: The Flea and the Acrobat
They go to Mike’s house to reconvene--try to figure out exactly what Will said and where she is. Eleven explains that she calls it Upside Down. Dustin doesn’t get it at first, simply because he’s not on the same wavelength as Mike is with Eleven.

Mike explains it further: The Upside Down is like the Vale of Shadows in Dungeons and Dragons. An alternate plane of existence where the world is the same except filled with decay, and death, and monsters. It’s right next to everyone but no one ever sees it--except Eleven. Dustin comes up with the idea that Eleven can probably go in there--that Eleven can cast ‘shadow walk,’ in D&D terms.

The next time we see them, it’s at Will Byer’s funeral. Dustin and the kids aren’t even phased--because to them, it’s not real. Dustin even points out that a girl in their class is crying and says he can’t wait until he can tell Will she was crying at her funeral.

At the wake, they approach their science teacher and explain they’re in mourning. Dustin is either not paying attention or far too uncaring about the appearance, because he casually reaches for the food instead of putting up a show. Nonetheless, they manage to sit him down and have him explain a few things.

First, they want to know about alternate dimensions. After the three of them narrow down what they mean, their teacher explains about parallel universes. Mr. Clark is just as much of a nerd as they are so when Dustin uses the vale of shadows as a reference, their teacher understands. He explains it like an acrobat and a flea:

The acrobat is on a tightrope and can only move two directions, forward and backwards, with the tightrope being our dimension. He uses a flea as another example, except the flea can go other directions--including upside down. The acrobats are them in this case, and the alternate dimension the bottom of the tightrope--or, like Eleven said, the Upside Down. They can’t go upside down, unless they have a massive amount of energy--and that will open up a tear in time in space and create a gate. It’s not possible for them to do, not with limited technology, so they focus on something else: that the gate is obviously already there.

They explain it to Eleven when they get home. That’s when Dustin notices something about his compasses--that they’re not pointing true north. They’re pointing a completely different direction--Dustin remembers that compasses can be changed by a magnet, or a disruption in the electromagnetic field. Dustin theorizes that the compasses are wonky and pointing not to true north but instead the gateway, since the energy to open and keep it open would mess with everything. They immediately decide to follow it. In his excitement, he doesn’t notice how terrified eleven looks--none of the boys do.

Dustin is the leader of the group this expedition, knowing how compasses work better. Lucas notices Eleven is acting strange, but Dustin doesn’t notice it because he’s far too preoccupied with figuring out where the gate is.

Dustin realizes they’re headed back home and they’ve been turned around--Lucas immediately blames him for making a mistake even though Dustin’s sure he’s right. He doesn’t think it’s the gate, it’s something else messing with the compasses--and Lucas immediately points out that Eleven is behaving strangely. As Lucas lays into Eleven and Eleven reveals she’d been trying to get them to stop prying and that she’s trying to protect her friends, Dustin is too shocked to play peacemaker like he usually is. Even if he wanted to step in, Lucas is too strong a personality when mad to really diffuse anything.

Mike and Lucas start arguing and that’s when Dustin tries to get them to stop. He tries to get both of them to calm down, only to be shoved to the side constantly. Lucas calls Eleven a monster and Dustin tries in vain to get them to stop physically fighting--and Eleven, panicked, pushes Lucas to the air and into a car, knocking him unconscious. Dustin is the first one to Lucas’ side to make sure he’s okay while Mike yells at Eleven--Dustin is far too preoccupied about trying to make sure Lucas isn’t dead to really address this. When Lucas wakes up he’s immediately making sure he’s okay, even though Lucas pushes past him. Mike wants to follow him but Dustin is smart and observant enough to know that Lucas needs time to cool down. Besides, Eleven’s gone.

---
Chapter 6: The Monster
Dustin meets up with Mike. Mike is already riled up in his basement, ranting about how Lucas should have known he was out of line. Dustin points out that Mike was out of line, too, and that so was Eleven. When Mike tells him to give him a break, Dustin’s good nature finally snaps.

“No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! I was the only reasonable one.”

His version of snapping of course is to just firmly point out that everyone is in the wrong--cementing his role of being the true peacekeeper among the group. He also points out that Mike has to apologize with a handshake. Mike refuses, but Dustin points out the rules: since Mike pushed him first and ‘drew first blood,’ he had to do it or get kicked out of their friend group. Dustin has a plan of action and for once, it’s not Mike leading them on the expedition: they’re going to Lucas’ house to apologize, and then they’re going to find Eleven. Simple as that.

Dustin facilitates the rather tense meeting, moderating the entire thing in a clear and calm manner. Lucas refuses to find Eleven and wants to go straight to the gate, and Mike immediately starts up. They’re about to dissolve the group when Dustin speaks up again, calling them out on their ridiculous behaviour. Since Dustin’s too young to actually have real world experience, he likens it to Dungeons and Dragons and their party:

“Guys, seriously? Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass? We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!”

Mike still fights for Eleven, sighting that she’s a weapon they can use against the demogorgon, but Lucas refuses to listen--the gate is their priority, simple as that. Dustin’s parley has failed. He decides to find Eleven with Mike because that’s what he feels is his own best option, not because he’s picking sides. He even says that accident or not, Eleven throwing Lucas in the air with her mind was awesome.

While they’re out looking for Eleven, Dustin shows how perceptive he is: he knows Mike and Lucas are best friends, and that Lucas is jealous because Mike is always paying attention to Eleven. They all know it and it’s stupid because all of the emotions got released in the form of a physical fight--Dustin, of course, parallels this to Dungeons and Dragons again--and Mike, while semi-agreeing, points out that Dustin is his best friend, too. Dustin is adverse, at first--you can only have ONE best friend in his mind--but Mike insists. He’s genuinely touched, and their bond strengthens even more. The bonding, however, gets cut off as they reach a Big Buy Mart. Eleven was definitely there, the doors smashed together with her superpowers. They’re definitely on the right trail.

In the woods looking for her, they come across the bullies--and the one that urinated himself has a knife. Dustin drops his bike and immediately runs, knowing danger when he sees it. Mike follows suit in the exact same manner. They wind up running all the way to the quarry where Will’s (fake) body was dumped. Despite getting a cramp, they make it pretty far--and when the two friends are stuck, Dustin tries everything, including running at a bully with a stick. It backfires, and he’s suddenly held with a knife to his throat.

He’s not above whimpering and crying--but he’s also brave. He stands up for himself even though the bully threatens to take out all of his other teeth, explaining that their friend has super powers. The bully wants Mike to jump off the quarry ledge like Will apparently did, and Mike does it despite Dustin’s pleading protests not to.

When Mike jumps, however, he’s frozen in midair. Eleven has found them, and gently floats him back to the cliff’s edge. Dustin, seeing Eleven come up and into view, can only grin. Even as Eleven snaps one of the bully’s arms. They run, and Dustin, proud, starts to scream:

”Yeah, that's right! You better run! She's our friend and she's crazy! You come back here and she'll kill you! You hear me? She'll kill you, you sons of bitches!”

He’s the first one outside of Mike to call Eleven a friend. Eleven passes out because of the energy, but when she comes too she confesses: she’s the one that opened the gate. Dustin watches as Eleven explains this, and after Mike hugs her and tells her she’s not the monster, Dustin joins in on the group hug.

They’ve made a lot of progress. Everyone is tired. They head home, not realizing they’re being watched and are under surveillance. The people that experimented on Eleven want to take her back, and the kids are the only thing that stand in their way.

---

Chapter 7: The Bathtub

Mike and cleans Eleven up since she’s been in the woods all day--and Dustin gets a message on a walkie talkie from Lucas. He immediately goes to Mike--Lucas, who had been finding about the gate, realizes that the bad men are there to take away eleven. They notice that Hawkins Power vans are everywhere, and Dustin bolts with the rest of the crew on their bikes, and a chase scene ensues.

It should be noted that, while kids, they’re smart enough to know how to weave and bob through houses and whatnot, while the vans and cars can only go on the road. Dustin, a quick thinker, connects a headset to his walkie talkie to better communicate and the three of them rendezvous on Elm and Cherry before the chase continues. Dustin is terrified but refuses to give up, and he’s about to be run over by a car--they all are--when Eleven literally flips a van with her mind. It slows the bad guy down and they head to a scrapyard.

Dustin is immediately launching on to how great and cool what Eleven did was, not once thinking of the repercussions. Even Lucas apologizes, and Dustin watches proudly as they finally make up. The dungeons party is back--and this time, they have a real sorcerer with them. They’re confident now more than ever that they’re going to find Will.

Lucas explains what he found--that the gate is in Hawkins Lab, where Eleven is. Dustin is skeptical that the Department of Energy has anything to do with it until they point out it’s probably a military complex, and that’s when Dustin hears the helicopter. They immediately stash their bikes and get onto an old abandoned bus they’ve hidden in before, knowing for sure that’s Hawkins Power trying to find Eleven.

They wait in frightened silence, trying to figure out a game plan when they notice their walkie talkies going off. It’s the one that will owns, and it’s Mike’s sister calling them. They refuse to answer, and Dustin is adamant that it’s like Lando Calrissian from Star Wars--until the Chief of Police gets on the line and tells them he knows they’re in trouble and he knows about the girl.

The Chief, Hopper, tells them they can protect them and Eleven--so Mike answers it. They tell them to keep tight and wait, but Dustin can’t handle it--he’s pacing and he immediately thinks this is a trap. The bad men are coming to get them, he’s sure of it, adamant about the Star Wars analogy. He and Lucas get into a bit of a scuffle, tempers riding high, until they notice cars pull up. It’s the bad men.

Dustin is positive it’s because of the walkie talkie, and one of the men enter the bus only to be knocked unconscious. Hopper’s saved them after all. They freeze until Hopper uses a dad-like voice, and immediately head to meet with the rest of the group: Will’s mom, Nancy, and Will’s brother. The three kids explain what they’ve found, and Eleven decides to try to find Will and Nancy--Mike’s sister’s--friend. She can’t, and they’re all trying to figure out why.

Dustin suggests it’s because she’s got a bad battery--that she needs to recharge since she flipped a van earlier. Eleven explains that she needs a bath, or a sensory deprivation chamber, in order to concentrate enough in her state.

Dustin takes charge. He calls the science teacher at 10, immediately launching into a question on how to make one. He insists it’s for ‘fun,’ and once Mr. Clarke tries to get him to wait until Monday, Dustin uses the teacher’s words against him:

”You always say we should never stop being curious. To always open any curiosity door we find.”
“Dustin…”
“So why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?”

Once he gets the information he puts most of it together: Dustin is the one to suggest they get the kiddie pool they bobbed for apples in when they were younger to work as the tank, and the other ingredients he announces so they can gather. Salt, specifically. 1,500 pounds of it. They decide to head to Hawkins Middle School to grab the road salt there, and move the whole operation to the gym.

Lucas and Dustin work on getting the pool set up, adding salt and putting it at the right temperature for eleven to work her magic. Eleven goes into the pool and the power goes out, immediately flickering. Eleven finds Barbra in the Upside Down, dead, and the group pushes her to try to find Will. She manages to make contact with him, showing he’s still alive, and immediately starts panicking when Will disappears to hide again.

They all comfort her--Lucas drying her off, Dustin leaning against her, Mike constantly hovering. Will’s mom and officer Hopper go to the facility while they’re all there, sitting and waiting. Will’s brother and Mike’s sister eventually decide to leave the children too, with the intent of luring the monster and killing it.

---
Chapter 8: The Upside Down
Eleven is absolutely drained, and the kids suddenly realize that they’re alone in the school. Dustin assures everyone they’re just kissing or something gross like that until Eleven tells Mike that Nancy and Jonathan have gone to hunt down the monster.

Mike immediately wants to help his sister--understandable--but Dustin is the one to back Lucas up. He says they could stick with Hopper’s plan, and heads to the cafeteria with the idea that since Eleven is so drained, they need to give her some sugar to get her energy up--to recharge her battery. There’s also the obvious ulterior motive: Dustin knows the lunch lady hoards the chocolate pudding, and is on a mission to find it.

Mission successful: they hoard up on chocolate pudding, leaving Eleven and Will to have a moment. Cars pull up--cars with people with guns--and Dustin returns right in time to have Will drop the bomb: they found them. The kids use their small size and knowledge of the building to their advantage as they try to outrun and out hide, but it doesn’t last for long. Dustin knows immediately that Hopper betrayed them, stating he really was a Lando.

They’re surrounded, guns pointed at them, and Eleven reacts the only way she knows how: blood starts pouring out of everyone’s eyes, killing them instantly, and she collapses due to the strain. It should definitely be noted that instead of panicking or freaking out that their friend just killed roughly 10 people at once, Dustin thinks nothing of them and everything for eleven. This is part of his mentality of black and white, which is pretty common with children enveloped in fantasy stories: they were after them. They were the bad men Eleven kept talking about. All that matters is Eleven and her safety so they can find Will.

With Eleven passed out, it’s a matter of time before more MPs and soldiers find them. The boys immediately band together to stop them. Dusin backs up Mike’s claim that if they want her, they have to kill them first, but children are easily overpowered. The lights start to flicker--at all of that death and carnage, the Demogorgon emerges from the Upside Down. The soldiers immediately attack it as it attacks them, and the boys use the chance to get Eleven and get out of there. Dustin is the one to carry Eleven, most likely the strongest out of all of them despite his disability.

All of the kids are focused and clear headed even despite the gunfire, and as they escape to a science lab, Dustin puts her on a table. The Demogorgon keeps following Eleven, and Dustin, hopeful, thinks the cease fire means it’s dead. It’s not.

Lucas uses his sling shot to try to kill the demogorgon, to no effect--until the last one. They think the last rock did it, the one that Will cut his chin on, but Eleven is there, using the last of her energy. Mike tries to help her, but Eleven pushes him away, and Dustin and his friends watch as Eleven says her final goodbyes. The Demogorgons’ screeching disorients them enough that they can’t move or do anything but watch as Eleven dissipates both her and the monster. They’re left in the remnants of the science class, lost and confused. Dustin doesn’t give up that she’s dead, not until Lucas gives him a meaningful look.

The fire and police arrive to the middle school, and Dustin is presumably retrieved by his parents. He learns somehow that Will is alive and hospitalized. It’s safe to say Dustin spends most of his time, along with the other kids, waiting for Will to wake up--he’s seen with his head on Lucas’ shoulder, fast asleep, in the waiting room. They race to his side and immediately begin telling the other things--and they never, ever talk about Eleven in the past tense. They know she’s still alive, or at the very least are refusing to give up hope. Eleven is their friend, and will always be. This is his canon point.
Abilities/Special Powers: While Dustin isn't an extraordinary person like Eleven, and he doesn't have any special superhuman powers--he's a normal kid--he does have a knack for quick thinking, learning, improvising, and always being curious.
Third-Person Sample: There's a lot that can be said for riding a bike at night. At first, he liked it--it's just him (and sometimes his friends), racing home with his friends. It had been a little scary afterwards, with all the events in Hawkins, but this is Wonderland. Wonderland is different and, so far, has been kind to him. So far. Dustin's trusting, but not that naive.

It occurs to him as he pedals back to the mansion that he still owes Will Byer his comic, and actually physically stops his bike to think. How do timelines even work here? Is it all linear? Is it more flea and he acrobat? If Mr. Clarke was here, he'd probably know. Mr. Clarke knows pretty much everything, Dustin thinks. Everything except for how to care and handle a weirdo-turned-friend who really likes eggos. That falls into their category.

Dustin pushes his bike up the mansion stairs, passing someone and flashing them a completely innocent grin, as if he definitely wasn't biking to the Wonderland woods to see if Eleven was hiding out there or not. He knows it's dangerous and he would probably be told not to go there, and that's why he has a back-up plan. If anyone asks, he's just building his own club house, like Will's Fort Byers.

Yeah, he's got it all figured out. It's not like his parents are here--and, while he feels a small twinge of sadness, he forces himself to push it aside. He can't afford to be homesick, he has things to do. though without parents, it occurs to him, as he glances down the hallway, that he can ride his bike indoors. It's not even his real bike, of course, but he made it look like it as best as he could he could after asking the closet.

Dustin's not an idiot. He knows he shouldn't do it, knows his parents would kill him. But his parents aren't here and he's in freaking Wonderland, so he grins a toothless grin and hoists himself onto his bicycle, going full speed ahead in the mansion's long, elegant hallways.

"Move move move move move!" He calls out, ringing the bell and enjoying he echo as it bounces off cramped spaces.

First-Person Sample: Guys...

[ Guess who's on the network? This kid, who isn't looking so good. He's in the dining room of the mansion, and just his head is visible--he's leaning as far back as the chair will let him without tipping it over, and he squints at the network, as if personally offended by each and every person on there that isn't where he is now. He's a new addition to the mansion, arrived only a few days ago--it's easy to tell he has a bit of a lisp and is missing his front teeth. He's also going to be sick, from the looks of it. ]

The dining room can get you anything you want. Anything. [ Which isn't news to people, he knows, but it's all he can do. He groans, pained, and sinks lower into his chair.]

I think I overdid it.

[ And with a thwunk, he falls. There's another groan, an inaudible 'shit!,' and the visual being broadcast to Wonderland is no longer of Dustin, but of an incredibly full table with nothing but junkfood--including, but not limited to: fruit roll ups, a plethora of Hostess cakes, poptarts, bugles, and even something called burple. The next phrase comes from the floor, a small hand reaching up to start to hoist himself back up and onto the chair.]

I don't feel good.