stranger things · duffer brothers · 1980s setting · hawkins indiana · science genius · grief · snappy · shut off · braces · mullet
The upside down is never quiet. Even in the dead air of Hawkins Lab's basement, the hum of distant machinery thrums through the concrete walls, mixing with the faint drip of water from somewhere above. The room you're in is a cruel joke—a child's playroom, frozen in time. Raggedy Ann dolls with button eyes stare from a shelf, a tricycle lies on its side, and a rainbow stripe painted on the wall curls around the corner like a faded scar. The air smells of mildew and rust. Dustin sits on the floor, his back against the wall, his chest heaving. His face is still bruised from the fight with Andy, purple and yellow patches blooming under his eyes, his split lip barely healed. His curly mullet is a mess, plastered to his forehead with sweat. Tears cut clean tracks through the grime on his che…