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[ He hasn't changed much since he was a Lost One. Then again, he's actually 11, so that's probably why. Still talking with a lisp and missing his front teeth, though. ]

Hey, do you remember me from Neverland?

_{[Oh... lord. Victor needs a minute to collect himself before he responds. This boy is incredibly young. Still incredibly young, even after the Neverland event has run its course and returned them all to their original ages.

They'd only been two years apart when they'd met, but now it's more like fifteen. Time, age, and a decade of poor habits have replaced his baby fat with sharper, starker angles. But his eyes remain the same, still a little tired and sorrowful somehow. (In real life, he's never really stopped be a Lost Boy, he'd just masked it with narcotics and work. No one said growing up solves all problems.)

Is it time to awkwardly clear his throat? Yes, yes, let's do that.]}

Yes, I... I remember. It's Dustin, isn't it?

_{[God, he's so young. How do you go about speaking to the eleven-year-old you knew as a boy when you're not actually a boy?]}

How can I help you?

[ He looks a little crazy, and super tired, but it's definitely his friend from the woods--Dustin nods, more to himself than anything, and proceeds to wrinkle his nose.

Wow. He's still a quiet nerd, and a bit like Will Byers in that aspect, but he's certainly a lot older than he was expecting. ]

Yeah, Dustin. [ And he decides to be just as blunt as he's always been, because there's no use beating around the bush: ]

Is all the stuff you told me about your mom true?

_{[Nerdy, a little crazy, and super tired--congrats, Dustin, you already have Victor's three most prominent attributes down pat.

Frankness is a child's prerogative, but even so, Victor isn't prepared to have one of Neverland's Lost Ones blast him with that question out of the blue. He blinks at the screen, pausing to answer. There's really only one answer to give.]}

... Yes. She-- That's how it happened.

_{[His younger self had been painfully honest in that regard. More honest than with anyone else in recent memory. It makes for an odd, disorienting start to a conversation.]}

Huh. [ It's said more like Huh than huh?. There's a distinct difference in his vocabulary, because he's chewing the information over like a piece of beef jerky.

It makes sense that this place screwed with him, if all that was true. He's a little disappointed that he's older, but maybe he's like Hopper. They're both kind of sad when no one isn't looking. At least he has a feeling Viktor is, and he knows the police chief is.

Dustin is very, very observant. ]

That really sucks. [ It's only said after a pause, and he immediately screws his eyes shut, regretting how dumb that sounds, and is close to just smacking himself for how tactless it was. ]

I mean I'm sorry. You wanna go get ice cream? Guaranteed to help you stop feeling like shit.

_{[Victor has the acute feeling he's being interviewed for a job with the way the boy looks him over like a human Rubik's Cube he's trying to puzzle out. Had Dustin wanted to confirm some elements of the event were true? Victor can't fault him for that; the way Wonderland plays with their memories would make anyone question what's real and what's not.

But it's not the boy's responsibility to do or say anything about ancient history, and Victor shakes his head, absolving him of any need to apologize. Caroline Frankenstein had just been the first of many, many deaths.]}

Thank you, but you really don't have to... _{[Wait. Ice cream? He blinks and absently trails off, more than a little thrown by the offer.]} I beg your pardon?

_{[Did he just get invited out by an eleven-year-old?]}

[ 'I beg your pardon?' Who the hell says that other than Mike's mom when Mike accidentally gives her attitude? ]

Do. You. Want. To. Go. Get. Ice. Cream?

[ There, slower and louder. ]

_{[Victor does. Victor talks like that. Granted, in their time together in Neverland he might have left out the part where he was born in the 1860s where such figures of speech are common.

Literally everything else about this? Not as common. The vaguely pained look on his face as Dustin enunciates every last word like he's talking to a slow person speaks to just how out of his depth he is.]}

That is--why? Why would you want that?

_{[Dustin may be proud to know his soft-spoken friend has gotten more comfortable posing blunt questions over the years. Even so, the words lack an edge. He's almost gentle in the way he phrases them, not wishing to make Dustin regret contacting him. But he's curious, too. Shouldn't children be scared of Frankenstein?

Perhaps he'd been like Wirt in the beginning, and simply hadn't known enough to be scared.]}

Viktor looks pained and Dustin's first thought is that his stomach isn't well or he ate something bad--but it goes away after a moment and Dustin finds himself grinning his toothless grin again, because the other is just confused.

'Cause when I feel like shit, I eat ice cream and nilla wafers, sometimes at the same time. And you look like you could use some serious sugar.

[ He shrugs, and it's casual, like it's totally not a strange situation they're in. ]

It sucks eating alone and you're still my friend, right? So get your shit together and let's go!

[ he's literally gone from asking to insisting. He has a feeling he's going to do that a lot with this one. ]

Wait, hold on a moment--

_{[Good catch, Dustin. This truly is a confused man, and it only gets worse as Dustin perseveres in dropping curse words at the same time he calmly and confidently announces they're friends (what?)

9-1-1 Operator, he'd like to report an abduction in progress--and apparently it's his own and they're going for... ice... cream?]}

You want to go now?

_{[This is old people logic at work--one can tell from the furrow in his brow, the physical manifestation of the adult mind instinctively looking for any excuse to keep from being fun and spontaneous. Someone help this poor soul.]}

[ He throws his hands up in the air, successfully knocking his hat off, and there's a scuffle as he bends down to pick it up, only his voice heard on the communicator. ]

It's not a mission to save the world, it's just to eat, you know.

_{[Oh, to be young and klutzy again. To think, this had been him only a few days ago. He sighs inwardly to think it, that Wonderland's gone and entangled him in another awkward, confusing acquaintanceship with another resident.

You're still my friend, right?

It's possible Dustin's innocent request has hit a soft spot, if such a spot exists, because against his better judgement what he says is:]}

If you insist. You caught me at a good time, I have a free afternoon. Where would you like to meet?

_{[If he pretends Dustin needs adult supervision, it's less strange.]}

[ YEAH IT'S ICE CREAM TIME.

That's it. That's literally the only thing on Dustin's mind--not how Viktor probably feels weird hanging out with a kid, or how unusually gaunt the guy looks constantly--it's ice cream. ]

The dining room closest to Darcy's cafe, but we're not actually gonna eat it there, it's better if you eat it outside. Trust me. There's gummy worms in this one type that Mable told me about and it's just mental.

_{[Y... yeah...

If Henry could see this now, he'd probably disapprove of Victor breaking his diet with sweets, and then laugh himself sick that he's doing it in the company of a child he's not related to. Good thing Henry's not here.]}

I know it.

_{[But... outside? What does that have to do with taste? Do these candy worms become more delicious in the sunlight? He's clearly passed the threshold where this sort of logic makes sense to a young person.]}

... I'll have to take your word for it. I can be there shortly.

_{[He wonders why he agreed to do this all the way there, and he's still wondering as he's walking into the dining room, but then he's there and there's no turning back. Unless he wants to get into the habit of turning tail and running away from small children. He's cowardly, but not that cowardly.]}

Hey so I've been thinking--

[ And there's Dustin, not even missing a step. Right as Viktor steps into the room, Dustin starts to heft a huge commercial sized drum of ice cream away from the table.

Or, rather, tries. Viktor is treated to the sight of one small child, not having quite enough strength, completely topple over onto the floor. At the very least he's not crushed by the ice cream, but he does, however, decide to just stay down and stare at the cieling. He at least continues his train of thought. ]

Ow. So I was thinking--you're super old, aren't you? Like from a different time than me?

_{[Dustin's in luck--taking self-defense lessons from Sharon Carter does wonders for sharpening one's reflexes. The minute Victor sees the mop of curly hair go down under the weight of a bucket practically the same size as Dustin, he starts forward to heave it off of the boy.]}

Are you all right? _{[God, it's cold. Is this...?]} This can't be all ice cream.

_{[So this is what three gallons of dairy product looks like in one place. Victor had been imagining something like a bowl, not a five months' supply of dessert.

Only after rolling the drum aside and helping Dustin back to his feet does he pay mind to the question, glancing at Dustin's face. He's not that old, come on.]}

You've been concerned by my time period? The year was 1892, which I'm aware is a far cry from most of you.

_{[In other words, yes. He's a veritable Victorian antique.]}

Oh, it's all ice cream. [ It's said offhand, like 'sure, and I'm definitely going to eat all of this' like it's a normal, every day occurrence. It isn't. He's glad for the help, though, and grabs his fallen hat before jamming it on his head. ]

That's crazy. You gotta flip the middle digits and you'll be close, though. 1983.

Oh man, have you not seen Star Wars? Have you not seen a movie?

That's the crazy part?

_{[A rhetorical question, one emphasized by a raised eyebrow as he lifts the container back up to the table. Having been shorter than this boy not long ago is crazy; seeing modern American adolescents in their jeans and their baseball caps seems practically unremarkable in comparison.

He suppose he must look older to this boy in more ways than one, now that they're no longer running around an island in cloaks and animal skins like savages.]}

I've been made aware of the technology here in Wonderland.

_{[Said with the teeniest amount of petulance. He'd learned how to resurrect the dead, but everyone always uses video technology as the benchmark of enlightenment.]}

[ Dustin grins in response, picking right up on that petulance. ]

It's way more advanced then stuff where I'm from. Like the whole communication devices being portable. We have wires on our phones, and they're curly, and one time Mike threatened to strangle Lucas with it when Lucas kept making fun of Will's drawing even though it was really good. Then Mike's mom came down and told us all to be quiet because we were making Mike's little sister cry.

It was pretty funny, but I think you'd have to be there.

Anyway, technology is really neat but what you need to get caught up on is food. I bet you've never had a pop tart in your entire life.

_{[A blink.]}

... Hm.

_{[At first that's all he manages in the face of Dustin's verbal onslaught. There's too much being said here. Had Dustin always talked this fast, or had his younger self just had an easier time keeping up?]}

You seem to be adapting well enough--you sent that video to my device without a problem.

_{[Does the boy get in contact with strange men often? Maybe that's something to ask about later...

On the matter of pop tarts, Dustin isn't wrong. Victor doesn't even know what that is.]}

Another type of sweets, I presume?

I'm part of my school's AV club, that's like a place where you get together and talk about communication stuff like this. [ Plus he's a lot smarter than most people give him credit for. He Was the one that thought about the compasses leading to the gateway. ] Before everything went crazy where I'm from, we were trying to send messages to Australia.

Yeah, but for breakfast. The strawberry ones are the best, but anyone who gets unfrosted ones are basically dead to me. Sugar Smacks are good, too, sometimes I eat two bowls before school.

[ He's just rly passionate about food... ]

Is the postal service no longer active where you come from in 1983?

_{[He couldn't resist, sue him.

That a boy enjoys sugary foods to the detriment of his diet is of no great surprise--Victor's treated his fair share of stomachaches disguised as more serious health concerns, all because some child stuffed their face with something they weren't supposed to--but he's still not positive how he ended up getting roped into this. Hefting the heavy container, he looks pointedly down at it, then to Dustin.]}

And this? This is your comfort food?

_{[And he wants Victor to eat it, too? This seems like a fine way to add to his woes, not subtract from them, but Victor can see Dustin's heart is in the right place (in the vicinity of his stomach). Either the boy's looking for company, or he thinks Victor needs it--either way, he can't resent Dustin's intentions.]}

[ Dustin giggles--a full on, absolutely delighted giggle. ] 'Postal service.' [ God, Viktor's funny.

But he's also carrying the ice cream. How is a scrawny nerd actually that strong? Or maybe Dustin just has no concept of that sort of thing. ]

It's actually Mabel's--you know, Mabel Pines? My age, crazy sweaters, braces? I just got addicted to it.

[ He's already out the door, taking his time. At least he holds the door open for Viktor. ]

It's just impossible to be sad while you're eating ice cream. That's a cold hard scientific fact.

_{[Well, at least someone laughs at his jokes.

With their impromptu ice cream lunch date in full swing, they probably make quite the odd sight trooping down the hallway together, Dustin with his baseball cap and gap-toothed grins, and his Victorian escort carrying his prized snack food for him. (When you've wrestled an inhumanly strong woman in the throes of demonic possession, a tub of ice cream is nothing.)]}

That's clever. _{[Both for the pun--cold, hard--and for invoking science in front of the scientist. Victor allows a dry sound of amusement to escape him as he follows Dustin's lead.]} And how have you been faring since the event ended?

_{[Maybe it's not just Victor who needs the comforts of ice cream (in Dustin's mind, anyway). Victor rather hopes the rest of the event had treated the boy better than it had some others.]}

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