Downside Up [W.Byers]

040

Dustin and Ruby walk into scoops, meeting at the desk with Robin. "Hey, Ruby." She waves. "Hey, Robin." The girl smiles back.

"Hi." Dustin adds. "Hi." She awkwardly responds. "I'm Dustin."

"I'm Robin."

"Pleasure to meet you. Uh is— is he here?" Dustin asks. "Is who here?" She questions. Suddenly, the door is aggressively pushed open.  "Henderson." Steve exclaims.

Dustin laughs in excitement. "Henderson! He's back!" Steve shouts. "I'm back! You got the job!"

"I got the job!" Steve says joyfully before imitating a trumpet. Ruby chuckles, sharing an amused look with Robin. "Hey! Oh!" Steve beams as they do their infamous handshake.

"How many children are you friends with?" Robin asks. Steve sighs, then turns back to Dustin and Ruby, shrugging.

The three of them take a seat at a booth, eating at an ice cream sundae that Ruby and Dustin are sharing. "No, no way. Hotter than Phoebe cates? No." Steve says in disbelief.

"Mm-hmm. Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth." Dustin smiles. "That's gross." Ruby speaks up, earning a nod from Steve.

"Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man." He responds. "That's ro— that's kinda romantic." He adds awkwardly.

"Very." Ruby rolls her eyes, taking another bite out of the ice cream. "Well, I'm sorry that we can't be like you and Will. You guys live in the same house!" Dustin argues.

Ruby shrugs. "So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asks Steve, motioning towards the ice-cream. "Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though." He shrugs.

"I gotta keep in shape for the ladies."

"Yeah, And how's that working out for you?" Robin cuts in. "Ignore her." Steve quickly says. "She seems cool." Dustin comments. "She is cool." Ruby beams.

"She's not. So, where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve asks. "They ditched me yesterday." Dustin sighs. "I'm sorry, Dustin. It was getting really late." Ruby exhales.

"Well, at least you're here with me now. Everyone else couldn't care less. Seriously. My first day back. Can you believe that shit?" He complains. "Whoa. Seriously?" Steve squints his eyes.

"I swear to god." Dustin nods. "They're gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don't get to share on my glory."

"What glory?" Ruby laughs. "So, last night, we're trying to get in contact with Suzie..." Dustin begins. "Oh, yeah?" Steve nods.

"And, Uh... I intercepted a secret Russian communication." He whispers. "Sorry, What?" Ruby asks. "Uh... I intercepted a secret Russian communication." He repeats, once again, barely audible.

"Are you hearing him?" Steve asks, earning a shake of Ruby's head. "Speak louder." Steve states. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin shouts, causing everyone in the restaurant to look at him.

"Jeez. Shh. Yeah, okay, that's what I thought you said." Steve pauses. "What—"

"What does that mean?" Ruby interrupts. Steve nods. "It means we could be heroes. True American heroes." Dustin explains.

"Heroes? Just cause you heard someone speaking in Russian over your Cerebro?" Ruby squints. "Forget that, Ruby. He mentioned American heroes." Steve smirks.

"Just think, you could have all the ladies you want and more." Dustin continues. "More?" Steve asks. "More." Dustin repeats. "I like more."

"What's the catch?" Steve adds. "No catch, I just need your help." Dustin shakes his head. "You too, Rube."

"With what?" She asks. Dustin unzips his bag, pulling out a Russian-English dictionary. "Translation."

"Steve!" Robin calls as he paces the room, listening to the Russian words being spoken from the recording. He doesn't respond, only eats his banana.

Dustin pauses the recording, looking up at him. "So what do you think?" He asks. "It sounded familiar." Steve responds. "What sounded familiar?" Ruby asks.

"The music. The music right there at the end."

"Why are you listening to the music, Steve? Listen to the Russian! We're translating Russian!" Dustin shouts. "I'm trying to listen to the Russian, but there's music—"

"Alright, babysitting time is over." Robin cuts in as she pushes open the door. "You need to get in there."

She walks inside, glancing at the whiteboard, covered in Russian letters. "Hey, my board! That was important data, shitbirds."

"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data." Dustin argues. "Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?" She asks.

"How does she know about the Russians?" Dustin asks, turning to Steve. "I don't know." He shrugs. "You told her about the r—"

"It wasn't me. Ruby, did you?" Steve asks. "Hello, I can hear you. Actually, I can hear everything. You are all extremely loud. You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a single word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet." She states, shocking them.

"Sound about right?"

Robin leans towards, reaching for the tape. Steve quickly snatches it away. "Whoa! What do you think you're doing?"

"I wanna hear it." She states. "Why?" They all ask. "Cause maybe I can help. I'm fluent in four languages, you know."

"Russian?" Ruby asks hopefully. "Ou-yay are-yay umb-day." She smirks. "Oh-Ho-ho!" Steve cheers along with Dustin and Ruby. "That was Pig Latin, dingus."

"Idiot." Steve slaps Dustin's arm. "But I can speak Spanish and French and Italian, and I've been in band for 12 years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me." She adds.

"Uh.." Steve hesitantly shakes his head. "Come on, its your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate. I don't even want credit. I'm just bored." She holds out the scooper, exchanging it for the tape.

Rustin/Duby friendship is thriving
Also: Ruby is joining the scoops troop 🤭