Spence woke up the next morning to the TV off, and his friends sleeping on the couch next to him. Viktor had his head on Spence’s lap and his legs on Franky's, who was leaning against Spence as he slept. Dick was on Spence’s other side, his arms crossed over his chest and his hair over his closed eyes. Spence panicked for a moment thinking he had missed work, but he didn’t have to be at the counter until that afternoon. 

He slowly stood up, gently laying Franky's head on Dick’s lap so he wouldn’t fall. He wondered whether he should go home or wait for them to wake up; he didn’t want to turn the TV back on in case it would wake them up prematurely. 

So he went downstairs to Franky's lab, where most of the (alive) animals were already awake. The rats were skittering in their cage, one on the running wheel, two play-fighting and one seemingly searching for food. The ants were continuing their work digging tunnels. And the snake held its head to the top of the enclosure, trying to lift the ceiling to get out. Spence slowly approached the glass case, gently removing the top and setting it on the floor. The snake looked at him, its tongue silently jittering from its mouth.

“How do I pick you up?” Spence asked, but the snake didn’t answer. He reached into the case, grabbing the snake through the center of its golden coil, and picked it up. It kept its pink eyes on him the whole time, and he watched it too—it started to slither up his arms, and so he slung its mass over his shoulders and sat on the floor. The snake made its way around Spence, getting used to him, as he felt her cold scales and smiled at the texture. 

But then he started to observe the exhibits he hadn’t gotten to the night before—the spider, the mutant fish, and the zombie dog. He took the snake with him as he went to the different cages. The spider was hiding underneath a decoration tree trunk in its cage. A chill ran down Spence’s spine when he looked at its eight hairy legs, so he didn’t take too much time watching it. The fish had a pulsating mass emerging from above its eyes, and it swam slowly and cautiously. It made Spence feel sick to look at it, so, again, he moved on. 

And then there was the dog…it wasn’t just any dog, it was more like a dog’s head being kept alive artificially atop a plastic fold-out table. The head sat and stared and blinked occasionally. It was connected to a beating heart and expanding lungs that sat on metal dishes; a vial of blood pumped periodically through tubes into its organs and brain. Its fur was still white and clean, though—albeit a little red around where its neck was cut. When Spence petted it, it blinked and its ears twitched.

“So you’re Baby, then,” he said. It didn’t answer. The snake started to reach down to the dog’s head, too, but Spence kept the two from touching, worrying the snake was trying to get at the open viscera.

“Find someone you like?”

Spence turned around, seeing Franky standing at the bottom of the staircase. He was holding his tarantula in his hands, gently stroking it as it stared blankly ahead. For a moment, Spence felt lightheaded from the sudden voice echoing between the concrete walls. 

“I’m…I’m sorry. I wanted to pet your snake,” Spence said. “And your zombie dog.”

“You’re allowed to any time, dear…” Franky trailed off as he put the tarantula back in its enclosure, and approached Spence. “She likes you.”

“I guess she does…” Spence handed the snake to Franky, who put it back in its case as well.

“Do you like animals?” Franky asked. His wide silver eyes felt like they were piercing through Spence’s soul when their eyes met. 

“Umm…yeah, sometimes. I like feeling them. Whether that’s…you know, fur or scales or…not really skin that much. But anything else. Yes, I like animals—why do you have that dog?”

Spence pointed to the dog’s head laying on the table. Franky placed a hand on the head and gently patted it. “Baby’s my experiment,” he said, “in the revival of organisms. It’s not supposed to be possible, you know. But I figured it out.”

“You…you didn’t have to kill a dog to make it, right?”

“Of course not. I found her dead. She didn’t have a collar, so I think she was a stray.”

Spence examined the different moving parts of the experiment—the heart, the lungs, the blood. There were a million questions running through his mind about the process, the trials and errors, the mess and the location of the rest of the body. But the question at the forefront of his mind was why Franky was still lingering in Waverly Hills when he should’ve been some kind of celebrity biologist. 

“Dude, you know you could probably win a Nobel prize for this, right?” Spence said, his eyes wide.

“Oh, I know. But I like to keep my experiments on the low. Not that anyone would believe someone like me could solve the mysteries of life or anything. Even though I totally did in the midst of five other projects and Dr. Mildred’s job.”

Before Spence could say anything, Franky turned to look at him, shocking him again with his striking eyes. “You know, I think I want to get to know you better. I think I want to take you on a date,” he said, smirking. Spence’s eyes darted around the room, at anything except for Franky's face. 

“Like…like a romantic date?” Spence asked uneasily. Franky just smiled and shrugged. “Well…if you want to,” Spence continued, “I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Great! Can I take you out for lunch? My treat.”

Spence shrugged, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, sure…Thanks for paying. Usually I don’t eat until nighttime…”

“I can tell.”

Spence awkwardly brushed dust off of his t-shirt as the two stared at each other in silence. “…Yeah, right…” Spence muttered after a few moments. “Can I keep holding the snake?”

Franky turned to the snake’s enclosure and lifted the top for Spence to take the snake back out.