Spence didn’t think the date was that serious until Franky started opening doors for him. He realized he may have gotten himself into a situation he didn’t want to be in, but he didn’t necessarily want to tell Franky “no” when he was being so kind and sincere. He was clearly enamored with Spence, making eye contact when he spoke, sitting up straight and trying his hardest to look pretty in front of his crush who couldn’t care less. If Franky took Spence’s cooperation as a sign that he liked him back, and if Spence had challenged himself never to deny him, then he might die before Franky realized the love was merely one-sided.

“So, how’d you like my experiments?” Franky asked, folding his hands beneath his chin. Spence shrugged, swirling his straw in his glass of chocolate milk.

“I like the snake,” Spence said. “I don’t really see them as experiments as much as you do. Except for that creepy fish. If they really were experiments I think they’d all look like that fish. Oh, and the dog. But even that’s more like an incredible scientific feat than just an experiment.”

“Well, experiments don’t always involve physical mutation,” Franky said. “I use the rats and ants as psychological vessels. It’s…it’s like a test to see if the same would work on humans.”

“You want to experiment on humans?”

“You could say that, yes. But the experimentation part happens more with the animals. Humans are like the final project. Like how I made Baby before I brought Viktor back to life.”

“But the way you revived the dog was so much different than how you revived Viktor. The dog relies only on its vital organs when Viktor doesn’t even have any.”

“You’re right. Baby was more of a physical experiment and Viktor was like…a spiritual thing.”

Spence leaned in, finally making eye contact with Franky. “Tell me more.”

“Well, I started by using electricity to try to jumpstart him, essentially. I made a sort of defibrillator if a defibrillator was designed to electrocute someone instead of revive them. It was so strong that some of that electricity still sticks on him, especially in his metal replacements. Of course that cartoony Frankenstein style of solution didn’t work, so I panicked and accidentally performed a Satanic ritual based on my recent studies on demons and earthly spirits. So Viktor isn’t really alive, he’s really just a soul using a dead body as a vessel. Like a ghost possessing a doll and using it to move. I wanted Viktor to live again, to move and live as if he were still alive. I didn’t want him to sit on a table like Baby does, braindead like that. I could have made a machine that causes his organs to keep moving like Baby has, but it could be mobile and fit in his torso…but I didn’t know how to make his brain work again. Of course, Baby’s brain works in a very minimal sense, but it’s not like she can think. If Viktor’s brain didn’t work, then he wouldn’t really be living. Anyway, tell me about space.”

Spence cocked his head, feeling himself frozen with all the new information. Once he finally processed all of it, he could muster a response to Franky's prompt. “If you already know everything, why do you ask?” he said. 

“I heard you like space, so tell me about it,” Franky replied.

“How do you know that?”

“Just a lucky guess.”

“I want you to tell me. I want you to tell me about your experiments. Tell me about the snake.”

“Enough about me, dear, I want to hear about you. Why don’t you tell me about that dent in your collarbone?”

Spence reached up and grasped at the left side of his collarbone, which was split in half with a dent. “Born with it, is all,” Spence said. “My dad has the same one.”

“It’s cute,” Franky said. “Your dad was very handsome.”

“You knew him?”

“Not personally. But I used to stalk him around town when he went out, especially in the winter when he wore that fur coat. I’d do the same for you if you went anywhere but work. Besides, I already know you, so it’s even better to see you up close. You have interesting features.”

“Interesting?”

“I know that sounds rude, but what I really mean is that you don’t look like anyone else I’ve seen. It’s not just your height. Your hair, your eyes, your nose, your jaw. You’re attractive, is all I’m saying. Speaking of…how tall are you exactly?”

Franky slowly took a notepad and pen out from his pocket. 

“Seven feet,” Spence replied, fiddling with his hands. “Do you have parents?”

“My dad is old and immobile. Your weight?”

Franky started to scribble on the paper while Spence squinted and cocked his head. “I…I don’t know exactly. All I know is it’s radically disproportionate to my height. Do you have a mom?”

“She got shot in the head when I was very young. Of course, my dad was a lot older than her when I was conceived. I think they just hooked up one day because my dad's a weirdo and they got stuck in that relationship because she got pregnant. When’s your birthday?”

“March 17th. And could you elaborate on the relationship between your mom and dad?”

“I said it all. They were never married. There were no deep feelings between them. My dad is a racist prick just like your aunt and I have now become his curse.” Franky spoke with a sweet smile. “Now he’s rotting alone in my childhood house.”

“...Oh.”

“Your blood type?”

“I just said. I’m…I’m sorry about your mom. Why’d she get shot in the head?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know who did it because the police never looked into it. She was dead and then she…was just gone. I had only known her until I…I must’ve been three. So I was sad at the time, hearing that my mom wasn’t ever coming home, but even then I couldn’t fully comprehend the concept of death. Even though I was the one that found her there. I grew up in the house that she died in…And anyway, do you have any mental or psychological disorders?”

“You think Jeff might’ve killed her?”

Franky cocked his head. 

“I know all of Jeff’s victims were identified, and obviously you would know if one of them was your mom, but do you think maybe he killed her and got away with it? You think he has seven victims?”

“Oh, please, any evil person would choose the number six over seven.”

“But he would’ve kept going. He only stopped because he got caught.”

Franky paused for a moment, slowly lowering his notepad and pen to the table. Spence could see he wasn’t taking notes on him at all, rather sketching his face and skeletal structure in scribbles. “I…I don’t know,” he said. “I never really thought about it.”

“You never thought about it? You’re, like, the smartest person in the world. Maybe Jeff killed a lot more people and we don’t know. You should look into that.”

“…Oh, okay. I guess I will.”

“For your mom.”

“For you.”

Spence cocked his head, but Franky continued smiling at him, and he picked up his pen again. “Anyway, you were going to tell me about the history of your bone development?” 

“My bone development? That’s…that’s not even what you asked.”