fierce ↠ sweet pea [1] [✔]

|| TWENTY-EIGHT ||

"You have a stage, would you be open to me bringing in a karaoke machine?" Betty asked, glancing at the stage where Serpent girls were dancing. Lauryn was sat beside her and Toni was behind the bar. Neither of them really knew why she was there, and it was an uncomfortable atmosphere.

"For FP's retirement?" Toni eventually picked up on what Betty was saying, and though the air between them was somewhat awkward, they were still able to conversate. "Sure, why not?"

"Also, Toni, Lauryn, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you both, beyond the party planning is," Betty took a deep breath before continuing her sentence. "I've been walking the razor's edge since Jughead joined the Serpents. And all I've been thinking is as soon as FP gets home, everything will get better because he'll be there to protect Jughead and make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Yeah, I'm following you," Toni nodded, which Lauryn raised a brow to. "I mean, with FP out of the picture-"

Betty cut her off unintentionally rudely. "That's my whole point. I do worry," Her eyes widened. "So, I wanna keep an eye on Jughead myself. Make sure that as deep into these snake-infested waters he goes, he doesn't do something that, you know, puts him in danger."

"So, what, you wanna be a Serpent?" Toni jeered, rather intrigued.

Betty nodded subtly, and it was quite clear that she'd picked up on the absurdity of her statement herself. "Let's say Serpent-adjacent. But yeah, a part of his world, this world."

Byrdie, an old and constantly intoxicated Serpent began to cackle as she eavesdropped.

"Shut it, Byrdie." Toni scolded, and Lauryn sighed.

"Ignore her."

"Sorry, Sweet Valley High," Byrdie rambled, her fizzy tone displaying her intoxicated, likely high state. "If you wanna join the club, you gotta do the dance. The Serpent Dance."

"Excuse me, Serpent Dance?" Betty recalled, starting to look worried.

"It's some outdated, sexist Serpent tradition," Toni explained, the thought of it frustrating it immediately.

"We tried to get it outlawed, but misogyny dies hard," Angel Face sighed, cringing at the memories she was then familiarised with. "I had to do it when I was fourteen. You don't wanna know."

"Yeah, I do," Betty disagreed, staring at the girl up on the stage dancing almost as if she envied her. "I wanna know everything."

"Well, then. This'll take a while."

Later on at the Wyrm when most Serpents had gone home, Jughead was looking miserable. It was odd since he should've be happy because his dad had been released.

"Why so sad? It's great news about your dad," Toni asked after she and Lauryn sat down with him, hoping to keep him company. They could sense that he was slightly distracted.

"I guess that means the Snake Charmer came through," Lauryn sighed, detecting the guilt written across his cheeks.

"What? She hasn't called you for any more favours, again, has she?" Toni interrogated sternly.

"That deal was a favour. My one favour. Technically, I don't owe her anything," Jughead grumbled.

"Jughead, you think she's gonna look at the technical side?" Lauryn scoffed, shaking her head. "Penny's a Snake Charmer. She doesn't care about anything but herself and her money."

"If she's decent enough, she'll wash her hands of me after the first favour."

"Oh, Jones. Let's hope you're right," Toni sighed, and Jughead looked no less uneasy than he did when the girls sat down.