"So you believe your therapist is behind this?" Persephone asks as she sits next to Wednesday in the Weathervane.
"Kinbott has to be Xavier's master." Wednesday confirms, eyes focused on Faulkner's diary as Fester takes an interest in the bottle of ketchup on the table. "The Hyde lays dormant until unleashed by a traumatic event or unlocked through chemical inducement or hypnosis." Persephone cringes as Fester squirts the ketchup into his mouth and slurps away at the condiment. Hades, who sits next to Fester, elbows his uncle in the stomach. "Are you listening? She must've figured out he was a Hyde and used hypnotherapy to unlock him. That would explain their secret sessions."
Fester looks over his shoulder and becomes alarmed. "I think the kid behind the counter has clocked me." The trio of students glance over to see Tyler staring longily at Wednesday. "Yeah. He's walking over. I'm gonna put him in a Romanian sleeper hold. Cover me."
"Relax." Hades slaps his hand on Fester's shoulder to stop him from making a scene. "He's not interested in you."
"Uh, made you a quad. On the house." Tyler places the cup and saucer on the table, smiling at Wednesday.
"Nice of you to bring something for the rest of us." Persephone comments sacastically, sending the normie boy a fleeting smile.
"Hey, thanks kid." Fester chuckles, sliding the drink closer to him. "Need a refill on this puppy too." Tyler is flabbergasted as he is handed the red bottle, spluttering for any words to say in reply.
"Tyler. This is my Uncle Fester." Wednesday introduces, making the boy even more flustered.
"Oh. Uh... Hi, it's nice to--" He makes the mistake of going in for a handshake as Fester sparks his hand. Tyler yelps back making Fester and Hades snicker at his politely gullible nature. "Is that...?" The boy trails off, looking at the diary in shock. He then decides to slide into the booth next to Wednesday which forces Persephone to be budged up. Hades' glare for the boy goes unnoticed as he is too transfixed by the drawings.
"It's called a Hyde." Wednesday explains, paying no mind to the now-squished Persephone.
"Whoa, that's it. From that night." He realises, voice low and breathy.
Persephone rolls her eyes, feeling like he was pointing out the obvious. "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." Hades is the only one to acknowledge her comment, giving her a soft smile as his sister seems to be too infatuated by the vanilla normie.
"Your father gave you explicit instructions not to be near me." Wednesday reminds him.
"Yeah, my dad's not here, and I'm on a break." Tyler reasons with her, defying his father's orders and wanting to stay talking to the girl.
"Well, apparently a Hyde needs to be unlocked by someone. Its master."
"Holy shit." Tyler curses at the new information. The two seem to be quite cosy together, huddled over Faulkner's diary. Hades nods to the pair with his head before proceeding to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively at Persephone. She nods at his implication, eyes wide with confusion. The two were enjoying their silent communication when the sheriff walks in.
"Tyler." He calls out, causing the three with their backs to the door to turn at the sound of the voice. "What'd I say?" Uncle Fester seems to have disappeared again, obviously in an attempt to not be caught by the police.
"Uh..." Tyler stands up from the table with Wednesday not too far behind. "For the record, Wednesday was trying to keep her distance. I was the one that sat down with her." Galpin looks back and forth between the pair, briefly glancing at the two outcasts still sitting at the table.
"Alright." He sighs, giving in and handing Tyler some blue flyers. "Putting these up around town. It's a bank robbery suspect, and he's a real creep. You haven't seen him, have you?"
The photo bears a strong resemblance to Fester, making Wednesday deliver a firm answer, "No."
"Yeah, he'd be pretty hard to miss." Tyler goes along with the lie. "I'll pin it on the bulletin board."
The sheriff still views the pair with suspicion, his glare particularly focused on Wednesday. Persephone speaks up to draw the attention away from her friend, "Seems like you're having a pretty busy time down at the station, Sheriff. What with all the monsters, murders and now adding bank robberies to the list."
Hades continues to help divert the sheriff's focus. "Sounds like you'd better get your ass into gear and start solving some cases. Or would you prefer if we continued to do your job for you?" Galpin's glower is no match for Hades, who stands up from the booth confrontationally with his arms crossed firmly. The sheriff is the one to break the standoff first, backing up towards the door.
He shakes his head. "Ah, why waste my breath?"
Hades slides into the booth next to Persephone, stealing Wednesday's spot as she was busy talking with Tyler.
"Thank you. But you didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, your family's very..." One glance at Hades, who was practically daring the boy to say something negative, had the boy choosing his next words very carefully. "... colourful."
"Ironic considering Fester's the black sheep. He's harmless." Wednesday responds, while the barista boy beams widely at her.
"So, about rescheduling our date..." Tyler trails off, waiting for Wednesday's (who looked very alarmed) input.
"Well, between the monster and my uncle-" Wednesday starts only to be cut off.
"She's free." Persephone pipes in, smiling innocently at Wednesday who gives the girl a warning glare. "No excuses, Weds. You're going."
"I figure after what happened last time, you owe me." Tyler makes a good point. Persephone wonders if that means they can have a second chance at their girls' night, but then remembers that Enid wouldn't be there.
"Well I can't sneak off of campus. All eyes are on me." Wednesday tries another excuse to get out of this date.
"You won't have to. I'll come to you. 9.00 p.m., Crackstone's Crypt."
"I'll make sure she gets to the crypt." Persephone assures, receiving another Wednesday glare.
"On time?" Tyler confirms hopefully.
Persephone scoffs. "Calm down, normie. I'm not a miracle worker." Tyler blinks at her before heading back to his work. "Well then, looks like we've got to prepare you for a date." If looks could kill, Persephone would be very dead.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Wednesday, would you quit pacing! You'll be fine." Persephone scolds, getting dizzy from watching the girl walk back and forth. Suddenly, she stops and walks over to a fake flamingo on Enid's side of the room, finding a bottle of her nail polish. Thing climbs up on Enid's desk and does some adamant tapping to catch the girl's attention.
"I don't miss her." Wednesday replies to Thing's signing. "Friends are a liability and can be exploited. That makes them weaknesses."
"Gee, Weds. You flatter me so." Persephone drawls sarcastically, hurt by Wednesday's words. She thought the two had become good friends, but obviously Wednesday was hesitant to change.
"You both need to guard that diary while I'm gone." Wednesday instructs the two, ignoring Persephone's comment. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Thing makes some indecent suggestions, making Wednesday object, "It's not a date. It's a quid pro quo for almost getting him disemboweled."
"And what do I get in return for my leg being slashed?" Persephone challenges before Wednesday can leave. "I had your back that night, Wednesday. When you went back to look at those jars, I stayed with you to keep the monster at bay. So what do I get in return for my loyalty?" Wednesday stayed silent, mulling over Persephone's words and realising that she had nothing to give her. Persephone shakes her head in disbelief. "I'll watch your damn diary." She spits out the words venomously.
"Thank you." Wednesday says quietly, slightly ashamed at the way she had treated a girl who had always been there for her and her brother.
Just as Wednesday was going out the door, Persephone called out once more, "But I'm not a liability... And I am not a weakness."