#vicky frankenstein

Jekyll pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed, “We speak in words here, Victoria, not vague visual cues. I’ll ask again: what are you doing up there?”

“Dusting, obviously,” Vicky said at last, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our dear laboratory could use a bit of sprucing up. The cobwebs have gotten ridiculous as of late.” She tugged lightly on Adam’s hair, causing him to step lazily sideways in the direction she’d nudged him; like an untalented man controlled by an ambitious rodent. He didn’t even look up from his book.

Satisfied, Vicky turned her attention to an un-dusted spot on the wrought-iron chandelier. Five feet below her vantage point, Jekyll was still dissatisfied with the answer given.

“And why are you dusting from atop your creature’s shoulders?” he groused.

“For the added boost, of course. I cannot reach the ceiling from my normal height, you realize.”

“And why not just have your creature do it himself??? Surely he can follow basic instructions by now.”

“’Her creature’ can hear you, doc,” Adam threw in, still not looking up, “And I’m busy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Jekyll paused, staring at Adam with a look of disbelief, before addressing Vicky again: “When did he learn to talk​?!”

Vicky glanced down, puzzled. “Last month, over the course of a few weeks’ lessons,” she said, “He picked up on things rather quickly. Have you two not spoken yet? He was quite chatty with Mr. Hyde.”

Adam scoffed, “Because Eddie’s actually fun to talk to. Besides, it’s not like the doc ever bothered to start a conversation.”

“Wha—I—,” Jekyll floundered, visibly red in the face, “Y-you can’t expect me to start a conversation when I didn’t think you were capable of talking back!”

“That’s never stopped you before,” Vicky interjects, “That shepherd down in the village scarcely says a word to anyone, yet you have a tendency to talk their ear off every chance you get!”

Adam burst out into laughter, nearly bucking Vicky from his shoulders. Jekyll, meanwhile, had somehow gone even more red.