Work Text:
“Please, be careful! The last thing we need is for you to fall and bust a kneecap,” Victor yells, laughing dully out of pure joy, yet still maintaining a sense of authority and caution.
“Oh, please, Baron. Let him have fun and explore. You know how much he adores nature,” Elizabeth remarks, watching as Adam dances with a sudden swarm of swallowtail butterflies gaily, her bug catching net resting lightly against her shoulder.
Victor looks up from assembling his cloche, the same one he used when showing Elizabeth around the park in Geneva a year prior, and sighs.
“Oh, sure, I’m being the bad guy. You do realize, sweet sister, that Adam can barely walk straight when he’s strictly just existing, correct? I do not even wish to know what the poor thing can muster when he quickens his pace. The poor dear is like a newborn giraffe or disfigured fawn, only with feet the size of elephants. Please do not deem me inhumane - I’m simply being honest.”
Elizabeth snickers and plants a hand upon Victor’s shoulder, a bit too harshly if you are searching for true meanings.
“Alas, who designed him with those big feet, hm?”
Victor watches as Elizabeth saunters away, likely wielding an erotic smirk if he could only see her face behind that massive red hair and bulbous dress of hers.
“Oh? Oh, so we are playing that game, are we? Fine by me, dear sister! Feel free to coddle him and nurture his wounds when he tears flesh or breaks a bone! Then, we shall see who is correct!”
Victor’s words fall on deaf ears, just as they always seem to do with Elizabeth Harlander. How that woman can maintain such great poise, yet utter, irritating defiance is an art form Victor has yet to understand.
Victor groans, acknowledging, solemnly, his defeat and kneels on the grass to assess his small contraption. In the distance, he hears Adam, his wonderful creation he crafted with his own two hands, utter a noise that can only be described as an odd form of a laugh as Elizabeth giggles to herself sweetly.
Victor looks up from where he is still assembling the cloche to see Elizabeth lending her hand out cautiously towards Adam, showing him a swallowtail butterfly that has landed on her pure, gentle flesh. Adam erupts into a loud chuckle and thrusts his hands out in the direction of the quaint, little creature, but Elizabeth, ever the saint she is, softly reminds him to be gentle so as not to scare the insect. Elizabeth’s words are like a snake charmer to a cobra because, without a moments haste, Adam slows his pace and calmly extends his hand out to touch the delicate butterfly, even going as far as to quiet his excitement as to not spook the swallowtail further.
“Utterly magnificent,” Victor utters to himself, suddenly bewitched by the gentleness of two souls bound by purity.
How two spirits can possess so much beauty and wonder in their earthly bodies is a science that Victor can never quite comprehend. Adam, who Victor initially thought was the devil reincarnate when he was once so foolish, is the closest thing to pure, genuine art the man has ever seen. Elizabeth, on the other hand - a women that Victor swore was like the Roman goddess, Venus, trapped on Earth - has the mind and soul of an ethereal being, with the outward complexion to match. Somehow, through a force unknown by man, the pair had ended up together, fitting into each other’s lives like puzzle pieces formed by the cosmos. Now, Victor has to consistently remind himself that he is but a mere witness to two natural phenomenon’s existence here on earth. He has to admit, it is quite breathtaking.
Victor’s admiration for the pair is inevitably cut short when Elizabeth turns to face him with a smile.
“Baron, have you fixed the little cage yet? I think we have found a fine specimen to capture,” she states, marveling at the innocent creature perched upon her pointer finger.
Victor fumbles with the golden contraption in his hand and ends up dropping a few pieces on the fresh cut grass.
“Y-Yes, just give me a moment! I will have the - ugh, blasted thing!”
Elizabeth rolls her eyes and attempts to walk towards the bumbling man, only stopping once she realizes the swallowtail has decided to fly away. She watches as Adam chases the poor creature as it flies into a bushel of flowers, giggling to himself gleefully.
Feeling that the boy is most definitely content - his hands dance playfully around the pink florals as the swallowtail’s wings flap to and fro - she hikes up her dress and continues walking towards Victor as he endures his fight with the gleaming pieces of machinery.
“Fit into place, you blasted piece of metal,” he whines angrily, jamming two components of gold that obviously will not unite.
“Well, it is nice to see that my brother’s expertise in science only extends to anatomy,” William teases, appearing behind Victor with a bug catching net of his own.
Victor immediately pauses his fidgeting and glares up at his younger brother, who only keeps a sarcastic smirk pressed to his face as he peers down at Victor.
“I see I am to be nothing but abused today. Wonderful that I chose this to be my life,” Victor grumbles, wiping a sweat-drenched curl away from his face with a free hand.
“This abuse you speak of is all in mere fun, dear brother,” William quips, slapping a hand against Victor’s shoulder in a sibling gesture.
Elizabeth ignores the angered expression on the man’s face and hides a giggle as she reaches for the dismembered bug domain in his hands.
“Perhaps all it needs is a women’s touch? It is quite possible that even inanimate objects fear your wisdom,” Elizabeth implies, trying, in vain, to hide a raunchy smile at her own crude joke.
Victor’s face extends in shock and he merely sputters vocally at such a rude blow to his ego.
“Oh? Fine! Just fine! Go right ahead! Perhaps you are right and your female hands hold the great power of engineering, but may I remind you that these hands of mine created the greatest being ever to walk among men! The most -”
Suddenly, as Victor’s temper reaches catastrophic levels, Adam emits a loud, strained yelp as he launches himself backwards, away from the flower bush, swinging his hands around wildly in a panic.
“Ow! Ow! Mother! Father! Uncle William! Help! Ow, ow, ow!”
All at once, the three people, that were once so concerned about the trivial manner of reconstructing a glass cloche, leap from their spots on the grass and bolt towards the oversized man. Elizabeth, who had taken the lead in front of the two other men, immediately arrives beside Adam as he collapses to the ground, staring at his hand in utter panic.
“What happened, darling? What’s the matter,” she asks, her voice only appearing slightly worried as not to startle Adam any further, reaching for the boy’s hand as he whimpers solemnly.
Upon seeing her, Adam immediately grabs for her neck and falls into another state of panic.
“Mother! Mother! Ow! Ow!” Is all he can mutter as he tries to crawl into her lap, his arms tightening around her throat.
The two begin to teeter and Victor can see in Elizabeth’s eyes slight fear pertaining to his creation’s size and matter.
Though Adam is but a gentle creature in nature, he is still a man who does not know the full extent of his own strength and can use that power against anyone, especially if fear is involved.
In an attempt to aid the situation, Victor stupidly reaches for Adam’s hand and tries tugging at it in order to possibly prevent Elizabeth from being crushed under his heavy weight, or worse, accidentally strangled from his tight grasp.
Adam reacts quickly, however, when he feels something arrive closer to whatever pain is plaguing his stitched flesh. In terror, he releases his grip on Elizabeth and spins around to face Victor, grabbing for his wrist with his other, uninjured hand.
“Stop! Don’t touch it!” He screams like a child throwing a tantrum, wringing Victor’s wrist tightly in his palm, unaware just how hard he is squeezing.
“Adam! Adam, calm down, my son,” Victor mutters in a panic, trying to handle the situation appropriately. However, it is very hard to wrangle someone who is almost twice your size, and Victor is beginning to realize that scientific fact a tad bit too late.
Adam ignores Victor’s advances and continues squirming violently, alternating between fighting with his maker and grasping for Elizabeth’s embrace in quick, panicked succession. Eventually, Victor has had enough of this little quarrel and feels his patience thin to a faint line.
“Adam! Enough of this! Calm down! Calm down right now!” Victor screams in anger, grabbing for the boy’s hand aggressively and lugging it towards him.
“I said - don’t - touch it!” Adam screams, so loud it could break every window in the Frankenstein Manor, suddenly kicking Victor in the gut, barely missing his ribs.
Victor flies backwards onto his bottom, landing hard on the chilled, damp carpet of the lawn with an aggressive thud. However, the pain now burning in his gut does little to deter him from just how outrageously mad he has become.
Before Victor can bound from his place on the grass, likely ready to send his creation into some kind of basement as a form of punishment, William leaps forward and reaches for Adam’s cheeks. With zero fear pressed to his own face, he fights with Adam’s raised shoulders and makes the overgrown man look him in the eye.
“Calm down, Adam. Look at Uncle William and try to calm down,” William starts, rubbing circles into the boy’s cheeks.
Adam, still affected by everything that is happening, tries to wrestle with William, but his uncle does not give into his fear or aggression by any means.
“Look at me! Look at me, Adam,” William states again calmly, moving his hands slightly in order to grab for the back of Adam’s neck in a gentle embrace. “Now, let Father see your hand while you tell Mother what has happened, okay? Let’s try to take a few, deep breaths so we can calm down enough to talk.”
Adam stares back at William with eyes that resembles a helpless deer. He doesn’t wish to fight with William anymore, but he can’t help sobbing uncontrollably as fresh, hot tears pour from his eyes.
“B-but..but I h-hurt and… I-I’m scared,” Adam wails, choking out broken sobs, his lungs sounding as if they are moments away from giving out.
“I know your scared, and that’s okay. Sometimes we act a bit rash when we’re scared don’t we? Perhaps even angry,” William explains calmly, briefly glancing to Victor for the last part. “I can’t imagine the pain you must be feeling, and how that pain must frighten you so. Especially considering it seems you have never felt this kind of pain before, have you? But Father would never wish to harm you. Not in any way, now would he?”
Adam glares at Victor, a mix of innocence and exhaustion painting his face, and Victor immediately senses where he went wrong in this situation. Swallowing back his pride, and avoiding the continuous burning in his ribcage, Victor slowly rises to his knees and pulls himself closer to Adam.
“Father is so very sorry that he lost his temper with you, and for how rudely he has spoken. I suppose all of us got a little bit flustered, didn’t we? Father would never want to harm you, but I suppose I didn’t make that very clear, did I? Can you show me your hand? I just wish to look at it so we can see what has happened, and find out the best way to help you. Will you allow Father to see it?” Victor pries, extending out both of his hands kindly in hopes Adam will plant his own into them.
“Darling, can you tell us what happened?” Elizabeth asks, appearing back by Adam’s side and moving a piece of his white streaked hair behind his ear.
Adam pants roughly, taking turns glancing between his three caretakers, before closing his eyes and releasing one, big breath that sounds like a mournful sigh.
“I-I just wanted to play w-with the butterflies! I was watching them dance around the p-pretty flowers and stuck my h-hands in the bushes to see if they would dance on me, but then something hurt my finger and I-I don’t know what it was!” Adam cries fearfully, suddenly thrusting his injured hand into Victor’s lap as his salty tears begin watering the ground below.
Victor, feeling a slight tug on his heartstrings, pats Adam on the head and grips his injured hand softly.
“It’s quite alright, my darling. It’s okay. Thank you for explaining what happened. Now, let Father see what all the trouble is about.”
Victor takes Adam’s hand and rotates it to where he can gain a sufficient look, pausing when he notices red swelling around his right pointer finger. He gently extends the boy’s hand further, in hopes of gaining a clearer look, and sees that there is a tiny, black speck embedded in a white ring around his flesh.
“Did something prick him? A branch? A thorn, perhaps?,” William asks, observing Adam’s finger from behind Victor.
“I’m not sure,” Victor’s voice drawls, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stares at the black speck. He attempts to move his finger closer to the injury site, but decides against it when he hears Adam whimper in fear.
“No need to ponder a moment longer. It seems I have already found our culprit,” Elizabeth interjects, waltzing back from where she had been investigating the nearby flower bush.
She kneels down to the other three men and gently extends her cupped hands where a honey bee is seen nestled inside.
“It seems our little friend here mistook Adam’s finger for a threat. This is probably what caused you so much pain, my love.”
Adam’s eyes narrow at the tiny insect in confusion and he can’t help his inquisitive mind from unfurling another finger to grace its body.
“What..what is it?” Adam asks, stroking the back of the winged bug and recoiling lightly at its slightly furry texture. “It doesn’t look like a butterfly.”
Elizabeth calms the giggle that wishes to escape from out of her throat and, instead, offers to educate the reanimated boy on his curiosity.
“It is a bee, darling. Another form of insect. Bees are known for pollinating flowers and many crops, and can even produce wax and honey. Considering this one’s small, slender size and sparse hair, I’m going to say it does exactly that. It’s likely a honey bee, Adam.”
Adam blinks bashfully down at the small bee, his eyebrows still slumped in confusion.
“Why did it hurt me? What did I do to it?” He ponders, marveling at how the sunlight glistens through the small creature’s wings.
“Well, bees are not only known for pollinating plants and being creative insects. They have stingers, located at the back of their bodies, that they use to defend themselves with and their colony. That is likely what happened, my dear. It stung you.” Elizabeth supplies, looking at Adam as she keeps her hand steady enough for him to evaluate.
Adam suddenly recoils his hand back in fear and repeats the phrase, “stung me,” in a broken whisper.
“Oh, but it’s okay,” Elizabeth supplies, trying to ease his sudden anxiety. “As scary and painful as it seems, bees sting only out of reflex. It is an instinct built into their anatomy to sting anything their body deems a threat. Rest assured, dear, that is probably what happened. You merely spooked it.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to frighten it. I’m sorry, little bee,” Adam explains solemnly, reaching down to rub between the bee’s wings, only to see it lack and unresponsive. “Why is it not moving? Has it fallen asleep?”
Elizabeth takes a breath, looking between the two other men as she debates what to tell the sensitive male. However, Victor sees the turmoil in her eyes and offers to relieve the women of such a duty as he gently grasps Adam’s shoulder.
“My son, with honey bees, especially, they can only ever sting once. That means when they use their stinger, they….they unfortunately die.”
Adam whips his head around to face Victor, terror and remorse filling his expression.
“No! Pardon me? No, that’s not true! That’s not true, is it Mother,” he asks feverishly turning to Elizabeth, who only gives him a sad smile.
“Dear, honey bees are built with jagged stingers, meaning that when they sting you, they leave their stinger inside your flesh. When this happens, its muscles, nerves, and parts of its internal organs get ripped ou-”
Victor trails away from his lecture slowly when he notices Elizabeth giving him a stern warning glance that informs him he’s delving more into science, doctor mode, rather than caring, father mode. Victor rebounds quickly, however, and decides to take a slightly different approach.
“When honey bees sting you, darling, they release their stingers which gives them a very big wound. Unfortunately, this wound puts too much trauma on their bodies and they pass away.”
Victor stares at Elizabeth, who now gives him a firm nod, indicating he handled the situation beautifully. However, Victor’s self-indulgent feelings no longer has the time to inflate his ego when he hears Adam suddenly erupt into tears.
“Poor bee!” Adam wails, turning to Victor swiftly and planting his face into the crook of his shoulder, utterly devastated.
Victor, although slightly taken aback by this gesture, gently wraps his arms around his son and smirks at his creation’s apparent big heart.
“It’s okay, my son. Shh, it’s quite alright,” Victor soothes, gaining his emotional footing back, rocking Adam gently and patting at his head as he tries to obtain a proper glance at his creation.
Adam does not seem to soothe so easily as he releases a few more mournful wails, moving to distance himself away from Victor’s shoulder.
“B-but…but I killed her,” Adam cries, rubbing at his cheeks as he turns to glance at the bee still laying lifeless in Elizabeth’s hands.
“Do not think that way in the slightest,” Elizabeth intervenes eagerly, placing the honey bee in one of her palms as the other rubs Adam’s back.
“Darling, you did not kill her. As I stated previously, honeybees sting when they feel threatened, or when they deem something as a threat interfering with their hive. You likely merely spooked her, and she reacted by using her stinger. This is an instinct that is merely imbedded into her DNA; the knowledge she was born with knowing. And if it wasn’t your hand she had stung, it could have easily been a bird, a reptile, or even another insect. The point is, you didn’t kill her, my love, and she was only doing what was expected of her for the good of her hive. This was all just an unfortunate accident, for both parties involved.”
Adam blubbers hopelessly as he stares at the insect secured in Elizabeth’s delicate grip. It’s not until she moves her hand away from his shoulder to his cheek that his reaction changes.
“And what a joy she might have experienced if she only knew that she stung one of the most gentle creatures I’ve ever known.”
Adam’s eyes dart over towards Elizabeth and he smiles weakly before reaching into her palm to stroke the honey bee’s spine gently.
“I’m so sorry that your life ended in this manner, little bee. You were only doing what Mother Nature had intended of you, and you ultimately payed the price. Rest now, dear friend. Your life will not be in vain.”
Adam took the point of his index finger and kissed it gently, placing it against the honey bee’s head in a caring gesture.
“That was very beautiful, Adam,” Elizabeth whispers sweetly, sniffling slightly at the boy’s utterly pure heart.
“Yes, that was quite beautiful, indeed. What a pure soul you have, Adam,” William comments, swallowing back a rush of tears all his own.
Adam continues staring at the innocent creature until a sudden jolt animates his body and he looks up to face the three other people huddled around him.
“Can we give her a proper burial?” He asks purely, looking between each and every face until his eyes rest upon Victor.
Victor tries to hide a chuckle behind his tanned hands at the naive question, that is, until he feels Elizabeth sneakily punch his shoulder, which brings him to his senses in an instant.
“Of course, darling. What a beautiful way to honor such a innocent, little life.”
“And could we possibly plant some more flowers on the west wing of the Manor’s courtyard? That way, the bees and butterflies can enjoy pretty flora and help their hives without the risk of getting hurt. Can we do that, Father?”
“Why, I think that’s a splendid idea, Adam! William, Elizabeth, don’t you think that’s just a wonderful idea?” Victor asks, glancing to both his brother and Elizabeth with a sense of playfulness and pride animating his demeanor.
“How wonderfully considerate, Adam. No one hardly ever travels to the west wing, so it would be a perfect location for our little friends to frolic and work,” Elizabeth says, smiling at the oversized boy and placing a warm hand against his face. “Now, I think it is time for us to find a nice place to lay to rest our special friend.”
“Yes, and while Elizabeth considers that, I think we should finish taking care of you. Adam, I believe the stinger is still embedded in your finger, dear. Let Father take it out,” Victor explains, reaching for his son’s hand without much thought.
Adam does not cooperate accordingly. He simply retreats back into his fearful attitude and pulls his hand away from Victor’s grasp the second his flesh graces it.
“No! No, no. Why? Why do we have to?” Adam asks fearfully, rocking slightly as he cradles his hand against his chest.
Victor inhales a breath, trying to remember that his son, built beautifully by his own hand, is still a soul so innocent and new. It is obvious that he would worry about a matter outlined in child-like worry.
Victor tries to remember what it was like for him to be a child, so confused by foreign concepts. His own mother would likely respond with grace and patience, explaining every detail clearly down to its very syllable, so he must do the same with Adam.
With a smile and a gentle, extended hand, Victor speaks calmly.
“Another thing about bees, darling, is that the stinger is attached to a pouch, and that pouch is filled with venom. The pouch continues pumping venom through the stinger into your flesh, which isn’t good. It is not wise to keep that circuit flowing, for it would only cause more pain, itching and irritation to occur, and we wouldn’t want that to happen.”
Adam’s eye widen in shock and he frets frivolously.
“Venom? Venom is bad, is it not? Oh, Father! Father, am I going to die?” Adam asks feverishly, waving his hand around wildly in a panic.
Victor tries not to smirk at the question. The thought that his creation, crafted from the refused and discarded remains of corpses and cadavers, is scared of the concept of death is amusing to him. However, as he looks into his son’s big, brown eyes, and the realization that Elizabeth’s own cold stare is glaring down at him in fits of rage from afar, it causes him to wipe that silly, little smirk clean off his face as he attempts to grab for Adam’s hand once more.
“No, my dear, you shall not perish. The bee is far too small for your big fingers. Plus, not many people die from a sting such as this. Unless, of course, you are allergic, but let us not get into such matters. The reason it is best to remove the stinger is because, as I stated previously, it will just be more comfortable and sanitary. Now, give me your hand.”
Victor tries, once more, to reach for Adam’s limb, but the boy pulls it back against him, another question dancing across his lips.
“Will it hurt? Promise it won’t hurt!”
Before Victor can respond, William juts forwards and leans down to Adam’s level.
“Oh, do not worry, Adam. It won’t hurt a bit! Uncle William will remove it by using his magic! Come, come. Let me see it.”
With absolute caution, and remaining worry, Adam slowly extends his hand out towards William, hesitating slightly as he does so. William grabs for the boy’s palm, just as gentle as Elizabeth would, and examines it slightly before beginning his ritual.
“Let us see here. Ah, yes. A simple spell should do. Mmmm,” William states, wiggling his fingers in a circular motion around Adam’s injured index as he begins humming lowly.
“Now, with a little more concentration and power. Come on, Victor, join in,” William continues, slapping Victor on the chest and peeking at him humorously through half-slitted eyes.
Victor gawks at William and scoffs in amusement, deciding, for once, to push his pride aside to hum along with his performative brother. William continues humming his make believe spell, moving his hands from being elevated above Adam’s finger to rubbing his nail side to side gently along the boy’s heated flesh.
“Almost..almost and…Abracadabra!,” William exclaims, taking his nail and quickly, yet efficiently, scraping it against Adam’s finger, removing the stinger at once.
Adam instantly draws his hand back, examining the index quizzically, before erupting into a loud, excited giggle that relieves the three other adults.
“It’s all better now, isn’t it? Now, I do believe in order to seal the spell, we need to kiss your finger better,” William explains, reaching over and giving Adam’s pained joint a gentle peck.
Adam squeals excitedly at the gesture and instantly lends his finger to Elizabeth, who kisses it just as tenderly, before finally shoving his thin digit out towards Victor. Victor observes the joint, his expression appearing as though the action being implied causes him slight disdain. However, a warm, amused smile suddenly floods to his rugged face, and he grabs for Adam’s hand, placing three consecutive kisses to the stitched bit of flesh.
“There. It should be all better now,” Victor states, still holding onto Adam’s palm and looking him lovingly in the eye. “Alas, we should probably travel back inside to rest and put some ice on your finger. That way we can hopefully reduce the swelling and redness. The swallowtails will just have to wait a little while longer.”
“Ooh, speaking of ice, I think this calls for a sweet treat, wouldn’t you say?” William asks, leaning closer to Adam with a mischievous smirk. “How about some ice cream? Last one inside is a rotten egg!” William screams, leaping forwards and slapping Adam’s shoulder with the palm of his hand.
Victor and Elizabeth barely have anytime to react to the sudden game William has procured before Victor feels Adam’s palm slam against his face as leverage in rising off the grass quickly. Victor recoils slightly and watches, from where he has been slammed to the ground, as Adam chases after William across the lawn, laughing gaily like an innocent child.
“Be careful! Don’t break anything…” Victor’s voice trials off, realizing the two boys are no where in earshot to hear his fearful pleas.
With a slight chuckle, Victor begins rising from off the grass, brushing dirt and leaves off his pant leg as he mumbles to himself.
“Everyday that passes is a day I realize I’m raising my brother all over again. What an interesting web we weave.”
Victor can hear Elizabeth snicker as she helps him the rest of the way to his feet, replying to him graciously with the honey bee nestled nicely inside the protective glass walls of the cloche.
“And what a beautiful pattern our web has.”