Chapter 42 - You Give Me Life, I Give You Love

Stein observed Franklin carefully, taking in his whole appearance. There were blinding lights in front of him as he was constantly being questioned.

"How is your pulse? Can you feel it?"

"Hold on. I will check your heart rate."

"Blood flow is fine. Did you feel pain when I inserted the needle?"

"Good, good. But any more strong discomfort? If there is any, you must alert me at once."

He took in his creator's appearance, just like a baby taking in the appearance of his father to imprint on his brain.

Franklin is wearing a bright blue coat, with a fluffy, three-layered silk cravat with gold lining around his neck. If only Stein knew the conventions of his year's fashion sense, he would know that his creator is impeccably dressed in a way that stands out even among the elite crowd. His slacks were made of fine material, black shoes made from a real crocodile leather worth 1,000 guineas per pound, and Franklin ate the crocodile meat itself after it was skinned. His hair was styled in a strange but regal way as well, keeping it up to the end of his neck but the sides never passing below his ears.

And there was that strange curly strand shaped like a stylized lightning bolt, white at the tips.

Even with all this, Stein's only thought is that 'He's handsome'.

His face was very appealing, and gentle in a scholarly manner. His nose is very thin and narrow, but not too sharp looking. So were his eyes, with hooded lids that gave a lazy feeling to them. His irises were green like emerald, shining behind the crystal-like glasses perched over his nose. Later in the story, when Franklin would take him around museums to learn about history, he would make note that Franklin looks like the David statue by Michelangelo.

But he could not communicate his thoughts just yet because he was literally not born yet yesterday, and so he kept his mouth shut. Just feeling happy with his creator's beauty.

"Vital signs appear to be stable..... Speech needs some improvement, but overall, the body is functioning well." 'Franklin' scribbled on his pad before putting it down, and looking at himself in one of the mirrors.

Stein became interested in this object as he saw 'Franklin' lift up that lightning cowlick and observe himself in it. 'Franklin' noticed, and smiled at him. "Do you also want to see?"

"Mn." He nodded.

'Franklin' brought over the small mirror, and place it in front of him. He saw a person inside of it. "Who.... is this....?"

"Try to guess." 'Franklin' just grinned, facing the mirror on himself. "Who is this?"

Stein's eyes widened. "It looks like Frankie!"

"Yes, it does." 'Franklin' grinned at him, holding the mirror back to him. "Now, does it still look like Frankie?"

"No...." Stein observed the person in the mirror.

He was very ugly.

His pale-yellow skin does not have the same pinkish luster as Franklin's, his eyes look soulless, and his hair is very coarse and dry. He can't help but think of this person the same way as we think of monsters. Revolting, disturbing.... something you do not want to see.

"This is you, Stein. This is what you look like." 'Franklin' explained.

Stein looked down, very disappointed in himself. "This is Stein?"

Zhe Chouhen put down the mirror, noticing the change. He is like a toddler learning what mirrors are, and that they just show people what they look like. But instead of confusion or interest, Stein just showed a very lukewarm reaction towards his reflection.

"Not pretty." Stein said. "Frankie is prettier."

Showing him his reflection so early in the story is not part of the script, and so, there is no dialogue to follow for this. Zhe Chouhen just came up with whatever Franklin-ish thing he can think of. "I am bound to disagree. Stein, I created you to be the prettiest person in my eyes, picking a face that I would like the most."

Stein's eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Yes. Your whole body too. I risked having my head be taken by the law or the Church, whichever comes first, to get all these parts that make up the beautiful, beautiful you."

"The Church... the law..... have Franklin's head?"

He chuckled. "Well, I would not let that happen. They got your head first too, that is how I obtained it."

Stein is taking long to understand, and 'Franklin' was patient with him. "Sigh... I am not a patient man, but for my lovely creation, I am willing to wait for your baby steps to develop into long, refined strides. I will be your teacher, and teach you how to live normally so as to no one suspect you of not being like them."

"Stein... not normal?"

"Oh, not yet! Especially with the hair, it's too long, you might be mistaken as a savage...." 'Franklin' took some strand and took a sniff. "Hmm..... we have to take care of the smell as well. That's it! On to the bath we go!"

Stein just stared blankly at him for a while.

Zhe Chouhen sighed again. "You don't know how to take a bath, do you?"

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The tub is warm, not too hot, but because of Stein's significantly colder body temperature, it feels hotter than it should. 'Franklin' seemed to be mindful of this and purposefully fit the temperature for him. He washed Stein with much care, teaching Stein many things as he run his hand and the soap on his naked body.

"Your arms are different from each other, so you must always wear long sleeves. And gloves, don't forget the gloves." He reminded while scrubbing the one tanned arm. "If someone did catch it, you must say 'It's a defect'."

"It's a defect." Stein repeated, observing the bubbles on the water. He proceeded to touch one and...

Pop!

"Oh!" He was surprised, then tried it again on another one.

"Those are called bubbles." 'Franklin' explained, smiling.

"Bubbles." Stein repeated.

"Right. Turn around, if you please, I will now wash your hair."

Stein turned around, and felt 'Franklin's' fingers brush through his scalp, but very lightly compared to how most people would do it. 'Franklin' explained. "Your hair is very delicate, you see. All your body parts are, but the hair and the nails especially. See the white tips? Those are the roots, they come out when you die."

"Oh..." Stein took note of everything he said, even when it doesn't look like it. "What if I pull too hard on it?"

He did try, and many strands fell off!

"Stein!" 'Franklin' said, as there was now a bald patch right above his ear. It's not too big, and thankfully could be covered by the other hair strands, but it will never grow back.

"Sorry." 'Stein' blinked. "I just wanted to know..."

'Franklin's' expression softened. "I see. Now you know, so don't do it again."

"Mn."

This is Zhe Chouhen no longer being alarmed, because he knows this is just how Stein is like. He is born to try things first-hand, just like how scientists perform experiments. He observes, formulate questions, then tests them. Once testing, he keeps the data in mind for future use. This is how the monster in Frankenstein is like too.

A common misconception is that the stitched-up Halloween monster gets called Frankenstein, when in fact, it is the one who created it, Victor Frankenstein. Another common misconception is that Victor Frankenstein is a 'doctor' or a legitimate scientist, when in fact, he never even finished college because of his experiments. But still, he is a man who sees himself as one of the greatest of scientists for his curiosity and courage to try things people didn't dare, and his creation also paralleled him.

For the sake of knowing the truth, of pursuing the possibility, both creator and creation play with fire.

This is an important theme he noticed in Daoist Panda's retelling of the tale, where the whole story is focused on. But.....

Remembering about the chibi panda who was once his enemy and now deceased friend puts Zhe Chouhen in a bad mood, and he can't be affected by his emotions, so he pushed any thought of him away and continued with the task at hand: winning the bet.

Which will be much more difficult because there are no more meters showing for him. No holographic screens, no phone applications, nothing. What's taking it so long?

He finished bathing Stein and told him to stay put as he get him his clothes. He went to the closet and found that there are clothes fitting for the undead man's hulking size. Franklin must have pre-made this from the tailor.

Picking a simple white one for now, and the most simple butler slacks, he moved back to the bathroom to dry Stein and get him dressed. This felt more like babysitting rather than living with a lover, but that's alright.

As long as Stein acts like a child, Zhe Chouhen will also treat him like a child, and thus no chance of him falling in love with a literal kid stuck in the body of a big man. Which is good for him.

He brought him to the bedroom, opening the windows a bit to let fresh air come through and fill this once not-breathing corpse's lungs. He told him more about several things, really going into nursery teacher mode pointing out every single thing.

"I will now cut your hair, so stay still." He sat him down in front of a mirror.

He remembered this scene from the book. He prepared for it, watching vigilantly while also pretending to be busy cutting the hair when...

A beautiful blue butterfly came from the open window, flying by in front of Stein.

"Whooahh..." Stein was absolutely hypnotized by its beauty. "Pretty..."

"Oh, it's a butterfly." 'Franklin' stopped cutting, seeming to be also fascinated by it. "An Adonis blue, to be precise. Quite rare in these parts. I've never encountered one before."

Stein tried to reach out, but the butterfly just perched to another spot. He tried to touch it again, but avoided, and again and again. He seemed to like it a lot.

"You want to have the butterfly?" 'Franklin' asked.

"Mn." Stein nodded.

"Wait a bit." 'Franklin' went to grab a book.....

And smack the butterfly between the pages of it!

"A new one to add to my collection." He smiled, putting the book down to continue cutting. "Now, I'm almost done, dear. Stay completely still."

Stein was shaken beyond disbelief.

He was just born, and yet he saw death right before his eyes.

"You.... You killed pretty...."

"Hm?" 'Franklin' asked after a final snip. "What's that, Stein dear?"

"You killed pretty butterfly. Why?"

'Franklin' smiled at him, so sweetly.

"You said you wanted to have it."

On the mirror, he saw words suddenly appear in a dark font like scorch marks, then disappearing as quickly as they came.

[Scum Meter: 10%]