Frankenstein Fic: I Learnt the Ways of Men
Um, so I kept requesting Victor/The Creature for Five Acts and Fandom Stocking and whatnot, so when I saw someone else wanted to same thing, I had to act. I apologize to Mary Shelley.
Title: I Learnt the Ways of Men
Fandom: Frankenstein (the Nick Dear play)
Pairing: Victor/The Creature
Rating: R
Content advisory: References to past (canon) rape of a third character.
Author’s note: Written for Five Acts, Round Six for alizarin-nyc for the prompt “beloved enemies.”
Summary: The Creature pursues Victor to offer him a small chance at retaliation.
Victor Frankenstein startled awake to see a hulking form crouched at the foot of his bed.
“Don’t be afraid,” the creature said. “You know who I am.”
“Leave me.” Victor sat up. The fire still crackled in the hearth, throwing flickering shadows into the room’s corners. He wondered if the innkeeper and his wife were dead; if the creature had killed again to get to him.
“I thought you’d want to see me.” The creature cocked his head to the side. “Haven’t you hunted me these past days?”
Victor grabbed for the gun he’d left on the nightstand, but it had disappeared. The creature returned a ferocious smile when Victor turned to face him. “I cannot kill you too soon. You’re a wretched beast.”
“I am a man!” the creature shouted. He took a deep breath and spoke again. “A man as you will never be, because both our wives are dead. We have only each other.”
“Soon I will not even have that. I will see you destroyed.”
“But then you would be alone, scientist. No one to comfort you.” The creature moved to light a candle at the hearth, and brought it to set on the windowsill. “She, your wife, was very kind. She would not have liked to see you distressed this way.” He crouched on the floor next to the bed and reached for Victor’s hand, which he snatched away.
“What are you doing?” Victor demanded.
“Comforting you.”
“I have no need of your comfort, or any comfort.”
The creature shrank away. “What do you know of desolation? Have you ever been abandoned, chased and beaten like an animal? You’ve had comfort all your life, in your great house, in the affection of Elizabeth, and in your confidence in your great mind. So much has been taken away-“
“And you have taken it!”
“As you took what was to be mine!” The creature stood, towering over the bed. “You were meant to teach me, to provide for me, to walk with me and tell me the ways of the world. To love me.”
Victor laughed. “I should not… I had not the strength of the divine creator. I could not have known what I did.”
“And yet you did it. And look where it’s brought you.” The creature shook his head. He stepped closer to the bed, and sat himself upon the edge. “Even still, the mark of your evil deeds does not show on you. You are so fair.”
He reached for Victor again. Victor shoved him back.
“Let me comfort you. Isn’t your hate for me all you have left in the world?”
“It is.”
“Then let me give you something.” The creature prowled to the foot of the bed. The fire behind him left his face in shadow. He crouched, peeking over the edge of the bed like a gargoyle. “Let me give you the thing your wife gave me.”
“She gave you nothing,” Victor said hoarsely.
The creature cocked his head to the side. “And yet I have become a man, while you have failed every test of your manhood.”
“You are not a man!”
“You made me. You know best what I am.” The creature moved again, slinking with the shadows to the other side of Victor’s bed. “But I have travelled and studied. I’ve watched from the dark. I know things you’ll not have seen. Isn’t that what you love, genius? Knowledge?”
“Yes.” Victor recalled vividly the heat and the smells of that night the creature had been created, and with that sensation came the quickening of his blood at the possibility of fresh discovery.
“I can show you.” His hand, large and horrible, caught Victor’s and held it. “I can give you something.”
“You cannot repay what you owe me.”
“No more can you repay me. But this war must continue between us. I offer you a victory. A small concession. I’ll even show you how to take it.”
Victor searched the creature’s shadowed face, and found there a familiar look: the intrepid hunger that drove them both on to see their battle through, and would until they both were utterly destroyed. Victor nodded.
The creature stood to shed his clothes. Victor stared as the body he’d laboured over years ago was revealed piece by piece. Horrible, yes, but it had a kind of magnificent grace. By God, what genius was his, to have constructed such a creature, and to have given him life?
Bare before him, the creature spread his arms. “Does it please you?”
“No,” Victor lied. He reached out to touch the seam of stitches that ran down the chest, where he’d sewn in the heart. An amazing work, his great creation. A feat only a genius could have accomplished.
“Did you make me in your image?” the creature asked.
“No.” Victor laughed again. He got to his feet on the opposite side of the bed and stripped off his night clothes, revealing a body strong and well-formed, despite his recent neglect.
The creature stared at him, mouth parted. When at last Victor was naked, the creature went to his knees on the bed. He reached a hand out toward Victor, but only halfway, as if he were afraid to touch. “Please, master.”
Victor stepped to the edge of the bed, close enough for the creature’s fingers to trail down his chest.
“Master,” the creature repeated. His fingers touched Victor’s shoulder, his collarbone, his hip with reverent care. “Is this what I should have been?”
Victor pushed the creature onto his back and held him down by the shoulders. “You could never have been as me. There’s evil inside you.”
The creature turned his head to the side. “If that’s so, it’s you who put it there.”
“Quiet.” Victor shoved the creature onto his belly and pinned his arms hard against his back. He’d seen the creature’s tremendous strength, and knew he could escape if he desired it, but the creature held still beneath him: breathing, heart beating, as if he were indeed a man. “Show me,” Victor demanded.
Slowly, with infinite patience, the creature did.
Title: I Learnt the Ways of Men
Fandom: Frankenstein (the Nick Dear play)
Pairing: Victor/The Creature
Rating: R
Content advisory: References to past (canon) rape of a third character.
Author’s note: Written for Five Acts, Round Six for alizarin-nyc for the prompt “beloved enemies.”
Summary: The Creature pursues Victor to offer him a small chance at retaliation.
Victor Frankenstein startled awake to see a hulking form crouched at the foot of his bed.
“Don’t be afraid,” the creature said. “You know who I am.”
“Leave me.” Victor sat up. The fire still crackled in the hearth, throwing flickering shadows into the room’s corners. He wondered if the innkeeper and his wife were dead; if the creature had killed again to get to him.
“I thought you’d want to see me.” The creature cocked his head to the side. “Haven’t you hunted me these past days?”
Victor grabbed for the gun he’d left on the nightstand, but it had disappeared. The creature returned a ferocious smile when Victor turned to face him. “I cannot kill you too soon. You’re a wretched beast.”
“I am a man!” the creature shouted. He took a deep breath and spoke again. “A man as you will never be, because both our wives are dead. We have only each other.”
“Soon I will not even have that. I will see you destroyed.”
“But then you would be alone, scientist. No one to comfort you.” The creature moved to light a candle at the hearth, and brought it to set on the windowsill. “She, your wife, was very kind. She would not have liked to see you distressed this way.” He crouched on the floor next to the bed and reached for Victor’s hand, which he snatched away.
“What are you doing?” Victor demanded.
“Comforting you.”
“I have no need of your comfort, or any comfort.”
The creature shrank away. “What do you know of desolation? Have you ever been abandoned, chased and beaten like an animal? You’ve had comfort all your life, in your great house, in the affection of Elizabeth, and in your confidence in your great mind. So much has been taken away-“
“And you have taken it!”
“As you took what was to be mine!” The creature stood, towering over the bed. “You were meant to teach me, to provide for me, to walk with me and tell me the ways of the world. To love me.”
Victor laughed. “I should not… I had not the strength of the divine creator. I could not have known what I did.”
“And yet you did it. And look where it’s brought you.” The creature shook his head. He stepped closer to the bed, and sat himself upon the edge. “Even still, the mark of your evil deeds does not show on you. You are so fair.”
He reached for Victor again. Victor shoved him back.
“Let me comfort you. Isn’t your hate for me all you have left in the world?”
“It is.”
“Then let me give you something.” The creature prowled to the foot of the bed. The fire behind him left his face in shadow. He crouched, peeking over the edge of the bed like a gargoyle. “Let me give you the thing your wife gave me.”
“She gave you nothing,” Victor said hoarsely.
The creature cocked his head to the side. “And yet I have become a man, while you have failed every test of your manhood.”
“You are not a man!”
“You made me. You know best what I am.” The creature moved again, slinking with the shadows to the other side of Victor’s bed. “But I have travelled and studied. I’ve watched from the dark. I know things you’ll not have seen. Isn’t that what you love, genius? Knowledge?”
“Yes.” Victor recalled vividly the heat and the smells of that night the creature had been created, and with that sensation came the quickening of his blood at the possibility of fresh discovery.
“I can show you.” His hand, large and horrible, caught Victor’s and held it. “I can give you something.”
“You cannot repay what you owe me.”
“No more can you repay me. But this war must continue between us. I offer you a victory. A small concession. I’ll even show you how to take it.”
Victor searched the creature’s shadowed face, and found there a familiar look: the intrepid hunger that drove them both on to see their battle through, and would until they both were utterly destroyed. Victor nodded.
The creature stood to shed his clothes. Victor stared as the body he’d laboured over years ago was revealed piece by piece. Horrible, yes, but it had a kind of magnificent grace. By God, what genius was his, to have constructed such a creature, and to have given him life?
Bare before him, the creature spread his arms. “Does it please you?”
“No,” Victor lied. He reached out to touch the seam of stitches that ran down the chest, where he’d sewn in the heart. An amazing work, his great creation. A feat only a genius could have accomplished.
“Did you make me in your image?” the creature asked.
“No.” Victor laughed again. He got to his feet on the opposite side of the bed and stripped off his night clothes, revealing a body strong and well-formed, despite his recent neglect.
The creature stared at him, mouth parted. When at last Victor was naked, the creature went to his knees on the bed. He reached a hand out toward Victor, but only halfway, as if he were afraid to touch. “Please, master.”
Victor stepped to the edge of the bed, close enough for the creature’s fingers to trail down his chest.
“Master,” the creature repeated. His fingers touched Victor’s shoulder, his collarbone, his hip with reverent care. “Is this what I should have been?”
Victor pushed the creature onto his back and held him down by the shoulders. “You could never have been as me. There’s evil inside you.”
The creature turned his head to the side. “If that’s so, it’s you who put it there.”
“Quiet.” Victor shoved the creature onto his belly and pinned his arms hard against his back. He’d seen the creature’s tremendous strength, and knew he could escape if he desired it, but the creature held still beneath him: breathing, heart beating, as if he were indeed a man. “Show me,” Victor demanded.
Slowly, with infinite patience, the creature did.