A Meeting of Two Minds.
His mind raced, but time did not. The three months continued to crawl past, no matter how much he would will them to move faster. It was a small source of comfort for him, as he watched his master create again through the grimy windows of that same workshop he himself had been born in, to know what lay just beyond the end of those long months. At last, he would feel what had eluded him for his time on this godforsaken earth. Warmth, love, and most of all, companionship.
If anyone asked him why he desired a companion so, he would not—could not—give them an answer. Not a definitive one. All he knew was that when he saw those other men, in their homes with wives who smiled when their men looked at them, and children who laughed when in the arms of the woman who had birthed them, he felt a pain. A deep yet hollow pain that echoed, unendingly, inside his chest.
The only cure was to love.
He waited until midnight of the 28th day of the fourth week of the third month. As soon as the village clock's chimes echoed through the dark, he wasted no time and threw open the door to his master's workshop.
Three months had affected Victor Frankenstein. His eyes were gleaming, but his skin was sallow, his frame weak. Clearly, he had neither eaten nor slept, his mind fixated on the one thing his creature had demanded from him. He stepped forward towards his creator, eyes dark.
"My bride. Where is she?"
On hearing him speak, Victor's head snapped up. There was a glimmer of manic fear in his eyes, but it flicked away when his gaze moved back to the sheet-covered body that lay on his worktable.
"Here," was all that Victor managed to say. Ignoring his creator's self-absorbed awe, he moved forward towards the table, with his gaze locked on the covered body all the while. From what he could see, the body was small in shape, without any obvious curves—a vivid contrast to his own towering stature. His fingers delicately traced the hem of the white sheet that covered her.
"Let me see her," he said quietly, but there was no reply. He looked straight to Victor, and he cracked a smile.
"Don't try to refuse. You're practically begging for someone to see her. So show me."
He watched as slowly, and with a short but melancholy sigh, Victor pulled back the sheet to reveal her. Smile widening, he gazed at her naked form. She was indeed a petite creature, with small hips and breasts. Her hair, the shade of honey brown, was long and curled around her shoulder, matted into tight tangles and knots and her pale, pale skin… It bore the same scars as his, but they were lighter, less obvious.
Where he was an experiment, she was a masterpiece.
Carefully, he raised his hand and reached towards her face. He had to touch her; see if she was truly real—if this wasn't merely his mind trapping him inside an all too sweet dream. He barely had to touch the surface before her eyelids snapped open, revealing two deep pools of brown, warm and inviting. A jagged gasp shot from her throat as she took her first breath and her hand shot out, only to grasp at the rough cloth of his shirt.
"Who…" she croaked, her body flinching with life. Cries of pain poured from her. He glared towards Victor.
"Leave!"
His creator—their creator—made no attempt to obey, lips wide in a smile that betrayed the ecstasy he felt. The sight stirred him into movement. Lips curled into a snarl, he advanced on his creator, her cries of pain pounding in his eyes. Victor's laughter was high and cold; a mark of the insanity that clouded him.
His mind however, was not so clouded. He clenched at the scruff of Victor's neck and pulled him away from her, throwing him to the ground as if he were nothing more than a dog.
"Leave, Frankenstein, LEAVE! There is nothing for you here! GO!" When his creator still made no attempt to obey his commands, he pulled him to his feet and together, they moved towards the door of the shack; where Victor stumbled, he walked. Wrenching open the door, he threw Victor into the dark and the rain and shoved the door closed.
There was a moment of silence as he turned back to face his bride. Her pain had ceased for now, but her body was now curled into a tight ball and her fingers were buried in her hair as she rocked back and forth, tears coming hard and fast from the warm pools that made up her eyes. He moved towards her.
"Bride…" he said, voice faltering. Her head snapped up, and for the first time, he saw the fear in her eyes. It dimmed a little as she focused on him.
"Who…" she repeated, voice strangled. Slowly, he stepped towards her, waiting for her to speak again. Eventually, her heavy breathing slowed.
"Who am I?" she said softly as she continued to rock back and forth.
"We—we are one and the same," he said, moving closer still. She made no sound, gave no indication that she found him harmful in any way. She only frowned, confused by his words. He felt himself smile. "As you are me… I am you."
His hand gently palmed at her naked stomach. The calmness she had once displayed left her, and in its place came fear. Giving out another strangled cry, she scrambled away from him, curling her legs underneath her chin. Her entire body shook as the thunder of the storm rolled overhead. All that came from her lips was a single question.
"Who… am I? Who… am I?"
For the first time in his life, he felt helpless. He had never had to care for another like him; he had only ever been made to fend for himself. During those three long months, he had hoped and longed for his bride. But he hadn't dared hope for something like this; something—someone—so fragile, or who needed him so much.
His body worked faster than his thoughts. Seeing her shivering and naked body, he removed his shirt. Her eyes focused on him again; on his scars. And as he cautiously crept towards her, her eyes widened until only a thin line of brown surrounded her swollen pupils. Dilation.
She eyed the weather-beaten shirt with curiosity, but didn't take it.
"It will… it will make you warm," he explained, hesitant even in his words. After a moment however, and with her eyes locked on his, she reached out a hand and took the shirt from him.
Was this love, he wondered as he watched the fabric slip over her nude body. Was this need to protect and cherish her really what he hoped for all these months? If it was, he found that he didn't necessarily mind. He only wished he could make her happy.
The storm had abated now, and the soft orange glow of sunrise peeked over the horizon. A boyish grin crossed his face. She must see a sunrise. She had to.
"Come, come!" he said quickly to her, grabbing her hand. "You must see!"
Her eyes narrowed. She was still suspicious of him. Yet she made no attempt to pull away from him; instead, she stepped off the table and followed him as he steered the both of them towards the window. The boyish grin widened as she crouched down beside him. He pointed eagerly to the rising sun.
A gasp of surprise escaped her and she lifted her head slightly, peeking out through the window at the fierce orange sky. But whereas she was fixated on the sky, he was fixated on her. He noticed everything; saw every little detail about her. He saw how her tangled curls floated down to the small of her back in waves; how her fingertips, pressed tightly against the window's edge, turned white; how her eyes seemed to shine with the sunlight; and how her mouth twisted into an entranced smile as she continued to watch the sunrise.
When he touched at her again, she did not cry out. Nor did she flinch. His smile widened a little more as he gently caressed her back. Finally, she turned her gaze away from the sun. He saw now that there were tears in her eyes. Happy ones.
"Do you love me?"
She swallowed slightly before she answered; the words were still foreign to her newborn tongue. "I love you as I love the sun."
Her voice was nothing more a soft melody, fragile in its resonance. And as he heard her speak, his smile changed from that of a boy to a gentler, tenderer smile of a man and he stroked at her cheek.
"Then you will be my companion," he said, and taking hold of her hand, he pressed it to his chest whilst his own hand moved to press over hers. A light laugh left her as they felt one another's heartbeats. He himself, with her heartbeat beating underneath the palm of his hand, began to feel the warmth that he had so longed for.
Here, with her, was where he belonged. He knew that now.
And it was a knowledge that would never leave him.
A massive thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed this fic so far. I'm so sorry for such a long wait for this update; hopefully, the next update shouldn't take so long!