Apologies for taking so long to post stuff, I've needed to do some editing/rewiring on the Bonded chapter and haven't been feeling well enough. Have this?

Familiar (working title 'Pets') was going to be three chapters, but I was convinced otherwise.

Frankenstein had set up guest bedrooms because this wasn't his house. If Raizel decided to allow someone else to stay, either temporarily or just moving in for several years like Frankenstein, Frankenstein couldn't stop him. That didn't mean Frankenstein was going to allow any (other) freeloaders to just pick a room. He'd set up these rooms well away from where he and his animals lived, not to mention his kitchen.

…and the entrance to his lab.

The large bay windows were there so his familiars would have an easy time spying on any 'guests.'

He complimented himself on his foresight as he motioned for Raizel to sit forward a little more so Frankenstein could position another pillow behind him. Raizel might be less obliging if the room didn't have a window for him to stare out of. Not to mention an easy way for the animals to enter the room. This room had multiple windows, in fact: Raizel might even consider it a treat.

Hmm. When he made tea or cookies, Raizel would stay seated in a chair until he finished eating them – that would be a way to keep him in this bed. Frankenstein should also set up a simple device to allow Raizel to open and close the windows without leaving the bed.

Raizel watched him, and Frankenstein could see that he was mystified behind his usual reserve as he scratched behind the brown dog's ears.

Frankenstein smiled at him and told him to, "There, now lie back and get comfortable; I'll bring you some tea." If you are good.

The problem: Raizel was sick. It was nothing Frankenstein had ever seen in a noble before, and he had no medicines that were effective on nobles. They tended to heal on their own, he'd never had reason or desire to treat one before, but Raizel was his host and Frankenstein felt vaguely responsible for him. The earring Raizel had asked for was helping decrease the amount of energy leaking from Raizel, so that was one option to examine.

There were poisons that could work on them – he would have to find some way to shake down Clan Tradio for their secrets, although like Ragar who knew how much they actually understood about their abilities – meaning that something could affect their systems, and Dark Spear could also exert a negative effect. The question was how to create a positive, healing effect on whatever had damaged Raizel's body?

Nobles were capable of entering a healing sleep, just like how sleep was the state in which the human body did most of its healing. There was one other factor in recovery that humans and nobles shared: a mind.

Even if most nobles had much less of one.

Ensuring that a human was comfortable, happy and confident that they would recover had great positive effects. If nobles slept to recover, then they would associate bed rest with recovery. Raizel enjoyed his windows, and the company of the animals also brought smiles to his lips.

And everyone knew that Frankenstein was the greatest medical genius. If he made it clear that he was taking steps to ensure Raizel's recovery, he was sure the noble had the sense not to doubt his word.

By the time there was a knock on the door, a fire in the fireplace and the sunlight streaming in through the windows had made Raizel's room quite warm – slightly warmer than Frankenstein would wish for a human patient, but nobles did not sweat or grow dehydrated – and Raizel had been induced to drink a herbal tea by the simple expedient of adding several spoonfuls of honey. It wasn't something he had prepared for Raizel before, and if Raizel assumed it had some healing properties for nobles? Since that theory itself would be beneficial, he wouldn't be wrong.

The heat in the room meant Frankenstein needed to keep the animals' bowls topped off with cold water, although several of them were napping on top of Raizel's legs, which helped both their body temperatures and keeping the noble pinned in place. Raizel felt that disturbing an animal by moving out from under them would be rude, and in the noble's existence there really wasn't anything so urgent that he couldn't wait until they left.

Frankenstein went to answer the front door while carrying a full water pitcher, and found himself confronted by red and blonde. And not even useful blonde, although he couldn't blame Ragar for being given an assignment by his liege lord.

The instant Ragar showed his face, Frankenstein had a list of herbs and fruits to send him after. New tastes would make Raizel happy and testing the effects of different medicines on him wouldn't hurt.

"How is Sir Raizel?" Edian asked.

"What are you doing to him?" Urokai demanded, glaring at the water pitcher as though it contained some exotic poison.

"Treating his condition. I am a doctor," Frankenstein reminded them. It had taken a bit of effort to find a properly elegant way to say 'doctor' in Lukedonian.

"I demand that you let us see him," Edian said.

"Certainly," Frankenstein told them, but when Urokai started forward he didn't move out of the doorway. "Provided you don't raise your voices, discuss upsetting subjects or do anything else that might disturb him or make him unhappy. Sir Raizel's spirit is in turmoil," that wasn't hard to sense, "and he needs rest and calm to regain his equilibrium before there's any further damage. Sir Raizel is a gentle soul: if you go barging in there reminding him of what happened this afternoon by asking questions you'll upset him."

"What happened?" Edian was the one to ask, sticking her arm out to the side before Urokai could barge forward.

Ugh, what was Urokai doing here without his minder? At least Edian was making herself somewhat useful and doing something to substitute for Zarga.

"I don't have the slightest idea. I've been too busy bringing Sir Raizel home and getting him settled to ask questions. He went to the Tradio manor because of some red stone, I followed him because I was concerned, and by the time I got there the Clan Leader of Clan Tradio was attacking Sir Raizel and my host was forced to defend himself. The battle wounded him," even if not physically – an internal injury or an injury to the psyche? Psychosomatic wounds could be very harmful to humans, and a noble's mind and power affected their body more directly. "And as a doctor my first priority had to be making sure that Sir Raizel will be alright."

"Will he be alright?" the blonde clan leader asked with unusual focus for a noble, leaning forward instead of trying to act aloof, as though they weren't prying.

"I don't know," Frankenstein told her. "I assume you can sense that he's radiating more power than usual?" It worried Frankenstein: the right word might be bleeding power. "I won't be able to get a clear picture of how this affected him until his spirit has at least regained its equilibrium. Right now he's terribly upset by what happened, and that itself can wound the spirit. He needs calm and comfort. He's always happy to see you," Frankenstein said because flattery would get you everywhere, "and that will have a beneficial effect, but the two of you must maintain your composure and not do anything that might make him unhappy."

"How dare you! We'd never do anything to make Sir Raizel unhappy!"

Frankenstein gave him a stern look. "So then you were not planning on asking Sir Raizel what happened and reminding him of being attacked by someone he considered a friend?"

Urokai looked taken aback for once.

"You can inquire after his well-being, and I'd appreciate it if you asked whether or not he's comfortable." He sighed for effect. "I've set up a sickroom and done my best to make him comfortable there, but Sir Raizel is so courteous I'm worried he might not tell me if there's something that isn't good enough." Well, true, but he watched them to see how they reacted to a lesser being showing vulnerability/need of help.

In Urokai's case, he saw him seize hold of the words, but it was more about he knew that Frankenstein wasn't taking proper care of Raizel instead of that the clan leader suspected he was being manipulated. "You've infested it with those animals, haven't you?" he accused.

Ugh, for goodness' sake, "The animals are there to generate a calm, affectionate emotional atmosphere and promote Sir Raizel's healing." No, better not mention that Frankenstein was worried about Dark Spear's aura of hatred and hostility and he wanted enough of his familiars in there to keep it from bothering Raizel. "Sir Raizel is an extremely sensitive soul, and suspicion and hostility wound his spirit at the best of times. Right now, he's in a delicate condition, and it's extremely important to take whatever precautions we can to be sure he doesn't suffer additional harm. Upsetting him could set back his recovery and put him in danger of further complications."

He was a little worried that he might be completely wrong about something or other, and might say the wrong thing and reveal his ignorance, but from Edian's nod he needn't have worried. Judging from Ragar and Gejutel, nobles knew practically nothing about their equivalent of biology. It rarely malfunctioned, so they didn't need to know. Not like vulnerable humanity.

A pity he couldn't dazzle them with jargon the Lukedonian language didn't have.

"And what would you know about helping people?" Urokai glared at him.

"I am a doctor. Keeping humans from dying is what I do. It's not my fault that far too often the only way to save human lives is to kill your criminals. I've treated plenty of people for severe wounds to the soul caused by noble power thanks to you nobles unleashing mutants on us."

Edian stared at him. "You think you can save Sir Raizel?"

'Save?' "I don't know yet."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"As I said, the first priority has to be stabilizing Sir Raizel. When someone suffers a serious injury, it's possible for the," in this case, "energy they lose because of the wound to finish them off if the wound isn't sealed over. Or for them to go into shock, at which point they may just drop dead. Or for the injury to weaken them enough for something that is no threat to them under normal circumstances to be a deadly danger. Once the immediate danger is past, then I can look into a more permanent solution." Because it sounded like he was going to need one. Damn, he couldn't reveal too much ignorance to these nobles, or they might try to drive him away from Raizel's bedside, but… well, it was Edian and Urokai, he doubted they had any useful information for him. Gejutel was more likely to have something useful to contribute.

Both of them had paled, looking at him with terrified eyes. Nobles: was this really complete news to them?

"Now," he said, "I need to bring water to the animals so they stay comfortable and that will help Sir Raizel stay comfortable." He was about to tell them to follow him and stay calm, but right, he'd just done his best to put the fear of mortality into them. "I don't think that Sir Raizel is in any immediate danger," he reassured them. "I'm just doing everything I can to be sure because I haven't treated a noble for this kind of injury before. As long as the two of you don't upset him or project any negative emotions like anger," Urokai, "receiving visitors should be good for him. Follow me, please: I set up another room for his recovery."

Urokai recovered enough to mutter, "If you do anything to him while he's weak…" as they walked through the halls.

Frankenstein didn't dignify that with a response.

He paused, about to take hold of the doorhandle. "Don't upset the animals," he warned them. "You'll upset Sir Raizel." That should follow from what he'd said, but nobles were idiots.

Putting a smile on his face instead of waiting for a response, he opened the door. "You have visitors," he told Raizel.

It looked as though Raizel had followed his order to get comfortable: he was snuggled into the pillows, although his innate effortless elegance still made him look regal as he stroked one of the wolves, the brown puppy still curled up on his lap.

"Sir Raizel!" Urokai rushed forward.

Raising his voice. Of course he did.

"Are you alright?" the clan leader demanded. "Did the human do anything to you?"

"I am fine, Urokai. But I appreciate your concern."

Edian hung back instead of pressing against the side of the bed, looming over Raizel, but then she had to open her mouth. "Gejutel said there was a blood stone."

"What did I just say?" Frankenstein sighed, bending down to fill another water bowl. Judging from Raizel's extreme reaction, not to mention Gejutel's, those stones were a very serious matter.

His eyebrows rose when Edian almost flinched. Well, that answered that question. But why was Edian feeling guilty about this? She was (metaphorically, thankfully), the less irritating offspring of Ragar and Urokai – Ragar's lack of intelligence, Urokai's defensiveness and inability to grasp that he had a crush on Raizel and deal with it like an adult instead of getting jealous that Raizel had other friends.

Although it would be foolish to trust any noble.

Some of him balked at that thought.

Well, there was Ragar, and Gejutel was a stupidly honorable old man too stuck in his ways for treachery. Unless he was simply very good at pretending.

The real issue was Raizel.

Frankenstein left before Edian and Urokai could do anything else idiotic in his hearing and went to the kitchen to cook with a vengeance.

After those two finally left, Frankenstein brought Raizel more tea and some cookies he'd baked while he was waiting. Looking over the noble and trying to brainstorm, he said, mainly to himself, "I wonder if you might want a bath…" They could be very relaxing. Even if nobles normally let their powers handle their hygiene, Raizel was weakened right now. He probably shouldn't be using his power, and it wasn't impossible that he might be vulnerable to infection if he couldn't remove the disease from his body.

One of the wolves started to lick Raizel's cheek.

Frankenstein shuddered. He knew that some of his familiars used… that method to clean themselves, but not in front of him, please. He was more than happy to bathe them if they needed it, and they were generally quite happy to let him clean them, when he could warn them what was going to happen and explain the concept.

Licking his patient, when Raizel had bled from the mouth… He had to shake himself as though he was the canine, when the animal instantly sat back, contrite. "It's alright," he made an effort to reassure her, taking deep breaths. "You were just trying to help."

The wet shine on Raizel's cheek was already gone, but after finding out about the small creatures that caused plague and how they could be found in saliva, how they could enter the body through open wounds? Frankenstein's skin wasn't going to stop crawling until he scrubbed down the noble, whether Raizel liked it or not.

"Follow me," he said, the animals pouring off the bed as Frankenstein threw back the heavy (for an unenhanced human) comforter. Raizel might be able to handle teacups as fine as porcelain (there weren't any porcelain deposits on Lukedonia as far as Frankenstein could tell, so he'd been forced to make do), but when Raizel just stood around all day he might be unpracticed in situations where he needed to exert force instead of restrain it.

When Raizel removed the dressing gown to reveal he had perfect skin, a lithe body that the Greeks would have begged to use for a model etc. etc., it wasn't anything Frankenstein hadn't seen before.

He was a doctor, and while the Central Order Knights were forbidden from having faces of bewitching beauty while in the human world, their bodies were covered by their uniforms (unless they decided to have some fun or Frankenstein stripped them for the examination) and they were allowed to indulge their vanity in inhuman perfection there.

Since Frankenstein didn't perform tests on the innocent knights, he'd started to associate too-perfect male bodies with the disgusting criminals who unleashed mutants. Although at least Raizel's form was relatively modest, lithe instead of arrogantly displaying his strength.

Instead of letting the robe Frankenstein gave him fall to the wet stone floor, Raizel looked around to see what he could do with the dressing gown. Frankenstein took it from him and went to put it in the changing room.

Ragar had showed Frankenstein the baths eight years ago after Frankenstein tried to use how bloody he'd gotten during a spar to guilt-trip Ragar into hauling buckets and refilling the water tower. The nobles used them infrequently by Frankenstein's standards – they were a species that considered once every ten years excessively frequent for anything, let alone something nobles technically didn't require. So he usually had the baths to himself, not that he would count on that.

He put up the folding screen he'd stored in one of the changing rooms here between the rest of the room and the area of the baths he intended to use. He had no intention of letting a noble observe his naked body, even if it would tell them absolutely nothing about his enhancements other than that he was capable of preventing scarring.

Even though Frankenstein could keep himself from giving off body odor (a noble's power that was very useful when his enemies pursued him with hounds of their own), most humans could not, and instead used soaps and fragrances that ideally could merge with and compliment their natural scents. When he emerged into human society, he would stand out if he did not wear some type of cologne.

Soap-making was a pleasant enough chore, something that reminded him of more innocent days, and he frequently changed which scents he used so that he didn't develop the habit of using a certain scent that might become associated with him and hint at his presence. For Raizel, he'd selected a bar of one of the sweeter scents, attar of roses.

Pedestrian, if expensive because of the labor involved in its creation for those who weren't him, but he seriously doubted Raizel had ever seen soap before in his life. The way the noble took the bar when Frankenstein handed it out to him and looked at it… Frankenstein's eyes widened. "No," he said quickly. "Don't eat it!"

Raizel's hand stopped almost to his mouth and blinked at him.

Right, what was the noble supposed to think when Frankenstein handed him something that smelled sweet? "It's soap," he told Raizel. "It's used for cleaning – don't eat it." He'd meant to supervise Raizel's bathing, but if the noble really had no idea how to wash himself Frankenstein would have to take care of it today. He could teach Raizel how to clean himself the human way, but that would take too long. He'd planned to spend some time here, but he wanted Raizel relaxing, not overtaxing a brain that needed hours to pick out what to wear.

For now, he could just rub Raizel down with the soap and some cloths. These baths might be hot springs instead of Roman-style, but it would be easy to make a strigil and bring some scented oils. He could test the oils on the inside of his cheek, to be on the safe side. Sometimes his animals had reactions humans didn't, but if something wasn't safe for an enhanced human he certainly wasn't inflicting it on a helpless animal.

His hands tightened, gripping the cloth he was rubbing over Raizel's skin. Just like rubbing down a horse, except for the lack of feedback. Frankenstein hadn't risked riding a horse that wasn't his familiar in centuries. What if he was attacked and had to make some sudden movement? An ordinary horse couldn't recover if the chaos of a battle resulted in a broken leg or some other severe injury.

What if his host couldn't…

…Raizel was a noble, for goodness' sake. Despite what he'd picked up from Urokai and Edian, he had to be able to recover! It wasn't as those two knew what they were talking about when it came to nobles and their abilities!

He felt the shift in Raizel's shoulders, the slight slump, and he knew that movement, the sadness that there weren't any more pettings forthcoming from centuries of familiars. Habit made him start rubbing Raizel's back again apologetically.

He used to be a doctor, and now he found himself taking care of animals far too often and people never… except Raizel was a person, not an animal. His first real patient in… he'd rather not depress himself by doing the math. How long it had been since he could operate on someone without the risk the traitors to humanity would take them and vivisect them?

Raizel's back was straight despite the pressure Frankenstein applied, but when he rubbed the noble's neck to get under that hair his head leaned forward, stretching out the neck, separating out the bones of the spine.

Hah, so he was enjoying it. Not that Raizel was trying to hide his enjoyment, despite the lack of approving noises and other feedback. Nobles weren't very in touch with their bodies. He doubted Raizel had ever made those sounds…

And then he felt more than heard a small, "Mmm…" in that throat. An almost confused sound, like the, "Hmm," that followed it.

"Do you like it?" Frankenstein prompted helpfully.

Raizel nodded, rubbing his neck against the nubbed cloth, which probably didn't help his ability to think. "Yes," he said belatedly.

"You nobles often seem surprised by the fact you have bodies." He'd seen a similar overwhelmed, not sure what sort of noise to make phenomenon in his test subjects before their throats worked out that the proper response was a scream.

It made him wonder if nobles possessed human instincts – why else would they be so suppressed?

Raizel moved his neck again, rubbing it against the cloth almost experimentally. When he did it again, Frankenstein leaned around his side to watch Raizel's face. His eyes were closed, focused on the sensation, and this time instead of lowering again when the motion was complete, his shoulders remained pushed up hopefully.

Frankenstein continued the motion for him, sliding the cloth down Raizel's spine. It drew another, "Mmm," from the noble.

"There." Frankenstein smirked. "That's more like it."

Was the noble… no, it wasn't just the heat and the steam. Raizel was blushing. "My apologies for being noisy," the noble said, trying to maintain his dignity, but there was a slight pause in the words when pressing down, Frankenstein ran the cloth back up Raizel's spine.

"Feedback is appreciated," he said when that earned him another mmm.

He wondered if he could play the noble like a lute. It was habit to find out how his familiars liked to be petted – it helped them stay happy and healthy.

…Could he make a noble a familiar?

His hands stilled on Raizel's back. That would give him valuable information on Raizel's condition. Allow him to be certain the noble wouldn't betray him. He would be able to share his healing powers with Raizel, the way those who brought contracts obtained a portion of the criminals' power.

For a human to bind a noble to them, instead of the other way around… With an animal, he would just try it and see what happened, but Raizel was a person, even if he was a noble, and Frankenstein only experimented on the criminals.

"Would you mind if I took a blood sample when we get home?" he asked Raizel. "I'd like to see if it's possible to create the same type of bond with you that I have with my familiars. Only if you're willing to participate in the experiment, of course."

He felt the shock in Raizel's back. Then silence, long enough to worry him. He reminded himself of how long it took his host to contemplate even the simplest of things.

Finally Raizel drew himself up straight but didn't turn around to face Frankenstein before answering, "I consent."

He was able to coax Raizel to bend again, but he didn't grow as relaxed as he was before Frankenstein sprung the question on him. Was Raizel nervous?

…Or was it Frankenstein who wasn't taking this seriously enough? He'd conducted his first trials with short-lived species before moving on to species with longer lifespans. Some of his parrots should have lived longer than an ordinary human even without the power they'd gained as familiars.

They understood too much about his situation, took too many risks for his sake…

Raizel would live quite a long time, if his illness wasn't fatal. If nothing happened to him because of Frankenstein's enemies or whatever enemies he had made by killing a clan leader.

If he still had some criminals in the labs, he could experiment with them and kill them immediately after the outcome of the experiment was known.

He opened his mouth to say nevermind, tell Raizel it was a silly idea and he shouldn't worry about it, but was that nervousness or hope in the noble's body language? Frankenstein's familiars were Raizel's friends: did he feel left out, because he was the only one in the manor who wasn't one of them? He didn't want to make Raizel feel rejected, see him stoically conceal his disappointment.

Raizel was his host, and a patient, and the animals certainly saw him as one of the family. Frankenstein didn't want to make him sad. A bond could be attenuated by distance if need be, although it would be inconvenient to leave Raizel's house and he certainly didn't want to leave Lukedonia when he was still investigating the clan leaders.

Why oh why had he spoken so casually about experimenting on a sick person? But the reasons it might help more than hurt Raizel's recovery still applied…

Maybe he could get a blood sample from Ragar. Well, he could certainly get a blood sample from Ragar, the noble certainly bled enough during their sparring sessions, but get his consent for the test. He was young and in good health, and tolerable enough. If the familiar bond didn't take on a noble, much less a powerful one, then he could let Raizel down gently.

If it did take, that would leave him with two noble familiars, and while Ragar was tolerable, useful and too dim to spy on Frankenstein's work, nobles. Yes, the noble criminals might sell themselves to as many humans, or buy the souls of as many humans, as Frankenstein took animal familiars, but…

It came to Frankenstein that he was overthinking this, or putting far more thought into it than the nobles did, but he was certainly better than those criminals. He suppressed a sigh, cleaning behind Raizel's ears and scratching a little, to praise him for behaving so well during the bath. At least he had all the time he needed to decide how to go about this: Raizel considered two months an amazingly quick time for a project to go from discussion to fruition.

If Raizel was an animal, taking him as a familiar or not wouldn't be a question. He was neat, clean, polite, helpful, reasonably intelligent and well-behaved. He would certainly be an asset in an attack if he wasn't ill.

Was it really the awareness that this would be a long-term relationship, something that wouldn't just go away if it didn't work out, that was making him hesitate, or was it Raziel's similarity to a human? Frankenstein would never turn a fellow human into a familiar. He'd done his best to keep mind control out of these bonds, but he'd gotten the capability from studying how the criminals turned humans into servants and mutants. There was no risk of that with Raizel, when he was a noble.

Looking at Raizel's bare frame, his distracted mind suddenly imagined a too-vivid scene. He could almost feel himself leaning forward, fastening his lips to the side of that pale neck and biting, as casually as his familiars nipped at each other. Taking the blood into his mouth and licking the wound clean as Raizel shuddered in his arms, from surprise more than pain, and leaned back into his grasp instead of trying to escape it. Beautiful and powerful and gentle and his. His quiet, curious exotic creature.

He wished there was enough revulsion at the thought of acting like one of those monsters to dampen the surge of desire that ran through him. He had enough control over his body thanks to his enhancements that he could forestall the physical reaction, but he couldn't help being conscious of the warmth of Raizel's body, the smooth weight of his hair as he worked the mixture he used to keep his familiars' fur clean and healthy into it.

…How long had it been since he'd touched any living creature that wasn't an enemy or a familiar? How long since he'd shared his home with any being even similar to a human in form?

That explained why he felt such a sense of ownership towards Raizel, it didn't explain the attraction… For heaven's sake of course there was attraction. Noble. Raizel was gorgeous and Frankenstein had eyes. Eyes that had long been deprived of any naked male form that wasn't firmly off-limits. Due to good taste, if nothing else. Perhaps he should take advantage of Ragar's evident attraction to take the edge off before he did anything permanent.

Frankenstein told himself that, and yet he knew that he would try to form the familiar bond soon after they returned home. That he would be disappointed if it didn't work. He might even devote some of his research time to the problem. It would be vexing if Raizel could keep running off and getting into fights – what if Frankenstein didn't see him go next time?

He pictured the shy shut-in trying to find his way home, all by himself and coughing up blood.

…Yes, he would go with his original inclination and make Raizel his familiar as soon as they returned to the manor. Clearly he'd had the right idea from the beginning.