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When most people described Frankenstein, there were some words that came up rather often.
'Terrifying' was usually up there on the list. 'Insane' went with it most of the time. Perhaps even 'evil' or 'powerful' would top the list.
Less people used words like 'caring' or 'helpful' when talking about Frankenstein. His kids, usually. His employees and students at Ye Ran were the ones that had first said those words to describe him.
'Brilliant' wasn't used very often at all, but it was definitely applicable, as M-21, Takeo, and Tao were learning.
It was no secret that Frankenstein was a scientist and a researcher. He lived to learn and study no matter the cost. However, a bigger surprise was that he used to be a doctor. After learning of this, one could see the steadiness of a surgeon in his hands, the medically attuned eye that studied each and every specimen he could get his hands on.
M-21 knew doctors. He knew researchers. At least he thought he did. Frankenstein was very different from the Union staff that had poked and prodded at him not so long ago. He had the same movements and air about him, but the intent was very different. Frankenstein knew more about his body than M-21 did.
Somehow, it was comforting.
Tao kept the air filled with conversation as M-21 sat for his checkup. Frankenstein insisted on looking over each of them every week to make sure nothing had changed or was about to go horribly wrong. So far, so good.
Frankenstein reached out and grabbed the rolling chair Tao sat in, stopping it spinning. Tao had been spinning in circles for the better part of three minutes, and M-21 had been counting down how long it would take Frankenstein to break and stop him.
Two minutes and fifty-two seconds. A new record, actually.
Tao laughed and leaned over the back of the chair. "You're no fun Boss. How else do you expect me to entertain myself when you said I couldn't get up?" He reached out to play with some of M-21's fringe as Frankenstein turned away with a soft chuckle.
"If I let you out of that chair you would be touching every single thing in my lab." Frankenstein set aside a few papers on the table next to them. "Everything looks good, M-21. I'll get these papers translated and give you a copy so you know what to report if something changes."
M-21 looked over at the papers while Tao tilted his head and asked, "Translated? Why do you need to translate them?" M-21 squinted at the papers. Sure enough, he couldn't read them. The writing on the (maybe?) reports was looping, conjoined symbols that might have been letters.
"Do you write in code?" M-21 asked. He had seen something similar on a spy movie Tao had insisted on watching a few nights ago. Frankenstein snorted softly.
"Of course not. I used to, a long time ago. No, that's Lukedonian. It's a…habit, you might say. From back when I lived there." Frankenstein shrugged and turned one of the papers so they could see it. It was utter nonsense to both M-21 and Tao.
"Lukedonian? That's not your native language, is it Boss? I thought only Nobles lived there?" M-21 asked as he pulled his shirt back on. Frankenstein put down the paper and went to fetch a clean sheet from his desk.
"Of course not." He put the paper down on the table and wrote both M-21 and Tao's names in Korean at the top. "It was an opportunity to learn the language better while I lived there. All nobles can understand any language without much trouble given enough time. It was useless to write it in any other language or code based on another language."
He wrote another set of words under their names in the same conjoined script from before. Lukedonian, supposedly. He then wrote yet another set under that in letters that M-21 vaguely recognized.
"That's English, isn't it? I saw something like that on some of the homework from the school the other day." Frankenstein smiled at him and nodded, like a teacher that was glad their lesson was sinking in.
"Correct. English is my native language. Well, Old English anyways. Not the modern English most people know," Frankenstein explained as he pointed his pen at the third set of writing. "All three of these languages have different alphabets so it's fairly easy to differentiate them. Makes them all harder to learn, however."
Tao rested his chin on the back of his chair and looked up at Frankenstein. His lopsided smile was large. "How many languages do you know, Boss? I know you've been around a long time, but three languages is more than most people."
Frankenstein sat back and pulled off his glasses. (Takeo and M-21 had a running bet on whether or not they were real or just for show. Neither had asked because they both wanted to keep their heads.) He looked up at the ceiling as he spoke.
"Well, Korean, Lukedonian, and English count as three. I can fluently write, read, and speak Russian and Mandarin as well. I can read Spanish and understand a little bit of it. I can also speak a small amount of Lithuanian if needed." Tao counted off the languages on his fingers as Frankenstein spoke, eyes going wide. M-21 snorted at them both.
"So five fluently. Seven if you count the others." M-21 shook his head as he leaned back on the table he was sitting on. "You know, I'm not even surprised at this point."
Tao giggled and reached out to pat M-21's arm. "Me neither. I had a stint where I wanted to learn English for a while. Thought it would help with coding. It kinda did but then it was a lot of work so I stopped." He shrugged as M-21 rolled his eyes.
Frankenstein handed the paper over to M-21 as he stood with a soft, amused huff. "Okay, enough fun. Both of you go find something better to do. I must attend to Master. Tao, come for your checkup tomorrow. Same time."
Both Tao and M-21 knew when Frankenstein was willing to humor them and when he wasn't. This was a time that he was not willing. They stood and left the lab together. Tao looked up at M-21 once they were in the elevator.
"Do you think we could ask Boss's Boss about Lukedonian? I wanna hear what it sounds like." He was nearly vibrating with excitement, like a puppy. M-21 huffed as he leaned against the wall of the elevator.
"Maybe. As long as Frankenstein doesn't think that we're bothering Sir Raizel with stupid questions he probably won't care." He looked at Tao and gently nudged him with his shoulder. "Why are you so curious anyways?"
Tao grinned at him and pulled out his phone, starting to scroll through something. "I'm building a database for us. There's so little recorded about the Nobles, so I thought I would do it! I'm leaving out Sir Raizel, so Boss can't complain. One of the things I'm missing is the language. To be honest I didn't know they had a distinct language until Regis and Seira came around." Tao spoke quickly, one of his hands waving animatedly while the other flicked through his phone. He always got very invested in his explanations.
M-21 shrugged. He tugged Tao out of the elevator when it dinged and opened up. They passed through the living room. Raizel was there, sipping on his usual tea and looking at a page of homework.
Tao looked at him for a moment before deciding he didn't want to bother Raizel while he was studying and that he would ask about language later. However, as Tao moved to drag M-21 along, Raizel looked up at them.
"You have questions," Raizel said softly. It wasn't a curious question, but rather a statement. Tao and M-21 exchanged a look before Tao grinned and plopped down on one of the other couches in the living room.
"Mhm! I wanted to ask without Boss around, so we won't have long." M-21 stood behind the couch Tao sat on.
Raizel tilted his head slightly, now curious. Tao continued.
"Boss said he knows lots of languages. I wanted to ask you about Lukedonian. I'm building a database and I wanted to put in some files on the- ah, never mind," he stopped explaining when Raizel blinked blankly at him. "Point is, can you help me make a dictionary of Lukedonian words?"
Raizel thought for a moment as he sipped his tea. He set it down with a soft click of china.
"I could assist you. However, I do think that Frankenstein would be better suited to help you. He is much more efficient than I."
Tao shrugged and leaned forward as he spoke, not really looking at Raizel. "That might be true. Hm. I just need some examples of conversation now. But I'll have to have someone translate that too? Ugh. Do you think I could convince Seira and Regis to have a staged conversation?"
Raizel looked at him and looked slightly confused. "Frankenstein and I could have your conversations. You could record us. Then we can both translate it for you."
Tao blinked at Raizel, like he was surprised by the offer. "Well, I don't want Boss to get annoyed at us for bothering you. Or him."
"Nonsense. I will ask Frankenstein to do it." Raizel said as he lifted his teacup again. Tao didn't even get the chance to argue his point before Frankenstein was striding into the room.
He glanced at Tao and M-21 with a skeptical look. He opened his mouth to speak but Raizel beat him to it.
"ისინი არ მაწუხებენ, მიყვარს", Raizel said softly. His gaze was on the teacup in his hand.
Frankenstein turned his head so fast it ruffled his hair. He stared at Raizel for a moment before answering. "ჟთდსპვნ ლთ ჟთ, დჲჟოჲეაპძ? მე მესმის, რომ ისინი შეიძლება ცოტა ზოგჯერ იყვნენ.”
Raizel looked up at him and nodded slightly. Frankenstein sighed softly and looked back at M-21 and Tao. They were both watching, one looking a little like he was getting ready to run and the other with a grin, respectively.
Frankenstein huffed at them. "Don't you two have better things to do?" A rather menacing smile appeared on his lips. "I could always find something useful for you two to help out with."
Tao jumped up, a rather hasty and stuttered explanation of why Takeo needed them both preceding him dragging M-21 out of the room at not quite a run. Frankenstein's laugh chased them out.
Raizel watched them go before looking back at Frankenstein again. Frankenstein smiled down at him. "Lukedonian, Master? I'm surprised you humored them."
A soft dusting of pink settled over Raizel's cheeks. He turned his gaze back to his tea. "I enjoy the way you sound when speaking Lukedonian. I had almost forgotten what it was like."
It was now Frankenstein's turn to blush. He laughed softly and looked away. "You're something special, Master. I doubt anyone else enjoys hearing me speak Lukedonian except for you." He smiled back down at Raizel.
Raizel didn't say anything. Was he shy? Frankenstein thought it was rather adorable. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Raizel's always perfect hair.
"Thank you, Master. Sometimes it is nice to not be understood by some of the kids.” Frankenstein smiled at Raizel for a moment before standing. “Would you like more tea? I also made sweets earlier.”
Raizel’s eyes seemed to light up when he looked back up at Frankenstein. He nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
As Frankenstein left, Raizel stared at his teacup, swirling the dark liquid gently. Perhaps he could start using Lukedonian a little more around Frankenstein. Especially if Tao was so interested in it.
A few weeks later, Tao shoved a handful of tapes at Regis with a big smile. “Heyyyy Regis! Come be helpful.”
Despite his many protests, Regis was dragged into translating the tapes for Tao’s Lukedonia project. He clicked play on the first one, listening for a while before his eyes went wide. Regis’ face went from bright red, to paler than usual, then back to red. He threw the tape at Tao, yelling at him about something. Tao really wasn’t sure.
Regis wouldn’t look Raizel or Frankenstein in the eye for weeks.