Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“DAMN THEM! Damn them all!!!”

Ygor yelped and jumped at the sound of Victoria’s voice echoing through the manors halls. The tray full of jarred organs he had been so previously carrying from room to room slipped from his grasp, shattering all over the floor in a disgusting display of wet mush. He cursed. sucking in through his teeth at the mess before him. He scurried to his knees trying to gather the remains hastily onto the tray. He hoped Victoria wouldn’t notice if he just shoved them back into another jar and gave them to her as is. Not very sanitary, but he could tell she wasn’t in any mood to be displeased.

He knew Doctor Victoria was always prone to having explosive outbursts when things didn’t exactly go according to plan, he felt he was partially at the forefront for some of those mistakes. She would really let him know it too with insults to his intelligence. This time it wasn’t him which made his heart settle down with a little relief. Still though whatever she was angry about would probably affect whatever his day was going to look like in the long run. He found it was best to check up on the doctor but proceed with the finest caution when approaching her when she was like this. His presence would be enough to annoy her but he couldn’t lie to himself if he wasn’t the slightest bit concerned about her.

Ygor quickly shoved the slimy damaged remains inside a spare cupboard out of sight if she dared come this way. He began following the sounds of her angered cries. He had a feeling she knew where she would be. He entered the parlor room and found Victoria pacing around the room crumpling up newspapers, setting them aflame in the fireplace. It was like her decompression room. It was anything but a relaxing time when it was being used
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“….its not enough i captured Dracula for those thankless ingrates....no!!! The tarnishing will never end…it never ends….” she grumbled to herself. The fireplace reflecting the burning in her eyes. She tore another newspaper into the fire and seethed as it burst into embers. Ygor peered from behind the corner of the doorway “...boss?...is everything…okay?” Ygor hesitantly broke the silence. Victoria sharply turned her head at him from the locking gaze of the fireplace breaking her out of her enraged trance. Ygor can see her shaking and sweating. Her fists were clenched up and her loose hair strands from her bun drooped over her eyes. His heart pounded at the sight of them. They were fiery. He wasn’t sure if he was scared of what she was gonna say in his presence or if it was the way he felt fluttery in his stomach at her gaze “I um! uh- I can go!- Ygor see’s this is a bad time- I’ll leave yo-”

“No!…” she extended her hand. He paused and returned her gaze with a puzzled one. You can stay…..its ....its fine....” Victoria's sharpened expression slowly began to soften. She thwacked the papers down on the coffee table and planted herself down on the couch in front of the fireplace letting a heavy sigh out. Her fingers pinched her eyebrows together. Ygor looked at her, his shock turning to concern at the state of her. He had always seen the Doctor at her vulnerable moments but they were few. She never liked to show it but it was always up here in this room when she did. He wasn’t quite sure what to do whenever he was faced with something like this, she mostly just liked to be left alone. He tiptoed awkwardly looking behind himself. Not that there was anyone up in this area but them anyways. He sat himself next to her at the far end of the couch, she never liked her space being entered but she didn’t budge. He could feel her eyes shifting towards him under her covered face. There was a shared silence between them until Ygor finally spoke.

“Not to be the one to question you Doctor…but ....Ygor thought…you would be done reading the Darkmoor Press ....you know it always gets you mad…besides those writers are bozoheads anyways! They can’t even report the correct number of werewolf attacks in the street! I could do that with my hands!” Ygor gestured wiggling his fingers

Victoria paused. Her hand slid from her forehead to her chin as she gazed back into the fire.

“I’m perfectly aware of how idiotic they can be....curiosity just got the better of me I suppose” She admitted

“I just find it so fascinating how I could solve their biggest problem that’s plagued this town for centuries…capture him…use all my resources to keep him contained…all of them contained and yet….to them my effort’s are meaningless…”Victoria Frankenstein will be the downfall of Darkmoor, she’s using those contained beast to attack the innocent civilians of Darkmoor as revenge for her family's cursed name” Victoria chuckled to herself. “And the list goes on…”

Ygor scoffed “The villagers have never been all that bright, they’ve called me all sorts of things that weren’t true! murderer, lunatic, dirt eater, corpse sniffer …..rat kisser”

Victoria looked up at him, losing her frustration for a brief moment of confusion. “What?”

Ygor quickly interjected back “Like I said! all fake ! But enough about Ygor! Everyone in Darkmoor is pretty stupid, even Ygor has his moments…but you Doctor are not stupid. You're just a swan swimming in a pool with a bunch of stupid baby ducks…..but Ygor is the goose! Not quite dumb but not quite a genius” he stated proudly. A smirk curled at the corner of Victoria’s lips swallowing down a laugh she dared not show.

“You always have had a really bizarre way of explaining things”

“But you understood, yes?”

“Yes…..and I appreciate your sentiment”

“Really!?” he beamed

Victoria rolled her eyes and begrudgingly answered “...yes now don’t hold onto it so hard”

Ygor couldn’t help but grin widely like a kid who just won at a ring toss carnival game, enjoying every drop of praise he could get from the Doctor. Victoria turned to him and he quickly dropped his enthusiasm at her returning stare.

“All I'm saying is that you’ve always known what my intentions were…I know it's a long shot to get these people to understand…My great great grandfather’s damage has forever tainted my reputation…it would make the next steps in our experiment easier to get through if people were a little less hostile to our cause”

Ygor sighed leaning against the arm rest of the couch picking something out of his teeth. “I don’t know boss, Maybe if you tried throwing the villagers a “We captured Dracula!” party then they’ll finally get off our backs, hehehe! Give them an itty bitty slice of cake for the road...a bottle of monocane as a parting gift, my recipe of course…not that hack down the road”

Victoria froze at the suggestion looking up at the picture frame above the fireplace of her great great grandparents. The night of their wedding day where things went horribly awry. She thought about the celebration that followed tragic events to come but….people were happy were they not. When the village was filled with music and dance. She liked to keep things secretive, hating the idea of entertaining strangers but with the way things were it seemed to call for it. “That……that might not be such a bad idea….”

Ygor’s head shot up from his resting place on the couch “Wait wait wait…are you serious?” Victoria calmly nodded. Ygor's eyes shifted around the room at the containers of organs yet to be properly put away and crates of new orders that had just been delivered to the house with biohazard tags plastered all over them. “Doctor, y-you know Ygor was just joking right?”

“You may have been, but you have a point there”

“You want people to come to….this house!? Where you have already made it clear that you have a monster petting zoo in the basement!? That’s not a bad idea for you?!”

“Quiet!.....just let me talk for a second okay” she yelled clearly annoyed by his constant raising of his voice. Ygor zipped his mouth up and shrank back in his seat “s-sorry doctor....continue please…” Victoria sighed and stood up, she approached the picture frame. It was slightly tilted to one side. She began readjusting it. “You have to understand, people coming to this house will only get them comfortable with the fact that they can feel safe around us knowing that we have the monsters under our control, especially beneath their feet. What better way to get people comfortable with that fact then to celebrate our victory….perhaps if this succeeds we can bring them back to view the completion of our experiment”

Ygor nodded, understanding what she meant by that but some doubts still crept in about the whole thing. “What if nobody shows up? What if they think this is all some big trap for us to feed them to Larry”

“People seem to love talking about us so much, who's to say they won’t come to find out….in fact we’ll make it something bigger than just a simple party…we’ll make it a ball and fill the house with life, that will really draw people's attention”

“A ball!?” Ygor sprung up from his seat. A sense of dread creeping in with thoughts of loudness, uncomfortable social situations and dancing….oh god the dancing. Ygor fiddled with his fingers trying to think of more excuses to throw out. Victoria watched him curiously viewing the anxious mess before her “okay okay lets say you have this ball? What’s gonna stop nosey people from getting into our secret rooms we don’t want huh?”

“Oh calm yourself we’ll still have our labs locked down for the night, beside the old ballroom is where most of our festivities will be taking place”

Ygor’s dumbfounded mouth hung open “Ygor didn’t know we had an old ballroom….” he mumbled, the disappointment didn’t hide itself well.

“There was no use for it before. I just used it as more storage space, but thanks to you there will be…..now as for the day of the ball there’s no full moon at the end of the week, so that takes care of any chances of sudden werewolf attacks amongst the guests” Victoria paced around the room again, her hand to her lips. Her pacing wasn’t as intense as it was before but she was back to her calmer methodically thinking ways trying to plan out each part for this ball. Ygor could see she was lost in her whirlwind of thoughts He slowly started nudging himself out of the room, feeling the rock weighing down his stomach with every word that came out of Victoria's mouth about the dance. He with winced at every step he took.

“Ygor! Where are you going? This is important, I'm going to need you to start making a list of duties that need to be fulfilled” Ygor turned back to face her, his shoulders sagging with his frown. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she questioned

“Does Ygor have to go…?” he whimpered

Victoria crossed her arms “Yes, everyone in town knows who you are and as my assistant its very important that you show up so people aren’t so…..creeped out by you”

Every bone in Ygor's body ached at her response. He took anxious steps back from her as he pleaded his case“ if everyone's so creeped out by Ygor can’t I just wait down in the catacombs till the ball is over?! Somebody’s gotta watch the monsters! I can do it! I’ll do a full night shift with no breaks, no naps or accidental naps!”

“My creation will be out in the catacombs as my security. My answer is final, you are not to skip out on this under any circumstances” she demanded from him.

Ygor sank to his knees “Doctor Victoria please don’t make me do this” he shook his fist together in a ball above his head whining like a sad animal. “Dances give Ygor a pounding headache, too many people, too many sounds make my brain jumbled up in knots”

Victoria scoffed and she grabbed him by the straps of his apron back to his feet. He shrieked as he stumbled back on his feet almost missing his steps.
“Get off the floor you idiot, I need you to suck it up for me. I'm not very fond of them either but think of it as everything we’ve been working towards finally coming together, even just an ounce tension relieved from the public eye could benefit us”

“Do you really think so?”

"It could be worth a shot to try”

Ygor heavily sighed, slumping his head in defeat. He fixed his goggles begrudgingly against his face “Fine….but only if you think so Doctor, just don’t expect Ygor to be rubbing elbows with the Invisible Man or anything ” he crossed his arms.

She squinted at him and stepped up to take a closer look at him practically looming over his small figure. Ygor was confused by this but then chills went up his spine the moment she started lightly running her fingers through his greasy hair. He would never get used to her touch, it always made him freeze up like a deer in headlights. She looked at the strand, eyes full of repulsion. “When was the last time you had a bath?” she asked

Ygor’s face turned bright red “Why do you ask…?” he asked with caution in his tone.

“Because your not looking like this when we throw the party” she retorted

“You know this is the only thing that Ygor has to wear, it's not like Darkmoor has big fancy parties all the time” he whined.

“Don’t worry we’ll find you something to wear, but i’m mostly talking about your hygiene, I don’t think I've ever seen you bathe once” she confronted. She wiped her gloved hands on her lab vest. Ygor’s face only turned brighter red at her disgust. It was never something he cared about too much for but her pointing it out to him filled him with some shame he didn't think he had for it. “At least with soap” she added.

“ I do wash!....Ygor has his outside hose rinsing's, and once a week I might use a drop of soap” he defended

“Ygor that’s disgusting” Victoria scowled at him.

“I live the way I live, and you live the way you live…and I never judge you once boss, besides Ygor is always going to get dirty all over again once the sun sets, i never see the point to it!” he shrugged, the pinkness never leaving his face but even though the shame was there he would stand proudly for it.

“That’s going to change this week, I don't care how it has to happen, you're going to look and smell your best, I'm ordering you to” She grabbed him by the strap pulling him close to his surprise once again. The intimidation was radiating off her. Her nose scrunched up to break that intimidation though as Ygor’s sweaty graveyard dirt smell made her nostrils want to close up. He could see that it bothered her.

“Hehehe w-well if Ygor doesn’t look so good then i guess it means I'm free of dancing?” he asked with a nervous half joking grin. Victoria didn’t say anything but looked at him with those blank dark vacant eyes piercing through his soul. He could tell he stepped over the line and that grin was replaced with a look of pure terror. She held onto his apron strap tighter and started yanking him out of the room through the manor halls. “WAIT! WAIT! WAIT, where are we going!?” he asked in a panic. He tried dragging his feet but Victoria was much stronger than him and every time he resisted she only yanked harder leaving him helpless to her pull.

He knew exactly where they were going “DON”T DO WHAT I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO DO!!” he cried out. Victoria is still quiet. “DOCTOR!!!!” Victoria kept dragging him deeper into the home until she arrived at the chamber of her creation, opening the doors, to find the tall stitched up creature drawing on the walls of his room. Something Victoria never minded him doing as long as he did it in his own space. It offered him some creative freedom in the closed up life she had given him. Ygor squirmed in her grasp as she approached the tall green creature.

“Ygor….in trouble….?” The creature asked tilting his head to the side in curiosity

“Yes…Ygor’s in big trouble and i have a job for you” She grabbed Ygor’s arm and shoved him forward as he yelped landing on the floor. He looked up to see the monster staring down at him and getting closer. His heart exploded in his chest. He knew if he could Victoria's creation would snap him in half like a twig, He tried scooting back quickly away on the ground but bumped into Victoria's boots that still kept him from leaving the door.

“I need you to take him to the river and give Ygor a bath, be gentle with him of course, he can’t swim, just dunk him in there a few times okay? until you think he’s nice and clean”

The creature nodded and seemed to understand her request “Ygor get clean…” The Monster silently growled. He outstretched his hand towards Ygor slowly leaning to grab him. Ygor desperately looked back at Victoria and then back at the Monster hoping she’d put an end to this. He grabbed her legs. “No no no no no no! I-i promise i’ll take a bath! Every single day til the dance! T-till forever yes!? Ygor promises! The river is too cold! It will stop my poor heart!”

“Don’t touch me until you're clean!” She shoved him away with her foot like a bug. “I know you will, I'm just making sure you're 100 percent certain of that promise” The monster scooped up Ygor like carrying a bag of apples and threw him over his shoulders. Ygor punched the monster's back and kicked his legs with the fierceness of a skinny child throwing a tantrum at a supermarket.

“NOOOO!!! UNHAND YGOR AT ONCE YOU TRAITOR!!! DON’T YOU FORGET WHO HELPED MAKE YOU!! LET ME GO!!! I’LL DISASSEMBLE YOU AND REASSEMBLE YOU!! A-AND! DISASSEMBLE YOU AGAIN! MARK MY WORDS!!” Ygor screamed. The monster only growled at Ygor's outburst but mostly ignored his empty insults and threats. Victoria watched as Ygor was dragged out of the room. Victoria crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame with a smile. Ygor was too far away to see her face but she could still hear him shouting up a storm.

“…..make sure to get under those goggles too!! his eyes are crusty”

Chapter Text

Ygor wished with all his heart that this week could come to an end sooner rather than later. The river was just as cold as he thought it would be, paralyzing him at its icy touch. He didn’t know how long that giant green toddler had been nearly drowning him in the moat beneath the Manor's bridge. He could only remember the green mossy water invading his goggles and airholes, trying to fight against the brutish force he had on his head. Victoria’s point had been made to him thoroughly, and he had agreed to clean himself up daily for the party.

He longed for the dirt of his work to cover him from head to toe once again, in his dusty cloud. Unfortunately for him, every day of the week, the Doctor would send her creation after him whenever he was doing work in the Manor for a Bath time” reminder. It didn’t help that the Doctor was limiting his corpse fetching trips to the cemetery that week so he wouldn’t get himself too dirty, only helping around the laboratory and the catacombs, he still had a lot to do but he felt her eyes on him burning into the back of his skull whenever the time of bath was nearing. It was as if he were being punished by Doctor Victoria, not even for something he had done wrong that he knew he deserved. This whole ball itself felt like a punishment. He obliged, though, forcing himself to follow her requests just as he always did.

Shockingly, to Ygor, though the bath was nice. It was warm, and it soothed his aching bones and tense nerves, which he always tended to keep tightened up at all times. He never really got moments like this. The tub was a little tiny, and he expected Victoria was not going to let him use the master bathroom. To his surprise, he found a bath towel and some soaps laid out for him near the sink after he got back from being waterboarded in front of the manor. He could only think of it being the Doctor herself. It perplexed him, one minute she’s telling her giant green son to play with him like he’s a toy pirate ship at the beach, and then the next she’s setting out fancy little soaps and robes like it's a spa day. The only conclusion he could get was that the ball really must've meant something more if she was going this far out to be nice to him, even in little ways. Ygor tried to swallow it all in. It was just a week, and those flew by fast when he kept himself busy. Ygor’s work was never done!

He kept replaying the Doctor's defeated face sitting on that couch with him whenever he found himself becoming sour at his situation. There was something about it that stuck with him. He remembered how hurt her expression was. Her face was like a hardened mask, but the haunting melancholy in her eyes was visible beneath it all, almost watery. He had to be strong for his Doctor; they were in this together after all. They captured their biggest threat, and they still had to work out the quirks of the rest of the project, but all they needed to get through was this one little party. It was small in the grand scheme of their goals. She had always been strong for him whenever he was in need, despite her questionable treatment of him.

Victoria had already begun her work, sending out open invitations to all the villagers of Darkmoor the day after her epiphany. To her expectation, her invitation was nothing short of being mocked by the townsfolk. It didn’t bother her one bit, though. All they needed was a little time to get the usual village gossip to spread. It’ll fester, and people will start making their decisions. On one of Ygor’s supply errand runs, he could overhear a small group of residents talking amongst themselves outside the door of a shop he was visiting.

“That lady’s crazy if she thinks anybody would step foot in that castle! She’s probably going to use her weird black magic contraptions to mass zombify us into her undead army!”

“Or, feed us all to Dracula in her attempts to control him, satiate his bloodlust so he’ll never wanna eat people again! A mass final sacrifice!” another whispered

“What about that werewolf she has? She might be waiting to unleash it all on us like an attack dog, chaos in the ballroom everywhere! ”

Ygor rolled his eyes back hard under his goggles. “Okay, first of all, that is stupid and dumb! Larry can only transform under a full moon, you idiots. Do you not know how werewolves work?” Ygor chimed in. The group jumped at the sound of Ygor’s voice approaching from behind them out of the little shop. The villagers recoiled at the sight of him like a knat that flew too close to their eyeballs.

“Of course you’d be so quick to defend your precious queen of monsters, wouldn’t you? Considering you already look like one.”

“Oh, how original of you to mock Ygor’s facial appearance once again, like I haven’t heard that one before. You got any new ones this time for Ygor? Or are you not going to get that mold growing on your face checked out first before you start talking about Ygor’s face, because let me tell you! Yours ain't so attractive either, buddy, and at least I know how to keep fungus off of me!”

The villager gets threateningly close to Ygor, causing him to flinch, holding his box of lab supplies up to his chin almost like a shield.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve talking to me like that, rat man!”

“H-Heh, what! Now, are we having trouble coming up with names for Ygor too? I’ve been called much worse!” he cockily grinned through his wariness. He knew he probably shouldn’t be poking the bear; most of these villagers were brutes anyway.

“What the hell are you planning on doing to us, huh? Finally finish off this village under one roof? Make this town your domain of twisted freaks” the man’s voice raised.

“Ygor already sees a bunch of twisted freaks all over this village. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Ygor chuckled, trying to side shuffle around the group nervously while holding on closely to his boxes. Ygor bumped into one of the men’s chests to his side, blocking his path from his cart. He shrank up at the sight of him and squeaked.

“Don't get smart with us creep, we know her kind well enough. Ever since she's been here, she’s been poking and prodding with things she shouldn't be messing with. The blood has been spilled, and more of it is soon to follow thanks to her recklessness.”

Ygor gnashed his teeth together and whipped his head back around at the villager who dared to begin speaking about her in the first place, not being able to contain the bubbling heat inside of him. He couldn't keep hearing these idiots prattle on about things against her.

“And more blood was spilled under "him" for centuries! We’ve all lived through it, yes?! My Doctor's methods may not be so squeaky clean for your liking, but all of you are a bunch of hypocrites if you think she’s the only one in town to have taken…drastic measures to get things done around here! And things are being done! No thanks to you!”

Ygor’s face was hot, his blue veins pulsating in his rant, but he caught himself in his anger, realizing what he had been doing. His face became flushed with embarrassment, and he looked back at them as if a spirit had possessed him for a brief moment. Ygor usually kept to himself; he never liked to get tangled up in meaningless arguments, especially if it meant getting caught or it prolonged his work. He anxiously lowered his head under his boxes, shoulders rising. The group all stared at him taken aback at his sudden blowup like they weren’t expecting it either. Ygor leaned back, closing his eyes, expecting to be punched, beaten, or kicked as the man got close to him, but nothing came of it.

“You think that doctor of yours is so noble don’t you? One day though, she’ll probably get tired of having you around…and you’ll either find yourself hanging at the top of that windmill....or as a human blood bag…the only choice she’ll give you is how it happens…” the man hissed. Ygor could feel his words coming hot off his breath, trying to sow their seeds of doubt. He knew he had every single reason to believe them, but he only kept his head high, looking straight back into his hate-filled irises.

“Say what you want about the Doctor…you don’t know her like Ygor does…. she’s going to fix this place…you’ll see! And I'm going to be by her side when she succeeds ....and laugh in all your stupid ugly faces!” Ygor grinned.

The man scowled at him but began to back away. The rest of the men followed.

“Fine, worship your Doctor of death for all I care, just don’t be surprised anybody in their right minds willingly shows up to be a test subject for your monster ball.” The men and their group shoved past Ygor, making their way through. Ygor wobbled around trying to keep hold of his box stack full of delicate, breakable tools. He sighed with relief, regaining his composure, looking back at their shrinking silhouettes. He spat in their direction before walking away towards his cart. It was nice not to get more teeth knocked out of his face by strangers on the street. The words of the random village man would stick with Ygor, they often hung over him like a ticking time bomb on a bad day. Would the Doctor eventually give up on him?

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Victoria, of course, had been right. Word of the ball spread fast among the small town like wildfire. People went from shunning the idea entirely to daring each other to go, as if it were Truth or Dare. Some people had their curiosity piqued by the passing words. What would a Frankenstein ball in Darkmoor even look like after all these years? Many of the townsfolk wanted to find out. The turnout expectancy was rising exceedingly fast to Victoria’s delight. Just as she was hoping for. The Burgermeister himself was rumored to have had a keen interest in indulging Victoria and her celebration, but those had just been rumors. She had doubted that man would ever think about setting foot in a Frankenstein-owned property, mainly when her family had caused the town council so many nightmares in the past. Still, she was holding out a little hope that his arrival would help give the people of Darkmoor some more ease in their mistrust of the event. However, nobody cared about what the Burgermeister did half the time, which is why mobs and such often formed so regularly.

Things were being set into motion, and the big day arrived sooner than expected. Victoria had already cleared out all her old storage that had lain waste in the ballroom, having Ygor and any other hired help clear and dust everything off. Music was taken care of, food and decor were being dealt with. Things like security were already sealed from the beginning. The only thing she forgot to focus on was herself and what she’d be wearing to this event. She didn’t have much on hand for a ballroom setting, mostly work clothes, vests, and coats. When she was emptying the ballroom, one thing managed to catch her eye. A giant, ornate, silver-encrusted chest full of old antique garments. She had guessed these must’ve been hundreds of years old down the family line and plenty of dresses to choose from. She had wondered which ones would’ve belonged to her great-great-grandmother, but she had no time to decipher that mystery. She at least found a selection for herself, that was clear, her biggest challenge next would be…

“Boss, is this really necessary?

Victoria had Ygor sat down in a barber's chair in the bathroom. It was an hour before they opened their doors to the public. Victoria had scissors in her hands and was measuring the length of one of Ygor’s hair strands with her fingers. Ygor had his goggles off, holding them in his sweaty palms. His blue eyes examined her in the mirror. He grumbled unintelligibly under his breath. The more she eyed how much to chop off.

“You can grow out your hair like a werewolf after the ball, but tonight it's important that we eliminate all those split ends, you have to look like you care about what you look like for one night.” Victoria starts to stop her finger at a certain length, and she starts snipping away. A sound of protest escapes Ygor’s lips, but he clamps it shut. He couldn’t start making trouble for the Doctor now, even though every fiber of his being hated being groomed like an animal and was screaming at him to make a run for it. He had already done enough of that.

“Ygor washed his hair and body for a week like you asked, wasn’t that enough?”

“Are you waiting for a gold star or something? All I’m doing is giving you a trim, I’m not shaving your head completely, but if you keep complaining about it, I might.” She threatened.

“No, no! Ygor won’t complain anymore, I promise……But I have one request…if you don’t mind, Doctor..then Ygor will be 100% for the party.”

Victoria paused her snipping. “And what's that?”

“May Ygor wear his goggles…? I-I’ll wear the fancy clothes and… I’ll even take my tie off…I just…” he paused to choose his words wisely. “I like the way they feel on my head…Ygor just feels naked without them.”

Victoria sighed and continued to snip. “Yes…fine, but that's the one exception, got it?”

Ygor smiled, a load was taken off his shoulders, “Yes, of course! Thank you, Doctor!”

Victoria didn’t respond, she just kept cutting away. A soft smile stayed on Ygor’s face for the rest of the trim. His shoulders began to relax, and he leaned his head back for Victoria to get the back of his head. Victoria noticed the change in his demeanor, being a bit more cooperative with her. A little smile tugs the corner of her mouth, seeing his quick change in attitude and that puppy smile creeping into his face. She thought it was endearing in a weird way.

“So….are you excited, boss? About the party?”

“Hmm…..excited wouldn't be the right word for it,” her face slightly darkened. “I’m curious how people will react to... everything,” she said. Her smile disappeared, entirely focusing on Ygor's hair being a little bit more forceful when she held it. Ygor felt the pinching on his scalp, wincing at it.

“ah!- uh- You're not nervous, are you?”

“I’m never nervous, I just want things to run smoothly is all, if everything goes right and things still don’t change after this, well….at least they can’t say I didn’t try to extend an open arm to them” she mumbled. Ygor frowned at this.

“If things don’t change, then Ygor will have had to wear a monkey suit for no reason” he groaned, crossing his arms.

“I thought you said you were done complaining.” She glared at him, looking extra threatening with those scissors in her hands.

“I am I am!- Ygor’s point is maybe they don’t deserve a party if they’re all gonna be such sourpusses in the end, maybe we really let all the monsters free”

“As tempting as that may sound, we aren't going to do that,” she muttered.

Ygor shrugged, “Hey, we’d just be giving the people what they want”

“Ygor, if I see you sneaking down to the control panel, I’ll put you in a torment ring myself” she said with no hint of humor in her voice. “I-I promise it was just a joke, I would never do such a thing. Ygor crosses his heart. He made a quick gesture nervously across his chest. Victoria rolls her eyes. “Whatever, it's done” she said.

Victoria pats the excess hair off of Ygor’s shoulders. Ygor stares, sliding his goggles back over his eyes, and his blurry vision gets a little clearer. His hair is no longer a jagged mess like it was before, but it's more of a tame bowl cut like it used to be before he let it grow wild. He doesn’t remember the last time his hair has looked this healthy. He stares in awe at it. “Are you sure you're not a wizard?” Ygor said with his mouth hanging down.

“I take it you're satisfied?” she asked.

“I should never have expected any less from you, you always had a steady hand when it came to stitches! I love it!!! Ygor’s hands would’ve been shaking if I were cutting your hair,” He said with giddiness in his voice. He ran his fingers through his hair, stroking it like one of his favorite rats. He shook his head to test its bounciness.

Victoria looked slightly flushed, but she kept her smile back. “Don’t play with it….I’m at least happy to know that’s one thing you won’t be complaining about,” She said. She went to the cabinet and found some hair products, taking down a small container from it. “We're still going to have to make sure it doesn’t move around so much.” She dipped her hands in the container. Ygor’s smile dropped. “But only a little, yes?” he asked, still holding onto his hair like she was going to burn it off. She didn’t say anything, but only pulled his arm closer to her and started putting globs of hair gel on his head. Ygor shuddered at the touch, feeling the dripping of the gel go down his neck. He felt his hair being aggressively yanked and smacked down in front of his face. His hair felt obsessively moist with a burning chemical smell. How old was that container? Victoria stopped and turned him toward the mirror once again.

His hair was flat against his face, hugging it with no bounce or volume to it at all—the embodiment of sadness. Ygor looked extremely disappointed. “What’ve you done?” he whimpered.

“Now your hair won’t get in the way while you dance,” She added. Ygor almost forgot bout that part, his nerves bouncing back to being on edge. They didn’t talk about that part once, at least involving him. It hit him like a brick.

“D-dancing!? No, no, Ygor is coming, but you never said I had to dance?!” he panicked.

“Ygor, it's a ball, everyone's going to dance, even I. Did you think you were just going to sit on the side?”

“W-well kind of !! Ygor thought he was just going to help out like a glorified butler or something, but I didn’t think I was going to be needed on the floor moving in front of people! To song!!!” he shouted. Victoria was in no mood for the constant bouncing back and forth of Ygor’s defiance. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Now’s not the time for this, I still have to get ready and oversee everything in order before people get here, but there is no room for argument here, you're going to be a part of this dance.”

Before Ygor could get a word in, Victoria shoved some old garments into his arms and showed him out the door. “Here, go get dressed, then meet with me in the parlor room after you're done, there’s still a lot to be done, and you better be there” She warned. Ygor sighed and lowered his head. He nodded. He knew she was right, he couldn’t chicken out on this for her, he had to be strong, shove his stupid anxieties down “Y-yes Doctor”

Victoria shut the door and left Ygor by himself with his thoughts. All he felt was this overwhelming queasiness every time he thought about dancing. He could barely walk on his two chicken legs like a normal person. It made his hands tremble at the thought of being in front of those people. Ygor tried shaking it off.

“Get it together Ygor, you’ve been in catacombs scarier than this! Almost had your head chewed on by several werewolves at the same time already, Focus! For the Doctor!” he mumbled. Ygor paced out of the room to his quarters, trying to prepare himself for the night to come.

Chapter Text

Ygor waited in the parlor room of the manor. He had finally managed to fit into the clothes Victoria picked for him. Not a suit, but a puffy white shirt with frills at the cuffs under a dark maroon and black colored vest. He wore a shiny red satin ascot underneath. His pants were a little awkwardly high, exposing his black boots more than they should. He supposed the Doctor couldn’t exactly find something that suited him this fast. The difference, though, was that besides the shirt, this outfit hugged his body uncomfortably tight, making him sweat all over before he had even taken a step onto a dance floor., It was something he wasn’t used to other than his apron that would hug his barely fitting clothes on a typical work day, and giving it the illusion that they did fit. Ygor kept pulling at his tie with his finger circling it around the neck cuff, trying to loosen it up, feeling the suffocation of it strangling his throat. How was he expected to move in something so hot and clammy? There was no room to breathe. Looking at the mirror before coming up here, the only thing he could recognize about himself was his thick goggles that were slapped over everything else; he almost looked like a regular person with no ties to this town. He wondered how long that would be able to fool everyone. The thought made Ygor want to run away and jump into the moat to avoid the party, just thinking about it. The heaviness returned the more he was alone with his thoughts; he bounced his knee up and down on the couch, watching the time tick by closer and closer. He could hear sharp, clicking, heavy steps. He lifted his head toward the sound.

Entering the room was Victoria herself, but not in any way he had ever seen his boss before. A soft gasp escaped his lips as she entered the room. He stared at her, awestruck. She was dressed in a black, silky, shoulderless ball gown. It cascaded in dark frills and ruffles onto the floor, dragging heavily behind her with every step. Her usual messy hair bun appeared softer, gentler; she had it in a similar style, but it was more twisted in the back, more intricate, and nothing was out of place. Not a single loose strand fell onto her forehead, only the ones softly framing her face. A dark antique jewel collared necklace wrapped around her neck, something she had found in many of the endless boxes of things from the past.. Her lips and eyes were darker, and he had never seen her face look so ethereal. He hadn’t realized how it compelled him to stand up when she entered. He felt fluttery inside like rats were trying to dig their way out of his chest.
Victoria looked his way, and a soft, subtle smirk formed on her lips, eyeing the hunching, timid assistant before her up and down. She was surprised by his transformation, despite picking this outfit together. She never would’ve thought that greasy, dirt-smelling slimeball of hers would clean up to be such a little gentleman, a peculiar one at that

.”who knew a little bath here and there and some new clothes could do wonders for you?” she teased. Ygor tried to muster out a word, anything to say in response, but the words kept getting lodged back into his windpipe the more she stepped closer to him. He was visibly becoming a tomato. Talking to the Doctor was hard enough on its own, but now she just kept having to look at him like that! How was he supposed to get through the night!? This was going to be impossible…

“Doctor!!....Y-you look…..you look….ah…you look…” Beads of sweat ran down his face. He wasn’t sure how to save himself from what he had just started. He couldn’t say what he meant to say to her at risk of complete humiliation and not the fun kind..

“Shiney!!” he blurted out. “Yes! Very sparkly and shiny hehehe…” He rubbed his tensing neck with a painful, uncomfortable smile. Victoria tilted her head at him. Ygor was never good at hiding things from anybody; his feelings were always written on his face, no matter what pair of goggles he decided to shove on. Victoria's cheeks had gotten a shade rosier at his comment. She didn’t press him about it.

“Thank you… it seems like my ancestors are still providing for me in little ways,” she remarked, lifting the heavy skirt of her dress a bit to examine if it was still being held together. She had to stitch a few holes last minute. Ygor tore his face away from her, biting his lip to control himself. He couldn’t erase the dopey, stunned look on his face. Instead, he tried focusing on himself and his attire, still adjusting his tie with his finger. He looked off to the side.

“Ygor can see that, I think you’re really going to outshine everyone tonight, Doctor….-Not that Ygor doubted that in the first place!! Honestly, if you didn’t tell me you were going to get dressy, Ygor probably would’ve mistaken you for a vampire,” he teased, trying to roll off the tension he had been feeling. Victoria raised a brow, eyeing her frilly sleeves that seemed to give off that appearance to her now.

“That doesn’t exactly seem like a good thing, to me, considering the insane things people are saying.” Her face soured. Ygor shook his head rapidly. “That's not what Ygor meant! I’m just saying you look very full of youth tonight! Uh- eternal youth! In a living, non-undead sort of way” he tried to correct. Victoria seemed to accept that response and nodded.

“As do you, as much as you can at least, I have to say you did well. You should clean up more often,” Ygor smiled at her praise. “It was nothing!…. It was all thanks to you, boss. You made me your living doll...Ygor only followed your instructions!” He swatted his hand at her sheepishly with a toothy, dorky grin. The one thing he apparently could not fix was the yellowness of his jagged teeth, but she let it slide. That would be more of a long-term thing they’d have to deal with later on.

Victoria squinted at him and reached over to his neck. She took his ascot and began to tighten it aggressively around his neck, visibly to Ygor’s discomfort, making a little tiny choking noise as she did so. “That's much better,” she whispered. Ygor wished to whine at the pain, but when he looked back at her, he was entranced once again. All his senses seemed to shut down with just a simple stare from her beauty. It was no secret how gorgeous his Doctor was; it's undeniable to someone with eyes, even bad ones like his. It was agonizing to be around her like this. He only wished she would strangle him with that tie once more or……. Ygor bit his tongue hard; he couldn’t be thinking like this right now, not this close to her. Maybe she was a vampire…Victoria let go of him and checked the time.

“ The guest should be arriving any minute. I’ve already begun to see people gathering outside. This will be an interesting night, don’t you think?” she asked.

“Yeah… interesting is a word....here’s hoping nothing eats the guest tonight, right?” Ygor’s nerves began to rise once again, the thoughts of the party swirling around inside him. Victoria noticed him messing around with his fidgety thumbs again. She sighed, “Look, just… try to enjoy yourself tonight, okay…consider this a break …you won’t need to do any tasks. The only thing I need you to do is stand by my side….Can you at least do that for me…?”

She asked in a voice that was almost soft to Ygor. He didn’t get that a lot from the Doctor—only a few times here and there. A lot ever since this ball stuff started, maybe this wouldn’t be such a horrible night after all. Perhaps the Doctor would let him…. No, Ygor stopped himself again; he couldn’t get so dreamy-minded about her. Ygor anxiously smiled at he,r though. She needed him, and that was enough to calm him at least for the moment.

“You got it, boss, Ygor will never leave your side. Promises!”

Victoria nodded at him, “Thank you, Ygor…now come on, let's do one last Manor checkup before they get here.” She gestured for him to follow. Ygor nodded and followed her lead. Victoria abruptly stopped, to her surprise. Her dress got caught under the leg of the couch, but Ygor quickly rushed to her aid, pulling the trail of her dress from its entanglement before she could say anything. Victoria became flushed at his instant call to action. “I told you, you don’t need to do anything like that tonight.”

“Ygor’s not going to let your dress get ruined! You spent so much time working on it! It’d be like letting a creature go to waste on its first night alive.Ygor will defend your dress with his life!” he stated proudly.

“Whatever, just make sure you don’t tear it either with your clumsy fingers.”

Victoria was a little shocked to see more guests than she had expected. The whole village was at her doorstep. It was truly the occasion of the night. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit to herself that the amount did set her on edge. There was no time for silly anxieties now; she had initiated the ball in the first place, and now she was going to finish it once and for all, whether she stayed a mad scientist in their eyes or not, she was going to show these people the Frankensteins could still throw a party. She had opened the gates to her home, and men and women in ball gowns and suits started rushing in. Lab Techs had begun directing the guests towards the ballroom in an orderly fashion.

The ballroom was nothing short of massive and extravagant, giant gothic-style crystal chandeliers dimly lighting the room in a warm, hazy glow. They swayed in an unsettling sort of way. They looked prone to falling, but Victoria had made sure they were tightly bolted to the ceiling ahead of time and had ensured Erik had no way of tampering with them during the party if he had that mischievous urge. Hundreds were pouring into the wide-open floor, music had already begun echoing into the room, and the violinist and musicians had been seated up in the balcony of the ballroom, overlooking the rest of the crowd. Victoria had let Erik be a part of the ball in some ways, letting him play his organ from the catacombs. Why look for an organ player when there was one right at her disposal? He seemed to enjoy the idea of it and had made sure she had the right equipment, loud enough to let his wistful melodies play through the crowd. The violinist from the village had shockingly agreed to play for her, of course not without a hefty fee, but what needed to be done was done.

As cautious and skeptical as people were, it didn’t stop them from being carried away by the melodic atmosphere surrounding them, and so dancing began. Victoria was still waiting to appear, watching from the other side of the balcony. Ygor stood next to her, looking down at all the guests moving like waves in the sea. He felt like if he fell, they could swallow him whole. Victoria was assessing the crowd, judging when she should make her presence known. The song was nearing its end, and she was hesitant to speak, but she had put this whole thing together. She needed to say something, be a part of the crowd eventually. What kind of guest would she be after all? “She held onto the railing, palms sweating, her breath shortening. What was wrong with her? Why the stage fright now? She was Frankenstein, damn it, she needed to act like one.

“You’ve got this, Doctor, remember…You're the swan! They’re the ducks! You’ve gotten this far, yes? You faced Darkmoor’s biggest bad guy’s of all time and conquered them, don’t let these morons make you feel so small….you’re bigger than all of them, you’ve amazed Ygor to his core! And you’ve still got the rest of the world to amaze! These people wouldn’t have come to see just anybody, Doctor, good or bad, they chose to see you!“ he reassured. Victoria took one deep breath and listened, clinging to every word. She let out a steadier breath. If he could, he’d put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her but the Doctor probably would disapprove no matter what mood she was in. “Hey….we could still release Larry if you’re not feeling up to the dance,” Ygor suggested, playfully shrugging. “Victoria chuckled. “He wouldn’t be able to do anything if we did, you idiot, the moon isn’t full.” Ygor laughed in response, “Ah yes- Ygor forgot about that, guess plan B won’t work. Unless we say screw it and throw Dracula down there” Victoria shook her head at him with a smile returning to her face—a real one and not just one of her half smiles.

“There’s no need for any monster interference tonight, I think I’m ready to face them …..Thank you, Ygor…for your reassurance...you’ve been very….helpful these past couple day’s”
Ygor wasn’t used to being thanked this much by her, bashfulness returning to him, but it made his heart swell to see her happy. He nodded shyly, grinning back, “Ygor is just happy to help…” he said. Victoria mustered all the courage, and she let go of the railing. She looked across the balcony to the other side and signaled for them to stop playing. The conductor nodded in response. Victoria gestured for Ygor to follow her toward the grand ballroom staircase. “Well, come on, we can’t leave them waiting,” Ygor nodded, taking a big gulp as they headed to the center stairs. Here they go, the price to his Doctor’s happiness always led to some sort of unease for himself..

“Attention, everyone!” She called from the top of the stairs. Her powerful voice echoed to the crowd, and they quickly turned to face their host, and the room soon drew silent. Victoria began slowly walking down the stairs as her black poofy ruffles trailed behind each step. Ygor tries to hide himself behind her while they make their descent down together. He could still see the eyes falling upon him. He hoped his tiny body would not be so visible behind Victoria's giant dress.

“I would like to welcome you all to Frankenstein Manor. I am Dr. Victoria Frankenstein! I’m sure all of you have been aware of my presence in this town for the last couple of years… I am no stranger to what you people think about me…. I’ve understood where my family name and its legacy have stood in this town…disgraced….ruined...tarnished because of all the things that he couldn’t control…all things that my great great grandfather couldn’t predict…so much fear was left behind because of his mistakes….well those mistakes end today, that fear shall be no more! For the past decade, I’ve been working on containing all the beasts in Darkmoor that I’ve come across on my journeys. Working hard to study them, learning their weaknesses and how to control them better so that no anguish shall come to those on the streets of Darkmoor ever again! My wish isn’t to cause any harm to you or your loved ones… I’ve gathered you all here today so that we may celebrate in this town’s brighter future! Beneath you all stand the catacombs where all the monsters I’ve encountered lie, including…Count Dracula!”

Worried, panicked whispers murmur through the crowd at this statement. Victoria calmly extends a hand toward the crowd. “Now now….there is nothing to fear!... If I didn’t think it was safe enough, I wouldn’t have opened my doors to you all. We have him sealed in one of our most secure contraptions in the Manor. He has been deprived of any proper sustenance for quite a while now; he will not be escaping anytime soon. Not only that, but our experiment with him isn’t over yet, for we have a plan to subdue him completely! The odds have been in our favor with the others, once Dracula is controlled! The possibilities will be endless for what we could bring to Darkmoor in terms of protection and precautions! Perhaps even curing the urges cursed in some of these Monsters! Tonight, let us not fear the dark! Let us celebrate our rule over the shadows! Darkmoor will come to life again!!!” Victoria passionately cried out into the crowd. Victoria gestured to the conductor for the music to continue. The violinist and orchestra began to resume into another dramatic waltz to her cue. Ygor was always blown away by the way Victoria was able to carry herself so boldly when she was given that chance to express her passions. The guest still murmured to themselves about her speech, Victoria could see that they didn't share the same sentiment as she did. She had a feeling that would be the case, but right now she didn’t care…she was riding on this high of pride. Nobody was leaving either; that was a good sign. Perhaps all she truly wanted was for them to listen to her, even if they were still going to call her mad at the end of the day. The whispers didn’t last so long, people resumed to chatter and dancing once more, more things to say now that their host had come to join the party.

“You did excellently, Doctor! See, Ygor knew you could do it! Spoken from the heart! That’s all you need to do!” He praised. Victoria tried to recompose herself from her speech, calming herself down, but she nodded at Ygor. “See…we didn’t need Larry after all,” she remarked, crossing her arms with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

“Still! Ygor thinks it would’ve livened things up a bit in here, a little blood never hurt anyone,” he added. Victoria rolled her eyes.

“Why is your way of livening things up always someone ending up as a chew toy?” she chuckled.

“It’s Darkmoor! That’s kind of the most lively thing that happens around here, ya know!”

“Yeah, well, I just made a speech kind of against that whole idea, so don’t be spreading that rumor around tonight” she warned.

The two of them stood at the bottom of the stairs, back in a shared silence, facing the crowd of twirling people—that same sea of people waiting to eat them in Ygor’s eyes. Ygor nervously faced the Doctor. “S-so what are we going to do now…?” he asked. Victoria hesitated to answer, thinking about it herself. She could talk to the guest, try to entertain, and get everyone's vibe, but deep down, she knew she wasn’t in the mood to be debating with people tonight about her intentions, at least not at the start. It was time to kill a little time for a bit. She could get into it with a couple of town council officials later. She wanted to try to have a little fun for once…

“Dance with me…” She asked Ygor. Ygor’s heart immediately sank at her request. “W-what!?” he stuttered. Damn it, Ygor had thought Victoria would’ve forgotten, but nothing gets past her. Ygor knew he couldn’t get away from this. “B-but Doctor!- I-I- I- can't-” Ygor was struggling to come up with excuses. Gibberish was practically spewing from his mouth, trying to form a coherent sentence. Victoria brushed it aside, “Dance with me….that is truly my only request of the night…I won’t bother you anymore…i promise,” She said, no coldness in her voice when she asked, but…sincerity. It made him feel even worse for denying her. At the same time, the Doctor could dance with anybody…but she’s choosing him, was that out of pity? Did she want to dance with him, or was it just for show? His emotions were unclear about the whole thing. He had no choice, though the moment Victoria lent out her hands to him, his body was completely rigid to the touch. His hands shakily met her own. “Y-your’re not bothering me Doctor…not at all…” His hands grasped hers, and she closed hers around them with a delicate yet firm grip. The two of them locked eyes...His chest pounded when he looked behind himself at the noisy crowd and back at Victoria, beating louder. It was a lose-lose situation. No matter where he looked, he was grasped by fear. It was a different kind of fear than running for his life, but one that felt even worse to him.

“Y-Ygor wasn’t built for dancing….I’ll trip you over…r-ruin your dress…it’ll get torn up and everyone will see!.....and I-I can’t dance.” Ygor panicked.

Victoria slowly pushed him forward toward the floor and pulled him close to her chest, taking him by surprise. Ygor couldn’t hide the flush on his face as he was drawn closer to her, leading with her hands, into a spin that made him gasp. “Just follow my steps… It's not as hard as it looks I promise you,” Victoria started moving them towards the center of the dance floor. Ygor couldn’t pull away from her grasp even if he wanted to. He was trapped. Into the mouth of the sea they went. Ygor’s eyes darted all over the place as he tried to keep up with Victoria’s steps, his breath shaky, already running out of it. He was out of his element here; the movement was disorienting and dizzying. The guest on the floor noticed their host join them on the floor, peering over at the peculiar partners. Ygor could feel those familiar gazes of judgment on his back. Every time he looked away from her, he saw them peer into his irises, shaking behind his goggles like the animal he knew he was. He saw disgust on them. A wash and a change of clothes could not undo how people saw him; it had been years of the same, who would ever think of seeing him any differently? Ygor’s hands tightened around Victoria's; she could feel the sweat forming under their palms. “Hey…..don’t look at any of them….just look at me,” Victoria said softly and reassuringly, pulling him closer to his face. There she was again, his precious Doctor pulling him back from drifting away into the sea. He found himself lost in her eyes…they had never been so comforting before. They often judged and scowled at him…for being the idiot he knew he was….
Was this the same Victoria Frankenstein he knew?.... Was this the same Manor where they had been performing horrific experiments for a dead man’s legacy? To Ygor, it didn’t feel like that when she smiled at him. Ygor could feel his feet start to sync up with hers to the rhythm of the beat that swayed them amongst the crowd…” Yes….yes that’s it….You're doing it…” Ygor lightly chuckled… “This is the first time Ygor’s ever learned to dance like a rich guy….I expected this to be a little bit harder,” He beamed. He still was weary of his steps, but the ease continued to grow as he trusted Victoria the more she led. “Anybody can learn how to waltz, dork… look at all these people…some people like to give it a little more flair sometimes,” she said. She spun Ygor around, and he let out a sound of surprise, until he was caught back in her arms again. “Kind of like that,” she smirked. “Hey!....don’t pull things on Ygor like that…I still got weak sea legs for this!” He angrily hushed. Victoria tried to stifle her laughter, seeing him get so flustered.

“Oh, I got you, you baby…come on, that was good, you actually twisted all the way around, some people are bad at it”

Ygor’s puppyish grin returned “So Y-ygor isn’t horrible at this after all…?”

“You're no master, but you have better coordination than you do when performing your normal tasks, that’s for sure...”

“Way to blow Ygor’s ego…..But I will take that good part! I’ll add dancing to Ygor’s list of secret skills.”

“This isn’t a secret though……You have a list of secret skills?” Victoria questioned, amused by this weird, random fact about her assistant.
.
“Well, it's a secret for a reason! But if you must know one! Ygor is an excellent howler! I cannot demonstrate with people around. Some people call Ygor a werewolf whisperer. I can draw them close or lead them away! Only one it doesn’t seem to work on is Larry; he’s gotten Ygor all figured out, but I’ve been practicing when I’m out of lab! I promise i’ll get him someday!”

Victoria laughed, but it wasn’t mocking in any way. Ygor blushed but found himself joining in on her laughter, realizing how absurd he sounded, but he wasn’t ashamed of his weirdness in front of her.

“How do you know so much about waltzing?” Ygor asked

Victoria paused. She hesitated about going there, but it was only Ygor. Still, it was a sore subject.

“When my father was alive…he would throw events similar to things like this…always made sure I could properly dance whenever it was time to represent our family…he liked to throw parties like this…often actually…”

Ygor could see the subtle bittersweet smile form on her lips as she found herself back in the past. He wasn’t sure what to say to her about that. He didn’t want it to be the wrong thing… he didn’t wanna offend her. He didn’t know a lot about the Doctor’s childhood. Then again, she never knew much about his own either.

“It's certainly more than what Ygor knew…I didn’t get to dance much, if I did it was out in the alleys of Darkmoor when the violinist would come to play…the kitties would be my partner’s though they would scratch at Ygor’s face a lot..”

The two of them laughed in unison.

This was an odd moment for her. She never found herself enjoying his company like this. She never liked getting too close to the people she worked with..It just always got in the way of her larger-than-life ambitions, but the way he seemed to light up at the simple joy of understanding a dance made her crave that joy in him more to be seen. Or when he’d babbled on about stupid things he could do, like his list and how he explained things in adorable ways. She craved more… How could anyone have locked this guy up? She thought. The two of them carried on into the crowd like there was nobody in their way at all. More eyes followed the two, dancing faster than the rest of the crowd. The music seemed to pace itself to their movements. Faster and faster, Ygor’s heart racing the more they kept pushing themselves. This adrenaline he had appeared to have no end in sight. All he could see was Victoria's dark, shining blackhole eyes that felt like they were pulling his very being. Everything behind him was just a blurry, dreamy whirlwind.

One second, Ygor was in Victoria's grasp, and the next, his clumsiness caught up to his footing, and he lost his grip on Victoria's hand. He let out a cry before he was shoved through the crowd between groups of people, as if being sucked through a vacuum. Victoria reached out in alarm, “Ygor!” She immediately tried shoving her way through groups of people, urging people to move out of her way. People gave her nasty glares as if she were being rude. Concern overwhelmed her; she couldn’t find him anywhere she looked, and there were too many guests in every direction. Ygor found himself stuck between hundreds of suffocating, moving bodies brushing against his shoulders; there was no way out. He tried to claw his way between everyone, but would continuously get shoved back to where he was. “D-DOCTOR!!” he cried out. There was no response to his cries, being drowned out by the loudness of people's chatter and the music's overbearing intensity, muting him. Ygor covered his ears tightly. He could see the eyes of the dancers watching him struggle to escape. That same judgmental glare that haunted him reminded him of his place, his place undeserving of being in an event like this. Nobody dared to aid him. He should’ve known he would screw this up for Victoria somehow. His skin and his body were getting incredibly hot to the touch of people. His panicked breath only increased with each attempt to push past everyone, furthering his exhaustion. The moment he fell on the ground, he knew he would get trampled on. “Please get out of Ygor’s way!” he shouted. He kept pushing through couples and found that his Goggles were sliding off his face. He held onto them for dear life, being the only thing to comfort him in this maddening sweatbox of a ballroom.

Tiny tears pricked the corners of his eyes. His mind was flooded with everything that was happening. He could hardly understand what was going on. He looked above him and still saw no sign of Victoria, just an endless mesh of dizzying colors. Ygor tried again to tear an exit for himself, extending his hand out in the crowd, “Let me out here!! Please!!” Ygor desperately shouted. He tried reaching for something, anything to pull him away from all this. Helplessness grew the more he lingered there, slipping back further away from being freed, his heart sinking with every second. Finally, he found himself being knocked over hard by another group of dancers behind him. He fell through them all and onto the shiny tile floor, slamming onto his knees. His goggles managed to slip off his face entirely as he made impact with the floor, His face exposed to the crowd around him, exposing his wide, icy, terror-filled eyes.

Ygor expected people to start stepping on him, bracing for the worst, but when he turned, he saw he was finally in the ballroom clearing back in the middle of everything…in the middle of everyone. The eyes of passerbys intensified, just glares and those same disgusted faces like the ones he witnessed back when he was in the town the other day. Except now there was no hiding himself behind anything or anyone. He couldn’t tell if the guests were purposefully closing around him or if it was all in his head. He inched himself away on the floor. He could hear them whispering things amongst themselves.

“Who gave the diseased rat an invite?” He heard one say.

“Looks like the village lunatic has gotten himself a little lost…”

He knew things would end up like this; they always ended up this way. He gripped his goggles tightly to his chest as his only source of something familiar to him. The dark coppery lenses were completely shattered to his dismay. Ygor shook his head, frantically trying to piece them together, “no no no no…come on..!” he whispered to himself. Eyes flickering all over the place, to the whispering crowd. The more he couldn’t fit them back together, the more he could feel the eyes piercing into him like knives.

Victoria was visible; she could see him on the floor trying to pick up the mess in front of him. It just gave her relief to see him okay.

“Ygor, there you are!” she called. Ygor gasped and whipped his head around to see her. No…..no, he had already looked like a fool….he can’t make her look like one too…not when she’s this close to achieving her goals.... Ygor jumped to his feet with goggles in hand. He eyed the exit to the ballroom. His lips were trembling when he made eye contact with Victoria. She could see how glassy his eyes were. The sight disquieted her; he looked like a scared dog.

“I’m sorry, Doctor! I-I have to go!!!” Ygor shouted.

He sped towards the exit, not stopping for anything, carrying himself as fast as he could go. Victoria stood there stunned at his sudden departure. It didn’t last long, though; worry only fueled her need to catch up with him, and she practically knocked down a guest or two to try to get to him. Her dress was getting caught under things, but she let the dress be torn if it had to. It was just a stupid dress. She had finally escaped the ballroom, entering the Manor’s endless hallways. She would’ve been faster if it weren’t for this damn dress keeping her chained by gravity. “Ygor, stop! Where are you going!? The sound of her voice only pushed him to move faster, wheezing harder. That’s one of the things that had always pissed her off about her assistant; he was slippery when he needed to be for missions, but it was never fun when she had to get hold of him. He knew how to slip through cracks and disappear with ease. Ygor only descended down and down the Manor into off-limits guest areas until eventually Victoria lost him when they finally reached the catacombs. Of course, he would choose the catacombs of all places; it was vast, and there were plenty of places to hide in. Victoria groaned, great…he could be anywhere…

“Ygor, come on….don’t be a child!....show yourself…” Victoria called, her voice echoing through the darkness. Her only response was the sound of fluttering bat wings and squeaks from the rodents. Victoria had grabbed one of their lanterns from the lab on the way down here.. The area illuminated, “I’ll search this whole tunnel system if I have to…” She muttered. “ She picked up her dress with her free hand, letting the rest drag on the wet, damp stone flooring of the catacombs. More things to get it dirty, she supposed. These catacombs always looked the same to her, she had marked some areas down not to get lost when they did their explorations. She could see some remnants of their landmarks while she traversed. She tried wondering where he would be, she knew he never liked to be by any of the monsters’ exhibits unless he had to be. He was a wanderer for sure; he enjoyed walking around and whistling to himself, singing in the darkness. She gritted her teeth, smacking a wall in anger, where the hell was he?! There was only one place she didn't think to check; she had already warned him not to go over there tonight, but if he was, she would strangle him when she saw him…Victoria breathed in…no..she couldn’t think like that right now…He looked scared…not in the way she was used to seeing him scared. Victoria backed up her steps. She prayed that she had just been blind to it when she was passing by.

She had found herself approaching the Catacomb Navigation Unit loading station. She entered quietly, as quietly as she could get…tiptoing to the control panel. A little cylindrical area with TV monitor screens surrounding it, each monster being displayed in a painfully eyestraining glow. Long levers stuck out of a flat control panel with buttons that a normal person probably couldn’t understand. Victoria stopped. She could hear sniffling and shaky, short breaths, trying to contain themselves but failing to do so. The sound was enough to break her heart. She quietly approached the control panel. There she could see him. Ygor curled up into a ball, hugging his knees, his hair an unkempt mess again, his body trembling while he still clutched those broken goggles in his hands like a frightened child. Victoria stepped into the control center and lowered herself to her knees. Her hand softly touched his shoulder, stroking it.

“Ygor….”

Ygor painfully inhaled. Slowly raising his head to face her with all the shame he held onto in his heart. His face was a blubbery mess, nose dripping, blue eyes somehow even shinier than they had been before, and continuing to swell with tears. His face was puffy and red from the time he had spent crying. Ygor jolted himself back from her touch.

“Don’t!....Y-Ygor is undeserving! he choked.

“What are you talking about…?” she asked.

“Y-ygor has ruined everything….m-made you look stupid,...now nobody will take you seriously!! Because of me,” He whimpered, pushing his face back into his knees.

“ You didn’t make me look…..-It was my fault…I should’ve held onto you better, I didn’t realize how rude these guests would become..I should’ve limited the capacity o-or-”

“It’s always Ygor’s fault, isn’t it?....you say so….all the time…tonight shouldn’t be any different, punish me…lock Ygor away with the monster’s or something” he whimpered. The guilt in Victoria grew. She knew he was right.

“No….no it's not- I’m not gonna-….I know I get mad at you…a lot, I know I’ve taken a lot of my anger out on you...I just…” Victoria sighed. She knew it was a problem of hers. Her rage, she never properly could contain it; there was no excuse for that. Victoria retracted her hand from him, feeling undeserving of laying her hand on him. She didn't know what to say. She knew what she should say, but…how could she say it?

“I-I deserve it, you know…you were never the first to say this to Ygor…I told you…I’ve been called many things,” He shrugged, wiping his nose.

“I-I thought you never cared about what people said about you…”

Ygor fiddled with the broken lenses of the goggles in his hands. His finger tracing the edge of a shard of glass, “Does Ygor do a good job hiding it?” He said, a pained smile spreading across his lips. It was gut-wrenching to see for Victoria. She had broken this man, hadn’t she? Or was he already broken? Either way, it didn’t matter; it destroyed her seeing how crushed he became.

“hehehe…Ygor loves to hide…makes him feel safe…makes me…feel like I could pretend to be…important, for once,” he admitted. “Tonight…I almost did, thanks to you, boss, but of course it didn’t last, it never does. Ygor remembers who he is when he’s alone…or…when people see his eye’s”

Victoria tilted her head in confusion. “What about your eyes?....”

Ygor shook his head and turned away from her, squinting his eyes shut. “People say…say that Ygor’s eyes are untrustworthy,.... Are ugly… I-I tried to hide them…but they still found me…see me for what I am.” Ygor’s tears began to start up again as he gripped his goggles ever so tightly. A trembling gasp escaped him. “W-why do you still keep me around, Doctor Victoria….? When will you just let Ygor go?.... I’m just a rodent to you…I-I know you're just waiting for the right time to get rid of me…” He cried

“I-i’m just-”

Victoria wrapped herself around his quivering form, tightly embracing him with all her strength. Ygor fell limp into her arms at her touch, melting under her hold. It hurt to be squeezed like this, but the pain felt…felt like it kept him from fading into despair. Ygor buried his face into her shoulder, continuing to cry, shuddering the more she held him tighter. Tears threatened their way out of Victoria’s eyes, and a few rolled out to the ground. Screw it, she thought… letting down her wall, the drops in her eyes turned into streams, sniffling with him.

Victoria loosened her grip on his shoulders and gently lifted his chin to face her. Those glistening, sad pools stared at her once more.

“Listen to me….I could not do half of what I do here…if it wasn’t for you…You are one of the most extraordinary minds I have ever come across in all of my career…your talent was being squandered in that padded cell…nobody in this town understands you like I do… we are the same…and I say to hell with everybody, to hell with them all! Perhaps you are a rat… or a rodent, like they say, but what does it matter when this rat has already surpassed the average man in his capabilities…” Ygor looked at her, mesmerized yet again by the passionate fury with which she spoke. How was it that she could make you feel like you were the most important person in the world? But also sometimes make you feel like a dumbass at the same time.

She cupped his face, and his cheeks glowed. His heart almost stopped while she wiped his tears with her thumbs. “You will always belong here with me…my anger toward you means nothing, don’t let anybody make you feel like you're worthless….I’m just sorry the one who made you feel worthless was me…,” She softly spoke. Victoria couldn’t help herself; she leaned in to kiss his messy-haired forehead. Ygor’s soul almost left his body. What the hell just happened

D-Doctor Victoria!?” he barely managed to get out of himself. Victoria’s eyes widened, her face turning completely bright red.

“Y-you tell anybody about that and maybe I will punish you….” she mumbled.Ygor didn’t know what to do or what to say. If that kiss was supposed to make him forget about his horrible self-esteem issues, it certainly did its job a little too well. “Y–ygor will not tell a soul, I swear on my auntie's tombstone,” He said with the goofiest grin she had ever seen, clearly enjoying it more than she did, at least visibly. Victoria shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. “You are such a dork…”

“But I’m your dork…”

Victoria hesitated and sighed “Yes…fine…you are my dork….”

Ygor giggled in approval at her admission. Victoria chuckled at him.

Ygor wiped his eyes of any remaining tears, his face may have been stained but those trembling lips curved into a smile. “Thank you, Doctor Victoria…..y-you give Ygor a purpose…I hope you know that….I’ve never wanted to let you down.”

Victoria sighed, “You’ve made some mistakes,...quite a lot of mistakes, but…. it's always about trial and error; that’s what being a scientist is all about. Your mistakes have led to some pretty big accomplishments. We wouldn’t have Dracula captured if it weren’t for your mistakes…”

”Hehehehe I guess Ygor can take credit for that…” That, Ygor smugly scratched the back of his head.

“…what do you say again? Have fun for science?” she patted his shoulders. Ygor’s grin only got bigger and eager at her repeating one of his many phrases.

“Your learning boss!!”

“You say it every single day…” Victoria said deadpanned

“It's a good saying, though, yes?”

“Heh…yes, yes it is,” she messes with his hair. The dopamine in Ygor skyrocketed at the head pat.

Victoria stopped to grasp his goggles from his side, examining the damage closely. “I can fix these for you if you’d like,” she said. Ygor nodded. “Yes…Yes, Ygor would like that very much, can’t do my day runs without them…Thank you, Doctor.”

“Although I think you need a new pair to go with these ones…one to really show off your eyes for once, how would you feel about some clear ones?” Ygor looked unsure of this, but…the Doctor seemed to have his best interests at heart. Maybe she had a point…He was always having trouble seeing in the dark with those shady ones on. Indoor goggles would do nicely for him.

“Ygor will think about it, how about that?”

“Just let me know, this place is cramped. Come on, let's head out.” Victoria stood up, offering her hand to him.

Ygor excitedly accepted her offer, letting her pull him off the ground, stumbling to his feet. Victoria led Ygor down the steps of the control panel station. The two of them had been so wrapped up in each other's presence that they hadn’t even realized the organ echoing throughout the catacombs. A new song had just begun, with a tune that was more uplifting than the rest that had played that night.

“Seems like Erik’s really enjoying himself tonight, ey Doc?” Ygor smirked

“Seems so…glad he hasn’t managed to stir up any trouble….yet…though that Organ should keep him occupied,” she replied. Victoria looked above herself, hearing the sounds of laughter from the guest above. No wonder Ygor found it so uncomfortable; she hadn’t even realized how loud it truly was up there until she was down here hearing it all at the same time. Victoria could see Ygor wasn’t in any mood to return to the surface just yet, with the way he kept rubbing his arms whenever he looked up.

“We don’t have to go back up there,” Ygor looked at her, puzzled by her response. “B-but you still have to host, don’t you?” He asked.

“They seem to be doing pretty well without my presence…besides, we never finished our dance…”

“Y-you still want to dance with Ygor?”

You were doing pretty well before all things considered, you don’t want to give it another go?” she questioned. Ygor paused for a moment, and there was a new burst of confidence in him. He turned to her, Ygor lent out his hands. “May Ygor lead this time, Doctor, o-of course if you are comfortable with Ygor leading...”

Victoria instantly grabbed onto his hands, flinging herself to him. It startled Ygor.

“Lead the way,” she said. Ygor breathily laughed.

“You got it boss.”

Ygor stepped forward and led them into a calming, slow waltz. Their steps were steady and in sync with each other once more. The catacombs were dark, but the candles set around on tall candelabras illuminated their way through the darkness. Ygor had found it hard to believe that one day he would be here with the Doctor, comfortable enough to dance with her that she would be comfortable enough to…to trust him like this, enough to let herself be held, let herself kiss him.. The warm candlelight made her skin glow like a softly painted portrait—ethereal and unreal to behold. He was fortunate to have someone like Doctor Victoria stumble on his existence one fateful day; he would’ve still been rotting away, and he would always be indebted to her. If a monster escaped and ended him here, he might be okay with it now that he got to have this moment with her. Victoria no longer held back the enjoyment on her face, letting her walls down completely for the night, letting herself be swayed by him, letting herself fall into this dreamy, like state. She drew herself close to him, cuddling her head into his shoulder. He held onto her tightly. He had almost forgotten his goggles were missing from his face…but he didn’t need them as long as she stayed close to him. No more hiding….Their body heat kept each other warm in the cold that ached their bones. It seems that the two had an audience, for Victoria's creation had come to view them from the shadows, unbeknownst to them, watching them in curiosity. He watched them, almost unable to recognize the two. He kept silent, only sitting in the darkness, tilting his head curiously at the display before him…. The monster nodded his head to the melody, imitating Victoria and Ygor’s movements.

He didn’t understand much about relationships, but he could tell that love had found its way to their crooked castle.