Work Text:
"AAAAh!"
It was a scream that woke him up. A scream followed by a loud thud, door slamming, and small, fast feet tapping over the cold hallway wooden floor.
Warbucks sat up quickly, rubbing his tired eyes, waking up into the middle of the night. With a long and exhausting yawn, he stretched his arms a little and looked beside him over to his still sleeping, wife. Of course, she was asleep, he though. As if someone didn't just scream bloody murder, she was still in her deep slumber.
A little creak from their bedroom door made him look at who decided to visit them and it wasn't a big surprise to see his small nephew, in his big pajamas, peeking from behind.
Upon seeing his uncle awake and already sitting up in his bed, Wilson slowly stip toed in, trying not to make more noise.
"Hello there," Warbucks chuckled, finding quite funny that now his little nephew tried not to be loud. "I suppose this little visit has its reason, doesn't it?"
The young boy nodded, looking down nervously.
"So," his uncle gave him a warm, but a tired smile, "will you tell me what is bothering you?"
His nephew stood in place, looking at his bare feet and swinging childishly, unsure of talking.
"Come on, I won't bite your head off."
...
"...But if you won't tell me, I might have to use force and tickle the answer out of you." Warbucks said jokingly, and successfully, making the boy giggle.
Wilson slowly approached him and stepped to their king-sized bed, reaching his hand to tug on his sleeve.
"I-...umm, I-I think t-there was something in the wardrobe." He whispered so he wouldn't wake his aunt up as well, naively.
"Ah." His uncle nodded, understanding the situation.
"A monster perhaps?"
"N-no." The boy tugged a little more, looking down again. "D-dad said monsters don't exist."
Warbucks nodded with a 'hmm', scratching his chin.
"And that is of course understandable from him, monsters are not to be played with." His nephew immediately looked up at him confused and maybe even more nervous.
"Wh-what?"
"Of course, in the wardrobes, under the beds, and behind the curtain. Annoying pests." His nephew's expression quickly turned from confusion to fear.
"But worry not, my boy!" Warbucks basically threw his covers away and got up from the bed, stretching his body bit more and cracking his knuckles. "Your uncle is a monster-hunting prodigy!"
With that, Wilson quickly followed his uncle into his borrowed room, while still holding onto his leg and hiding behind as soon as they entered the room. The wardrobe stood on the other side of the room, almost menacingly, and the longer he stared at it, the scarier it seemed.
"Now Percy, you must never EVER show the monster fear, meaning you have to stay calm." Warbucks walked to the piece of furniture with his index finger pointed up, exchanging a small glance with the boy, to make sure he was listening carefully.
"But first, we have to listen to see what kind of monster we are dealing with..." He placed his hand on the wardrobe's door and pressed his ear to it.
He was taken aback when he indeed heard something coming from it.
A silent scratching on the wood from inside and small thumps.
Warbucks leaned away and hesitated.
"Percy... go and get me the broom." Wilson's heart sank as he heard his uncle's voice turn suddenly serious, but he listened and for a moment ran off the room, coming back with the cleaning tool and handing it over to him.
Wilson stepped aside, to give Warbucks some space, but to also get away from the possible danger.
He hugged himself with his arms while slowly distancing himself with small steps back. His eyes focused and glued to the wardrobe now completely. As if the time slowed down, everything went silent for a moment and he watched his uncle firmly grip on the broom's handle.
Warbucks reached with his free hand to the wardrobe's handle. He took a deep breath and threw the door open.
To Wilson's surprise, they weren't met with a big scary demon jumping out at them after all, but a pair of bright and small feline green eyes instead.
His uncle stepped away, giving him a better view of the black cat that just calmly hopped out of the furniture.
It was just his aunt's pet cat.
"Huh, I was wondering where this rascal disappeared." His uncle thought to himself aloud as the feline nuzzled against his leg with a purr.
With the mystery solved, Wilson sighed in relier and stepped closer to crouch and stroke the cat's head. He smiled slightly as the pet licked his palm in return.
Warbucks went to close the wardrobe back, return the broom to its place, and shooed the cat out of his nephew's room. He patted the boy's shoulder, deciding it would be best if both of them would go to sleep again. Tomorrow his brother would be visiting to pick up his son and he didn't want to hear him complain about why is Wilson falling asleep standing.
Of course, he wouldn't mind if Edward and his wife would change minds and allow their son to stay one more night, but it was highly unlikely. They dropped the boy at his uncle's and aunt's place only because they were out of the town for two days and their nanny was sick.
Warbucks and his wife Amaryllis always happily agreed to watch Wilson. It wasn't just because their nephew obviously enjoyed their company and loved to learn from them, but it was also because they saw it as a little training before they would be having a child on their own.
"Would you like me to look around to make sure you didn't have any more uninvited visitors here?" Warbucks tiredly asked.
Wilson shook his head and tugged on his sleeve once again.
"C-could I stay at your and auntie's room tonight?" His uncle narrowed his eyebrows a little.
"Aren't you a bit too old for this?" He questioned him. His question wasn't serious, the boy was only eight years old and he didn't see sleeping in his parent's bed as something catastrophic at that kind of age.
But he didn't receive an answer right away as he expected.
Wilson felt ashamed of being scared this whole time of something so little as a cat trapped in his wardrobe. But even worse, his fears still didn't leave him completely.
"I was joking about the monsters." His uncle sighed and ruffled his hair.
"I-I knew that," Wilson exclaimed, lying.
"Then what's wrong, Percy?" Warbucks asked, but he just didn't know how to answer without looking even more worse in front of his uncle. This embarrassment was enough.
No answer again.
But Warbucks was tired. He wasn't used to these surprise midnight waking ups, at least at home. And he also didn't want to force his nephew into talking too much, he knew how anxious the boy could get.
"Alright..." Warbucks gave in and turned around, walking slowly out of the room, giving his nephew a little gesture to follow him.
Wilson without waiting ran to catch up to his uncle and took his hand as they walked down the hallway, back to the bedroom.
His uncle sat on the bed, placing his hand on his wife's shoulder and giving it a small shaking.
"Amy, dear?" He whispered at her.
"Hhmm..."
"Love?" He gave her shoulder a rub, but she didn't even move, too deep in her sleep.
He smiled, shaking his head. He wanted to at least inform her of their company, but it was useless. He turned back to his nephew and gave him a nod.
Wilson clumsily climbed into their bed and pulled a pillow closer to his head, laying down. He watched his uncle putting the covers over them and fixing them so they indeed covered all three of them, before laying down finally too.
Warbucks didn't say anything anymore, thankful to be in bed again, but when he felt the boy hug him, he put one of his arms around him as well.
Wilson cuddled up closer, letting out a big yawn. Finally, both began to fall asleep in the silent room.
"G'night, dad."