Pat screamed, his hands over his face. He didn't want to see anything else. If he hid his face, it would all go away. That was how it worked, right? That was how it had to work.

"Hey, Pat, hey." Uncle Remus. Pat looked up at him and burst into tears. "Hey, what's wrong, kid?"

Pat shook his head and just hugged him tightly. "He was here." He gasped out between tears. "The nightmare man. He was here."

"Pat, there's no one here anymore, okay?" Remus said. "Look."

Pat shook his head again, squeezing his eyes shut. "Okay, okay. Yeah, I wouldn't want to look either." Remus stood up, carrying Pat back into the house. "But you're safe, okay? You're safe now."

Pat sat on the table, looking down at his feet. He'd clasped his hands in his lap and bowed his head five minutes go and hadn't said a word since.

"Well, whoever was out there, there's no one there now." Roman announced, shutting the door behind him. Pat didn't even react. "Hey, little man, you're okay."

Pat shook his head slowly, a tear rolling down his cheek. Virgil looked over at Roman. At Roman's helpless half-shrug, Virgil took a step towards Pat.

"What's up, Pat?" He asked gently. Pat swallowed and shook his head again. "You don't wanna talk to us?" Pat nodded. "Do you wanna talk to just Dada?" Pat shook his head. "Just me?" Pat shook his head again. "Just Uncle Remus?" Pat shook his head. "Okay. Well, what do you want to do?" Pat shrugged.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Sorry? For what?" Virgil asked. Pat scrubbed his eyes under his glasses.

"For going out alone. I know it was wrong and I'm really really sorry, please don't be mad at me!" He blurted out. "I just- I just wanted to see what was so special about going out alone but then the nightmare man was in our house and- and- and-" Pat's words broke into tears again.

"Hey, hey, we're not mad at you." Virgil said quickly. "We're scared, Pat. Not because of you, for you."

"But- But you're grown-ups. And Dada went out to look for the nightmare man." Pat mumbled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "You're not scared of anything."

"We are, though." Virgil said quietly. "We're scared that one day you're going to get hurt and we're not going to be able to save you. We're scared about a lot of things. Including this nightmare man. Okay?"

Pat sniffed. "So you're not mad at me?" He asked quietly.

"Pat, of course we aren't." Roman said. "Look, I looked around and your nightmare man-"

"He's not mine!" Pat interrupted. "He's the nightmare man. He's everywhere. In everyone's nightmares! He even said himself!"

"Well, the nightmare man isn't lurking about in the woods." Roman amended. "And if he comes back I'm gonna punch his lights out." Roman mimed punching someone over-dramatically and Pat giggled. "So you're definitely safe."

"Yeah, your Dada would die for you." Virgil said. "Personally, I think he's a bit silly." He hissed, making Pat giggle again.

"Hey, heard that!" Pat giggled.

"Look, it's really early." Remus intervened. "I think it might do you some good to go back to bed, kid."

"But I'm not tired." Pat whined.

"Even so," Remus said, "problems seem a lot smaller when you've put a couple hours of sleep in between yourself and them. Okay?"

Pat groaned and slid off the table, landing on his feet. "Fine."

"C'mon, drama queen." Remus said, rolling his eyes. "I'll tell you a story, okay? A short one."

"Fine." But Pat was a bit more animated as he ran up the stairs. Remus grinned a little at Roman and Virgil and left.

"Anything?" Virgil asked, watching Pat disappear up the stairs. He felt Roman's arms around his waist and leant his head back on Roman's shoulder.

"Nothing." Roman said. "It's not like Janus. It's worrying."

"Maybe you scared him off." Virgil teased, turning his head towards Roman. "With your whole woodcutter routine."

"Oh, shove off." Roman said. Virgil grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Idiot." He muttered fondly.

Have a bit of Prinxiety to fill time. Cause Lord knows I've got nothing else.
Bye,
Blaize