Chapter Text

Percy sat in the library chair with his feet propped up on the table, he was staring at the ceiling and he sighed. It wasn’t quite raining outside yet, but it was threatening to and he couldn’t even go for a walk around the property, or tend to the horses.

“I do believe your father would be quite mad if he knew you were shoving your feet up on the tables” a voice said, it was the voice of Belinda, one of the house staff.

“I do believe my father would believe me if I told him you were rude to his son and heir and he should fire you” he said smugly

The woman audibly gasped and put her hand to her mouth “I knew you were quite a rude child-”

“Not a child, also bored now. Can you leave?”

“I have half a mind to-”

“Aw” Percy said “I’m glad you know your worth, Belinda” He gave her a little wave as she huffed out of the room.

He closed his eyes and let the silence lull him into a light sleep until he felt his feet being physically moved from the table, he opened his eyes with a start to see his father standing there, looking more sour than usual.

“Hello, Father” he said sheepishly “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep, guess I got too comfortable”

“Right, well no matter. Do you wish to come with me to Arichbald Leeves’ home?”

“Why are you asking me this?”

“Because I do not trust you alone in the house if you are going to bully the staff”

Percy gasped “Excuse me?”

“You are excused”

“Not what I meant”

Percy stood up and crossed his arms, staring his father right in the eyes “I was not bullying Belinda, I was simply telling the truth of the matter - that I am your heir and she should be nice to me”

“Percival, you don’t get to pull out the heir card but not live up to what that entails.” he put a hand on his son’s shoulder “Now come along with me, if I keep an eye on you, you won’t be able to get into so much trouble”

“I wasn’t in trouble” he said incredulously

“You are now” his father said, and if Percy wasn’t mistaken he could have sworn he saw the ghost of a grin flash across his father’s face.

“I don’t particularly care for Mr Leeves’ or his home”

“Then be about with his children”

“But they hate me”

His father sighed “Percy, you think everyone hates you”

“You, especially” Percy said bitterly and he crossed his arms as he followed his father out of the manor and onto the grounds where a carriage was waiting for them up front.

His father carefully walked down the steps as now the rain was coming down and it was making the stone a bit slick. When he was sat in the carriage he looked back to his son, extending his hand out “Percival, please”

“Fine” he said reluctantly and covered his head with his hand as he walked the short distance to the carriage and sat opposite his father, the horses started moving and he could smell the overwhelming fumes of wet dirt.

“Do I have to hang about with his kids? They are absolute bores”

“If you don’t wish to hang around them, ask the Archibald if you can peruse his library, but please, and I stress this the most, do not break anything if he allows you”

“You know” Percy said “I’ve read about people who don’t have to follow the rules, or ask if they have permission to touch simple things” He watched his father, the man was now reading from a book he had taken with him, Percy thought all of his fathers books were boring and would often rearrange them on the shelves just to annoy the man.

“Father”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to know about the stories?”

“Stories about what?” his father asked absentmindedly, he put the book down suddenly and looked at his son “Not this again, Percival, I let this go when you were a child but you are a young man now”

“I’m seventeen, father. I’m still quite young, young enough to start a new life somewhere, young enough to be a great adventurer”

“Percival, we have discussed this. You are my heir, you have responsibilities to the Milquetoast legacy when I die”

“When is that going to be, again? I need to put it in my calendar”

“Not a funny joke, son”

“Not a joke, father”

The rain started to come down harder in the square as they passed through, the horses gently clopping along the cobbled streets and the driver occasionally sighing deeply as he heard the father and son bickering in the back of his carriage.

Percy knew that many in the village knew of his disdain for his father, they had known since he was a ‘troublesome’ young boy, and because of this, Percival was never taken seriously in the village which he grew up in, and many of the other people his age did not take a liking to him.

“It is very disrespectful for you to speak to your father that way”

“You know, I’ve read stories about other lives, other children, people my age who didn’t have to live like this. Why do I have to live like this?”

“Those children are of ill-means, you should feel very lucky and fortunate to have what you have, a stately home, people who take care of your every whim, a father who-”

“Yes, I feel most lucky to be shunned by half of our village” Percy said, interrupting his father, another sign of disrespect. Though there was no time for his father to remind him of this fact as they stopped in front of the Archibald’s estate.

Percy remembered coming here when he was a boy as well, it looked much bigger back then, but now he could see that the estate was lackluster and much smaller than the Milquetoast manor. He made a face as his father got out of the carriage and helped him down, something he hadn’t done since Percy was a child.

“I can get down on my own, father”

“I do not trust you to do anything on your own currently, we will discuss this conversation back at home later, but for now-” Percy wrenched his hand away from his father and straightened up.

“For now, you shall be on your best behavior. No snide comments, no giggling at things that are not funny”

“You don’t want me to laugh now?”

“Percival” he gave his son a warning look

“Sorry” Percy said, rolling his eyes at his father and turning his attention to the jovial man approaching them.

Archibald Matthew Roger Leeves was a very rich man, not as rich as Percy’s father, but he was well off enough to afford an extravagant wardrobe, and a room dedicated to bows for his Pomeranian. He stuck his pale thin hand out for Percy’s father.

“Long time no see, Lord”

“I do have a name, Matthew”

“Yes, but it’s simply been that long. I cannot remember your name, I do remember the name of your young son, of course” He looked over at Percy and beamed excitedly

“You have grown up so much! My wife is simply going to be in awe of how grown you are”

“Hello, Sir” Percy said, wanting nothing more than to back away from the man and run back to the estate, but before he knew it, the man was ushering him and his father into his mansion.

The foyer of the mansion was thinner than the one at Percy’s home, not even enough room for a grand staircase, the home looked quite different since the last time Percy had been here. He looked around the small entrance area while his father spoke to Mr. Leeves.

“Archibald, sir” Percy said, interrupting his father in the middle of a sentence “I was wondering if I could look through your library”

“My library?”

Lord Milquetoast put his arm around his son and nodded “My young Percival is quite the reader”

“Ah, I do love a good book, It’s nice to see there are some young people out there who appreciate a story as well, what kind of books do you favor, young man?”

“I like history books, fictional stories about adventure, I’ve been reading a lot of books about sailors”

“Oh, sailors? Yes, what an industrious job that would be”

Percy’s father snorted “Yes, industrious is the term I would use for that, gallivanting about on the sea? It’s not quite a job, I’d say”

“No no, it’s a job, piracy on the other hand is, well let’s just say it leaves a bad taste in my mouth”

Percy shifted his shoulders in an attempt to remove his father’s hand from him, but he stopped when he realized it would be a form of ‘acting out’

“I’ve actually read quite a bit about pirates” he said “I think they are amazing”

His father let out a joyless chuckle “Yes, Percy’s had quite the imagination since he was a child, always rushing to me with new bits of information he’s gained from the stories he’s heard from the townspeople or books he’s been given, but I do hope he realizes this is real life, not a fantasy”

The Archibald nodded in agreement and looked at Percy “You’ve put those dreams of piracy out of your head, I do hope? They are criminals, my dear boy”

“Oh, of course. It was simply a silly thing to pass the time with when I was a child, I know better now”

“Yes, Percival has different dreams now, do you not?” his father asked him

“I want to.. take…responsibilities… legacy?” he said with a shrug

“Right, Matthew my friend, why don’t you have one of your staff show my Percival to the library?”

“Of course”

“Bennington” The Archibald called out, a man with graying hair approached from another room “Yes sir?”

“Please escort young Mr. Milquetoast to my libraries”

“Of course, sir”

He beckoned Percy over to him “The library is just this way my young Sir” he said and they started to head down a hall off the main room

“Oh, and Percival” his father called out to him, he turned around “Do be good”

“I won’t!”

*******************

Later that evening at the Milquetoast Manor, the staff were preparing dinner, and Percival was sat at the table across from his father, who was preoccupied looking over some parchment he had.

“I thought you said it was rude to read at the table”

“It is rude only when you do it, my son” he turned his attention back to his son “Speaking of, did you find anything of interest in the Archibald’s library?”

“No, not really. Just boring books on trading, some on gardening, and a lot of books with inappropriate subject matter”

“Ah yes, best to avoid those types of books”

“Unless I wish to have my own heir that I ignore or belittle” Percy said, leaning back in his chair until the front chair legs came up off the floor. This was something that he often did as a young child to annoy his father, it almost always ended with him falling and slamming his head on the floor.

Tonight was no different.

“Now now Percy, you can’t have an heir if you are locked in your room for the rest of your life”

“Real funny, Dad”

“Not a joke, son”

Percy tried to slam the chair forward and down once more but instead, leaned too far back and caused the chair to fall all the way onto the floor, he slammed both the back of his head and his shoulder quite hard onto the floor and he heard the sounds of another chair scraping against the wooden floor, and the sound of his fathers shoes approaching him.

“Are you alright?”

Percy blinked several times, his head was spinning and he felt like he was going to be sick, but he said nothing, if he threw up on his father, it would be the best day of his life.

“Percival, I need you to answer me to know if you are alright”

He blinked again and tried to sit up, his father gently stopped him by placing a hand on his arm, shaking his head “No, getting up too fast will only make you feel worse”

“I feel tired”

His father turned away for a moment “Belinda!” he called for the woman, who had been in another room dusting, she poked her head around the door frame “What is it, Lord?”

“Please send for the doctor right away”

“Yes, Lord, of course” she hastened out of the hallway and presumably grabbed a coat off the rack before rushing out the door.

Percy felt like the room was spinning, he kept closing his eyes even though he didn’t want to, he blinked again and then closed his eyes once more, struggling not to fall asleep.

“Percy”

He blinked, his fathers voice sounded distant compared to the thudding sound n his ears.

“I’m not…tired but..”

“Percival, stop speaking, save your energy until the doctor arrives”

Percy nodded, but his eyes felt heavy and he closed them anyway, all sound disappeared as he fell into a sleep. Only after being tapped and shaken several times, he was awake again, this time he was in his bed, a doctor was looking over him, and his father was standing against the opposite wall.

“Is he alright?”

“He seems to be in good fortune” the doctor said and straightened up “He’s suffered a bit of a head injury, minor concussion. He’ll be fine, but I would suggest a day of bed rest” he approached Percy’s father expectantly and Lord Milquetoast reached into his pocket for several gold coins, dropping them into the mans hand like they meant nothing.

The doctor happily walked to the door and turned back “Do feel better, young Percival” he said with a smile as he shut the door behind him.

“Percy, you’re awake”

“Ye-yeah, how long was I asleep?” he asked, confusion running through his mind, how did he get here in this bed?

“About an hour, the doctor says you are well though, simply hurt your head quite badly. If you hadn’t been playing around at the dinner table, none of this would have happened.”

“Have you not eaten?”

“What a ridiculous question, I was sick to my stomach with worry over you, there was no room for dinner”

“I wasn’t trying to knock the chair over”

“Then you have a natural talent for it, now that I know you are well I shall be in my office.”

“What about my dinner?”

“I will have someone bring it to you” his father said sternly before exiting the room and leaving his son all alone.

Percy sighed and laid his head back down on the pillow, somehow he had managed to ruin a chair, dinner, and make his father cross with him.

He sat alone for a while waiting for someone to bring up his food, when it didn’t happen within twenty minutes, he pulled the covers off of him and headed over to the double windows on the other side of the room, the light was still out as it was only mid-evening. He closed the curtains and walked over to the full length mirror that was kept in the corner, it wasn’t his mirror, but sometimes his room became a storage area for other things the staff didn’t know what to do with.

He looked at his reflection, he was quite an average looking young man with pale skin, a mess of dark brown hair and blue eyes. His head was also wrapped in a couple lengths of bandage, and possibly because the doctor had no proper medical training, he stuck a pin in the other end of the bandage to connect them without having to tuck it in, a pin that fell dangerously close to his eye.

He quickly removed the pin and tucked the other side of the bandage underneath itself, making sure it was secure before leaving the room and making his way down the staircase to the ground level where he ran into Belinda.

“What are you doing out of bed?” She said, pausing in her brooming

“I’m sneaking off to my father’s office, I wish to speak with him”

“He is quite busy, he has asked not to be disturbed”

“I’m his son” Percy said incredulously

“It’s your funeral” she shrugged and let him pass without another word, he turned another corner and into the main foyer, a few paces left and he was at the door of his fathers office.

How many times had he been here before, standing in front of this door waiting for… waiting for something.

Too many.

He knocked lightly on the door “Father” he said in a quiet voice. “Can I please come in?”

“I am quite busy, Percy, and you should be resting”

“Please?”

“Come in”

Percy opened the door slowly, it started to creak loudly and he winced until the door was open all the way and the sound stopped, he shut it gently behind him and quietly walked to the chair in front of his fathers desk, sitting cross legged on it.

“I wish to apologize for messing about with the chair during dinner”

“There is no need to apologize, Percival, you are simply doing what you are best at. Childish and inappropriate behavior, and let us not forget disrespecting your father”

“Well, if my father showed me any respect… or cared about me at all”

“I sat with you for an hour waiting for the doctor, if I do not care for you I would have considered it a waste of time and left to other things”

He stared at his son, almost as if he were challenging him “Is there something more you wish to say?” he set his pen down on the desk

“I can’t think of a single thing”

“Then please return to your room and rest, Percy. You’ve been hurt, you need to regain your strength”

Percy obliged and silently rose from the chair, taking the couple of steps forward to the door before his father called out for him “Percival”

“Yes father?”

“You’ve left the chair askew, please fix it. I know you have better manners than that”

“Of course, as I am part of the house staff. Is that why you treat me so poorly?”

His father rose from his chair and came out from behind the desk, adjusting the chair and then turning to face his son “Percival, don’t be ridiculous.”

Percy turned away from his father and frowned “According to you I am always ridiculous, I don’t appreciate my valid feelings of neglect being turned into a minuscule problem”

“Neglect? Percival, you have everything a young man could possibly want.”

“Except freedom”

“You are free to leave this estate whenever you please, we all know how many times you’ve threatened to run away”

“One day I will, you know” Percy said quietly

“And I will bring you back”

“You’d never come to look for me” Percy scoffed, before he could make it to the door his father pulled him back slightly by the sleeve of his shirt, he placed a hand on his shoulder

“Percy, listen to me, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to find you if you’ve gone, and to bring you home, Do you understand me?”

“Yes father” he nodded “Can I go back to my room now?”

“I will escort you back to your room, I do not trust you with this head injury to move about on your own”

“I am not a child, father”

“Then why, my son, do you act like one?” he gently took his arm and led him out the office, back out into the hall and up the grand staircase. Percy wrenched his arm away from his father “Why don’t you drag me by the ear?” he said sarcastically.

“I believe I’ll reserve that for when you are being incredibly troublesome”

When they came to the end of the hall where Percy’s room was, his father stood by the door to make sure he would get into bed and rest.

“I don’t understand why I have to rest, I’m not sick”

“You’ve had an injury, the doctor says you need a few days to heal. Now I will be in my office, please get some rest” He said, shutting the door behind him as he left the room. Percy didn’t think he would sleep, but the moment his head hit the pillow he was out.