Say You'll Share With Me | Phantom Oneshots

POTOber Day 27 - A Mystery Never Fully Explained

day 27 prompts: thrown voice/yellow eyes/the rat catcher

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"Papa, Papa, do it again!" Erik heard Gustave say, followed by giggles and claps from where he knew his son was standing in the middle of the sitting room, just off of his bedroom. He couldn't help but laugh to himself at the boy's excitement, but he took him up on his request and threw his voice to the opposite side of the house.

"Come find me, Gustave! Papa's hiding."

He smiled wide at the sound of his son's shriek, followed by little footsteps rushing down the hallway towards the source of his father's voice. Gustave was still small enough that he hadn't quite clued in that his father was hiding in the bedroom; he had just gotten home from the park with his mother, so Erik had decided to stay hidden in his and Christine's room, where he had been doing a bit of work, and throw his voice to be able to play with his son, then surprise him a bit whenever he found him.

"Do you think he'll ever get tired of this?" he asked as he turned to look at his wife, who was sitting beside him on the bed.

"I doubt it," Christine said with a quiet laugh. "Just listen to that giggle."

Erik nodded and glanced back at the door as he changed where his voice seemed to be coming from: "Gustave, where are you?"

"I'm coming, Papa!" the couple heard their son exclaim as he ran through the house again in search of his father.

"That one will keep him busy for another moment," Erik said, laughing quietly and looking back at Christine, then smiled as she leaned forward to kiss him. "Well, that was nice."

Christine giggled and set her head on his shoulder. "Just a thank you for being a wonderful father," she said. "I know you were nervous about whether or not you'd be able to manage it, but I never doubted your abilities for a moment."

"Thank you, dearest," Erik said softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I do try my best."

"And I know that Gustave just adores you for it."

With a smile, Erik turned towards the door and decided to finally let his son find him, calling, "Gustave, I'm in here!"

The couple didn't have to wait very long before the door to their room was thrown open and their son burst in, his cheeks flushed from all his running, but a wide smile plastered on his face.

"There you are!" Gustave said with a giggle. "You were hiding with Mama and Baby!"

"I certainly was," Erik chuckled, lifting his son onto his lap and keeping one arm wrapped around him, the other around his wife as his hand settled on her slightly rounded stomach. "You found me!"

"It was hard," Gustave said, fiddling with his father's shirt collar as he looked up at Erik. "How do you move so fast?"

"Ah, a magician never reveals his secrets, my boy," Erik replied with a smile as he tapped the little boy's nose.

Giggling, Gustave wrapped his arms around his father's neck and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Papa."

"And I love you, Gustave. More than you know."