Suspicion
Walter didn't trust anyone, even with his name. It wasn't yet decided if he'd never learned to speak, or simply refused to. For now, he was simply "the boy", although Arthur was starting the wheels rolling to take the boy in as a foster child. He knew, he kept telling himself, that this wasn't a human child, only a changeling. But the boy acted human, looked human, and was so very pitifully neglected, that Arthur rarely remembered that he was "other." And his heart went out to the scrawny, wary, defensive little boy.
It was difficult, the child's lack of trust very obvious. He'd accepted his bedroom with a suspicious look, and tolerated his much-needed bath by one of the maids with a sort of stoic tolerance suited to a much older prisoner. He'd eat any food put in front of him, almost to the point of sickness, keeping a wary eye on each of the others at the table. Arthur had quickly decided not to worry too much about how to use silverware, instead focusing on keeping the child from eating so quickly that he choked, and encouraging him to chew when eating his food. He also quietly ignored the food being tucked into the folds of the boy's clothes when the child thought Arthur wasn't looking.
The first night, he'd been fed, bathed, fed again, and then tucked into a bed in his "own" room. Morning had found him missing, instead hiding in the closet, curled up on the wooden floor with a blanket. Arthur worried about this, but after talking with maids and such that were parents themselves, he realized that the child had probably spent most of his short life in a cold, dark cellar and wasn't ready for such change. The brightly-lit, colorful, large room and soft bed with blankets had been too different, and the child had sought out somewhere more familiar. The dark closet, more enclosed, had been more familiar and less threatening, and Arthur realized just how much work would be ahead of him to take that deprived child and help him recover to a more normal life.
x x x x x x
The boy trusted the vampire only slightly more than the other residents of Hellsing. Once Alucard had realized that the heartbeat he'd detected belonged to a child, he'd cleaned the blood off himself and somehow kept from panicking the poor boy. Two things had helped the vampire interact with the boy at their first meeting. First, the boy was a born fighter. He should have been frightened, but instead, he'd prepared to defend himself, tiny and fierce. The second was Alucard's own past.
Alucard had never told Arthur any of this, but the condition the boy was in had brought back unpleasant memories of his own youth and imprisonment, though he'd been older at the time. And it had made it easier, too, to know how to approach the boy and soothe him, plus a little mental touch to calm the changeling. The silence and graceful, slow movements of the vampire also soothed the child, despite the sudden presence of an unknown person in his very limited life.
x x x x x x
The child was removed from the closet, and fed, and then Arthur spent the day trying to watch the child while sending employees to locate potential nurses, and then interviewing them. The silent child watched him carefully, ostensibly looking out the window, fascinated by the great expanse of greenery, but entirely aware of each movement Arthur made. The toys Arthur had found were ignored, although the sharp eyes inspected every part of them, then cataloged the entire room, looking for threats and learning about everything that he could, so very new to the boy. The face remained stoic and unchanging, only the quick-moving eyes revealing his interest.
Alucard joined them in the late afternoon, and while the child treated him with slightly less suspicion, it was clear that the abused and neglected child would not be trusting anyone any time soon. Crouched down, meeting his eyes, Alucard said nothing, but Arthur was shocked to see him...melt. Within moments, the tall, slender monster was much reduced.
He knew that the vampire had other forms, but the tiny black-haired girl-child was one he'd never seen.
And it was apparently a form that the boy didn't find threatening, allowing the vampire to lead him out of the room and down to the kitchens for a meal.
x x x x x x
The two were nearly inseparable immediately. Alucard had shown the boy how to open the entrance to the dungeons, and how to find his rooms down there. The cold, dark, enclosed space was clearly more familiar, less threatening, more comfortable for the boy than his own bright and warm rooms.
Blankets disappeared from Arthur's bed, and Arthur wasn't surprised to find that Alucard had them on his own bed downstairs to keep the child warm as he stayed in the cellars. The boy was more nocturnal than expected, too, most likely due to his continued acquaintance with the monster. He'd begun to sleep downstairs on Alucard's bed, falling asleep late at night, then waking in the late morning or early afternoon and going to the kitchen for a meal.
He was a fiercely independent, wary child.
x x x x x
A permanent nursemaid had been found for the child, one that even Alucard approved of. The day that she was to start, the boy was nowhere to be found. After less than a week at the estate, he'd already learned to hide, and hide well, down in the basements where he felt more secure and at-home. So when he wasn't findable, Arthur decided to wake his vampire, and have Alucard find the child.
The coffin lid was slightly ajar, very unusual for the vampire, and Arthur opened the coffin cautiously. He expected to see Alucard stretched across the bottom, his long and lanky form filling the casket. Instead, the tiny female vampire was rolled onto her side, pressed against the side of the coffin. The bulk of the coffin was now filled with warm down blankets and a puffy white pillow.
And a sleeping child.
x x x x x
Arthur's first emotion was horror, until he saw the rise and fall of the child's chest. Then, he became aware of the peaceful, serene look on Alucard's face, of the arm draped protectively over the child.
The nursemaid would have to wait.
He left the lid ajar, and the two of them to continue their peaceful sleep.