A/N: Originally published on AO3.

Duckworth froze, his ghostly arm halfway through the door. "What?" the former butler murmured weakly, his voice so soft that at first he thought the elderly miser didn't even hear him.

And then he heard the words, escaping shakily from Scrooge's beak.

"Please... stay with me."

The former-butler-now-ghost turned around, his translucent eyes imperceptibly widening in surprise. His boss, who he had gently tucked into bed just moments before, was now sitting up. Scrooge's shoulders shuddered with a trembling breath and his gaze lowered a bit.

"I only just got ye back... I don't wannae wake up tomorrow and find that... that ye're gone," Scrooge said, his voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.

Duckworth sighed and hovered over to the distraught pekin. "I'm not going anywhere, Mister McDuck." He put his hand over Scrooge's in a reassuring gesture. "I'm here to stay." Scrooge stared at Duckworth's hand for a moment, marveling at the strange sensation. It felt light, slightly cold, and wispy. Like mist.

Their eyes met.

"I missed ye, Duckworth," Scrooge murmured, a faint smile spread across his beak.

"The feeling is mutual, Mister McDuck." Duckworth then pushed the pekin back into a lying position with his other hand, albeit with some difficulty. Being semi-solid was not fun. Heck, being a ghost wasn't much fun either. But Duckworth would take what he could get, as long as it meant he could be with his old boss again. "Now you need to get some rest. It wouldn't do for you to be so tired the next morning that you accidentally write a check to Mister Glomgold again."

"Ugh. Don't remind me. He still rubs it in from time to time." Scrooge shuffled up against the wall and patted the mattress next to him. Duckworth gave the miser a puzzled look. "Are ye waitin' fer an invitation or something?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Duckworth told him, his voice tinted with uncertainty.

"I don't wannae lose ye again," Scrooge said. "I... I'd sleep better if I knew ye'd be right there when I wake up..."

Duckworth settled onto the vacant spot next to the pekin, not even making the slightest impression on the quilt as he did so. "That better?" he whispered.

That faint smile on Scrooge's beak widened ever so slightly.

"Yes."