Chapter Text
The clock had just reached two in the morning by the time Edwin stepped through the mirror into the office, Charles as usual was only a moment behind. Everything was blissfully quiet this time of night. Edwin immediately made his way to the desk, while Charles busied himself with digging through his backpack for the payment they had just received - a charmed pocket watch and a journal containing a few unusual spells.
They had finally solved a case involving a young woman who passed rather unexpectedly. However, rather than wanting to find out how she died, she just wanted to find out where her orange cat ended up. It took a surprising amount of time to track down all the information as Crystal was away visiting her parents for the weekend. So they had to do some good old fashioned leg work. When their client and the cat were at last reunited, the two ghosts decided it was best to leave them now that their work was done.
Edwin sank down into his chair but did not reach for the case file just yet. Instead, he took a moment to just sit and gazed at the white lily that sat in a thin glass vase on the corner of the desk. Despite not having seen the gift giver in almost three months, the flower still looked as fresh as the day he received it. A charm perhaps, he thought.
Since returning to London, he was still yet to break the habit of counting cats whenever they were out in the field. If he was being honest, it wasn’t just when out on cases though. With Charles and Crystal spending more time together as they worked out their budding relationship, Edwin often went out for long walks to give the couple privacy. He found that he rather missed having someone to spend time with other than his best friend.
Niko of course had been a wonder. He’d greatly enjoyed spending evenings watching Scooby Doo and her presence was a great comfort. Edwin doubted he’d ever find someone quite as special as her again. He and Crystal had started to become more familiar around each other but it was rare that it was ever just them. Meanwhile, Jenny was busy with her new butcher shop and he thought best not to bother her while she was still getting used to seeing ghosts.
Edwin did miss the afternoons pouring over astrology books with Monty. It had been nice to have someone that shared his passion for books around. Even if he was eventually revealed to be a bloody crow by an overgrown cat. Having spent the last few days working on a cat-filled case, it was no surprise that the damn Cat King found his way back into Edwin’s thoughts. It wasn’t for the first time since their last meeting either.
Despite his best efforts to ignore the thought, Edwin unfortunately found that the Cat King was right. He did miss him. For a short while Edwin just thought that it was perhaps the loneliness getting to him but he did find himself hoping that he’d get another one of those surprise visits. As inconvenient as the caging bracelet scenario had been, a part of Edwin had grown to enjoy the Cat King’s bold personality, utter lack of a filter, and maybe Edwin did enjoy the unexpected fascination they had with the ghost - not that he’d ever admit that to Charles.
“You alright, mate?” Charles asked, suddenly at Edwin’s side and a hand already resting on his shoulder. If they were alive, he’s sure he would have felt the warmth from it seeping through his coat.
Edwin shook himself out of his daze and straightened in his seat. “Yes, I believe so,” He glanced up at the other boy, “Why do you ask?”
Charles shrugged and perched on the desk’s edge. “You’ve just seemed kind of distracted all day. It’s about cats, right? Or at least a particular cat.” He gestured to the lily, expression semi serious, “Has Whiskers been bothering you again? Because if he has, I’ve been meaning to give my new cricket bat a try.”
He awkwardly cleared his throat before he spoke, “There will be no need for that. I haven’t seen him since we left Port Townsend, actually.” Edwin did his best to repress the frown that threatened to appear.
“I’d say that’s good though. So, what’s really up?”
Edwin sighed in frustration and leant back in his chair. “I don’t know.” Charles said nothing, just waited for him to continue. “Our time there was,” a pause, “transformative… For all of us in some way. I was not expecting all the feelings I suddenly had to contend with. While I was eventually able to figure out what some of them meant, such as what I said in hell and the friendship I formed with Niko, I was never quite able to determine how I felt towards the Cat King.”
“Mate, he literally bound you to the town and was trying to get frisky with you. Personally, I’d be at least a little miffed if he tried that with me.” Charles pulled a face even just imagining it and Edwin couldn’t help but let out a small fond laugh.
“I was frustrated, yes, but I don’t think it was quite for the reasons I would have thought. Looking back, he did attempt to help in his own eccentric way between all the flirting. He did warn us about Monty after all. And, he gave me the lovely flower for Niko.” He glanced back at the large flower, remembering the Cat King’s face after he kissed his cheek. “That was surprisingly thoughtful of him.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Not everyday someone gives you a poisonous flower.” The other boy looked thoughtful while Edwin was just confused.
“Charles, lilies aren’t poisonous.”
“Yeah, not to us. But they’re like super deadly for cats.” Before Edwin could even ask the question of how he knew, Charles continued, “Had a mate back when I was alive who’s mum never allowed lilies in the house because of the cat.”
“Well, that adds a whole new peculiar layer to that gift.” He frowned and jotted down that fact in his notebook to review later.
The pair was quiet for a moment, but the silence was broken by Charles who started to speak with some hesitation, “Edwin, do you think that maybe you like Whiskers kind of how you like me?”
Edwin was taken aback by the question. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not in love with the Cat King. We haven’t even interacted that many times while I’ve known you for 30 years.”
“Yeah, I know that, mate.” Charles chuckled then continued, “I meant more- Do you think that you like him? Romantically, I mean.”
If he was alive, Edwin highly suspected his face would probably have been bright red by now as he considered his answer. “Yes? No? As I said, I have no idea how I feel towards him.” Edwin groaned and covered his face with one of his hands to hide his embarrassment. “Either way, it’s been three months so why does it even matter?”
“Alright, none of that.” Charles leant forward to tug the hand away from his best friend’s face. “I can’t believe I’m even suggesting this, so Whiskers better not make me regret this, but… Why don’t you go visit him?”
“Visit him?” Edwin was baffled by the suggestion.
“Visit him. Maybe invite him on a walk or something and see how you feel by the end of it.” Charles smiled warmly down at him and shrugged once again. “Washington’s only a mirror away for us after all. If it gets uncomfortable or something, you can just hop back through and out of town.”
The more Edwin thought about, the more it felt like a sensible plan. They could interact without any spells or false pretences, hopefully giving Edwin the opportunity to untangle his thoughts on the other. Abruptly, he stood up and walked around his desk, smoothing out the non existent wrinkles in his coat. “Alright then, Charles. I shall give this plan of yours a go” He let out a puff of air as he tried to cool his nerves, glancing back to look at the other. “Will you be here if this blows up horribly in my face?”
Charles walked over and rested his hands on Edwin’s shoulders for a moment, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Of course, mate. Always. Now,” he turned Edwin around and gently nudged him towards the mirror they came in through earlier. “Get going before I come to my senses about sending you off to the Cat King alone.”
“Thank you, Charles.” Edwin says before he steps through the mirror back into Port Townsend.