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It took Charles months to figure out his feelings for his best mate. Once he had, he didn’t want to just blurt out his feelings. Charles poured over books, taking notes and trying to connect dots. He wanted to show Edwin he was serious about dating him, he was serious about spending eternity with him. He decided to appeal to Edwin’s birth era and started looking for courting rituals. He wasn’t expecting there to be so many rules and structures.
“Wooing?” He whispered to himself, looking at his notes. “I know almost everything about Edwin. Why would I need to woo him? And how am I supposed to keep my hands off him? I’m allowed to touch him.”
“What are you doing?”
Charles jumped at the sudden voice. He looked up and saw the Night Nurse standing before the desk. He sighed and returned to his notes, trying to puzzle them together.
“I am looking up courting rituals,” Charles explained, looking back at the page before scribbling more notes. “I think Edwin would appreciate the effort. Now, I’m doubting my own sanity.”
The Night Nurse rolled her eyes before realizing how serious the boy was. He was still studying the book, scribbling notes and scratching his head. She walked around the desk and looked over his notes. She was surprised they were organized neatly and Charles had jotted down ideas beside them.
“Why would you need to court him?” She asked, looking at the teen. “I assumed the two of you were already connected.”
“I just realized I was in love with him,” Charles snapped. “I want to do something nice and court him properly. Give him a taste of his time, even if it’s not a very long courting process.”
“You two are sickening.” She walked back around the desk. “I suppose, if you intend on doing this properly, you will need to find somewhere to get things to woo him. Are you planning on having an escort as well?”
“An escort?” Charles asked, looking up. “Edwin and I don’t need an escort. It’s not like I’m gonna try and shag him in front of other people.”
The Night Nurse shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. Whatever her crime got her saddled with these two boys, she hoped she atoned for it fast. Looking at the boy in front of her, she could see the desperation in his eyes as he looked between her and the book. It was clear this boy was in desperate need of guidance.
“Do you want to do this properly or just want to woo him?”
“I want to prove to him I’m serious.” Charles stood and rested his hands on the desk. “I grew up when being in love with another man was scary. I grew up with a father who would have tried to beat the gay out of me. I want to do this right because Edwin deserves it.”
“Well, alright then.” She walked around the desk and patted him on the back. “Shall we start with explaining your intentions to him?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charles waited until a day when he knew they didn’t have a case to set his plan into motion. He saw Crystal and Jenny off, telling them to have a good day and that he would see them later. The Night Nurse gave him a look before disappearing, off to see some new part of the world. He left for a few, going to Crystal’s house to get the things he hid there. Charles took a deep breath and stepped through the mirror. He had left a confused Edwin in the office when he left, but he had to prepare.
“There you are, Charles,” Edwin said, looking up from his book. “Where have you…”
Charles shyly held out a single red tulip and a red chrysanthemum. When he looked into the language of flowers, the two flowers stood out the most as his declaration of love. Edwin was surprised as Charles handed him the flowers.
“I want to court you, Edwin Payne,” Charles said softly. “I want to do this right and court you.”
“Charles,” Edwin sighed.
“I am not messing about, Edwin,” Charles dropped to his knees to look up at Edwin. “Let me court you. I promise I will leave you alone if you still don’t believe me. I will never mention my feelings again, we can just be best mates. Just…”
Edwin leaned down and gently cupped his face. Charles looked up at him and was surprised to see his eyes were wet. They stayed there for a moment, just looking at each other. Edwin smiled softly and let go of Charles’ face, leaning back in his chair and looking at the flowers.
“Alright, you are allowed to court me,” He said. “But, I expect you to do it properly, Charles.”
“I will, I promise.” Charles stood.
“Alright then.” Edwin brushed a finger over the petal of the tulip. “I expect you to bring a chaperone the next time you come with a gift.” Charles nodded, watching Edwin. He hadn’t stopped looking at the flowers, save for the few moments he looked at Charles. It made Charles feel warm in a way he hadn’t since he was alive. “Declaring your love and saying I love you in one go? I shouldn’t be surprised at your boldness.”
“I wanted to make sure you knew my intentions before I did anything else,” Charles explained, sitting on the couch rather than the desk. “I’ve done research, Edwin.”
“You, Charles Rowland, did research?” Edwin set the flowers on his desk for the moment, standing. “I am intrigued to see what you learned.”
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A few days later, Charles convinced Jenny to stick around the office with them. It didn’t take much explaining before she reluctantly agreed, sitting on the couch and opening her phone. Charles smiled and presented Edwin with another flower, a honeysuckle, and a book. Edwin smiled and accepted the presents, running a finger over the spine.
“Devoted affection.” He nodded to the flower before reading the title of the book. “Animalis Magica? I’ve been looking for this. Wherever did you find a copy?”
“A shop in Eastern China. The Night Nurse helped,” Charles admitted, sitting in a chair they had recently put beside the desk. “I know you have been looking for it.”
Edwin smiled, standing. He added the newest flower to the vase that held the other two and went to put the book on the shelf. Charles had recently reorganized the shelves by topic, to make it easier, so it was easy to slide the book onto the shelf about magic.
“Thank you, Charles. It is a lovely gift.”
“You guys are gross,” Jenny said. “Is this some weird, ghost romance thing?”
“No, this is proper courting,” Edwin said, rolling his eyes in Jenny’s direction before sitting behind his desk. “How was your day with Crystal, Charles?”
The two held a conversation as though nothing had changed. Jenny peeked at them over her phone, watching. While she didn’t understand why Charles was going through the process of courting Edwin, she could see joy on Edwin’s face that hadn’t been there. When she first saw them, she assumed the two had been in love with each other forever. They gave off the vibe of an old married couple that had spent a lifetime together.
“Did you really like the book?” Charles whispered, looking unsure of himself for a moment.
“I love the book,” Edwin insisted, smiling softly. “You know me so well, Charles.”
Charles smiled brightly. He had been worried about the gifts to give during the wooing process, but he knew Edwin better than anyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edwin smiled as he approached the entrance of the alley. Charles and Crystal were waiting at the end, the teen talking animatedly to the psychic. When Charles spotted him, he smiled brightly and started ignoring Crystal. Their friend shook her head and looked at Edwin.
“Well, you certainly dressed up for your date,” Crystal commented, touching Edwin’s sweater. “What am I supposed to be doing again?”
“You are our chaperone,” Charles explained, stepping around Crystal and holding out a trio of flowers. A bright, red rose, a blue iris, and a pure, white tulip. “For you, Edwin.”
“Thank you, Charles.” He took the flowers, running through their meanings. The trio meant ‘I love you’, the rose meant eternal love, the iris meant unconditional love, and the tulip meant a new beginning. “What is on the schedule for today?”
Charles held his arm out, which surprised Edwin. He smiled and rested his hand on the inside of his elbow. He was constantly surprised by how much research Charles had put into courting him, down to the flowers he gave him and the gifts that kept coming. Charles had left letters, books, and herbs on his desk in the past weeks. Each object meant more and more, down to a carefully written letter that detailed the night of Charles’ death from his perspective.
“We are going for a stroll,” Charles said. “We will meet up with one of Crystal’s friends at some point, so she won’t feel left out. Meanwhile, you are going to tell me about the new book you’ve been reading.”
“You don’t actually…” Edwin started to say, looking at the sidewalk.
“I do want to hear about it,” Charles insisted. “You haven’t been able to put it down, love. I want to know what caught your interest.”
Edwin almost stopped walking. The new nickname had slipped out of Charles’ mouth like he had been saying it for years. The only thing that kept Edwin moving was his upbringing. He couldn’t react, even though no one but Crystal and Charles could see him. He held Charles’ elbow and kept walking.
“It’s about flora and fauna from an alternate universe,” Edwin explained.
Charles smiled as Edwin told him about the book, his normally stoic partner excited about the contents. It was beautiful to see the excitement on the other boy’s face. He would still decide to court Edwin if he had to do it all again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The courting was going well for months. Edwin had a collection of flowers that grew almost daily, yellow lilies, pansies, sunflowers, and camellia . The boys were not chaperoned when actively working on a case, though Edwin found himself craving alone time with Charles. He enjoyed the courting and the wooing, it made him feel warm and fuzzy. However, the universe always had a way of throwing a curveball.
“Charles, I’m sorry,” Crystal said, opening the office door Charles had just phased through. “If I had known what we were walking into…”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Crystal,” Charles snapped. “Go home.”
Edwin stood from behind the desk, walking over to Charles. He could see how agitated his partner was, many emotions crossing his face as he turned away from Crystal. He had sent the two on a mission to look in on the daughter of their newest client.
“Edwin…” Crystal started to say.
“Go home for the night, Crystal,” Edwin said, resting a hand on Charles’ shoulder. “We can talk about the case in the morning.”
Edwin took it as a good sign that Charles didn’t push his hand off, but he could still feel Charles shaking under his hand. He listened as Crystal sighed and then walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.
“The client lied, Edwin,” Charles said, beating his fist against the desk. “She told us her husband loved her daughter, that she knew he was taking excellent care of her.”
“Come, sit with me, Charles,” Edwin said, wrapping an arm around his waist and tugging him to the couch. “You need to calm down before you tell me what’s happening. Your emotions are so strong, they are making the office shake.”
Charles shook his head, letting Edwin pull him to the couch. It was nothing for Edwin to push Charles’ jacket off his shoulders, carrying it over to the coat rack before taking a seat next to him. Charles took a few deep breaths before looking over at Edwin.
“I’m supposed to be courting you,” He whispered. “We aren’t supposed to be alone together.”
Edwin cupped his face with one hand, running his fingers through his hair with the other. Charles seemed to melt at the touch, his emotions finally calming as his eyes closed. Edwin hummed softly, brushing his thumb over Charles’ cheek. When Charles opened his eyes again, Edwin smiled.
“You have done a wonderful job courting me, my darling,” He said, bringing his other hand to rest on his other cheek. “I appreciate all the effort you put into learning how to do it properly. I appreciate the gifts, the flowers, and the attention to detail you have. Right now, I need to be your boyfriend. Whatever you saw in that house has shaken you.”
Charles rested his forehead against Edwin’s, taking a deep breath.
“It was my dad all over again,” He whispered.
Edwin held him as he told him about what he had seen. He let him pour out his feelings, his memories, everything. He ran his fingers through his curls, wiped tears from his cheeks, and pressed kisses to his cheeks when Charles became overwhelmed by it all.
“I will talk to the client tomorrow if you want to go to Crystal’s,” Edwin assured him.
“Thank you, love.” Charles sighed, resting his head on his shoulder. They sat in silence, Edwin playing with Charles’ hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charles and the Night Nurse appeared in the office just after the client left. He didn’t want them unattended if he was still courting Edwin. The Night Nurse sat on the couch while Charles sat in his chair. Edwin finished writing his notes, closed his notebook, and focused on Charles.
“Hello, my darling, how are you feeling?”
“Better. How did the meeting with the client go?”
“She was disappointed in her husband’s behavior and I told her I would have Crystal contact the authorities.” Edwin reached over and took Charles’ hand. “Why have you brought a chaperone, Charles.”
“Do you still want me to court you?”
Edwin smiled and pulled Charles’ chair closer. The other boy was surprised by the motion, holding tight to Edwin’s hand.
“I think you’ve done enough, Charles.” Edwin let go of his hand and tilted Charles’ face to look at him. “I have been wooed. I love you.”
“I love you.”
Neither heard the Night Nurse as she got up and left, cursing about lovesick boys under her breath. Edwin leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Charles’ lips. When he pulled away, Charles’ face split into a giant grin. Edwin chuckled, kissing him again.
Edwin couldn’t help but be thankful that Charles decided to court him. While he never questioned Charles’ love for him, he never would have believed how serious he was. Sitting in their office, kissing Charles, was the best thing he could ask for.
“Does that mean I can sit on the desk again?” Charles asked. “I like this chair but I prefer my spot on your desk.”
Edwin chuckled and shook his head.
“Yes, Charles, you can sit on the desk.”