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The Cat King was distracted. That in itself wasn’t anything unusual; he was frequently distracted when nothing demanded his full focus, and he was also a cat who lived for distractions.
The topic of his distraction wasn’t unusual either. The sweet memory of a sweet ghost had never managed to leave his thoughts, and he was both too self-indulgent and, apparently, too much of a glutton for punishment to try and expel Edwin from his mind.
It had been two months, one week, and three days – not that he was counting. (He absolutely was counting, and he could have added the hours if pressed.)
No, what was unusual was the near tangible feel of his daydream. It was almost like he could reach out and touch the cool spectral apparition…
“Your Majesty?”
The Cat King groaned and moved into a more decorous position on his throne.
“Yes?” he asked one of his kitty guards – the cute one.
“It’s the ghost, Sire. Your ghost.”
The Cat King feared for a second that he might have some wires crossed in his brain. His fantasies didn’t usually reach into the real world.
“What?”
“He’s outside, Sire.”
“Hang on,” he said groggily and rubbed his eyes, holding up the other hand. “My ghost? Edwin Payne is outside?”
“Yes, Sire.”
The Cat King blinked. “Why won’t you let him in?” He frowned.
“He, uh. He’s just sitting by the docks, Sire.”
Oh. Well. That could explain some things. “Has he been there for about an hour?”
The cat considered that. “Possibly. Yes, Sire.”
“And why have you not told me sooner?”
“Well,” the guard said uncomfortably, “we thought that perhaps he was planning something before visiting you, only, well, he hasn’t moved.” The guard thought for a moment. “He also looks distressed.”
That was really all the Cat King had to hear. To be honest, ’Edwin Payne is outside’ would have been enough too, but hearing about him being unwell had him standing up before he could consciously make the decision.
“Thank you,” he said and marched to the entrance.
He noticed his cats watch his every movement, and his lips twitched at the thought of them discussing whether or not to get him, what to tell him, and whom to send to do the telling. He should perhaps try to be less obvious with his ridiculous crush, but then again, he was the goddamn king and did what he damn well wanted.
As he’d been told, Edwin sat by the docks, his legs dangling. From behind, the Cat King couldn’t see any distress, but he knew that his cats wouldn’t be wrong about something like that.
He approached, careful to make at least some sound, as to not startle his (unwilling?) guest.
From the side, he could see now that Edwin was deep in thought.
The Cat King cleared his throat to announce his presence, which made Edwin startle and look up, then he sat down next to him.
“Hello, Edwin,” he said casually. He watched Edwin crawl out of whatever thoughts had held him captive (much like he himself had done earlier) and straighten formally.
“Your Majesty.”
The Cat King blinked. “Seriously?”
Edwin mentally, if not physically, pulled back again. “I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” he said, making to push himself from his sitting position.
“Hey, hey,” the Cat King said, calming. He laid a hand on the one Edwin had wanted to use to push himself up, and used his other to tilt that stiff jaw towards him.
Edwin remained seated but kept his eyes downwards.
“You came to me,” he said softly, confused.
“I know that,” Edwin all but snapped. “And once I got here I realised how stupid that was, I just couldn’t make myself…”
“Leave?” the Cat King completed the sentence, letting go of Edwin’s chin.
Edwin bit his lips and nodded.
“Maybe because you hoped I would come to you…?” the Cat King dared to venture another guess.
“I’m being stupid,” Edwin said instead of answering.
The Cat King studied Edwin’s profile for a long moment, then he decided on another approach.
“I want you to tell me if you think I’d be a good detective,” he said.
Edwin blinked and finally returned the look with a confused frown.
The Cat King counted the eye contact as a win and smiled.
“Let’s see,” he began. “I think I know you well enough to tell that when you’re that shaken, it’s because of an emotional matter. Unfortunately,” he added histrionically, putting a hand on his chest, “I don’t think it’s because you suddenly discovered your undying love for me, so it’s probably something less pleasant.”
Edwin averted his gaze to hide his involuntary smile.
“How am I doing so far?”
Edwin refused to answer this time, so the Cat King continued.
“You were still seeking me out,” he said, turning more serious, and sighed. “Something happened, and it made you feel particularly lonely, which reminded you of little old lonely me.”
Edwin closed his eyes and swallowed. “You would make a very good detective,” he whispered.
“Was it a case?”
Edwin nodded. “A little girl was kidnapped by the distressed ghost of her mother, and-” he cleared his throat. “We were too late to save her.”
The Cat King felt a bit of anger flare up. “Dare I ask where the rest of your little band is?”
Edwin’s eyes darted to his. “It’s not their fault,” he said immediately.
The Cat King didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t say anything.
“I told them I would be fine on my own. They asked me if I was sure, and I confirmed it, and I meant it when I said it. Only…”
The Cat King breathed out. So, it came down to Edwin not wanting to appear needy.
“Only this turned out to be wrong once you actually were alone.” He saw Edwin nod from the corner of his eye. “Why didn’t you go to them when you realised that?”
Edwin shifted uncomfortably. “They deserve their private time.”
That was certainly a part of it, the Cat King concluded, but he had the suspicion that Edwin had also been afraid to walk in on something.
“Why didn’t you come in when you were here, then?”
“I told you I felt stupid, and I didn’t want to impose.”
“You felt stupid for your feelings after a rough case and being all on your own,” the Cat King rephrased. “But I’m sure you remember that I am in favour of you following your feelings,” he said cheekily.
Edwin smiled a bit, then frowned at himself. “And now I feel stupid for staying out here,” he grumbled.
The Cat King laughed and then quickly kissed Edwin’s cheek.
“I still owed you one of those,” he said when he leaned back again.
Edwin couldn’t help it, he had to smile and peeked at his companion.
“Ah. There you are,” the Cat King said, satisfied. Then his expression softened. “You are always welcome in my kingdom.”
Edwin relaxed a little. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“But you should also learn to tell your friends when you need them.”
Edwin huffily rolled his eyes, making the Cat King snicker.
“Hey,” the Cat King said, taking hold of the one of Edwin’s hands that was closest to him, coaxing him to return his look again. “Did you think about what exactly you wanted from me?”
Edwin blushed a bit. “I didn’t. Think, that is. I just… was suddenly here.”
The Cat King considered that. “I can work with that.”
Edwin frowned. “Work with what?”
“With you reacting on instinct. It’s very flattering, you know. That your instinct would lead you to me.” He smiled warmly, smugly.
“You’re,” Edwin started and bit his lips, “never far from my thoughts.”
“No?” the Cat King managed to say, despite his heart fluttering inconveniently.
Edwin smiled shyly at his knees. “There are so very many cats in London.”
The Cat King smirked. “Are you still counting them?”
“Eugh,” Edwin made, though he wasn’t annoyed at all. “It’s very frustrating.” He wasn’t frustrated either.
The Cat King laughed. “Do they still all look the same to you?” he asked pointedly.
Edwin blinked and then stared at the Cat King with wide eyes. “That’s why you made me count them,” he realised.
“Did it work?”
Edwin nodded absently. “It did.”
“No two cats are the same,” the Cat King said.
“They’re not,” he agreed. They smiled at each other.
After a while, the Cat King turned to look out at the water. “I missed you,” he admitted.
Edwin entwined their fingers. “I missed you too.”
“I knew it,” the Cat King said with more bravado than he felt.
Edwin snickered. “You did,” he allowed graciously.
The Cat King thought that it was probably safe to take another risk. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
The Cat King waited for maybe two seconds. “May I kiss you?” He didn’t take that risk while looking at Edwin, though. He kept his eyes on the water, and he could tell that Edwin did the same.
Edwin blinked. Then he blinked a few more times.
“I can’t help but notice that you’re not saying No,” the Cat King noted. He also tried to not get his hopes up. Edwin would turn every thought he encountered this way and that in his head before making a decision, so a lack of an answer didn’t have to mean anything. Probably. Maybe.
“I can’t believe you asked me that,” Edwin finally said.
“Sure you can. You know me,” the Cat King said insouciantly. It was quiet again. “You’re still not saying No…”
“I’m-” Edwin shook his head, briefly closed his eyes, and tried again. “I’m tempted,” he admitted to his own surprise.
“Temptation is a wonderful thing~” the Cat King sing-songed.
Edwin tried to say something, but first he had to force the words past his tightening throat.
“What would… that feel like?” he asked, hesitating. He peeked at their joined hands. “You’re not like a human, or even a ghost.” He looked up to meet the Cat King’s eyes.
The Cat King smiled a playful little smile. “Curious?”
Edwin paused, then nodded.
“Is that a Yes?”
Edwin’s eyes fell on the Cat King’s lips, and he licked his own. Then he nodded. “Yes,” he said hoarsely.
The Cat King did a little dance in his head. On the outside, he tightly clung to his suave appearance and slowly reached to cup Edwin’s cheek. He moved slowly, ever slowly, slowly, capturing Edwin’s eyes with his, making sure that his sweet ghost didn’t change his mind. Because if he did, he would stop. It would cost a tremendous amount of effort, but he would stop.
Then they closed their eyes, and their lips met.
It was a chaste but lingering kiss, their lips at first only moving against each other. After a long moment, the Cat King opened his mouth enough to capture Edwin’s bottom lip between his, making Edwin gasp and try those little nips himself, while the Cat King moved to Edwin’s top lip, and just because it was right there, he brushed the tip of his tongue over the pillowy flesh.
Edwin met the tongue with his, gasped and involuntarily broke the kiss, staring at the Cat King’s lips and licking his own.
The Cat King’s breath came quickly. “I’m so glad you said Yes.”
To his own surprise, a giggle escaped Edwin when the words made him realise that he had indeed said Yes and that he was more than happy with that decision. When the Cat King smiled at his reaction, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close and into another kiss, allowing his tongue to find out what else it could feel.
The Cat King let Edwin sweep him away, and those curious kisses made him dizzy, when an old and long buried fear reared its head. He was too far gone and in too deep with his ghost – and he had been for quite some time, already – and it opened him up to the same pain he had endured in the past. The kind of pain that would cost him lives. Edwin had already cost him one, but he shied away from having his heart shattered much more than from merely losing a life.
“Wait,” the Cat King said between kisses. “Edwin, wait.” When Edwin turned his honest and dazed gaze on him, he almost threw caution in the wind, but his old pain sat very deep.
“This isn’t… just a distraction for you, right?” Oh, how he hated making himself so vulnerable. His past self from a mere three months ago would have smacked him upside the head for it.
Edwin’s cloudy eyes cleared and were filled with affection (and still some curiosity).
“While I can’t deny that it is very pleasantly distracting,” Edwin admitted, “that would never be enough for me to, well, kiss someone.”
The Cat King breathed a little easier.
“I don’t know quite what this is,” Edwin elaborated honestly, “other than that it feels... unbelievably good.” He bit his lips to tone down his happy smile. “And I’m beginning to understand why my first instinct was to come here.”
The Cat King pulled him into a kiss again, this one feeling almost a bit desperate. He was being kissed stupid, so very stupid, so joyously stupid.
“I am so screwed,” the Cat King breathed. “I mean,” he quickly added after realising that Edwin might miss the colloquialism.
“I got your meaning,” Edwin said, amused. Then he sent the Cat King a surprisingly coy look through his eyelashes. “Would that be so bad?”
The Cat King’s breath stuttered. “So, so screwed,” he emphasised, pressed a firm kiss to Edwin’s lips, and decided to be stupid all the way.
“Call me Thomas.”
Edwin blinked and studied… Thomas’ face. “I will,” he said simply and then reconsidered. “Is this something that should not be shared?”
“Well, don’t put out an ad or something,” Thomas said.
“So, if I were…” Edwin started nervously, “… maybe, were to talk to my friends about you…”
“You can tell them my name,” Thomas said, ignoring how his heart jumped at the thought that Edwin would want to acknowledge whatever this would turn out to be not only to himself but to others as well.
He raised an eyebrow. “Might make them less inclined to kill me with a cricket bat or something.”
Edwin tilted his head and sent Thomas an unimpressed look. “Charles wouldn’t do that.”
“You so sure about that, Edwin?”
“Yes,” Edwin said, certain.
Thomas thought about the image Charles must have of him… and that it wasn’t entirely unwarranted, given the show he had put on when they’d met.
Edwin tilted Thomas’ downturned face back up, reading him as easily as he had when he’d left Port Townsend.
“While it took me a while to see behind your facade that admittedly had its… charms…”
Thomas smirked, making Edwin return it.
“I also remember the look in your eyes when we said goodbye,” Edwin said earnestly, studying Thomas intently. “You have the same look in your eyes now.” His voice was soft.
Thomas averted those eyes.
“Thomas,” Edwin whispered. “You don’t have to pretend with me,” he said, making Thomas huff self-deprecatingly.
“Well, fuck,” Thomas said eloquently. To his utter dismay, Edwin wasn’t done.
“Loneliness isn’t the only thing you’re trying to distract yourself from, is it?”
Thomas tightly clung to his ’charming facade’ and decided to employ it just a little. It was part of him too, after all.
“My darling, I adore you, but that is enough for now.”
Edwin, the delightful little bitch, smirked at him again.
Thomas had to laugh. Then he cupped the back of Edwin’s neck with one hand. “Come here…” he coaxed, and kissed him thoroughly for a good, long while.
“Can I take this to mean that you would not be averse to visits in the future?” Edwin murmured against Thomas’ lips.
“I would go so far as to say that I would be very much in favour of such visits,” Thomas replied smartly. “And, before you ask, I will of course keep your ’old-fashioned sensibilities’ in mind.”
Edwin rolled his eyes. “I’m not that bad.”
“You absolutely are,” Thomas contradicted, then he smiled warmly. “It’s part of who you are.” His smile turned mischievous. “As is your curiosity…” he said pointedly and ran gentle fingers over Edwin’s cheek, smiling when Edwin immediately leaned into it. “And this craving for touch.”
Edwin nodded, having followed every claim. “All of it together is a bit much,” he admitted and straightened. “But, as you said, they are part of me,” he said resolutely, with every intention of handling the different aspects that made him.
Thomas grinned, delighted. “Do you trust me with those parts?” He was not afraid of the answer, to his own surprise.
Edwin smiled ruefully. “A little voice inside my head tells me that I shouldn’t…”
“Does that little voice sound suspiciously like Charles?”
Edwin was startled into a laugh. “It does not, in fact,” he said haughtily, but he was still smiling. “And it doesn’t get a say,” he added with finality.
Thomas looked very happy with himself, Edwin, and the situation in general.
“Is that enough talking for now?” Edwin asked hopefully.
Thomas decided that the only reply that was required at that point was a deep kiss.
When Edwin returned home, he felt completely and utterly punch drunk, and he was surprised that he didn’t fall over his own feet.
The first thing he saw were Charles and Crystal talking, the former looking decidedly distraught.
“Edwin, I’m so sorry,” Charles said, as soon as Edwin stepped from the mirror.
Edwin blinked, confused. “For… what?” His mind was still floating on cloud nine, humming and kicking its feet, so he had a hard time returning to reality.
“For leaving you behind,” Charles explained. “That case was horrible, and I basically abandoned you-”
“Charles,” Edwin interrupted him. “I told you explicitly that I was fine.”
Charles stared him down, unconvinced. “And were you?”
Edwin licked and bit his lips. He supposed lying wouldn’t help anyone at this point.
“I can’t expect you to read my mind and find things I’m not even aware of myself,” he said instead.
Charles put his hands on his hips and looked very angry at himself.
Crystal, who was still wearing her pyjamas and had clearly only just got up, seemed to get a hang of the situation at hand. And she did not like it, nor playing an inadvertent part in it.
“Are you alright?” she asked Edwin.
Edwin held up his hand. “You both asked me if I was alright, and I told you both that I was,” he stated the facts. “And, as it happens, I am quite alright now.”
Charles relaxed a bit, believing him. Then he licked his lips. “Because you found someone else’s company…” he pointed out, nodding at the desk where Edwin’s note lay, in which he had let his team know where he’d gone, just in case.
“Company?” Crystal asked. “Whose company?”
Charles raised his eyebrows at Edwin, prompting. And Edwin’s jaw dropped when he cottoned on to the implications.
“He went to Port Townsend,” Charles told Crystal.
“Charles…” Edwin began, hoping against hope that he was wrong, “… did you come after me?” He shuffled over to his desk chair and dropped into it.
“Well, I was worried, wasn’t I?” Charles said, crossing his arms. “For all I knew, you crossed the bloody Atlantic because I left you behind!”
Edwin blinked and didn’t say that this assumption was entirely correct.
“I didn’t notice you…”
“Oh, you were distracted.” Now that the worry was gone, Charles switched to smugly amused.
Edwin hid his face in both hands.
“What am I missing?” Crystal wanted to be kept in the loop, especially if it was a loop that promised to be quite entertaining, given Edwin’s reaction.
“Very distracted,” Charles repeated. “You were giggling. Giggling, Edwin.”
Edwin looked up to glare at him, blushing furiously.
“Oh, my god,” Crystal said as things began to clear up.
Edwin huffed imperiously. “Yes, yes,” he said, annoyed. “And I was kissing,” he declared. “Happy now?”
Charles grinned. “You certainly looked happy...”
“Oh, my god. Please, tell me it was the Cat King,” Crystal begged, grinning from ear to ear.
Edwin groaned, and Charles laughed.
“I thought you didn’t like him,” Edwin grumbled petulantly.
“I don’t really know him,” Crystal said dismissively. “But he definitely looks like someone who knows how to kiss.” She smirked. “Does he?”
Edwin cleared his throat, not answering, which was answer enough, and after the initial second of discomfort, he looked decidedly pleased with himself.
Crystal barely managed to swallow a gleeful squee and slunk around the desk to hop onto it in Charles’ usual spot.
“Okay, out with it. I want details!”
Edwin sent her a very, very dry look. “No.”
“Oh, come on, Edwin!” she wheedled. “I’m happy for you, and I absolutely must know what he did that he could make a ghost blush.” She smirked.
Edwin refused to rise to the bait, apart from blushing some more.
Crystal whined histrionically and turned to look at Charles. “Charles?”
“Charles! Don’t you dare!” Edwin burst out.
“I wasn’t there that long,” he tried to worm himself out of the questioning. He caught Edwin’s eyes. “You looked happy, though. Like, really happy.”
It wasn’t like emotions came easier to Edwin than talking about kissing and being well-meaningly riled up by Crystal, but he still looked at Charles with gratitude.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like that at all,” Charles admitted.
“Well.” Edwin bit his lips. “I’ve never been in a situation like that.”
“You’ll see him again, though, yeah?” Charles asked. “Because if he was just toying with you-”
“Yes, I’ll see him again,” Edwin quickly said, before Charles could work himself into something unnecessary.
“Alright,” Charles accepted that. “I guess he looked kind of happy too,” he allowed.
“I’ll just bet,” Crystal said, snickering.
“No,” Charles protested. “I do mean happy, not just, you know…”
“Horny?” Crystal suggested.
Charles sighed to the high heavens, trying not to think about that in more detail. The eyeful he’d got had been enough.
Edwin crossed his arms and stared down Crystal. “You are going to be insufferable now, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yeah,” Crystal confirmed enthusiastically, then softened. “I am happy for you, and I can also see you making the Cat King happy, by the way.”
Edwin looked at her with a barely concealed hopeful expression. “You… do?”
Crystal smiled cheekily. “His posturing doesn’t sell as well as he thinks…”
Edwin’s mind returned to Port Townsend, and he smiled.
“He wasn’t posturing earlier, I don’t think,” he said absently. “He was… quite sweet.” He considered that. “And perhaps more open than he was entirely comfortable with.”
“Sounds like you like him,” Crystal noted, her expression warm.
Edwin’s clear eyes said the same thing, then he averted them, bit his lips and cleared his throat.
“I believe Niko would have said that I ’like-like’ him.”
“Oh, you’re getting way too adorable now,” Crystal complained and hopped off her seat. “I can’t handle an adorable Edwin. I’m gonna go get dressed.”
Charles snickered, watching her leave. Once the door was closed, he sobered.
“I’m still sorry, though.”
“Forgiven,” Edwin said, even though he didn’t believe there to be something to forgive, but Charles relaxed, so it was probably the right decision.
“Things turned out quite favourably, I’d say.”
“I bet you’d say that.”
“In fact, I should probably thank you that you made me visit Port Townsend, like I wanted to, if I’d dared to think about it.”
Charles smiled at him. “So,” he said after a while. “The Cat King, eh?”
Edwin shrugged awkwardly. “Thomas. His… his name is Thomas,” he said softly.
Charles smirked. “Does that mean I should stop calling him ’that frisky fucker’ in my head?”
Edwin sent him a look and crossed his arms. “While I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a perfect gentleman, he was perfectly considerate of my inexperience. Any ’friskiness’ was restricted to kissing.” He straightened snobbishly. “For now,” he added.
Charles laughed. “You okay with that?” he asked, still with a smile but clearly more seriously.
“I suppose I can admit that I will be more than okay with that.” He only felt like passing out or sinking into the floor for a second or two for having said that thought out loud, then he relaxed into it.
Charles shuffled his feet. “Just as long as he’s good to you.”
“I’m perfectly capable of handling him,” Edwin said mock-seriously, biting his lips to keep himself from laughing.
After the second it took Charles to remember that Edwin had used the same words when they’d first met the Cat King, he burst out laughing.
“Yeah, alright. I guess, now I’ll actually believe you.”
“Clearly, I handled him well enough before too,” Edwin said smugly. “I certainly left an impression.”
Charles snorted. “You mean, I should worry about whether or not he can handle you?”
Edwin rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was smiling.
“I think we’ll figure out the intricacies together.”
Charles returned the smile.
“Now,” Edwin concluded the topic. “I’m sure there’s work to be done.”
“Always,” Charles agreed, allowing the relationship talk to rest (until it came up again).
This was comfortable, Edwin decided. He’d feared more awkwardness or perhaps even arguments.
Now, he could look forward to what lay ahead without apprehension.
Perhaps, Thomas would even be inclined to assist in a case or two if it piqued his interest… And wouldn’t that be the cherry on the cake.
End