technicallyhellbound | for @convincingsmile - Nobody's dying today (probably)

for @convincingsmile - Nobody's dying today (probably)

Edwin knew as soon as he fell through the mirror that something was wrong, and not just a little bit wrong, but the kind of wrong that made the whole world tilt on its axis a little.

It wasn't a misdirected portal, not like the case that had ultimately led them to Crystal, not like many other failures of concentration when traversing mirror portals before, it was something else, and he couldn't place what it was. All he knew was that he'd simply passed through the mirror in question and had landed, hard on the floor on the other side of the room, hard enough that he actually skidded a couple of feet and that couldn't be right because that actually hurt, and hurt in the way he hadn't felt in... well, decades.

It was enough to tumble him against the far wall just from his own momentum, impacting hard enough to knock the breath out of his lungs, and that was definitely wrong, because he shouldn't have had breath or lungs. He could see, even through pain-hazed vision that the poltergeist he'd been baiting had, indeed, gotten caught in the trap he himself had leapt over when aiming for the mirror.

That was, however, the last thing he saw before the half-rotted-through loft floor gave way beneath his sudden and unexpected weight, sending him falling, flailing, scraped to ribbons on the broken slats, to the ground below, and he was reasonably sure he'd actually heard something snap on impact, ribs, if the sudden radiating pain was anything to go by, though his shoulder wasn't in good shape either, and that was an entirely different kind of pain, just layering on top of the feeling of the ragged scratches from the wood, and it occurred to him, dimly, that he'd forgotten how much he hated the feeling of blood on his skin.

It had been different in Hell, the pain, the sensations in general, all of it, it had been horrible, yes, but it was so much more visceral now, and even as his vision began to go hazy again, head swimming, his last thoughts were trying to remember how he'd somehow gotten separated from Charles, who had been barely a step behind him when he'd rounded the corner into the loft pursued by the poltergeist now trapped securely above him.

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Edwin had considered the Pick'n'Mix himself, but had decided against it simply because there were too many things he didn't recognize, but he wasn't at all surprised to find that Charles had opted for it, not with the way he seemed bound and determined to try everything he could while they still had the chance.

He just made a quiet noise of agreement at the response, nodding, "Another day off to her schedule, then." A twist of a smile, "Not that she wouldn't still come by anyway." As much as she complained about doing their busywork, it was clear that she liked being able to help in much the same way the two of them did, "But no, you're right, we should find her something nice."

He straightened a little, setting his selections on the counter, both brows lifting in Charles' direction: "Drinks?" It was a request for help, in its way, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that he had no idea what he was looking at, sure that Charles would know more, "And popcorn, obviously." His brow creased then, regarding the sizes, "How much do you think we'll need between the two of us?"

Charles was also determined to make Edwin try every single candy once they settled. He also wondered what Crystal would like. She seemed to be feeling the best when they hung out, so maybe going to places with her would be something they should do. Or looking for some nice trinket in one of the shops.

"Mate, you know we gotta get the biggest one," Charles grinned then looked at the drink selection. Most of the flavors he recognized, and the remaining few he had an idea about. God, he wanted to try them all but he knew that would be overkill. He glanced at Edwin for a second in a smile, then leaned closer to explain what he knew.

This reminded him of the very first years they got together and roamed London as new friends. Edwin new to this world, and Charles new to being a ghost. Kind of nostalgic. And that was the time Charles explained the then modern world to Edwin. Now, he explained soda flavors. And... what a soda is, basically.

"So, yeah, they're mostly sweet. I usually get ginger ale," Charles concluded. "You should really try one of the sodas," he added, thinking Edwin would like it.

"Oh, actually ginger ale sounds lovely, two of those then." He addressed the clerk, "And the largest popcorn you're allowed to give us." There was amusement in the tone, and some kind of relief, mostly due to the fact that there had been no visible response to Charles practically hanging off of him. He'd known, of course, that tot sort of thing was normal, now, but there had still been a tight, sharp-edged knot of worry in the pit of his stomach.

The transaction was handled easily enough, and Edwin was thankful that there was a cardboard tray for carrying the popcorn and both drinks, though he was able to slide both of his candy boxes into his sweater pocket, "If you could carry this, I'll get some napkins." He'd seen the amount of butter that had been poured over the popcorn and knew they were going to need them.

Charles would have been less brave if he wasn't going out on his walks to watch people all these years. But he saw how the world changed, he saw how people could love just a bit more freely. Maybe that helped him to accept Edwin's confession and his own feelings too. And boy, was he thankful? That it helped him to have Edwin in every possible way.

"Or maybe we could just lick it off, yeah?" Charles called after Edwin, maybe a little louder than necessary. He heard a costumed group chuckle nearby, making him stifle a laugh too as Edwin got back with the napkins. "Man, you still look so good," he said. The only reason he didn't try to pull Edwin close again was because he has a handful of snacks and drinks.

Edwin made an exasperated noise that didn't fully make it to an exclamation of Charles' name at the statement, stuffing the napkins into the pocket that didn't already have candy in it, though he moved to open the door to the auditorium so that Charles didn't have to struggle with it with his hands full, just reminding him of their seats, as they wouldn't be lurking in the back as they usually did.

He did relax considerably once he was seated, finding that the seats were rather more comfortable than he'd expected them to be, and it didn't take long to get the drinks situated, settling in to wait, though taking a cautious sip of his soda, only to nearly choke a moment later as he hadn't been expecting the carbonation. He managed to clear his airway a moment later, pressing a hand to his chest, "Wasn't expecting that." He wheezed in explanation.

Something about all this was so new, and yet so nostalgic. Charles couldn't stop smiling and he couldn't help kissing Edwin's cheek as he held the door.

The row they sat in was empty so Charles had enough place to put the treats. He went for a sip too and jumped when Edwin started to cough. Mostly because that sound was new. Ghost didn't breathe, so they didn't cough... But they were alive.

"Everything okay?" Charles asked the same time as Edwin explained. Then he burst out laughing. He did talk about the taste of the sodas but didn't even think to explain them being carbonated... Charles completely forgot Edwin never had that. "Sorry, mate, but... yeah, they're fizzy," Charles chuckled. "How do you like it?"

Another, considerably more cautious, sip followed, as if to determine whether he liked it or not, but he nodded, "It's good." And another small sip, assessing the flavor as well as the sensation, just nodding, "Didn't often have soda-water when I was young." Or when he was alive in general, but it was less suspicious to anyone overhearing if it was a matter of age and not being dead for decades.

"It was usually for when we were sick?" A little shake of his head, "Ginger was, too, but it was also for... hm." He had to consider for a moment, "Holiday punch?" Often that had also been incredibly alcoholic, but herbal flavors were definitely high on the list when it came to celebratory beverages, which he found rather fitting for the outing.

Even if Edwin referred to his life before this as 'being young,' it still sounded just a little funny to Charles. Edwin looked sixteen, and he was over a hundred years old. When they were ghosts, it didn't really register with Charles, but now, as they were eating snacks in a movie theater, being alive, it was just amusing.

"Ssso it tastes like medicine and some punch your parents drank?" Charles asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a sip from his own drink. "That's mental, half the drinks around have fizz in them and they are definitely not medicine," he mused. "I drank a lot of coke when... I was younger," he snorted, looking away. "My dad always told me it's gonna put me in an early grave, hah." Haha... Charles winced as that part of his 'youth' came up. He had such a good day, he wouldn't want to ruin it by remembering some things.

"Not only my parents, everyone had punch at holiday parties." His brow creased a little at that, "The children generally got shuffled off to bed shortly thereafter, but that was just how it was done."

Another small smile followed, shaking his head, "And I didn't say it tasted of medicine, just that soda-water with a sort of..." Another head shake, "Cola syrup, was used when we were sick. Especially for a fever, had to get it from the chemist and everything." He tilted his cup just a little, "This, definitely tastes more like a celebration."

"They gave you booze?" Charles laughed. Then he shook his head. "Everyone's drinking coke now, mate. Can't believe it was medicine back in the day," he grinned. He could barely imagine going to a pharmacy just to get coke. "Probably had different things in it, yeah?" he mused out loud. Maybe they could ask Crystal to check what the difference was between the cola syrup Edwin got, and the soft drink Charles wanted to drown in his teenage years.

"Well, we're celebrating, aren't we?" he shrugged, taking his bag of candy to check which one to start with. "Our days alive, an' our first date too," he grinned, picking one of the sour-looking ones. Then he offered it to Edwin. "Wanna try another thing that's new?"

"Yes?" He replied, sounding puzzled, "Obviously they weren't giving it to infants, but the children could have a small glass, it was just the way things were." He even sounded puzzled, but that confusion was why he accepted the offered treat without thinking twice, popping it in his mouth.

He didn't even get as far as chewing it before he grimaced and spat it back out again, shuddering as he tucked it into a napkin, "That is vile. You enjoy eating things that taste of bile?" Granted, he knew that some people enjoyed eating lemons, but there had been a particularly bitter note to the -supposed- candy that tasted too much like vomit for Edwin's taste.

Charles would have asked if Edwin was ever drunk, only to watch that disaster happen with the sour candy. He couldn't help his laugh, but he was glad Edwin tried it.

"Sorry! Thought you'd like it, yeah? I mean it's sweet too, aside from all that sour," he grinned, trying one himself too and moaning at the taste. Ahh, he missed this. He'd forgotten how much he missed this. And now he remembered... damn it. "Wanna try another one? I'll kiss it better if you don't like it," he offered one that he suspected tasted like coke.

"I'm not entirely sure I trust you right now." He replied, though he was biting back a laugh as he did so. Honestly he'd expected the first one to taste like some kind of baking spice, clove or cinnamon or something, the way that good gumdrops did, and that all-encompassing sourness, bad enough to make his jaw go tight, had felt like some kind of betrayal.

His eyes narrowed briefly, "And if this is a ploy to get me to trade some of my nonpareils you can think again. Though I may be convinced to trade a jelly baby or two." If only because he'd never been entirely fond of the blackcurrant flavored ones, and while he would eat them, he'd eat them first so they didn't take him by surprise when expecting flavors he liked better.

He did, however, accept the second candy, tasting it much more cautiously than he had the first one, brow creasing as he chewed carefully, jaw working to roll it from one side of his mouth to the other, nose wrinkling as he swallowed, "Cough medicine. Who's flavoring these things?"

Charles gasped loudly, gripping his chest.

"One sour candy was enough to lose you? No no no, that won't do! Now I gotta work on getting you back, mate," he sighed dramatically. "I don't need your jelly babies, all I need is you, right?"

He watched in amusement as Edwin was working through the new candy, a bit relieved that he liked it.

"They wouldn't exist if people didn't like them, yeah?" Charles shrugged, munching on a gummy worm.

"Well, there's no accounting for taste, that's always been true." HE replied breezily, giving a little shrug even as he pulled his own two boxes out of his pocket to open them before sliding them back in before thinking better of it, leaving the jelly babies there -as they weren't in any danger of melting- and wedging the box with the nonpareils in next to his cup to keep the chocolate cold.

"I simply fail to understand why people would want candies that taste of bile or medicine, I prefer not to recall being sick when I'm eating." Another, somewhat more exaggerated shrug, spreading both hands briefly, "But perhaps I'm the odd man out in that instance."

"When I got to them, they were just candy, mate," Charles shrugged. "My medicine definitely didn't taste like any of this. Or maybe cherry. Yeah, cough syrup tastes like cherry," he grinned, looking into his mix for his next victim. "Sorry you didn't get the good stuff back in the day," he added, munching on some chocolate. "But glad you found something you like, yeah? So it's not all a disaster," he said as he rubbed Edwin's shoulder with his.

Charles truly loved this. Having a weird conversation about candy in a movie theater, before they would watch an old classic.

"Wish you could taste more candy, though," he added quietly. "Maybe you'd find new favorites."

"Perhaps." He replied with a nod, though there was still a small smile in the edges of his expression and amusement lurking in his voice, "But I see no reason currently to stray from my favorites."

He snaked a handful of popcorn, then, setting in to eat it one kernel at a time, settling back in his seat with an almost-eager little noise as the lights dimmed and the trailers started. There weren't many, three or four, for the rest of the theatre's 'throwback' series that their current film was one of.

He found himself enjoying the whole of it, which he hadn't expected, even recognizing the hero's actor from other things they'd seen. If they'd been watching it at the office with Crystal, he would absolutely have pointed out where the lore was incorrect, but for the time being he kept it to himself, though Charles would likely be hearing all about it later.

He did tense, briefly, a sort of half-startle as the Lord of Darkness made his first appearance, he hadn't been expecting hooves, or that resonance to the voice, but it was only a brief startle, cognizant enough to remember that it was only a movie, and cloven hooves and half-goat men were incredibly common iconography and visual shorthand for evil, even demonic, characters.

Watching an 'old' movie like this on the big screen once again put Charles in a strange mood. It was like he time traveled, or more like, he woke up from a nightmare where he was killed by his so-called friends just to find the love of his life after death... Maybe not a nightmare but... alright it was complicated.

The Lord of Darkness still looked cool, though with all the knowledge Charles also possessed about demons and other supernatural creatures he did look a little... well, off? Edwin probably knew what was it. Though, Charles checked in with him when the big evil appeared. He sneaked to hold his hand and did attempt to get a few kisses in.

"This was aces," Charles grinned ear to ear as they walked out. "Lily is still fit. 'Specially in the black dress, yeah?"

He kept his hand in Charles' as they left, just humming a noise of acknowledgement to that question, "You ask me questions like that as if I'm going to have any idea of the appeal. She was pretty enough I suppose. Honestly I was far too distracted by the level of glitter. It's a good thing actual magic doesn't produce that much unless that's the actual intention of a spell, otherwise I'd have given it up ages ago."

He shook his head then, straightening a little, forcing himself to keep a slower pace than his usual, "It was a classic take on the Hero's Journey, I've certainly sat through worse versions of the thing. It was enjoyable." Which was, in Edwin-speak, a compliment.

A small smile followed, both brows lifting, "So, through the park on the way home, then?"

Absently swiping his thumb over Edwin's hand as he held it, Charles steered them toward the park. He smiled, amused at Edwin's answer at Lily's appearance. He knew it was pointless to ask but it was always a fun thing to listen what kind of answer Edwin would come up with.

But he did laugh out loud at the mention of the glitter.

"Hah, right? It reminded me of the Glitter bomb incident in 99'," Charles said. "Everything was covered for days!"

The park was looking empty but still filled with lights. So Charles's laugh echoed around a little more loudly. And he almost jumped at the sound. It was different than when he was a ghost. This time, even the world around them reminded him that they were here, and they were alive.

"Wanna get some snacks, then?" Charles asked, turning his attention to Edwin before he got too sad.

His nose wrinkled at the reminder of that particular incident, "Ugh, don't remind me." He was reasonably sure they still hadn't found all of the stuff, might never do so.

The grimace passed quickly however, in the face of the question that followed, "I should like that, I think, wouldn't you?" Sure, they'd just had movie snacks, but that wasn't the same thing. Especially considering that they'd also only had snacks for lunch while working on their respective rune placement tasks.

Edwin didn't think he would ever manage Charles' level of seemingly perpetual hunger, but even after only two days he was starting to be able to tell when he was actually still hungry, and now was one of those times.

"Yeah, I'm hungry after all these sweets. Let's find that kebab guy, eh? I think he was hanging around here," Charles grinned. He loved Edwin but he also loved food. And he will indulge as much as he was allowed. "And if he doesn't have anything without meat then we find something else," he suggested. The good thing was that some places were always open in London, even at this time of the night.

This time of the night. And the dark, empty park did remind Charles of a few things, though.

"Wish I could... heh, wish I could eat you too, though," he chuckled a little embarrassed.

A string of expressions crossed Edwin's face at that particular statement, mostly because he knew Charles didn't mean anything by it, nothing literal at least, he'd certainly meant it as something lewd, but knowing that didn't stop Edwin's stomach from flipping uncomfortably, didn't keep unease from prickling up his spine.

He did manage to keep his tone level when he responded, so it wasn't cold, but it certainly wasn't as jovial as it had been, that unease threatening to choke him, sending his heartbeat spiking sharply even though there was no physical reason for it, "We've been having a lovely evening, Charles, why would you say something like that?"

"Wha'? I was just-" Charles was ready to lovingly flirt with Edwin about his choice of words, only for it to dawn on him. He paled, actually paled as his eyes widened on the realization. "Oh- fuck, Edwin, shit, sorry, I didn't mean...!" he gasped, stepping in front of the other. "I'm sorry, I forgot, I didn't want to be a dick, Edwin I'm so sorry."

Bollocks, after he was trying so hard to distract Edwin from the Lord of Darkness now he pulled this? If Charles could, he would bang his head into the nearest wall. Funny thing was that he could actually do it...

"I just wanted to tell you, like, yeah, 's stupid," he laughed bitterly, reaching for Edwin's hand. "Sorry," Charles repeated, defeated.

Edwin actually relaxed a little with Charles in front of him instead of beside him, mostly because it meant that he could just lean his brow against Charles' shoulder, taking a steadying breath, letting Charles' presence ground him as he sometimes did, though it was far more effective now than it generally was when they were still ghosts, "I know you didn't, Charles. It's alright."

It was alright, and he knew it was, and he hated that he was reacting in a way he couldn't control, but he didn't have the words to actually explain any of that and was kind of just willing Charles to believe him, though he knew that as neither of them were psychic, that wasn't going to work as well as he wanted it to.

He did finally straighten after a couple of deep breaths, staying close, letting his hands fall to Charles' hips, "I know you were only trying to be lewd. I know that, but I still just..." He shook his head, "It wasn't panic, not really." Not the same way that happened when confronted with spiders or baby dolls, but it had been something similar all the same.

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