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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"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.

The moment Edwin leaned into him, Charles put an arm around him. He slid his hand to Edwin's neck, just holding him until he got himself together. They did this many times, and yet, with bodies involved, it felt different. Almost like a first time. And Charles wished it had been under different circumstances and not because of his stupidity. He had a sense of how these things worked. He had a temper... he knew sometimes people couldn't rein in how they felt.

"Right," he said quietly as Edwin spoke. "Still got ya heart pretty rushed, yeah?" he huffed in a smile. He leaned in for a chaste kiss on Edwin's lips, still a part of his apology. "Should really work on my game, shouldn't I? So I can actually make you blush."

"It is incredibly frustrating not to have control over my body's physical responses to my emotions." It was a little muffled, brow still resting against Charles' shoulder, because that really was the crux of it, he was used to having control even when he slid into that edge of panic from an unexpected source, the worst that happened was he would freeze for a moment -and Charles generally got him moving again when necessary- but never felt the odd, shapeless sort of anxiety and even shame that came with it. That he definitely didn't like.

He straightened finally, accepting that kiss and the comment with something much closer to his usual grace, just arching a brow as he responded, "It did, yes, but not in the way you intended, unfortunately." That dryly amused tone finally sliding back in around the edges of his voice, "So I daresay you could use some more practice."

It did make Charles wonder that if they would stay alive, just how Edwin's body would handle it. He knew there would be consequences but he wasn't entirely sure what. But thankfully, that might never happen.

"I say challenge accepted, then," he smiled back, still feeling guilty about it all. "I have the best subject to practice on," he added, daring to lean in for another kiss. It was dark, and they were alone. So maybe a few more public kisses wouldn't hurt. "But yeah, wish I could just take you back to the office and make it all better, right?" he shrugged. "So, let's find snacks then!"

Staying alive long enough that his nearly-forgotten usual aches and pains returned instead of the ones he'd acquired thanks to the fall after becoming solid again was one of the things Edwin was dreading and doing his best not to think about so that it didn't overtake his every waking moment with worry and doubt, he had enough to work on without that happening.

"We'll be on our way back to the office soon enough." He responded, "Snacks first." He brightened considerably at hearing the faint strains of the jaunty music the man with the kabob cart usually played, head tilting one way and then the other before turning off on a footpath, "This way."

With a sigh, Charles took Edwin's hand and walked with him. His own heartbeat calming as they got some steps in. But it fluttered again as he could actually smell the food coming from the cart. His mouth watered at it too. Charles picked up his steps, squeezing Edwin's hand in excitement.

Thankfully the cart had a wide variety of food without meat too, truly catering to the wide variety of tastes of the streets of London. Charles got a classic kebab with everything, slightly hoping the onions and all that would cover up the meat. He scared Edwin once tonight, he wouldn't want to do it again...

Edwin truly didn't mind other people eating meat, even Charles, even after his unfortunate choice of phrase when attempting to flirt. While the incident might not be something they would laugh about later, Edwin really wasn't upset by it.

While he was fully spoiled for choice, he was thankful for both the pictures of most of the dishes alongside the name, but also the fact that he had -as Niko would say- excellent reading comprehension, and managed to read through most of the options by the time Charles had ordered, ordering himself vegetable samosas and some sort of potato cakes that were battered and fried and served with a dipping sauce. Mostly he was figuring that if he didn't finish them himself, Charles would be happy to do so for him.

The man took one look at him, warned him that both of those were spicy, but thankfully didn't press the issue when Edwin assured him that was fine.

Charles would happily eat any and all leftovers, yes. He was already halfway through his food, with his mouth full when he heard the man warn Edwin about his order being spicy. Charles knew better than to comment on it all, he knew how Edwin could be stubborn so he let it be.

Though he did wonder how Edwin would handle spice. They got pretty mild food until now.

"If you don't like any of those we can search for some other place? I'm happy to extend our walk, yeah?" Charles grinned, taking another too big bite from his food.

Edwin snorted softly, mostly amusement, as he pulled a napkin from the holder to pass to Charles at that statement, "Of course."

He laid a napkin over the cardboard tray with the potato patties and their little cup of sauce, setting the tray with the samosas on top of it so he could carry both in one hand, breaking the corner off of one of the dumplings to let the steam out, chewing carefully at the pastry, just making a considering little noise at the taste of it, though he knew he hadn't gotten much of the flavor from the filling, "That's quite nice, actually."

Charles forgot to even chew as he watched Edwin take his first bite. He was ready to suggest they should buy drinks, or maybe something less spicy. And he was the most surprised when Edwin didn't collapse in a coughing fit.

"You like it?" Charles asked, his eyes widening as he finally swallowed the bite in his mouth. "You really do?"

He nodded, brow creasing a little at the question, "Yes? Is there a reason I shouldn't?" He was careful with taking an actual bite, minding the temperature as he chewed, barely realizing that he'd practically frozen in his tracks as he did, because the flavor was like nothing he'd experienced before, he wouldn't have been able to name he spices used if he'd tried, it had only been listed as 'cardamom spice blend'.

Another just as careful bite, chewing just as slowly, wholly unaware that he looked a little like a man having some kind of religious experience, offering the tray with the other two dumplings to Charles with a quiet, half-awed, "You have to try this."

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