Ghostcat shenanigans

[technicallyhellbound]

It had been a few weeks since they'd started this arrangement, and so far the Cat had, in fact, been a surprising amount of help. Enough so that Charles had stopped being mostly on-guard while in his presence and had even taken the 'puppy' nickname in stride, though he still hadn't really looked too deeply at why it didn't bother him as much as it probably should.

That particular day was neither a Monday nor a Friday, and was in fact a Wednesday, so while it wasn't one of their scheduled briefings, it was a visit that had been arranged in advance, a few hours while Crystal and Charles were at a concert, the kind of thing that while Edwin enjoyed being invited to, really wasn't the kind of thing he actually enjoyed going to, and the others both knew it, which was why they continued to invite him, even if he always declined.

It was late afternoon, not yet early evening when he stepped out of the mirror into the cannery, tugging at the collar of his slipover in much the same way he did the lapels of his usual jacket. He'd been branching out from his usual look, just a little, in bits and pieces, and now had something of a range of shades of those softer jumpers, this one was a deep bottle-green and was nearly a cowl-neck, but definitely less severe than his usual look.

It had been raining in London, or rather it had been misting heavily, and he wasn't quite sure if it was still raining here or if it had just finished, there wasn't the same kind of moisture in the air, which meant that if it was raining it hadn't been doing so for long, and all he knew was that the Cat had something planned for them to do, he was only now considering that he probably should have asked a few more questions beforehand.

Comments

[catting]

[ By now, it should be no surprise to anyone that the Cat finds Edwin's firmer manner ridiculously enticing — the way he bosses people around, the demands he makes, his strict attitude that sometimes borders on stubbornness — so it should also be no surprise that when Edwin presses two fingers to his chin in a way that is absolutely not intended to be suggestive, the Cat's pupils dilate to leave only a slim border of gold around them.

And then to be challenged like that...? The Cat barely contains a yowl of excitement, the air around them seeming to fizzle with potential as the Cat fails to resist the temptation to flick those widened eyes down to Edwin's mouth and back up again. Make it count, he'd said…

He raises his own hand to press gentle fingers at Edwin's wrist, moving his hand and therefore his fingers away easily enough; a physical sign that Edwin isn't reluctant, and that this is all a further step-change in this little dance they're doing around one another. He takes that step closer he'd wanted to before, before Edwin had tugged on his leash, tilting his head to survey his prize. ]

Where did that little ghost who gasped at the feeling of my breath on his skin go, huh? [ His voice has dropped to something closer to a purr than speech, low and even, not entirely dissimilar to how it had been during the encounter he's talking about. He can't help but remember that delicious little flutter of Edwin's eyelids, so close to giving in. What a wasted opportunity. ] Would you have let me kiss you then, if I hadn't put my bracelet on you?

[technicallyhellbound]

Edwin would forever be amused at just how similar the Cat's reactions and Charles' reactions were to the same actions, or tone of voice, or both, but he also knew better than to say so at a time like this, brow just arching a little as he answered that first question, warm and amused as before, a half-murmured: "Couldn't begin to say." Because even now that selfsame tremor was still there, though it was no longer something akin to fear as it had been then, just two steps off from it, if that. No, now it was a sort of excitement as much as anything else.

But then the actual question followed, and it was one he'd asked himself many times since that day, and he hadn't ever managed to come up with a satisfactory answer for himself, though he had determined that if he had done, he would have regretted it, but he doubted that was something the Cat needed to hear, either, especially not at the moment, which was why he just curled his fingers, hand turning a little in the Cat's hold so that he could trail the pads of his fingers along the crest of the Cat's ear, "I don't really know. There was a lot going on at the time."