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]

Magically producing a cup in a flash of purple light, the Cat offers it to Edwin with the hand turned bestial. "I need you to hold this under my arm, and I need you not to flinch. Everything is going to be fine, as long as you keep your eyes on me and keep that string tight, alright? I won't mind if it hurts a little..." He says, with a little pantomime of secrecy, as if divulging a secret to Edwin; confessing that he might even like it if he took the opportunity to be a little rough.

It's a play to ease the tension, of course, but it's not clear whether the Cat meant it for himself or for Edwin. His shoulders do relax a little more, though, becoming limber as he inhales and the scent of power and magic fills his lungs.

"I'm going to fill this cup with blood. My blood. Obviously." The Cat figures he should at least give Edwin the whole picture, even if there's not a whole lot of backing out he can realistically do now. He could still refuse, he supposes, but that glitter of curiosity in Edwin's eyes tells him that this might just be a performance interesting enough to keep him keen, despite the small amount of violence. "It's the quickest and most effective natural balm I've found without calling on some outside magic user to come take a look at it. Which I don't really wanna do while it's so volatile. Once the cup is full, you can get close and pour it across the crack."

He studies Edwin's face, thinking still how strange it is to be doing this with the ghost instead of with the witch who would sooner belittle him for all his snarling than show any kind of fear or concern in the wake of it. He's not sure how Edwin will react.

"It won't be pretty, but I can take a little instability. I just need you to watch for my eyes changing. If it gets weird, or I start losing focus on you, give me a pull." He wriggles his wrist, though the amplified power makes it hard to even do that much when the other end of the tether is in Edwin's hold. He smiles. "It should be easy for you, right? I'm sure you've always wanted an opportunity to actually keep me in line."

[technicallyhellbound]

Having the process laid out in nice, simple, easy-to-follow steps was the way to explain it, really, because while Edwin did consider for a moment, it was only a brief one and he nodded, "Alright. I can do that."

Normally he'd caution against blood-magic, but ley lines were the kind of deep, even primal magic that required the same in turn, which meant this was one of the few instances where blood magic was the best option. More than that the blood of a magical creature was the way to go, because while the blood of a magic-user could work, they'd have to be attuned to the place and they'd have to have blood to use, and that counted him out twice over.

He shifted his weight a little, drawing himself up and drawing the tether taut, not pulling yet, but holding steady, taking up any slack just to be sure there was the least amount of risk of his losing his hold or the cat being able to get away by accident.