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]

"Are you letting me win? I'm blushing. You should know I like a surrendered victory almost as much as won one, if you keep this up I'll get mixed signals."

He tosses a dazzling smile over his shoulder as he keeps them on their little path toward the passage of rolling waves. The Cat, however, makes sure to get nowhere near them himself, even going as far as to finally drop their hands so that he can walk on the other side of Edwin's body as they go, though it shouldn't be any surprise that he's not the biggest fan of water, despite living on a dockland and being pretty much constantly surrounded by the sea on this little inlet.

He comes to the stop by the mouth of, yes, a cave; a big gap in the dark rock of the sloping hill, cut in with ocean rocks serving as a little dam that stops the tide from flooding the floor. At least when it's low, like it is right now. It's unassuming and very standard as far as caves go, but once they get inside — once the Cat has shown Edwin where to step to avoid the rock pools and little pockets of deepsand — a second chamber is revealed to the left of the initial opening, and this is — or so the Cat says — where the real attraction is.

Upon entering, this side chamber is lit very faintly by a light that seems to come from nowhere, tinted almost pink despite no reflecting glass or sea water to bounce back onto the walls. The walls themselves are the first sign that there has been the influence of something other than natural time on the stone that makes up the cave. There are scratches in the walls, little holes drilled into certain crevices, and one large one that seems to travel all around the room as if something large tried to split the system in two.

"You were pretty close," the Cat says, uncovering with one boot the crack travelling straight across the floor, dusting away the sand in the center, so Edwin can see. "There's a ley line here, but it's been damaged from years of bad influence, and by curious mystery hunting humans who pick up on one too many folklore theories that they'd do better to leave the fuck alone."

All his previous flirty manner has gone as he looks down at the jagged line on the floor, leaving him almost... serious. It's a strange look for him.

"It needs upkeep every so often, or its power gets hard to tap into, and even harder to predict. I used to work at it with Esther, but since she's indisposed," A tight little smile. "I thought you might like to help."

[technicallyhellbound]

Edwin had been able to tell what was there even just entering the chamber. could feel that energy hanging in the air like a sort of humidity, probably not the same way the Cat felt it, because as it was ley lines were one of the few things that could make a ghost more fully corporeal for a time, and the only one Edwin knew of that wasn't uncomfortable in the process. He wondered if it was something the Cat knew or not, and he might even remember to ask once they were done.

Even this one that was frayed, in a way, partially depleted like an ore vein having been stripped nearly bare, was still enough to have him hesitating just inside the threshold, not yet near enough for it to fully affect him just yet, but it was still enough of a distraction, that nearly-sensation, that he almost missed what the Cat was saying, blinking slowly and collecting himself again enough to answer, "I'm not entirely sure how much help I'll be for something like that, but I'm willing to give it a go. What do you need me to do?"