The Case Of The Cursed Dumpster

Their current case was coming up on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the puppy debacle of ’94. Charles attempted to introduce a puppy as a member of their detective agency mentioning about how police had dogs so why shouldn’t they. It hadn’t gone over well and was probably one of the few times they’d actively fought against one another for days on end. The issue eventually got resolved and a compromise of sorts was reached, they wouldn’t be getting a puppy but Edwin would join Charles in haunting the local rescue at least once a week to play with the animals there. Well, Charles would play with them, Edwin would stand off to the side pretending to be annoyed but a side glance would catch him smiling entertained and watching Charles play with the animals, a soft look upon his face.

Edwin was often like that; he’d keep things at arms-length pretend to be annoyed but secretly was entertained. Charles chalked it up to repression from the Edwardian age where the tiniest hint of emotion was frowned upon.

The two of them wandered the back alleys of lower London investigating their current case. A series of hexes and spells were suddenly turning up in this section of the city and they’d been sent to investigate the cause and hopefully put an end to the terror. Their client was an imp who’d been transformed into a giant and had to duck to fit through their office door.

“Could this be something?” asked Charles pointing to some slime residue on the brick wall.

Edwin approached and tilted his head to the side, “possibly, we should get a sample. I’ll need a-”

“Here you go,” said Charles passing over the things Edwin needed before he’d gotten a chance to request them.

Edwin exchanged a smile with Charles. Charles didn’t know how it was possible but he felt it deep within his soul and if ghosts could blush, he probably would be. Before Charles could get himself righted around Edwin was already passing over the sample and the instruments, which Charles reflexively took off of Edwin and stashed carefully in his pocket dimension that looked like a backpack. He’d only recently gotten comfortable with navigating it, but they were both finding it incredibly useful.

“Edwin, mate, what does this look like to you?” asked Charles cautiously as they were about to leave the alley.

Edwin inhaled deeply as they looked at a tiny puddle on the ground, “Blood.”

The two boys exchanged worried glances.

“There’s more this way,” observed Edwin as he spotted tiny droplets of blood against the ground. The two of them followed the bloody path until it led to a dumpster.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” stated Charles looking at Edwin with concern, afraid of what they’d find in the dumpster.

“I’ve got a similar feeling of discontent,” agreed Edwin. They approached the dumpster sharing fearful looks before Charles finally willed himself to peer over the edge. There curled up on the top of the trash was the bloody body of a girl who couldn’t be more than four or five.

“Oh my god,” said Charles horrified, he backed away eyes glossing over as he tried not to shed tears, he was meant to be the strong one but whenever it came to situations like this, he could barely hold it together.

Edwin curious about Charles’ reaction peered over the top himself, he let out a soft gasp as he took in the sight.

“Bollocks, this is a right old mess innit?” asked Charles.

Edwin only curtly nodded before looking back over, most likely deciding what the best course of action was. He suddenly let out a shocked sound and backed away in stunned silence, his face going impossibly paler.

“What? What is it?” asked Charles looking Edwin over and subtly moving in front of him to shield him from whatever he’d just seen.

“The girl… her body… she moved!” said Edwin eyes wide.

“What you mean like she’s a zombie?” asked Charles reaching into his bag and bringing out his cricket bat.

Suddenly the girl stood up straight her head just peeking over the edge of the dumpster. She wasn’t as bloody as they initially thought, it was really only her one arm that had a nasty cut, but her hair was all raggedy and she looked disheveled and covered in dirt and grime like she’d been in that dumpster for at least a few days.

“Zombie,” said Charles under his breath stepping in front of Edwin completely, they’ve dealt with zombies in the past not fun business but manageable.

“I’m not a zombie,” said the little girl indignantly.

“Alright, yeah, guess we can see that now,” said Charles cautiously, she looked to be a living girl, zombies weren’t at all articulate enough to string together a sentence, so the fact that she could see them meant she was either of supernatural nature herself or been close to death. Considering how they’d found her bleeding in a dumpster he was betting it was the latter of the two.

“Do you require assistance?” asked Edwin in a slow cautious voice.

She crossed her arms and stared them down.

“We’re not going to hurt you, yeah,” said Charles softly, “we just want to help.”

“Why?” she huffed.

“We’re detectives,” started Edwin softly.

“So?”

“It is our job to help people,” responded Edwin.

“We can help get you home, yeah?” said Charles in a kind soft voice a friendly open smile on his face.

The girl glared daggers at them, “I AM HOME!”

“You’re in a dumpster,” retorted Edwin.

“YOU’RE NO LONGER WELCOME IN MY HOME!!!!” shouted the little girl. Suddenly, the dumpster lid came down and an awful wind barrelled into Charles and Edwin ramming into them hard pushing them out of the alley, landing them harshly on the ground.

Edwin and Charles exchanged looks of concern.

“What are the odds that that was only a really strong gust of wind?” asked Charles.

“About the same as that little girl being entirely human,” replied Edwin.

“I think we may have just found the source of all these random hexes and spells,” said Charles, looking into the alley at the dumpster where the little girl was hidden.

“I have to agree with you.”

“Things just got a tad more complicated, didn’t they?” asked Charles.

“I’d dare say so,” responded Edwin.

They regrouped back at their office discussing a game plan.

“Surely she doesn’t want to actually live in a dumpster,” stated Edwin.

“Depends on how bad her home life is,” commented Charles attempting to appear nonchalant and aloof.

“I can’t possibly imagine how bad things would have to be to prefer a dumpster than living with one own’s family,” commented Edwin.

“Yeah,” said Charles awkwardly, “maybe she was kicked out?”

“Who would possibly kick a little child out of their own home?” asked Edwin appalled by the very thought.

Charles swallowed nervously and looked away not wanting to reveal that when he was six his father had done just that after he’d broken a lamp while roughhousing around the house. Being told if he was going to act like a wild animal he could go live like them too. It had taken three days before his father simmered down enough to reluctantly let Charles back in the house.

“An absolute wanker I’d reckon,” replied Charles trying to school his features.

Edwin sighed, “I can’t see an easy solution to this mess.”

“What do you reckon she is? A witch or something?” asked Charles.

“I’ve never seen a witch that young before.”

“Well yeah, me neither, but it’s not like witches just pop into existence fully grown, we were bound to run into a child witch eventually,” said Charles, “do you think she knows all the chaos she’s causing?”

Edwin frowned, “unclear, she must know she has some powers but the rate and randomness of the spells she’s been casting suggests an overall lack of control.”

“Too bad we couldn’t like adopt her or something, save her from whatever she’s running from,” mused Charles.

“Need I remind you that we are the dead boy detective agency adding a living to the mix… it would invite all sorts of chaos neither of us is equipped to deal with.”

“I’m not saying we actually do it, I was just saying if her home life is so horrible she would rather live in a dumpster than return home we should try and help her out.”

“And how do you propose we help her out? Again, we are dead and she is barely out of infancy, we are even less equipped to deal with this than we would be if we got that puppy you wanted to adopt.”

“Okay, I don’t exactly have a plan, but maybe we should just talk to her, suss the situation out then decide how best to help her.”

Edwin made a face.

“We can’t not help her, you know that, right?”

“Yes! Of course I know that,” said Edwin, “I just am at a loss as to how we can be of assistance to her, who’s to say she’ll even want our help.”

“We’ll just go back there, talk to her and figure out the rest later.”

Edwin sighed, “fine but we should wait until morning, she may be more open to conversing with us if she’s gotten some sleep.”

They waited until mid-morning before leaving the office and returning to the alley and the dumpster where they’d found the little girl.

“Lid’s still on,” observed Charles, “do you think that means she is or isn’t still here”

“Maybe we should wait until-” started Edwin but he never got a chance to finish his sentence because Charles was pulling back the lid of the dumpster.

“Guess lid closed meant she’s in,” observed Charles as the lid loudly fell back, waking the girl.

Her eyes opened suddenly and she looked like a panicked feral beast. The cut in her arm had healed overnight but the rest of her looked as disheveled as before. She scrambled to her feet and Charles backed up to where Edwin was standing.

“You’re the mean boys from last night. Why won’t you leave me alone? What do you want from me!” said the little girl her voice fierce but Charles detected the fear underneath.

“We’re sorry if we scared you last night,” started Charles, “wasn’t our intention, right mate?”

Edwin nodded his head standing rigid as ever looking uncomfortable.

The little girl held her front; Charles heart broke at the slight tremble in her voice, “I’m not scared… of anything.”

“Right, well even if we didn’t scare you, we’re sorry for barging into your home without an invitation,” said Charles making sure to keep his voice soft and calm.

She scrunched her face up looking at Charles in an angered confusion.

“My name is Charles Rowland and this is my partner Edwin Payne,” introduced Charles.

“Pain? That’s not a last name, that’s a feeling why are you lying to me!?!”

“My name is spelt differently from the feeling, it is not the same word,” explained Edwin.

“Oh… why do you talk funny?”

Charles snickered.

Edwin gave the two of them a withering look.

“You’re all like proper and stuff it’s weird my brother would call you prissy,” said the little girl.

“Brother?” asked Charles, “Now there’s a twist.”

Edwin and Charles exchanged a look typically witches didn’t have siblings and if they did, they were almost always female.

“Well, he’s not my brother, brother we don’t have the same parent parents but I live with his,” she faltered, “lived with them… I was adop- adopted I think is the word they took me in.”

“Were they mean to you?” asked Charles cautiously.

“No, they are really nice,” said the girl smiling wistfully.

“Then what happened?”

“Nothing! I’m a good girl! I didn’t do anything!” yelled the little girl, “IT WASN’T MY FAULT!”

“What wasn’t your fault?” asked Charles cautiously broaching the subject.

“I just wanted to play,” said the girl practically on the brink of tears.

Edwin and Charles exchanged a look.

“We aren’t blaming you, we’re detectives, it’s our job to help people, and we want to help you,” reiterated Charles.

“I didn’t do anything! Stuff just keeps exploding around me!” she said tears starting to fall, “I’m not bad, I’m not! I’m a good girl.”

“No one’s saying you’re not, do you want to maybe come out of that dumpster?” asked Charles.

She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, “Chaotic things keep happening around me, I just want to be good.”

“You’re coming into your powers,” observed Edwin.

“What?” asked the girl through tear-stained eyes.

“What do you know of witches?” asked Edwin cautiously.

“Umm… they’re evil, have green skin and water melts them.”

Edwin double blinked, “Where on earth are you getting your information?”

“I saw it in a movie,” she replied.

“Wizard of Oz, classic,” supplied Charles.

The girl smiled her first real smile, “The cowardly lion was my favourite.”

“Cowardly lion?” asked Edwin mouthing the words.

“Nice, although I’ve always been partial to the scarecrow myself,” responded Charles.

Edwin looked at him as if he’d grown two heads.

“Mate, it’s a movie,” said Charles with a chuckle at the look on Edwin’s face, “they did have movies in your time, didn’t they?”

“Yes of course we did just none about scarecrows and lions.”

“What do you mean by your time?” asked the little girl confused.

“Ah see, Edwin here and I we’re ghosts but he’s been dead a lot longer than I have, died in 1916.”

“Woah,” said the little girl, “ghosts are real?”

“Yes of course we’re real and so are most supernatural entities you would’ve heard of,” explained Edwin.

“We actually think you may be a bit on the supernatural side yourself,” said Charles.

“Really?” said the little girl climbing out of the dumpster, “what kind? A fairy princess?”

“No,” started Edwin, “all our evidence compiled suggests that you are in fact a witch.”

The little girl started bawling her eyes out, “I don’t want to turn green!”

“Way to go mate, you just had to blurt that out, didn’t you?” chastised Charles.

“I was merely answering her enquiry.”

“Yeah, and if you’d been paying more attention, she thinks all witches are evil green skinned monsters.”

“I’m not evil,” sniffled the little girl, “I want to be good.”

“You can be, being a witch doesn’t mean you’re automatically evil,” assured Charles.

“It doesn’t?” sniffled the little girl.

“Not at all.”

“But then why does everything explode or turn weird when I get too close to it?” she asked sadly.

“You have no control, you’re just coming into your powers and you have no one to teach you restraint,” explained Edwin.

“Oh,” she said wiping her eyes, “do I stay here until I figure it out?”

“No, don’t stay in the dumpster, you should go back to your previous home with your brother and parents,” said Charles softly.

“But what if I explode them like I did the kitchen sink?” she asked teary-eyed, “I don’t want to hurt anyone, I want to be good.”

Edwin, surprising all three of them knelt down to the little girl’s level, “I have plenty of books on magic, if you want, I could let you borrow them.”

“I don’t know how to read,” she said tears pooling over again.

“Well, I can teach you,” offered Edwin.

Charles raised his eyebrows in surprise at the offer, both of sharing his books and of teaching the little girl how to read them.

“You can?” she asked her voice small and hopeful.

“Of course.”

“When can we start? It would be nice not being so afraid anymore,” admitted the little girl. Charles heart nearly broke at that, he knew exactly what it was like growing up afraid and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“Well how about right away? The sooner you learn restraint the better off everyone will be,” suggested Edwin, “we can have daily lessons until you get better control of your powers.”

“Okay, we can meet at my dumpster! Maybe in a week or so I’ll get to see my family again,” beamed the little girl.

“Wait hold on a tick are you planning on staying in this dumpster until you get your powers under control?” asked Charles.

“Where else would I stay?” she asked innocently.

Edwin turned to look at Charles and they had a silent exchange.

“What’s your name?” asked Edwin gently.

“Trinny, well everyone calls me Trinny my full name starts with a C I think.”

“Trinny is a lovely name,” encouraged Edwin.

Charles looked at Edwin in awed surprise at how gentle and kind he was being to this little girl.

“Thanks, my brother picked it out, I like it better than what it was before,” she said smiling.

“Well, Trinny, we have a proposition for you, how would you like to come stay with us until you’re able to contain your powers?” offered Edwin.

She crinkled her brows together, “but what if I accidentally explode you when I’m not focusing on lessons? Isn’t it better I’m alone until it’s sorted.”

“Well see the thing about Edwin and I, we’re ghosts, hard to kill because we’re already dead,” said Charles with a conspiratorial wink.

“Oh,” she said with a soft smile, “so I can’t hurt you?”

“Not easily,” informed Edwin.

“Then… I guess I could,” smiled Trinny.

Trinny ended up staying with them at their office for a little over two weeks where she spent most of her time with Edwin pouring over tomes with a determination that seemed years ahead of her five-year-old capabilities. Charles spent some of that time doing research for other cases, playing around with his football or pocket dimension. Trinny seemed particularly interested in that last part asking a million questions about his bag most of which he had the answers for. The majority of the time though Charles just liked watching Edwin interact with Trinny.

It was interesting seeing how soft and kind he was to her, how despite the fact that he bemoaned how messy she was while she slept Charles knew Edwin was going to miss her once she went back to her family. In the beginning Edwin would read aloud the books to Trinny, she, much like Edwin, was a quick study and was soon able to read the majority of the words only getting caught on the bigger ones. Edwin would still sometimes read aloud but as their time with her neared its end she became a more independent reader saying she wanted to practice so she could still read and study magical books while with her family.

There were only a few minor incidents during her tenor there: she accidentally hexed one of the least cursed versions of Clue they’d collected making it now their most cursed version, she exploded Charles’ football but he had a spare so there was no real loss it was more entertaining than tragic, she made the couch cushions dance when Charles had played some music one night, although he wasn’t entirely convinced it was on accident and somehow she even managed to turn Edwin blond for a moment, Charles thought it suited him but Edwin was not amused.

Overall things could’ve gone a lot worse for them. Trinny was smiling, happy and clean when Trinny declared she felt safe enough being around alive people once more. Charles didn’t just take her at her word, five-year-old’s were hardly the most reliable sources but Edwin too had signed off on her progress and since there hadn’t been any incidents since the bleaching of Edwin’s hair four days ago, Charles was inclined to believe them. It felt a little sad having her go, Charles had gotten accustomed to her presence and it was kind of nice having a living person around, even if it was just a five-year old witch with limited control over her capabilities.

When the time came Charles and Edwin walked her home. Trinny insisted on them holding both of their hands, Charles agreed with no issues and surprisingly, Edwin who always hesitated and refrained from touch too agreed with no complaints. He didn’t even give a half-hearted attempt at it, just held her hand as requested. Somehow Trinny had wormed her way into Edwin’s heart and it melted Charles to see it.

“This is it! This is it!” shouted Trinny excitedly as they approached a large manor at the end of the street.

“Yeah, you excited to go home?” asked Charles in a friendly tone.

“I think so… do you think they’ll still be upset that I destroyed everything and then ran away?” asked Trinny.

“No, I believe they will just be happy to have you back,” assured Edwin, “I doubt anyone could stay mad at you for long.”

Trinny beamed at that, “and don’t worry I’ll still keep studying I’ll be the goodest witch you’ll ever see!”

Edwin smiled fondly at her, “of that I have no doubt.”

“We’ll still study together, right?”

“Well, you do have one of my books, I will be needing it back eventually,” smiled Edwin looking down at her.

“And I can come give it back to you!” exclaimed Trinny excitedly.

“Exactly,” said Edwin, he then exchanged a look with Charles. Charles dug through his backpack to produce the book in question Edwin had given to Trinny to borrow and study from until they could meet up once again.

“For you my lady,” said Charles with a joking tone.

Trinny excitedly accepted it, “thank you for saving me from the dumpster.”

“Helping people is our job,” said Edwin.

“Maybe one day I’ll grow up to be a dead boy detective too!” beamed Trinny.

“That would be something,” agreed Charles not wanting to burst her bubble that being a dead boy detective required her to be a ghost and they’d rather she never become one. Edwin looked like he too wanted to correct her but just barely refrained himself.

“Now, go run along, I bet they’ll be so happy to see you,” assured Edwin.

Trinny smiled happily, “thanks. You’re my favourite teacher.”

With that comment Trinny waved them good-bye and skipped to her house she used her magic to unlock the door and ran inside yelling a happy greeting towards her family.

“Are you crying?” asked Charles noticing how shiny Edwin’s eyes had gotten staring after Trinny long after the door had shut.

“Don’t be ridiculous Charles,” retorted Edwin blinking his eyes several times and straightening his jacket and form.

“I’m going to miss her too,” revealed Charles in a soft soothing tone, he placed his hand on Edwin’s shoulder and squeezed it gently, a comforting reassurance that even though Trinny had to leave Charles never would.

A few weeks later Charles was sitting on the couch watching fondly as Edwin sat on the floor reading aloud a tome about the intricacies of magic to Trinny who was seated next to him reading over his shoulder. Trinny had taken to coming to the office and visiting them once a week. She’d apparently told her older brother about her experience with the dead boy detectives and while he didn’t understand it all he’d offered to ‘watch’ her once a week for a few hours and instead would take her to their office so she could continue her magical training and return awhile later to bring her back home.

Charles watched fondly as Edwin so patiently explained a magical concept to Trinny. A warmth bloomed in Charles’ chest, he could listen to Edwin talk and explain things for hours. Ever since they met Edwin’s voice had been soothing, a safe place to rest. It took Charles entirely too long to realize that Edwin and everything about him felt like what home was meant to be. It hadn’t even registered to him how deeply he cared for Edwin until he saw Edwin with all the care and compassion, he’d managed to hold onto throughout everything, teach Trinny how to control herself and her powers.

“You’re an amazing teacher, possibly the bestest in the whole world!” exclaimed Trinny as they said their goodbyes for the week.

“So amazing teacher,” egged on Charles with a teasing smile hours after Trinny had gone home, “high praise coming from a five-year old.”

Edwin rolled his eyes at the comment, “hardly the first time my teaching accolades have been praised.”

“Okay, I got to know, who else told you, you were an excellent teacher?” asked Charles because it certainly hadn’t been him. The one-time Edwin attempted to teach him a foreign language ended up in a yelling match and Charles vowing to stay away from all foreign volumes for the rest of his existence.

“My sister of course,” said Edwin with a wistful smile at the memory.

“Bollocks, since when have you got a sister?” asked Charles skeptically.

“Umm, since 1906 if I recall correctly, she would’ve been 89 this year,” said Edwin solemnly.

“Shit mate,” said Charles catching the past tense in his words, “I didn’t know sorry.”

“I also had an older brother but I don’t see the point in talking about those things since they were both long gone by the time I returned from Hell.”

Charles placed a supportive hand on Edwin’s shoulder, “we don’t ever have to discuss this again, but if you ever need to talk, I’ll listen.”

Edwin smiled softly at Charles; it gave Charles butterflies he did his best not to analyze.

The next week Trinny as per usual came over to learn about magic from Edwin. They were seated on the floor together cozied up in front of the book, Trinny was insistent on reading by herself this time. She claimed Edwin was only there to help her when she stumbled on the larger more foreign words. Charles looked over at them a soft smile on his face, his heart full enjoying the visual sight of Edwin’s inner goodness showing. It was something he usually kept hidden from most people, preferring to put on a prickly front keeping them at arms distance. Charles was glad to count himself as one of the lucky few who got to view this side of Edwin. The softer gentler side that took a confused, angry and chaotic witch child and tamed her powers teaching her self-awareness and how to use her abilities for good. He loved that side of Edwin.

Charles, paused for a moment, it wasn’t just the gentle side he loved, it was all of it the jagged razor-sharp wit and edged tone, how he was hesitant to trust but once he did, he put his whole heart into it. The unwavering faith he had in Charles and how he’d helped Charles see the good and make his last few hours alive the best he’d ever experienced. He loved every piece of Edwin and how they so easily slotted together in their lives. He’d never had that ease of friendship before.

The odds of Edwin escaping Hell right around the time Charles died, it seemed such an unlikely occurrence yet it had happened and meeting Edwin it had altered everything for Charles in the best way possible. Not only did he finally have a loyal best mate, Edwin had given him a purpose a cause to fight for and as the brawn of their operation gave him means to work out his aggression in a healthy way. Everything good in his life, it was all due to Edwin. Charles looked at Edwin in awe, he loved him so much it seemed unreal.

“What?” mouthed Edwin eyes glancing up and catching Charles watching him.

Charles shook his head and quirked a smile before ducking his eyes embarrassed at being caught, quite literally staring and daydreaming about Edwin.

Time passed by and Charles kept suddenly getting derailed by Edwin and how much he made him feel. Edwin would be in the middle of describing something in a case they were investigating and Charles would be distracted by his plush lips and wonder what it would feel like to kiss them, if it would feel like it had when he was alive, or would it be different since they were ghosts or would he even be able to feel it at all.

Edwin, Charles learnt had a bit of an aversion to touch so it was only on the rare occasion Charles touched Edwin, they were almost always wearing gloves or touching the material of clothing, he didn’t think they’d ever had any actual skin on skin contact to test whether or not ghosts could feel ghost skin. He wanted to test that theory but didn’t know how to go about it.

“Charles are you even paying attention?” admonished Edwin.

“Sorry, yeah what was that?”

Edwin rolled his eyes and attempted another explanation but Charles got distracted once more. This time by Edwin’s emerald eyes, getting lost in them.

“Honestly Charles, why do I bother,” huffed Edwin breaking Charles out of his straying mind.

Charles shook his head loose, “sorry mate, not sure what’s wrong with me today.”

“I’ll say you haven’t been so distracted since that bobble-head incident in ‘92”

“Oh yeah,” said Charles chuckling at the memory.

Edwin was stretched out on the couch leisurely reading a book, wearing only his button-up shirt. It was rare to see Edwin without his perfectly tied bow-tie, but Charles liked seeing Edwin so relaxed and care-free lounging on the couch feet across the cushions. Charles on the other hand was less relaxed. He was pacing about the room, side-eyeing Edwin thinking about how everyday for the past week he’d been getting distracted by Edwin’s mere presence and if he didn’t figure out what to do about it and soon it would start affecting their work. It probably already was but at least there were no new cases so his distractions had yet to be too much a hindrance.

Still Charles needed to sort himself out. Edwin was too smart to not notice Charles’ strange behaviour and Charles wouldn’t have an answer. The truth of ‘sorry mate got distracted by how handsome you look and what it would be like to kiss you,’ while honest would not be appropriate. They were friends, best friends and best friends were not meant to oogle each other and think impure thoughts about one another.

“Charles are you quite alright?” asked Edwin.

“What?” asked Charles pausing in his pacing.

“It’s just you seem like you have something on your mind,” said Edwin looking at Charles pointedly.

“I suppose I do,” admitted Charles.

“Do you… want to … talk about it?” ventured Edwin, setting his book aside. Charles made his way to the couch and Edwin swung his legs to the floor making room for Charles. As it was there was still barely any space between them their arms practically touching. Charles could almost feel his skin buzzing and realized it was a mistake sitting so close to Edwin but any attempt to rectify it would make things worse.

“I’d rather not but I suppose I should,” admitted Charles, “before it starts affecting casework.”

“Okay… is it… are you okay?” asked Edwin concerned.

“Yeah, I’m aces mate.”

“You don’t seem like it.”

Charles blew out a huff of breath, “I’ve just recently been thinking some things and I’m worried if you ever found out what your reaction would be.”

“Charles, I think by now it should be fairly obvious I’m not going anywhere without you, so whatever is bothering you we can work it out together.”

“You say that but like this could alter how you see me and I don’t want you to look at me with disgust or pity.”

“Charles,” said Edwin pulling Charles face towards Edwin hands cupping Charles face thumbs gently caressing against Charles skin. Charles brain almost shut down because he could feel Edwin’s hands on him feel the way his thumbs left tingles against the skin they stroked against, “nothing you could say would alter my opinion of you.”

Charles looked at Edwin breathless in a sensory overload as Edwin skin softly wandered over Charles, it was driving him crazy in the best possible way.

“Do you understand Charles?” asked Edwin.

Charles nodded his head because words were too hard to come by. Edwin smiled and let go of Charles and if he had a beating heart it would’ve stuttered or maybe stopped entirely. Charles stood up putting distance between them but Edwin was undeterred and approached Charles once more but this time thankfully didn’t reach out towards him.

“Charles, whatever it is you need to tell me, rest assured I can handle it.”

Charles smiled softly and lovingly at Edwin, he could do it, loving Edwin was easy like breathing air, telling him, it shouldn’t be so complicated. Edwin would never mock him for it or call him a degenerate, he knew that, but putting himself out there was difficult. Charles took a moment closing his eyes briefly as he inhaled and exhaled. Upon opening his eyes, he found himself gazing right into Edwin’s caring emerald eyes, the words easily flowed through him, “I’m in love with you Edwin.”

Edwin smiled a soft timid smile, “I… I … I find myself at a loss for words.”

Charles chuckled, “well there’s a first.”

Edwin found himself laughing along with Charles.

“Are we good?” enquired Charles he had his friendly amused smile in place but his undertone was serious.

“More than good, Charles I… I…”

“I didn’t tell you I was in love with you to have you say it back,” explained Charles sincerely.

“No, it’s not that… I find myself … I really wish I had time to prepare my words.”

“Do you want me to head out for a bit? Give you some alone time,” said Charles gesturing towards the mirror and making towards it. Edwin reached out and grabbed Charles’ hand the shock of the tingling electricity held Charles in place.

“Please don’t. Charles when I was in Hell – wait no too dark let me start again. All my life I had an expectation of how things would be, I didn’t necessarily like it or want it but I’d accepted that eventually I’d end up in a loveless marriage with a random woman and we’d go about our daily domestic routines, everything save planned and ordinary. Then I met you and you were the exact opposite of everything I ever imagined or could’ve dreamt up and I realized that all the pain and suffering I went through was worth it because it led me to you and I couldn’t imagine being parted from you. You are the opposite of what I anticipated for myself yet I find you are exactly everything I ever needed and wanted. Charles I am so in love with you half the time I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Charles smiled, “Yeah?”

Edwin nodded his head.

“Well, I have an idea on how we could start,” suggested Charles gently reaching out to cup Edwin’s face in his hands. They both leaned in two magnets drawn to one another and when their lips touched Charles heart swelled to bursting, the electricity behind their touches intensifying as they lingered and deepened the kiss fusing their lips together attempting to entwine their bodies and souls as their hearts had been so long ago.