Double Trouble for @catting

[just_aces]

It wasn't often that Charles went to visit Port Townsend on his own, nor, specifically, the cannery and the Cat that lived there. But this was a special occasion, and time-sensitive, and on top of that their initial uneasy truce on Edwin's behalf had become something far more than that, though Charles didn't particularly think there was a word for what they were now.

Regardless of any of that, it was mid-morning in Washington -and evening back home with Edwin and Crystal off to a holiday market- when Charles stepped out of the mirror in the corner of the warehouse dedicated to their comings and goings, with a greeting of: "Oi, Cat." And upon realizing that the Cat in question was currently holding court, possibly, it was hard to say if the array of cats was some sort of official business or if it was just the usual, he amended to, "Your highness. You have a minute?"

The thing was, Charles knew full well that the Cat was a shapeshifter, he'd seen it in action more than once, and it had been months since Edwin had told him what had happened at the lighthouse their first time in Port Townsend, and while his initial, knee-jerk reaction had been upset, that had only lasted a moment before turning to curiosity, and when his next question had been 'well was he any good at it? Being me?' which seemed obvious to him, but was apparently not so obvious to Edwin, given the answer was a confused 'I suppose not?' Charles had put the issue to bed, at least as far as Edwin was concerned.

He had, however, kept thinking about it, the beginnings and bare tap-roots of a plan starting to settle into his mind, and now with Christmas, and shortly thereafter Edwin's birthday -which Charles hadn't yet given up trying to get him to celebrate- on the horizon, it was time to see if the plan was even a feasible one.

Comments

[just_aces]

It was partly that he'd gotten used to it, and partly that of the two detectives, Charles was the one that was particularly touch-starved -not that Edwin wasn't in his own way but he was less likely to accept it without asking specifically first- and also partly to do with what he had planned. Or was attempting to plan. Either way.

At the Cat's response, half-correct as it was, Charles shook his head, smile tilting into place once more, that devious edge it sometimes took on in full view, "Nah, halfway there, but still not quite." He shrugged, exaggerated to the point of being almost comical, both hands spreading, "I just figure if you're going to try your hand at being me, you should get some practice in with the bloke who's going to know if you've got it wrong, yeah?"

A soft laugh followed, "Edwin'll figure it out, don't get me wrong, he's not stupid," and there was also the fact that the two of them had known each other for thirty-some-odd years as well- "but it's been a while since we've managed to properly melt his brain, figure this might just be the thing to do it."

[catting]

The Cat listens, the Cat understands, the Cat even nods his head along with what Charles is saying to communicate both of these facts... but the Cat had not, by any means, expected the conversation to go in this direction, and he gets that across by capping off his non-verbal agreement with a little incredulous mewl of laughter.

"You're a little freak, aren't you? I always thought it was the quiet ones, but it turns out the ones who bark the loudest can be just as naughty given the opportunity." Because, inescapably, wanting to sandwich your... boyfriend — or whatever he and Edwin are — between yourself and a mirror image of yourself is pretty freaky stuff. He doesn't stop playing with Charles' badges, enjoying the little tapping sound his claws make against it, and from this close he can study Charles' face properly.

"...I thought he hated it. Did he say anything to make you think he didn't when he told you?"

Far be it from him to pick holes in Charles' plan given that he's known Edwin the longest out of the two of them, but the Cat saw Edwin's expression when he transformed, and though it could have been down to the whole unrealised crush of it all, the Cat also knows how copy-happy Hell can be. Can Charles really be sure Edwin hasn't got some baked in reluctance to see more than one Charles running around, no matter the state of his undress?

[just_aces]

That initial question got an easy laugh from Charles, "Yeah, maybe a bit, surprised you ain't figured it out already, honestly." One thing being dead had given Charles was the perspective -and the means- to be as unrepentant about things like that as he wanted to be, though it had taken at least a decade to get there. So far as Charles knew, Edwin had only had to contend with copies of himself in Hell, which was why they weren't doing this the other way around, because Charles wouldn't have been able to handle it.

The actual question, though, had Charles shaking his head, "Didn't seem like it to me, nah, it was all," this was where he straightened, chin up and shoulders straight, steepling his fingers the way Edwin so often did, "'it was a shocking realization to be sure, and it was the circumstances of the thing that made it distasteful, you understand.'" It wasn't a pitch-perfect impersonation of his partner, but it wasn't meant to be, the same way it wasn't meant to be a mockery either, just the sort of mimicry that thirty-plus years of companionship tended to foster. Truthfully Edwin was just as good at mimicking him, it just didn't happen as often.

The stiffness was dropped almost immediately, giving a shrug, "He didn't say he'd have tried it on, but if he was against the idea he'd have said so, he just knows better than to bring it up where you can hear is all."

[catting]

The impression easily makes him laugh, because for someone who knows Edwin's intricacies only as broad strokes of the brush, there are certain mannerisms, like the straightness of Charles' spine and the positioning of his hands and feet, that scream Edwin but look frankly ridiculous on him.

"Mm-hmm, I'll bet he does. Little tease." He coos, finally leaving Charles' badges alone to tilt his hips and prop his hands on the waist of his skirt. "And, for what it's worth, I knew to a point what a freak you are, but I try not to figure out the length and breadth of everything there is to know about a person all at once. Keeps me interested. And everyone loves a good surprise, right?" The Cat grins, effortlessly communicating the fact that this is certainly a good surprise, that he's enjoying imagining it almost as much as he will inevitably enjoy performing it.

"You're not too bad at mimicry yourself. Are you gonna do me next?"

[just_aces]

"Yeah, makes sense." It had only been in recent memory that surprises had come to be good things, but he wasn't going to bring that up at the moment, there was no reason to, and he could certainly understand something that was functionally immortal needing to not learn everything at once, it was part of the reason he always had a project to work on when they weren't actively on a case, and he'd only been at it for a few decades.

He relaxed back a little, hands in his pockets as he gave a rolling shrug at the question, "Maybe sometime, not just yet." That crooked smile, "Not familiar enough yet to pull it off, am I?" Which probably said that he'd been observing, collecting mannerisms and turns of phrase even if he wasn't actively doing so.

He arched a brow, regarding the Cat again, "So, interesting enough idea to give it a go? Or should I stick with the old standby?"

[catting]

The Cat raises a slow eyebrow, smile turning bemused at Charles' reluctance to try it on.

"You know just where to bite or scratch me to get me off, but you don't know how to pull off an impression?" He makes a face, giving Charles a little push to that lapel before taking a step back himself, his gait suddenly changing from slinky feline sways of his hips to something a little sturdier, a little bouncier, the footfalls of his feet liable to break into a run at any moment.

"Modesty doesn't suit you, puppy. You'd likely be better at it than you think."

As he speaks, purple fire twirls around him starting at his feet and finishing at his head. There's no need for it to be this flourishing, the Cat is simply a show-off. Once the flames have died away, there's the perfect mirror image of Charles standing in his place, and that way of standing from earlier hasn't changed. The Cat has been observing, too, of course.

[just_aces]

He'd been about to playfully snipe back that knowing how to get someone off was a whole different arena than pulling off a believable impression, unless the impression was of them getting off, and that was something else again.

But before he could, there was that increasingly-familiar flare of purple flame and there was his own face staring back at him, which was a slightly less familiar sight, and that wasn't something he was actually going to think about too hard, instead just beaming that wide-open smile, "There he is." He shrugged then, "Like I said, Edwin's going to figure it out, we're just trying to increase the amount of time it takes him is all."

That smile tilted, gesturing loosely with one hand, "Go on, give us a spin." Not that he expected the Cat would have gotten any of the exterior wrong, not unless he'd done it on purpose, but Charles still wanted to see for himself.

[catting]

He's been around Charles enough to know the way he walks, the way he stands, the way he can't fucking sit still or always has to be leaning on something or sitting on a chair wrong. So, when he's told to give a spin, he crosses those thin but strong legs over, holding open both hands to be fully inspected as he obediently does as he's told.

Then, he sets off on a little walk around the original flavour Charles, reaching out a leather gloved hand every now and again to annoyingly poke and prod the ghost as he talks.

"I can probably imitate your voice if I really concentrate on it," he says, not bothering to do it now because he's not trying to trick anyone, so there'd be no point. "It takes a little practice to get the cadence right, but I figure if I just end every sentence with yeah, I should be right on the money-" And then, because he's nothing if not thoroughly annoying, he caps his question with a smart-mouthed little: "-Yeah?"

[just_aces]

He snorted at that, "Oi, it's not every sentence, yeah?" This was followed a beat later by realization, hanging his head with a quiet: "Fuck." He was laughing about it almost immediately, however, "Right, so maybe more of them than I thought it was gonna be."

He shook his head then, brushing that aside, "Don't matter anyway does it? Be a dead giveaway on its own that would. Besides, not like we're actually trying to pull one over on him, that'd be a different tactic." Truthfully one of the best weapons in the Cat's arsenal of being able to mimic Charles' speech patterns was just scattershot points that were mostly -but not entirely- on the topic at hand. Sure, Charles could focus on one thing at a time, and often did, but even he knew he had a habit of talking around the point with various other statements as often as not.

[catting]

Charles' blunder makes the Cat laugh, a head thrown back kind of laugh that could very well be imitating the way Charles laughs when something really tickles him, or could just as easily be a Cat-ism. They do have some crossover, after all.

"Mm, maybe not, but I like the sound of your voice when you say dirty things, so I'm sure it's gotta have at least a similar effect on someone who's actively in love with you, archaic sensibilities or no."

He comes to a stop before Charles, about to do that thing he does where he lounges in place despite having nothing to lounge on, before remembering what his face looks like and what the point of all this is — instead straightening a little and folding his arms over his slender chest.

"So, what is the tactic here? I look like you, passing grade in that class. What's next?"

[just_aces]

"Definitely works, yeah, but here's the thing, he likes hearing you talk too, not that he'd ever admit it without prodding, and mostly as long as you remember when to stop talking." His smile twitched back into place, "But that's me, too, innit?" He flapped a hand in front of his face, knocking that line of conversation aside in favor of answering the Cat's question.

"Look, I know I just said the plan wasn't to pull one over on him, but it is to keep him from overthinking everything like he does, see if we can't knock him off into just reacting instead of planning three steps ahead of us." It was probably only one or two steps ahead, it just seemed like three most of the time, "Which he can do when it's you and it's me because that's two different reactions to process, yeah?" He shrugged, "So looking like me ain't going to be enough, going to have to move and react like me, too, a little, anyway. Enough like to throw him off a bit."

Charles was well aware that that could backfire and having both of them reacting the way he did would just allow Edwin to plan even further ahead, but he was pretty sure it would be enough to hamstring him in the best way.

[catting]

The comment about Edwin liking to hear him talk, however throwaway it might have been and despite the fact that he knows it's true and is well aware of how Edwin finds odd delight in the Cat's easy manner of just saying whatever it is that he's thinking or feeling, makes him feel strangely flustered for a moment, to the point where he forgets that he's supposed to be Charlesing right now, and instead does that huffy look away and back thing he does when someone calls his bluff. It's halted before it gets too embarrassing, though, by what Charles says next.

"Aaah," He muses, tapping one of his fingers, long and slender like Charles' are, to his temple; imitating the way he's seen Charles communicate without words when he understands something. "So we're not trying to get him to believe he's in a Charles sandwich, but giving him the opportunity to lose himself in the fantasy of it."
He nods, slowly, gaining speed and eagerness as the idea starts to settle and then take root in his devilish little kitty brain.

"So, what's my training montage look like?" He asks, smile suddenly turning a bit more catlike, golden eyes trailing Charles' mouth for a moment. "Gonna see if I can kiss like you can? I think I've got that down already, but I'm happy to prove it."

[just_aces]

"Exactly that." He agreed with a nod, "Give him what he didn't know he wanted and wouldn't think to ask for even if he did." Because that was just it, any time they could get Edwin fully -or even just mostly- invested in the game at hand were generally the best times.

He raised a brow at the declaration, "You think so? You know how I kiss you, don't kiss Edwin the same way now do I?" Which he knew was something the Cat might have observed and filed away for later, his brain was -apparently- just as full of potentially useful information as Edwin's was, it was just useful in a different kind of way, "Don't nip at him the way I do you, for one." He also had a habit of taking things a little slower in general when it came to Edwin, even if it was just a kiss, telegraphing his movements a little more clearly than he did for the Cat.

He lifted his right hand, wiggling his fingers a little, "Usually keep the right one on him somewhere." That was something he had no doubt that the Cat had noticed, even when Charles was using both hands in some manner, the right stayed in contact even while the left could move to do something else, "Always starts with a one-two-three." He added, because that was something he wasn't sure if the Cat had picked up on yet, if only because it wasn't the exact same timing each time.

"S'shoulder," His fingers landed lightly on the Cat's shoulder, slipping down his arm to curl under his elbow, drawing him just a fraction closer, "Elbow." He drew his hand down the Cat's forearm then, fingertips sliding along his palm before lacing his fingers between the shapeshifter's, "Hand. One, two, three."

[catting]

The Cat has a retort lined up to counter Charles' claims with the reminder that the Cat has watched the two ghost boys kiss plenty — and even that he has a particular enjoyment for it, though it's nothing compared to either of them kissing him, obviously — and that he's well aware of Charles' need to restrain his bites for the partner who likes them... but then Charles is raising his hand, and like a cat focusing in on the flashing light of a laser, he shifts his gold focus there instead.

He had noticed that Charles always liked to have a steadying hand on Edwin somewhere when they were intimate, but he hadn't realised it was always the right one, and he also hadn't realised there was a reason or a pattern to it. He'd kind of just assumed Charles liked to touch because he's a touchy guy, and who wouldn't want to have their hands all over someone who looks the way Edwin does — especially if touching one another is one of the few times the ghost boys can feel anything.

And, speaking of feeling: the touch Charles applies to his shoulder and arm and finally his hand feels... strangely nice. It's grounding, in a sense; giving each body part enough time to grow used to the feeling before it amps up to something else, something more meaningful than a simple shoulder touch. He nods, then raises his free hand to Charles' lapel again, only this time instead of toying with the badges, he places the flat of his palm against it.

"Chest," He says, then slides his hand up, fingers brushing the wool of Charles' coat until they can curl around his collar. "Shoulder," Then he slips his fingertips against Charles' throat, just under his ear, before swiping them forwards to gently hold his jaw. "Jaw."

And then, because he can't resist a tease, he caps it off with a smirk and a little added: "Yeah?"

[just_aces]

If the Cat brought it up, even in passing, Charles would agree that yeah it was probably at least partly because he was a tactile bastard when it came right down to it, but at the same time it wasn't only that.

He couldn't help but laugh softly at the Cat's wandering hand, tilting his head into the hand on his jaw as he generally did, "That's all well and good, yeah, but my point is that it's always that same three to start, same order. It's like..." His brow furrowed then, "Sounds bad if I say it's conditioning, don't it?" Though that was, technically, what he'd been doing, "It's just... you know, so he's got a chance to back off if that's not what we're doing," or rather if that wasn't what Edwin was doing, "or let him know what's coming, that it's okay to relax, right?"

He was hoping he was making sense, though he wasn't sure he was explaining it well.

[catting]

He tilts his head in a silent oh of understanding that's a little bit Cat and a little bit Charles. His understanding hadn't been far off - that Edwin needed time to know where they were going to before they got there - but knowing that it's always the same three also makes a lot of sense given how fussy Edwin could be; too much of a difference could easily lead the ghost astray if one of those preparing movements happens to be something he doesn't like, or something that makes him think the action is leading elsewhere. Familiarity. Repetition. Certainty. Those are all things that work much better with Edwin's manner than spontaneous unpredictability ever did. The Cat can attest to that.

"Got it," The Cat says, nodding his head and resuming his slouch but not before giving Charles' chin a little pinch with his fingers. "But, if we're plotting strategy here, I'd hope Edwin would already be aware where this is going if you've already done that. Me doing it a second time will be a little redundant." Lighbulb. He raises Charles' dark eyebrows, cat eyes sparkling. "Unless you want me to start things off?"

[just_aces]

Honestly Charles hadn't been thinking quite that far ahead, or to quite that fine a point, but as soon as the Cat suggested it, he couldn't help but smile, because that kind of thing was exactly why he'd come to the Cat with this idea in the first place, because he knew the shapeshifter would build on it in the best of ways, "Best way to get him invested in the game, innit?"

He shrugged, angling his head up a little at the chin-pinch, "He's going to know I told you." His brow creased just a little, "If he's even sorted out that's what I'm doing in the first place." He had to believe that Edwin had figured it out probably the second time he'd done it, but had known it for sure by the third, but there was also no way to ask 'hey have you noticed that I've been gently conditioning you since we started shagging?' without sounding like an absolute crazy person, and that was definitely something he wanted to avoid.

He shook his head, brushing that particular thought spiral aside before he could really sink into it, "He's got to have figured it out by now, he's not stupid. Same way he's going to know we're planning something just as soon as he comes back to the office to the two of us." Another soft laugh, "Honestly he's probably going to be suspicious just because it's going to be obvious we planned something together." They definitely weren't as adversarial as they had been at the beginning, and most of their sniping was as a tease now rather than actual intent, but that was all the more reason for Edwin to be suspicious of them.

[catting]

"Well, it's a good thing we both think he's cute when he's trying to figure something out, then, huh?" The Cat tightens his eyes - or, rather, Charles' eyes - studying the way he moves his head, the way his eyes dart around as he speaks, the angle of his mouth when he laughs. All details he's seen before, admired before, but details he's paying a lot more attention to now.

"The most important play here is to not let him get too carried away doing that, though, right? If you give me some pointers, then even if he's figured out what we're up to, he might still be caught off guard enough to not use all of that big brain at once."

He isn't great at future planning, preferring to see what feel right in the moment, but he has a particular skill when it comes to spinning fantasies, and it's as easy as breathing to summon up a fantasy about seducing Edwin wearing Charles' face.

"If I'm the only one in the room when he first arrives, that might give us a little more time..." That eradicates the problem of Edwin gaining the upper hand before they've had a chance to make their move, and the Cat doesn't mind crossing that particular bridge by himself, at least at first. "You can walk in once I've got him going, unless you think that'd freak him out."

[just_aces]

"That'd be a real good way to get somebody fireballed in the face, and probably you, because he'd know me at thirty paces even with a doppelganger right on hand." He considered for a moment, "Could do it right after the office holiday party, which obviously you're invited to, as a part-time member of the office team." He shook his head before he could let himself get distracted with that, just continuing his explanation, "He'll walk Crystal home, usually does if she's stayed late for something, and he'll mirror back, which would give us about twenty minutes to get set up."

A thoughtful sound, still holding the Cat's hand on one side, thumb sliding over his knuckles, "Could time it so he walks in on us snogging, that'd get him using his brain but definitely not all of it before we can pounce." A twitch of a smile at the word choice, "As it were. And that'd be enough for him to know it's not me being attacked by something, give him enough of a chance to deduce that it's obviously you, but not enough time to second-guess whether he's supposed to be there."

[catting]

He hadn't been married to the idea, and the thought of being fireballed certainly isn't his favourite, so he lets it drop. Him seducing Edwin in any capacity is often a structured thing, built around Charles if not including him specifically, so he really shouldn't be surprised either way.

The mention of a Holiday Party has him raising his eyebrows, not only because the idea of Edwin having any part in anything considered a party is a surprise (it had to be Charles' idea initially, right?) but also because of the thought that he might be invited to it. He's not modest, never under any strict governance to not go where he isn't wanted, but the idea that a place has been made for him at an occasion like that, even out of politeness, is plainly surprising. And even if the mental picture summoned in his little kitty mind at the word party is no doubt a far stretch from what their office party will actually end up being, he finds himself weirdly excited by the prospect. God, he's pathetic.

Thankfully, Charles' thumb across his fingers and the direction of his reply gives the Cat something to focus on that isn't the fact that he can't remember when he was last invited somewhere, and he grins. Not only at the word choice.

"I can't believe you brought up making out before I did. I'm turning domesticated." He makes a face, scrunched up nose and tight little eyes, which looks feline on his face but strangely childish on Charles'. "Obviously, I like the sound of that. Am I supposed to kiss you like I'd kiss you then, to make it obvious?" A not at all subtle glance at Charles' mouth. "Or do I need some lessons so that I don't give it away?"

[just_aces]

"Hardly domesticated if you're still asking questions like that." He replied with a laugh, "But figure that's the kind of thing we'll just have to take as it goes, yeah?" A shrug, hand sliding up the Cat's wrist again drumming his fingers as he went, truthfully enjoying the warmth of the Cat's skin, as he usually did, "Couldn't hurt to practice, though, just so we know you can swap tactics and all."

And maybe it was an excuse -as if Charles actually needed one- to get a feel for the difference himself, too, "We won't have much time for the actual snogging, since we'll have to clear space first, fewer things for him to worry about when he gets back means he'll be more amenable to join in like."

[catting]

"Domesticated is asking questions, puppy. If I were feral, I'd have kissed you without asking." He says simply, but with the kind of expression that illustrates the fact that he's really considering doing just that. Especially and, if he's honest, only because Charles more than likely wouldn't push him away. At least at first.

The fingers up his arm make him bristle with interest, nerves alight with sensation and delight, as they always are when someone is touching him. He smiles, pleased by Charles' returned interest and taking a single step closer, with every intention to make good on that offer until he realises he's purring.

"Ah," he says, pursing his lips a little, using the moment of pause to sliiiide his arms around Charles' neck, delighting in how different his limbs look, how nice his hands are - those long fingers - as he slides them into Charles' hair. When he speaks again, he dips his voice a little, rounding the vowels; an approximation of Charles' voice if not a perfect imitation just yet. "Need to be careful of that, don't I?"

[just_aces]

"Yeah, suppose you do." He replied, tilting his head, nearly a shrug, even though he'd still tilted his head up into the fingers in his hair, because that was -after all- one of the easiest ways to distract him, but he was holding steady for the time being, even though his own voice had dipped a little, "Well that's just bloody unfair, that is."

It wasn't even an objection, just a quiet, half-teasing statement of fact. He had definitely picked up on a couple of ways to distract the Cat, or at least draw his attention, but it seemed like the Cat had already picked up on all of his, much the same way Edwin had, which wasn't actually as distressing an thought as it should have been, the two of them having something like that in common. Likewise the fact of just how quickly the Cat was absorbing his mannerisms to use them back at him, that also just made sense.

While the hand that had been at the Cat's wrist had fallen away when the shapeshifter lifted his arms, that just meant that Charles could plant both hands on the Cat's hips to tug him just a little closer, something that he did with both the Cat and Edwin, when he could.

[catting]

The Cat goes where he's pulled, never one to back down from a partner being a little forward, even if this is very much the definition of a little. Charles is rougher with him, a bit more demanding, a bit more selfish, because he knows the Cat likes him like that, and Charles no doubt gets a kick from being able to let loose a little more than his typical partner might allow, but... But this isn't about the Cat, is it? This is about Charles, what Charles does, what Charles likes.

Charles likes to make his partners happy — gets off on it, even — but when his partner is, in a way, himself... what would that look like?

"Don't bitch, puppy. It's not unfair, I just know what I'm doing."

It's something that fuels the Cat's thoughts as he firms his fingers in Charles' hair, raking blunt fingertips over his scalp before meandering up to paw through the longer curls at his crown. Slowly, he leans in, chin tilted up, lips slightly parted in an easy grin, like the one Charles sometimes has on his stupidly attractive face when he leans in to kiss the Cat when he knows full well how the slowness will piss him off and make him even more eager.

[just_aces]

That smile was one Charles knew well, though he hadn't actually seen it in an age -and that was something he was trying not to think about too hard, just how strange it should be to see his own face again, because it wasn't just as much as it was -both strange and his- and it was just far, far easier to roll with the situation at hand, one that he felt control of rapidly slipping his grasp.

Not that he was going to complain about that, not really, he'd already known that if the Cat agreed they were probably going to have to make time for a couple sessions, especially since he knew how easily distracted they both were.

He made a quiet, pleased, sound in his throat at the scrape of nails against his scalp, the frustratingly-fleeting tension at his crown, and then that tease of a kiss, which was enough to get a soft huff of a laugh out of him, voice a near-drawl against the Cat's lips, "That's definitely how to kiss Edwin, to start with." One hand slipped up to catch hold of the Cat's -his?- jaw in the same way that Edwin so often did to Charles himself, hold solid enough for the time being, keeping him in place to deepen the kiss, hand sliding away around to the nape of the Cat's neck as he did.