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]

"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.

[catting]

Charles surely knows by now how much the Cat likes to watch him and Edwin kiss, how often he can be distracted from his own selfish desires in favour of simply watching them - or even, on occasion, using watching them as part of his own satisfaction, finding lazy, easy pleasure in seeing them enjoy one another; a glimpse into something he will never have nor understand. But he can replicate it well enough, so he bristles happily under Charles' confirmation, eyes falling closed as Charles performs Edwin's logical next step and brings their mouth together, then keeps him close with a hand against the back of his neck.

Edwin likes a little control, as the Cat well knows, but that enjoyment is only useful when there's something in need of bringing to heel, and though Charles will never taunt Edwin's more firm manner to the point where it could be considered taking advantage of his familiarity with the other ghost, the Cat has seen him get carried away countless times. That's the balance the Cat has yet to learn. How much is enough, how much is too much, how much will be forgiven and what will make Edwin pull away.

Baby steps, the Cat thinks, there's plenty of time to learn those steps to the dance. For right now, he focuses on Charles' mouth against his own, letting his mind wander back to the last time he'd watched them kiss -- curled on the couch with one eye open, feigning comfortable sleep as Charles leant down to where Edwin was sat at his desk, bringing their smiles together and letting his hand fall softly against Edwin's sternum. The Cat leaves one hand carding softly through Charles' curls as the other falls to his shoulder, fingers a constant pressure entirely unlike the flirtatious whisper of his own usual touch, and brings his hand round to press his palm to Charles' chest, over where he might find an eager heartbeat in a living boy.

[just_aces]

In truth, that balance of too-much-not-enough with Edwin was still something Charles was learning as well, and he didn't really have much more practice at it than the Cat did, maybe more by volume, but they'd been figuring it out for about the same length of time.

Not that Charles was thinking much about that at the moment, just returning the kiss easily, at least until that hand settled against his chest, and realization dawned that Edwin had been doing much the same to Charles as Charles had been doing to Edwin, because invariably that was right where Edwin would set his hand as well, even when it would logically be easier -and sometimes more comfortable- to have it sit somewhere else.

The realization, along with the touch in and of itself, were enough to draw a soft laugh from him, shaking his head before drawing his head back just far enough to actually focus on the Cat's face, despite the Cat's other hand still in his hair, and Charles' own hand still against the Cat's nape, "Right, well now we're both acting like Edwin, aren't we? And that's not going to be any help at all if we're both supposed to be acting like me to get his brain rattled off track."

[catting]

He feels a little burn of annoyance when Charles pulls away so quickly, before he even got a chance to sink fully into the pressure of the kiss, but it's soothed fast enough by Charles' soft little smile and the fact that Charles still has his hand at the back of his neck.

"Hmm," He says, narrowing Charles' eyes a little as he surveys the young man himself. "That would be a lot simpler if the two of you didn't have so much overlap. You've spent long enough living on top of each other that I can't tell which of you is responsible for which mannerism sometimes."

But... Well, now that gives him a little food for thought. He inhales, exhales, and with a flash of purple smoke summons a desk and an upright chair that don't exactly match the one sitting in the Agency office in London, but are a close enough approximation of them. Then, he backs up on the corner of it, shifting to sit himself there with one knee up and one knee hanging down, both thighs bracketing Charles' hips, pulling the ghost in closer. The desk might not be a perfect imitation, but the way the Cat is sitting certainly is, having surveyed Charles' brand of sprawl too many times to count.

"Alright then. Show me. If I get you like this on the desk while Edwin is out, what should I do next?"

[just_aces]

Charles hummed, something of an acknowledgement and something a little sympathetic, because he could understand the confusion at least. Truth be told, sometimes he didn't know which of them had picked something up from the other, either, at least with a few habits, of course he felt like he should know, but wasn't going to fuss about it either way.

His brows both arched at the addition of furniture, smile tilting easily back into place at the Cat's particular slouch, because that was something he could recognize as well even though he'd never truly seen it himself.

He shifted just a little closer, settling himself in a comfortable lean with one hip against the Cat's thigh, not to tip him off-balance, but just to press a little closer, "Well, if the desk's here, and the chair's on this side, that means the mirror's going to be there." A gesture with one hand to the side that the mirror would be on in the office, "So whatever we're doing, we'll want to angle that direction, at least a bit." The crooked smile returned, "Don't need to give him a whole show as soon as he makes it back, but definitely want to make sure he's seeing more than just the back of my head, yeah?"

He straightened up from his initial lean, one hand settling on the Cat's thigh just above his knee, the other catching at the front of his shirt to tug him just a little closer, "Hands in my hair's good," not just for Charles own benefit, but as a tactic to keep Edwin from thinking too hard, "make him a little jealous even if he's not sure which of us he's jealous of."

[catting]

The Cat may have Charles' body to parade around in and most of his mannerisms down to a convincing masquerade of the real thing, but he still has a Cat's curiosity, so the look he pins Charles with as the ghost surveys the layout of the desk and the estimated placement of the mirror is as sharply focused as it ever has been. He nods, shifting his body just enough that the foot he has propped up on the desk can lift and wraps around Charles' hip when he's prompted closer by the encouraging hand in his shirt. One hand obediently slides into the ghost's hair, while the other finds the little glint of gold from the chain hanging around his neck and pulls him closer in return, as if in retaliation to being pulled forward by his shirt in the first place.

"Whatever we're doing..." The Cat repeats, a faintly amused smile loitering around the very corners of his smile as his dark lashes lower, following his eye line down to Charles' mouth. "I'm sure it'll really rile Edwin up if we're just sitting here talking about what we're planning to do." The fingers in Charles' hair briefly tighten, half a tease and half a warning, as he tugs lightly on his chain again. Like yanking on a dog's leash.

"Is it weird making out with yourself? Is that what's got you so focused on the theory? Because you should know, I'm a very tactile learner."

[just_aces]

"That part's brills, actually." He replied, flashing another grin at the Cat, though it was lazier than it usually was, eyes going hooded at the hand in his hair, but not pulling away -or trying to, given the Cat's three-point hold on him- because it was the truth, he was having a great time so far and knew it would only be better once they let themselves get carried away, "I'm just trying to get more than part of a plan in place instead of acting on instinct like I usually do, that's all."

The grin went tilted as one brow lifted, leaning in just a little closer, "But maybe that's what's going to work best, yeah?" That particular 'yeah' was definitely a tease, given as how he was nearly close enough that his lips brushed the Cat's as he spoke, letting the hand not still curled in the Cat's shirt lift to slide through his hair instead, nails grazing his scalp, honestly curious to find if the Cat enjoyed the sensation as much as he did, but not actually waiting for a reaction before actually closing the space between them to claim another kiss.

[catting]

Charles' response makes him grin, because he thinks he'd also find making out with himself pretty spectacular, and is relieved that Charles seems to think so. Yes, he suggested this in the first place, but it wouldn't be the first time someone has liked the idea of something in theory but found it unsettling in practice.

He would, however, argue that letting instinct take the wheel is usually where all the fun lies, and is in fact one of his favourite of all of Charles' traits, but Charles conveniently distracts his mind from any rebuttal by getting his mouth nice and close, teasing with that lowered pitch he knows full well drives the Cat crazy with all those sharp vowels and lilting tones, and slides long fingers up into the cropped curls at the back of his head.

It makes sense that the Cat likes hands in his hair — or, if he's honest, hands petting any part of him — almost as much as Charles does, given that he's a Cat, but the soft gasp that escapes his mouth before it's claimed by Charles' own is reserved solely for the feeling of nails against his flesh. The Cat's other favourite thing about Charles is his readiness to be a little grabby, a little rough; always playful, never with the desire to actually hurt, but enjoying the feeling of a body that certainly won't break underneath his hands.

It makes it easy to rile him up, to get him to retaliate, to know what gets him going and to be ready to take the consequences. So, when Charles kisses him, the Cat King makes a groan that's half relief and half encouragement, tightening his hand in a mirror response as he wastes no time in deepening their kiss, scraping his teeth softly along Charles' lips.

[just_aces]

One of the few things Charles missed when kissing Edwin was the play of teeth, Edwin was more reserved about using them, and definitely locked up unpleasantly when they were used on him, and it was refreshing and delightful that the Cat seemed to enjoy bringing them into play just as much as Charles did himself.

Likewise the firmer grasp in his hair was enough to have his eyes going unfocused completely, a soft groan curling free from his throat in return, a similar pitch and timbre to the noise the Cat had just made, though that just made sense, given the givens.

The hand that wasn't tangled in the Cat's hair, scratching against his scalp was still curled in the front of his shirt, though he let go to skim it down around the Cat's side, nimble fingers tugging at the hem of that shirt so that he could get at warm skin underneath. He was amused as much as he was frustrated to find the singlet in the way as well, nipping at the Cat's lower lip, the amusement filling his tone, "Good job, got the layers right."

[catting]

"Well, the sight of it's pissed me off enough times that it's basically haunting me all on its own," the Cat murmurs against Charles' mouth, refusing to move back any further than that and risk Charles' chatterbox mouth deciding to rehash the whole conversation they'd hashed out when the Cat had last whinged about never getting to see the two ghost boys actually naked while he was often totally undressed within seconds of anything starting.

He pulls Charles in again with the two vantage points his hands have, but instead of just pulling him in so their mouths meet, he leans back even further than that, encouraging Charles to loom over him while the Cat gets his back flat on the desk. It's regrettably empty since he'd just poofed it out of thin air, but it delights him to think of Edwin's fussing were he to get his papers all mussed up from a heated makeout session.

[just_aces]

He was fully going to snipe back -mostly joking- that the Cat's arch-nemesis was an undershirt, but then he was being pulled more fully forward before he could actually form the words and he just rolled forward easily, hand releasing its hold of the Cat's hair to just brace flat against the top of the desk beside his head while the other continued working past fabric, skimming his hand around the Cat's side and then up along his ribs until he could actually get at a nipple, rolling it easily between thumb and forefinger.

Of course that was at the same time his head dipped to press a kiss to the underside of the Cat's chin, working around to the corner of his jaw and down the side of his throat even as he pinched a little more firmly, content to lose himself in the warmth of the Cat's skin against his mouth, at least for a little while.