I headcanon Charles' birthday as May 1, and when I asked the void what I should do for his birthday this year, @strawberryplottwist said I should put him in the blender. I had this headcanon percolating already, so I put my boy in the emotional blender, and turned it into an actual plot. This is set in season 2, after Charles teaches Thomas some self defence, and they have an accidental heart-to-heart.
Thomas batted the offered hand away, and gracefully slid up into a standing position. Boy was lucky he hadn't batted with his claws after that disastrous ‘lesson’. “I’m struggling to see what Edwin sees in you. How is it he fell in love with you of all people?”
He meant it as a blithe jab to make up for the lost fight, but for the first time since they met, the boy seemed to go completely still. Other than his expressions which changed too quickly to track, Charles was completely frozen, until he eventually said, “Edwin’s not in love with me.”
Thomas could only roll his eyes at that. “Oh yeah, ‘cause he’s just mooning over every man who comes around. He told me about his little confession. Sounds like minus the setting it was quite romantic.”
“Cat got your tongue? What, never had a guy like you before,” he couldn’t help but tease, as he leaned into the taller ghost’s space.
“That’s got nothing to do with it!” Charles took a quick step forward, but Thomas knew better than to stay in biting range of someone with a temper. He hopped back, just far enough that he could take a few swipes of his own if he felt like it. Unfortunately, ghostie didn’t seem to be playing. He had his face in one hand, and seemed to be forcing himself through some calming breaths, before he finally said, “I’m sure Edwin thinks he’s in love with me, but you’ll forgive me if I think the timing’s off.”
“Oooooh. Now doesn’t that sound interesting?” He couldn’t help circling around at that new tidbit of information. He could practically feel his tail swishing in curiosity.
“Just-” Charles himself turned, to keep an eye on him at all times. Here was a boy who was constantly in fight mode, it seemed. “Fine! Imagine for a minute you like someone.”
“I’m going to be picturing Edwin,” he replied, just to bother the other.
Charles only rolled his eyes, but he kept going anyhow. “Sure. Whatever. So, you like someone, and you flirt with them, just to test the waters. Maybe you lay it on a little thick ‘cause it feels like they might not get it if you’re subtle.”
“And you get nothing in response,” Charles replied in a deadpan.
“Boooo. Maybe you get nothing in response. My flirting is top-tier.” He stuck his tongue out. God, these ghost boys were making him act like a child now.
“Shut up,” Charles bit back without any real heat behind it, and started walking too, in a circle to counter Thomas’ own. “The point is, you swing and you miss, but even though he clearly doesn’t like-like you, he likes you as a friend.”
Thomas felt he was being very mature for not saying anything about how childish it sounded for someone in their 50s to say ‘like-like’. He was also doing a tremendous favour by not pointing out the pronoun change in their little story. That being said, parts of this were starting to hit a little close to home. “Okay, now this is starting to feel personal.”
“Trust me, it’s not,” Charles said, not quite hiding a sigh like he probably meant to. He seemed to recover quickly enough though. “But having him as a friend is brills! It really is. He’s super sharp, and wicked fun. And it’s not like having him as a friend is less-than, or settling or nothin’. Having him as a friend is honestly aces. Though maybe you still flirt with him from time to time, ‘cause it’s fun, and it doesn’t have to mean anything.” He shot a grin over his shoulder at The Cat King, and Thomas ignored his heart doing a tiny flip-flop. He was not falling for this kid’s lack of charm.
“Go on,” he breathed, attention rapt. They were so far past the hypothetical at this point, but Thomas wanted to see this car-crash to the bitter end.
“Now imagine living like that for decades. And you’re happy, and it’s genuinely fine. You wouldn’t trade his friendship for the world, even if you’ve been holding a torch for the guy basically the whole time. Now imagine someone else comes around. And for the first time in what feels like forever, you feel that spark of something again. It’s fun, and she’s just as fiery and brilliant as your best mate, but when you flirt, she actually flirts back. When she smiles it makes something inside you feel warm.”
“Oh, I bet I know what’s warming up,” Thomas winked
“Fuck off,” Charles flipped him off, but he didn’t stop. “Point is, for the first time, when you like someone, they actually like you back. And it’s nice to feel wanted, and you still have that best mate, and the world feels pretty fantastic.”
“But then the friend you’ve been in love with for thirty years sees you with someone else, and suddenly after thirty years of nothing that’s when they decide they’re in love with you?” The young ghost raised a brow at that, as if he expected Thomas to be equally incredulous. He just shrugged and carried on when The Cat King only stared back. “Like I said, the timing is just really suspicious. It might be a lot of things – might be that he just realised he likes blokes, and I’m here and I’m safe. Might be he was worried like maybe he thought he was going to lose me. Can’t say I wouldn’t be jealous too if he started spending more time with someone else. But that’s all it is. And like you said, we were in actual Hell and emotions were all over the place. Soon enough that big brain of his’ll settle down, realise I’m not going anywhere, and that there are other blokes out there. Blokes that read just as much as he does, and like more of the same things. Blokes that make him feel more than safe, or that he likes for more than because they happen to be nearby. Then he’ll realise he was never in love with me, and we’ll go on being best mates same as we’ve always done.”
The thing was, Thomas didn’t think Cranky here was pulling his tail. The kid actually believed what he was saying. And he’d certainly let on more than he probably intended in that hypothetical of his. He batted the words “the friend you’ve been in love with for thirty years” around his brain like a mouse in his paws.
A better man might try to force the kid to really analyse those thoughts. A worse man might take advantage of this kind of naivety for his own gain. After all if Charles wasn’t going to make a move, what was stopping him? But in the end, he was a cat, so he would lick his paws and bide his time and see what he felt like doing tomorrow.
“You think the friendship is really worth more than the chance of romance with him, then?” he asked, coming to a halt.
Charles stopped too, and finally looked directly at him. “I know it is. He sees you as a friend, Whiskers. Edwin doesn’t make a lot of those, so don’t be actin’ like it’s second place. It really is more than enough,” the boy stared him down, forcing his words into reality with conviction alone.
“I’ll have to take your word for it. Though like you said, no harm in flirting still from time to time.” Thomas winked.
Charles rolled his eyes, just as Thomas knew he would. But he was smiling too when he conceded, “I’d be a hypocrite if I told you not to, wouldn’t I?”
