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It was late Saturday afternoon, and the four members of the Dead Boy Detectives Agency were huddled in the office, playing board games.
Normally, at this time of the day, they would be welcoming potential clients and listening to their problems and grievances. Or they would be knee-deep into a case or another, somewhere at the other end of London.
But not today.
Today, the office was closed. Actually, it had been closed since the end of their last case, yesterday. Which was unusual, to say the least.
You see, three out of the four members of the Agency would be quite partial to a few more days off a year.
("Some of us actually need to sleep you know?"
"Charles doesn't need to sleep."
"Doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good nap once in a while, do I?"
"The fact that you can "nap" at all is still one of the greatest mysteries I've encountered in my hundred years of existence...")
Sadly for them, the fourth member, in addition to being dead, is a "bossy workaholic who doesn't take no for an answer and is physically incapable of relaxing."
("Of course I'm "physically incapable of relaxing" Crystal, I do not have a body anymore."
"Oh, shut up Edwin.")
Which is why the Agency has barely been closed a few days a year ever since its opening more than 30 years ago.
But even the dead can’t go on forever without a break it would seem.
Since they are beings of pure energy, ghosts do need to rest and recharge if they exhaust themselves too much.
Which is exactly what happened to Edwin on their last case.
Now, obviously, Edwin has a lot more spectral energy and is way sturdier than your average ghost, but he does have a limit, just like everyone else. And it just so happens that a few weeks of round-the-clock investigation, culminating into the casting of an incredibly powerful and unfamiliar spell, while simultaneously trying to contain an angry 200-year-old undead wizard was what it took to cross Edwin's line.
Who would've known?
Once everything had been over and the wizard was reduced to dust once again, Charles had explained to the girls - who had freaked out a little when Edwin had suddenly transformed into a softball-sized floating orb of light - that when ghosts exhaust themselves too much, they revert to their most basic form (aka an orb made of pure soul energy) to recharge.
"It’s like… shutting down every nonessential system so that we don't lose what little energy we have left and so we can build our strength back faster," he’d said, cradling the softly glowing orb in his palms like it was made of fine glass that would break if not handled carefully enough, "It’s the most efficient way to recharge, but it’s also our most vulnerable state since we’re only partially aware of what’s going on around us and we can’t defend ourselves."
Of course, this meant that Charles wouldn’t let Edwin out of his sight for a second, and also that he wouldn’t leave the safety of their office.
Even though he had assured them that it would only take a day or two for Edwin to be back to normal and that he would be perfectly fine during that time, Crystal and Niko had still decided to keep him company (no matter what Charles says, they know that he gets restless when he's stuck inside for too long… and lonely when he's left to himself... and sad when he's apart from Edwin for more than a few hours - Well, this time Edwin’s technically there but it’s not the same).
So that’s how they’d ended up raiding the girls’ apartment last night for all the blankets and fluffy pillows they could find, coming back to the office and moving all the furniture against the walls to make room to build a pillow fort.
("This way, Edwin will be even MORE protected!"
Crystal was about to retort that pillows and blankets would do very little to protect anything, but Charles' blinding smile and the childlike excitement that lit up his entire face made her swallow her words.
"You know what Niko? That's a great idea."
Anything to keep that look on Charles' face.)
Although “pillow fort” seems like a weak term for what they’d ended up building… pillow castle would be more appropriate.
The thing was HUGE.
It stretched on all sides to engulf almost the entirety of the office, the numerous sheets composing it attached to bookcases or the ceiling itself, supported here and there by DIY pillars made out of whatever Charles could find in his bag that would do the trick.
The inside was softly illuminated by fairy lights (Niko’s idea), and it was closed on all sides except one, left open to face the office’s entrance, where they’d spread and hung up a white sheet so that they could use Niko’s new projector to watch movies.
The entirety of the floor inside the fort - apart from two small spaces where they’d put up tables for the girls' snacks and the stack of board games they took out of the closet - had been transformed into a pillow pit where they could all lounge comfortably, including Charles and his long legs.
The sea of pillows and blankets had culminated in a little throne-like mound in the middle, where they’d plonked Edwin so he could "watch" the movies with them (though he'd ended up spending most of his time in either Niko’s or Charles’ laps, even coming to nestle on Crystal's head at some point.
"I think he sees your hair as some sort of nest!", Niko had said after a while, which had caused Charles to burst out laughing and Crystal to swat at the little orb, insulted, until it had floated back to its makeshift throne).
Charles' delight hadn't abated in the slightest the entire time it had taken them to build what could be considered a small building into their office.
"This is brills!" he’d exclaimed for the, what? 25th time? Crystal had stopped counting after the 10th utterance.
He'd been holding in place one of the sheets so Niko could tie it up, almost vibrating on the spot in his efforts to stand still, "I haven’t done anything like this since I was like… seven years old? Maybe eight?"
"A pillow fort or a movie night?" Crystal had asked, unable to hide the fondness in her voice, amused by her friend's childish enthusiasm. He sure had looked like an 8-year-old in that moment, and his seemingly infinite energy and joy had been contagious. Even Edwin, who’d taken residence on the couch's backrest when they’d started moving things around the office to make some space (he'd tried to hide behind the couch but Charles had freaked out and plucked him onto the backrest, enveloping him into his long coat for reassurance, asking him to stay where he could see him), seemingly wary of all the activity surrounding him, had ended up perching himself on Charles’ shoulder at some point in curiosity.
Charles had then started talking to him, narrating what they were doing, asking for his opinion, simply keeping up a constant stream of comments.
And while Crystal knows that in their orb form ghosts aren’t fully aware of what’s going on around them and can’t really communicate, she’s sure that she has seen the little ball glow brighter or press itself in the crook of Charles’ neck in answer to some of the questions and comments.
Adorable.
"Both!" Charles had answered enthusiastically, bringing Crystal back to the present, "When I was a kid, I had this friend, George, whose dad had an electronics store, so they always had the coolest new stuff before everyone else."
Niko had finally finished tying up the sheet, so he’d turned to face Crystal, his now free hands moving around a hundred miles an hour, his eyes sparkling.
"They had a VCR, which was still really expensive back then, so I’d go to his place and we’d build a pillow fort - well, a pillow tent compared to THIS," he'd gestured towards the giant structure of sheets with a laugh, "and his dad would rent movies for us to watch."
"That’s so nice!" Niko had said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Why did you guys stop doing that if you liked it so much? Did your friend move out of town or something?"
Charles’ hands had suddenly stilled. "No, no, we, uhm... we…" he had stuttered, his smile slowly falling and his brow furrowing in concentration as he'd tried to remember.
After a few seconds of silence, he'd brought his hands together in front of him, rubbing one thumb in small circles against his opposite palm, eyes fixed absently to a spot on the floor in front of him.
Worried about the sudden shift in her friend’s demeanour, Crystal, who had been working on the projector, had fully turned around to face Charles, exchanging a glance with Niko.
"Charles?" she had said, gently, "You okay over there?"
He had nodded absently, his eyes still on the floor, not seeming to have understood what she had said, only answering instinctually to her voice.
His thumb had started rubbing a little harder against his palm, giving away his agitation.
But before Crystal could get up and ask what was wrong, she had seen the little ball of light come out from behind Charles.
Seeming to have sensed his partner’s distress, Edwin, who’d resorted to floating behind Charles after he’d started flailing his arms around too much for the small orb to be able to balance on his shoulder, had slowly approached... and squished himself against Charles’ cheek.
That had seemed to be enough to bring the younger ghost back from whatever dark corner of his mind he’d gone to, and he’d blinked a few times in surprise, his eyes finally refocusing, before smiling that soft smile he only reserves for Edwin - the one that’s so full of fondness and warmth and love - gently cupping the orb in his palm and squishing it a little harder against his cheek before letting it go.
"Yeah," he'd answered, finally processing Crystal's question. He sounded choked up. "Yeah, I’m fine. My, uhm, my dad didn’t like me going to Georgie’s place. Said his family was a bunch of snobs who liked to flaunt their stuff in our faces to show how much money they had."
Wincing, he'd added, "I tried to tell him that they weren’t rich, that they only had all that expensive stuff because of the electronics store, but… he- he didn’t really like that answer, did he? So, he just… forbade me from seeing George and I never went back to his place after that."
Crystal’s heart had clenched painfully at Charles’ crestfallen expression and suddenly, she had known without a doubt that his dad hadn’t just forbade him from seeing his friend that day…
God, if she ever put her hands on that man, she would make what she did to David seem like a slap on the wrist in comparison…
But before she could think of all the torture she was going to make Mr. Rowland endure in detail, Niko had ducked under one of the sheets to get to Charles, slamming her smaller frame into his, wrapping her arms around his middle.
"I’m sorry that your dad forbade you from seeing your friend. That must’ve made you really sad," she'd hugged him harder, hiding her face in his vest, "and I’m sorry for asking about it. That must’ve made you really sad too…"
Charles had looked down at her in surprise, before wrapping his arms around her and gently tucking her head in the crook of his neck to rest his chin over it.
"Hey there, none of that. You couldn’t have known, could you?" He’d said softly, his big brown eyes unmistakably shiny, reflecting the glow of the fairy lights, "and that was a long time ago anyway. Now, I have you lot to make pillow forts and watch movies with, don't I? And I’m happier than ever!"
Ungluing Niko from his torso, Charles had put his hands on her shoulders, bending down slightly to encourage her to meet his eyes, before adding with a genuine smile, "This is a happy night. For the first time in thirty years, I’ve got people to help me watch over Edwin while he’s resting and to keep me company until he turns back into his normal self."
He’d then shook the girl playfully in his grip, making her giggle softly, before saying in mock seriousness, "New rule! No one’s allowed to be sad in the pillow fort or they get kicked out for half an hour!"
Niko had looked at him with big, concerned eyes, and with (very real) seriousness had said, "But what if we’re watching a sad movie??"
Charles, after making a big show of thinking about it for a few seconds, had finally nodded at her. "Okay, we can make an exception for sad movies."
As Niko had sighed in relief, Edwin coming to rest on the crown of her head, Crystal couldn’t help but laugh.
God did she love her weird friends.
After that, they’d spent the night catching Charles up on all the Star Wars movies he'd missed in the last 30 years.
("Why the hell couldn’t they hire better script writers?" He'd exclaimed indignantly after they'd finished the second trilogy. "I mean, the fight scenes were awesome, so much more fast paced than in the originals, but GOD, the dialogues were AWFUL.”)
By the time the last movie of the third trilogy had finished, both girls had been fast asleep, cuddled together under a mountain of blankets, and Charles had lowered the volume, settling to watch whatever movie or show Disney would automatically start after the credits, the little orb tucked into his jacket.
When Crystal had woken up this morning, after a few hours of sleep, Charles had been playing absentmindedly with a Slinky that he'd pulled up from who-knows-where, sitting cross-legged in front of the makeshift cinema screen, engrossed in an animated series that Crystal didn't recognize but that still seemed to take place in the Star Wars universe.
She had been in the middle of figuring out how to disentangle herself from all the blankets and Niko's vice-like grip when she'd noticed the warm ball of light, squeezed between the two girls, pulsing slowly.
Probably because of the prolonged close contact, she had realized that she could faintly feel the echo of Edwin’s soul.
He had been content and relaxed.
"Well," she'd thought, surprised, "so much for being physically unable to relax."
"You two looked so cozy that he couldn't resist joining you."
Even though Charles had kept his voice low, the psychic had still jumped a little when she'd heard him.
Wincing, she'd checked on Niko, who'd only mumbled incoherently and tucked herself further under the covers.
Edwin, on the other hand, had immediately reacted to Charles' voice.
He’d started floating up and just before losing physical contact, Crystal had felt joy and... not exactly a word, but a strong feeling of Charles, emanating from the small orb.
He'd got out from under the blankets and lazily floated towards his partner, who'd extended a hand to tuck the little ball of light back into his vest.
"Hey there mate, sorry for disturbing your nap." The orb had flashed once, coming up to bump the younger ghost under the chin. "Yeah, I know, I know, "ghosts can't nap Charles"." He’d said, imitating Edwin's voice.
Looking down at Edwin, he'd added with a frown, "You've been in this form for a while now, surely you must be almost done recharging, right?"
This time, the orb hadn't reacted at all, and Charles had sighed, hugging it closer to his chest.
"He already misses him."
At that thought, Crystal had finished disentangling herself before half-walking, half-crawling to the entrance of the tent to sit besides Charles, bumping her shoulder against his.
After a few seconds of companionable silence, she'd gestured vaguely towards where Edwin was completely hidden inside Charles' jacket. "He's different when he's in that form."
Her friend (the little shit), had given her a sidelong glance, one of his eyebrows going up in an expression that clearly meant "really?"
Before he could make a snarky remark, she'd hit him on the arm. "I don't mean physically, dumbass. He's more openly affectionate and he seems to really appreciate physical contact when he's like this."
Charles, who'd been snickering silently, had turned to look at her in surprise. "You think?" He'd glanced down at Edwin for a second, before looking back at her, "I hadn't noticed before, but now that you mention it..."
Seeing an opportunity to tease her friend, she'd wiggled her eyebrows at him, smiling suggestively. "You didn't notice because he always likes physical affection from you."
Charles had turned his head back towards the screen, but she had still been able to see the slight blush on his cheeks.
"Ha, gotcha."
He'd cleared his throat. "Yeah well, it’s true that he doesn't often initiate physical contact... even with me." He'd said the last part faster, like if he rushed the words out Crystal wouldn't hear them. "But when we're in our orb form, we aren't all there, like I said before. We don't have as much inhibition, and we mostly act on instinct, don't we?"
“And now for the coup de grâce…”
"So, you're telling me Edwin's most basic instinct is to cuddle into your shirt?"
The slight blush had turned into a full-on fire and Charles had been left spluttering, only saved from further embarrassment by Niko's sleepy voice.
"We should find a name for your orb selves."
The two friends had exchanged a glance before turning towards the white-haired girl with a - frankly impressive - bedhead sitting behind them, still half-buried under the blankets.
"What?"
"We should find a name for Edwin and Charles when they are in their orb forms!" Niko had exclaimed, getting increasingly awake and excited by the second.
Charles had let out a brief bark of laughter before asking, incredulous, "Why would we need to do that? We already have names!"
But once Niko has set her mind to something, there's no stopping her, and thus, she'd crawled to them and slung her arms around their shoulders, ignoring Charles' comment, "It's like you said Crystal, in this form, Edwin is still Edwin, but he's also not exactly Edwin."
At the mention of his name, the little ball of light had popped out of Charles' jacket to float in front of them, seemingly curious.
"Physically he isn't the same, he can't do the same things, he can't talk, he doesn't act the same...", she'd enumerated, bringing her hands together to count on her fingers, effectively smushing Crystal and Charles' faces against one another, cheek to cheek, making them yelp in surprise and indignation.
"… So, in my opinion, that makes him different enough from our normal Edwin to warrant an official nickname!" she'd concluded in triumph, like a lawyer that'd just finished the best plea of her life, finally releasing Charles and Crystal.
Charles had turned around to look at Niko, rubbing his cheek as if he'd actually felt it getting squished against Crystal's, "Okay, yeah I hear you, but... what kind of nickname do you have in mind? Like... Edwin Number Two? Edwin Jr.?"
Crystal had snorted at Charles' propositions, but Niko had brought her hand to her chin, brow furrowing in thoughts.
"No, it should be a nickname that lets us know he's in his orb form while also making it clear who we're talking about... maybe Edwin The Orb? Edorb? Ballwin?"
As Charles had muttered "God this is terrible, he's gonna hate it so much," with a laugh, Crystal had been struck with what she could only describe as a flash of genius.
"Orbwin."
Snapping her fingers and pointing both hands at the psychic, her eyes wide and sparkly, Niko had yelled, "OH MY GOD YES, IT'S PERFECT!" while Charles had folded in two, wheezing in laughter.
That's when a blazing light had appeared out of nowhere, almost blinding the three of them, before they could instinctively put their arms up to shield their eyes.
A few seconds later, once Crystal had judged that it was safe enough to look without risking melting her eyeballs, she had been met with the sight of one perfectly human-looking Edwin Payne, sitting cross-legged between the screen and them, back straight as a rod, looking as proper and elegant as ever with his impeccably styled hair and his perfectly pressed suit.
Before anyone could say anything, he'd huffed indignantly and, fixing his already perfect cuffs, he'd exclaimed, "I would prefer if you refrained from referring to me using something as undignified as "Orbwin", thank you very much."
He'd said the nickname with such disdain, lifting his chin pompously, that Crystal had known instantly that she would be using it from now on and for the rest of time.
In the meantime, Niko had jumped to her feet, almost knocking down the entire fort on their heads, screaming, "Edwin, you're back!" and Charles had thrown himself into his partner's arms, his lithe frame still racked with laughter, a few tears now rolling down his cheeks.
Finally managing to regain enough breath, he’d said, "God did I miss you mate!"
His arms full of a nearly hysterical Charles Rowland, two seconds away from getting properly tackled by an ecstatic Niko Sasaki and making eye contact with a smirking but genuinely happy to see him Crystal Palace, Edwin had offered them all a small but sincere smile.
"I've missed you too."
After a few minutes of heartfelt reunions and quite a few more spent explaining why there was a giant tent inside the office, as well as the general concept of pillow forts, Edwin had finally noticed the pile of board games stacked on the table.
Seeing the game of Clue throning at the top of the pile, he'd turned to the other members of the agency so fast that Crystal would've been worried about him giving himself whiplash had he still been alive, a look of affront and betrayal on his face.
"You played Clue without me?"
Smiling so hard that his cheeks would've certainly hurt had he been able to feel them, Charles had answered his partner, "Of course not mate! Never played a game of Clue without you in over thirty years, I'm not about to start now, am I?"
Getting up, he'd offered a hand to Edwin. "Right, shall we get to it then, Professor Plum?"
---
And that brings us back to the present and to the current game of Clue that has been going on for over half an hour.
"Uhm... Colonel Mustard... with the candlestick in the study."
"Really Crystal...? Charles made that suggestion two turns ago. Please do follow."
"No, he did not! And I am following!"
Truth be told, she had zoned out a little while ago (not that she would ever admit that to Edwin), focusing on Niko, who seemed ready to pop any minute from trying so hard not to interrupt the game, her mind clearly still on the subject of nicknames for the boys' orb forms.
She was quite impressed with how long the other girl had been able to contain herself, but the psychic didn't need to use her powers to know that she would not be able to hold on much longer.
"Well, you clearly are not, because I can assure you that-"
"How did you know that Crystal called you Orbwin?"
The rest of the agency's members turned to look at Niko, who was looking intensely at Edwin, leaning so far over the table that she was almost lying on it, narrowly missing some of the game pieces.
"Knew it."
"What?"
"Charles said that when you are in your orb forms, you don't really understand what people say around you. So how did you know that Crystal called you Orbwin?"
Putting down his pencil and pad with a sigh, seemingly accepting that the game wouldn't resume its course until all of Niko's questions got answered, Edwin turned to face his friend, and with a patience that he only seemed to have for her (and Charles), he answered, "We do understand some things when we are in our orb form, even if we can’t comprehend everything. Besides, I was already in the midst of taking back my usual form, and thus, had started regaining more of my senses. That is why I was aware enough to hear her calling me that silly nickname."
"What nickname? Ooooooh, you mean Orbwin?" Crystal said innocently, because annoying Edwin had become one of her favourite hobbies.
And it worked like a charm, as he shot her a glare, bristling once again at the nickname, while she gave him a shit-eating grin.
"Come on Edwin, I think the nickname’s brills! It sounds very distinguished." Charles said, always the diplomate.
"Charles! Stop being so nice!"
"We should find a nickname for you too Charles!" Niko said, clapping her hands excitedly, ignoring Edwin's affronted expression.
"This is absolutely not necessary Niko."
"Speak for yourself mate, I want a nickname too!"
Although he had first been sceptical about the whole nickname thing, Charles now truly found the idea fun and endearing.
Also, he sincerely thought that "Orbwin" was adorable, and the idea of getting matching nicknames with Edwin made him all giddy for some reason.
"Hate to break it to you Charles, but I think it's gonna be pretty hard to find a nickname for you that doesn't sound like someone choking on their drink."
"I don't see why!"
"Really? Let me tell you the choices we have: there's Orbles..."
Charles and Edwin made a face , while Niko quietly muttered "That's not good."
"We also have Barles."
Charles threw his hands in the air. "Come on now,” he whined, “you’re making the worst combinations on purpose!"
"Oh, I assure you I am not. It's just that every combination of Charles and "orb", or even "ball", just sounds absolutely ridiculous."
"As if Orbwin did not sound ridiculous..." Edwin mumbled petulantly.
"It is objectively SO much better mate."
"Oh, there's also Charlorb...", Crystal continued, ignoring Edwin's comment.
Charles turned to look at the psychic, an incredulous look on his face.
After a beat of silence, he said, "You actually thought about this..."
Crystal felt herself blanching.
"Fuck."
He was right. She did. She let herself get wrapped up in the game and now she was invested...
And by the look on Edwin's face, he would never let her live it down.
"I KNOW!" Niko suddenly yelled, making the other three jump in surprise, Edwin almost falling backwards into the sea of pillows and Charles nearly knocking over the table.
"Jesus Niko, did you take lessons from the fucking Postman or-"
Leaning over the table to take Charles by the shoulders, instantly shutting him up, she looked him straight in the eyes before saying with the straightest face imaginable:
"Chorb"
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Crystal threw her head back, roaring with laughter, just as Edwin slammed his hands on the table, screaming, "ABSOLUTELY NOT."
But the damage was done.
Charles, eyes still locked with Niko, suddenly smiled so hard that it seemed like his face would split in two.
"I LOVE it!!"
"WHAT?!" Edwin shrieked as Crystal fell backwards, almost choking from laughing so hard.
GOD did she fucking love her weird friends!
-- A few months later –-
"CHARLES!"
Crystal, who was about to enter the Agency's office, suddenly froze as she heard Edwin's cry.
She turned to look at Niko in alarm. The white-haired girl, arms full of takeout bags and drinks, had also stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide.
What could've possibly happened in the half an hour it took them to go to the nearest Thai restaurant to pick up food and come back?
Could someone have broken into the office? Maybe an evil spirit, faking being a client? Or another witch? Or...
"Charles, NO!"
Without taking another second to think it through, Crystal threw the door open, holding the takeout bag she was carrying over her head, ready to throw it at whatever she would see inside the office.
... The very empty office.
No witch. No evil spirit.
And the strangest of all: no Edwin.
She was about to call the boy's name when she heard something fall to the ground to her left, almost causing her to hurl the takeout back in surprise.
Fortunately, she managed to stop herself at the last second when she saw Edwin. He was...
"What the hell?"
Edwin was climbing the face of a bookcase, one foot on a chair and the other on one of the shelves, his right arm extended to try and reach over the piece of furniture.
"Charles, this is absolutely ridiculous, get down immediately!"
Crystal, bag full of food still held over her head, was deeply confused until she noticed a faint light coming from over the bookcase.
"Sulking will not make me change my mind! I already told you a hundred times that I refuse to do it!"
Edwin, finally managing to boost himself higher with the aid of his left arm, reached over the bookcase... only for the light to move further to the left and out of reach of the Edwardian teen.
"Charles, come back here before you fall!"
Crystal, her brain finally catching up and realizing that no one was in immediate danger, lowered her arms as a little ball of light poked from over the edge of the bookcase... and threw itself from it, causing Edwin to yelp and almost fall from his precarious perch.
Luckily, he managed to regain his balance, and when he looked back up, he saw the small orb lazily floating, level with the higher shelf of the bookcase. It stayed there for a few seconds, then flew in a tight circle once, twice, before perching itself back on top of the furniture, where it started rolling from one end to the other, staying out of reach of the older ghost.
Before Edwin could try to haul himself on top of the bookcase, the psychic decided that it was time to make her and Niko's presence known.
"Trouble in paradise boys?"
Edwin's head snapped towards the two girls.
"Crystal! Niko! Finally! I require your assistance. Charles refuses to listen to me and he won’t come down!"
As funny as the situation was, and as much as she wished she could film ghosts, Edwin seemed pretty distraught, so Crystal decided to have mercy for once.
"And why exactly did Charles decide to put himself in time out up there?"
Edwin’s worried expression morphed into something more guarded, and he scowled at the psychic.
"That is entirely irrelevant to the matter at hand."
Niko moved past Crystal to put the bags she was holding on Edwin's desk.
"I don't think Charles would hide away from you like that without a reason," she said, coming to stand in front of the bookcase, craning her neck to try and see where the orb was. "Charles, aren't you going to come down and welcome us back?" she asked, holding her arms up.
The girls knew that Charles was even more openly friendly and affectionate than usual when he was in his orb form. The last time he’d had to power-down to recharge, he would excitedly come to greet them every time they’d enter the office, even if they’d only left for a few minutes.
It reminded Crystal of a puppy.
This time, though, Charles didn't even acknowledge Niko, and simply continued to roll around. The white-haired girl dejectedly lowered her arms and turned to frown at the Edwardian ghost. "Edwin, what did you do to him?"
Edwin, who was still holding on to the bookcase like a spider on a wall, sputtered indignantly.
"I didn't do anything to him!"
Coming to stand beside Niko, her now empty hands on her waist in the universal parental gesture for "you’re in trouble now mister", Crystal levelled Edwin with a glare. "Then why is he avoiding you and ignoring us when he should be bouncing all over the place in excitement?"
Edwin looked away sheepishly.
"It is nothing serious I assure you; he will get over it soon enough."
Okay, Crystal was really starting to get annoyed now.
"Edwin, I can assure you that if you don't tell me what's going on in the next ten seconds, I will find out myself, even if I have to read your fucking mind to do it."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
The psychic and the ghost stared at each other for a long moment, unmoving and unblinking, neither of them willing to back down.
Surprisingly, Edwin caved first.
"Fine!"
Finally climbing down the bookcase but still standing on the chair, Edwin adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt nervously.
"It truly is silly I assure you. Charles simply wishes I would use the nickname that Niko came up with a few months ago to refer to him while he is in his orb form, even though I told him multiple times before that I refuse to do so."
Crystal's jaw dropped.
"You mean... you mean that you would rather climb a bookcase than do what Charles asked you and use his fucking nickname? What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Bristling, Edwin spat, "It is an undignified and degrading nickname, and I shall not use it to refer to Charles!"
Crystal couldn't believe her ears.
"Edwin, clearly he doesn't find it undignified or degrading if he asked you to use it!” She pointed up angrily at the top of the bookcase. “He thinks it's funny! For fuck’s sake, he's even thrilled that you two have matching nicknames!"
At this, Edwin stilled. "What... really?"
But before Crystal could answer, Niko threw her arms in the air, yelling, "CHORB! HUG!"
It took less than a second for her to get almost decked by a very enthusiast orb crashing into her open arms.
Squeezing the little ball of light to her chest, Niko spun in circles a couple of times with the momentum before holding Charles at arm’s length, where he proceeded to jump again and again, while flashing frenetically.
"Charles, if you do not slow down it will take you twice as long to get your energy back!" Edwin fretted from his perch on the chair.
The psychic shot a glare at the older ghost, before turning towards Niko and Charles.
"Hey Chorb, don't I get a welcome back hug too?"
As soon as Crystal said the nickname, she got an armful of happy ghost orb excitedly smushing itself against her before coming to bounce on her head.
"Charles!" Edwin was truly starting to sound desperate.
Good.
"Chorb!" Niko yelled, spreading her arms.
The little ball bounced from Crystal's head to Niko's, making the taller girl giggle in delight.
Seeing Edwin finally coming down from the chair to stand beside her, his arms half-raised as if he wanted to reach for his partner but didn't dare to, Crystal yelled back, "Chorb!"
The two girls started screaming Charles' nickname back and forth, making the little ball jump from one to the other over and over, clearly delighted.
Until...
"CHORB!" Edwin yelled, throwing his arms out towards his friend like a child demanding a hug from their parent, his expression desperate.
Just like with the girls, Charles didn't waste any time jumping into Edwin's arms, properly tackling the other ghost to the ground this time.
Niko came to stand beside Crystal and rest her head on her shoulder as they watched Edwin hug the small orb like it was going to disappear any second, his face hidden in his arms.
"I apologize for being so stubborn about this," he said, his voice muffled by his shirt's sleeves.
The little ball of light pulsed gently, struggling to get free from the hug, only to hide itself in the crook of Edwin's neck.
"No, no, you do not need to apologize, I'm the one who was silly about this!" Edwin said in answer, cupping the little ball of light protectively with both hands.
Niko lifted her head to look at Crystal in surprise. "How did he know what Chorb said?"
Looking from the white-haired girl to the two ghosts still on the floor, Crystal shook her head slowly, a fond smile on her lips.
GOD did she love her weird family.