Chapter Text
They had wrapped up a case in the middle of the night, so Charles decided to take Crystal home. He knew Jenny would glare and huff about them being late, but it was better than Crystal going home alone. Charles sighed as he looked at the calendar, knowing what to walk into when he returned to the office.
“What’s wrong?” Crystal asked, sipping her tea as she leaned against the counter.
“I forgot what day it was,” He replied, sitting on the couch. “I should have realized and completely blanked. The office is going to be interesting.”
“The office?” Crystal cocked her head to the side. “It’s only December 1st.”
“Yes, it is.” Charles nodded, stretching his arms above his head. “Edwin likes to decorate for Christmas and Yule, the office might be a mess of decorations. I love him, but there is so much chaos while he is decorating.”
“I can’t picture that. Edwin is always so organized.”
Charles chuckled, looking at the time. It had been about an hour since they left the office, and he didn’t want to know what damage had already been done. December was the only month where Charles wondered where his carefully organized partner had gone. Deciding to stop delaying the inevitable, he stood from the couch and pulled his coat on.
“I’m sure you will see it. There probably won’t be any cases for a few days, so I would catch up on sleep while you can.” He stepped over to the mirror. “When is Niko supposed to return from Japan?”
“Tuesday.” Crystal smiled softly into her mug. “I don’t want company until Wednesday, I don’t care what Edwin or the Night Nurse say.”
Charles chuckled and nodded, placing his hand on the mirror. While he wasn’t very good at mirror travel, he was good at finding Edwin. Once he found the office, he turned. Crystal hugged him, pushing him towards the mirror when she pulled away.
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Edwin stood on the desk, trying to get the spell to work. It had been a gift from a friendly warlock a few months after he and Charles started working together. It required a lot of concentration and wish magic, but the effects were always a sight to behold.
“Blast it,” He groaned, trying to focus his magic on his thoughts. “I just want them to twinkle like stars.”
He stepped forward, looking at the lights above him as he tried to trigger the spell again. He was so focused on the spell, he didn’t realize how close he was to the edge of the desk. As he started to fall, he braced himself to hit the floor. Instead, he landed in Charles’ arms.
“Edwin, I’ve told you before. If you are going to use the lights, wait for me.” Charles looked at him, cradling him in his arms. “This isn’t the first time you’ve fallen while trying to get that damned spell to work.”
“I know you dislike decorating for the holidays, Charles,” Edwin replied. “And I wanted to surprise you.”
“Consider me surprised, love.”
Charles chuckled, holding him close. Edwin hummed softly, laying his head on Charles’ shoulder. They stayed there for a while, wrapped up in each other. Charles finally returned him to his feet, pressing a kiss to his cheek before he looked around the office. There were not nearly as many decorations as in the previous years, carefully and methodically placed around the office.
“You do realize I would have just phased through the floor, correct?” Edwin asked, looking up at the garland above with a sigh.
“I’m aware, I just thought you would appreciate being caught more,” Charles commented. “Do you need help with the spell, love?”
“You do have better luck when it comes to that particular spell,” Edwin agreed, kissing his cheek. “I am going to find somewhere to hang the mistletoe.”
Charles chuckled, taking off his jacket. He didn’t hesitate to climb onto the desk, looking at the string of garland with dust spread across it. When the spell was done properly, the dust was supposed to turn into lights. Charles shook his hands out, watching the sparks of blue dance over his fingers before he reached up to wrap his hand around the garland. Closing his eyes, he emptied his mind of everything but the intended spell.
“Oh…”
He opened his eyes at Edwin’s surprise, looking back at his boyfriend. Edwin was looking at the garland, his eyes wide. Charles looked up and removed his hand from the garland, surprised by the stars. They never knew what the lights would look like, as the spell varied from stars to fairy lights. Above them, wrapped around the garland like a net, were several constellations.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” He said, hopping down from the desk and walking over to Edwin.
“It’s beautiful,” the other boy whispered. “You are better at that spell than I am. I never could have created something as beautiful as that.”
“Thank you, love.” Charles kissed his cheek. “Now, point me in the direction of the tree. I would like to put it up so we can decorate it when Niko returns.”
Edwin pointed into one of the corners. Charles wasn’t surprised to see the Yule ornaments set aside for the tree. The ornaments were made from oranges this year, dried out with magic. Charles appreciated the way Edwin honored his parents by continuing to celebrate Yule, even though Charles didn’t understand the traditions as well as he should. There were a few traditions from Charles’ childhood that Edwin insisted on having, to keep the memory alive and bring a smile to Charles’ face.