Dead Boy Detectives Anniversary!

happy second anniversary to Dead Boy Detectives...!

happy second anniversary to Dead Boy Detectives...!

Charles was bored and Niko was running out of ideas to keep him occupied.

He’d already turned down her suggestions of playing Cluedo and watching Scooby-Doo together. He’d ignored her prompts to tell stories from past cases—normally a surefire way to cheer him up—and expressed evident disinterest in conducting supplemental research on shapeshifters. Niko refrained from requesting his help with the paperwork. Everyone working with the Dead Boy Detectives loathed the stacks of forms the Night Nurse insisted the agency complete after every closed case, but Niko had found herself rather skilled at it, and claimed it as her job after she rejoined the team in London. After all, if she wasn’t doing much field work anymore, she had to find some way to stay useful in the office.

“We could practice sketching binding sigils?” Niko suggested, but Charles was already shaking his head.

“I think you’ve got the hang of those by now.” He smiled, but it was strained. “You’re really good at the detail work on runes.”

“I’ve had lots of calligraphy practice,” Niko said, trying to sound modest.

Charles started to say something else and then grimaced. Niko’s gaze strayed to the cast on his leg.

Detective work was dangerous, Edwin had emphasized time and again. Still, Niko hadn’t known there were creatures that could seriously injure a ghost until Edwin and Crystal had hauled Charles back to the office with his leg mangled from a skirmish with an escaped hellhound. It would heal, Edwin insisted, but Charles needed to keep his weight off it for a full week. He’d asked Niko to keep an eye on his partner and ensure Charles didn’t overexert himself.

Charles clearly hated being cooped up indoors while Edwin and Crystal continued working on cases without him. He served as the self-declared protector of the team, always putting himself between his friends and any danger, which was how he’d wound up getting mauled in the first place. Today, Edwin and Crystal were only out interviewing suspects for the current case, but Charles was likely imagining all sorts of terrible scenarios that could happen to them in his absence. With his leg in a cast, he couldn’t work off his nervous energy as he usually did, and Niko had her work cut out keeping him seated on the sofa.

“You’re a good student, Niko,” Charles assured her. “Pretty soon, Edwin and I will run out of things to teach you.”

“You haven’t taught me how to use the bag-of-tricks backpack yet,” Niko pointed out. She turned to survey the bag in question. It sat innocently on the floor within Charles’ reach. One would never guess by looking at it just how many things could fit inside it.

“It’s better if I’m the one who handles that.” Charles sat up straight and mimicked Edwin’s precise manner with his next words. “It is a highly temperamental and potentially volatile magical artifact, as Edwin would say.” He relaxed his posture again. “We don’t want anyone losing fingers.”

“I’ve put things in the bag before,” Niko reminded him.

“Putting things in is easy. It’s getting them out again that’s the difficult part.” Charles pulled the bag onto his lap and began fiddling with the straps while he spoke. “Or finding them again, if you weren’t careful about putting them away. There’s an infinite void in here connected to about a thousand different pockets, and some of the things we stored are too dangerous to risk letting out.”

“You must have figured out how to navigate it somehow,” Niko pressed. If she could get Charles talking, maybe he could forget his pain and frustration for a little while.

“A lot of it was trial and error at first,” Charles admitted. “It took me a while to get a feel for how things worked. Spent a lot of time talking to the bag. Oh, we don’t think it’s sentient or anything,” he was quick to clarify. “But I think Edwin might’ve hurt its feelings in the early days, and that’s why it doesn’t let him use it.”

Niko nodded, considering. “Should I introduce myself? If it has feelings, then I want to be considerate of them.”

“Go ahead.” Charles passed her the backpack. “No clue if it understands human speech, but I figure being nice never hurts.”

The bag felt rather heavy in Niko’s lap, and she tried not to think about Charles’ mention of losing fingers. She cleared her throat. “Hello, Charles’ backpack.” She paused. “Does it have a name?”

Charles looked embarrassed. “Guess I never thought of that.”

“Well, my name is Niko,” she told it. “I’m a friend of Charles and Edwin. I get to help them with their cases sometimes.” Less often now that she was relegated to desk work, but Niko tried not to dwell on that. “I know you help them out a lot, and Charles is really glad to have you.” She turned to Charles. “If it doesn’t have eyes, how can it recognize me? I know most animals recognize people by scent, so it’s courteous to offer your hand for them to sniff.”

“I reckon it goes by touch. You can put your hand here, if you like.” Charles moved Niko’s hand to the open flap. “Feel free to pet it, too. It won’t mind.”

Niko concentrated on calm, happy thoughts as she stroked the weathered fabric. It didn’t feel anything remotely like a pet animal’s fur, but that was probably the closest analogy, judging by how Charles spoke of it. And by all observations, the backpack was far friendlier than the Dandelion Sprites she’d kept in a jar in her room for weeks. Still… “Has it ever bitten someone’s fingers off?”

Charles launched into a tale about a warlock who had captured him and Edwin in ’97 and been tricked into sticking his hand in the bag. He cut himself off before going into any grisly details. “But the bag knew he was a bad guy,” he assured her. “It would never do that to a friend of ours. It’s a good bag.” He stroked it fondly and beamed.

There wasn’t enough room on the sofa for Niko to discreetly shift a few inches away. “I think I’ll respect its boundaries,” she said. In spite of her caution, or perhaps because of it, she was still curious to learn more. “Could I watch you retrieve something from it?”

“Sure.” Charles hefted the bag and reached inside, pulling out his cricket back in one well-practiced movement. “I always keep this in a pocket that’s easy to reach. Never know when you might need it in a hurry.”

“Are some pockets harder to access?” Niko asked.

“Yeah, we put some of the more problematic stuff in those. There was this one time during a case, we found an ancient scroll detailing an invocation for the spirit of spring.” Charles smirked. “Edwin read it, and the spell made every plant in the area start growing like mad. Couldn’t figure out how to make it stop, so we put the scroll in the bag. Best to leave that where we won’t pull it out again by accident.”

“Can you show me how you get an object from one of the hard-to-reach pockets?”

“Sure.” Charles stuck his hand in the bag and visibly concentrated. His arm disappeared into the void up to his shoulder before he fetched out a bundle of white yarn that sparkled in the light. “This is from one of the waterproof pockets. Don’t want it getting wet; it takes ages for this stuff to dry out.”

“What is it?” Niko asked eagerly. She really wanted to touch it, but knew better than to do that without approval.

“Enchanted cotton yarn. You can use it to make clothes that are fireproof, bulletproof, and curse-proof.” His smile morphed into a thoughtful look. “You know, maybe we should leave this out for Edwin. He was talking the other day about a project—oh.” He grimaced.

“What’s wrong?” At first, Niko thought his leg might be paining him again, but Charles’ face now wore a familiar self-deprecating expression.

“He doesn’t have the tools he needs.” Charles looked away. “I lost the enchanted knitting needles back in ’92. They’re somewhere in the bag, but it could take ages to find them.”

Niko frowned. “What makes you say that? You’ve always found things quickly before.”

“I wasn’t careful putting them away, was I?” Charles huffed. “The bag doesn’t magically give me stuff I ask for,” he explained. “I have to look in the right place. If you just drop something into the void, it could wind up anywhere. I’d have to search every pocket manually to find it again.” His face twisted with regret. “I did try looking for a while, but it wasn’t enough.”

Niko decided she couldn’t let Charles wallow in his misery. “You said there are about a thousand pockets, right?” She did some quick mental calculations. “If it takes you two minutes to search each one, then you can search thirty pockets an hour, seven hundred and twenty a day, and five thousand forty a week.” She tilted her head in consideration. “Although it might be fewer than that because you’ll want to take breaks occasionally.”

Charles frowned. “I can hardly sit here searching the bag all day and all night while we’ve got cases to… oh.” His face fell. “I guess I do have plenty of time now.” He smiled ruefully. “Not going to be much use on cases for a while, am I?”

Niko huffed in indignation. “Edwin says being a detective is more than just legwork.” She began listing things off on her fingers. “You’re good at runes and crafting disguises. You’ve got an excellent memory and really good people skills—better than anyone else at the agency. And you’re the one Edwin trusts to navigate the backpack.” She crossed her arms. “You’re not useless, Charles, and Edwin would have sharp words with anyone who said that about his best friend.”

Charles looked taken aback for a moment, then he brightened. “Yeah, you’re right.” He knocked his shoulder against hers. “Thanks, Niko.”

“We can make this a case of our own,” Niko declared. “The Case of the Missing Knitting Needles? Or the Case of the Backpack Inventory?” The Backpack Blunder was alliterative, but Niko needed an antonym for blunder to apply here. Solution? That wasn’t alliterative. She needed a solution synonym…

Charles chuckled. “We can pick out a name later. Right now, I’d rather keep this under wraps. I don’t want to disappoint Edwin if we don’t turn up anything.”

“All right,” Niko agreed. “It can be a surprise.”

It had been some time since Niko had actively participated on a case, and she’d never paired up with Charles for one before. She found she was quite looking forward to this.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cat King/Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Cat King (Dead Boy Detectives), Charles Rowland (DCU), Simon (Dead Boy Detectives) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, (but not any of those gods and goddesses), Magic, Bullying, Demon Deals, but it’s a god instead, slight Manipulation, Sex, Anal Sex, Love Confessions, Healing, and by that I mean magical healing, okay maybe there is a large bit of, Manipulation Series: Part 1 of DBDA Anniversary 2026 Summary:

When Edwin is about to be used as a sacrifice in a demon summoning, he prays to the ancient gods.

One of them answers. 

Excerpt:

Stone scraping against stone jolted Edwin from his tears. He looked up in alarm, expecting sunlight to seep into the crypt. Then, as he stared into the dim space, Edwin realised that the light he did have was shaking. Slowly, terrified, Edwin turned to look at the sarcophagus. 

The lid was moving aside, slowly and inexorably.

Edwin scrambled to his feet and clutched the wall behind him. Was this part of the ‘prank’? Had Simon and his friends already returned? Or had someone appeared to save him from a secret passageway hitherto unknown? Still shaking, Edwin waited for the lid to fall off entirely, for someone to emerge - but it stopped halfway. Confused, Edwin waited for a moment longer before he ventured to step closer. Before he could take more than a step, a small shadow leapt from its depths. Startled, Edwin backed off and thumped into the wall, his heart pounding.

Once his heart had calmed, Edwin looked down to see that a fluffy cat had appeared at his feet. He blinked at it in confusion. “Hello?” he said, his voice shaking. “Where did you come from? Is there… Is there a way out?”

He had almost expected the cat to talk, but it did nothing but stare at him. After a long moment, Edwin realised that it wasn’t here to hurt him and he relaxed. As soon as he did, his mind raced. How had the sarcophagus opened with no outside help? Why was the cat here? Had his invocation worked?

“Right,” he said as a way to snap himself out of it. He probably didn’t have much time before the others came back. Carefully, he stepped around the cat and made his way towards the sarcophagus and peered inside. His eyes widened and he shuddered. There was still a skeletal body within it, surrounded by cloth and tarnished jewellery. But… The cat…

Exploring the bag-of-tricks backpack was surprisingly fun.

Niko had never really appreciated just how many odds and ends Charles kept stored in there. Some of them were useful items, such as the tape measure or lexicographical lenses, but then there were bizarre things like the jar of bees and mildly disturbing things like the collection of rodent skulls. And nearly every object, from cursed jewelry to color-changing pens, carried a story, which Charles was eager to share and Niko was happy to listen to.

They didn’t make nearly as rapid progress as Niko had predicted, but the main goal of keeping Charles both busy and cheerful was accomplished. He didn’t fret at all when Edwin and Crystal left the office for another day of questioning suspects. He and Niko settled in on the office floor and continued their work. Charles searched the pockets while Niko recorded their findings. Having a complete inventory, she felt, would prove quite useful.

They both found it easy to get sidetracked. An enchanted goblet from a local tavern owner led to Charles reminiscing about the clubs and bars he’d snuck into as a living teen, which somehow led to him and Niko comparing pickup lines. Niko’s favorite was “Your smile is so bright I need sunglasses,” but Charles favored “Is this Heaven? ‘Cause you look like an angel.”

“Here’s another one,” Niko suggested. “I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away.”

Charles chuckled. “That’s a good one! But I probably can’t use it.” His smile shifted to the special one he wore whenever he was thinking about his partner. “Edwin would point out that neither of us need to breathe.”

“Are you thinking of practicing any of these pickup lines on him?” Niko inquired, trying and failing to sound innocent.

“What? Of course not!” Charles spluttered, looking rather flustered. “I just meant—that’s what he’d say.”

Niko nodded. “I suppose you wouldn’t need pickup lines for him. He’s already happy to follow you anywhere.”

Charles ducked his head and shifted his attention back to the bag. “We should probably get back to work.”

Niko exercised considerable restraint by letting the subject drop.

They inventoried cassette tapes, vintage trading cards, and a handheld device Charles referred to as a ‘game boy’. “This is like looking through a time capsule,” Niko gushed.

“We actually made one back in ’95,” Charles told her. “We said we wouldn’t open it for at least thirty years, but I can show you the box.” Niko nodded eagerly and Charles began digging around in the backpack. “Nope, not there. Not there…” He rummaged around for another minute before setting the bag aside. “Think I must have left it in the Ghost Cave.”

“Ghost Cave?”

“It’s this really big pocket inside the backpack, so big it’s like a room.” Charles gestured with his hands, looking excited. “Sometimes we use it as a hiding place since nobody but us can get in, but it’s also a fun place to hang out since we keep our extra games and stuff in there.”

“Only ghosts can get in?” Niko clarified.

“Nah, we just call it the Ghost Cave ‘cause that’s a cool name. Living people can get in if I open the way for them, but they can’t stay for very long without running out of fresh air. I could give you a quick tour if you like.” Charles looked hopeful.

“If you’re sure it’s okay with Edwin, I’d like that a lot.” Niko found it hard to contain her enthusiasm. She didn’t think even Crystal had seen the boys’ secret hideout yet!

Charles guided Niko’s legs into the opening of the backpack. It felt a bit strange, sitting on solid floor while her legs dangled into empty void. Niko swallowed back her nerves. She trusted Charles.

“Ready?” he asked. Niko replied that she was, and he gently pushed her into the void.

For a moment, there was only freefall through darkness, but then Niko felt herself sliding down the smooth surface of a tunnel. It leveled out at the bottom and deposited her with a gentle bounce onto a very soft floor in a dimly lit space. Niko scrambled to her feet and looked around.

 It felt a bit like being inside a large tent. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of the same dark canvas material as the backpack, and riddled with buckles, flaps, and zippers. The low ceiling was strung with ropes of colored fairy lights casting a cozy glow over the room. A set of lava lamps sitting between a red and blue beanbag added their own illumination. As her eyes adjusted, Niko also made out a bookshelf, a low table stacked with board games, and what looked like an old play station console.

She turned back to the tunnel slide. It curved up into the ceiling like a chimney, and she saw Charles through the open mouth of the bag at the top. “What do you think?” he called.

“This is the best secret hideout ever!” she squealed. “Thank you for showing me!”

“Can you move out of the way for a sec so I can come down?” Niko obliged, and then Charles joined her in the room. He started to get to his feet out of habit, but Niko stopped him. “Right, I forgot about that.” He gave the cast on his leg an annoyed look.

Niko was looking back up the tunnel. She could now see a series of fabric loops protruding from the canvas, spaced evenly like the rungs of a ladder. But climbing a ladder was not exactly an option for Charles right now. “I know this might be an awkward question, but how are you going to get back up?”

“Don’t need to.” Charles became cheerful again. “Directions and space are pretty flexible in here. I can convince the backpack to reverse gravity in just the entrance so I slide back out. The best fun in both directions! But Edwin prefers the ladder.”

He started scooting across the floor toward the bookshelf and Niko followed him. She noticed the floor now felt more solid and less bouncy than upon her arrival.

“Does the bag shift itself to accommodate different people?” she wondered. “If it can make a slide for you, a ladder for Edwin, and make the floor into a soft landing for me…”

“Yeah, the backpack is brills,” Charles said. “Especially for people it likes, and I think it likes you, Niko.”

Niko ran a hand along the wall. “I’m glad.” The wall didn’t react in any discernable way. Niko wasn’t sure if she would feel comforted or alarmed if the room around them started purring. Probably both.

Charles finally reached the shelf and began rummaging through the collection of boxes and knickknacks along the bottom. “Here’s the time capsule!” he exclaimed. “It’s set on a timer lock, so I can’t open it yet, but I think I remember everything we put in it.” He started rattling off a list of items, much of it ‘90s tech that Niko had never seen outside of movies. She asked Charles if he could show her a ‘palm pilot’ and he obliged by unzipping a section of the wall, reaching inside, and pulling one out.

“You can retrieve things even from inside the backpack?” Niko exclaimed. “That’s so cool!” That was even more exciting than the ancient technology in her hands.

Charles brightened at the praise, but made a visible effort to sound modest. “It’s all connected by the magical void, innit? ‘Where’ doesn’t matter. Any spot can reach any other spot if you know how.”

“How do you do it?”

“Got to concentrate on the pocket. Every single pocket is unique. Visualize the one you want, and the bag does the rest.” He demonstrated again, this time offering Niko a button with a smiley face. She beamed and pinned it to the front of her sweater.

“So you keep track of hundreds of different pockets all in your head?”

He chuckled. “Well, I guess I never counted, but yeah.”

“Charles, that’s really impressive.” Niko looked at him seriously. “I don’t know anyone else who can do that.”

Charles blushed and ducked his head. “I have been practicing for a few decades.” He picked up a Rubik’s Cube and began messing with it.

“Still, Edwin or I would need to write it all down if we wanted to remember,” Niko pointed out. “You’ve got a really good memory.”

“Oi, I’m not the only one,” Charles objected. “Edwin remembers loads of facts about supernatural beings. And you can explain the plots of every single episode, movie, book, or video game of Scooby-Doo, and loads more anime and manga besides.”

“I suppose,” Niko conceded. “But telling stories isn’t exactly a useful skill.”

“Could be useful someday,” Charles argued. “If we ever had another run-in with the Fae—they’re a tricky bunch, but they love stories.  Bet you’d be a match for them.” He set his puzzle aside. “Besides, even if something isn’t useful, it’s still impressive.”

Niko looked at the completely solved Rubik’s Cube and had to agree. “Thank you, Charles.”

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne & Crystal Palace & Charles Rowland & Niko Sasaki Characters: Charles Rowland (DCU), Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Crystal Palace (DCU), Niko Sasaki Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, mentions of Charles’s dad, Past Child Abuse, St. Hil’s is a really terrible school Series: Part 2 of DBDA Anniversary 2026 Summary:

Charles realises that it’s time to open a time capsule he buried at school. But no-one from his past life is interested.

The rest of the Agency set out to fix that.

Excerpt:

“I’m telling you,” Crystal told him as she sat down on their couch, “it’s happening online. No-one reads physical papers anymore.”

“And I have told you,” Edwin insisted, “that it would be impossible to focus a curse like this on the line.”

Crystal gave Charles an incredulous look and he could tell that this would descend into a full-blown argument if he didn’t get them back on track. “It doesn’t hurt to check, yeah?” he said to Crystal. To Edwin, he said, “And it could be, like, behind passwords or something.”

“On the Dark Web,” whispered Niko, her eyes wide.

“Exactly!” Crystal exclaimed.

“But it’s easier to check physical newspapers first, right?” Niko suggested. “Process of elimination.”

Crystal pouted, but shrugged. “Fine. Whatever.”

Grinning, Charles stepped around the desk so that he could read over Edwin’s shoulder. “Anything?” he asked.

“I don’t believe so,” Edwin replied, distractedly. “There is a magical text, though.” He angled the newspaper so that Charles could see it properly. “I think it’s only for dead people. Most people would be unwilling to meet in a mausoleum, I think.”

With their most recent case closed by Crystal and Edwin, Niko had to finish the report for the Night Nurse before she could help Charles with the backpack. Not that he needed her assistance, per se, but he seemed to enjoy sharing the experience as he wandered down memory lane. Niko enjoyed it as well. She hadn’t spent much time with Charles one-on-one before, and appreciated the opportunity to get to know him better. Plus, he was an excellent storyteller.

“Did you ever hear about the Case of the Cursed Bull?” he asked her. Niko saw he held up a china figurine of a white bull.

“Is that safe to handle if it’s cursed?” she asked warily.

“Oh, yeah. It’s safe so long as no one says the words to activate it.” Charles passed it to her and Niko admired the attention to detail. “Then it grows to full size and goes on a rampage. Edwin and I found it wreaking havoc in a china shop.”

“Wait a minute.” Niko smirked. “Was it actually a bull in a—”

Charles slapped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t say it!” he urged.

Niko giggled and raised her fist in a thumbs-up gesture.

Charles lowered his hand, looking relieved. “We really don’t want to let that thing run around loose in the office.” He took the figurine back from Niko. “Think I’d better move this to one of the more secure pockets,” he decided.

Niko made a note on the inventory as her phone buzzed with a text from Crystal. Her friend had sent a selfie of her making a face beside an abstract vermillion art sculpture. Niko sent a sympathetic message back. Normally when Crystal’s parents pressured her to attend one of their art exhibits or charity galas, Niko would go along to provide moral support, but this time she’d opted to stay in the office with Charles instead. Edwin was researching water demons at one of the libraries and Niko hadn’t wanted to leave Charles alone. Of course, if she had gone with Crystal, Edwin would have volunteered to stay with Charles, but then Charles would have felt guilty about denying his partner the chance to conduct research, and he would have found it harder to conceal any surprise gifts he might discover while plumbing the depths of the backpack.

Balancing all the unspoken needs and feelings of different friends was a challenging endeavor sometimes. But Niko vastly preferred it to the alternative of being alone.

“I don’t remember putting this in here.” Charles sounded puzzled. Niko looked over and saw he held up a ragged gray towel—no, it was a blanket. It just didn’t look like a blanket, because all the blankets Niko owned were bright, colorful, and either fuzzy or soft. This one looked dull, kind of scratchy, and rather damp. It didn’t look like an artifact with an interesting story attached, but you never could tell.

“Maybe Edwin put it there?” Niko suggested.

“Usually he tells me, though. Or he asks me to put them away, so we can be sure of finding them again.” Charles looked troubled as he ran his hands over the fabric. As a ghost, he surely couldn’t feel it, but Niko wondered if he remembered what blankets were supposed to feel like. “Looks a lot like those old blankets they used in the dorms at St. Hil’s.” He snorted. “I always said, you’d think a posh boarding school would be able to afford better quality.”

“You had a case at a boarding school?”

“No.” Charles glanced her way, then back to the blanket. “St. Hilarion’s was my old school. And Edwin’s.” A series of emotions passed over his face, too quickly for Niko to make out, before they were suppressed by a smile. “Did I ever tell you how we met?”

Niko was very eager to hear this particular tale. She knew Charles had shown some of it to the Night Nurse once, and those memories had been enough to convince her to open a doorway for Charles to rescue Edwin from Hell. Very little persuaded the Night Nurse to do anything against the rules, so Niko was certain the story had to be spectacular.

Charles didn’t disappoint. He glossed over a lot of details at the beginning—such as why he was drenched, freezing, and hiding in the attic in the first place—but Niko didn’t interrupt to ask. As he talked about Edwin bringing him the lantern, staying to keep him company, and then answering his questions about existence as a ghost, his whole face lit up. This was more than just his thinking-about-Edwin smile. This went beyond fondness into downright besotted. If Niko had seen someone acting like this in a romcom, she would have shipped them immediately.

But she wasn’t going to say anything about that to Charles. She’d promised not to interfere in other people’s love lives or play matchmaker anymore. Jenny and Crystal had explained to her about boundaries, and she was going to respect them. Even if the way Charles and Edwin looked at each other and talked about each other made her want to plan their wedding and write fifty thousand words of fanfic. Being a good friend was more important.

Charles was just reaching the part where he gave up literal Heaven in order to stay with Edwin and Niko was resisting the urge to sigh dreamily. “So I told him, ‘Looks like you’re stuck with me.’ Then this blue light appeared—you know, the light that means Death is close by, only I didn’t know that then—and Edwin took my hand and told me to run. And we’ve been together ever since.” Charles sat back, with the satisfaction of finishing a story with a happy ending.

Now Niko did let out a sigh. “You know, if it wasn’t for the whole tragically dying part, that would be the most adorable meet-cute ever.” Belatedly, she realized that probably wasn’t the most tactful thing to say. Oops.

“Dying wasn’t that bad,” Charles protested. “I had Edwin with me. He’s got a lovely reading voice; you should hear him read a story aloud sometime.”

Niko filed that tidbit under further evidence that Charles was absolutely smitten and tried to redirect her thoughts elsewhere. “It’s still not fair that you both died so young.”

“Well, that’s why we started the agency.” Charles smiled, but Niko was fairly certain she could see the sadness hiding behind it. “We never got justice for our deaths, so we help other people who have been wronged.”

Niko was trying to find the right words to respond when they were interrupted.

“Mail call!” an official voice shouted, startling both of them. Niko yelped.

Charles recovered more quickly and turned to address the Ghost Postman. “Right, now we talked about this.” His tone was friendly, but carried a hint of reprimand. “Niko here is alive and can still have heart attacks. So maybe don’t sneak up on us like that?”

“My apologies.” The postman dipped his head. “I’ll remember to knock next time.”

“Thank you,” Niko said.

“Got a letter for you, young miss,” the postman said, stepping forward. Niko rose and accepted it. It bore a familiar postmark and smelled faintly of the ocean. “And Tragic Mick sends his regards to everyone at the agency.”

“That’s good of him,” Charles commented. He started to stand, before evidently remembering Edwin’s mandate. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a pink-and-gold envelope.

“Letter for Mr. Payne, not to be opened by anyone else.”

“I’ll make sure he gets it,” Niko promised. She noticed the letter bore a paw print in place of a return address and felt a delighted grin spread across her face.

Charles looked unhappy, but didn’t comment. Niko made a mental note to prepare a presentation with Crystal on the concepts of polyamory, friends-with-benefits, and queerplatonic relationships. She didn’t know precisely what Edwin had going on with the Cat King, but it made him happy, and it didn’t make him love Charles any less. She wasn’t sure Charles realized that, though.

“I also thought you might find this interesting,” the postman continued. He handed Charles a folded newspaper with a short article circled. “A maintenance crew on the London Underground reported hearing strange sounds and found their equipment tampered with. It’s not caused by anyone on my delivery schedule. The Marble Arch group moved out last week.”

Charles whistled. “Did they say why? Ghosts from the Blitz tend to be a stubborn lot.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“What could make ghosts decide to stop haunting a place?” Niko asked.

“Could be loads of reasons.” Charles frowned as he skimmed the article. “But for most ghosts, if they stayed somewhere for a long time, being forced to leave can mess with their sense of connection to Earth. I don’t like the thought of something down there causing trouble for both ghosts and living people.” The frown deepened. “And it’s strange that they didn’t come to us about it. We’ve helped them out before.”

“Well, it sounds like a case for the Dead Boy Detectives, then!” Niko said, trying to stay positive. “Thanks for bringing it to our attention.”

“Anytime, miss.” The Ghost Postman tipped his cap to her and departed.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne & Niko Sasaki Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Niko Sasaki Additional Tags: Fluff, Movie Night, Scary Movies Series: Part 3 of DBDA Anniversary 2026 Summary:

Edwin and Niko settle down to watch a scary movie in the lead up to Halloween.

Excerpt:

“Really?” asked Edwin, incredulously. “‘Ghost Stories’?” 

“My friend said that it’s a good film for Halloween season,” Niko explained as she paused the film at the opening credits. “But it’s a bit scary, so I didn’t want to watch it on my own.”

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne & Niko Sasaki Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Niko Sasaki Additional Tags: Fluff, Movie Night, Scary Movies Series: Part 3 of DBDA Anniversary 2026 Summary:

Edwin and Niko settle down to watch a scary movie in the lead up to Halloween.

Excerpt:

“Really?” asked Edwin, incredulously. “‘Ghost Stories’?” 

“My friend said that it’s a good film for Halloween season,” Niko explained as she paused the film at the opening credits. “But it’s a bit scary, so I didn’t want to watch it on my own.”

It came as no surprise that Edwin and Crystal insisted that Niko and Charles stay behind while they investigated the Marble Arch mystery. Nor was it surprising that Charles protested. What did surprise Niko was how quickly he conceded defeat in the argument. Crystal promised to keep in touch with Niko via text. What went unspoken was that, if anything did go horribly wrong, there wasn’t much that Niko or Charles would be able to do about it.

Charles was much quieter today as he continued sorting through items in the backpack. Fewer objects caused him to smile or launch into a story, but he still remained distracted. They were making good progress, but Niko was more concerned about Charles’ well-being than his productivity. She started asking him questions about what they found, hoping to prompt him into a better mood.

“What are these for?” she asked after Charles laid out a set of pots and pans on the floor. “I didn’t think you did much cooking.”

“They’re made of blessed stainless steel,” Charles told her. “The wizard who sold them to us said they could be used to prepare food that ghosts can taste.” He snorted. “Got properly swindled, didn’t we? But Edwin uses them for alchemy experiments.”

Niko added them to her list. Charles returned the cookware to the backpack and extracted a small model of a suspension bridge. “That looks pretty mint,” Niko commented.

“It’s a souvenir from our trip to New York City back in 2012. Edwin wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge.” His fond Edwin-smile softened his features. “He was explaining that only a fool would try to buy the bridge, since it was impossible, so naturally I had to find a replica in a gift shop to give him.”

Niko beamed. “What else did you do in the city?”

“The usual tourist stuff. Central Park, the Empire State Building, a couple museums. Then we took a case from this heiress who claimed she needed to find her long-lost diamond necklace.” His expression soured. “Turned out she was really an energy vampire leading us into a trap. She did that to a lot of tourist ghosts, but she should’ve known not to mess with the Dead Boy Detectives. Guess we didn’t have as much of a reputation across the pond in those days.”

“What’s an energy vampire?” Niko wondered.

“You know how ghosts are mostly made of memory and energy?” Niko nodded. “Some creatures feed on that energy.”

“Like the ghost-eating fungus in the Tall Forest,” Niko remembered.

“Yeah.” Charles didn’t look happy about the reminder. “Anyway, the city was pretty mint apart from that.” He tossed the model bridge back in the bag and Niko added it to the inventory.

The next several items were books—ones Edwin had lost to the backpack in the early years. Charles was happy to rediscover them, and promptly moved them to the pocket where he kept Edwin’s reference books. “Most of them we keep here in the office,” he explained to Niko. “But sometimes we need one on a case. Speaking of cases, have you heard anything from Crystal?”

Niko checked her phone. “No new messages, but there probably isn’t good cell service underground.”

“I guess not.” Charles fidgeted. He’d been very good about not trying to stand up or walk today, but Niko knew it had to be hard for him to sit still for so long. She certainly found that challenging. It was made more difficult because they were both trying not to worry about their friends.

“Crystal and Edwin are good detectives,” Niko reminded Charles. “They can handle themselves. And they have worked together before. Remember the Case of the Devlin House?”

Charles nodded, but he looked even more unhappy. Niko belatedly realized that Charles probably didn’t want to think about that case, for a number of reasons.

“Edwin will be happy you found his books,” Niko pointed out.

That cheered Charles up a little. “Yeah. Let me see if there are any other ones missing.”

He rummaged around in the backpack for several minutes before frowning and pulling an oversized volume out. “Don’t remember this one,” he remarked. The binding was dark blue, edged with gold. Pictures of stars and planets spilled across the front cover. It was a very pretty book, but Charles frowned at it as though it had offended him. Or worse, offended Edwin. “Didn’t think he was still reading this astrology stuff,” Charles mumbled.

“I think that’s technically astronomy,” Niko said. She reached for the book and opened it between them. “See, it’s about the science of the cosmos.” She paged through it, admiring the photos and complicated diagrams, and paused on a page filled with constellations.

“I asked Edwin once what he missed about being alive,” Charles said quietly. “He didn’t answer then. But later, he admitted he missed the stars. You used to be able to see the night sky a lot more clearly back in his day.”

Niko considered that. There was a lot about the boys being dead that was very sad. Still, she’d always privately felt that Edwin and Charles were happier in the present than they would have been in their own respective eras. Technology was more advanced now, and a lot of progress had been made in human rights and equality. But Edwin did have a point about missing the stars. Niko had never seen them.

“I grew up in a big city,” she told Charles. “I suppose I could have seen more stars in Port Townsend than I ever could have in Osaka or London. But I never thought to look.”

Charles didn’t meet Niko’s gaze. “Do you think Edwin ever went stargazing in Port Townsend?”

“I don’t know.” Niko frowned, considering. “Maybe with Monty?”

Charles winced. It was almost imperceptible, but Niko was looking closely and caught it. And then suddenly several things made sense at once.

Charles wanted to give Edwin things to make him happy—even impossible things, like the Brooklyn Bridge or the starry night sky. Here was an instance where Charles had failed, and Monty had made Edwin happy instead. Charles was still jealous of Monty. And he was upset about more than just that.

“Are you still beating yourself up over what happened with Monty?” Niko demanded.

“I should have known the Tall Forest was a trap,” Charles insisted. “I should have kept us safe. That’s my job.” He tugged the book away and shut it with a snap.

“You did act suspicious when Monty told us about Gladys,” Niko reminded him.

“I should have come up with a better argument!” Charles threw his hands up. “Monty said Gladys was important to him, but he’d literally never mentioned her before. I knew something was off, but I couldn’t make anyone see it.”

“To be fair, everyone was worrying about their own problems that day,” Niko reflected. Jenny had been avoiding her, Crystal had just lost her powers, and Edwin had been working up the courage to confess his feelings to Charles. He’d even asked Niko’s advice in picking out suitable attire, and she’d decided on the green sweater vest—for emotional stability and to bring out the color of his eyes. “I don’t think people were listening to you, and we should have,” she realized.

Charles shook his head. “I shouldn’t have gone along with the case. I had a bad feeling, and I didn’t press it, because Edwin prefers facts.” He stared down at the cover of the astronomy book. “And I wasn’t sure I could trust my feelings just then.”

“Edwin trusts your judgment when it comes to people,” Niko insisted. “You’ve got good instincts.”

“But I was wrong about Brad and Hunter.” Charles sounded absolutely miserable. “And I nearly let Crystal get poisoned because I underestimated Maren. And…” He sighed heavily. “I didn’t like Edwin spending so much time with Monty, but I didn’t want to be a bad friend about it. He really struggles to make friends, and I wanted him to be happy. So I didn’t protest as much as I should have when Monty came to us for help. And we nearly got eaten by a giant mushroom because of it.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Niko declared. Charles started to protest, and she cut him off. “No, it wasn’t. We’re all detectives, and Monty tricked all of us. If anything, I was the one encouraging Edwin to spend more time with Monty. Most of my matchmaking attempts ended in disaster.”

“Oi, you couldn’t have known that librarian was a violent stalker,” Charles objected.

“And you couldn’t have known that Monty was a witch’s familiar,” Niko countered neatly. She was getting better at this. “I’ve read Edwin’s books about witches. Familiars taking human form is really rare.”

Charles didn’t look entirely convinced. “Still…”

“Hey, we’re a team.” Niko laid a hand on Charles’ shoulder and took it as a good sign when he leaned into the touch. He couldn’t feel it, any more than she could feel him, but he clearly found some comfort from it. “None of us have to be perfect, because we all look out for each other.”

“I’m not much use to anyone like this, though,” Charles muttered. He gestured to the cast on his leg. “I hate being stuck here.”

Niko bit back her instinctive response that she knew exactly how he felt. She really missed going out on cases, doing proper detective work in the field instead of paperwork in the office. But telling Charles that wouldn’t make him feel better. He’d only feel guilty. Their circumstances weren’t the same. Once Charles’ leg healed, he’d return to casework as usual, and Niko would stay behind. Because Charles could defend himself in a fight, and Niko could not. They’d already lost her once, and nobody wanted that to happen again.

“This is only temporary,” she told Charles. “You’ll be out in the field again in a few days. And in the meantime, we’ve managed to inventory items from over five hundred pockets. That’s nothing to sneeze at.” She paused for a moment. “Can ghosts sneeze?”

Charles huffed something close to a laugh. “Only under certain circumstances.” He turned to survey the backpack and the pages of notes Niko had made of their progress. “You’re right,” he declared, sounding more cheerful. “We’ve done good work so far. We’ll find those knitting needles soon enough.”

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Charles Rowland (DCU), Simon (Dead Boy Detectives), Edwin Paine’s Mother | Edwin Payne’s Mother Additional Tags: Omega Verse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, horrible implications of the fate of Omegas but not sure how to tag that??, Alternate Universe - Historical, First Meetings, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Balls & Galas Series: Part 4 of DBDA Anniversary 2026 Summary:

It is Edwin’s last chance to find a mate before he is married off to someone twice his age - but is Simon Mold truly his only option?

Excerpt:

As soon as Lucy had left them, Edwin frowned at his mother. “How will I be able to scent out suitable Alphas over the scent of the flowers?” he asked.

With narrowed eyes, his mother said, “You will have to get close to them. Dance with them. This is your last chance to find someone before your father arranges your marriage instead.”

“But he cannot! I do not want to marry-!”

“You will do as you are told,” his mother snapped. “Do you think that we will allow you to bring shame on this family?”

Edwin flinched and shrunk into himself, his hands pressed together in fists. “I-I know that. But surely there is another way…?”

“This is the best way, my darling.” His mother sighed and stepped closer. She cupped Edwin’s face and rubbed her thumb across his cheek. Edwin tensed, waiting for the inevitable. It seemed as though she noticed, for she squeezed his face and he gasped in pain. “You will be a perfect Omega and you will marry a suitable Alpha. So get rid of your doubts and entice them to you at this ball - or you will have to marry Alexander Goodwin.”

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Charles Rowland (DCU), Simon (Dead Boy Detectives), Edwin Paine’s Mother | Edwin Payne’s Mother Additional Tags: Omega Verse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, horrible implications of the fate of Omegas but not sure how to tag that??, Alternate Universe - Historical, First Meetings, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Balls & Galas Series: Part 4 of DBDA Anniversary 2026 Summary:

It is Edwin’s last chance to find a mate before he is married off to someone twice his age - but is Simon Mold truly his only option?

Excerpt:

As soon as Lucy had left them, Edwin frowned at his mother. “How will I be able to scent out suitable Alphas over the scent of the flowers?” he asked.

With narrowed eyes, his mother said, “You will have to get close to them. Dance with them. This is your last chance to find someone before your father arranges your marriage instead.”

“But he cannot! I do not want to marry-!”

“You will do as you are told,” his mother snapped. “Do you think that we will allow you to bring shame on this family?”

Edwin flinched and shrunk into himself, his hands pressed together in fists. “I-I know that. But surely there is another way…?”

“This is the best way, my darling.” His mother sighed and stepped closer. She cupped Edwin’s face and rubbed her thumb across his cheek. Edwin tensed, waiting for the inevitable. It seemed as though she noticed, for she squeezed his face and he gasped in pain. “You will be a perfect Omega and you will marry a suitable Alpha. So get rid of your doubts and entice them to you at this ball - or you will have to marry Alexander Goodwin.”

The Mystery of Marble Arch resolved itself with a fairly simple explanation, to Edwin’s irritation, Crystal’s amusement, and Charles’ relief. Apparently, a group of teenagers obsessed with the supernatural had taken up residence in the tunnels to record any signs of haunting. All efforts made by the local ghosts to scare them away had only encouraged them and increased their internet following—something Crystal had had to explain to Edwin multiple times—and so the ghosts had eventually relocated in the hopes that the teens would soon grow bored and leave. The teens had, instead, proceeded to fake further effects of haunting, which was what had led to the problems the maintenance crew reported. Crystal had tricked the teens into confessing on camera, which destroyed their credibility enough that they seemed likely to cause the Marble Arch ghosts no further trouble.

The upside of all this was that, since there was no actual case closed, it meant no paperwork needed to be completed for the Lost & Found Department. The downside was that it meant there was also no payment. A mixed blessing was Charles insisting that Crystal and Edwin needed self-defense lessons, because if there had been something dangerous down in the tunnels, they ought to know how to protect themselves. Niko headed off a potential argument by happily volunteering to be Charles’ student as soon as he was fully recovered from his injury. A few lessons probably wouldn’t be enough to convince the rest of the team to let her accompany them on any cases they deemed too dangerous, but it would still be useful to learn. And it was another thing Charles could teach her, which seemed to make him happy.

“Edwin can defend himself in a fight if needs to,” Charles told Niko confidentially later. They were continuing their work inventorying items in the infinite backpack while Edwin gave Crystal a potion-brewing lesson—in a different section of the building, since the girls complained about the smell otherwise. “During the Case of the Grisly Gastronomist, he whacked a ghost over the head with a cast-iron skillet. And during the Case of the Atrocious Alchemist, he rigged the bloke’s lab to explode using his own chemicals. It’s just hand-to-hand combat where he needs a little work.”

“He’s not teaching Crystal to make explosives, is he?” Niko asked, mildly concerned.

“Nah, not yet. Probably not at least.” Charles looked doubtful for a moment before returning to his favorite subject. “Also, Edwin is aces with a blade—you should see him fence! He gives me lessons on occasion, but I’m nowhere near his level. Did he ever tell you about the time he bested a ghost pirate captain?”

Niko shook her head and listened as Charles related the tale of the Case of the Sunken Ship. The captain had come to them requesting their help raising his lost vessel. His ship had been cursed and his crew doomed to linger without rest. The boys had located the ship and brought it to the surface, only to discover a crew of animated skeletons, and the captain had declared his intent to continue his career of piracy. Edwin had challenged him to a duel for ownership of the vessel and won. He then freed the crew—who had not been pleased with their captain for forcing them into eternal zombie servitude—and the boys had scarpered before everyone moved on or got dragged to their afterlives.

“But what happened to the ship?” Niko wanted to know.

“Well, it was still cursed, so we couldn’t just leave it lying around for anyone to find. So Edwin found this spell to shrink it and safely store it. Here, I’ll show you.” Charles rummaged around in the backpack before he removed a large bottle containing a ship.

Niko murmured in admiration. She’d seen movies and artwork of pirate ships and ghost ships, but seeing one in person was something else. She tried to make out the interior through one of the portholes, but it was too small to see clearly. “How did it fit into the bottle?”

“Magic,” Charles replied. “But also, Edwin’s really talented. He builds ships in bottles as a hobby. I know we’ve got one on display in the office somewhere.”

“Is there anything Edwin can’t do?” Niko asked, amused.

“Well, he still hasn’t learned how to throw a punch,” Charles admitted. He leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially. “And he’s terrible at bluffing in poker.”

Niko reflected that Edwin had bluffed his way out of trouble perfectly well during the Case of the Voyeuristic Vampire last month. But Charles probably knew all his tells by now. “I’m no good at lying either,” she confessed.

“Yeah, you and Edwin are a lot alike in many ways.” Charles smiled fondly at her. “Maybe that’s why I like you so much. But, like, not the way I liked Crystal!” he clarified in a rush, looking embarrassed. “I mean, not that you’re not—I mean—”

Niko giggled and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Charles. I know what you meant.”

Charles grinned sheepishly and returned his attention to the backpack. This time, he pulled out shiny, dark red stone and stared at it for a moment before his face lit up in recognition. “I forgot about this one! It’s supposed to be a magic rock, but we think it’s probably a dud.” He passed it to Niko for inspection.

“It looks like it could be a garnet,” she observed.

“A diviner gave it to us as payment after we cleared out a pixie infestation in her shop. She said it can show visions of the future, but only for people ‘in tune with the harmonies of the universe’ or something.” He chuckled. “Edwin says foresight is a very ‘imprecise and unreliable form of magic’.” He adopted Edwin’s mannerisms for a moment. “Not to her face, though, ‘cause she’s helped us out occasionally before. Plus, it’s a pretty rock.”

Niko studied the polished surface of the crystal. Something about the play of the light made it seem like there were shapes moving around inside it. She tilted the rock, and then she could see the images more clearly—a scene with figures she recognized, tinted in red. Edwin and Charles standing beside the office desk, both looking bashful and pleased, as Charles handed Edwin a gift-wrapped package.

Niko gasped. “Did you see that?” The image had faded into abstract blocks of color and light, but she was sure she hadn’t imagined it.

“See what?”

“There, in the stone.” Niko tilted the crystal for Charles to see. “It was like watching people filmed in black-and-white, only in tones of red instead of gray or sepia.”

“You can use the stone?” Charles’ face split into a grin. “That’s aces, Niko!”

“I’m not sure how I did it,” Niko admitted. No matter which way she tilted the crystal in the light, it didn’t seem willing to show her anything more. She was glad Charles believed her.

“What did you see?” he asked eagerly.

“You and Edwin. You both looked happy, and you were handing him a present.” Niko squealed. “Do you think it might have been the knitting needles?”

“I don’t know.” Some of Charles’ enthusiasm receded. “I give him lots of gifts.”

“Oh, really?” Niko did not bother to try to sound innocent.

“Well, lots of occasions for gifts, aren’t there?” Charles started listing them on his fingers. “There’s birthdays and Christmas, the anniversary of the agency, the anniversary of when we met—although Edwin refuses to celebrate that on the day itself, since that’s the day I died—there’s the day he escaped from Hell the first time, the day we solved our first case together…”

“You like excuses to give him presents?” Niko asked with a mischievous smile.

“Don’t need excuses, do I? I like making him happy.” Charles smiled as though it was the most obvious thing in the world to give presents to his best friend of thirty-some years. Niko resisted the temptation to question if his motives were at all romantic in nature.

“You know he’s happy whether you give him gifts or not,” she said instead.

“I know. But I still want to do something extra for him. Something special.” He sighed as he surveyed the piles of objects surrounding the backpack on the floor. “I really hope we can find those enchanted knitting needles.”

Niko thought about Charles wanting to make Edwin happy, and about how the backpack could shift and rearrange itself to fulfill Charles’ wishes. The edges of an idea were beginning to form, but she didn’t want to look at it too closely, for fear it might disappear, like dandelion seeds blown away by the wind. “I think…” she said slowly. “I might have an idea for how to find them.”

Niko didn’t tell Charles her idea right away. Ideas were like tea—they needed to steep for a while before they were ready to share.

She and Charles had the office to themselves again today. Edwin was out visiting the apothecary to replenish his potion-making kit, while Crystal had declared she needed a break from anything supernatural and gone to the movies. She’d invited Niko to join her, but Niko had regretfully turned her down. She wanted to test her theory about the bag-of-tricks backpack today. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Charles, she missed hanging out with Crystal and would make it up to her after this.

They were reaching the last few dozen or so of the pockets, many of them ones Charles had forgotten about or only used once. Charles’ mood soured after he found a pair of fox earrings which reminded him of the Case of the Crafty Kitsune—the only time a shapeshifter had managed to properly trick them—but he brightened again when he uncovered a vase full of lilies of the valley.

“The vase is enchanted so that the flowers never need water and never wilt,” he explained eagerly to Niko. “Best of all, the spell makes it so that even ghosts can smell them!” He inhaled deeply and set the vase down with a dreamy sigh. “Only trouble was that some of our clients were allergic, so we had to put it away. But, hey, that answers your question from the other day—ghosts can sneeze under the right circumstances.”

“Lots of impossible things are possible under the right circumstances,” Niko agreed. She decided now was as good a time as any to put forward her idea. “Remember when you showed me the Ghost Cave? You said the backpack can alter its entrance.”

“Yeah. Pretty brills, innit?”

“How do you tell it to do that?”

“I don’t know exactly.” Charles frowned, looking as though he was trying to put a complicated idea into words. “I guess it’s more like asking than telling. The bag doesn’t like it if you’re too bossy. I picture what I need, and then the bag shifts to help me. Same way I picture the pockets I want to retrieve items from. Only it’s not just a picture, because it’s the nature of the pocket, too, like whether it’s strong or waterproof or resistant to magic—that’s not something you can see.”

Niko nodded slowly. “I think I understand. So, you ask the bag for something, and then it tries to give you what you ask for?”

“Yeah. Only, I’m not asking in words, but images and feelings. I’m translating into what I know the bag understands.”

Niko made an inquiring sound.

“It’s like when Edwin asks me for books,” Charles explained, gesturing to the bookcase. “He’s got an organization system for the shelves that makes sense to him and he remembers where everything belongs. But I never remember the titles or authors or where to find anything. So he describes a book by its color and size, so I know what to look for.” He chuckled. “That helps especially when the book isn’t where he thought he left it.”

“That makes sense.” Charles was a more visual person, Niko reflected. “You’ve got a good eye for details,” she added.

“Thanks.” Even that small praise made Charles brighten a tiny bit. “Edwin’s really good at mentally mapping a space, but that doesn’t work with the backpack.” He picked up a pencil sharpener and a frog-shaped paperweight to demonstrate. “All of the pockets exist in a void, and can be rearranged however you want.” He slid the objects across the floor and then swapped them out with the flower vase and a faded silver coin. “It would be like having the books but no bookshelf. Edwin hates not knowing where to find things. But I can call up the pockets with the items, so I can use the backpack.” Charles sat back, looking pleased with himself.

Niko felt she understood the backpack a lot better now. Charles was really good at explaining things. And it sounded as though her idea had a decent chance of working. “Can you ask the bag for objects if you don’t remember which pocket you put them in?”

“No.” Charles’ face fell. “It doesn’t work that way. I told you, I’ve tried. It’s not the backpack’s fault,” he clarified, clearly trying to spare the bag’s feelings. “It’s just, the bag understands pockets not objects.”

“Oh…” Niko remembered now. Charles had said something like this on their first day. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t still onto something here. “Was the Ghost Cave a pocket you found, or was it something the backpack made because you wanted it?”

Charles stared into the distance for a long moment. “I guess I don’t know for sure,” he admitted. “The first time we used it…” He looked uncomfortable and began toying with the shoulder straps of the backpack. “We had a case back in ’94 that ended badly. The ground started shaking and the red light came.” Charles swallowed and looked away. “Edwin was hurt, so he couldn’t run. I didn’t have a plan—I just wanted to keep him safe. I knew the bag could hold living things and magical things without harming them. I didn’t visualize a specific pocket or anything. But when I climbed in after him, there was this whole room-sized pocket I’d never seen before.” A flicker of awe and something like affection crossed his face. “I always thought we just got lucky, or that the bag was looking after us. But I guess it never occurred to me that the bag might have made something new because we needed it. Didn’t know it could do that.” He gave it a considering look. “I guess I still don’t know.”

“You said the backpack has feelings,” Niko reminded him. “I think it was looking after you. I’ll bet it tries to do nice things for you, the same way you try to do nice things for Edwin.”

Charles smiled and stroked the fabric fondly. “Maybe.”

“Try asking it for something now,” Niko suggested. “Something you use a lot.”

“Niko.” There was a look on his face—not impatient or exasperated as there would have been with Edwin or Crystal. It was more resigned, and apprehensive—the look of someone who didn’t want to let their friends down, but felt it was inevitable. Niko was determined to make that look go away.

“You think an old backpack can’t learn new tricks?” she challenged. “At least give it the chance to try. I’ll bet there’s a lot it can do that you haven’t discovered yet.”

Charles sighed and reached into the bag. A moment later, he showed his hand was still empty. “It’s no use. I told you, it doesn’t do objects.”

“Try again,” Niko insisted. “This time, concentrate on the object and the pocket, so the bag can connect the two. Like learning a new language.”

Charles looked doubtful, but continued to humor her. Niko wouldn’t let him quit. She knew she was being pushy, knew that it wasn’t always a good thing to be stubborn with friends, but she wanted to thoroughly test this before giving up.

On his twelfth try, Charles pulled out his cricket bat. He was so surprised he nearly dropped it. Niko applauded.

“I don’t believe it.” Charles laughed, disbelief and delight spreading across his face as he laughed. “Niko, that actually worked!”

“Do it again,” she encouraged.

Charles returned his bat to the bag and then tried again. He came up empty-handed, but this time Niko recognized the determination in his expression. It was far easier to believe something was possible and worth attempting if you’d already succeeded once. Charles kept practicing until he could retrieve his bat every time, then moved to experimenting with different objects.

“This is brills!” he exclaimed some time later. He rubbed at the fabric of the bag as though giving a belly rub to a dog. “You’re doing such a good job. I’m so proud of you!” The bag didn’t react in any way that Niko could see, but she imagined it doing the equivalent of wagging its tail.

“Now try asking for something that you don’t know where it is,” Niko suggested. “See if it can retrieve that.”

Charles hesitated. “I don’t want to push it too hard in one day. It’s already done so well.”

“Just try?” Niko used her pleading Puppy Dog Eyes expression.

Charles closed his eyes and reached into the bag. Niko held her breath for several long seconds before Charles pulled out a pair of silvery knitting needles. “Finally,” he breathed. “I finally found them!” He swept up the backpack in a hug. “Thank you. I’ve been looking for these for ages. You’re the best magical backpack in the world. Edwin’s going to be so happy!”

“Shall we tell him?” Niko asked. She loved the open display of affection between Charles and the backpack, but she was also very keen to witness a similar show between Edwin and Charles.

“Nah, I want to gift-wrap them first,” Charles said. “Do this thing properly.” He turned to Niko, his smile bright enough to illuminate even the void of the backpack. “Niko, you’re absolutely brilliant. Come on, you can have a hug too, if you want one.”

He opened his arms and Niko returned his embrace. She couldn’t feel it properly, but it still felt nice. Edwin and Crystal didn’t really do hugs very much, but Niko liked hugs and it seemed Charles was the same. Another reason to spend more time together.

The week had proved a marvelous success, and Niko was almost sad that it was nearly over.