When the Dead Boy Detectives Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland are first summoned by the Cat King, the shape-shifting feline just wants retribution after they break his rules.

But after whisking Edwin away to privately discuss his crime and potential punishment, the Cat King is quick to admit that the handsome teen ghost fascinates him. He turns up his seductive charm — while shirtless in a fur robe — and then magically traps Edwin in his small town.

"Because Edwin has his walls up so much, it's suddenly a game to him," said Lukas Gage, the out actor who portrays the Cat King in the supernatural drama. "Edwin is very guarded and well put together so that entices the Cat King. He wants to rough him up a little bit and see him get angry and get kind of messy."

Based on the comic book characters created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, "Dead Boy Detectives," now streaming on Netflix, follows Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri), the show's solvers of supernatural mysteries.

Edwin and Charles' longstanding routine and dynamic are shaken up after they meet Crystal (Kassius Nelson), a very much living teenager with a demon ex-boyfriend and no memories of her past.

"We always knew that part of the Season 1 journey for all three of our core characters was going to be an exploration of identity," said Steve Yockey, who developed the series.

"All of our characters are trying to figure out who they are," added Beth Schwartz, who served as co-showrunner with Yockey. "They're teenagers and they're having a coming-of-age story, just in a nontraditional way because two of our main characters are dead."

For Charles, who died in the 1980s after being attacked by school bullies, this involves confronting why he is so outwardly happy and positive all of the time. While Crystal, with no memory of herself, has to both figure out her actual identity and who she wants to be in the aftermath of a toxic relationship.

"For Edwin, we wanted to hit him from all sides," said Yockey. "The Cat King is that older experienced man that maybe doesn't have the best intentions, but is also charming and seductive. Monty (a younger supernatural suitor), who you think has nefarious intentions, really just tries to honestly be affectionate with Edwin. We're just giving him all of these different eye-opener experiences and context as he slowly realizes, 'Oh, wait, this is something that I am and it's OK.'"

In addition to realizing he is attracted to men, Edwin has to sort through his feelings for his best friend over the course of the season. According to Yockey, the relationship between Cat King and Edwin was of particular interest for the gay writers on the show because it was a dynamic many of them were familiar with.

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