𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆. 𝐇𝐌. 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐍𝐎 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓, nor how it coaxed something hot to coil tight within the pit of their gut. shocked, quite literally, from their own thoughts by the sharp little branch of lightning. gods, it hurt. he realized, with only a modicum of surprise, that he liked it. the noise which fell from loose and traitorous lips was one of interest, not pain : a slight, choked off moan as they were brought to a halt, body seized.
heat flushed their face at once, frazzled and flustered. he shook off the feeling the moment he was able, and spun back round to scowl at ned's back. ❛ well, good ! i'm a big boy, i don't need protection. ❜ even as he spoke, edward cringed at how much they sounded the petulant child when compared to a man of ned's stature. old as the fucking hills, learned and powerful. but gods be damned if any thought he'd concede because of it. quite the opposite, in fact. insecurities masked by a boisterous overconfidence.
❛ maledictus, ❜ growled beneath their breath as blackened fingertips traced patterns into the air before them. a deep purple glow settled overtop ned's retreating frame before it faded, though the effects would not. the elf would feel ed's curse just beneath the skin, in his very blood and bones, til they took rest at camp. or until he broke their concentration upon the spell so graciously provided by a doting patron's boons. perhaps ned would find it a bit more difficult to be such an insufferable know it all, as well.
he picked up pace and fell into step with the other once again, as if neither had unleashed their power. ❛ i'm well acquainted with the dark, thank you. there's nothing you could do to me that i haven't seen a hundred times over. ❜ hissed low into ned's ear as he passed, staring forward this time, tail light and swaying with their gait. it may yet prove unwise to provoke the centuries old mage, but youthful arrogance had always been a second language to ed.
A slight raise of his brows, at the boy's moan - not the usual noise one made when faced with pain, but certainly something that piqued interest, something Ned made note of, perhaps for future use. A snort at Edward's flustered attempt to rebuke him, which only made the difference in maturity all the clearer. He'd thought that would be it, that the boy would storm ahead in a huff to lick his wounded pride, but he should have known better - stubborn warlock.
Little rat. Ned could feel the curse settle over him like a shroud, the slightest tensing of his shoulders the only outward sign. Perhaps he could have countered the spell or shaken it off but he simply hadn't expected it such arrogant boldness. More the fool of him, he supposed. Intelligent as Ned was, even with this childish malediction he was likely smarter than the rest of the party combined, so he would let it linger, for now, knew that it would dissipate in time. The only question was retribution.
Eyeing the boy - and his swinging hips and tail - as they pulled ahead in front of Ned, for a moment, he debated banishing the smug tiefling to a different plane. It would only take a flick of his fingers and would serve to give himself a moment of peace, before he tossed the thought aside - the boy would likely only be more annoying on his return.
An amused twitch of his lips as an idea came to mind. They were bound to rest soon enough anyway, so his own plentiful spell slots could lack a single spell - though Ned dearly wished some form of violence broke out before that rest, if only for the boy to be lacking a spell to use and be taught a lesson.
Reaching into his alchemy pouch on his belt, careful to keep it out of sight of Edward, he crumbled a pair of tiny tarts to crumbs in his hand, waving an owl feather as he muttered the right words before glancing back up at the tiefling, directing the spell at them.
It was sudden.
Brows raised, he wandered forward, pausing next to the prone boy, dusting crumbs off his hands as he looked down at Edward as they laughed hysterically, "Something funny, big boy?" he asked with a sly smirk. He waved off the rest of the crew's interest and concern, silently encouraging them to keep going. The orc lingered for a moment, eyeing him with suspicion before one of the others pointed out a campsite and he slowly went off to go help set up.
He still felt the orc's eyes on him, he and Edward well within view of the camp, but he could care less, simply leaning lazily on his staff, looking down at Edward in amusement. Let the boy be aware that he could have done anything at this moment, with him defenseless on the floor. Mm. The boy's laugh was cute, certainly far better than his whining. "My goodness. Are you crying tears of laughter? You must have remembered the best joke in the world." he teased.
ASSORTED QUOTES PULLED FROM TUMBLR POSTS, PINTEREST POSTS, AND SONGS.
CHANGE gendered words and in-universe phrases as needed.
SPECIFY muse for multimuses.
“ Half of seeming clever is learning when to keep your mouth shut. ”
“ I don’t understand … what exactly are you doing? ”
“ Fun isn’t something I’m particularly familiar with. ”
“ I will be gentle with your heart — I promise. ”
“ You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known. ”
“ If we beat ourselves up after a mistake, we add shame onto the guilt and frustration that we already feel about our mistake. ”
“ Your pain is safe with me and I will stay with you longer than your sorrows if you let me. ”
“ I am broken, and full of contradictions. ”
“ We cannot afford avoiding the fight for growth and understanding, even when that fight is as painful as it’s bound to be. ”
“ At the moment, I am quite busy tearing down who I once was. ”
“ You have to challenge yourself, and keep learning new things. ”
“ I implore you — it’s time to come back from the dark. ”
“ You’re dangerous, but you lack ambition. ”
“ I became good at pretending. I became so good that after a while the lines blurred between my truth and fiction. I even fooled myself. ”
“ You will miss so much by being guarded. ”
“ What is destructive is impatience, haste, expecting too much too fast. ”
“ I know what it feels like to lose someone you love. ”
“ By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully and deliberately and well. ”
“ We can't do whatever we want. There are ways we have to act. There are things we have to say. But we can think whatever we want. ”
“ I think I love nearly everyone I have ever met. ”
“ It is the destiny of stars to collapse. ”
“ I belong to you. ”
“ What I was before wasn’t good for me. ”
“ Leave me to my own absurdity. ”
“ I have such trust in you, my heart. My dear, dear heart. ”
“ I’m restless and harsh and despairing. ”
“ You can be better than this. ”
“ I am not arrogant; I simply know my place. It’s quite far above yours. ”
“ Should I regret what I became, or should I regret what I didn’t become? ”
“ You are too nostalgic; you want memory to secure you, console you. ”
“ I am afraid to experience what I don’t understand — I always want the guarantee of at least thinking that I understand. ”
“ My heart is too good to be silent. ”
“ The quiet of the night is astonishingly beautiful. ”
“ When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don’t get to decide that you didn’t. ”
“ I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then. ”
“ It’s frightening that there’s no guarantee you’ll be loved. ”
“ I think too deeply about everything. I still don’t know if that allows me to see more of the world, or less of it. ”
“ The truth is messy. It's raw and uncomfortable. You can't blame people for preferring lies. ”
“ See, forgiveness doesn't happen all at once. It's not an event―it's a process. ”
“ You must walk alone to find your soul. ”
“ I like flaws. I think they make things interesting. ”
“ People can easily forget that others are human. ”
“ By one act, I have ruined everything. ”
“ My bloodline is irrelevant to my value. ”
“ Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something that they need to forgive. ”
“ Who are you to judge me? ”
“ Poets — they can be soldiers, too. ”
“ I’m afraid to let go. ”
“ People can’t feel truly loved if they don’t feel seen for who they truly are. ”
“ Grief always grows back. ”
“ Maybe lying is itself a kind of art. ”
“ What thing worthy of love can be found in me? ”
“ I don't know anything anymore. Is that normal? Is it normal for someone to just go blank? ”
“ This was always going to happen. ”
“ I found with you a life force that I thought I’d lost. ”
“ I fear I will be ripped open and found unsightly. ”
“ We cannot simply sit and stare at our wounds forever. ”
“ If a poem hasn’t ripped apart your soul, you haven’t experienced poetry. ”
“ My life has changed, and I’m changing with it. ”
“ Things are sweeter when they’re lost. ”
“ How foolish we are to believe that we are more powerful than the sea or the sky. ”
“ Grief is really just love. It’s all the love that you want to give, but cannot. ”
“ They think that I’m purely decorative, and they’re fools for not knowing better. ”
“ Isolation is a way to know ourselves. ”
“ How many people am I? Who am I? ”
“ I learned a lot about being a friend when I was alone. ”
“ Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving. ”
“ I love you, but I cannot survive you. ”
“ Shame keeps us stuck. It’s a paralyzing emotion. ”
“ I am, at present, wrestling with my own private angels. ”
“ You’re looking for this wonderful thing that you may never get. ”
“ If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life. ”
“ Come on; dance with me. ”
“ If it’s darkness we’re having, let it be extravagant. ”
“ You don't always need to be getting stuff done. Sometimes it's perfectly okay, and absolutely necessary, to shut down and do nothing. ”
“ What would you ask for, if you knew that the answer would be yes? ”
“ Love is also a violence, and it cannot be undone. ”
“ Some things are more precious because they don’t last long. ”
“ You are afraid to die, and you are afraid to live. ”
“ I do understand — and it is terrible. ”
“ How do you become so empty? Who takes everything out of you? ”
“ I can’t abandon the person that I used to be. ”
“ Strength is what I want. Strength not to endure, I have that and it has made me weak — but strength to act. ”
“ I want everything back the way it was. But there is no point, this wanting. ”
“ My guilt will not purify me. ”
“ I guess I thought that by now, I’d be done with shame. ”
“ My father and I are more alike than I’d care to admit. ”
“ I am not asking. I’m begging — please. ”
“ It was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter anymore. ”
“ You people do not understand me, and I am afraid that you never will. ”
“ Endure what you deserve. ”
“ I pity the dark life that you live. ”
“ Don’t be the sort of person who needs to be held. ”
“ I am beginning to despair and can only see two choices: go mad, or go holy. ”
“ We are enemies linked together. ”
“ What lived and died between us haunts me still. ”
“ Betrayal already points to love. You can’t betray an acquaintance. ”
“ The dead only return for love or for revenge. Which did you come back for? ”
“ Every version of the story ends with you being slaughtered. ”
“ How can I ask anyone to love me, when all I can do is beg to be left alone? ”
“ If I didn’t think, I’d be much happier. ”
“ We are nothing more or less than what we choose to reveal. ”
“ How dangerous to finally have something worth losing. ”
“ Peace was never an option. ”
“ I will not water myself down to make my suffering more digestible for you! ”
“ Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. ”
“ Beyond a certain point, there is no return. ”
“ Anger is hard to ignore. ”
“ It is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire. ”
“ Broken girls blossom into warriors. ”
“ I don’t know if I believe in rage as something always acting in opposition to tenderness. I believe, more often, in the two as braided together. ”
“ But it was too much. All of it was too much. ”
“ Time just gets away from us. ”
“ I’d rather live with a tender heart, because that is the key to feeling the beat of all the other hearts. ”
“ I’m afraid he’s going to hurt me. ”
“ The core of me is untouched. ”
“ I must have been very hard for him to love. ”
“ I understand now that I'm not a mess, but a deeply feeling person in a messy world. ”
“ Why couldn't people's insides match their outsides? The world would be such a wonderful place if the nicer someone was, the more beautiful they became. ”
𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐋𝐘. stranded in a foreign plane, hostile to them all by nature, without an obvious means of return. they all ought to have been terrified, or in the very least wary of safe havens filled to the brim with riches and all manner of pretty things. a hideout that seemed entirely too good to be true ; an obvious dragon's hoard. but only ned among them seemed to hold any reservations.
but it was difficult for edward to remain on guard in this place, stunning as it was. so terribly beautiful that it disarmed him a moment upon entering, and the feeling of awe hadn't left since. in fact, it only seemed to settle deeper. an odd sense of calm and belonging that made a home in their lungs, their heart, seeped into their very bone marrow. sleek, shimmering walls of dark stone that appeared nigh on iridescent in the glow of jackie's dancing lights cantrip. they illuminated the space and caught on sharp, natural gemstones within the stone itself, throwing the space into glittering, ethereal light.
the thought of pocketing treasure had occurred to him, certainly. but for the moment, he was more caught up by the impressive array of skulls lining the walls as clearly prized trophies. what a powerful beast must live here, to have taken so many trophies.
they couldn't help but express their feeling of kinship, and it was ned who whirled round in surprise. he looked ... oddly pleased. perhaps at the reminder that ed too fancied the dark and deathly. a grin broke out across his face, broad and bright with a flash of sharp canines, as he was crowned. ❛ mm, you think so? ❜ they too sounded pleased, as they adjusted the circlet in place and admired his own reflection in the jagged plane of a inlaid jewel at the wall. ❛ maybe i'll stay here while the rest of you cowards tuck tail an' run. ❜ a tease, to be sure, though his temptation to remain was obvious. ❛ if this is a dragon's hoard, they have good taste. maybe they'd think me pretty enough to join their collection. ❜
he stepped over to a skull, huge and hulking, it's gaping maw lined with teeth nearly as long as edward was tall. perhaps a tarrasque? a hum of approval slipped from him as a palm dragged cross the crest of its brow. ❛ how fearsome they must be ... ❜ muttered to themself alone, beneath their breath. thumb caught at the tip of a tooth. still sharp, it cut and drew blood, but they were undeterred.
still wandering the line of skulls, he glanced back to ned. ❛ do you feel it too? it's like a feeling of coming home. like i feel safe here. ❜
Ah, the tarrasque, that bitch had nearly tore Ned's wing off before he had managed to finish it off. He nearly squirmed, throat almost itching with the urge to regale Edward with tales of his valor, glory, and bloodthirsty conquest, but his control held strong. Still, thank the gods that Edward was looking away, that the rest of the crew was distracted by his hoard, because Ned simply couldn't help the grin he flashed at all the little compliments Edward was unknowingly peppering him with.
"I feel it too." Ned murmured, still inordinately pleased. Edward should feel safe, feel at home in Ned's hoard, but alas, not in this realm's half. Even all his magic couldn't protect against the ever creeping darkness of Shadowfell - not forever. He'd activated his wards the moment they'd slipped inside, but they wouldn't hold forever, not with so many living things running around that the shadows would want a piece of. Which, brought him to the entire point of bringing them here in the first place: getting them out.
Casual, "Quite the magic user as well." Ned noted, gesturing to the runes carved into the opposite wall, "Actually...hold on..." Creeping forward, he made a show of examining the magic more closely, "Surely we're not this lucky...I think this is a portal. And that's the rune for Faerun. If we can figure out how to activate it, then we should be able to return." Of course, Ned could activate it himself, but it was a rather large show of magic, a touch too powerful for a single elven wizard alone. He'd ideally gather the help of the other spellcasters, and hide the strength of his own magic in a collective effort.
After, of course, he managed to drag them all from their explorations. A slight shake of his head, as he turned to watch Charles drape a fine golden leaf scarf around the younger Jack's neck - the elder Jack was currently amusing himself by trying to swim in a particularly deep pile of gold, idiot - and Silver was excitedly show off some dagger to Flint, even the girls were taking part, weighing out golden coins in their hands. Ridiculous.
"You're the only one showing the hoard any respect. The only one fittingly concerned about the idea of stealing from a dragon." Ned lamented, both the fact that it was his hoard being plundered and that if it hadn't been his hoard being plundered, they'd have had an angry dragon on their tail in no time at all. Gods, these reckless fools. "I haven't seen you steal a single thing." Though, that could also just be Edward been sneaky - a narrow eyed look, "Have you stolen anything?"
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