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Bah! [the face grumbles as D folds his hand again inside his cape.] He acts like he’s never seen a parasitic entity attached to the hand of a ol’ pretty boy before!

[It’s apparent the thing very much enjoys trying to get a rise out of D when it isn’t yelling at him for being stupid and feral.

D doesn’t respond to it so there’s no incitement. He’s looking at Cedrik studiously though.]

Is that the name of the shade you summoned?

No, that's certainly a new one...

[ The sudden knowledge that there's been a third party to most, if not all, of his interactions with D is certainly something to digest. But it's not as if Left Hand can sneak off to gossip over their conversations to strangers. At least, Cedrik hopes it can't. So really, this won't change much...though Cedrik's glad to have learned it sooner rather than later.

It's not as if you don't have your own secrets--

Shut it, I said.

Cedrik's brow furrows. It's not the secret his shadow was hissing about, but D asks a somewhat difficult question all the same. ]

In a sense... It isn't accurate, to be honest, but referring to him as 'Fray' is simpler. He has ever been a part of me, but only within the past couple of years have I been able to commune with him and call on him as you saw.

...there is something that is suppressing him, I think. It's either the nature of this place or...I'm not sure. But he's been unusually quiet since my...my death.

[Jokes on Cedrik... Left Hand can move and survive amputated for a little while without wasting away. That will be funny later maybe, if it ever happens. Not for Cedrik, but for Lefty.]

He struggled to stay corporal on this plane. [D is acknowledging Cedrik's ruminations.] Those here with abilities or magic have had them waned by this place.

I wouldn't worry for now.

[ Just don't ask Cedrik to be a surrogate or anything. He'd do it, of course, but he'd be real unhappy about it. ]

You have the right of it. It's enough to know he's still here.

[ As Cedrik's yet to try and fully cut loose, this is the first he's realized his magic is limited at all. Better to find out this way than at some point in the future, trying to call on the darkness to protect someone and coming up unexpectedly short.

So he'll take D's advice and put the matter aside. He looks back the way they came and winces a little at the destruction. Maybe they should take a shortcut to leave. Cedrik makes an inviting gesture to D, ready to get moving. ]

Mm.

[Fray, while protectively aggressive, seems a much better companion to have knowledge of than… Left Hand. It’s fine.

D follows Cedrik’s gaze, peering at the carnage he left behind when he decided it was a great idea to go feral and chase someone directly through the corn. He doesn’t feel ashamed, but he is regretting his lack of fortitude at the moment. His expression thins.

He’ll have to do better.

Quietly, he turns and follows alongside Cedrik, not minding the chance to detour.]

[ Rather than continue trying to follow the maze, Cedrik makes for the next nearest 'wall' and (gently) eases the stalks aside. With a wry smile he invites D to pass through first and offers as explanation: ]

The sooner we're away from this place, the better.

[ He'll come back later and check if there are any...issues with the damage. They're only plants, surely it's not too bad, right? Never mind that this is an underworld, a land of the dead, where getting anything to grow in the first place is probably an arduous task...

Right.

A few more rustling passages made, Cedrik thinks they're nearing the edge of the maze. Carnival music, once a distant din to the viera's ears, is getting louder again.

Now's as good a time as any. ]

There's one other thing I should confess to, D...

[Truly, he does not want to go first because he is also polite and has trust issues. But… spurning Cedrik’s respect would be rude.

So he cuts through the corn first, waits for Cedrik quietly on the opposite side so they can continue. Everyone in the distance sounds as if they are continuing in with their unlives as if nothing had happened…

His eyes shift under the hat to Cedrik.]

Go ahead.

[ Normally, whenever it happens, explaining the Echo to someone unfamiliar is the first thing Cedrik does. The chaos of the moment didn't really allow for it this time, and he doesn't want D to remain in the dark. He turns his head up to meet D's look, beginning his explanation as they walk. ]

There's another 'gift' I have that seems to be working as well as it ever has. On occasion and beyond my control, I get visions of the past. Of peoples' memories. It was called the Echo, back home.

...when I was lying on the ground back there, unable to get to my feet at first, I was seeing one of yours.

[Cedrik's admittance doesn't make him pause in walking along, but he does glance over at Cedrik again briefly. Whatever he thinks about this ability or the implication it occurred earlier, it doesn't show on his face.

But he's very curious anyway.]

What did you see?

[ Not a lot seems to phase D, he's noticed, though he was still expecting more of a reaction to a potentially personal memory being seen without his knowledge.

It puts Cedrik more at ease, though he still proceeds carefully, anticipating D to ask him to stop at any point. After all, what he saw was... ]

You, as a boy...you were being held captive.

[ He doesn't know everything about how the Echo works, why it shows him visions from an outsider's perspective versus that of the memory's owner. Perhaps because it was D's memory alone that he saw it all through his eyes? ]

By the 'Nobility', if I were to guess.

[Hmmm. His eyes flicker ahead, rolling over the way through the corn, in the direction of other people's laughter or shrieks like they're floating on waves. Now, for a moment, his expression is a bit more terse, guarded.]

What did the place look like?

[Before he says anything else on the matter. As a test; he's testing Cedrik like he is making sure it isn't a wild dart throw, a guess, a game of tarot where Cedrik is somehow pulling parallels from arbitrary instances so he'll agree.]

[ D asks for specifics to test him, but Cedrik's first assumption is that he asks because it happened more than once. The viera looks up at D, openly stricken, before he can get out an answer. ]

...it was a small room without windows. [ He'd call it 'dark' except, in the memory, it wasn't. D could see as clearly as if it were day. ] When the door opened the light beyond was strange...I do not know how to describe it, but it was not natural.

The Nobles took you from there to another room, brighter, and bound you to...some sort of mechanical chair.

[ Cedrik quietly skips over the details of what happened in said chair. ]

Observing all this was another Noble, standing behind glass. He felt different...far more powerful, with red eyes.

[ Red like D's had been, during the chase. ]

[A yard or so is only as far as D gets before he comes to a complete, but not necessarily sudden, stop. The gaze he turns to Cedrik at the mention of the Noble with red eyes is more intense than usual, though not angry. It feels like it's boring into Cedrik's soul.

He doesn't have to scrutinize the Echo; this is enough to let him know Cedrik did see some of the things which transpired eons ago. D doesn't seem like he could have been a child, more he was wrought right out of the shadows of a stone cemetery caught in the rain.

But he was a child for a time.]

...

[There is no point in dodging what Cedrik now already knows, has seen. Offering no explanation will make more curious questions grow.]

He was trying to create the perfect being. I had been hunting him for a long time.

[ Here it is, here is something closer to what Cedrik was expecting. He's relieved to see it isn't anger, but he'd have been far more worried if there'd been nothing.

Cedrik comes to a stop a step just ahead of D, turning and looking up to meet his gaze. There's an intensity to it, almost as if Cedrik's the one having his memories plumbed. ...whatever it is D is looking for, Cedrik won't hide it. ]

...I see.

[ D does not tell him much but it's telling all the same. Cedrik already had growing suspicions about the red eyed man and this all but confirms them. As abhorrent as it is...this is sadly not the first time Cedrik has met a man who was born to be someone's creation rather than their son.

But that is where the similarities between D and Zenos begin and end, thankfully. ]

This cannot be a conversation you wished to have, my apologies for forcing it.

[He continues to look at Cedrik for a long moment, then he glances away as if that is the end, as if he may start their trek out again.

But he doesn’t move. His eyes stare ahead where he is facing, thoughtful.

Finally, he looks again to Cedrik. The intensity has waned; the hatred there for the beautiful man with crushing power and red eyes is gone like it has been hurriedly sealed away.]

I’m sorry you saw what you did. It was a long time ago. I hope you can forget it.

[Not as a silencing to Cedrik, but an earnest want for Cedrik’s thoughts and dreams. That it won’t dwell in Cedrik’s mind like a diseased spot.]

[ D doesn't need to ask him to keep personal matters like that a secret for him, it goes without saying. So when D tells Cedrik he hopes he can forget...

He almost tries to make light of the matter. Cedrik's nightmares have plenty of material to work with already, after all. One stolen memory, no matter how grim, will hardly make things worse at this point. The thought makes it as far as a humorless smile and huffed breath that doesn't quite sound like a laugh. ]

...I've never been able to control the Echo in any way and I doubt I'll ever be able to. Even so, it's only ever shown me things that I needed to see. The why is not always immediately apparent, but in this case...

[ He can understand D a little better, now. That's worth a little more grief. ]

[Cedrik had been skimpy with the details; D does not know exactly what Cedrik may have seen when there had been such a long time of enduring a lot of things.

But none of them were good, so in the end, it doesn't matter what the details are at all. It was a terrible thing, he thinks, to be pressed upon Cedrik's mind. He had been a child, but looking back now, he believes even then he had been as much of a monster as he is now. His kindness can never make up for what part of him happens to be.

Looking at Cedrik, he thinks the other man will tell him he's foolish for these thoughts if he ever said this aloud, so he keeps it to himself.]

What do you think it told you about me?

[ The answer comes easily, he scarcely needs to think about it. But he does give it some thought, making himself remember what he saw and what he felt. This could easily be discarded as empty words and it's important that D know Cedrik believes them, with full sincerity. ]

That you...

[ Are you really going to push this on him? Again? He's told you over and over how dangerous he is, how he doesn't want to hurt people, and even after nearly hurting you, you think offering your hand is the solution?

...

And if his Shadow is telling him not to, making his voice waver, it must mean he's doing something right. ]

That you need a friend.

[This answer… surprises him actually, and as wild as it is, the surprise shows a little on his face momentarily.

He’s had many times he could acquire friends, and sometimes they would technically be considered friends regardless. But any vampiric friends he would ultimately have hunted one day probably, and any human friends he would have outlived—and their children, and their grandchildren, and their great grandchildren, and so on.

That was his curse. To live in the space between on his own.

But he’s dead now supposedly. Does that change anything? Does this finality joined and experienced together with others change all of that? He had attacked Cedrik violently not long ago. It’s worrying.]

…

[He does not say anything in response to the declaration. The expression on his face isn’t irritation or dismissal. He turns and continues walking as they had before, steps careful and measured, slow. A few feet away, he pauses, glancing back at Cedrik and waiting politely as a friend would.]

[ For the duration of D's silence, Cedrik's Shadow is eager to be heard. This is a horrid mistake that Cedrik's made. Whether or not Cedrik thinks he needs one, D doesn't want a friend and for good reason. Insisting on this is inviting D to hurt someone, most likely him, and proving that he was right to be alone.

Cedrik breathes deep and watches, noting the glimmer of surprise from D and holding tight to it as his Shadow's ranting goes on and on. It's not the sort of battle he's used to, fighting with himself, but more and more he's learning how to stand his ground. ]

...

[ He does not expect any sort of enthusiastic acceptance but he's learned D isn't afraid of giving a blunt 'no'. The silence, as much as it lets his Shadow gnaw at his thoughts, gives Cedrik hope.

D walks past him and Cedrik turns to watch him still. A lack of rejection is a good sign but it's still not a proper answer...but it need not be given in words. Seeing D pause and look back at him, expectant, brings a soft smile to Cedrik's face.

He jogs to catch up, content with the quiet for as long as he need not endure it alone. ]

[No, don't smile!! Don't acknowledge his comradeship...

Once Cedrik gets to him, D continues slowly onward, side by side. Straight through the corn because neither of them have time for any of this maze's potentially Shadow bullshit again. He uses his left wrist and hand to part the stalks for them as they go. On occasion, they have to halt before stepping out onto the other side as happily shrieking maze-goers race by.

It's a surprise no one accuses them of cheating. Imagine staying in your own lane.

D does not say anything again the whole duration, but the silence at least doesn't seem awkward or suffocating. The maze thankfully spits them back out where all of it started, and it's as if they really had no previous quarrel inside. People are carrying on like nothing is amiss. He glances at Cedrik.]

What will you do?

[ Passing through the last opening is a welcome relief. His Shadow finally fades completely into the background of his mind. Not gone forever, of course, but at least no longer noticeable. Taking a few steps ahead, he draws his arms up and stretches them out with a satisfied noise. The marks D had left remain but the bleeding has stopped, allowing Cedrik to ignore their lingering sting as well. ]

Mmmn...hm?

[ Cedrik glances back at the question and ponders it over. As minor as they are, the responsible thing would be to seek out a healer for his cuts before anything else.

...

He smiles. ]

On my way over I passed dozens of games that looked like fun. I thought I'd play a few before heading home.

Would you like to join me?

[For a moment, he sort of just blinks at Cedrik when posed with this extremely unusual question. Thinking about how he looks really… The idea of someone earnestly asking a haunt like him to… play games and have fun.

Smiling no less.

It feels cruel almost to reject the offer. But also. CEDRIK!!]

You should have Sakura or Aspen check your injuries.

[He will not ignore this little thing that he has done to another person.]

[ His arms drop back down and his smile shifts from hopeful to exasperated. With himself, not D. D is only being a good friend, reminding Cedrik to take care of himself rather than continue being stubborn, he can't fault him for that. ]

You have the right of it, as always...

[ Not that he'll give up on the idea so easily. ]

...so, afterwards?

[ Fun and games could do a 'haunt' like D some good! Cedrik is convinced of this! And it's probably better than the duel idea, though that is absolutely something Cedrik would like to try, as soon as he can get a real weapon. ]

[...

Cedrik is not going to give up on the companionship, D realizes. Please feel him metaphorically rubbing the sockets of his eyes with a few fingers, but in a fondly exasperated sort of way.

He really could just say no thank you. He's very good at being curt when he needs to be. Though it's usually with people grating his nerves or getting in the way.]

I'll meet you afterward.

[HE DOES NOT AGREE TO PLAY ANYTHING!! He only said he would join...]

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