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Edgar, Terra, and Locke walked out of Jidoor’s famous auction house, Edgar and Terra both donning new cure rings, and Locke holding a strange collar with a bell in his hands. Locke looked at it in disgust, the bell jingling as he walked, which earned a few side glances from the townspeople.
“Out of all the things to find in that mystery chest, this was not what I expected,” he said, tempted to just throw his “prize” in a bush and leave it there. The only thing stopping Locke from doing just that was all the effort he put into stealing this item.
“Do you even know what that is, Locke?” Edgar asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“No I don’t, but one thing I do know is that there is absolutely no way this could ever be useful to anyone ”
“Actually, it’s the opposite. What you have is a tintinnabar-” Edgar was cut off by Locke scoffing and muttering something like “If that’s a bar then I’m the king of Figaro,” causing Edgar to clear his throat to try and get Locke’s attention back. “As I was saying, the tintinnabar is a relic that when worn, heals and restores the energy of the wearer,” he finished.
“Let me get this straight, it’s basically a cure ring but a goddamn collar ?” Locke sounded like he couldn’t believe what Edgar had just said.
“It actually heals you every step you take instead of just once in a while, so it’s technically better than a cure ring. Besides, you could wear it around your ankle or something, nobody said you had to wear it around your neck,” Terra stated.
“Yeah, like an ankle bandanna or something,” Edgar said, chuckling at his own statement.
Locke sighed and fastened the collar around his neck, crossing his arms when he noticed both of his companions struggling to hold back their laughter. He wouldn’t admit it to Terra and Edgar, but he actually did feel more refreshed with each step he took. He was glad that Sabin, Setzer, and Relm weren’t here though, because then he’d never hear the end of their teasing. This relic would be useful after or during tough battles, making sure he didn’t get too tired to fight or run away effectively. Then again the bell would probably make it harder to sneak around.
“Hey, Edgar?” Locke tried to get the king’s attention as they were walking back to the Blackjack.
“What is it? Enjoying your new relic, Locke?” Edgar teased.
“I was just wondering that since you know so much about this tintinnabar then do you know if the bell needs to stay on for it to work or if it can be removed,” Locke asked in a quiet tone of voice, almost as if he was embarrassed to ask such a thing.
Edgar looked surprised for a second before his lips twisted up into a smirk. “So, you like the relic after all?” he teased.
“Well I would if it wasn’t for this stupid bell,” Locke grumbled.
“Well unfortunately for you, the bell has to stay on for the healing effect to work,” Edgar shrugged and continued walking back to the airship. “Besides, it suits you more that way,”
Locke stood where he was for a minute, his mouth open in shock as his brain processed what Edgar had just said. Once he finished processing it, he ran to catch up to Edgar. The bell alerted the king of his approach, so he turned around and stopped walking to let Locke catch up to him.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Locke exclaimed, stopping in front of Edgar.
“You’re acting like you haven’t let both me and Celes rail the hell out of you,” The king replied, stating it in an oddly casual way for a subject like this.
Locke stuttered a few protests before crossing his arms and scowling at Edgar. “How is that relevant?!”
Edgar shrugged, a teasing smirk still on his face. “Just thought I’d remind you,”
“It’s suitable that you’re a king, because you’re a royal asshole sometimes,” Locke muttered.
“You two hurry up! You’ll have time to talk about sex after we free the Espers trapped in the Magitek Research Facility!” Terra’s slightly annoyed voice called out to them.
Locke looked over to the source of her voice, seeing that she was standing in front of the Blackjack with her arms crossed.
“Alright, we’re coming!” Locke shouted back at her before shooting Edgar a dirty look as he walked over to the airship, the bell on the tintinnabar jingling the whole time.
Edgar couldn’t help but chuckle at the jingling sound of the bell as Locke ran over to the Blackjack. He followed a few moments after, thinking about how Locke resembled a dog even more now, first with the bandanna and now with the collar. Well, the tintinnabar that just happened to look exactly like a dog collar. To Edgar they were pretty much the same. Besides, the name of the relic didn’t change how good it looked on Locke.
Once they entered the Blackjack, Edgar and Locke both took a seat on the purple couch that was in the main area of the airship. Locke braced himself for the strange feeling he got whenever the airship took off, a combination of nausea and a strange feeling of weightlessness. Edgar noticed that Locke seemed unwell so he put a hand on his shoulder to help steady him.
“Still not used to the feeling of lifting off?” Edgar asked in an attempt to make conversation.
Locke groaned and shook his head, leaning back against the seat so he was facing the ceiling. “I prefer to stay on solid ground thank you very much,” he said in an annoyed tone of voice. “That’s where all the treasure is anyways”
“Where all the people are too. Not much to steal up in the air after all. Though you could probably get something much better than that,” Edgar flicked the bell on the collar for emphasis.
“I’ve grown to like it, it’s very useful. It would be better without the bell though, not very useful for stealth,” Locke said with a sigh.
Edgar chuckled. “Well, about that.. I may have stretched the truth a little bit. I just thought it was entertaining to see you in the collar. Makes you seem like more of a dog than you already do,” the king admitted.
Locke whipped his head to face Edgar, glaring at him. “ What. ”
“Come on, the bandanna and now the collar? That combined with your love for stealing makes you just like a dog,”
“Actually the stealing part is more like a raccoon,” Celes added from across the room.
Locke stood up. “I don’t care if you’re a king, I will beat your royal ass here and now,”
Edgar laughed at him. “I’d like to see you try, mutt,”
The fight that followed was quickly broken up by Celes. Locke’s torment didn’t end though, as she ended up joining Edgar in teasing him.