It's almost overwhelming, because he's never imagined being able to do that to someone, even if he's thought about it before, imagined what it would be like to make someone else feel so good, wanted to have the opportunity to do so. Now he's done it, and it's even better than he'd thought it would be, enough so that he has to pull away from Ned's shoulder for a moment just to look at his face, to imprint the vision of that expression and those gasps in his mind forever.

And when Ned presses his face to his chest, he presses his own face into Ned's hair again, scattering kisses on top of his head, trying to communicate something, though even he's not sure what it is. As soon as Ned kisses him, he's reciprocating, warmly and just as fiercely, wanting to cling onto him, absurdly afraid that now that they're done, Ned's going to make him leave right away.

"I... thank you," he says, and he knows how stupid it sounds. It's not nearly enough to express what he wants to, but it'll just have to suffice.