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[feistro]

@🐾 Mister 🐶 Pom 🐾

username

🐾 Mister 🐶 Pom 🐾

name

oijjn

age

927

hometown

dfac

"It's Pom. Leave a message if you're feelin' it."

former username: dffopsdpkh;2

codes by ♡ and ♡

Comments

[feistro]

[Though he's the one who just implied it, hearing Gale say that Northly doesn't need him stings in some way he can't fully process, riling his temper.]

You're blaming yourself for something you didn't even know. None of us did, except maybe Patho-Gen, with their Imprint studies and always tryin' to get us to pair up. That's how we met - they told us to mingle. Make friends. Talk to each other.

[And frankly, he'd hated it at the time. Gale had been a bright spot on that awful day.]

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I didn't know about the imprint and the corruption yet, but I still could have been a better friend to them. I could have figured out where they were and checked in on them. Astarion was probably half starved here, and maybe that even contributed to his change. I didn't try to help them.

[feistro]

We do what we have to do to survive. If he was hungry, he'd have found something to eat, same as you, same as me. That still doesn't make it your fault.

[Well, maybe not the same as Pom, given that before Gale moved in, he often wandered into the woods and tore into the first animal he found out there for dinner. He still regularly chews on bone chips.]

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I know that, and if anyone was going to do everything it takes to survive it was Astarion, but it doesn't make me feel any less guilty.

[feistro]

[There's an audible huff on his end. Time to change tactics.]

All right. Then I guess I'm just as culpable for him.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

You didn't know him as I did. We fought and bled side by side. I doubt he would have ever called me a friend, at least not out loud, but he was there for me when he didn't have to be. We knew each other's worst secrets. I should have checked on them.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be putting this on you.

[feistro]

You shouldn't be putting this on yourself.

[Yes yes, said the pot to the kettle. That redirection didn't work, so time to try another.]

Who'll be to blame if it happens to you?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I don't know where else to put it.

No one would be to blame; the friends I've made here have shown me great care. Well, Patho-Gen would be to blame, but no one else.

[feistro]

[GALE OF WATERDEEP, SO HELP HIM—

He struggles to keep his frustration from his voice; his forces impassivity into his tone.]

Patho-Gen is to blame for all of this, but if you're gonna take the blame for Curls and Labelle, then I'm the one to blame if anything happens to you.

[Sorry Gale, your friends' names are a lot.]

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I don't think that's a fair comparison, but... I do need to ask something from you. You're not going to like it, I fear.

[feistro]

[He is so ready to argue that that is an absolutely fair comparison, but he bites his tongue for the second.]

What.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

We spoke about the orb before. If I die and there's no way to revive me, my body absolutely must be removed to somewhere isolated before the explosion. Without me alive and holding it in check, it would only remain stable for a couple of days.

But I've become concerned that if the same thing happened to me that happened to Astarion... Well, I don't know if the owlbear could keep the orb from detonating without me, even though my body would still be alive.

[feistro]

[No, he doesn't like this.]

You want me to lead you out somewhere where others won't get caught in the blast.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

And make sure that I stay there, whatever that takes. Patho-Gen is aware of the orb, but I'm not sure they really understand the potential for disaster. It might not be such a bad thing if they were to capture me like the others and be destroyed from within in the process, but I don't want to take anyone innocent with me.

[feistro]

How big is the blast? You really worried about taking out Patho-Gen folks?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

Based on my calculations, Karteria would cease to exist. It's possible that there are extensive underground structures beneath Patho-Gen similar to the ones under Kelesia, which might help contain the blast if that's where they're storing the failed experiments, but I can't imagine any of Patho-Gen would be left at the very least. It wouldn't just be the scientists, but any Augmented they have there as well.

[feistro]

[He doesn't want to do this - he doesn't want to ever do this. He doesn't even want to promise to do this. He doesn't want to think about doing this, especially not to Gale - his friend, his confidante, someone who makes his heart beat a little faster when he's near.

But it's his job as a hunter, and sometimes, softness and mercy takes the form of a knife. There's a pause on his end, hesitation. He pulls in a quiet breath, steadying himself.]

All right.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I'm sorry that I even have to ask this of you. I just don't want anyone else to suffer because of my mistakes.

[feistro]

Yeah. Might as well just be me.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I obviously don't want to hurt you. I would prefer you to be sad than dead, however, because mourning will eventually pass.

I can ask someone else if you're uncomfortable with this.

[feistro]

You know anyone else who would agree to putting you down like a sick animal?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

There are probably people here who wouldn't care to do it. Whether or not they're physically capable of relocating me is another matter, but not an insurmountable one.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked this of you.

[feistro]

[An audible sigh.]

No. I shouldn't've snapped on you. I just—

[The words stick in his throat; he tries again.]

You know I...

[He trails off that time, unable to figure out what he wants to say.]

Nevermind. Ain't as important as keeping my word to you. This is what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to watch your back. I'm supposed to be a hunter. And chances are good I'm one of the few who can and will do it.

So I will. I promise.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

What were you going to say? It is important to me.

[feistro]

[Silence on his end; it stretches to a few seconds, then several more. Is what he wanted to say important? Does it matter within the bigger picture, especially when they're in a place where they might not even be people tomorrow?

It's important to Gale, and Purl would say that's why it matters even more. As for Pom himself, he isn't so sure: the thought just makes his chest ache, and he's not sure who he can talk to about it. He already has a similar pact with Mel; Northly would probably slap him again if he so much as brought up the idea of slaying someone who's gone feral, especially if that someone was a friend - or himself. He's not as close to Pal, and as for Gale—

Well, he already can't vocalize how he feels about Gale, now can he? The silence wears thin, and he pushes himself to say something, anything. He promised to stop running - the least he can do is try.]

It matters to me. You being here. You being near.