“Well, let me let you in on a little secret. Shit happens. We’ve been bonded sweetheart, and there isn’t a damned thing you can do that’ll change that. Sometimes life hands you lemons, and sometimes it squeezes them in your eyes. All you gotta do is figure out when it’s a good time to accept handouts. And while I’m sure you have a loving family back home, just waiting for you to snuggle up and read bedtime stories with, it’s not going to happen.” His own words hit him pretty hard. Harder than he would have liked. The thought of heading home, waiting for his sister, it was dashed. Her absence even now stung like a mad hornet, and the images darkened his mood.<br/><br/>“How I see it, dragon, you got two choices. Learn to cooperate, and be considered a useful tool. Or you can keep doing everything you can to hold in your pride, and it’ll slow drive you mad, until you are nothing more than a puppet.”<br/><br/>Without even meaning to, Faelan’s tone had dropped, and suddenly, the silence seemed too reminiscent of the hospital room.<br/><br/>“This is your reality. There is stuff beyond your control. Any sense of control you feel you have now, keep fighting, and I promise it won’t be there soon. I’m a simple man see, and all I’ve done is this. Whether or not you decide to be valuable and sentient or a mindless puppet at my fingertips is a choice I’m generously giving you, and I’d suggest you choose wisely.”