[There's no where backwards to go. His twisted paw braces himself on the shattered stump left by Vastella's temper, and his muzzle his forced into his ruff.

Every word hits like a club. It's not like they aren't ones that had been swishing around in the back of his mind since. But out loud they're more visceral. More real. ]

i did. [It doesn't matter what the explanation was. That's the truth of it.]