[Child of the 7th Age]

With a shrug of his shoulders, Bingo publicly announced, "Sorry Falco. You know how I feel. I'm sticking with Sondo. But good luck to you. I hope things work out."

With that final pronouncement, Bingo gestured for his brother to come over and speak privately with him. Standing up to his full height, Bingo put an arm around Reggie's waist and tried to make his voice sound as authoratative as he could. "Have you decided what to do, little brother? Of course, you're free to make your own choice. Only I hope you'll decide to stick with me. I've always looked out for you pretty well in the past, and I don't mean to stop doing that now."

There was an awkward silence before Reggie responded.

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Encaitare's post for Reggie:

Well. How was he supposed to react to that?

Reggie loved his brother more than anyone, and part of the reason he had come on the trip was to be with him. But what was this tone Bingo was taking with him? He was acting protectively as he often did, but now it seemed stiflingly domineering.

"Look," he began. "I don't want to go home, not yet, anyway. There's so much more we could see, and places to go..."

"And dangers to be found," said Bingo. Under his gaze, Reggie felt that guilt once more. But, then, why should he always have to follow his brother everywhere? That was how it had started, but not how it had to continue.

He pulled away from Bingo. "I'm not a child, Bingo; I'm almost as old as you. You don't have to act like I need looking after all the time. We've gotten along just fine for years without anyone minding us, and I can do just fine by myself too." Bingo opened his mouth to say something, but Reggie did not allow him to do so. "It's not about Sondo or Falco," he said quietly but intensely, not wanted to draw the others' attention. "It's about doing what we want to do. And I want to go to Sarn Ford."

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Bingo's post

"I know you're not a child anymore. I didn't mean it like that. But I thought you'd want to stick together. That's what brothers do. If you want to go to Sarn Ford so badly, I won't be the one to stop you. Just remember though, if you get in any kind of trouble, I'll still be here and ready to help." Bingo stuck his hands deep in his pockets and purposely walked over to where Sassy was standing, determined to try and ignore his brother as much as possible so that Reggie would not notice how much his own feelings had been hurt.