It's not that he's forgotten, not at all. Hawke would always be his friend first. He just....hadn't considered that that mattered right now, not when he's meant to be domming.

He doesn't pull from Hawke's touch, but he pauses a moment to process that feeling, switch gears, and find an answer that wasn't a lie but also maybe wasn't the whole truth. He's not sure he's ready to go into some of it.

"It's just...lingering. From the pit. I..." Context. He sighs and sets the collar aside before settling down on his knees in front of his friend. "I think you were taken away afore it happened, but Jon and I got into a bit of a...tiff. I acted 'aggressive' towards him and our punishment was for him to tie me. It's been....lingering."