But Daniel doesn't say anything at first. He doesn't even know what to say here. A part of him doesn't want to say a thing, and even when another part of him tries to encourage himself to be open with Robby, with a boy he's close enough with to consider a son, that only makes deciding on what to say here harder. How much of this do you open up about to a kid?
"He knew. Without me ever having to tell him," he settles on. That's innocent enough, even if the context, the situation, wasn't. But Daniel knows this much to be true. Even if he never confessed it to Silver, he knows the man saw it in his eyes, knows from the hungry way Terry Silver always looked at him back then, still burned in his memory even now.
The touches. The praise. The encouragement. He never realised it in the moment, too caught up in it to think more of it, but now Daniel knows it was all perfectly engineered to only draw him in even further, to bend and break him.
(And it makes looking back on everything with Robby even harder. After all, didn't he do the same? Gripping Robby's shoulder, an encouraging hand on his back, praising him, all the same things.
Sure, Daniel never had that intent, not even for a moment, but-- what if he had, somehow? It's illogical as hell, but fear is stronger than any rational thought has ever been.)
"And.." Daniel pauses, swallows. The Omen uses the moment to - as long as he can get a small lift from Robby, those legs aren't long enough, okay! - climb up on the table, moving across it towards the man after Robby's encouragement. The shisa jumps off on the other side, settling in on Daniel's lap. The man's gaze drops to the Omen, but only for a moment before he tries looking over at Robby.
It feels even more important to actually look at Robby as he says it.
"I-- I get what it's like. When you feel alone, and you don't know what to do, and then.. suddenly there's an older man who offers you guidance. Who praises you. Who seems to give you everything you need at your lowest moment." It's so dumb. He never saw it before. He never stopped to think about it even for a single moment back then - maybe since he was too busy taking care of Robby and wanting to make sure the boy was alright to ever truly consider it. He never looked deeper into it, never saw the parallel. Never thought that, just like Daniel once upon a time, Robby might also-- "It's so easy to.."
.. to fall.
Even if it's not the right thing. Because, after Daniel's own experiences, it only feels like it could ever be the result of manipulation. Somehow he must have become the bad guy from his own story in Robby's story.
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But Daniel doesn't say anything at first. He doesn't even know what to say here. A part of him doesn't want to say a thing, and even when another part of him tries to encourage himself to be open with Robby, with a boy he's close enough with to consider a son, that only makes deciding on what to say here harder. How much of this do you open up about to a kid?
"He knew. Without me ever having to tell him," he settles on. That's innocent enough, even if the context, the situation, wasn't. But Daniel knows this much to be true. Even if he never confessed it to Silver, he knows the man saw it in his eyes, knows from the hungry way Terry Silver always looked at him back then, still burned in his memory even now.
The touches. The praise. The encouragement. He never realised it in the moment, too caught up in it to think more of it, but now Daniel knows it was all perfectly engineered to only draw him in even further, to bend and break him.
(And it makes looking back on everything with Robby even harder. After all, didn't he do the same? Gripping Robby's shoulder, an encouraging hand on his back, praising him, all the same things.
Sure, Daniel never had that intent, not even for a moment, but-- what if he had, somehow? It's illogical as hell, but fear is stronger than any rational thought has ever been.)
"And.." Daniel pauses, swallows. The Omen uses the moment to - as long as he can get a small lift from Robby, those legs aren't long enough, okay! - climb up on the table, moving across it towards the man after Robby's encouragement. The shisa jumps off on the other side, settling in on Daniel's lap. The man's gaze drops to the Omen, but only for a moment before he tries looking over at Robby.
It feels even more important to actually look at Robby as he says it.
"I-- I get what it's like. When you feel alone, and you don't know what to do, and then.. suddenly there's an older man who offers you guidance. Who praises you. Who seems to give you everything you need at your lowest moment." It's so dumb. He never saw it before. He never stopped to think about it even for a single moment back then - maybe since he was too busy taking care of Robby and wanting to make sure the boy was alright to ever truly consider it. He never looked deeper into it, never saw the parallel. Never thought that, just like Daniel once upon a time, Robby might also-- "It's so easy to.."
.. to fall.
Even if it's not the right thing. Because, after Daniel's own experiences, it only feels like it could ever be the result of manipulation. Somehow he must have become the bad guy from his own story in Robby's story.