Bruce closes his eyes again, sighs. It's a kind of I know but it isn't defensive— barely. He could be, but he chooses not to.
"He did not have normal growing pains and he did not have normal examples," Bruce says, and he shrugs, opening his eyes again. "I've never been in a position to make a choice about coming home, because it's always been only mine. God only knows what that made him feel like."
Dead parents, a guardian who spent a lot of years actively downplaying and denying his role as a father. From eight years onward, this has all been Bruce's; he has no experience about the mindset concerning 'should I move out to go to college or not' or 'I'm in a fight with my dad'. He figures he must have assumed Rick felt the same way, because he never actively thought of it at all. And now what. Neither of them know how to come back over a familial rift, having only experienced the kinds that were caused by death, and thus are by default unrecoverable.
"Pushing him has always made him ice me out more. I can't— I can't just corner him, even if he shows up here. You think I wouldn't—"
Bruce scrubs a hand over his face, tips his his head back. "You think I wouldn't reach out, if I thought I could. If I thought it wouldn't be the last straw."
no subject
"He did not have normal growing pains and he did not have normal examples," Bruce says, and he shrugs, opening his eyes again. "I've never been in a position to make a choice about coming home, because it's always been only mine. God only knows what that made him feel like."
Dead parents, a guardian who spent a lot of years actively downplaying and denying his role as a father. From eight years onward, this has all been Bruce's; he has no experience about the mindset concerning 'should I move out to go to college or not' or 'I'm in a fight with my dad'. He figures he must have assumed Rick felt the same way, because he never actively thought of it at all. And now what. Neither of them know how to come back over a familial rift, having only experienced the kinds that were caused by death, and thus are by default unrecoverable.
"Pushing him has always made him ice me out more. I can't— I can't just corner him, even if he shows up here. You think I wouldn't—"
Bruce scrubs a hand over his face, tips his his head back. "You think I wouldn't reach out, if I thought I could. If I thought it wouldn't be the last straw."