Daniel doesn't say anything for quite a while, so Seth eventually has to turn around and see how he's taking it.
Not great, it looks like.
He's very obviously distressed by this news, very clearly physically shaken. Seth wants to walk over and give him another hug, reassure him that it's okay, Seth's fine now. That version of him in the dream may have been him once, but he's not like that anymore.
Except that's a lie, isn't it?
Seth is functioning, he is coping, he is managing, but he is not entirely sure he's recovering. A week hasn't gone by without a nightmare that didn't hold at least some of the elements of his stay there, or some other past traumatic experience. And sure, it's been five months, and he's a lot more stable and secure than he was when he broke out, but that's not really saying much. There's no denying that he hasn't been profoundly changed by his imprisonment, if not that much in personality or values, then certainly in how he deals with things, how he can't deal with some things anymore because it brings it all back.
One of the things he can't deal with, at least just now, is going over there and comforting Daniel, listening to Daniel talk about how horrible it all must have been, while Seth tries to downplay his experiences. Neither does he want to pity parade. He just wants things to be better. And he does realise that to achieve that any time soon, he's probably going to have to actually work through it more than he has so far, but he's not sure how much he can take of Daniel's initial reaction.
So he just nods curtly at Daniel's apology, at his sympathy.
"I'm getting changed," he says, grabbing the jeans and underwear he's pulled out, and heads to the bathroom to do so. He doesn't close the door, not entirely, because he's not really trying to shut Daniel out and he doesn't want him to think so. He just needs a little space, and Daniel needs a little time.
everything is terrible
Not great, it looks like.
He's very obviously distressed by this news, very clearly physically shaken. Seth wants to walk over and give him another hug, reassure him that it's okay, Seth's fine now. That version of him in the dream may have been him once, but he's not like that anymore.
Except that's a lie, isn't it?
Seth is functioning, he is coping, he is managing, but he is not entirely sure he's recovering. A week hasn't gone by without a nightmare that didn't hold at least some of the elements of his stay there, or some other past traumatic experience. And sure, it's been five months, and he's a lot more stable and secure than he was when he broke out, but that's not really saying much. There's no denying that he hasn't been profoundly changed by his imprisonment, if not that much in personality or values, then certainly in how he deals with things, how he can't deal with some things anymore because it brings it all back.
One of the things he can't deal with, at least just now, is going over there and comforting Daniel, listening to Daniel talk about how horrible it all must have been, while Seth tries to downplay his experiences. Neither does he want to pity parade. He just wants things to be better. And he does realise that to achieve that any time soon, he's probably going to have to actually work through it more than he has so far, but he's not sure how much he can take of Daniel's initial reaction.
So he just nods curtly at Daniel's apology, at his sympathy.
"I'm getting changed," he says, grabbing the jeans and underwear he's pulled out, and heads to the bathroom to do so. He doesn't close the door, not entirely, because he's not really trying to shut Daniel out and he doesn't want him to think so. He just needs a little space, and Daniel needs a little time.