That is... Seth barely knows how to react to that.
Losing someone is terrible enough. Seth is plenty familiar with that. But losing your only family, so quickly, so brutally, and to see it happen, at the age of eight... He can't even imagine.
Seth reaches over and puts his hand on Daniel's arm, an attempt at a comforting gesture, because he's not sure what else to do. Daniel's been more welcoming of physical contact than Seth's felt natural giving so far, so he hopes it's all right, because he needs to do something. It's just painful, seeing Daniel have to work so hard to keep it together.
"When, uhh..." he begins awkwardly, after several long seconds of silence, and clears his throat a bit. "When I was twelve, the IRA set off this bomb in the middle of Manchester. Biggest bomb in the UK during peacetime, actually. As it turns out, no one was killed, but... It was a Saturday, so mam had gone off to do some early shopping, so I knew she'd be there, at Arndale."
Seth shakes his head a little, thinking back. "And I was terrified, listening to the news, yanno? I mean, we didn't have mobile phones back in those days, I didn't know she'd been evacuated. She could've been blown to bits for all I knew." He swallows a bit.
"What I'm trying to say is..." He pauses for a second, biting his lips, unsure if he's getting his point across right. "I only had to deal with the possibility of that reality for a few hours, and it still felt like my world was going to end. So I can't even imagine what it must've been like to live it, and... I dunno, I'm just sorry you had to go through that." He gives him a small smile, hoping it's at least a little bit comforting.
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Losing someone is terrible enough. Seth is plenty familiar with that. But losing your only family, so quickly, so brutally, and to see it happen, at the age of eight... He can't even imagine.
Seth reaches over and puts his hand on Daniel's arm, an attempt at a comforting gesture, because he's not sure what else to do. Daniel's been more welcoming of physical contact than Seth's felt natural giving so far, so he hopes it's all right, because he needs to do something. It's just painful, seeing Daniel have to work so hard to keep it together.
"When, uhh..." he begins awkwardly, after several long seconds of silence, and clears his throat a bit. "When I was twelve, the IRA set off this bomb in the middle of Manchester. Biggest bomb in the UK during peacetime, actually. As it turns out, no one was killed, but... It was a Saturday, so mam had gone off to do some early shopping, so I knew she'd be there, at Arndale."
Seth shakes his head a little, thinking back. "And I was terrified, listening to the news, yanno? I mean, we didn't have mobile phones back in those days, I didn't know she'd been evacuated. She could've been blown to bits for all I knew." He swallows a bit.
"What I'm trying to say is..." He pauses for a second, biting his lips, unsure if he's getting his point across right. "I only had to deal with the possibility of that reality for a few hours, and it still felt like my world was going to end. So I can't even imagine what it must've been like to live it, and... I dunno, I'm just sorry you had to go through that." He gives him a small smile, hoping it's at least a little bit comforting.