[It takes Dean until Stiles actively moves away to realize quite how deep the struggle to talk about this one might be; empathy bounces off the callus in his heart where it used to live, dull, distant pings of an emotion he was always inconsistent with anyway. If he found common ground with someone, often he overidentified; if he didn't, there was absolutely no connection there at all.
Now he comments dryly and watches Stiles, neither pushing nor dismissing him; either he'll go on or he won't, and he'll do either of them on his own. Dean waits to see which it will be. It's been so long since he had time to think about his own mother that he really can't even remember what she looked like.]
no subject
[It takes Dean until Stiles actively moves away to realize quite how deep the struggle to talk about this one might be; empathy bounces off the callus in his heart where it used to live, dull, distant pings of an emotion he was always inconsistent with anyway. If he found common ground with someone, often he overidentified; if he didn't, there was absolutely no connection there at all.
Now he comments dryly and watches Stiles, neither pushing nor dismissing him; either he'll go on or he won't, and he'll do either of them on his own. Dean waits to see which it will be. It's been so long since he had time to think about his own mother that he really can't even remember what she looked like.]