#so while he's fine with the term overall he isn't going to automatically call luke that. because that's not how he sees the relationship

[smile-files]

this conversation is incredibly touching to me!

for one thing, it's fitting and important that luke should have strong feelings about espella's inability to talk to her father much as a child - because he's had the same experience himself, in the events preceding and during the last specter. for half a year his own father wouldn't listen to him! and even though luke has long since forgiven his father (honestly, luke wasn't directly angry at him anyway), he certainly hasn't forgotten. the pain luke felt during those six months is palpable to this day, and it still affects him: among other things, it makes him upset to realize that espella has felt the same pain herself. he knows no child deserves to have a father who won't listen to their thoughts and feelings, because he's had to suffer through that exact experience, and he knows how damaging it is.

layton agrees that no child deserves that... and then he says something interesting. he acknowledges that at the moment, all things considered, luke likely has a lot of thoughts and feelings of his own: so if luke wants to talk about anything, layton is there to listen. luke had expressed that every child needs a father who will be there for them, and layton immediately follows that by saying he'll be there for luke, because he knows luke is indirectly talking about himself! layton knows luke needs him like a father, precisely because that fatherly attention is something he has taught himself not to ask for! luke's relationship with his real father has largely returned to its normal, happy original state, but luke's relationship to fatherhood (and by extension, his own childhood) is still damaged; but that's something luke will never say directly. in this conversation, luke says nothing of his own experience, but layton has learned to be incredibly perceptive. he can tell what luke needs, even if luke hasn't communicated it: and, in expressing his ability to fulfill those needs, layton gently encourages luke to be more communicative overall. it's incredibly patient, tender, and understanding of layton... he really is a good father to luke...