"... Just... little things I've noticed," Raven replied quietly.

Wolfe sighed a little, "I'm interested," he replied patiently.

Raven seemed a little worried about him getting too interested. "Well... Laurel's come to me often. After they fight. Which has happened pretty often. And from what I can glean, Nic... is lacking the ability to see the world through someone else's eyes. But it's not like he doesn't try - it's like he's incapable of it."

Wolfe thought about that for awhile, "That's not surprising," he decided.

Raven blinked a little, waiting for Wolfe to explain his reasoning.

"Nic is a cat," Wolfe stated, "He knows how to hunt for himself, take care of himself and live alone. Now imagine this feral cat stumbled upon a baby bird. A tiny, naive little thing who doesn't see the cat as feral or as a threat but as a friend. The cat would be confused, torn between the desire to eat the bird but also to protect it because of the love the tiny thing is giving it. Both desires of the cat are selfish in nature while the bird is completely selfless. Therefore the cat cannot relate to the bird and the bird is clueless about the cat. Their natures are opposite." For a guy who claims to not like metaphors, this was a huge one.

"Huh..." Raven said after awhile. That had actually made a lot of sense. "But... I think it might even go deeper than that," he mused. He thought about it a moment more before playing off the metaphor. "It's like... on top of everything else, the cat has no idea he's a cat. He has no idea what part he actually plays and has never taken the time to acknowledge his own nature."

Wolfe nodded as he took a seat, "How can a bird teach a cat what a cat is? The bird is trying to help but a cat will never fly."

It looked like it might be starting to get a little too deep for Raven. At least Raven who was currently on a sugar rush.

"It can't," Raven decided, figuring that was the point.

Wolfe smiled a little and dropped the metaphor, "The point is, as good as Laurel's intentions are... she is incapable of helping Nic. He'll continue to hurt her without meaning to and in turn, hurt himself."

Raven nodded, agreeing. "... He needs help before they both truly can't take it anymore. I'd really rather not see that day come. For everyone's sake..."

"It needs to be soon," Wolfe replied seriously, "Nic's already seduced her completely."

"... Wait... what?" Raven asked. There seemed to be an implied 'oops' somewhere in there on his part.

"The further things travel physically, the faster they will spin out of control mentally," Wolfe continued.

Raven shook his head a little to catch up with Wolfe. "... Well, before it gets farther, there's something Nic needs to come to terms about for everyone's sakes."

Wolfe gave him a look as if to say 'father?' but he sighed, "What does Nic need to come to terms with?" he asked.