He chortled at the idea. “I haven’t tried the puppy dog thing on anyone since my 16th birthday. I tried to get my dad to buy me a car, so that we wouldn’t have to fight over the one that we had… it didn’t work. Even tried the pouty lip thing. And the whiny voice. Stopped short of calling him daddy. Even begging, a boy’s got to keep some integrity…” Not that Danny expected Tim to just automatically submit when his baby boy threw him big blue Bambi orbs, but it was worth a shot. Instead, he had to earn the car with his own money… which was pretty much the only reason why his car was a piece of crap. Waiters at diners in a small town did not a large bank account make. “So, I think that it really isn’t my forte… and I didn’t get where I am today by focusing on the things that I’m not good at.” Danny shot her a playful wink. He learned from a young age to play to his strengths.
“I guess that makes sense…” he said with a solemn nod. Danny didn’t really do the romantically crushed. There were a few times when he had a girlfriend and then the end of that relationship did cause him a little amount of grief. Never enough to wallow, but enough for pangs to build every now and then. He had, however, been emotionally crushed. And he did wallow in that respect. “But maybe you can play it safe for a little bit… see if they’re really interested, even if they only give a tiny hint. If you get that, then act on it. If they don’t… then you can just move on. Plenty of other people who can give you want you need.” Unlike a mother. People only got one of those. See? Wallow.
It seemed like his tactics were successful enough to mandate a change in strategy. Privately, Danny was quite proud of that fact. With his legs mostly freed up, he could better maneuver them. His hands, completely unencumbered, were still doing most of the work, but his legs picked up a little slack. Only… it wasn’t working. Her pull was strong. Much stronger than he expected. In spite of his efforts, Danny slowly found himself being pulled under.