I Dearly Love The Trope In Devil’s Minion Fics Where Daniel’s Daughters Find Armand In His Apartment

I dearly love the trope in Devil’s Minion fics where Daniel’s daughters find Armand in his apartment and are immediately concerned that their father is some old creep dating a guy in his twenties. It’s never not funny.

But I started thinking how Armand might view this reaction.

He obviously expected it. To outsiders, his companionship with Daniel looks strange. But I can see him being oddly touched by their sincere concern for him. It would stick with him after they’d left and he wouldn’t immediately know why.

Then later it might hit him: so few people throughout his existence have noticed his age and tried to protect him. Noticed his age, yes, but it was never about keeping him safe. Quite the opposite, and he was much younger then.

Daniel would not harm him, could not harm him, like he’s been harmed before, but so few had ever attempted to intervene when Arun or Amadeo had been repeatedly hurt, if anyone had at all. Daniel could never do to him what had been done in the past, but even the casual worry and judgement from his girls leaves Armand with a sort of ache in his soul he can’t articulate.

There’s also the chance he wouldn’t realise why he felt like that at all. He’s not had the ability to unpack any of his trauma. He’s stuck in it, so the feeling, initially touching, turns to the usual emptiness that feels like a permanent part of him, except it’s deeper than it normally is. He doesn’t know that the feeling is actually a wistful longing for his previous selves to have felt even an ounce of that concern for his wellbeing.