[ Terry had done some serious psychological damage in his day -- with people he considered to be made of stronger stuff than the man sitting in front of him. Soldiers and superheroes. That kind of crowd. This guy was pretentious art and tie bars and notepads. The risk for actually hurting him, maybe even permanently, was real. He didn't like that. He didn't like the fact that he was genuinely considering it even, for the sake of his own progress.

It felt selfish. ]

It doesn't just start. It's always happening. This whole time, I've already been keeping myself from just automatically reading your mind and pulling the fears out of it.

[ He had incredible self-control. That was one thing he would take credit for. All lapses aside, he spent almost every waking moment trying to reign himself in. To keep the demon from feeding. He prevented himself from giving into his very nature, to do the thing that was most natural for him. No wonder he was always so unsociable, so angry. ]

The second I let go, I'd know. I'd know what you're afraid of, and my powers -- [ A separate entity in his mind. As if he was possessed and not the demon himself. ] -- they'd want me to change. To show you what I saw. And there's no guarantee that I'd even be able to stop.