[That's different. He recognizes it, that shift. This whole conversation has been shifts: from disinterested to curious, from curious to personally invested, from invested to . . . well, it's hard to know how angry Dio is, but he's certainly starting to boil. Not expected in any way, but interesting to make a note of.]

[Giorno doesn't react. There's an expectation here, a belief not just of paternity but kinship, and he isn't sure how he feels about it. Nothing has been earned here, and he's predisposed not to trust those who present themselves as authority figures to him. It would be exceptionally foolish to put himself in Dio's power.]

[He can't rise to this.]

I've never known a man who did right by his son. I've known plenty who didn't. I don't believe there's any point to living with false hope of protection from someone with power just because one happens to share genetic material.