[There was no real way of dodging the question gracefully at this point, it seemed. And he wanted to show that he respected Donnie enough to at least answer the question, even if not in detail]

[All the same, going on about personal betrayals at length to a teenager who is probably only trying to be polite was not his goal in this conversation]

...We are having a disagreement about something serious. It is still fresh in my mind, so forgive the lack of detail. I may expand upon it at another time, if you remain interested.

I will speak with him yet, but... Suffice it to say that even millions of years later, remaining close to someone can be a challenge when you have competing needs.