the.com/grooming

means The gradual, deliberate process of building trust with someone in order to manipulate or exploit them later.

from Grooming started as a literal word — to groom a horse was to brush and tidy it, from the Old English/Middle English sense of 'groom' meaning a man or attendant who cared for animals (the ultimate origin of 'groom' itself is debated, possibly related to 'grow' or an old word for 'boy'). Over time grooming broadened to mean preparing or smoothing anything into readiness — grooming a successor, grooming a ski slope. The sinister narrowing of the word — using patient, careful 'preparation' to manipulate a person, especially a vulnerable one — is a 20th-century development, with the sense darkening notably in recent decades as understanding of predatory behavior grew. The old image of careful brushing never left; it just curdled.