It's a sharper hit and I block it, feinting back, never slowing down but my movements are economical, compressed. Peter's demeanor has shifted, and I wonder what, precisely, has caused it. I have no aim for this to turn serious, but it's important to take it seriously. He said this would help him think, and I hope it does, but I wouldn't be surprised- in fact, I have to hope- that this will draw him further from that place of blankness he seems to have been clinging to so fiercely.