[Kratos follows suit, Flamberge nearly humming with the motion as Kratos lifts it. Breathe, he reminds himself. Breathe, and follow Yuan. Yuan is one of the few people Kratos can follow without a second thought.

[It's slow, this beginning, slower than when they had first come outside; but it does give Kratos time to breathe between. It's a regulated thing, that breathing, and yet at this speed, without having to consider his next step, Kratos finds that he can do it. They progress through the first pattern, then the second, then the third -- slowly each time, with a fine control which would have been the envy of any swordsman. Fine control is difficult.

[But so long as he doesn't think too hard, Kratos finds that he can pay some attention to how he moves -- even if his breathing is between each step, and not combined with them. It's not the mindless peace of the first round of patterns -- but it's something.

[From the window, toast still in hand, there's at least one of the teenagers watching their slow, mirrored dance with wide, awed eyes.]