[isaac moves away and peter doesn't move with him, stays exactly where he is and lets him have his space. if he wants to move back, he will. the way isaac hesitates, though, makes peter realize that the question he asked is even more loaded than he thought, that this thread runs right down the middle of the enormous knot of things about isaac he only half understands, the things he makes space for and doesn't ask about.]

Okay.

[he's quiet for a moment.]

There's a picture, a puzzle. [he traces the outline of isaac's silhouette in the air, even though he knows that isaac isn't really looking at him, can see him out of the corner of his eye at best.] And I've got most of the pieces now. But the last couple are the really important ones. [he sketches imaginary empty spaces, right around isaac's eye level, and another in the vicinity of his heart.]