"Thank you," Ajax replies, very pleased that his friend likes the sketch so much.

"I have found that how others have seen me has affected my understanding of MYSELF more than I care to admit," he confesses. "I do not know if that is true for you, but it has been a...process, finding where that poison has wormed its way into my being and removing it."

"I would ask you to tell me how she responds to it, but that might not be appropriate for me to hear," he teases.