He read. Things he'd had no interest in the first time around. Things he hadn't thought important. Things he'd had no time for, then.

He had time now.

He marveled at how flexible a young brain was, how it absorbed everything like water and retained it all like carvings in stone. Had it been like this the first time around, and if so, how had he missed it?

He read. He kept fit.

He waited.