[ Claude just smiles in response to Wilhelm agreeing to give it a try and the smile sent his way since he's ready to leave it there, especially since the fact that the teen looked up? Reminds him a lot of one of his friends hearing something important and processing it despite not necessarily wanting to, and while in years past he would've continued to prod to make sure his point was really heard - this is enough.

Then again, his smile also grows a bit wider at swords as a way to burn off frustration. It's not far off the mark. ]

That helped sometimes. Mostly I spent my time plotting ways to get even. [ Matter-of-factly, and never mind that it slightly contradicts the whole 'meditation can solve things' spiel he'd just went on. Both are still true. ] I wasn't the biggest, fastest, or strongest kid so I was... a bit of a target. Whatever my revenge was usually required some plotting to make it happen.

[ It's maybe less ominous in reality than that sounds, but Claude doesn't bother to clarify as he goes back to squinting his painting to decide what colors to use next. Totally Normal Conversation. ]