Re: [punching, the redux]
It didn't occur to him to hold back the taunt. The person he'd been a week ago would have stood mute while Patrick climbed out of the ring. He wasn't that person now, and maybe he never really had been in the first place. That didn't mean he predicted Patrick's response - on the contrary, it was a lot sharper and more immediate than expected. He'd touched a nerve, and it only took him a couple seconds to figure out how, as Patrick came in way, way too close.
Patrick had something to prove. That should have set off some real alarm bells about how stupid this was, and its potential for harm that would last a hell of a lot longer than a bruise. But there was spit flying in his face, and Patrick insisting that Adrian own up to being a coward. The rational part of his brain touched alight against the memory of bodies under a comforter, and rational thought shut down.
He shifted down and dug with his fists, once, twice, aiming squarely for Patrick's center of mass.