We were abvle to discuss issues with clear heads, agree on the levels of rules and punishments, and even treated each other with some grace and amiability. Sure, there was tension there, mostly on his part, but that is to be expected, and I stayed mostly out of things, unless I had something to really add or agree with, so that it was not in any way interpreted that I was trying to 'run' things (which had been a concern at one point).
FRankly, I was impressed, and am very hopefully with this turn of events. Let's hope it gets even better, or, worst case scenario, that it stays at least this good.