Martin stills, and for a breathless beat, John isn't entirely sure what to expect. The old Martin — the one his current role might be nodding to now — would probably have flinched and started stammering apologies. His Martin would push back, all playful noncompliance, inviting escalation. This one just ducks his head and gets on with it, visibly apologetic but not visibly thrown, and John feels himself relax a little, settling more comfortably into the scene. This is going to be fun.

He tsks softly to himself as Martin finally gets the door open, then steps into The Archive, not even sparing Martin a glance as he sweeps past him. "I'll take some tea," he tosses over his shoulder en route to his office. He shuts the door firmly behind him.

Safely sequestered, he allows himself a brief, broad grin before he heads to his desk. The tea will take a few minutes, and he doubts Martin will interrupt before it's finished. That gives him some time to both tidy up his desk — whatever they end up doing in here, he doesn't want it to disrupt or damage any actual work — and start brainstorming little torments. He clears away all the active files he'd been looking at and sets them safely on a shelf, then opens his work laptop and taps the space bar to rouse it. His first thought is that it'll provide verisimilitude, but he quickly realizes that he could actually utilize it for brainstorming purposes, and he sits down to open up a fresh, blank text document.

Ways to torment Martin:

He sucks on his teeth for a moment before continuing to type.

- bullshit chores?