If this truly was the disciplinary meeting they might have had all those years ago, this is the moment where John would probably have turned off the tape recorder and asked Martin if he was on drugs. He considers turning the recorder off regardless, just for the dramatic flair of it all, but he leaves it running. Aside from wanting an uninterrupted tape for his own reasons, he likes the implication that this, too, is on record — as if, CV errors aside, Martin might just as easily be angling for a dismissal due to workplace harassment. Going out with a bang, so to speak.

Not that John intends to clutch his pearls. But there's no reason to be eager, either — he's not playing a version of himself that conveniently trades in sexual favors. If Martin intends to sell him on this, he'll have to close the bloody deal, won't he?

John manages not to smirk, but one eyebrow does cock itself as he drawls, "Is this your idea of a proposition, Mister Blackwood?"