Martin is grateful to Gwen for suggesting a friendlier pretext for them, and to be honest, he's equally grateful for Miss Reynolds for being a little cautious about him. It might be a different story if Marcus were about, but it's almost better this way. Gwen — Gwenny, he supposes, if that's what she prefers — ought to feel like she has someone in her corner, not someone who already knows him.

He gives Miss Reynolds a polite nod and then follows Gwenny into the rec room. There are some other kids around, but the atmosphere is much more relaxed, better for a proper conversation.

The karaoke machine might be the funniest thing she could have picked to show him, however. He wouldn't be caught dead in even a private booth, and she doesn't seem like the sort either. But it's an unoccupied spot where no one is likely to bother them right now, so it works as long as no one starts looking at him expectantly.

He sits, looking at the machine as if keeping up appearances before turning back to her.

"I appreciated your apology," he starts in a lowered tone, feeling it best to acknowledge that. "But I think you deserve one too. We... could have handled that whole situation better." Really, it's John who ought to be apologizing, but that is very much John's business, as well as Gwen's, whether or not she'd accept it. And there are a lot of details he still doesn't really know, such as how Gwen managed to infiltrate John's dreams in the first place, but that also doesn't feel like his business. So what is he really doing here, short of trying to set her at ease?

He rubs his neck uncertainly for a moment. "Do you have... questions you want to ask?"