Martin perks up at once when John starts to relate something back to him, partly just because it's so unexpected. They've grown better at talking and sharing things with each other, but this—trading stories in this context—is still fairly uncharted territory. He's picked up a few things about John's childhood, that he was an orphan raised by his nan, the thing about her bringing him whole bags of random books to keep him occupied (a detail Martin has found hopelessly endearing, in spite of it all), but John's never sat down to tell him a story in the same way Martin's been doing. And he would never ask or expect it. This isn't transactional, and he needs nothing in return for helping John.

But if John's offering... Knowing it was Statement-worthy promises a story even more unpleasant than his, but Martin doesn't mind. John didn't seem to mind his being a bit depressing, and that's easier to understand now that their roles have switched. He wants to know everything about John, the good, the bad, even the truly horrible.

"No, I—I didn't," he says, a little surprised by the question. He's listened to a lot of the tapes, generally they were cases being worked on, not... nothing personal. He's not even sure when John would have recorded this, or what would've prompted it. "What happened?" he asks, full of open curiosity.