Jag felt distinctly uneasy about being thanked for something that ought to come naturally to any semi-decent human being, but the way Val spoke to him just then, it tugged at him in that way he'd tried to wall himself off against. "'course," he mumbled, glancing down before looking up at Val again. It was his turn to look vulnerable as he added, "Look, about what I said last time - I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

Because apparently, this was the perfect time to have that conversation. While stuck in this bloody place, with impossible rooms from the past and foreign countries, fire he couldn't control, and random shifts back and forth.