"Having two of me running around the building at the same time wasn't helping my situation." He puts his hands on his hips, manages a small smile. "Hanging around a blue girl's just going to get people telling her she can do better." It's a weak joke, sure, not his best by a long shot, but he's trying. It's just a lot to process at once, that's all.

He doesn't answer that second part right away, instead jamming his hands in his pockets as he studies her. Her body's beautiful, there's no question about that, but it's her eyes that tell the real story. They're not the teenager's eyes her youthful features would seem to suggest, but somehow older, as if she's seen terrible things that somehow always fell just short of leaving physical scars. Those eyes have seen things.

He tenses up when she approaches, but doesn't stop her from taking his hand, and as she squeezes it lightly some of that tension he's feeling ebbs away. She's not trying to play him anymore, not now. Or maybe she still is. It wouldn't really matter at this point, he thinks. He has no intention of keeping her in this room any longer than she wants to be. "I suppose I did," he admits, flashing white teeth as he smiles, this time not having to force it. "As long as you're okay with it this time." He holds out his other hand to her, then makes a point of stepping away from the door, so that he's beside her now rather than in front of her. She can take his hand or walk out the door now, the choice is hers.