Poor Martel. It's better for everyone that no one think about that, probably, although thank God Wolfgang is nothing like him in terms of personality.

"Oh, I see," he says, and it's not some stock phrase, he actually does sound very interested -- the preponderance of universes threatens his shaky grasp on sanity (he is rarely more than a hand-span away from a nervous breakdown), but it fascinates him at the same time. How different things are, and how much there is to learn that would never be available at home -- even if much of it seems impossible and it's slow going to get him to accept that it's not.

(It's ironic, considering how easy it was for him to believe the impossible as a child.)

"Well, thank you, and -- sorry if I put you out." You know. Having to correct his ignorance and all.