He laughed quietly again at her use of hyperbole. "It sure is," he agreed. "Not to mention it's as twisted as... something. Sorry, my brain's failing me today. But I'm sure there's an apt simile there somewhere. I just need more coffee, and perhaps a little more nicotine."
The names meant nothing to him, but he glanced up when she mentioned the piece of skin. "Yeah," he said slowly, his attention going to his shoulder where the minor flaying wound no longer hurt him. "They did that to me as well. I wondered what it was for." Experimentation... of course. DNA samples could be manipulated and utilized for a number of purposes. Still, kidnapping for the purposes of experimentation all sounded kind of... well it was either science fiction or Third Reich. Ben wasn't sure which one would bother him more. This place though, undeniably lovely as it was, definitely held a sting. Ben took another swig of his coffee to hide what must have been a look of blanched worry.
He noticed her looking at his cigarette and pushed the pack towards the middle of the table in an effort to return to normality. "Help yourself, if you indulge at all," he told her. "I'd have offered sooner, but a lot of people take it as an insult these days. Which reminds me, can we get these anywhere around here?"
He'd occasionally debated giving up smoking, but he enjoyed it too damn much if he was honest with himself. Not only that but forced abstinence, especially in these circumstances, did not seem particularly attractive to him at the moment. He wanted to give up when he was ready, not through lack of available supply.