The chair story? Adorable. The "aww" it elicits is only slightly teasing. Ava is an assassin in a state of quantum flux; seeing her worried over something so mundane as whether or not a boy likes her is fantastically charming. If Malcolm upsets her in any way, he's going to shoot him.

"If you aren't willing to tell us," Skulduggery drawls, "Maybe I won't be willing to debase myself with that saxophone solo." A good bargaining chip, honestly.