I wouldn't worry too much 'bout the timing. If we were dropped here with...I dunno. [Imagine Clayton vaguely waving his hands around his head.] 'Space magic'--I figure they've got a way to drop us back off where we oughta be, yeah? Or, least where they found us if we don't match our end of the bargain. They got the power to do it.

[Clayton lets the implied, But are they willing to? question hang unspoken afterwards. To Ed's point, this contract feels like one that has a catch. Fixing his regret, only to drop him back at the time and place where he can't fully enjoy the consequences...that feels like almost too much of a cliché to believe.]

[Not wanting to fixate on the negatives of what he just said, Clayton instead tries to change the subject.]

So--Al. Friend? Family? Relationship?