"Holy cow. This room is..." Howard looks around at the common room, at the relative opulence, and searches for the right word. It doesn't come. "...swanky."

And here was going to recreate an In-N-Out and maybe an arcade for some quality relaxation. This is much better. He's never been in a room like this.

Which doesn't explain why the teenager sitting at the chess board in this room looks so damn somber. Howard guesses it might be the whole 'end of your universe' thing. That tends to bum people out pretty bad, although god knows he hasn't shed any tears over the destruction of his ridiculous crapsack hometown.

Howard's about to ask if the other kid's feeling okay when one of the bishops on the chessboard makes a fist-shaking gesture at him. The sheer shock of 'talking board game' eliminates Howard's previous concern about Harry's mood and replaces it with a new question.

"Um. If you lose the game, you don't get shot by Van Pelt, do you?"