[ Hans.... had that coming. He puts his face in his hands with a groan. Come on, man, cut him some slack. ]

It wasn't a... "murder bribe." I just--

[ Ooh, this is tricky. But the Balladeer knows what he's like, right? He seems to. Hans takes a gloved hand to his temple, rubbing the tension out of it (it's not working.) ]

Look, I don't want to die here. But I don't want to kill anyone if I can help it, either. That's the truth. [ Murder is Very Inconvenient. ] But I am interested in getting out of here sooner than later, so, yes, I might have... asked if there was a way to speed things along.

[ He clears his throat. He's feeling so attacked today. ]

But it wasn't a bribe. Just a hypothetical. [ Ehhhh, but he's being honest here so let's be real. ] Mostly hypothetical.