Maybe he should've felt a twinge guilty, but Vax was honestly too tickled by his own joke. What had been the harm, really? She'd calm down in a few, he suspected. Besides, he had a cute little animal to hide behind, and who could resist that?

"I've come to accept it," Vax owned. "Corbie, this... Is Simon," he held out his arm, the snake watching her intently from its round, unblinking eyes. "He's perfectly friendly." So long as he didn't have cause to be otherwise. "And his feelings are only a little bit hurt that you don't seem to like him."