"Ah, well, what can I say?" He throws himself wholeheartedly into that offered escape, swallowing down his panic to offer her a bleary smile. "One does find one's consolations where one can...And believe me, I did not remotely expect to find myself here. I thought that, well, naturally, I'd end up simply sleeping it off, no harm to anyone, not tripping anyone up or having to ask for any sort of dates or times or anything of the sort..."

He doesn't understand it. He doesn't understand any of it. But he does understand safety, and understand that at times safety can lie behind a Vor woman's smile as much as it can lie behind a Vor lord's weaponry. More. And so he heaves a little sigh, and pulls together the tatters of some lies -

"I do wish I might have presented myself to you in a better fashion," he says. "With a bit more dignity and decorum. Do forgive me. It was my intention to join the fight, but I hadn't thought that my comrades would smuggle me up here when I was unconscious from drink. I had thought they'd have had better sense than that. My apologies. Byerly Vorrutyer." He sweeps her a bow. "No one close to the Count Vorrutyer; do not search your memory to see if you've heard of me, for I am of a cadet branch of no account."