Percy could have called her out on the lie, he'd seen Trinket and Lockheed curled together in the main room of the apartment on his way to the kitchen after all, but it hardly seemed right. Not when he was no more eager to talk about his troubles than she was hers. Not when he was fairly unwilling to talk about anything personal when he wasn't forced to. He knew he wasn't the most open of people, but that had never been a part of his upbringing. Besides, there were still moments when he did not feel he had the right to ask anything of her, not after what he had done to her. Many moments, if he was honest. This was one such, the memory of her falling body still fresh in his mind after his troubled dreams.
Instead of speaking, he took a moment to just breathe and focus on the task in front of him. Forcing his hands not to shake, not wanting Vex to see that sort of weakness from him, he took the kettle and poured two cups of tea. He prepared one cup for himself, fixing the other the way he knew Vex preferred. Gathering up his cup, he left the other for her and made his way out to the balcony, waiting for Vex to follow if she wanted to. Trinket and Lockheed would probably be fine if they settled in the main room, he imagined they could sleep through some quiet conversation, but he didn't want to disturb them. Plus he could use some fresh air and the night was warm enough. Settling on one of the chairs outside, he gave time Vex time to join him before he forced herself to answer her question.
"In all honesty," he said after a moment's consideration, trying to decide just how much to tell her, "I do not think I am. It has only really just hit me after being here that Whitestone could have easily been destroyed by Vorugal...that it still could. That we might not win this fight. The knowledge was there before, but with so much happening, it was easy not to focus on it. Now..." He trailed of, wrapping his hands around the cup of tea in an effort to soak in the warmth. There was a chill that was more than physical, and he wasn't sure how to drive it away. The late summer air wasn't helping. "I lost my home and my family once to forces beyond my power to stop. I barely survived it, and I lost myself for a long time. You saw what it made me and it is something I have no desire to be again. I do not think I could endure it a second time. And it is already begun. Tiberius is lost to us. We've come so close to losing others. How long before we lose more?"