Verity peeked up, her chin resting on her forearm. "Great. I fell for a closet case. I told you-" She jabbed on finger repeated at her own head for emphasis. "Stuuuupid."
She straightened up, though, at the hint that Percy was having problems too. "Despairing? What do you have to despair about? I thought... you know... that the two of you were-" She gestured expansively, if vaguely. "-happy? Making progress? He seemed to really care?"
Then, her hands dropping and her face growing serious, she asked lowly, "Do I need to-?"