Eek. His quip snapped her out of it and she blushed faintly in embarrassment, frantically shaking her head with eyes tightly shut.

"--Ah! No, no. I didn't mean to-- I wasn't thinking-- I just... just...," she stammered with her head lowered before ultimately throwing her hands down on her lap and trailing off in awkward silence.

Hopefully she hadn't haphazardly made him feel alienated now.