The scowl had been hard not to notice, but Vanessa was glad when he schooled his features into a smile. Much as she did not believe for a second that his mood had suddenly improved so drastically at the sight of her, pretending to feel fine helped some people achieve it. Or, at least, distracted them from the source of their frustration.

And, well, there was the matter of his voice when he spoke like this. Her lips quirked slightly.

"Well, I was rather hoping you'd ring," she remarked, eyebrows raising slightly.