Vinnie answered back with his brain running on automatic - he wasn't all there just yet. "Uh, i-it's okay..." though it sounded like he wasn't too certain of that.

If it were somehow possible to separate the psychosomatic effects and the genuine processes his body was going through, it'd make things so much easier. The panic attack, at least, was passing, but now that Vinnie could see the shrively stubs for what they were, it suddenly made him ill to look at them. Like someone had just given him a box with his severed pinkies inside, all gift wrapped.

This made some sort of sense, he supposed. But he and Bulba didn't exactly follow all the normal rules of plant growth, being half classified in the animal kingdom. And it certainly didn't dull the shock. For all Vinnie had convinced himself that he wasn't dwelling on the past, this only proved that this particular wound had yet to heal over. (He might have been turning a tiny bit pink, suddenly self-conscious about his spazzing.)

He glanced back at Bulba, dazed red meeting nervous gold. There was only one thing he could think of that could give them the resolution they needed. "I think... we should ask Erika..."