[If he were still capable of blushing, the tone of her voice might actually bring a rise of color to his cheeks. But as it is, all he can do is avert his gaze downward and smile in a somewhat self-conscious sort of way.]

You wouldn't know him as he's before our time. [And he's careful to say 'our' rather than 'my' because while he knows that Vanessa suspects much of him, he's never truly revealed his entire story to her.]

But his name is Horatio. He was a lieutenant in the navy before coming here and is very... unassuming.

[Which might come as a shock that he would take in someone like that, but his whims are ever so changing and fluctuating.]

I'll have to introduce the two of you, at some point.