'Hard to pinpoint' only applies to reasonable, well-adjusted people—Ness defaults to angry over embarrassment immediately, and freezes in horror. Her fight-or-flight is kicking in, harder than it did when she thought she was about to be accused of blood magic.

"Of course," she says, strangled but steady. "I have to go—my hair is a mess, so I should. Yes."

This isn't the end of the world. Clarisse doesn't have the power to boot her out of Riftwatch, and she hasn't fucked up so bad that Clarisse would publically accuse her as a blood mage. She may have stuck her foot in her mouth, but that's not the end of the world. Everything is fine.

"Okay, I'm gonna—go. Bye. Bye!"

Flight beats fawn as Ness takes off from the Eyrie to go have a panic attack in the baths.