[purrs at Vern, trying to reassure him with the sheer monotone rhythm of it. he's not making any particular effort to be emotionally comforting -- it's kind of hard to control your own feelings -- but his genuine sympathy and affection and sharp concern are probably as soothing, or at least touching, as anything he could come up with deliberately.]

...tell me about them sometime...

[no urgency there. it's a question for later, in fabled Vern Isn't So Sad times of the future]