[Lance scrunches his nose a little in a show of vague disgust at the first comment, going along with the joke by playing into it, though that fades as soon as Ian calls him out. He gives a weak shrug at the question, and offers a very vague--]

Nothing, it's fine. It just took me a moment.

[Which is not an explanation, and he knows that, so he hesitates briefly before trying again.]

The empathy bond and memory sharing are a little risky, so I was just weighing the pros and cons.

[Still not entirely truthful or a great explanation, since the hesitation was not that deliberate, but whatever. It really is fine; that part he was being genuine about.]