He shudders. "I can never tell if you're kidding about that or not."

Honestly, as irritated as he is by the circumstances of his life, Howard's aware that he dodged some major bullets compared to other people on the ship - and those who no longer are. Maybe he'd be fine with just smacking his writer in the shins with a tire iron rather than whatever Anwei plans for hers (he imagines it'd include using that mouth).