A slow nod - not that Vexen can see it - and just as quietly, "Then, if it's all right with you- I would like to continue calling you 'Even' until such a time as you ask me to not."

Another stretch of silence, and then he clears his throat- this part, the most important.

"I would...also like to apologize for pushing you away. You did not deserve such cruelty when you were only trying to help, and I..." he trails off for a moment, closes his eyes with a sigh, and then continues; "I was overcome by my own need to keep hold of the lies that I was being fed. And the thought of you taking them from me became...unbearable."

It is not an excuse. There is no excuse. He was harsh, and he was selfish.