"Oh, I thought we were just saying hello." It's part sass and part truth.

Athena protests the removal of the hand, patting at Vegeta's arm insistently and meowing. Excuse you, they're not done here yet!

He just watches Athena for a moment or two before shrugging. "She's a familiar. She can handle herself fairly well." A beat. "Plus, she's concerned. She said you came in late last night and that you looked off, and given whatever the hell happened last night, I figured I'd come check." It's not necessarily direct, but it's still concern for a teammate. Wash has absolutely no idea that Vegeta was at the center of last night's maelstrom; all he knows is that there's a chance he was caught in the crossfire, and that's enough reason to check in.