I do endeavor to be a gracious host. I can't remember ever enjoying a guest's company quite so much.

[Even if she doesn't look at him, she'll be able to hear the beginnings of a smirk in his voice.

The fact that they are both capable, largely functional adults trying to muddle their way through this like they're university students themselves does not escape him— it's quite funny, really, given some thought, but as she continues to avoid his gaze and trace patterns atop the cushion, he reaches out to gently catch her hand with his own, stilling it.]

Amelia.

[That note of teasing that had crept into his voice is gone now, his tone somber.]

I'll not ask anything of you that you're not willing to give, but I wasn't mistaken, was I? It wasn't just... me.

[He doesn't expect her to make any sweeping declarations of her own, but he knows they've both come to feel something.]