[He hadn't been laughing quite as hard as she was, so he stays sitting up...and it's also more noticeable when what she says about him laughing gets his cheeks to redden.]

[As a distraction, he shoves lightly at her closest shoulder to him and grins, teasing but genuine.]

We'll see about that, I'll be a smug cackler until the day I die.

But maybe you'll get some of the other kind, too. I guess.

[As he quietly resolves to try doing it extra.]

[And of course now that she's asked him, he can't think of a damn thing for a good long moment. Until something finally does pop into his head, probably one of the things he least wanted to, but it's too late now. Out tumble the words.]

You know, I liked you for a while but I didn't know when it really started. I know when I figured it out.

It was when you got home and tackled me onto the couch, yelling about that Mightyena guy.

[HIS TEETH CLICK SHUT. His face goes into his hand. He's red again.]