Philotes smiled gently, reaching over to take Hedylogos' hand. She wanted to touch his cheek, to get him to look at her again, but she had a feeling that the only reason he hadn't bolted was because averting his eyes allowed him some sort of escape. She didn't want him to feel he had to follow through on that physically. So she wrapped her fingers around his and gave a small squeeze.
“It's alright, Hedy,” she told him softly. “I liked it too. I mean, I like it in general, but I very much liked it with you too. So if you want to do it again, I'd be more than happy to. Or we can sit here and talk for a bit if you'd rather. Or we could even do a little bit of both.”
She leaned closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Don't tell your siblings, because they're totally about the doing part, you know? But I really like the last option best. A little bit of both? I think that's nice. What do you think? What would you like? And I don't mean just with me. We don't have to do anything if you don't want to, if you don't want to with me. But just... what do you think you'd like, Hedy? What do you think would be nice?”
Lottie hoped if she made it his decision, he'd feel more comfortable. Then again, he may be so uncertain that he'd need to be led a bit. But she felt like he was opening up some, and Friendship thought if he did, he'd blossom into something truly beautiful.