Even if Duke could speak just fine, his brain function was less than normal and those runaround sentences were just confusing. He didn't want to encourage Duke, he got that. But he also didn't want to say no to him. And it sounded like there was nothing he could do anyway. Duke just scrunched his face up trying to think about it which brought him nowhere. He wasn't going to...overstep the boundaries too much unless Marek was actually saying yes. As he said, though, he would keep trying for just that.
Duke burst out laughing against Marek's shoulder. "You were easy," he commented. "But now...you are saying no, even if you won't say it." A light smile spread his lips and he picked his head up, lowering his voice to a whisper. "That makes you a challenge - and how could I resist?" To emphasize his point, his eyes glanced down and slowly made their way back to Marek's eyes.