He felt his stomach knot up again. He was that obvious? Marcus said nothing at first, and in fact looked away completely as her words settled into his bones.
"Yeah.. well.. I am a hot blooded male," he said finally, with a boyish grin. "And you are a hot bird. I suspect even when you look like your stomach is going to explode I'll think that, Delaney."
Which worried him, because he didn't know how strong he could be if she kept asking for it or hinting at it. The thought was pushed aside though as she demanded the dessert. Marcus clicked his tongue against his teeth and rolled his eyes.
"Slave... we have house elves for that sort of thing, honestly. MIGS, c'mon then!"
And right on cue the muttering elf appeared with two plates of cobbler. Hers a bigger piece than his, and with whipped cream on the top too. The evening seemed to have gone better than expected and Marcus was rather thrilled that she was being so lovely about going to the press.
The rest of evening would be cake, now that the hard part was over.