[ moving again so that now he's nearly hovering over percy while still allowing him to shift away in case the position makes percy uncomfortable, he returns the lazy smile, albeit a bit more slowly. smiling around percy is harder than it is to smile around other people. he's not sure why. it's almost as if it's revealing himself to percy in some way.

he gives the hand now in his a gentle squeeze. ]

It's okay. I get it. I'm a guy too, remember? [ wryly. ] And you always talk a lot. It's one of the things I've always liked about you.