Viktor blushes again, and has his quick moment of flustered smiling, but then gathers the nerve to look his companion in the eye.

"I am fond of you too, Xander," he says warmly. "I am... Not used to receiving this kind of attention. I hope you do not interpret my shyness as unwillingness."

His metallic thumb rubs against Xander's. It doesn't produce its own body heat, but the heat of Xander's hand is seeping into it, slowly.

"I would like to know more about you." He wants to know absolutely everything about him, actually. "Will you mind if I ask you some questions about yourself at our picnic?" He asks this because he once upset Rolan by asking one too many personal questions, and he doesn't want his intense curiosity to scare anyone away.