[Look, he understands the basics, okay? But he thinks Cheria must have been fishing for something a little more, he doesn't know... something else? Not what Raymond did, and he's sure if he'd gone in for a kiss or something she would have slapped him or maybe worse -- stopped talking to him again just like last time, back when he'd tripped on stage in front of everyone.]

[If the others knew that was "last time" they'd surely let out a collective groan.]

So in other words it's a combination of both? Action and..."desire"?

[It feels so weird when he says it, but that makes more sense than it doesn't. So, huh. Sophie and Cheria. With Sophie, holding her hand usually came with a swell of pride over how far she's come, how much she's grown, and how glad he is to call her his daughter, even if being called "father" still feels a bit strange. With Cheria, though, his heart usually stutters and his face gets hot, sometimes to the point where he can barely think straight. Not in a bad way, but...different. Though, if they're speaking of hand-holding...]

But, yeah. I think I get what you mean. When I'm holding Sophie's hand, or Cheria's, it doesn't feel exactly the same. Though, it's also not very often that Cheria asks me to hold her hand in the first place.