For a brief moment, Liliana's breathing just...stopped. She looked at him, eyes wide and wondering, mouth a perfect 'o' of surprise.

She'd meant it lightly, of course. Simply that he needn't keep himself apart from her in deference to the other guests. That she liked it when he sought her out.

But his response. He'd been so serious, cutting through that idle phrasing with intensity and fervor. Like it was so important, so precious, that he would stand up for it, even if she did not.

If anyone had ever done that for her before, she could not remember it.

"Ignis..." she whispered, and nothing more. His name was the only word she could summon. "Ignis."