He blinks, rather owlishly at that, and it takes a moment or two before those words start to sink in, and a light frown crosses his brow, causing him to look entirely lost.

" Oh! Y-You mean..! N-No, I..." he says, all but fumbling through his words. There's no way he was even thinking that; not a chance! He just...liked to keep himself nice and tidy whenever he was meeting someone. H-Honestly! Not...well, maybe he was a little worried after that last little comment about, ah, him tasting like strawberries...e-especially after just eating some; he'd hate to be seen with the little seeds in his teeth. R-Really.

He can't help himself, when the urge to let that little bubble of laughter escape suddenly hits, and he does so, letting the sound slip from him softly. To his utter surprise, and possibly a little bit of delight, the blue hedgehog echoes that laugh, something so bright and full of mirth, utterly gentle, and his words only help to keep his smile sitting firmly upon his lips. Whatever he was about to respond with, is suddenly cut short, and he finds himself staring into those emerald eyes once more; now very much closer, as their foreheads rest gently together. And just like that, he finds himself blinking all over again, this time, thankfully, without too much of a flailing response. No, this time, he merely smiles faintly, hopefully almost, as if he doesn't really believe it himself, that blaze of colour flaring into life once more.

"" he whispers, only a little incredulous. Well, so much for responding in a limited amount of flail. At least it didn't feel that embarrassing. By all that much. Maybe.

"" he says, simply stopping himself before he can say anything else.