The moment that the words had come out of his mouth about the way she signed her letters, Ben was sure they would put Ellory on the defensive, but it seemed that wasn't the case. Perhaps the afterglow of the kiss was outshining the potential argument lingering in the air there. He'd gotten off lightly, and he didn't want to push his luck by saying some other stupid thing though of course he was going to eventually because that's the whole point of having truth ale involved in a thread. Before his mouth could get him into any actual trouble with the princess, he pushed it back up against hers in a second and slightly lengthier kiss. She was still a little awkward about it — it seemed like her tongue was never in the right place — but she'd at least been expecting this one, and that level of mental preparation showed in the way she returned his kiss.

"You're getting better at this," he teased when he broke away again. He planted one light kiss on her forehead, one on her lips, and then a playful one in the space where her neck met her collarbone and her skin disappeared into her dress. He wanted to see more of her, but this was neither the time nor the place — and given their history, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to even be thinking along those lines, anyway. Without really thinking about it, he said under his breath, "Shame we won't get any farther," before leaning in for another more involved kiss.