I frowned now.
"I'm not pouting."
I most probably was to an extent, but nothing that could be called "cutesy", you know? You'd have to be cute in the first place to pull that off. That is not how I'd describe myself. That's not how I'd want to describe myself. A guy's gotta be handsome, you know?
"Handsome". If I could pout handsomely, I might be okay with doing it, but the bottom line was that I didn't want to acknowledge the possibility.
Especially not if it was "cutesy".
For you see:
"Cute" is only okay in specific circumstances to start with, like Lauren calling me her "cute little brother she never had" or something like that. Maybe as a method of denoting a specific, more innocent breed of attractive, like that waiter Bianca was hitting up. "Cutesy", though, is right out! That means I'm trying at being specifically "cute", which would ruin any appeal it has in the first place!
I've watched my degenerate cartoons. I've read my fair share of manga. I respect "cute girls doing cute things" as a massively influential sub-genre of Slice of Life. I know the ins and outs of cuteness, far more than a boy my age should ever proudly claim. I cannot accept being accused of being "cutesy". If I am ever "cute", I'm going to be so naturally, dammit! Cultivating it and putting on a show of it is simply disingenuous, and I'm an honest enough man to say no to that every time!
I will be the respectable kind of "cute"!
...
Still, "handsome" is probably king amongst appearance qualifiers.
And I'm not quite nobility...
Didn't I also just say that I didn't want to describe myself as "cute", either? Lucas Schwarz, you are a real mess.
I sighed, noticing Gratia's eyes flicker upwards in that familiar, "I-think-your-hair-is-alive" manner of hers.
Back to something resembling neutrality, normalcy (at least for us), we went.
"So, any new findings on the great ahoge report?"
I only asked it in moderate jest. After all, I vowed to myself that I'd let her go about her business with it in exchange for leaving her in the dust.