They swear their chest feels tight when he smiles at them like that, but they refuse to acknowledge the feeling of having butterflies in their stomach, seeing his expression brighten like that just at the mere sight of them. That had to be cheating, somehow, there was no way he was actually allowed to do that.

At his teasing they fake an offended gasp, playfully swatting at Gyre with their tail. "What? How dare you, playing a trick like that on me...!" It's very clear that they're going along with the joke, and they can't even keep up the act, they can't help but to smile in his presence. They decide to move next to him to lean against the same tree, they're fine letting him have his fun with getting to play a bit better.

"Oh, right, good job, by the way. I saw the injury you gave to the monster, it was a huge help in taking it down. Thank you." They, honestly would rather not talk too much about the subject, but, they want to congratulate and thank him.