Lucio felt an unwarranted tightening in his chest as the man laughed, oh how delightful that noise was. He brushed away the awe he felt at the man's guttural laughter, however, when he began to praise his mother. Lucio laughed softly himself and he nodded, "She is a wonderful woman . . . She's single as well; want me to set you up a date? She's very similar to me, we've even been told we look quite alike so perhaps you'd enjoy her as well," he murmured teasingly, smiling brightly as Ansel stepped in closer to him.<br/><br/>Lucio nodded in response to the mans thanks as he gazed up into his eyes with a certain fondness about his gaze. "You should make an effort to come see us. We don't have many more performances this year, but we have a full lineup next year, as well as some competitions. We don't often win the competitions, but we do attend them," he responded sweetly, reaching up to wrap his arms comfortably around his midsection as he tuned into what all Ansel had to say quietly. He only really perked up when the man offered a sudden exclamation, though, commenting that he'd nearly forgotten something.<br/><br/>He watched quietly as Ansel drew something small, delicate from his pocket. Lucio's lips parted slightly as he examined the little thing, and he took it into his hands in a careful manner, turning it over slowly in his palm as he gazed at it. He closed his hand in a fist around the trinket gently, lifting his gaze back up onto Ansel and offering him a warm smile. "Thank you, Doctor Essen, it's lovely . . . Never was one for live flowers," he murmured gratefully, stepping forwards and closing the distance between them. It might not have been entirely appropriate given their surroundings, but he wrapped the man in a firm hug, pressing his face lightly into his shoulder for a brief spell of time.<br/><br/>He convinced himself that there was nothing off about a hug, individuals in platonic relationships embraced like this all the time. To outsiders there wouldn't have been anything odd about it, in truth, but Lucio felt something tugging deep within his gut every time he came into any sort of contact with the professor. He didn't want to feel it, and yet he did, and the longer he held on the more intense it grew, so he made it a point to quickly break away, clearing his throat lightly as he stepped back from Ansel. "Thank you again for coming, I'm glad you enjoyed the performance. Shall I walk you to your car?" he queried hopefully as he lifted his gaze onto the man again, carefully depositing the glass trinket into his pants pocket.