"A giant barrel of sap, you mean," Dorian grouses, but he clings to Bull's hand ferociously.

It's not humiliation so much as even three years has apparently not been enough to get over gestures of sincerity flung back in his face. On the other hand even if he isn't per se choosing to confess all this, it does feel like the pleasant release of something blocked up. "I must confess I ...don't hate it entirely." A pause. "I could try. Though I suspect it will be more difficult once my brain isn't scrambled like overdone eggs."