Mcd Laurance is only flirty when he's trying to put on a front.
Aphmau sees it when she first meets him. He just failed to protect his lord and watched Joh die in front him weeks before she came to Meteli. And he is trying so hard to keep it together because everyone is looking at him. Either for leadership since he's the head guard or in suspicion because they don't believe his story about seeing a ghost who shot the arrow at Joh.
It's so much pressure, but if he even dares to open up and show just how much stress he's under, it will make everything ten times worse.
So, he flirts, compliments, and comes off as nonchalant as he can. It's the only way he's found to make it seem like he has a good of things, while also getting on people's good sides.
The women enjoy his compliments. The guards, merchants, and workers enjoy his banter. And when it doesn't work, he always laugh it off as a joke.
We only see him break from this front when he mentions people he's close to. Like Joh, Cadenza, or Castor.
He tries his best to flirt with Aphmau when they first meet. But it doesn't work. However, instead of having a horrible reaction like anger or disgust, she simply brushes it off and keeps pressing for answers.
The more they interact, his flirtation becomes a sort of special banter. Not the kind he uses with the guards or merchants, but a type of banter he only uses with her. Her reactions are enjoyable and enticing. As much as she groans about it, Laurance can tell she enjoys it. If not, she would have seriously told him to stop.
Later on, this front and even the banter he's formed with Aphmau shatters completely when he comes out of the nether. It's just too much, and he can't keep it up. Not with the void burns lacing his body, not with the aching pain of the transformation still haunting him months later, not with blindness taking away one of his most important senses.
He's the most honest and vulnerable he will ever be. He reaches out to Aphmau with that vulnerability, and she cradles his hand, let's him know that she's here for him.
His infatuation with her begins to grow into something deeper at this point. He confesses, not knowing if he'll die soon. It certainly feels as though he'll lose himself in some way eventually.
She turns him down, and part of him is grateful. Because as nice as it would be to have her, he is in no way a suitable partner for her now. He can't even call himself human anymore. Still, it's nice that she knows, and still accepts his company, still offers him sanctuary in her village.
When he heals and starts feeling a bit like his old self again, he tries reaching for that front he hasn't used in what feels like ages. It's different. He's no longer trying to be charismatic in order to stay in people's good graces. He's genuinely forming connections with the people of Phoenix Drop.
Hid banter becomes more lighthearted and real, less about keeping up appearances and more about having fun and building proper connections. He loves teasing Garroth, as shy and defensive as he is. The head guard makes for an excellent target if Laurance knows what buttons to push. And the way he won't even try to fight back, simple rattles on about dignity and grace and the morals a proper guard should have. Laurance enjoys it, and they begin to form a close bond.
When he starts flirting with Aphmau again, it's all good-natured as it was before. But it's even better now. They each know how they feel about each other, and they each know that the flirting is nothing serious, so Aphmau begins to flirt back.
It's a horrendous first attempt. She and Laurance end up fighting over their shared love for a table. But it's real, and it feels good, and Laurance finds it's so nice to laugh again, to feel human again.
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