the.com/flirt
Rehearsing intimacy without auditioning for it, deniable on purpose.
means To show romantic or sexual interest playfully, often without serious commitment behind it.
from From 16th-century English, first meaning a quick darting motion — a flick of a fan, a flutter of the wrist — before it migrated to the darting of attention between people.
Fan codeVictorian fans signaled flirtations through angle and movement.
Word cousinLikely echoes flit and flick, all sudden motion.
Plausible deniabilityIts whole power lives in being unprovable.