Having a distinct meter for flirting vs approval is a great idea. In my game it felt like there were a lot of moments my character wanted to express a bond with Wyll. I happened to be playing a male Drow and had decided on a backstory that hit A LOT of similar notes, so my character felt like he had found someone he could really relate to trauma-wise, and then to have the "I really care about you" line suddenly turn to romance without anything that I had interpreted at flirting felt pretty off. "I really care about you" should not always imply romance, friendships can be really intimate too.
