Ideally without making them jump like a pea on a hot shovel by coming out of nowhere.

Say you've been on a date and the topic has shifted onto something a bit too serious, maybe they've even gotten a bit offended by your opinion on something, or a sort of argument has broken out.

What sort of conversation would you introduce to try and make things flirty again?

Or would you do most of it with your eye contact and physical touches?

And how could this be done over messaging?