[Enough other people's inexperience is annoying. A chore to be worked through, or a reason to discard person without a second thought. But there is genuine affection here. A likeness, in enough ways. As pleasing and fitting as it would feel to him to be her first, after the sometimes tempter-temptee tone of the relationship that's been falling into place between them, enough of it is the simple desire to share a closeness with her. It's the natural next step for him, after connecting through a shared love of literature, through minds, and finding her personality worthwhile, interesting, and something he enjoys being in the presence of.]

I wouldn't call it silly. I'd say you're expecting a lot from yourself quickly. [As her curiosity and seeming intellectual completionism drives her to seek out the unknown.] Everyone starts somewhere, and some from places further along than others. That's how life is. [He gestures magnanimously.]

What I can tell you for myself is that I want you, and I want us to become closer. [The touch in her hair falls to smooth warmly along the softness of her arm, coming to stop at the point where he takes her hand again.] Whether that happens in a more extreme way, [like edging] or in a measured one, now or later, won't make it lesser for me. For us.

[He's confident he can please them both. That it will be emotionally rewarding in a way he's willing to crave, but not have satisfied immediately as soon as it's desired.]

It's the natural next step, when people connect like we have. [In his mind, anyway.]