"You have a point," he nodded his head in agreement with her assessment of people and instinct. "And when we think we're away from it, it just laughs, says no and busts the wall down," he chuckled. The depiction was far more artistic than clinical, but he supposed that was where they differed.
Though, Ellie had shown with her scribbles that she was more than capable of being artistic, too.
He laughed when she commented on the hat and raised a shoulder in a shrug. "Also practical!" he pointed out. "The only way you're safer than you are in a Russian hat is if you put a helmet on, and no one wants to do that," he added with a wry grin as he added a quick little scarf to her smiley face. He also silently resolved to find her a hat like that, if he could.
Instinct really was strong, wasn't it? Also terrifying. Evan couldn't help but think that this felt a little stronger than a productive morning, or even a good morning. Yes, he'd only spoken to Eloise a couple of times and he really didn't know her too well, but he couldn't help but feel like they had some kind of… connection. It was so "teen drama movie," really, but it was the way he felt. She was a sweet girl, if a little more innocent-seeming than Evan was used to, given the way things were nowadays, and he did like her company…
… but maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe this was just a friendly visit, two friends sketching together, laughing and having fun. There was no need to overreact to it, right?
Evan was so out of practice with things like this. His courtship with Olivia had been when he was a teenager. She was literally the only woman he'd ever flirted with, if that was what he was even doing here. It is, don't kid yourself, he thought.
He was worried for a split second that he had done the wrong thing by putting his arm around her, especially when she didn't react. And he was about to pull his arm away, but before he did, she leaned into him. He smiled a little bit and settled his arm against her, letting his hand come to rest against her forearm.
"You sound tired," he said, his voice soft since he didn't have to speak too loudly for her to hear him where she was.