"I don't know, Lyra, maybe I should get excited. You often speak so highly of the animals you wish to find, and that you count me as interesting as them enough to draw me tells me something," Ash smiled at her, perceiving a little more than she intended. After all, she had come out here in the middle of the night to pursue these beasts. She even said she was grateful he was there with her instead of being there alone. Ash was seeing a lot of potential here whether Lyra wanted to admit it or not.
When she explained the motives behind her father's desire for a howling monkey, Ash laughed, "I think I like your dad. I wonder if my father ever considered such a thing." It would require some additional spells on the house to keep noises out, but even then, Alder would've gone to subtler and more sophisticated means than irritating neighbors with an obnoxious animal.
"I don't think your father likes me much," Ash commented, but didn't ask her why. He had a good idea of it. Most parents knew the sort of boy Ash was, even if he put on the charm. Sometimes that charm was good enough to fool them or at least make them more tolerant of his actions.