It had occurred to him, more than once in fact, that a lot of things that they did seemed to go beyond simple friendship activities. And that "casual, slow, nothing too serious" was probably out of the question by now. But he didn't want to bring it up to her right now, for fear that it was just emotion on both of their behalves. David had just lost his brother, Ellie had almost lost her life... things like that could do strange things to a person after all. And just because he wanted it to be true didn't mean it was.
Just being himself. David chuckled a little and shrugged. "Well, if that's how you feel, I definitely can't complain. Myself is all I'm really good at being, so..."
He nodded emphatically from where he was rifling through his bag for his things. "I am, definitely! I'm glad you're willing to go." Sincerely spoken and meant from the center of his heart. "No one ever does, so I'm both pleased and surprised." Especially surprised that Ellie; brilliant, logical Ellie, was willing to accompany him.
When she took his hand he blinked in surprise, taking what he had in his hands. It was mostly everything he needed, anyway. He was still curious about where they were going, but after stepping over Dog and heading out the door, he smiled. Did it really matter? She seemed interested and that was enough for him. "Lead the way, trailblazer Eloise."