"Ah, you know me so well. I am much more of a silent brooder, of course," he responded, a smile playing on his lips as she teased him. "I jest. I think I should benefit a great deal from having someone around to snap me out of it when I get too contemplative. It doesn't do anyone much good, after all," he conceded. "And yes, before you ask. I should much rather that 'someone' was you in particular," he told her, quite matter-of-fact about it.
"Mmm, I heard that," he confirmed with a nod. "I hope that burst of energy was not another cause of suffering on my behalf," he told her, although his tone was still light. There was no shade of guilt on it, especially not when she didn't seem to mind the supposed suffering one bit.
"Why should I not wish to continue?" he asked, with genuine confusion on the topic just for a moment. "Ah, because I can see my own way. You consider that you might have been just slightly more useful than Pointer, but not enough to warrant a desire to continue the association further than that," he nodded sagely. "But then I will not have held up my end of the bargain, if you are not fully healed. You cannot think me a man to back out on a deal so easily." Of course there was much more to it than that. More than he liked to admit to himself, never mind to her.
"Yes, it sounds very familiar. How hard-wired our brains can be. Once they have grown attached to something, it is nearly impossible to let it go, even once it has been cut clean away," he mused, naturally thinking of more than just limbs. But the brain's refusal to let go completely was apparently exactly the impulses that were going to allow him to operate a prosthetic, so perhaps holding on had a purpose after all.
His breath caught in his throat as she leaned forward to touch his cheek. How bold she was - not just because she was touching him so sweetly, but he couldn't imagine that many should dare to get so close to the scars, as minimal as they now seemed. He was silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts about her before he realised he should likely respond. "Thank you."