[ He wouldn't take any offense at all if she were to remark on his strangeness, either. Many have said it before and he is, at least, mostly aware of it. Words that float around in his mind and sound perfectly fine until he utters them out loud and comes to understand just how...unique he is, at times. It's also why he knows he's not...for everyone, someone who perhaps isn't always the easiest to accept. That she does is something meaningful to him.

Made all the more meaningful by the utterance of those words.

So he can't help the bright smile as he grips her hand and steps up close to her. ]

Oh, I did hope, but I'm not the sort to presume.

[ He attaches to people easily, he likes people. It doesn't take much for him to think of others as friends, but he also knows that's not always true for others. On this, at least, he treads carefully. Ish. ]

Very honored to be such. And ah — well, circumstances aside, I'm glad we're in this together. You're steady?