He's patient, though the eye contact doesn't last past her frown, gaze drifting aside, taking in her changing expressions without watching them directly. She can take a while to think if she needs to-- he sure does, more often than not. And that's a lot of thoughts she's apparently thinking.

What she winds up on makes him shrug again. "I'm not really sure how to go less than hard. But I'll try." Maybe... not deal with the library for a whole week. Maybe.