"Oh. Right." Well, that clarifies quite a few things, starting with why Daneel had been so protective of Ned and ending with why Ned wants to make Daneel happy.

It doesn't bode very well for the possibility of making Ned his interim partner. People who are attached usually have more pesky qualms about throwing themselves into difficult situations in the name of progress. And then their partners have even more qualms. Nonetheless, he can respect the relationship. As far as he knows, both men are more or less reasonable and not at all apt to make plans to move to Cambridge without notice.

"How long have you been...dating?" Yeah, he's going to go with dating here. Normally he wouldn't ask, but he's trying to figure out the extent of the situation.