Ned laughs a little at that, though not nearly as heartily as he had before. It's too amusing, forming some kind of picture of just the kind of book Daneel must have been reading, imagining him reading it with his habitual look of dignified gravity. That image, plus his current frown and note of honest confusion, are utterly endearing to Ned. He loves that Daneel is free from the very attitudes he's referencing.

"It's partly an artifact, partly not. Some people really do put that a lot of significance on their love lives, and other people don't." Which isn't an answer to Daneel's question, yet, but he's laying the groundwork, emphasizing the fact that humans come with all kinds of value systems that do not always match up. "I'm sure it's the same on Aurora, that some people are more, uh-" he struggles to find a good word, finds it a little absurd that even with an interlocutor as frank and nonjudgemental as Daneel, he has a difficult time making himself talk about sex in any kind of straightforward way, "-more interested than others. And you know that before you, I hadn't really- had all that much interest."

None of which is an answer. The truth is, even though the two of them worked out that Ned can ask Daneel for sex without exploiting or upsetting him, he's still adjusting to being the one to initiate things, still a little shy when it comes to asking. Which is why he feels his cheeks burning, why he speaks more quickly than usual when he says, "Is it contradictory if I answer yes but also take this moment to, ah- I've been meaning to bring up- maybe sometime we could try, um- something... new?"