I'd love to hear a poly perspective on this situation I'm in.

Ash and I were college friends many years ago, but we drifted apart due to different careers. Life reconnects us almost a decade later, and miraculously we're both queer and polyamorous now.

We make plans to catch up, and it goes really, really well. Laughter and compliments flow easily. I fall hard almost immediately, and I get privately really excited by the idea of dating Ash. But I'm also happy that we get to be friends again too.

Only thing is, Ash's life is currently really, really, really busy. They're effectively working several jobs, which all sound like extremely cool jobs, but are work nonetheless. While they're very funny, attentive, kind and present with me in person, they often take several days to respond to texts when we're apart. We've only hung out a few times since reconnecting, and it's usually several weeks in between each meeting due to their schedule, and it's always been me taking the lead on scheduling them.

I'm split as to how to feel. Since we're "just" friends right now, I feel like I should just cool my expectations. But, I feel a bit sad when I send a heartfelt message and don't hear anything for days. They apologized for taking so long to reply, and I sent them a "no worries, you're busy!" note -- trying to reckon that managing my yearning is my job alone -- but I'm wondering if this was the right call. I'm feeling a little confused, between thinking their texting speed means they're not really that into me, versus our in-person hangouts where they're eager to see me, they remember things I said last time, and give sincere compliments that make my heart skip a beat. This being mixed in with my private yearning is amplifying my feelings a lot.

I don't really know Ash's current poly situation since our conversations so far have been focused on just each other (or whatever activity we're doing), so I don't know if they're polysaturated and that's why it takes them days to reply, or even if this would be an okay reason for it, or even if there needs to be an okay reason for it.

Should I focus more on managing this feeling of yearning on my side? Or should I ask that Ash prioritize me a little more? And if so, how would I go about that in a way that doesn't apply pressure or feel like an interrogation? I'm scared of messing up a blossoming friend dynamic by saddling them with my feelings at such a busy time.