Than patted her shoulder and Lottie beamed up at him. Thanatos didn't pat much, just like he didn't hug much. But here he was, patting! If she kept hugging, he might hug her back! Wouldn't that be wonderful?
But then her started talking and only some of the words made sense. She could tell, by how slowly and carefully he was saying things, that it was important, but new. People said new things all slow like that, like they were waiting to see if saying it out loud would break it somehow. So Lottie tried, really hard, to understand what Than was saying.
'Cept she couldn't. Not all of it. Not even most of it. She got “so” and “in” and “you are.” She understood “my” and “even though.” She even got “correct” because her brother was saying it just the way Mother sometimes said it, but Lottie didn't know if she should answer yes or no. There were a lot of big words she'd never heard before, and she didn't want to lie to Thanatos.
“I dunno,” she admitted. Then because she wanted to be able to tell Than what he wanted to hear, she asked, “What do those words mean? Can you say it again? Maybe if you say it slower, I'll get it this time. Whatsa since? Whatsa sociate? Whatsa potion? And I dunno what kinda marker you want me to use. Whatsit mean, Than?”
Not once during the entire conversation did she let go or stop hugging him. Philotes knew that he'd just have to hug her back. Some time.