Lyra closed her eyes, and felt the compulsion to lean into him as soon as he put his arm around her but didn't do it, because she felt just a little bit desperate and didn't want to crumble but— he sounded soft, and right now she felt awful and she needed soft, and when he kissed her shoulder she turned toward him and wrapped her arms tightly around him too.
Okay. Okay okay okay, things could be okay. She took a deep, deep breath in his arms, and laughed one airy hah at his question. It was so stupid and she loved him so much for it, but she nodded, even though wanting to get there was very dumb (they were both so dumb maybe) and maybe impossible now. That impossibility didn't matter so much when he was so close to her. "You wanna lose a buncha time with me, huh?" she mumbled against him, hands closed tight in the shirt as his back.