Lyra felt the tug on her hand as Avery backed up, and the look on his face when she turned around - yeah, yeah it impressed the seriousness of their mission into her, sent a kick of adrenaline through her blood. With one last look back at Archer, she let Avery pull her back into the house, and then she took over, leading him back up the stairs.
She climbed more stairs than this on the daily, yet this time, these ones had her just a little out of breath. With one quick pause at the landing to make sure no one was following them, she led the way to the door at the end of the hallway. "This one's his room," she whispered, and it only occurred to her now that she hoped Avery wouldn't ask her how she knew that.
Moving too quickly for him to get a word in, she opened the door. The handle turned easily in her hand; it wasn't locked, maybe the thought of someone breaking into his room never crossed his mind. "Looks like no one suspects the ginger inquisition," she whispered to Avery, closing the door very quietly behind him.
Archer's room looked bigger in the dark. His curtains were open and they had a little light coming in through the wide window, party lights from outside and general city lights, reflecting off the low cloud. The dark shape of his bed looked even more enormous in shadow, as well, and gave her an idea. "Hey Aves," she whispered, pushing the top button through the fly on her pants as she looked up at his face, pale in the dim light, and her heart beat a little faster. "If you hear anyone walking past, if the door opens, just start kissing me, okay? Best cover we've got."