Lyra thought it'd been a long time since a man had promised to listen to her as much as he wanted her to listen to him, but that wasn't something you could say without sounding like you were complaining, and you didn't complain 'bout old bosses to new ones cuz that led to a reputation of being difficult to work with. "I think that sounds perf," Lyra said instead, and grinned at him as she took her coffee, making a small oh god yes noise at the heat of the mug radiating out to her cold fingers.
The mention of money was reassuring, too. She'd been going to bring it up, if he hadn't; it was too important to let slip by. "You alright if we do some kinda contract, get it written down?" she asked. "I mean, not right this second, but before I go, if you think it's gonna work out?"
It was phrased as a question, but it wasn't really one. As much as she wanted to be let loose in a workshop just for the fun and experience of it, to learn how to use tools she'd never seen before, to make furniture that was gonna last, she couldn't afford to give up the time if she wasn't gonna get paid for it, not with rent increases on the swiftly approaching horizon.