Moonspear by a route obscure and lonely

Something jolted through the darkling's body at the new and unexpected quality of his voice. And - and darlin', he called her. Alya shivered again, eyes wide as she stared at the dark boy, still trying to comprehend all that he'd made her feel before she was darlin'. This new stuff? She didn't even know what to do with it.

But the main thing, she supposed, was that he still sounded very sad, even if he said he was all fixed up. It was a term that the princess had never heard before, but the words fit together in a way that just made sense. All fixed up; All better. But Alya couldn't imagine being worse. Sisters gone, scars on her face (what would she do, if she were scarred? Would her sisters take the same marks?), and something low and writhing in her eyes. Something about him seemed very broken. Very wrong - and therefore, very interesting.

"Cold," she said quickly, slipping out of Lyra for a moment in her haste to gain closeness with the boy. She hestitated a moment, thinking about putting Lyra back on.... but she didn't. "I'm cold," said Alya, creeping forward on silent paws. "Will you sit close with me?"

In Rescue the Princess, those words were usually spoken with a fluttering of lashes and a secretive smile. In real life, with Cypress, Alya found herself unable to do more than simple ask, a sheepish and hopefuly sheen to her eyes.