A smile, at that. A smile that doubtless betrays her exhaustion, how much of a toll these weeks of uncertainty and separation have been. Her lips are chapped, she is thinner, and there are dark circles under her eyes, but she braces herself and pushes up to stand. She feels the need to bathe and eat and rest and all of those things seem like nigh-impossible hurdles at the moment, now that they are just the two of them. In truth she would sooner just lean against Lakshmi and stay there for hours.

"I must smell terrible," she says quietly, not self conscious so much as faintly apologetic, with a breath of laughter in it.