Lloyd smiles softly at Malos, but the expression soon morphs into surprise as he yelps at Malos' tug, immediately falling into his grandpa's grip because Malos is really fucking strong and just that yank was enough to knock Lloyd off balance. He lands a little uncomfortably on his side, very glad that his sword belts have been off for the past hour or so, but... the hug helps further ground Lloyd, actually, makes it a little easier to drop his hyperfocus while not having to sacrifice focusing at all. And it - it feels nice, too. Malos is kinda crushing him, but it's a good kinda crush, like being held by a giant, sentient teddy bear. Similar to the time that Genis, Colette, and Sheena all tackled him down, but a little more merciful to his spine.

Okay, the description is getting away from him. Lloyd lets his head rest on Malos' shoulder for a few moments, enjoying the hug, and then looks up at Malos when he hears the whisper. The fact that his mask must be transparent if Malos just knows something is wrong messes with Lloyd a little bit, because if the man he just met can tell something is wrong, everybody else probably can, and Lloyd doesn't wanna worry them, not after what happened in the minutes previous.

But the words soothe Lloyd's anxieties down, act like a verbal band-aid on a particularly bad scrape, so he swallows down the thoughts and lets the words soak in. And he leans a little more into Malos' hug, tries to return it best he can by wrapping an arm around his grandpa and squeezing.

"Thank you," Lloyd replies, and he means it.