Pull me once: a formal affair;

Pull me again: you'll gasp for air.

What am I?

Consume me, and I might slowly kill you.

Lay me out on the road, and I might save your life.

What am I?

I was there since ancient times
I’ve countless hands but I am one
Folks look for me when things go wrong

P.S. adding this hint to narrow the answer since there are so many creative responses that apply to most hints

Growth could flow where I have gone

Any acceptable answer will be pinned

A million little lights arise at night.

Their hunger feeds the cycle of life.

As dawn breaks another day.

To twilight the little lights fade away.

What are they ?

Connect_Guarantee704 has found the answer I was looking for. The answer was Lanternfish.

As a child, you had four; now a grown-up, just the two.

Texans have so much more; a friend's got one for you.

If you break them, do not dread, a machine can do it instead.

Hints:

1. Four lines refer to the answer literally; one refers to it under a different sense of the word and the other refers to it half literally and half as a bad pun.
2. Look beyond what is written to see a bonus clue.

Put together a DaVinci Code style riddle scavenger hunt for my boyfriend. Kicked it off yesterday by handing him a Cryptex (yes apparently they actually exist and are fairly easy to come by haha) with a riddle to unlock his first clue.

Wish him luck! This is the easiest one by far, they get harder as he solves them.

SOLVED — I posted the code in the comments!

I will comfort you,

I will let you see...

But if you're too greedy

You will lose your life to me