[ Meanwhile, Claude's kind of enjoying his unintentional full body skating across the ice thanks to Hilda propelling them both. It's better than most ways he's been dragged, even if he dramatically sputters a bit when there's a small spray of ice from the skates which (barely) hits him in the face. Well. That might be a motivator to get up if nothing else. ]

Is being compared to Holst supposed to be a motivation for me? [ There's an attempt to ask this seriously but it fades out pretty quickly considering the amount of times he's worked with Holst. Some more serious than others, though there's also one particular time he has in mind. That thought can wait a minute. ] Alright, alright. Don't threaten me with any mushrooms next.

[ This time Claude lets go of Hilda's hands to remain here he is, and it takes all of a second to push himself up onto his knees. The easy part, of course, since it's the next part which gives him some pause. Time to distract Hilda a bit while he evaluates the best way to move to standing. ]

By the way, did I ever tell you Holst and Nader become best friends during the war? Nader as in Nader the Undefeated since I'm sure he'll be frowning wherever he is if I leave off the title.

[ He knows he hasn't told her - not to mention he's pretty sure he hasn't mentioned 'Nardel' is Nader, so this harmless reveal just might also be to entertain himself, too. ]