[ The longer Hilda skates like this building momentum, dragging Claude around the ice becomes less of a chore and far more fun for her than originally anticipated. Some of that enjoyment might have to do with how silly Claude looks being dragged around the ice like a puffy yellow pillow. The rest of it has to do with the fact that each stride she takes seems to push the dreary thoughts she'd had before he arrived at her domain doorstep further away. ]

It's a motivation for some people. I've heard that a motivational speech from Holst is one of the biggest morale boosters amongst our men.

[ He'll never get up this way though so she releases her hold on him patiently waiting for him to puzzle how best to get to his feet. Maybe it's a good thing that she let go of him. Because what he says next might very well have resulted in him being flung across the ice or pushed back onto it.

It would be incredibly unrealistic, and perhaps unfair, of her to think that Claude was done telling her everything about a future she had yet to live (or maybe never live, although she staunchly squishes that thought before it has a chance to go any further). But that's certainly one of the things that she hadn't expected to hear. There's more to unpack in there of course now that she has context about Claude's heritage. She had met Nardel in passing and while 'Nader' was close enough of a name it wasn't the same name. And there's no way that they could be the same person. ...Right? ]

They what?! Claude von Riegan you know you didn't tell me that! How!?