[ She's had to train herself out the habit of being curious about Claude, a difficult thing considering she's been curious about for years now. And while it's easy for her to claim she doesn't waste any of her energy on him anymore, that couldn't have been further from the truth.

Their deliberate distance has fooled her into thinking she's actually made some steps towards that. Except there are idle moments where her mind will wander to him and what he's doing. Or worse, when she's working on something she'll absently wonder what kind of input he'd give or what he'd think about it. It's moments like that when she's especially grateful for a place to hammer away on a piece of metal as if the act itself will also stamp out any thought of the man with green eyes.

Unfortunately her tools of choice are nowhere in sight and she has to remind herself it isn't productive or well adjusted to do that to boxes. She blinks several times at his question before dryly asking – ]

That seems counterproductive to leaving you alone, doesn't it? You're plenty capable without me helping you drag boxes around.

[ But she doesn't want to be here anymore than he does, and the alternative of wasting away in the warehouse isn't her idea of a good time. Begrudgingly she sets down her box before wandering over. Hilda can see his intention but she squints before tugging away one of the crates he's set down. ]

Not this one. Cyprian hasn't had a chance to break this one down yet; the wood isn't holding up anymore.