Taken aback– by Hilda’s touch and offer both– Knoll just blinks at her for a second. Then a wave of emotion crashes into him, and he blinks back a tear or two before drawing in a deep breath, collecting himself.
“Thank you,” he says, “for the offer. I will be sure to keep it in mind.” Then he finds himself immensely interested by a delicate white flower with an incredibly log pistil, appropriately labelled “Cat’s Whiskers”.
He perks up when Hilda starts talking about her world’s magic. “Black magic?” he asks. “That does sound like it could be similar… I wonder if it is.” Knoll says nothing more about it, but he is thinking excitedly about the topic. He wonders if there’s anyone else in the Ark from Hilda’s world who might know more. There is a second he considers voicing this thought, but ultimately he dismisses it as rude.
Knoll laughs slightly at Hilda’s comment. “True, the lectures I attended were hardly what I’d consider fun. But the research itself was fascinating. Combing through the texts, piecing together knowledge long forgotten like a puzzle–”
Abruptly he cuts himself off, the gleam in his eyes fading some. “It was… fun,” he says. “While it lasted.”
He blinks at the sign Hilda’s pointed out. “Corpse Flower,” he reads. “It sounds like some sort of monster, almost. But if it’s in here, it’s hopefully tame…? We can go inside, if you’d like.”
“Have you tried the library in Crises?” Hilda picks up the topic as they walk towards the corpse flower exhibit. “I’ve not visited, myself, and I’ve heard somebody mention that a lot of the texts are strange and not very helpful, but who knows — maybe there’ll be something there about magic. I could go with you,” she says, but then hesitates and chuckles awkwardly. “Guess I could keep you company, but I don’t know if I’d be any help with the books. Not much of a reader, you see.”
Hilda rubs the back of her neck. She hasn’t talked about this before, but she knew it would come up sooner or later. “I can read, my mother taught me — oh right, you know that, we’ve exchanged messages — but living in the Brume, I didn’t get much practice. Even less for writing. Not a lot of ink or clean paper in the streets, you see. Truthfully, I’m blessed to have the holophone, where the letters just appear fully formed when I touch them — my writing ain’t too pretty to look at. I’ve always felt embarrassed when I had to send a note to Lucia — she’s a Temple Knight, but not corrupt like the ones I’ve told you about on the train, and I’ve worked closely with her for some time...”
She’s vaguely aware that she’s rambling, but she’s not used to sharing this kind of feelings with other people. She isn’t even certain why she’s telling all of this to Knoll... but it doesn’t feel bad to let it out. Concentrated on her little speech, she doesn’t think to question why the bird in the anteroom of the exhibit gives her and Knoll lightly scented handkerchiefs as they wait for their turn to see the corpse flower.
“So, anyroad, I can read but ‘tis not the easiest task for me, nor am I the quickest. Hells, I’m right lucky to even know how to read, many others in the Brume didn’t — ‘tis something I’d like to discuss with Aymeric whenever I can — but. Well. I might not be great help in the library.” She finishes, and realises that she ended her monologue precisely where it had begun, just as it’s their turn to enter the exhibition. That’s when the smell hits her. She remembers the handkerchief and presses it to her nose and mouth. “What in Fury’s name happened here!?”