[ There's a split second where he's tempted to argue the definition of saying something, but it's an old impulse from years ago brought back to the surface now by wading through all the hurt here and now. It fades in the same instant it surfaces because it's not important; that's not the point either of them is making and he knows it well.
Claude stays quiet after, partially waiting to see if there's anything else Hilda will add and also because he can tell she's thinking something over. It's another reminder of how both of them have become so reluctant to tell each other anything when that wasn't how it used to be. Or he wanted to believe it wasn't what with knowing Hilda knew (or even knows) more about him than anyone else, right up until the shock of finding out he was the only one who felt that way in what'd transpired between them.
It's nothing he wants to go over again - nothing that'll bring up anything helpful or productive, and not when Hilda finally looks up with something else etched into her expression Claude finds he's uneasy to try naming. The quiet admission of - something else along with it compounds that feeling. It's not that he doesn't understand what she's hinting around. But somehow, it feels incongruent with that hope of what she'd been about to say and where it could have gone if the wyvern hadn't intervened. That's before even counting in that he's unsure there's even a together as such as saying implies when it comes to him and Sylvain. Either way, it feels like putting unsaid words in her mouth to think it's that kind of difficult - not even with something else Sylvain had said he'd disbelieved on that very topic ringing in his ears now. ]
It's hard not having you around.
[ But that's a false equivalency, isn't it? He could add more, but maybe it's for the best to sidestep that evasively now. This instance won't be because Claude doesn't want to answer but more that he feels whatever he offers as his own feelings on it won't be well-received. There's another truth to that he can add, though. ]
And I'm not the only one hurting from you not being there.
[ Because it's obvious, to Claude, that the longer this has gone on or the more times they've come back to the loft to discover signs she'd been there and left without seeing them that Sylvain's reactions might have maintained some of their brightness but not without more and more of it being forced. A feeling Claude can relate to in many ways and so it's said not as anything which could be seen as a manipulation, with any luck, even if it's burying the lede of just how much he misses her within it. ]
no subject
Claude stays quiet after, partially waiting to see if there's anything else Hilda will add and also because he can tell she's thinking something over. It's another reminder of how both of them have become so reluctant to tell each other anything when that wasn't how it used to be. Or he wanted to believe it wasn't what with knowing Hilda knew (or even knows) more about him than anyone else, right up until the shock of finding out he was the only one who felt that way in what'd transpired between them.
It's nothing he wants to go over again - nothing that'll bring up anything helpful or productive, and not when Hilda finally looks up with something else etched into her expression Claude finds he's uneasy to try naming. The quiet admission of - something else along with it compounds that feeling. It's not that he doesn't understand what she's hinting around. But somehow, it feels incongruent with that hope of what she'd been about to say and where it could have gone if the wyvern hadn't intervened. That's before even counting in that he's unsure there's even a together as such as saying implies when it comes to him and Sylvain. Either way, it feels like putting unsaid words in her mouth to think it's that kind of difficult - not even with something else Sylvain had said he'd disbelieved on that very topic ringing in his ears now. ]
It's hard not having you around.
[ But that's a false equivalency, isn't it? He could add more, but maybe it's for the best to sidestep that evasively now. This instance won't be because Claude doesn't want to answer but more that he feels whatever he offers as his own feelings on it won't be well-received. There's another truth to that he can add, though. ]
And I'm not the only one hurting from you not being there.
[ Because it's obvious, to Claude, that the longer this has gone on or the more times they've come back to the loft to discover signs she'd been there and left without seeing them that Sylvain's reactions might have maintained some of their brightness but not without more and more of it being forced. A feeling Claude can relate to in many ways and so it's said not as anything which could be seen as a manipulation, with any luck, even if it's burying the lede of just how much he misses her within it. ]