"Fair enough," he says -- he can tell there's a lot on her mind, she's more distant than he's known her to be, which -- this is Ilde, so that's fairly alarming. He doesn't know her all that well, but knows enough, probably.

He rests his chin on his arms, watching her without staring at her. "Do you want to talk about it?" It's a gentle offer, not a demand, no expectation that she must, or should, or ought, or whatever else. Sometimes it helps but sometimes it doesn't.