Delicate Flower - A Hilda Fanzine

THE LIABILITY OF FRIENDSHIP
CAT
“Oh! Hilda!”
Well, at least if this got done, Leonie would certainly owe her something
later on…
Not that Hilda was planning on getting it done herself.
In fact, Hilda knows just the person that can do the job better.
Crap.
Hilda just knew she should have resisted her snack cravings.
She shouldn’t have come downstairs at all and to avoid public sight.
With her intuition for everyone’s schedule in the Academy and her rather
opportunistic personal problems, Hilda usually stays far from any eyes
searching to delegate a little responsibility. And most days, Hilda passes her
days without a single request.
But today, it seems, is not one of those days.
She huffs, wiping the exasperation from her face.
“Hey, Leonie,” she returns, spinning on her heel to face her. “What’s up?”
“Ah, I’m really sorry to ask you, but you’ll do me a solid, right?” Leonie asks,
with an uneasy smile. She rubs the back of her neck, pressing on quickly.
“I just need some help re-shelving the books in the library — I was only
able to get through some of them but then I suddenly remembered that
I promised some of my folks back home to join them in a ceremonial hunt
for the afternoon, and I have to go because, you know, I owe them a lot for
funding my studies here, and I just gotta go now! You know what I mean?”
“Well, I don’t know about—”
“Perfect!” Leonie interrupts, taking Hilda’s hands. “Thank you so so so much!
I gotta run! I really gotta get going. It’s already so late in the morning, and it’s
going to take me another few hours to get there!”
“Woah, wait! I can’t—”
But Leonie’s already sped off before Hilda has even formulated a retort,
sprinting down the hall and waving a goodbye.
Hilda sighs. This is what happens when she comes downstairs — everyone
wants a little something from her.
Oh, the things she does for friends.
Hilda looks tiredly at the double doors leading into the library before peeking
her head into the room, immediately seeing the large pile of disorganized
books. Leonie was most definitely desperate to get the job done.
Ferdinand is — as Hilda expects — in the weapon refinery, as he always
seems to be on Tuesday mornings.
Hilda peeks her head into the room. Ferdinand bristle a little, sensing her
presence.
“Ah, Ferdinand, how funny to run into you again!” Hilda greets. “Although I
suppose you are always so diligent to regularly maintain the weapons here,
aren’t you?”
Ferdinand turns, then half-rolls his eyes at her. He gets up slowly, quickly
wiping oil off his hands with a rag.
They’ve done this dance many times before.
“Let me guess,” he says, tossing the dirty cloth over one of the empty weapon
stands. “You want me to re-shelve the library books?”
Hilda lets her jaw drop, covering her mouth in feigned surprise. “You really
are good at reading my mind, aren’t you? So brilliant!”
“Well, it’s not really anything,” Ferdinand says modestly, although Hilda
notices how Ferdinand straightens as he takes the compliment. “I just
noticed that re-shelving library books is one of the things you hate to do the
most. I presume a lot of that has to do with how you would need to use a
ladder about twice as much as someone taller than you would need to.”
“And observant!”
This time, Ferdinand fully rolls his eyes. “You really don’t need to compliment
me when I’m already doing your bidding.”
“Hey! I really mean it when I say these things!” Hilda assures him, placing
her hands on her hips. “I’m not just saying things to get you to do things for
me!” Ferdinand looks at her, still incredulously, and so Hilda quickly adds,
“You know what — why don’t I get you some tea? You must be so thirsty after
working out here all morning. I can at least get you a drink, can’t I?”
Ferdinand perks at the very word. “Tea?” he asks, with a lilt in his voice.