"But my son, my baby boy… I'm afraid that if I blink again, he'll just be… gone."
An hour.
Aerith and Riley have been talking to each other for more than an hour now, while Osk and the other members of the sisterhood hid away in their huts and shelters. Osk ordered the rest to completely avoid and ignore Aerith until she leaves… but how long until then?
She did tell Aerith that she could stay, but she was just obviously trying to make her leave with her attitude that was colder than the solid winter around them. But alas, Aerith did not seem to realize that as she was still outside, and having a very deep conversation at that.
Osk did not mean to eavesdrop, but it is also not her fault that her hut was just a few meters away from where they were talking.
"...You can't touch them, you can't talk to them—the only thing you can really do is watch them live in your memory."
Not a bad way to be manhandled, I suppose.