She blinks, looking a little surprised, and her pace slows accordingly as she glances over at him with curiosity in her gaze. "You can't read poetry?" she repeats, frowning a little. "But what could be keeping you from--"

But then she falls silent as it all starts to click into place; whether he wants to or not implies that he's been cut off from it somehow, and given Neil's deep love for poetry...

"...You traded with the deities for something?" she guesses softly.