Abby knows Claude is concerned, about her. Or rather, she wants to know it. But she's been down this road. And trusting someone actually cares is hard to do, if you're her. Certainly some of her life isn't her fault, the whole reason she hates adults is how much their fuck-ups decide her life. It's a bitterness she couldn't do much with at home.

Here was only nominally better.

So she wants to believe what he says, about her. It'd be so much easier if she was better for the world than the alternative. And some of that desire does get her magic to stop flaring. The ice isn't going away, but it isn't spreading. She sits and pouts in her small icy wonderland. "I couldn't even fake liking someone for five minutes to get a job. Just let him think he's as fucking important as he thinks he is."