A few months ago, she'd have evaded her way around that question. But he's really got her talking now, and to be honest, she's a little sick of keeping it all bottled up. Not that she's gonna go spilling her guts or anything, but... he already knew that Claudia had once been her friend. The rest of it wasn't really much of a secret with that out in the open.

Looking away from him again (although she doesn't mind the fact that he's in a closer proximity now), she lifts a hand to rub at her nose a little bit, distractedly.

"... Just... how things were. Back when we were kids. ... I looked out for her, taught her how to do things..."

Claudia had been Alessa's little white-haired shadow, back then. Scared of everything and sensitive to the point of ridiculousness sometimes, but so sweet. As the memory hits her, a bittersweet smile actually tugs across Heather's face and she swipes her hand over her nose again, sniffing.

"I used to let her win at Go Fish 'cause she'd cry when she lost... n'we'd color pictures together. I used to draw funny faces with buck teeth and googly eyes 'cause they made her laugh. We didn't get to do a whole lotta laughing."

Then the smile disappears as she shakes her head, looking straight down at her knees and hunching her shoulders.

"N'look what we are now."