[It's hard to argue with Jake when he looks like that. It's cute. It's also distracting, highlighting the fact she's having this conversation with a dog, who also seems to sort of be a middle aged man.

Natasha restrains the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

She also sighs and doesn't dignify the comment about the shrink not staying, because Dr. Quinzel had managed to express an interest in digging into Natasha's issues (if she consented to it) during her short time here. And Natasha has enough psych training herself to know it's warranted.

Which might be why she doesn't rush to answer. She's denied it enough, and she could do it again, but doubling down on the lie wouldn't win her any arguments or convince anyone. Instead, after a moment, she says:]

I don't think now is the time to start dismantling anything one way or the other. Whatever I'm doing, it'll last long enough to get back to our Ximilia.