Severus felt very slightly affronted at the hand-up. He wasn't that bloody old. Not so affronted that he didn't accept the assistance, mind, and held her eyes as she made her pie-crust promise. He wasn't a fool; he knew she probably couldn't be trusted and it was probably stupid to try. But distrusting everyone all the time hadn't gotten him anywhere, either, and he really was experimenting with new ways to exist, himself.
"Thank you. It would mean a great deal to me. As I said, I'm not asking you to be a doormat - if he introduces conversation, then so be it. But if you would not start anything, well. As I said. I would appreciate it."
He looked around her little encampment and the possessions she'd accumulated in her sojourn.