Nathan's arrival was greeted, as it had been each time he visited, with a quick scramble to untangle herself from the comforter and hug him tightly, the one concession of Claire's to not smiling and trying to laugh and be normal for people. He was good at 'dad' hugs, he really was, and with him, she could be a little more honest – maybe not as much as with Dean or Peter or her dad, but definitely more than with most – so sometimes, it was really nice have a dad and a father.
"I'm okay, and she's doing okay too," she said, finally pulling back from the hug. The question was common and Claire was never certain with most people what they wanted to hear, so she defaulted to 'okay' most of the time, whether it was strictly true in all ways or not. Then she turned her attention to her 'sister' – still an easier and more fitting label by far than 'younger self' or 'blonde me' or other things, because it was more individual, less 'we're duplicates'. More like twins in some respects.
"Hey," she said, giving the other girl a smile, as genuine as it could be, but knowing if there was anyone who could call you on trying to pretend something, it would be another version of yourself – and then she moved to hug her sister too. Contact, it was about keeping up that contact and those connections, she had to keep remembering that.