It does make things awkward, a little, but that's alright. Loss isn't just wrenching and painful and senseless, it can be awkward too. Ness opens her mouth to say... something, probably something ultimately unhelpful even if entirely well-meaning, and then she closes it again, trying not to look guilty.

"Is that why you came over? I'd thought maybe you'd just seen me struggling."

She's not avoiding the question, exactly, so much as she's trying to figure out the best way to answer it. It helps that Clarisse isn't a native, and (probably) won't be given to demonic accusations, but even without such concerns, she's finding that telepathy is a hard sell.

"Before I arrived here, I was... abducted, I suppose is the best way to put it. Since then, I've been able to... do things. Telepathic conversation is a new talent, I guess you could say. I haven't got the hang of using it on purpose, yet, it just happens sometimes. It never lasts more than a minute."

So their link should be severed all on its own by now.