I have a sentence where a character looks at another character, about to ask her a question, but is interrupted. Is there a way to describe that look? I had: Daria looked askance at the captain, but the general started to speak, so she swallowed her question. But then I looked up the definition of "looking askance" and its: 1 : with a side-glance : obliquely 2 : with disapproval or distrust : scornfully. Which is not what I'm going for. Is there another word or phrase to express this without getting all clunky, i.e., Daria opened her mouth to ask for clarification, but the general started to speak, so she swallowed her question. I dunno, I feel like that is clunky and lengthy. Or am I just overthinking this now? I do have a habit of doing that lol.
I might remove "to ask for clarification", since "her question" almost immediately explains why she opened her mouth. And maybe add a further clue at the beginning, if you're in a close POV: Huh? Daria opened her mouth, but the general started to speak, so she swallowed her question.
Just replace "so" with "and" and voila! clunkiness gone. Also make it "the question" instead of "her question". Your original sentences are not exactly "clunky" but hey are over-explaining things: well of course it's "her" question, if she's asking it. And "so" is also self-explanatory, it's just not needed (so="well that happened because those previous things happened" but the nature of the two actions makes the causality obvious). The first version with "looked askance" is also a bit non sequitur because looking at somebody sternly does not imply asking a question. Your second version is a better choice of words.
I think the word(s) you're looking for is 'suppressed', 'reigned in', 'annoyed'. Things often felt when being interrupted
