Re: Nora's room - Gwen & Nora
Gwen laughed when Nora said she hadn't been able to talk at six months. "It's kind of not the same," she said, her smile still digging dimples into her cheeks. She didn't explain any further, because the whole Dragon thing was seriously weird, and even she'd had trouble understanding the concept of alien symbiotes when she'd begun her research. Explaining how she'd actually been created, that would be even weirder, and Gwen (stupidly) wanted people to mostly view her as normal. She knew that wasn't a real option in the facility, and she guessed it didn't matter as much now that she wouldn't be able to sneak out anymore, but she still didn't want to be a complete weirdo in front of her one friend (assuming this casual relationship fell under the category of friendship).
"I'm not brainwashed, and I promise to let you know if things get super bad." She wasn't lying. Gwen wasn't brainwashed. Okay, so maybe having learned everything she knew about the world from the Dragon made things a little questionable, but she was making this decision on her own. She had been outside twice before her escape route was discovered, and she could have stayed away either of those two times, and she'd chosen not to.
Then Nora's kind of zoned, and Gwen reached out and lightly touched the other girl's shoulder. "Hey. It's okay. Just talk to people, okay? And see how you feel first." Gwen wasn't scared of the world beyond the big fence, but she knew Melody was, and it made sense that Nora would be scared of it too, at least a little.
She glanced back toward the door. "I should go, or they'll wonder why we're talking so much. You're going to be okay?"