Gavin didn't really know why Noelle was whispering, but he didn't at all mind. He didn't much feel like talking himself. "You look interesting too," he whispered back as a sort of half-compliment, giving the barest impression of a smile. "You probably heard already, but Gavin. So," he continued, "what did they do to you?"

Privately, he was still seething at Luke's attitude, especially toward his mutation. It was so...casual. It felt wrong, somehow. Noelle seemed alright, though. Even though since his mutation Gavin had become exceedingly paranoid—partially from his own fears, partially from new genetic coding as a being near the lower end of the food chain—he felt a bit less horrified somehow, and though something about Noelle made him strangely alert, he didn't feel any particular urge to scream, cower, or bolt. Quite the novel experience.

[@Kit DewStein]