Oh, yeah! I was so focused on Bea during that, such a rule follower but still quietly defying Mother Superion enough to offer comfort to Ava, I wasn’t even really thinking about what that must have been like for Ava.
She turned into her so instinctively! Which doesn’t stand out until you remember she hasn’t touched anyone in years. She’s been touched by the orphanage nuns a bit but that’s quite different. She did hug Diego when she returned to visit, true, but that was a greeting, not seeking comfort like this. And like, not to go all Juliantina, but pressing her face into Bea’s neck for comfort, well. >_>
But really, it does say SO much that this person who has been so, so alone, and is suddenly battling so much, the weirdness of this all, being able to move and touch again, being out with people again, trying to balance being independent with not being so alone, and she’s still able to (correctly) identify that this quiet, restrained person will offer her solace. :’)
