It wasn't an easy topic to shift away from, but Rogue did her best to follow the new line of conversation, listening attentively while Todd told her about the progress with the gene therapy over the years. She listened and nodded, occasionally asking a brief question, all while very slowly working her way through her meal.

Eating was still something of a chore for her after her captivity. It took real effort to remind herself to take a bite, chew, swallow. All of it felt unnatural even after the days she'd been on Atlantis; three years of mostly being kept alive by intravenous nutrients had changed her in a number of ways. But she needed the calories if she was going to regain a healthy weight, and if she worked at it long enough she knew it would get back to feeling 'normal' eventually.

"I really am in awe of how much you've accomplished in so short a time," she told him with a small smile. "It's hard to believe, with the way things were when I left. It seems like just another part of a dream I had once."

There was still a third of her bowl of stew left to go, but each bite was starting to become harder than the last. "That's what I thought you were, after a while," she admitted suddenly, her train of thought shifting in her weary state. "Everything here - I thought it was all something I dreamed up to help me survive."