Dex let out a small huff, realizing they had both been completely misinterpreting what the other meant. "I mean it as a compliment," he said. At least the forced honesty worked in his favor there.

"I was taught how to fake it well by my therapist," he went on to explain. "She basically had to do the equivalent of emergency triage on my mind once she figured out what was going on with me and quickly teach me the most important things I needed to learn before my thinking got too rigid." The mention of not being around peers his own age sounded similar to him as well. "You don't usually end up in places like that until your early teens no matter how severe your issues are, so I didn't have a whole lot of interaction with people my own age for a long time."

He groaned and put a hand over his eyes. "Don't even mention that movie to me. I hate it. It makes everyone still think psychiatric institutes are still stuck in the 60s with lobotomies and electroshock treatments." He paused for a moment, trying to resist what he wanted to say in regards to her question. This would usually be the moment where her either refused to answer or only gave out a half-truth but neither would suffice right now. So he had to give the unfiltered honest truth. "I killed someone." He glanced over to see what expression might have been on Ava's face after he said that.