Yes, both parties to this exchange are stilted and awkward. I thought that was the point.
Exactly. I have never understood why so many have gone on and on about a lack of chemistry when I have always thought this was a particularly appropriate playing of an amazingly surreal event for both of them. I can't imagine Avon acting in any other way. What are people expecting from this sort of encounter?
to give him no time to question the version of events he
had been fed, that he had always believed.
This is how I viewed it as well.
Behind the apparently numb facade, Avon's mind is evidently racing away, analysing the unbelievable as he stares at her. He is wary and taken aback, first by her apparent resurrection and then by her off-balance behaviour. He knows something is wrong almost from the start.
Well, okay, might as well just say this is a me too post and get it over with. :)