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( A blonde haired woman appears and fiddles with the settings for a moment when she deems things to be "good enough" - mumbled in rapid German, of course - then she flashes a smile, though it looks almost sheepish, apologetic.)

Uh, let's see where to start, where to start...

(A few moments of silence pass before she just sighs and she looks down slightly. If anyone is looking closely enough she might be a very slight shade of pink. She finds herself tucking a strand of long curly blonde hair behind her ear and she glances back up.)

Well, I guess now's the time where I'm supposed to say something like "It's been a while" or " Hey! It's me, Marie" but neither of them seem to feel all that right to use right now. (Marie pauses again.) Oh, right. So, I guess it's easy to tell that I've been here before. It wasn't for very long, but....

(She frowns and looks downward.)

I have to say this, OK? But, I don't think I did a good job at trying to get along when I was here last.

(She gives no reasons as for "why", she appears to be trying to think about it but either turns up nothing in particular to mention or nothing that she feels won't bore anyone listening into a stupor, so instead she settles to shrug and try to chuckle, though it comes out a bit nervously.)

So, um, I guess what I'm trying to say is "Sorry" ... I'll try to do better this time around.

(She cautiously switches over to "private, text" to her old housemates and sends,) So, is there still room for one more?

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Billy Costigan.

[It feels almost foreign to meet someone new and be introducing himself like this again. It's been a long time since someone didn't know him, even if Sullivan pretended for a time. He can't help but think of Madolyn, seeing Marie across the table from him now, though he pushes the thought quickly from his mind.]

You, uh- you just came back, is that right?

Nice to meet you, Billy.

(Of course she might be smiling.)

Uh, yeah. That's right. I just ended up back here again.

(She feels slightly more at ease when it comes to meeting new people - it comes with the territory of being a worldly, okay, a world traveler. You got good and used to meeting new people and she would be lying if she said she hated doing that.

But, she does have a little more of an urge to be wary and also slightly overwhelmed. That also comes with the territory of both being chased around the world (even if she wasn't quite so sure at times that it really was anything to be worried about) and being bounced around to not only this place, but one other before it.)

What's it like? Living in this place.

[Because it sure as hell isn't like home. Costigan's never been outside of Boston in his life, unless you count Southie being a world of its own, and he doesn't like new things. He also hates the bullshit about aliens and turtles and magic and all of it. Even as he can see it with his own eyes, it feels like a trick being played on him. Somehow, he knows it's not a bad dream though, that this is real life. And even as he hates it, a part of him is telling him it's all true and to accept it.]

Huh? What it's like?

(She frowns and seems to need a moment to give the question some thought, before sighing some.) I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer that for you, but alright. Let me try.

Honestly? It's different, but it's not that bad. But, I also got pulled into another place before here, so...maybe it was a little easier to get used to, you know? I wasn't here for very long either. From what I figured out? The people are alright, give or take a few. My housemates took me in pretty quickly, were happy when I showed up here again. I wasn't in the best of states when I showed up. Kind of kept to myself.

But this place? It's not the safest place, but I'm used to things like that too. You get hassled sometimes in the markets, I've almost lost some of my things more than once. You can get some things that are sort of like things you are used to, but not quite.

(A slight smile as she jokes.) The worst part that they don't have real chocolate.

I'm used to not safe. [He replies with a light chuckle. It's a gross understatement really. At least Boston in general sounds roughly similar to her description.] That's too bad about the chocolate. How's the rest of the food?

[Because really, he's less worried about the crime and a lot more worried about adapting to the environment. And that pesky problem with aliens and magic and spirits and a ton of other bullshit he doesn't want to begin to think about.]

How are the, uh- what is it, the kedani?

It's not always safe, but I never felt like it was really bad. I wouldn't worry about it so much. Just be smart, I suppose.

The rest? It's good. Sometimes you have to substitute things, but it works out more or less, just different, but enough things that seem to be close enough. A few things I would consider avoiding, you'll know them when you see them.

The kedani? They're fine, I suppose. I can't say I know any of them personally or anything. I don't have any issues with them. Sometimes they seem a little uneasy with us, so I keep my distance when I think someone might be annoyed.

(No help. She knows she is no help at all.)

'Be smart.' [He echoes with a chuckle. The Staties said he was too smart to be a cop, but apparently he was so dumb he chose to become one.] Sure. Good advice.

[To the rest, he gives a courtesy nod as he listens. It's not really the information he's looking for or needs, but it's not like he approached a verified expert. The woman was nice enough to meet him when he was stressed and to be here distracting him now. That's worth something.]

What's your favorite thing to do in this place? [A beat.] They have cigarettes here? Tobacco?

It's also vague and my idea of what's smart always backfires, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me to after all...

My favorite thing? (Oh god, she never once thought of what she liked to do here, but she did tend to gravitate to wandering through the shops an stalls. So, here is a sheepish smile.) I don't know, haven't thought about it much, I suppose I like going through the markets and shops and places like that. The gardens are calming too.

But, to answer that second set of questions, I don't smoke (well anymore, her tone suggests.) so it didn't cross my mind to look into that. I'm sure there's at least something like that around here.

Some people don't know how to apply it. It's never bad advice though. [He shrugs, amused.]

Gardens? [Wandering and shopping aren't exactly his usual pastime, but the gardens could be nice. The most places he can go that might be familiar to home, the better. Which is also where the tobacco comes in.]

You one of those health freaks? [He teases.]

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