<div style="text-align: justify;">Due to her life’s circumstances - those she had just referred to Nanook -, it was unlikely that Marissa would have ever trusted anyone blindly. It just wasn’t something that she could bring herself to do, after all. Still, she did trust Nanook, to a point where she had never really trusted anyone before. It was a bit of a primal feeling that brought her to him, but - either due to her past experiences or due to her newly discovered animal nature -, Marissa felt that she needed time open up completely. <br/><br/>While for an onlooker Marissa might look a little bit weak-willed, in fact she was not. It might actually be believed that it took a very strong personality to remain kind after being treated with unkindness for most of one’s life. And Marissa had to admit it made her really happy to know that she could count with someone to be kind to her in exchange for once in her life. It was almost ironic that the one person to be truly kind to Marissa was the most unlikely one. A predator, someone who had no qualms regarding taking a life if needed. And yet, Marissa felt that Nanook would never take the life of anyone who didn’t deserve it. <br/><br/>When Nanook mentioned that he hated to see things go to waste, Marissa nodded. She could more than understand not wanting things to be wasted. And of course, she wasn’t above going to thrift shops for clothes and accessories. “Oh, I completely understand. And there are some interesting things you can only find in this kind of place. I have lots of items I have bought in thrift shops to compose my costumes for theme nights. I would happily show them to you if you want to spend a day with me in my apartment”, Marissa offered, thinking that it might be fun. <br/><br/>Following Nanook’s lead, Marissa smiled when he turned to a lighter part of their conversation. “Oh, it would be fun, come on”, she replied when Nanook asked if she would like if people had tails to wag. “Can you imagine how adorable it would be if you could wag your tail when I do this?”, she asked, holding out a hand and, assuming he would allow it, scratching the back of Nanook’s neck lightly. <br/><br/>At least for now, Marissa wasn’t really thinking about anything that could come connected to the idea of a tail. For now, she wanted to take a break and calm down after all she had told Nanook. Those weren’t pleasant memories, and had she not wanted to share them, Marissa would probably have kept on avoiding them. <br/><br/>When Nanook asked if he had shaken things up too much and said that she could have stayed in her old life, Marissa shook her head on a negative. “After hearing about my old life, would you even think that I would have wanted to stay that way?”, she asked very quietly. She didn’t really expect an answer  to that question, since it was obvious, and carried on speaking in that quiet intonation. <br/><br/>Hearing that she knew more about Nanook than anyone else living did was bittersweet. Hearing him say that his friends had been killed by slayers really enraged Marissa. She couldn’t help but snarl a little as well. That was disgusting. If she had a slayer in the vicinity, she would definitely have killed them without even thinking about it. <br/><br/>When Nanook said there had been a war, it made sense for Marissa. One thing she knew about people was that they feared whatever they classified as “other”, as “different”. And beings like they were couldn’t be considered anything but “other”, and dangerous “other” ones at that. “Is it over?”, she asked, after thinking for a while. “The war, I mean. Or is it an ongoing war and we need to look over our shoulders pretty much all the time?”. No, it wasn’t a pleasant idea, but Marissa felt that she needed to know, for her own safety. Closing her eyes when Nanook start stroking her hair, Marissa tried to relax a little. They were safe in there, right? So, there was no reason to be on edge right now. <br/><br/>His comment about going out made Marissa nod. It would be nice to go out with Nanook, not only for a nice restaurant, but wherever he wanted. “We can go anywhere you want”, she replied, thinking for a moment. “Would you like to go somewhere in here, or maybe find somewhere quieter where we can relax and be alone for a few days?”, she asked, waiting to hear what Nanook really wanted to do so she could start planning accordingly.</div>