(Ah, and the facade starts to slip, from cheer to something shyer. It makes Claude's eyes soften just a bit. He's sympathetic; it's difficult keeping up an act, especially when that act involves pretending everything is fine when everything in the world feels off,)

Moving to a new place is always stressful. (He says, like they had a choice at all. They didn't. But if anyone else is listening, they'll never be able to tell from him.) Figuring things out, learning how things are done, making friends... all of that takes time and it feels like forever when you're just getting started from nothing.

But the best thing to do is take things one step at a time and keep our eyes and minds open. It's how we'll find each other.

(And he smiles lightly, encouragingly.)

We'll have this plcae all figured out in no time.