|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:53 pm
That had been a delightful first impression for the new trainees of the old trainees. After comforting Jerry as best as he would allow her to Candace had left to get some air, ruffling her own hair and sighing with frustration. What the ******** had that all been about? Seriously? Leon? What the hell. That was totally uncool and all it did was stir up unnecessary high school level drama. Goddamn. She almost wished she smoked just so she could have something to do while she stood outside the dorms leaning against the wall and hiding her face in her hands. Candace wasn't crying, just...she wasn't even sure. She was tired. Yes. That was it. She was tired. Maybe she was better off just going to bed. But she was also ******** it. She'd get some food and then she'd go take a nap or just sleep forever or something. Not like it'd matter right now, right?
And so after a stop at the cafeteria, some starry-eyed gazing into the kitchen as the woman who just had to be Mrs. Clause wandered about the kitchen making cookies and finally grabbing not one but two plates of them and a small transportable bottle of milk she was on her way back to her dorm. But she stopped three doors down from her own room.
This was Jordan's room, right? She frowned, looking down the hall toward her own door and then to the one beside her. She took half a step forward and then another step back. Two steps forward...one and a half back. She really should talk to him...but she was scared, okay? She almost killed him. No doubt he would want to return the favor.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 8:01 pm
Jordan had left his door open again when he returned to his room, in case anyone else decided they wanted a conversation. Or a quarrel, though he'd much prefer the conversational option. He sat at the table with a book open in front of him and a cup of coffee at hand. From time to time he heard footsteps in the hall, but so far they'd all continued steadily past.
The hesitant step a little ways down the hall caught his attention, and he looked up, debating whether or not to get up and see what was going on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:28 pm
Oh great. And the door was even open. Lovely. Just fantastic. But she did have to face him eventually if she wanted to repair the damage she had caused. Sighing, Candace took a step back until she could actually see into the room. Ah, there he was sitting at his table. Lovely.
"Uh...hey.."
Real smooth, Candace. Real smooth. You have a way with words like no other on this planet.
Idiot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:32 pm
Candace wasn't exactly one of his favorite people right now, for more than one reason. However, the look on her face suggested that he had indeed been right, and that her behavior had been - influenced - by Circe. Well. That was good, at least. Jordan gave her a tight smile. "Hello," he said.
He should really talk to her. Find out, if he could, that she wasn't going to do it again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:02 pm
Honestly she was surprised by the smile at all, and the fact that Jordan's first response to seeing her was not to get up and try to murder her. Or even slamming the door in her face. Not even a short 'go away'. It was surprising but in a good way. That meant there was hope. "Uh..how're you feeling?" After she, you know, almost killed you and stuff. Tell us, Jordan. How are you feeling.
This was awkward. Candace tried not to shift from one foot to the other in discomfort, not wanting to just stand here outside someone's door and attempt to make small talk when they had important things they should be discussing.
"May I come in? I'm unarmed~. Unless you consider milk and cookies a weapon." A weapon of awesome, perhaps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:08 pm
"All right," Jordan answered, and firmly squashed the impulse to rub at his chest. Her question, and the weak joke that followed it, surprised a small laugh out of him. "Yeah, come in," he said. "I guess we've got things to talk about."
If she was going to be Jerry's girl, and it certainly looked that way ... well, he wanted to know that she was a decent person.
Ferros snorted in the back of his mind, but said nothing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:54 pm
He even let her in. This was good! She could do this. Sighing quietly as she stepped into the room, looking around with a curious glance before stopping to put the two plates of cookies and her bottle of milk down on the table. It was so weird to have a bare room herself, she wondered how everyone else felt. "Yeaaah, we do. Just a few things." She sat down at the table, humming thoughtfully. Okay so now she was here. She wasn't being beaten on. This was cool. This was good.
But how the hell was she going to start this off? There was a cough in the back of her mind, as if Atropos was prompting her. Ehhhh..fine. Um. Maybe start simple. "I...I know it's not much, but..I am really sorry about the other day." She frowned, rubbing at the leg he had hit in discomfort and looking at Jordan and not anywhere else. Looking away would be almost like saying she was lying. She was uncomfortable but she was not going to lie because of that. "It was..incredibly stupid."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 11:08 pm
Jordan leaned on the table, studying Candace's face carefully. She sounded sincere, and she'd brought a peace offering; either she was genuinely sorry, or she was a really good actress. He was inclined to believe the former. It had been the scythe's influence, he was almost sure of that. That was weirdly frustrating, he found. If she hadn't been in her right mind at the time, he couldn't hold a grudge over it. "Apology accepted," he sighed after a moment.
He sat back and picked up his mug, needing something to occupy his hands with. "I'm sorry, but I need to ask," he said abruptly. "It's not going to happen again?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:01 am
Candace stayed quiet, letting Jordan judge her. She wasn't stupid. She'd be doing the same thing in his shoes! Hell, Candace was well aware Jordan really had no reason to trust her other than they were on the same team. She wasn't going to kill any of the other hunters. She really wasn't. Her eyes widened a little as he accepted her apology. Really? Just like that? She was very pleasantly surprised. "Thank you.." She blinked and looked down at the bottle of milk she was turning idly in her hands, finally just opening it and taking a sip.
Ah, a very reasonable question. She was fine with him asking. Candace chuckled and nodded. "No it's fine, don't be sorry. You have every right to ask...and no. I never want to touch a weapon that isn't Atropos ever again. It's an amazing feeling, you know. It's like, you're on top of the world. There's this rush of power you get when you hold Circe and it..it like...it gets in your head. You just want to use that power to its fullest, but apparently all judgement just flies out the window. Like...a drug." Candace frowned, drinking a bit more milk just as something to do that wasn't talking. "But honestly it only lasts a little while. The good feeling goes away pretty quickly." She ruffled her own hair in frustration and shook her head. If she could help it she didn't even want anything to do with Caelius but she knew that was impossible. She wished she had her own division leader to turn to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:13 am
Jordan managed half a smile. "You weren't exactly in your right mind at the time," he pointed out. "It would be unreasonable of me to hold it against you, and it's more than likely that we'll have to work together at some point. Kind of hard to avoid someone on such a small campus, and we don't have any control over our mission assignments. So now that I know that you're not going to go unstable over it, it's to both of our advantage to be on decent terms."
He looked down at the small amount of coffee remaining in his cup and grimaced. It had gone cold, and the stuff was barely palatable even when hot. He set it aside. "Anyway," he said, "Jerry's my friend, and if you two are together, that'd make it even more awkward." His eyes slid away towards the hall, and he absently ran a hand through the short hair at the nape of his neck.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:29 am
Wow. He was really understanding about all this! And considering their battle had been the worst? Man, she was so taken aback by his..kindness. Why was he being so nice? How could he be so nice?! She wanted him to be angry, to yell, to call her terrible things. It seemed almost unnatural for someone to be so calm about nearly dying! She'd laughed and walked away when she did it! But Candace did her best to keep her shock off her face for now, picking up a cookie instead to take a bite out of it. This was a good way to keep herself quiet from saying anything stupid. He made very good points. She needed his trust like he needed hers; Candace had a problem with this whole 'trust' thing, though. She didn't actually trust many people. "You're right." She said after swallowing her cookie, smiling now. Maybe cleaning up her mess wouldn't be as hard as she thought! Caelius wasn't right about her after all!
It seemed Jordan wanted to change the subject, and she was fine with that, though she was surprised by what he changed it to. Candace had been nibbling at the edge of her cookie when he brought up Jerry, looking slightly thrown off by his mention. He...made more good points. How was he able to be so calm? Candace would be demanding a rematch! "That's true. He...he tried to stop me. He even took Circe away from me for a minute." Until she kneed him in the groin. "He's a really great guy, huh?" Jordan would know even better than her, right? They'd been 'teammates' during that trial!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:44 am
"I was pretty pissed for a couple of days," Jordan admitted, "but having the time to think about it logically was helpful." The fact that she did look thoroughly contrite and guilty about the whole thing also helped a lot. Actually, it was kind of satisfying in an unkind sort of way to watch her fidget; she'd probably thought he would still be angry, and his calm acceptance had thrown her off balance. He wasn't about to say any of that out loud, though. It'd be counterproductive.
He wasn't sure, now, why he'd brought Jerry up; his recent realization made this subject considerably more uncomfortable than it had been before. "He is a great guy," Jordan agreed, and tried to think of something else to say that wouldn't make this any more awkward than it already was. Nothing came to mind. Instead, he picked up a cookie and took a bite, mostly to have an excuse not to say anything.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:40 am
"Oh good that makes me feel a lot better, actually." Candace chuckled, actually sounding sincere. She wanted him to at least have been mad at some point if he wasn't angry now. He had every right to be! To so willingly just forgive her without every having been upset would have bothered her and made all of her 'THIS IS SUSPICIOUS' alarms go off. "Again, thank you. I...have quite the mess to clean up. You, Jerry, Atropos...I'm not sure if I need to make amends with Before or Ariane. Guess there's no harm in checking. To be honest you and Jerry were the two I figured would be hardest aside from Atropos." Ariane hadn't gone so terribly but Before?
...Before was a pansyass. He needed to stop that.
Jordan didn't say much except repeat what he said to agree with her and Candace raised a brow, eating more of her cookie. She was suddenly feeling in much better spirits and it wasn't just because Jordan was forgiving her She couldn't quite pin what was making her so happy. Was it talking about Jerry? No, merely mentioning him in an awkward situation like this would not fill her with as much giddy joy as she felt building up. Yes, he made her happy and giddy but this was not the time for that? "He just needs to stop worrying he's useless." She pouted, finishing her cookie and picking up another one. "These're really good." Candace sounded a little bewildered by this observation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:04 pm
Jordan both had and hadn't meant to make her feel better about it; a large part of him was still ambivalent about how he felt about the woman. It occurred to him that it was more than likely that Atropos was providing plenty of internal punishment, if his own experience with Ferros's possessive nature was any indication. The logical reasons he'd cited as to why they should at least be civil to one another still held true. He'd just keep things polite and observe; the aftermath of the whole thing was probably more than enough torture.
Anyway, he couldn't seem to hold any kind of sense of offended pride or anger right now. He felt light and relaxed and just good. It was nice to have that off his shoulders ... but at the same time, wasn't this sense of almost-elation an overreaction?
Jordan, Ferros said, subdued. Your mind feels weird.
Jordan blinked and looked down at the half-eaten cookie in his hand. Drugged? Had Candace - no, she was eating the cookies too, and if she'd planned that she'd have refrained from eating any herself. He couldn't hold onto the fleeting suspicion, anyway. He felt too good. "Where'd these come from?" he asked curiously, and found himself outright smiling at Candace, a much more cheerful expression than he usually wore.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:43 pm
A somewhat awkward yet peaceful quiet fell between the two of them and Candace tried not to squirm. Atropos noticed though, and her snarl filled Candace's head, making her frown and look down at her rings. Atropos... Atropos huffed and quieted...for now. Candace knew this wasn't going to be the only time she heard something from her.
Candace wasn't terribly broken about it for long though, feelings of happiness and glee were quickly taking over her emotions. This was weird. Why was she suddenly so happy instead of awkward? She should still be awkward.
...Maybe if she had another cookie. She reached for a second cookie and ate a bite out of it, making a happy little sound as she did. So gooooood! But at Jordan's question she shrugged, nibbling the edges. "Just our cafeteria." She drank more of her milk, beginning to hum a cheerful Christmas song as she ate at her cookie. Delicious~. "Do you not like 'em? I'll eat your share if you dooooon't~." Candace said in a sing-songy voice, giggling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
