Welcome to Gaia! ::

Madison wasn't busy - in fact, she was bored. Getting a text was a welcome interruption, and getting a text that promised possible excitement was even better. She quickly tapped out an affirmative reply and sat up from where she'd been reclining on her bed, trying to puzzle through a book on runic theory. Yeesh, she really wasn't suited to Life Division at all, was she...

What? Kouki asked, eagerly. Evidently he wasn't too thrilled by runic theory either.

"Candace needs something. Could be good," she said with a grin. She slipped on her shoes, then padded down the hall until... wait. She pulled out the phone to check. 214...? She changed course, moving away from Candace's old room and climbing the stairs instead. Madison knocked on the indicated door, grinning. Looked like somebody else had climbed the promotion ladder.

"You did it!" Madison said, grinning and flashing Candace a thumbs-up; if they'd been better friends, she would've hugged her, but she wasn't entirely sure where they stood on that sort of thing. "And your prize is... a bigger room? A kitchen? Caelius not yelling at you as much?" She followed Candace, looking around as if scrutinizing the surroundings. She'd been in Clarice's rooms, obviously, but Clarice was way high up, more than just a Hunter. So.

"Oh, no, nothing important. Boring s**t. Runic magic and tech and things... soooo not my bag, and yet I end up going through the two divisions that use it the most. Go figure," she sighed, then grinned again. "So yeah, please interrupt me. More like saving me at this point. What's up?"

At Madison's congratulations she grinned, suddenly feeling giddy again when reminded she did it. "Thanks! It was difficult but I was so done with being a trainee. Pretty much, yeah. Bigger room, the kitchen's only temporary. I've got plans for it. Umm, higher pay! Higher clearance...more leave days. I'm expected to do more..but I don't think Caelius will ever not yell at me." But she earned it. She did it. She didn't depend on anyone for it, she earned it on her own, she worked for it. She had no relationship of any kind with the group she'd brought back to the...camp..

...None..none at all.

Candace seemed to space out a moment, staring at her reflection in the glasses of water she'd just filled. She didn't know Eli or Draven, but someone did. She pursed her lips and shook away the memory of Milly's face whens he realized Eli hadn't returned with Candace, guilt stabbing her in the chest almost as painfully as a real knife probably felt.

Don't linger on it. Move on.

She turned again to return to the living room when Madison's voice reached her ears again, a small smile on her face. The room they were in still held the signs of having been owned by someone else until before Candace moved in. The colors were muted, pastels that suggested the previous owner used this place for a place to escape the insanity outside these walls, and definitely not a style that matched the woman who now occupied this place. But it was workable. She could do something with it. The colors could be painted over, the furniture replaced. But there was a long sofa, and a comfortable arm chair set near each other around a nice coffee table. Two bookcases, one of which had some of Candace's personal belongings already sitting on its shelves; it wasn't much just yet, a tiny glass unicorn, a few books, a framed picture of H and Jerry from the Christmas Gala, and other small knick knacks she'd brought from home. Nothing of tremendous importance just yet, simply sentimental value at best. Her Hunter coat was hanging on a nice coat-rack along with her scarf. The scarf was purple now, not black as it had been while she was a trainee. The coat had a ruffled back, the different layers decorated with a gold Mist symbol with a purple background that matched her new scarf.

There was a door toward the back of the room that led to her bedroom and the bathroom as well. The bedroom door was kept closed for now. Out here was nice and neat..the bedroom was a mess. The closet didn't have enough room for all her clothes and shoes.

Yet.

Candace offered Madison one of the glasses, smiling. "Runic tech? That could be neat if you practice at it. I've always enjoyed studying though so..heh." She shrugged, sipping at her own water. "To be fair you were put in Life...did you choose to be in Death?" Before hadn't been by choice but had Madison? She hadn't known of the girl's transfer until she saw her coat. "I'd be happy to interrupt you anytime, pretty lady~." Candace teased, smirking to herself and shaking her head. There came another knock at the door shortly after that, before she could answer Madison's question, and she perked up again. There was Gale's voice.

She set the glass down on the coffee table and hurried to the door, opening it with a wide smile. "Hey, Chipmunk~!" She greeted him with a hug, guiding the boy into the room. The door was closed behind him as well.

"How are you, Gale? Sorry I couldn't make it to your little housewarming party I was kinda...uh..busy." She gestured to the coat hanging from her coat rack. "..You smell like peanut butter." Weird.

Shrugging, Candace moved on, looking more excited with both of the Deaths here now. "Okay so...yeah. Sorry if this is really sudden but I need your help...see..there's this girl in Halloween that I want to bring in for weapon candidacy but...even if she's entirely willing to go the people around her will make that hard." She frowned now. "Getting her is kind of personal for me whether she's willing to come along or not, so I need help luring her to the haunted house..alone. You two are Death, your division handles this kind of thing, and I can trust you both..so...do you want to help me spread some high school gossip~?"

There were only two females on the island that Gale allowed to hug him in public, Candace being one of them. Which was why, when she opened the door and wrapped her arms around him, he did not squirm or protest, and instead lifted his hand, patting her back in return.

"It's fine," he said, once she had stepped back, and showed him into the room. "I can see that you were a little busy - and for good reason. Congratulations, by the way," he added, genuinely pleased for her as he gave Madison a small nod in greeting, moving to sit on one of the couches, idly tugging on one of his gloves. "And I smell like peanut butter because you caught me in the middle of lunch."

The room did not feel entirely Candace-like yet, but there was a rather nice little air about it all the same, and Gale made himself comfortable on the couch, leaning back and giving his full attention to the older girl.

"You found one?" he said, once she had finished, his brows drawing together. "That's interesting..."

Already his brain was starting to work, sorting the information Candace had given him into the proper places of his thoughts. Rubbing his hair absently, Gale lifted his gaze, casting a glance at Maddie briefly before answering.

"Of course I'm in."

And then another hug.

"You're - oof - welcome," said Gale, his voice slightly muffled due to the fact that he had his face pressed against Candace, her arms wrapped around him. He wiggled a little, mildly exasperated, and was quite grateful when she finally let him go, his face tinged a pale pink. "And thank you," he added, straightening his own coat as Candace took hers back off.

Settling back down on the couch, Gale idly twisted the ring on his left index finger, nodding every few minutes as the plan was laid out. He frowned a little, brows drawing together, Jinhai making a soft sound in his head that was almost like a purr.

"He killed Stacey."

All the thoughts in Gale's mind screeched to an abrupt halt. He lifted his head slowly, eyes fixing with Candace's, the memory of a creature, of a scene, flickering through his thoughts.

"...I know him," he said quietly. "I've seen him, I heard him...tell you that he was the one who had killed Stacey. I was trying to find you, and...I was there when he was gloating about it."

He had walked away after that, not wanting to hear the rest, already understanding what it was that he needed to do. Gale pressed his lips together, a flash of anger settling in the pit of his stomach that he pushed away, suppressed until later.

"...no questions," he said finally. "Other than when do we start?"

Candace looked surprised by Gale informing her he already knew, that he had also heard Shun tell her. She had no idea Gale had been that close to her at the time. She'd completely missed his approach. Even Madison had information! Damn was she glad she'd picked them now; she'd made the right choices. "He...apologized?" She raised a brow, holding her hand out for the pendant. "Is it..is it real?" She asked, eyes wide and locked on the pendant. A denizen of Halloween who hadn't tried to fight Madison, who apologized for killing a Hunter. That...that could possibly be useful one day. There were creatures on that side who sympathized? That definitely sounded like weapon candidate material.

Later. Candace had priorities.

"Yeah, Shun is her 'boilfriend'," Candace even said this with airquotes made by her fingers. "I don't want Shun, I want the girl. Shun's...too abrasive. There's no way to get him, but Mitsu seems very trusting and gullible. While I personally held no feelings toward Stacey...think of it as Shun took one of ours..you're going to help me take his precious little ghoul~. You two can do whatever you like on the side, in case you both want to find your own candidates, just as long as you get her to come to me in the Haunted House. Do whatever methods you see fit~. I'll get us some cell pho--"

Skellphones. Candace blinked.

"Skellphones. I'll get us some skellphones to communicate with. We can start as soon as you two are able. Hopefully a week in golems is enough time." She put her hands on her hips, grinning. "I owe you two big time for this."

He'd seen the pendant before, of course. In fact, Gale had been one of the ones to use them on the creature named Barth while they had been stuck in the Haunted House.

It had controlled him.

"That..." said Gale, with a scrutinizing look at the small object in Madison's fingers. "We had one like that, I think...back when we were first exploring that House. We put it around the neck of one of the creatures and it compelled him to follow our instructions. I'm not sure if that's the same one, but it certainly looks similar."

He folded his hands together in his lap, looking irritable, but it was mostly due to the new information that surrounded Stacey's abrupt disappearance. It was not as if he had even known the man all that well, but the fact remained that he had been one of them anyway - and a Death Hunter.

Gale didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Ready when you are."