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There was no immediate response. At least, not until three minutes later where a short reply was received.

If by "s**t to do" included "sleeping on the desk" then Candace would be right on the money. Aria had a vivid red mark on her cheek from where it had lain, and no amount of rubbing would make it go away. "Mm? Hey hunter, come on in." Aria greeted vaguely as she scrapped the papers on her desk together, shuffling them into a reasonable stack. "You're here for your lockpicks, right?"

Aria turned to her desk and pulled open a drawer, frowned, then tried another one. She reached in with both hands and pulled out what looked to be a mini safe, dropping it on the desk to face Candace. "Here you go. Don't leave the room with it."

Aria shook her head. "No. I'm... fine. Well enough, considering most recent and current events." The division leader remarked as she scowled at the papers. She spread out the stack, pulling each paper in one at a time to reorder them. "I became bored while waiting for you to come pick them up. Rather than get too carried away, I decided to stash them in there."

Papers organized, Aria picked up a paperclip to keep them in order as she set them aside. She matched Candace's look with a wide-eyed innocent flutter of her eyelashes. "Well, I was just going to hand them to you. Then there was an invasion followed by building..." She trailed off, waving her hand at the safe. "It's been awhile though. I don't quite remember what the combination was. You can use just about anything in this room at your disposal to open that, by the way. Just... nothing that I'm currently using."

The dismay brought a sadistic grin to Aria's face. Either she really did forget what the combination was, or she was lying. Given the track record of the division leaders (and really any hunter in a superior position of power), the latter was very likely. Or, considering the stress of recent events, the former was also possible. Either way, Aria wasn't going to give up the answers that easily.

"First time for everything," Aria shrugged. "It's unlikely that you'll ever come across a combination lock, but just in case... you might as well know what to do with'em." Aria met the suggestion of smashing it with a flat look, one eyebrow arched for an unspoken Are you serious?

Unfortunately for Candace, Aria didn't have any spare runics lying around or a crowbar. The heaviest-looking thing in the office (aside from the desk) was a potted plant. It was a rather large pot, one made out of ceramic and containing several bags worth of dirt along with a massive potted plant. There were even a couple decorative glass globes that slowly trickled water into it. The plant itself was rather large, leafy, and green. And rather unremarkable.

There were a couple decorative spears attached to the wall. There was even a coupe bookshelves filled with books. All in all it was a rather boring office that screamed "business" compared to Caelius or Dr. H's.

When Candace asked her question, it took a moment for Aria to answer. "Well enough, considering. What were you distracted with, out of curiosity? Did another division leader steal you away for their own personal use?"

Not only was breaking things in Aria's office rude, but it also ran the risk of retribution. It was highly possible that Aria knew where Candace kept her shoes, and it was also possible that Aria knew of a dog or two that wouldn't mind a new toy... But that was just mean. Never the less, Aria winced. "Lance didn't teach your combinations? Ah well, they are going out of style... There's several ways go go about breaking into them." She shrugged. "You can try listening real close for the clicks. If you have a glass cup you can place the, ah, rim of it against it then your ear against the other. The glass would amplify noise. You can also try feeling for the clicks, but that takes a lot of practice." She shrugged. "Sometimes the most obvious way... isn't the best way in."

Aria leaned back in her chair, listening. "Ah, that golem worked? That's good, though it's a shame about getting found out." The division leader looked as if she wanted to add something more, stopping as Candace asked her question. "The town has been taken care of before we were invaded, thankfully. There's a couple hunters stationed there to ensure that it continues to run smoothly. A regular human... doesn't cope with Insanity very well, and with levels that high..." The division leader sighed. "If you're looking for a happy ending, it won't be found there. It'll take awhile for that town to recover, I think."

"You... might not have had enough time?" Aria asked slowly. "You only saw him once? I thought..." She trailed off, sighing. "Normally I'd point out that you can ask him for more lessons later, but he's currently in no shape to do so at the moment. If you have any further questions..." Aria waved her hand. "You know the drill. Just because you're now a hunter doesn't mean you can't get lessons from another. But I digress. I do have another way to open that, but... that would be telling."

Aria's desk, sadly, did not have a cup. There was, however, a plastic water bottle. It looked to be half full. "Otherwise... Yes, we did manage to find them. It took awhile, but we managed to find them and their weapons. Recovery is another thing we do as a Mist along with Death and members from other divisions."

The division leader looked at the safe. "I can open that for you, if you'd like," she offered. "It's not fair to short you like that." Oh wait, it totally was. Horray for Division Leader Superiority.

"And how much did he teach you?" Aria pressed. "One or two lessons isn't enough. There's different locks, different situations, different tools -- there's many different factors. And it's not just about unlocking the lock. There's getting to and away from it. Take Lance for example." Aria sat back in her own chair, gesturing down at herself. "Lance wears his coat across his legs, yes? He can hide something under it and nobody would be none the wiser. If you or I tried to do that, we'd be found out. Myself especially." She couldn't help but to grin. "Still, regardless it just means I need to get more creative."

Her expression faltered as she grew quiet. "That... must have been some project you were on to have not seen it. Where to begin?" She rose, gesturing for the safe. She set it down in front of her and stared at it. "After we were invaded, one of them didn't go home. It... It wasn't like the other creatures. It was made out of Insanity, and it seemed to lurk near the houses. Lance went out on a runic horse and tangled with it. He was found unconscious in a crater." As she spoke, Aria had flipped the safe upside-down. She absently twisted one of the rubberized feet, pulling and lifting a hidden hatch on the bottom. "He was unconscious for weeks. The dragon's long gone, but there's no surveillance in the area. We're not sure what happened. He's still recovering in the Life labs. He... seems okay, but this with the mark? It's --"

Aria broke off, running a hand through her hair. "It's... It's been rather eventful, needless to say. Sorry, I didn't mean to unload like that onto you. Some division leader I am, huh?" She reached into the safe and pulled out a small wooden box, tossing it to Candace. "I put them in there."

...Except that the lid on it wouldn't budge. If shaken, something could be heard rattling around on the inside. The box itself was engraved and dark green in color. There was no indication of how to open the box: no key, no visible seams, nothing. Thanks, Aria.