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Candace's spirits had been pretty high until she saw that strange tweet from Lance. Was he ******** with them? Please let that have been all it was. She really wanted it to just be a joke. Did he know they suspected he was infected and was being an a** about it? It wasn't a funny joke if that was the case. Either way, Candace made a promise and she was holding to it. She told Aria she'd check on him and she'd told Lance she'd bring him a few things.

You remember what Aria warned you, right? And about her message?

Yup.

If he's not alone?

Candace didn't answer.

Candace.

Get out.

And your priority when getting out? Atropos' tone was stern. She was not ******** around.

...Myself. Candace stopped walking and sighed. I don't want it to come to that. He..he seemed okay on twitter except for the occasional ******** up text. I'm giving up what's left of my bourbon for this guy. He better be okay.

When Candace arrived to Lance's room her nerves returned tenfold. Aria had said she could get infected..but what if she didn't? She'd said she was willing to take the chance but saying yes and actually doing it were two different matters. You can do this, Candace. For Lance.

Inhaling deeply to calm her nerves, Candace was glad she'd brought two glasses along instead of just one for Lance. She hid her caution as she entered the room, carrying a covered tray in one arm and a bag in the other. "Knock, knock~. Room service." Her eyes darted all around to make sure the only inhabitant of the room was Lance. It..it was simply curiosity. Totally.

Oh thank god. It was just a tech. No unnatural occupants. Thank god. Thank god. Thank god. The cheer was met with a raised brow and a grin, closing the door behind her and standing by it. "That finally better not be a quip on me taking too long to get here or I'm turning around and taking the booze and food with me." She almost sounded like she meant it..almost.

Despite the threat she approached Lance anyway, setting the bottle down on the table beside his bed so she could use her now free hand to pop down the legs of the tray and set it down over Lance's lap. "Some stubborn brat told me he was hungry so I went and got him some food." Leaning down, Candace gave Lance a friendly kiss against his temple and then lifted the cover off the tray. Real food, something Candace had cooked.

And by cooked she means she asked someone else to do it for her because Lance was already in the infirmary for an attack he didn't need food poisoning on top of that.

She also produced a small bottle of Tylenol from her coat pocket and set it down on the corner of the tray. "For you~." Candace didn't need to be told twice to ignore the tech, sitting down on the edge of Lance's bed while grabbing the bottle of bourbon she'd brought. "If I'd known you were in here I'd have come around sooner. Poor baby. How you feeling?"

Lance's voice made Candace pause and just watch him, doing her best to keep her expression natural and the concern out of her smile. There was something..off about it. What was the problem? She couldn't quite pin it. The clink made her jump and her gaze fell to the cuff around Lance's wrist. She frowned and reached out to touch it, stopping just short of the bracelet to instead drop her hand on the bed. "That's fine, I'm happy to bring you anything you need, you know that." There it was again, that very faint inflection that just wasn't right. Maybe he was just tired...maybe she was just searching so hard for something to be wrong that she was imagining it.

No wonder Aria was stressed out. If Candace was feeling this way she could only imagine how bad her leader had it.

"Strapped down? Seems a bit--" Cautious. Wise. "--excessive." That was safe. Candace glanced back at the lab tech and smiled, saying nothing and instead kicking off her shoes to turn and sit more comfortably beside Lance. "I think Cass said she's going to bring ice cream for you, too. I bring dinner, she brings dessert. Sounds like a nice arrangement." The bottle was opened, drinks poured, and then set down on the tray again. "I can solemnly swear I didn't cook this but I supervised, so it's safe."

Her smile softened as Lance let her know it was good to see a friendly face, leaning over to put her head on his shoulder and nod. "I can come visit whenever you need me. Hell, I might just get bored and bother the s**t out of you because I can. You've got your laptop now though, right? We're all on twitter so.." What one was he referring to? Ah, a trainee. "Eat up, growing boys need to eat their dinner." Candace bent her knees with her feet flat on the bed and hugged her legs, lifting her head off Lance's shoulder so she wasn't in the way.

"Oh, now you want it. Now it's okay. Before I would offer and you would reject me. I don't know, Lance, I think you've broken my heart enough." Candace giggled at the squeeze, smiling despite her complaints. "I don't do audiences." A look was given to the tech before Candace turned back to Lance. "So no, not that kind of anything. Maybe another time." She pat his arm and leaned in to kiss the man's cheek, nodding and sitting back when he told he he'd give it thought. Good, the more excuses to come by and check on him the better. Lance's voice sounded fine again, so maybe it really had just been in her head. ********, you'd think she was the insane one with that kind of paranoia. That was just pathetic.

The attempt to get off and walk didn't surprise Candace as much as she 'managing a couple steps'. She gasped, looking both impressed and shocked all at once. How could he not remember something like that?! That..that was just...that was huge! "Lance, that's amazing! Were you sleep walking or something? I can't figure out how that could possibly be something a person would forget doing." That was definitely something she'd have to tell Aria in case she didn't know. Lance walked. That was a big deal. She smiled sweetly and cocked her head to one side. "Thank ya kindly, Mister Lance. Have?" Time to play up the innocence. She blinked. "Are you sick or something? You look fine.." That was it. He looked it, but was he really?

"I can bring them by to visit, if you like. I'm sure Molly would love to come by and take care of you, too. We have a new guy, too. He could probably do well talking to another man in his division." Candace giggled and felt giddy when he said he adored her and Cass. Good! She liked to hear that. She nodded and picked up her glass to drink, swirling the bourbon in the glass a bit. "Age shouldn't matter...teachers are hot, anyway." She shrugged and sipped at her drink, glancing at the food again.

"A nice Moon in the kitchen. Didn't know her..why? Is it bad?" But he was shoveling it down like it was amazing!

"La~nce~." She sang right back at him, laughing at his clarification. "Uh huh, okay. Sure. I can give you a rub though, that's fine. I can do that now even..though it'd be easier if I was behind you. I don't think it'd be very comfortable for either of us unless you were able to scoot forward?" From her tone and the way she glanced the Life tech's way it was clear she was asking if his straps could be adjusted long enough for that to happen. She looked down when the movement of his hand caught her eye and then turned her gaze up at Lance with a raised brow. "We could improvise. Oh well~. Too late now, now about that shoulder ru--" Eh? She blinked a few times as her nose was suddenly tapped, her smile falling at his next words. But.. "But you managed a couple steps. You said it yourself. They told you...I know the Life hunters like to ******** around but that doesn't sound like something they'd joke about, especially since they even went through the trouble of strapping you down." It really didn't make any sense. Couldn't it be possible to like...magically be healed from a traumatic event? They weren't normal ******** humans! They had a magic bond with weapons from the souls of Halloween creatures that gave them special magic healing! It was totally reasonable that Lance could suddenly walk again one day..it was...

Her eyes turned to the carrot piece on his fork. She nodded, looking wary.

It's just gray.

Her heart stopped. She was gray. The food was gray. She looked down at her coat, clearing her throat and blinking back tears while he was distracted. Oh god, Lance. Not you. "It is purple, actually." Candace corrected as cheerfully as she could manage. Aria was right...Lance wasn't well. It made Candace sick to her stomach that Lance could be infected, could possibly end up like one of those townspeople..or even like that dragon, or that mindflayer girl. Or..some...hideous mixture of the two. Oh god. "I like purple better and well..while black hides blood better, purple does suit me. Lots of people have black, I don't see much purple."

She looked away when Lance began to eat again, throwing back what was left of her first glass and pouring herself another. "She's good. Went off to an outpost for a little while to clear her head about some personal issues she was having..and yeah. His name is Roland, goes by Ro. Sweet boy, means well. Kind of naive...he gets his panties in a twist whenever Rep and I fight though, despite it being our best means of communication. But overall he's a nice guy. Very new to all of this...not like us jaded veterans~." Candace chuckled and nursed as her newly filled glass, still not looking at Lance. Everything was gray, his voice had sounded off earlier..

"Things have been very busy.." Her voice was quiet. She was thinking. They'd been tainted with Insanity before, right? Yeah. Right after that mission. She recalled faint voices, nothing she could understand clearly, extreme paranoia, discomfort...but she didn't think any colors were different. Maybe? It was hard to remember too clearly. She needed to learn more about this stuff if she was going to deal with Lance for Aria. Did Insanity have different levels to it? "Has there been anything else? Other than the gray?" Finally she looked at Lance with uncertainty.

Lame. Thanks, Lab techs. You really know how to make things difficult sometimes. Her scowl at the tech turned to a curious look to Lance when he began to complain about them. That..was very odd. Lance sometimes was quite pessimistic, yes, but this didn't quite sound like Lance. This sounded like a paranoid man obsessed with conspiracies. And there it was again, that off inflection in his voice. Something definitely wasn't right. Her frown returned as she reached out to pet his hair, saying nothing and just waiting. Lance was not okay.

Voices. There it was. The biggest tip off.

Or so she thought.

Candace's hand stilled as Lance continued on to describe what they were like, his voice wavering and distorting in ways a voice should not do without some kind of computer generated manipulation. He couldn't hear his own weapon!? s**t. s**t, s**t, s**t. That was definitely something she had to tell Aria. Her hand fell away from Lance, a worried look given to the tech before she turned back to the man beside her. No, she couldn't leave. Unless he lashed out at her she was staying. Briefly she considered taking away the knife and fork he'd been using while he ate. A collar of runes..the cuff? That had to be it. Dances destruction..

He...understood what the voices were saying?

Lance..

Candace...he'll be okay.

How do you know? Atropos didn't answer, but that alone was answer enough. Atropos didn't know. The weapon's voice did bring her comfort, she could hear her weapon still.

Suddenly Lance jerked up and behaved even stranger. Candace blinked. "No." She lied quickly, putting down her glass and reaching for Lance's hand. "Why? Fall asleep or something while you were zoning out on me? I thought I was more entertaining than that. Thanks." Her smile was forced for the moment though she gave his hand an affectionate squeeze. "Lean forward a bit, I'll just have to use your pillows as a perch or something while I give you that massage."

You should have said yes.

No.

Why lie to him?

Because I don't want him worrying. He sounds upset enough as it is..

"Here, I'll get rid of this stuff." Partly because Candace wanted to get the knife away from Lance if he was going to start behaving like this and partly just politeness. The tray was picked up and moved off the bed, the bottle and two glasses set down on the bedside table. There, Candace felt a little bit safer now.

That was strange...not feeling safe around Lance. That was a first, a first Candace was not happy about.

"Oh! I have a message from Aria, by the way." Finally her grin was somewhat more genuine.

"Mm. It happens, I used to do it a lot when I was studying. One minute I'm like, 'oh I'll just rest my eyes a moment', the next it's four hours later and my head is propped up in my hand still. Crazy, right?" Candace laughed and shook her head while climbing onto the bed again, this time fitting herself behind Lance as best as she could with a leg on either side of him. He'd wanted his shoulders rubbed and now he was starting to stress himself out.

Not gonna happen. Lance needed to stay calm.

"Did she? That's good. She wanted me to tell you thank you for the roses." Smirking, Candace reached down to begin rubbing Lance's shoulders as he'd asked. "You never did tell me what the white roses were for."

Candace grinned. "A very good thing! A woman who accepts and sends thanks for roses is always a good sign. Geeze, you're really tense back here.." Was it just from now or from being here so long? Candace leaned kept working at his shoulders and back anyway, faltering only when that tone was back. It was getting easier to pick up on now.

It was not a good thing. Why did he keep slipping like that? Stress? Worry?

"Who's 'she'?" Aria was very much alive..and Candace couldn't see her having some secret wish to spread roses out to the world. It didn't seem to fit her character. Did he paint the roses red or something? That was a strange thing to do, and the way he said it was even more discomforting. "Are you tired? I can go..." Maybe she was just..stressing him out. Lance had gone from happy to see her to this so quickly. It was heartbreaking.