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Candace had been on her way to check on Lance for the day when she received the text. Ah! Ro! Good, good. Out of the infirmary. She'd wanted to check on him, too. ********, she could only be in so many places at once. She still needed to go check on Petra, and bother Clarice, and hang out with Harrison, and check on Jerry...damnit! Ro. She'd check on Ro. He wanted her, he was texting her, she'd answer.



Turning on her heel, Candace headed out of the cafeteria and back to the dorms. She didn't waste time, knocking when she arrived and waiting for him to answer the door himself. Normally Candace would just let herself in...to places where she knew the person well. Molly? Yes. Jerry? Sure. Ro? Not yet.

"Ro? It's Candace."

Why hello grumpy gus. Candace arched a brow. "Hello to you too, Sunshine." Despite her words she did sound cheerful for his benefit. Candace leaned against the door frame with a bright smile, looking Ro up and down now that she was seeing him to make sure he was okay. Everything seemed in order. He may have gotten his first scar a bit earlier than some but he was alive.

Damnit Rep. "Can I come in~?"

There we go, almost a smile there. That was a step toward progress. Candace pushed off the door frame and reached out to link arms with Ro as she entered the room, gently closing the door behind her with her foot and looking around as she walked away from the door. It'd been awhile since she was in a trainee's room. "I was on this floor for a year so I know what it's like. I've only been a fully ranked Hunter a little while, you know." How many months? Like..three? It felt like much, much longer. She let him go when he wanted to sit, taking a seat at the edge of his bed. "Pissed still? I don't blame you~." Candace smiled and then leaned back on her hands, her smile falling when Ro said he would kill Rep.

Normally she would be all for this.

Sure, kill Rep. Go for it. She'll hold, you punch.

Not this time.

"I want you to meet Aria." She blurted out suddenly, blushing and sitting up. "Er..I mean...like..just...when you get a chance, you should meet her. Anyway um...don't..don't say things like that right now. I can get why you hate Rep, I'm not gonna stop you, but for the moment just.."

Candace frowned. "Right now, try not to pick fights. I'm not scolding you, I'm warning you as a friend.." She paused. "...Do you want a hug?" Hopefully her offer didn't come off as mocking. Candace liked hugs. Don't judge.

"You don't get a room like that until you're a Hunter. As a trainee you live here." She shrugged. "They're this barren because they're temporary housing."

Oh damn, even Jordan? Candace sighed. That wasn't good. Jordan hadn't done anything wrong. "Don't take this out on Jordan. He's a good guy, he doesn't deserve that. I'm pretty sure he gave Rep hell after what he did to you. Personally I say <******** Rep and be friends with Jordan anyway. Rep gets jealous of me sometimes, and Harrison is my best friend. He's like a child." Candace rolled her eyes. Sometimes they looked like they were getting along, and she could tolerate him well enough if he wasn't being a complete a**. Then there were Tracey's words...Rep liked their spats. She had to force back a smile at that.

It wasn't hard when Ro made it clear he had no idea who Aria was. Words that her leader had once spoken to her rang through her head. Trainees who didn't know they even had a leader or who she was.. "Yes, she is..a Mist. Yes, she can help. She's our division lead. A very good teacher who doesn't give herself enough credit...I admire and respect her more than anyone else on this island. So yes, I think you should visit her. She's been really stressed out lately." For very good reason. But right now Ro was being a little too negative for Candace's taste. Friends were nice while they lasted? Seriously? This was too much. Even Candace still had friends after her ******** ups, even Jerry still had friends.

She was quiet even as Ro came and sat by her to put his head on her shoulder, wrapping an arm around his waist and tilting her head to one side to rest it against his. Candace let him rant, her eyes on the wall opposite of them. He was taking this too harshly. "Not to...sound cruel, or harsh..but I think you're taking this too hard." Candace frowned. Delicate territory. Tread cautiously, Candace. "When something like this happens, what you need to do is get up, brush the dirt off...and kick his a** later. When you're stronger. My first spar with Rep I kicked him in the nuts and then accidentally knocked him unconscious. I could name a whole bunch of spars where I did the same thing Rep did to you, actually. It..it happens...but you can't let it..er..." She couldn't think of how to word it.

Sighing, Candace lifted her arm away from his waist to idly toy with Ro's hair. "Be better than Rep. You are better than Rep, right? You're not afraid of him, you have no reason to be afraid of him. You can be friends with whoever you damn well please. You're brand new, you don't have much fighting experience under your belt, Rep does." Suddenly she stopped. It couldn't just be because of a fight with Rep. Or losing it. Or the fact that he just..left him. Rep did something to make this worse...

"Talk to me. Vent. Do something. Anything. You can even use violence, I don't care." Candace was suddenly very serious. Ro was being so grumpy, so mopey. She was not going to see a repeat of Cass.

"Let it out. Now. Yell, scream, throw things. Just do it. I want to see how you're feeling right now."

Candace didn't say anything. This was Ro's vent session. Let him rant, rave, yell, throw things. Let him do it without her trying to offer up reason. Trying to argue that his feelings were wrong would just turn his anger at her and that was the last thing Candace wanted. Rep had laughed? That a*****e. What did Jordan and Harrison even see in him? Harrison was an a*****e himself so that wasn't as much of a question, but Jordan? Everyone spoke as if Jordan was Rep's keeper. Rep shouldn't need a keeper he should be able to keep his own self under control. He lacked the most basic manners, he just got people angry who then turned to Jordan like he had to do something about it. Candace wouldn't be able to handle that..

She winced when Ro sliced his desk in half, raising an arm to block any flying splinters. Well, now he was out of a desk. Way to go, Ro. Still, Candace said nothing. Even as Ro cried, as much as she wanted to hold him, she just sat there with a small frown.

Was that all? Was he done? "...This isn't Jordan's fault." Candace finally spoke, her voice gentle and somewhat cautious. "He...apparently sees something in Rep that none of us see. I don't understand it myself..." She sighed, pushing off the bed to stand and walk up to Ro. Candace was careful as she approached the upset boy with the scythe, not wanting to meet the same fate as his desk. "Feeling any better? I wanted you to do this because holding it in just means you'll explode later when it becomes too much, and it could happen at the most inopportune time.." Was that selfish? A little...but she did care. Heh, she did tell Aria that caring and selfishness went hand in hand.

"Is there anything I can do for you right now, Ro?"

"That's not fair, Ro. Jordan did nothing to deserve blame. He did nothing wrong, you did nothing wrong. The two of you simply want to be friends." Candace was somewhat relieved to see Sylvia return to her totem form, rubbing her temple and shaking her head. Damnit, Rep. Such a ******** child. What was his problem? Couldn't Jordan have friends? Rep, you moron.

Barely was better than nothing. Candace knelt down beside Ro, her hand on his back to give it a comforting rub. "Let it out, okay? Healthier than holding it in, just remember that. Sure, I'll do that." What did he want in the drawer? Standing again, Candace walked across the small room to check the drawer. She stopped when her fingers hit something hard and made of glass. The item wasn't removed, her hand grasped it and then followed its shape.

This was a bottle.

Candace removed her hand and closed the drawer with a resounding snap, turning back to Ro with no bottle in her hands. "No."

This place was frustrating. It made Candace very grateful they were given a few days a month to leave it each month...unless the portals were locked down for some reason or another. This always happened. They were stuck on the island with nowhere to go, tensions got high and people went crazy. Angry, crazy, annoying..it was ridiculous. They needed these leave days. "I think you'll feel better when you finally have those two days you can leave the island and distance yourself from it..."

At Ro's disappointment over her refusing to get the drink for him Candace shook her head. "I'll drink with you, but not when you're like this. Social drinking, I'll do that. I'm not going to enable you to drink alcohol when you're like this." She'd watched Jerry ******** himself over far too much drinking when he was upset. She didn't want to risk letting Ro do that to himself. "Is there anything else I can do instead of this?"