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Candace's heart plummeted into her stomach at Jerry's answer. Take things...slow. She swallowed hard and nodded, looking away a moment and pursing her lips. Her eyes were wide, as if they alone would keep her from showing just how disappointed she was. But a date was a good start. He...he wasn't saying no just..not...right now. "Okay." Candace finally breathed out, her voice shaky at best. She forced a smile anyway, clearing her throat and lowering their hands. Her thumbs affectionately rubbed the back of his hands, keeping her eyes anywhere but his face. "R..right. Um. Okay. Yeah I...I understand." She was trying very, very hard not to get upset. It was her fault. She deserved this. At least he didn't hate her and want her to leave forever, thus making being stuck on the same island with her incredibly awkward. She'd win him back, she was determined to. Why? Well...he was her little piece of normal on this ******** up island.

"If you still want to do it anyway. Um...I.." Her eyes turned toward his door a moment before she finally looked to his face. "Do you want me to leave or..can I stay? It's nice to actually be around a friendly face right now." She paused. "And I could use a hug right about now." Plus there was the coffee! And the cookies...she hadn't brought them just for decoration, after all.

Jerry's smile only made her stomach twist unhappily. That wasn't his usual smile. Nevertheless she kept that forced smile on her face and scoot closer to accept the hug, hiding her face against his shoulder and clinging to the front of his shirt with one hand. "Heh. That's..kinda romantic, don'tcha think?" Candace mumbled, blinking and leaning away as he winced and moved. ********. His back. "How're your burns? Ah...if you have aloe or something I don't mind helping you out. They're looking better..you're healing pretty well!" She was just trying to be encouraging. There was a painful lump in her throat that wouldn't go away. ********. She'd never felt so awkward before. It'd been at least four or five years since Candace had let herself give in to possibly being in a relationship with someone that was more than 'we study, oh and sure we can occasionally ******** but don't expect cuddling'. She'd cuddle with Jerry. She'd totally cuddle with Jerry..in fact doing that right now sounded awesome. But she doubted he'd agree to that, just agreeing to hug her almost looked painful to him.

I bet your skin feels like acid you slimy snake. Atropos hissed. Oh yes...the first thing Candace was going to do after apologizing to everyone she had sparred was try to make amends with Atropos. In fact she was going to try doing that every second of the goddamn day.

"Oh..uh...the coffee's gonna get cold if we don't drink it soon. And there's still the cookies. They've gotta be good if they're made by Santa's wife, huh?" She had to be Mrs. Claus. There was no way. She looked exactly as Candace had believed her to look when she was but a wee little Candy.

Candace chuckled, her smile a little more genuine now. He laughed. That was good. It sounded real unlike that smile of his. "I don't mind. It just means it's healing, right? So it's a good thing to see your face rotting. Just don't pick at it, okay?" Candace looked to the bottle as Jerry grabbed it. Oh good, he did have it. She was already rolling up the sleeves of her coat, revealing the bruises and cuts from her fights the day before, when he mentioned his back. "That's fine." She honestly didn't mind, and anything was okay right now if it got her in his good graces again. "Take off your shirt." Because Candace had some tact, ladies and gentlemen. She did not ******** around. She paused a moment when she realized how demanding she sounded, pursing her lips a moment.

Whore.

"I mean...like...I'll help you out with your back. I obviously can't do that if you're wearing your shirt, ba--Jerry." Could she still call him things like babe and baby? Could...could she still call him Jerr-bear? She'd been calling him that since they met! So it was still okay, right? Please be okay. "We can talk and stuff while I do. Ask me anything." Or something. Whatever Jerry wanted to do. A look was given to her rings and she paused. She didn't want to get aloe all over them..it'd be gross. The rings were hesitantly removed and placed aside. Atropos snarled. Please, Atropos. It's just so I don't hurt his back or get gunk all over you.

Candace crawled on the bed so she could sit behind Jerry, waiting patiently. She apparently wasn't taking no for an answer. His teasing made her pout though, sitting on her knees and leaning over his shoulder. "if you saw her you'd understand. She is, like, everything I imagined Mrs. Claus to be when I was a kid until people told me Santa Claus wasn't real. It was a tragic Christmas for little Candy that year...er...Candace. Little Candace." She shied away from the nickname and sat back down, holding a hand out for the bottle Jerry had picked up.

Would it relieve Jerry to know this was all business for Candace? She didn't slap him, she didn't poke him, she didn't pick at his wounds or try to coddle him. She had already coddled him enough, he was a grown man he didn't need her babying him. The sight of the burns on his back did make her wince though, guilt twisting in her heart like a rusty knife. She must have looked so ungrateful. No. Candace wanted to make things right again. "You don't have to be nervous around me, you know. I know when to behave. Ah...lay down on your stomach? It'll be easier." What? She was being honest! She took off her gloves and tossed them aside so they wouldn't get dirty, squirting a bit of aloe onto her hands and tentatively reaching out to begin rubbing it onto his burned back. She was extremely gentle about it, worried if she pressed too hard she would hurt him. "Stop me if it hurts, okay?" That was the last thing Candace wanted right now.

Where was that courtesy yesterday, hmmmmm?

Despite Atropos' words Candace was content with letting calm silence fall between them. But suddenly he broke the quiet of the room with a question about her. She had said to ask questions...she hadn't expected that one. "I...grew up in a small little hick down. Like, the kind you see on television where there's confederate flags and rednecks everywhere. Hell, these guys two houses down took a touch, put it on a motorized platform and drove it through town. Seriously now?" She chuckled. "Just well...I didn't..want to be stuck there like the rest of them. I wanted out of that place, I wanted to be successful. I just...it didn't feel right if I didn't do something as best as I possibly could." Candace gave a slight shrug, sighing and pausing a moment. Hmm...what if she..? There was a bit of extra pressure added with her thumbs, rubbing them in small circles while she watched him for his reaction. If it was bad she would stop, but if it wasn't then it looked like a nice little massage was in order.

"It wasn't always like that. I mean, every now and then I'd let it sliiiide down to a B, but I wasn't happy. After awhile it just became..expected of me to get A's, you know? Needless to say my social life really wasn't all that interesting outside of school functions." Candace laughed quietly. "What about you, Mister Teacher Man? Why teaching?" Apparently Candace didn't get the memo that the man was supposed to remain silent while the woman did all the talking.

The yelps and flinching made her stop until he calmed down, glad it was..hopefully just surprise. She hoped that's all it was. She didn't want to hurt him. God no, please don't let her hurt him again. "Oh yeah?" Candace actually sounded interested in what he had to say, keeping her eye on what she could see of his face while she massaged at his back as best as she could without hurting his healing burns. "That's pretty awesome, actually. I always liked teachers. I'm not cut out for it myself or I'd have probably wanted to be one, but lawyer seemed more my style. Heh. I've gotta commend anyone who can stand to be a teacher for longer than twenty minutes." She leaned down to brush her lips against his temple but stopped just short of doing so, blushing and sitting up sharply. Right. Taking it slow. That's what they were doing...damnit.

He turned the conversation back to her and she blinked. Wait, was that it? Really? "A moment of stress and panic. I slept through the Bar exam for the area I wanted to be in, and well..I panicked. A recruited approached me, asked if I wanted a new start and theeeen whambam thank you ma'am I'm wearing a stupid pink gas mask and armor and fighting a giant red Death Pony." Was he..trying not to talk about himself? Candace raised a brow and tilted her head to one side, eyeing him curiously. He totally was, wasn't he? But how to prove it...

"What's this Phoenix thing you guys go on about? I mostly stuck with my own team until they all uh...died. We didn't get a chance to form cool team names~." Candace chuckled, moving her hands along his back. He was relaxed, which meant she was doing something right! This wasn't so hard..

Ah, so that was it. That sounded nice, having a team form like that. She hadn't had the chance for that, as the majority of her team had been killed off and not been magically brought back to life. Oh well...the one that mattered to her was still here. He'd been the only one she could remember hadn't ended in complete disaster yesterday. Her spar with him had been real fun. "Mm...Jerry." She frowned, pursing her lips and leaning in close. It wasn't for a kiss, she just..wanted to be close. He needed to understand he wasn't useless. "You're not useless. Even without Roar. I bet if we had a spar, just us no weapons, you'd handle yourself pretty well. You just need...to get a better handle on that hairpin trigger of yours." So did she though. Her temper was apparently quite terrible. Heh. She brushed her nose against his cheek and sat up sharply, sighing and just focusing her attention on his back.

"If you stop to think about it, there's obviously something they like about you that they would bring you back along with the rest of us. And the Phoenixes? They like you, especially if they want to keep you around, too." Candace sighed and gave his back one last look. Good, she got it all. But..but if she told him she was done she had to stop, right? She didn't want to stop. She sniffed and lightly pat his back, enough he would feel it but not enough that it would hurt. "All done..unless you want me to keep rubbing your back?" Might as well go the honest route. Ugh.

Damn. Guess fun massage time was over. Candace looked down at the leftover aloe on her hands and hummed thoughtfully, reaching out to gently rub it on the burns on his face. There we go! Resourcefulness! She was wiping her hands clean on the sleeves of her coat when he said her name, clearly having more to say even though he was busy putting his shirt back on. Eugh. "Augh. How can you do that? I can't even stand wearing a shirt with a little bit of vicks on my chest." She shuddered a little, tugging down on his shirt just enough to help him get it past the stickiness of the aloe on his back. Gross. But he finally added on whatever he had to say and she blinked, just staring at him.

"Jerry, if you haven't noticed by now." Candace chuckled and crawled closer to him, brushing her nose against his good cheek. "I'm not like 'usual girls'. First of all I don't think the usual girl has a weapon that talks to her in her mind." She was being playful but she had a point. Without thinking she left a kiss on his cheek before sitting back down again. He wanted an answer, she'd give him an honest answer.

Clearing her throat, Candace sat indian style beside Jerry, putting her rings back on before holding her ankles and swaying a little. "At first I just wanted in your pants. It's been, like, almost two years now since I got laid. At first." Candace felt she needed to emphasize this. "I had this sweet, easily flustered man tripping after me practically begging for my attention. And he was a teacher! I ********' love teachers. Just...I..I don't even.." She couldn't explain it. She wasn't even going to try. "But...you are really sweet. You're nerdy, and funny, and you're so cute when you blush. And...you actually care about me. I was beating on you and you were trying to reason with me a-and it almost worked but...and...and you risked your life for me when you really didn't need to and...you're just..you may not know it but you sure are good at making a lady feel wanted, and special." Candace was blushing, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"I guess it's like...you're...the only little piece of normal I have around here. And it's really, really nice to have." Candace fidgeted with her rings a moment, peering up at Jerry through her bangs. "Why me? I'm not exactly the easiest woman to please, nor am I really a walk in the park.."