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Candace had been too busy looking through shirts, eyeballing Rep's size and draping several t-shirts and button-up shirts over one arm for him to try on, approve, and disapprove. She didn't notice his anger over her advice until he grunted. Wait, what? She blinked, looking up and glancing back at him over her shoulder. "..What were you thinking? When you killed her?" She asked quietly, tilting her head to one side. Candace was genuinely curious, actually. He didn't kill an old woman without thinking? Then what did he think about? What could have possibly gone through his head? Why would anyone think it okay to kill an old woman in cold blood? She wanted to know.

"We're all a little weird in some way or another. Crazy, too. Especially the lot of us~." Candace gave him a grin, offering up one of the t-shirts. "What do you think? I don't know your size..do you have a favorite color? Anyway...Jerry's got quirks like anyone else, but I wouldn't call him a weirdo for it. He enjoys music, he just wants people happy and safe, and he's been through some s**t. Especially in the past few months..I'm sure there's a reason he wants you to pick up and learn an instrument. It can be therapeutic, you know. If I had any skill for it I'd play something, but I'm a better music listener than player. And it should be more than just because you don't want the guy with the bazooka to kill you. You should apologize to someone because..I don't know...you want to get along? Be friends maybe? Or at least something close to it." Candace was looking through the shirts she had hanging from her arm, holding a couple of them up as a way to get a good idea of how they'd look on him before she made him try them on. Hmm..not bad. She'd never dressed someone with red hair, it was kind of weird. A challenging weird.

"Ohhh there's nothing boring about teachers." Candace chuckled, stepping away to check out something that had caught her eye. "They're educated, smart. A little scandalous to be with if you're their student." Her eyes practically sparkled as she listed off reasons why teachers were awesome. "They can teach you things. It's..it's great. Mental stimulation is almost as amazing as physical, in my opinion..eh? Always last?" She looked back at Rep. "What does that mean?"

"All good points." Candace replied with a nod, dumping the shirts she had picked out into his arms and turning the man to guide him toward the fitting rooms. She wouldn't go in but she'd wait outside his door and chat. It'd be a good chance to check the phone she heard chirping repeatedly; they weren't texts, and if they were important she'd have gotten texts. Her hands were against his shoulders as she walked him to the rooms, her grip strong and not giving him the option to turn away. He felt very strongly about this, apparently. No reason not to, but it was intriguing. He did say his mother had died when he was young...had he perhaps envied the children? "Still could have been done without killing her." There was always a way. There were always other options. "During my promotion mission Caelius killed several humans. They were tainted with Insanity but they were still technically human...he killed them without any hesitation. It was rather disgusting, watching it happen. Aria and I managed to incapacitate them without killing...there's always an option. She could have been brought somewhere for questioning. Where did she find these children? How long has she been able to see the shadows of Halloween? Why was she taking care of them? Did they have something on her? Control? Blackmail? Threats?" Should've, could've, would've. Rep had done what in his mind had made sense. Pure, basic instinct. He had been doing what he thought was right in that moment. While it wasn't exactly the best of ideas or outcomes...she couldn't entirely fault him. They couldn't go back in time and change the past.

Rep's comments on the shirt and his favorite color managed to almost completely derail her. His favorite color was purple and if he was blonde again?! Candace stopped walking, eyes wide and jaw dropped. ""Y..you're...blonde?" No ******** way...

...What was with all these damn blondes dying their hair?!

"Huh? Oh. Ah..no, I don't think that's true. You're too harsh, you know. He's very...old fashioned. He should've been born into an earlier decade, really. He'd be perfect for it. Him and Sasha both." A shrug. She was walking again, stopping when they reached the fitting room and ushering him into the first empty one. She would stay outside. "Oi! Don't go complaining about my ********' choices if you're not going to pick your own s**t." Candace snapped in a mimicry of Rep's own Scottish accent. It didn't seem too hard, it was just a matter of altering her own accent. She heard it enough, especially in the last few minutes. She'd probably heard more of his voice today than she had in all the time he'd been around. Seriously. "This is how adults dress."

She waved a hand dismissively at Rep's obviously stupid opinion on teachers. "You're an idiot. No imagination~. Get in there." She then leaned back against a wall and took out her phone, checking twitter with a snort. "Cass is narrating the two of us like we're some kind of documentary...and Jerry says 'this aught to be interesting'. Smartasses.." She typed a quick little reply while Rep spilled the beans on...no uniforms.

Candace smirked, not lifting her eyes from her phone screen. "Cops have uniforms, though. Ironic that a guy with your history of crime would end up dating an ex-cop." Naughty, naughty Rep.

"Break someone else's straw if you feel yours is too short. I've done it. I'd do it again." She shrugged.

So he was a natural ginger. The blonde was a lie. Candace blinked. "I see..nothing wrong with freckles, though." She shrugged, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. The phone was put away and she tipped her head back to rest it against the wall, closing her eyes. She wasn't about to pass out or anything but being given a chance to sit and relax was reminding her she was tired. Maybe if she just rest her eyes a mome--

Candace...CANDACE! Candace squeaked and sat up sharply, eyes wide and cheeks flushed from embarrassment. Don't fall asleep in the middle of the mall, stupid.

"Mm, so you instead tried the next option and decided to ******** them. Good job." She chuckled, pushing off the wall and getting back up on her feet before she got too comfortable. "Things'll work out, I'm sure. You weren't killed on the spot, and Killzone wanted to keep you alive.." She somehow doubted H actually have a s**t whether Rep lived or died except for his own personal amusement. "So that's gotta mean something...and I like it. It's better than what you had on already. I picked a couple button-up shirts too since they're thinner and long-sleeved. You can cover your cuff with it instead of wearing a thick jacket..if you want to, anyway. The rest of the shirts are that size though, so it's up to you if you want to stand around trying them all on or just pick out the ones you like, grab some pants and move on."

Rep had a very strange opinion on his appearance. What was wrong with having red hair? Or freckles? He wasn't deformed, he wasn't missing all his limbs, he didn't have an extra eye or missing teeth or a horn on his head. He didn't have some freakish speech impediment, he didn't have many physical flaws aside from a scar here or there...Rep had it good! What the hell was his problem? Her brow arched as he called Sasha a crazy b***h and said it was up to her if he got a runic weapon to wield. That was strange. "It's up to Sasha..? Why? That's...strange.." Why Sasha?

She still looked confused about it, surprised as well by the smile he gave her. He'd never given her a nice smile before...had he ever even given her an unkind one? H did sometimes but she didn't mind it, he didn't have to always be nice to her, it made things more exciting in a way. But Rep? She couldn't recall ever getting along with him. This was the first time. She hated the man, she hated everything about him; he was rude, thoughtless, cruel in the most obnoxious way, tactless, stupid, sexist and just..she could go on forever about the reasons she hated this man. But now? Suddenly? With his weapon cuffed and his guard down he seemed more..human. He was speaking to her as if she was a human being and not some unwanted creature, having an actual conversation without snapping at her. They had common interests. He was smiling.

There was potential here.

"Sure." Candace called out as Rep gave a game plan. She was fine with paying for the--oh. He was worried? She blinked. "It's fine. I planned on it anyway. Just pay me back when you're able, okay? Doesn't have to be now, or even tomorrow, or even next month. Just when you can...hot chocolate?" Wasn't it a bit hot for that? She blinked.

Candace waited for Rep to come back out before she walked with him to check out and pay for the clothes, looking Rep up and down a moment. The pants were okay, really. It'd been the shirts that were the entire problem.

Candace looked very confused, especially so when Rep pointed out the scars. What...the hell? "Wh...why would.." She stepped up close to get a better look at them, a hand on his shoulder as she checked it out. These were from Sasha's weapon? What the hell, the sweet girl before wouldn't have done this. She didn't think Rep was lying though. Candace...didn't like the sound of this. This didn't seem like Sasha at all. The ******** was she thinking cutting a hunter at their neck so badly it scarred? "The ******** is wrong with her..."

She stepped away then, a frown on her lips as she turned away to dig through her purse for her wallet. "You don't do s**t like that. You don't..target there. You just...don't..there's no ******** reason for it."

What about what Aria said? About Mists often being the ones to take out hunters by order? Candace grimaced. She'd been trying to forget about that lesson. She didn't want to one day be told she had to take someone on a mission and make sure they didn't come back. Candace cleared her throat and nodded at Rep's remark about not taking advantage of her hospitality.

"Ain't nothin', s'just what I was taught." Candace replied in a thick Southern drawl, grinning up at Rep. "Southerners're known fer their hospitality an'all that." She took the shirts from Rep as she said this, putting them on the counter and making polite conversation with the store clerk. When Rep asked if she wanted anything she blinked, looking away to check out what was around. It was all men's clothes. Maybe..something for...? Hm..but... "Nah. Maybe at another store. The only people I could buy anything in here for would be like...Harrison or H, and Harrison won't wear the nice clothes I buy him, while H I feel like I should get something else if I get him any gifts at all." She shrugged, not looking at all torn up about it.

The clothes paid for, Candace hummed cheerfully as she walked out with Rep. She took a minute to check the final payment, taking out her phone to take note of it. She did have a budget, but one she was willing to play with. Candace had no intention of dying anytime soon. But this higher pay was nice. "Feel better now? That shirt looks good on you~." She put her wallet, receipt and phone away to walk along again. The music store wasn't too far off now, around the corner and up a level. There were plenty of stores to distract her before then.

"So you don't like tea? But isn't that supposed to be, like, the European stereotype~? Oh stop everything it's time for tea and biscuits!" Then again he was Scottish, and all the stories about Scotland were more tough and full of kilts and log throwing and Braveheart. Also, Sean Connery. "How much of your pay is left after wrecking the bathrooms and bunks..?" If he was less of a trainee in ranking did he even get paid at all right now?

He stole her flute? Candace made a soft tsking noise at that. "Naughty. But still, stealing someone's instrument is no reason to nearly kill them when everyone should damn well know better...are you at least finally learning your lesson? Why you can't be a ********' a*****e to everyone on the island because it's fun?" Candace sounded genuinely concerned as she said this. He had two people who wanted to keep him around most, preferably in one piece. Were they not motivation enough? He had to be literally slapped on the wrist and almost killed to get the point?

"..I did that to Jordan once." Candace said quietly, a frown on her lips. "I took Circe, Caelius' scythe? He just...gave me permission to walk out with her. I'd used her in my trial and killed nine people with her. At the time it felt good to just...strike them down, you know? To be in control. To be the one who decided whether the other people who were in the room with me lived or died. I decided their fates." She rubbed at the back of her neck as they walked, ignoring any strange looks she was getting from anyone who happened to overhear her as they walked by. "So he let me borrow her again. I...I almost killed Jordan with her, and I didn't feel bad about it at all. I remember just..laughing and walking away as he laid there with this...this giant bleeding gash on his chest and stomach. I don't know who ended up finding him. I did the same to several other people, Jerry included." Jerry shouldn't have taken her back after that...she shouldn't have tried to beg his forgiveness. Should've, could've, would've. "I learned my lesson after that. Caelius really let me have it. He said I was the weakest of our group, you know? So...I've been making a point to be the opposite of that. Working on my behavior when I can. Trying to keep my temper. Keep a clear head. It's really hard sometimes, and it doesn't help when there's a bigoted a*****e breathing down everyone's necks intentionally antagonizing them because he gets some kind of ******** joy out of it." She gave Rep a distinct look before turning away to look at a pretty dress hanging in a nearby store's window display. She wasn't actually quite sure why that had just escaped her. It was something she thought she was well past. She was, right? She'd moved on. She was happy where she was. Candace smiled again, chuckling and shaking her head. "Sorry. Didn't mean to um...yeah..so just...get past this, okay? You can do it. I like to think you know what's at stake aside from your life."

Candace fell quiet again, rubbing her lips together and giving a little nod as Rep explained his thoughts on Harrison's fashion sense. 'Ace' had a very bad specific taste in clothes. Seriously. She agreed with the H part, though. Clothes were something to get her. Not H. "I bought him candy once. He was amused by it...a gold tooth? Eh. No. I don't know if he smokes, so I'd rather not get cigars if he's not even going to smoke them. But I do want to get him some kind of...thank you gift..I'll come up with something eventually." If H was able to survive being eaten up by a Titan the size of Rhode Island and continue to do a ******** insane mission? She had a feeling she had all the time in the world to think of something for him.

Tetley and...hobnobs? "What the hell is a hobnob and a tetley? And no, window shopping damn well not as good. You're insane." Candace pouted. "I like to buy the things I want, the things I like. I don't want to see something and go 'ohhhh if only I had the moneeeeey'. That's no fun to me at all." She gestured to an escalator. "Music store is on the next level, a few stores away from the escalator. We can head up there now or keep shopping around and come back to it later. Up to you, big guy."

"No, Rep." Candace's eyes narrowed. "People fight best when they're clear headed. When they know what to do and what not to do. When they're completely aware that a blade to the arm is a lot safer than a bullet to the throat. Antagonizing them is not the answer. I doubt I'm the first person to try and tell you this. I'm not angry right now. You know what I could do? I could slap you and it would just look like I'm angry at my boyfriend. If I was angry? I could summon Atropos and kick your a**. And then I'd look crazy." Candace looked away again, checking her nails with a small pout. Idiot. Oh..her nails could use some attention. They were so mistreated. Maybe she could get them done again while they were here. "I doubt anyone expects you to be a sugarplum fairy princess, because I sure as hell am not the nicest person on the island. Being the antagonist is fun..if you do it right." She shrugged, picking at a bit of dirt under one of her nails with a whine. "I'm sorryyyyyyy." She mumbled to her poor nails. Poor, poor nails. She loves you, nails.

"Yeah I don't see the appeal in dipping cookies into drinks. It makes them all soggy and gross, and who wants a soggy cookie? Moist, sure, crunchy definitely.." She shuddered. Soggy cookies were disgusting, okay? She hated them. Couldn't eat them. But at Rep's decision she nodded and followed him to the escalator, looking away now to watch the people around them. It was easy to be in her own world lately, especially when it had been so long since she was around people.

Insanity-infected people don't count.

"Who knows. Maybe you'll like it." Candace grinned, leaning over the railing of the escalator as an attractive man in a business suit walked by. "Oooh~." She purred, nearly tripping when they reached the top of the escalator sooner than she expected. Candace stumbled, catching herself quickly and glancing up at Rep with flushed cheeks. She cleared her throat and stood straight, straightening herself out and walking ahead a bit. "You didn't see that." Candace gestured for Rep to follow her, and it was only three stores down that they finally reached the music store. It could be seen from the outside; it was filled wall-to-wall with various instruments hung wherever there was space around the shelves of books and music scores. There was a grand piano, a couple keyboard displays, a drumkit...your typical music store.

The man behind the register was sitting and idly messing with a violin, tuning it and checking its strings to make sure it was in good condition. He looked up when he spotted people walking in from the corner of his eye. "Yo! Welcome! Shout if you need anything."

Did it right, huh? Did she really do it right? Sure, Candace loved to be confident and talk a big game but sometimes she didn't feel she always matched up to it. She said nothing on people being unprofessional during missions, as while it was something she had been guilty of before she had developed something of a pet peeve toward people being unable to keep some professionalism during missions.

It was the teasing that finally got to her, stopping in her tracks without warning and quietly shoving her elbow back into his gut. It wasn't as hard as she could have done but the intention behind it was clear. Shut up you're embarrassing me. She was still blushing. "It's called going to the gym, dumbass. Even desk job employees can do it." Candace retorted with a shrug, looking anywhere but Rep.

"Besides, I'm allowed to shop. You like uniforms, I like suits."

Candace was looking around the store when she heard the twang of multiple guitars, cringing and putting a hand to one ear as she turned to see what the hell he was doing. Why the hell did he feel the need to touch everyth--

...Oh my god.

She stopped to watch him as he played with the keyboard, a hand flying to her mouth as a personal reminder to stay quiet. It was like watching a skittish deer in a meadow clearing, making the wrong noise would scare it away and ruin everything. Candace rushed to dig into her bag for her phone, her lips tightly pursed as she scrolled through for two names. She paused and looked up at Rep again while he was distracted. Candace grinned and quietly held her phone up to get a picture to send off.



The texts sent, the phone was put back into her purse as she approached the man, leaning over to tap at a couple keys on a nearby keyboard. "See anything you wouldn't mind learning to play, Beethoven?"