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This time Candace was in much better spirits. Sure, the problem with Lance was bugging her, but lockpicks. Aria said she did something brilliant. Aria trusted her! She was so excited...but more worried than anything. Lockpicks, lockpicks~. Her own personal lockpicks~.

"That kid's back again." She heard someone say as she walked down the hall to put away her set. Candace blinked. Kid? What ki--oh. Him. Turning around to find the boy who was stalking her for the past few days.

"Do I need to file a restraining order against you, darlin'?" Candace called out as she approached the boy, her hands in her pockets and a smile on her face. Unlike yesterday she didn't seem annoyed or upset. She was worried but she could hide it for now. Dakota didn't need to know about Lance's problem.

"I'm sure there's a hunter around here somewhere who has a restraining order on someone." Candace shrugged.

Wait, he had been worried about her? She blinked, opening her mouth to tell him he hadn't done anything wrong until he held out a bouquet of flowers. Candace was clearly surprised by the offering and was at somewhat of a loss for words. She hadn't been given flowers since before coming here. She held her hands out for them, taking the flowers with a shy little smile. "That's very thoughtful of you, Dakota. Thank you." Sniffing them, Candace grinned more and stepped closer to give the boy a kiss against his cheek. "For the record it wasn't you that had me in that mood, but thank you for thinking of me." Hehe~. Flowers! She slipped an arm around Dakota's and sniffed the flowers again. "Were these all you came here for~?"

"I'd imagine a rogue hunter would be settled quietly.." Candace shrugged, sounding distracted by the pretty flowers she was holding. She grinned as he thanked her for the kiss, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "It was just a kiss on the cheek, nothing special. A walk?" That was..unexpected. No pick up lines? He continued on to explain why he wanted a walk, a real reason, not some stupid line. This was interesting! Candace was liking this Dakota. He was nice, conversational. "You've been here every day for three days now. You're not a Mist hunter, and you're very lucky that for the last three days I've been here at all. I just happened to be leaving from a very nice chat with Aria today."

Candace let Dakota lead the way out, following alongside the boy with her arm linked around his and the flowers in her hands. Every now and then she lifted them to sniff at them, smiling helplessly every time. It was a very sweet gesture. "Mm, no. It wasn't you. I meant what I said, the problem was someone hasn't spoken to me lately...it's beginning to have me less scared and more pissed off than anything. At this rate I'm going to have to do something crazy to get his attention~." Like sneak into the man's office and steal the shoes that were rightfully hers anyway. That sounded like a decent plan. Now she just had to get in there while the doctor was away...it would take a bit of planning. But for now she was content to enjoy Dakota's company as long as he didn't mess it up. "I liked hearing about your sister. It's nice to have an actual conversation with you, one without you constantly saying stupid things. I'm glad you agree those pick up lines were lame." He wanted to know more about her? Well that was interesting. Ask away, Dakota! She'll answer any question. Candace has nothing to hide.

...Well then. She blinked, giving Dakota a surprised and fairly bewildered look. Her favorite thing in the world? That was a very, very good question. "Ah...huh.." Candace rubbed her lips together and looked away, settling her gaze on the bouquet instead. "That's a tough one. I like so many things...it's hard to pick just one as my absolute favorite, you know?" And admittedly most of her 'likes' were probably rather shallow. Candace wasn't stupid, she knew she was incredibly materialistic. But what she did like?

What was something that could be her absolute favorite thing in the world? "It would have to be something that's never disappointed me, or brought me sadness, or broken my heart. That narrows the list down, at least. My favorite thing.." What had never disappointed her or hurt her? Shopping never disappointed her, it was completely up to her what she did. Reading? No, she'd been disappointed by bad books before. Being held and cherished? No, she'd made herself sad that way before. Something that had never..

"...Atropos." Candace finally answered, looking somewhat surprised by her own confession. It made sense. She had hurt Atropos, but other than when Atropos had been upset by her betrayal her weapon was nothing but comforting, encouraging, loving and protective. Even when they had been given golem bodies the first thing Atropos had done was smother her with affection and kiss every inch of Candace's face. Her lips turned up in a huge smile at the memory.

You can be such a sap sometimes, Candace. Atropos chuckled.

I know, I think I've gotten soft since coming here. It's simply terrible~.

Candace fell quiet when Dakota started to go on about how he expected to die. No...that was terrible. How could he say it so happily? "Don't think like that. I'd never let any of that happen to you. I doubt anyone who cares about you would." She gave his arm an affectionate squeeze and forced a smile for him. It was time to move on to happier topics and fast.

She couldn't help but laugh when Dakota started off with 'Aria's hot.' "Yes, she's gorgeous. I completely agree. I remember that too, I was there. I've been on a mission with the two of them...I much prefer Aria's lead over Caelius, but I think pretty much everyone can agree with any leader over Caelius, eh?" Grinning more genuinely now, she led Dakota out of the main headquarters and stopped once they were outside. Hmmm, her flowers would need water soon before they started to wilt. "I need to put these in water." She sniffed the flowers again with a little giggle. So sweet. She was enjoying talking to Dakota.

Candace didn't catch on to Dakota's jealousy, simply chuckling. Her gaze flickered toward the Life labs for a moment before turning it up to Dakota again. "I guess you could say that. I'm..very attached...more than I should be." Wait what? Jerry? A player? Pfft, yeah okay. Jerry was such a ladies man. "No, it isn't Jerry. He and I are just friends...as for games..we've been playing games for quite some time now..." How long? November...wow. A long time. Maybe that was why he hadn't spoken to her. He'd finally gotten bored of ********. That hurt to think about.

"Yes, well I'm not some ditzy little high school teenager. I like to have actual conversations and hear about real things, not how I need more vitamin D for Dakota." Candace happily grasped the new topic of conversation to stay the ******** away from heartache. Shiva was an interesting name for a girl. Plains, trees, warmth..where was he even from? "Sounds like a nice place. Where is this?" Arizona? Midwest? Kansas?

Another Hunter who didn't have a relationship with their weapon like she had with Atropos. It was always kind of strange for Candace and Atropos to hear this. "I was once told they're comparable to a literal soulmate...it's kind of stuck with me. Atropos and I have been through a lot together so..I just...I love her." She shrugged. "Yeah, I was actually about to finish...college? It's different from person to person. I enjoyed it, even with the stress I put on myself. For some people it's too much though. I saw a few classmates have like...mental breakdowns, a couple of them dropped out. But it was okay. Though I think I'm happier as a Hunter than I was as a student. You came straight from high school? Why? I'm not judging, I'm just always curious why someone who hasn't even experienced the world outside of teenage life and high school would give it up for well...this."

"Dakota, if someone as young as you has problems with limpness then you should really look into getting some help for that." Candace said gently, putting on her most serious expression. See this face? This is not a face you ******** with. It's not a face that would lie to you. Nope. Not at all. Candace chuckled and smiled, giving Dakota's arm an affectionate squeeze and putting her head on his shoulder as they walked. "If you say so, sweetheart." When you dig someone, you dig someone. Interesting way to put it. Her smile turned somewhat sad as she stood straight and looked away, instead focusing her gaze down on the flowers in her hands. It wasn't good for her to love him, and she knew it but...when she was around him sometimes he made it easy to forget how unhealthy he was for her to keep seeing. Candace cleared her throat and forced her thoughts away from other men to give her attention to Dakota, catching the tail end of his glance her way. Oh? Checking her out? Cheeky little thing.

"So I've contributed to your pick up lines? I shouldn't have said anything." But where he was from actually surprised her! The other three states sounded more like him. "Sounds like a family of gypsies~. You can really do all that? Impressive. So you're more than just pick up lines and a pretty face." Candace grinned. And just think, she never would've known any of this had he not started speaking to her as a person and not a conquest of some kind. She'd love to see him in action, to learn what he knew of these things. It sounded like fun!

The movement had her looking down to watch Dakota's hand. Candace stayed quiet for now, listening intently to his explanation. She really was curious. His mark? Like...a scar or his mark? Oh, Dakota..

"Ah, I see. That makes sense, wanting to actually do something to protect them instead of living in constant fear..my reasons for coming here were less selfless, but their way of recruiting seems to be to say whatever will appeal to the candidate at that moment." She chuckled, rolling her eyes at Dakota's way of offering to escort her to her room. "Only if you want to leave, because I'm actually really enjoying this. Don't you want to hang out with me a little while longer?" Candace pouted her lips, tugging Dakota along with her as if to further make her point. She wanted Dakota to stick around and tell her more about himself!

Candace gave Dakota a very serious look. "Did you ever stop to think it's because you look like you're only talking to them to hit on them?" She led him up the stairs now that he had agreed to stay with her, letting Dakota take control of the conversation for now. He would never get used to it if he didn't practice at it, and by his own admission this wasn't something he was used to. Let him ask the questions, she would reward him with honest answers.

"Nah, I never played soccer. I was a cheerleader in high school." Candace was grinning now. She let go of Dakota to open her door, unlocked as usual, and gestured for him to follow her in. "After that it was just visits to the gym whenever I had time. I think it's interesting to see what kinds of weapons people get around here. Some of them are so out there but their wielder takes to them as if they had been practicing it with it all their lives, you know? It's fascinating." She disappeared into the kitchen to fill up a glass of water and place the flowers in it, coming back out to set them down on the coffee table before removing her coat and hanging it up near the door. "Make yourself at home. Do you want anything~?" She meant drinks but Candace was nothing if not an accommodating hostess.

"Nah, my uniform was left back home in Texas. I doubt my dad would get rid of my stuff so...it's probably still there." She shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. It kind of wasn't anymore, and it definitely wasn't something she wanted to dwell on for too long. The compliment on her apartment got a smile at least. "It's a start. I have plans for it to make it more..me, you know? Just need the chance." Hopefully soon. Hopefully. Her shopping list was just growing by the week, every time she would think of something she needed.

Dakota's view on weapons made her smile even more. Ah! She agreed! It was so nice to see someone who felt the same way. "Yeah, I've been told by several higher ups that my weapon is unique. It's nice but..sometimes it sucks when someone doesn't know how to help me. I've been doing okay on my own though." She'd manage. The uniqueness did make her feel pretty great sometimes though. Atropos was special.

The request made her stop, having been on her way to the kitchen again to grab a drink for him and fully expecting Dakota to ask for one at all. Candace blinked and looked back at Dakota with a bit of surprise on her face. "It's fine, really...but okay." She turned on her heel and returned to the main sitting area, kicking off her shoes and gently dipositing them beside the couch before she sat down. Instead of sitting beside Dakota she brought her legs up onto the couch and settled against him, cuddling up to the boy and resting her head on his shoulder with a sweet smile. "Better~?"

"No, Dakota." Candace kept her tone firm but fairly amused, tucking her head under his chin and closing her eyes. This was nice, cuddling up to someone and not because she was trying to get something out of them. Dakota was being surprisingly pleasant to be around, she'd actually thought she might get annoyed having him around considering how he normally was. Good boy, Dakota. She turned her face slightly into his neck, nuzzling at the boy with a sigh. Wait..what? Why did he stop breathing? She blinked, her eyelashes brushing lightly against his skin from the closeness, then shrugged and closed her eyes again. She must have surprised him. Oh well~. "Eh, that's not necessarily a bad thing. They want us busy, so not having time to do much else in our rooms aside from sleep means we're doing it right, yeah?" Though Clarice had an amazing bathroom, it took up most of her living space. Candace could understand. A place to relax, something to have pride in having done to their room. Those rubber ducks had been the right choice. "You also have a trainee room. They're meant for temporary use. Eventually you can move out~."

The flick to the nose startled her, squeaking and opening her eyes to look up at Dakota in surprise. Teach others? That sounded nice... "You think I'm amazing~?" Candace asked teasingly, grinning almost shyly before she settled down and nestled her head against the crook of his neck. She supposed he had a point; enjoy the little things. Take advantage of lulls. But Candace liked being kept busy, she preferred it. "You're right. Stay with me then~? We can relax together." She opened her eyes and gave Dakota another sweet smile, shifting down so she was laying across Dakota's lap on her back, her head resting on the arm of the couch. There, much better!