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Candace had awoken that morning with a start, sitting up in bed and looking around frantically before she realized with...great disappointment it had just been a dream. Goddamnit. That was the third time since...damnit! Whining pitifully she had flopped back in bed, complained to Atropos who didn't feel any sympathy at all to Candace's plight and finally gotten dressed to head out. There was tension she needed...relieved. So that was why she found herself in the life hunter labs.

Yes. Again. Shut up.

She stared at the door to Dr. H's office, raising a hand to knock on it only to narrow her eyes and step away. No. She couldn't give in. Not yet. Not...not yet. It was too soon. It wasn't as fun for either of them if she just gave in days later, right? Right. But damnit! She needed to get her mind off his...promises! Groaning unhappily, Candace ruffled her own hair and turned away from the door, spotting Clarice's office as she did.

...Clarice had booze.

Candace hummed cheerfully as she walked away from one door to stand before the other open door, giving it a couple knocks as she leaned in to look around for the blonde. Ah! There she was! She was glad to actually see her and not have to worry about being turned away again! She'd been spending so much time with men lately, and while that was awesome and all it was nice to have another woman's company every now and then. "Hello, Clarice~. Are you busy?"

Candace heard a pencil snap and actually took a step back at the look she was being given. Whoa. She'd never seen Clarice with a look like that before. She looked ready to kill something! Or someone. Now would probably be a good time to keep that smart mouth of yours shut. If looks could kill you would be dead right now. Candace swallowed. No kidding.

She had grown somewhat accustomed to being called 'sweet Candy', though she habitually still wanted to tell Clarice to knock it off because the name wasn't cute. Her deal had been with H, not Clarice...but that smile told her that was a bad idea.

"Ah...hey. Is..this a bad time? I can come back later." In fact Candace was beginning to back step away from the door to make her escape juuuust in case. She had no idea why Clarice was acting this way. None. Was it because of her joke back at the haunted house? No way. It'd been way too long to hold a grudge over a stupid joke like that. And they'd had mostly pleasant conversation in the triage tent.

What did I do now?!

That smile was about as dangerous as a deadly weapon. Good lord. Candace felt more terrified of Clarice right in this moment than she had anyone else on this island...ever. That was really saying something, because Candace liked to claim she was mostly fearless. "Ah ha...well..yeah, about that.." The smile finally went away and Candace felt it somewhat safer to enter the room again, crossing the threshold just as she went on about there being no later. Damn, someone had a little bit too much Pessimism Flakes for breakfast!

"True enough, I suppose...ah...honestly?" She cleared her throat and looked nervous to even say it. Clarice was worrying her for her own life. "A little hooded birdie told me you have some very excellent stuff, and because of recent...events I figured it would help me keep my mind off certain things." There was a pause and Candace chanced another step forward, and another, and another. She was slowly approaching the beast, wary for her own life. "But like I said, that can wait for later? Are...you okay? You look way stressed." Yes, she was actually concerned.

...Frustrated? It couldn't possibly be the same kind of frustration she'd been feeling lately. Could it? Candace listened, somewhat dumbfounded by how similar it sounded to her own problem. No. Don't assume that's the problem, Candace. She'd been told Clarice had been unavailable before for a reason. It couldn't be because she was sexually frustrated. Now way.

"..I see. Depending on the kind of frustration I could probably help you if you wanted." Candace chuckled and shook her head at Clarice's attempt at dissuading her. "Nope. He very clearly said Clarice...brownies sound really good though. Been ages since I had a brownie." Ah! But she was getting off topic! Candace cautiously stepped closer, folding her arms along the top of the back of Clarice's chair and looking down at her with a little smile. "So. Outlet. Whatcha need?"

"He wasn't specific about it, just mentioned it when he offered me a drink as a sort of warning when I asked for something alcoholic. 'Clarice took this you'll have to settle for that, dear Candy.' Oooh? Wow! Macallan? Nice." She actually grinned, feeling slightly more comfortable. Only slightly. But she did whine in disappointment when Clarice said she wasn't going to share. Not fair! She wanted some! Just one small glass? Pretty please? Wait! Had she been drinking it all on her own?! Damn, woman! She tilted her head to one side as Clarice looked up at her, waiting for an answer to her question. Hold? Er...well...okay. That was odd but.

...Damn, Clarice. What the hell happened?! "So I guess talking about it isn't an option."

For some reason, despite knowing it was her rank, being called trainee in conversation instead of by her damn name or even Candy made her a little irritated. She had a name, damnit. She was more than just some stupid trainee. But she didn't react more than squeezing her own arm. Ah, but there it was. What Clarice wanted to do. "I imagine everyone would be very unhappy if you wrecked the computers and labs, Clarice." Candace pointed out gently, grinning. "You could beat me up instead. We can even make a bet out of it. I hear life hunters like to gamble." Why not. It sounded like fun...giant sword beatings aside.

Candace shrugged. "Just a couple glasses. I hurt my leg and the doctor helped me." She explained with as little detail as possible. Were it not for the amazing leg rubs and the words that occasionally rang in her head like a song that wouldn't go away Candace probably would be demanding some kind of sexual harassment suit or something. She suddenly blushed and cleared her throat, pushing away from the chair to occupy herself with looking around Clarice's office. She'd never been in here before.

"But are you sure you don't want to go borrow Circe again,"

...That. b***h. Candace put on a far too sweet smile, keeping her hands behind her back so Clarice wouldn't see them balling into tight fists. "Why no, I figure Marie is the closer of the two and I could possibly distract the doctor into not noticing I took her. Because apparently that's what I do." She frowned now and put her hands on her hips, holding them now instead of threatening to do something stupid by keeping them balled up as fists. "You'll notice I said beat me up. I doubt I'll win, but I'm not going to go down without a fight. And you said you wanted an outlet. Fine then. I'll be your outlet, Clarice. But..." A thought seemed to occur to her. She grinned. Ah, yes. She had an idea. A sort of motivation for herself and for Clarice. That drink was expensive...she'd never had it before. She wanted to try it.

"But on the off chance I win, I want what's left of the Macallan." She figured if she beat Clarice? She damn well earned it.

Candace shrugged, grinning with all the pride and arrogance of a young woman who damn well knew she was probably going to lose this fight. "I figure if I beat you? A division leader's assistant? I damn well earned that drink." You had to admit she kind of had a point. She deserved some kind of reward if she managed to pull this off. But hey! Clarice agreed!

Oh s**t. Wait. Clarice agreed.

You're going to get us killed. Candace pouted. I would like to think Clarice had enough self control not to kill me outright. Atropos merely snorted, leaving Candace to worry silently to herself whether or not she was really signing her own death wish as she followed Clarice out of the labs to the sparring grounds. She sighed, taking off her coat and scarf when she was there; the quartermaster gave her a lecture last time she asked for a new coat, so she was not going to risk that again.

She waited for Clarice to give her the go ahead before she summoned Atropos, mentally crossing her fingers that the weapon would stay on her feet and not desummon herself.

She stayed. Candace sighed with relief. "Alright then..let's see how long we last, huh?"

Candace slid over the wet grass, suddenly glad the weather was so poor lately, and headed straight for Clarice. She skid to almost a halt and spun, kicking a leg out to strike. Damn, she really needed to practice more moves than this. Maybe...maybe she should think back to high school? That didn't sound like a bad idea.

Wait, s**t. This was not the time to think about that. There was a very frustrated woman with a very large sword waiting for her chance to strike here.

HP: 40/40
Damage done: 5

Only slightly less? She wasn't feeling homicidal at all! Oh, Clarice. So full of pessimism. Candace didn't even flinch as she was called a delicious young thing, merely smirking and trying to get out of the way before--"GAH!" Candace went tumbling forward, trying to catch herself in a roll and failing. She wasn't prepared for it. But she was quick to get off the ground. At least Clarice had said her last hit wasn't bad..there was hope yet, right?

She suddenly got an idea and took off in a quick run before she ducked under Raeg to get at Clarice this time, sliding herself across the grass with a leg extended to get at the woman. Damn, this really wouldn't have worked if the ground was dry.

HP: 31/40
Damage done: 7