Welcome to Gaia! ::

The rest tent is filled with neat rows of bunk beds. A partition separates the room into two, the section you walk into is well lit, and there's various hunters just reading or quietly chatting. To the side there's neat stacks of energy bars and MREs, nearby is a cooler full of energy drinks and a coffee station. If you ask for water, a helpful Life Hunter will explain that the majority of the world's clean water is right below their feet. Enjoy. Then they may tell you there's a nearby tent used for water purification, and that you can get a nice big water bottle there.

On the other side of the curtain it's dark, and filled only with the sounds of people sleeping.

"Not... in a while at least," He smiled weakly. It did feel a bit like after the whole Yeti situation but... if Sasha wasn't going to bring that one up, he wasn't. He shrugged off his coat blearily, hanging it from the end of the empty cot before sitting, burying his face in his hands, pushing his glasses up to his forehead, "But... but we're alive, and that's the important thing, right? Ahahaha...." His laughter was muffled behind fingers.

It was dim in the tent... but maybe it was Killzone's training, maybe it was the horrible trauma that had partially turned off his brain. Maybe it was a concussion. Either way, what shadows pressed around them in the dim resting area didn't bother him, just then. He scooted along the edge of the bed, reaching to help her put the ear-bud in properly before accepting his own. Thankfully, it was just long enough for him to lay back, staring up at the dark underside of the bunk above him in it's dim blur, pulling off his glasses to give his head a break. Some sleep and... and he'd be fine.

The music was soft, gentle in the dim light.

He was happy for the darkness. No one could see his eyes leaking. Exhaustion.

The piano was beautiful.

((Entering obby))

When was the last time you slept? Before the mission? Candace sighed, nodding and rubbing her face. She felt so disgusting. She wanted a shower so bad. Note to self, bring more protective gear and some water to rinse out your goddamn hair just in case next time you're on a mission, Candace. Or a sponge to wash your face. She felt so gross.

A still wrapped energy bar hanging from between her teeth, Candace was quiet as she entered the dark side of the tent, digging into her bag for her iPod, but before she even found it she already heard music drifting through the tent. Huh? Someone else had a music player? Candace let her bag fall to hang from her shoulder instead of half-twisted as it had been, walking through as quietly as she could until she found the source of the music. Sasha and Jerry..of course.

Candace took out her phone and woke it up enough to let the light of the screen shine down on the two. Oh, Sasha was asleep. Jerry was asleep as well. Candace's heart sank at the sight of them, about to turn and leave when she noticed the glisten of light reflecting off..tears? Oh, Jerry. Candace set the phone down on the edge of the bed and set her bag down, sitting on the floor beside the bed on her knees and reaching out to very gently grasp Jerry's hand. He was probably tired. She shouldn't wake him. But...but she wanted to make him stop crying. But she shouldn't wake him. ********. This was hard. Maybe if she just like went in and tried to help his subconscious? Subliminal messaging and all that, right? She moved, leaning in close so her lips were close to Jerry's ear. "Once in a while, I act like a child, to feel like a kid again.." She sang quietly, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment as she looked around. Was anyone listening? She hoped not. She hoped Jerry was the only person to hear this ugh. She hated her voice when she sang, especially after hearing Sasha sing. "It gets like a prison in the body I'm living in..." ********, how did the rest of the song go? Um.. "Cause everyone's...watching and...quick to start talking...I'm losing my innocence.."

...Candace had never paid attention to these lyrics before. She stopped singing, rubbing her lips together and rubbing circles against the back of Jerry's hand with her thumb.

Jerry suddenly stirred and sat up, and Candace sat up so she wouldn't be hit. Her eyes were wide, cheeks hot with sun and blood rushing to her cheeks. ********. "Uh, yes. Um...I...uh..." She looked down at their hands. Should she let him go? She didn't want to let him go. "I heard music and...you were crying a little so I um..." That's what friends do! They do whatever it takes to make their friends happy!

"I understand." Candace chuckled quietly, keeping her voice soft so as not to disturb any of the sleeping hunters. "Me? I'm uh..I'm okay...as okay as anyone can be after, well, that." Candace waved a hand toward the exit of the tent a moment before waking up her phone again to light up the space between them.

"Better?" She asked, gesturing to the light. "But yeah, uh, sorry if I bothered you. I just couldn't...not do something." She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, pursing her lips and thinking better of it. No, Candace. He'd definitely say no to that idea. Don't even bring it up.

Well now! Candace looked impressed! She smiled, folding her arms on the bed. "That's great!" She whispered excitedly. "I'm proud of you. Maybe it's not so terrible Killzone is staying with you after all." She meant it. Jerry was sitting here in a pitch dark tent without hyperventilating or screaming; it was huge progress. This was nice, too! She liked being able to talk to Jerry without feeling terrible.

At his mention of her and H she blinked. She and he were...? "We are what?" She frowned. "He came to bring gloves that Clarice made for me. Lance said it'd be a good idea for me to get runic gloves, so I talked with Clarice about them and she's agreed to make a pair for me. As for the kiss.." Candace breathed deeply a moment. Talking about H was making her heart race. Stop that. "He's...a comfort." He still welcomed her with a smile whenever she went to see him. Granted, it wasn't always nice, but it didn't have to be. She still felt like a helpless lovesick schoolgirl whenever she was around him. It was weird. She had despised the man only months ago and now her heart skipped a beat every time he touched, spoke to or looked at her. "It's nice to have someone who's still willing to hold me, is all. I was terrified, Jerry. I still am. I just did what came naturally...I sought out a source of comfort and then that happened." Candace fell quiet after that, sighing. Jerry didn't want her. He wanted...Sasha. And he should, right? He should want Sasha. She was sweet, innocent, beautiful, and so musically inclined. She was everything Jerry needed.

Candace's heart, which had been racing, now felt like it was plummeting into her stomach as all Jerry did was make a noise and said nothing else. She shouldn't have said anything. That had been a bad idea. She always said too much around Jerry; it was like the moment she was around him she became a babbling brook of words words words words words. Candace was about to say something else when Jerry instead said he should eat something.

A splendid idea! But... "There're some MREs on the other side of the tent. I've never had one myself, but I hear they're good." Candace scratched at her cheek, ignoring how bits of sand fell away from her skin. It was caked on now. Great. "Jerry I...I don't want to be alone right now." She hoped he'd get the hint.