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What had been a spur of the moment decision had actually been very nice for her. She'd done as she promised, not touched his liquor cabinet, and simply relaxed in the chair behind the doctor's desk for a few hours. Candace had fallen asleep but it'd simply been a cat nap, roused from her sleep by a short dream involving the Man In Black. ******** that. She was going back to where there was someone around for her to grab.

But she'd come back again after a few days. When she felt okay enough to move again, the pain from the after effect of the runic headbands subsiding enough for her to move without crying quietly in mild agony. The affection down there was getting worse. Everyone was getting restless. She needed to get away from it, to hide away where it was safe and she knew she could sleep without worrying about waking up to seeing two people making out.

This time she'd fallen asleep on the couch, stretched out across it like a lounging feline. A lounging feline who'd fallen asleep with a smile on her face for once instead of curled up underneath a blanket with her head under a pillow. An empty glass sat safely on the end table beside a capped bottle of bourbon, having allowed herself a glass or two of it before her body decided it wanted a nap.

The door was unlocked, her level of trust in the Life labs evidently higher now than it was a year ago. It was quiet. It was warm. She was home, nothing bad could happen to her right now.

Until recently, Candace was a generally heavy sleeper. She would have normally slept through the sudden noises in the room such as the tapping, the humming, the shifting of drawers. She would have even slept through being moved, something her parents praised the lord for if she fell asleep somewhere not her bed and they needed to pick her up and move her. It was her favorite escape from stress if shopping didn't help her. But ever since the Insanity, the discomfort of the barracks and the lack of privacy, she had lost a bit of that. She was conscious for the entrance of someone she hoped was the owner of this office and not some random creep, but she didn't feel like opening her eyes. She'd just...trust..it was him.

The body against her finally got a visible reaction out of her, shifting cooperatively as she was moved and snuggling up against them. He was warm, and comfortable. She smiled, turning so she could nuzzle her face against the doctor's chest. She didn't say anything yet, simply reveling in being in the man's arms after weeks of craving it to the point of near emotional breakdown. He was back. He was safe. Not..not that she doubted him but...

Candace's hands roamed, starting first at his sides as her fingers slowly traced a path up his body until she found his shoulders, following the contour of the man's collarbone, neck and jawline with a happy little sigh. She didn't say anything yet, far too comfortable and still admittedly half asleep. Speaking wasn't something Candace did first thing upon waking up, her accent was unbearable during that time and she loathed it.

She happily snuggled up against the man and let her hands rest against his chest and shoulder after she was satisfied with blindly confirming who her new snuggle buddy was, tilting her head back and opening her eyes to look up at him with a fond smile. "Hi~." She whispered quietly, her thumb rubbing circles against his chest.

He spoke and she smiled a little more, the hand that had been rubbing his chest drifting down to playfully tug at the top of his trousers and then slip underneath his shirt, tracing the contours of his muscles with a quiet sigh. Was she checking for new scars? Marks? Missing parts? Added parts? Perhaps. "I don't know, I might need a thorough full-body inspection, one that requires the removal of your clothes." She replied calmly, as if such a thing was completely reasonable and in no way could be taken as anything other than a professional request that didn't involve sex in any form, her hand went still as she just looked up at his face. The scar over his eye looked fresh again, but everything else was the same; she would bet that if he opened his eyes he'd still be looking at her with that dark intensity he always did, the kind that made her face hot and her chest feel like it was too small to contain her racing heart. There was no way they'd risk what had happened with Aria's doppelgänger happening again; Clarice had made it clear to her after that incident that they would be testing everyone upon return from or...to any Deus missions in H's case. There was no way he could be an exception to that.

It was him. He was real. He was back. Thank god.

Candace suddenly sniffled, rubbing her lips together in an anxious motion and clearing her throat as she blinked away tears. She pulled herself close against the man, laying a gentle kiss against throat. "Welcome back." Candace's voice held the strain of someone not quite expressing just how happy they were about something. She grinned, trying to stifle a laugh of excitement as best as she could. Don't pounce him, even if it was just for a hug. Stay calm. He's probably had enough excitement to last him a long while. Candace was enjoying the quiet, she wanted to keep it up a bit longer. It'd been so long, all she had wanted had been a hug at the very least and now she was finally getting it.

She pulled herself up to rest her forehead against the doctor's, eyes closed again. Candace had missed this, the warmth of his body, the safety of his arms, the smell of his--oh. Wasn't he rumored to have smelt like fish? Well, he didn't. Good that he got rid of that. I wonder how long it takes to wash away the smell of a fishy Titan. Three showers? Ten? He was in some place called Somalia, right? Where is that? Does he smell like it? Candace tried not to frown. Can you please be quiet for a bit? I'm asking nicely. There was a pregnant pause from the weapon before she chuckled, falling quiet. Candace sighed. Thank you. I'm sorry.

Candace kissed his brow, trailing down to then kiss his temple, and finally his cheek. She stopped there. "I missed you." She blurted out without thinking, a hot blush rushing to her cheeks the moment she realized the words had escaped past her lips. Ah! No..! Too needy! Bad! "I..I mean, I'm glad to see you made it back safely." Smooth save, smooth save. Not. She felt happy right now though, the happiest she'd felt since Aria had worked with her and told her she was doing well and that her training was nearly over.

The tightening grip made her shiver, clinging to the man she was laying on and being held by. She'd never enjoyed roughness before; it had always felt barbaric to her. Somehow H made her crave it down to her very core. Candace looked up when she felt eyes on her, her cheeks flushing hotter even as he kissed her. She missed this. These lips, this warmth, these safe yet dangerous arms around her. Those eyes. She made a pleased noise low in her throat as he kissed her, a hand coming up to cup the man's cheek and return the kiss. Candace pulled herself up to settle at a more comfortable angle, hovering over H. Her lips parted to allow him to do whatever he wanted, reciprocating each little action like an alcoholic who'd been forced to go cold turkey and then finally had a chance at the finest drink money could buy. Candace slipped her hand out from under H's shirt to grasp it, panting lightly when she finally allowed the kiss to end. The kiss to her nose surprised her, earning H a giggle as she returned the sentiment with a simple eskimo kiss, stealing one more light kiss from his lips before he spoke.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest. Never doubt him. Of..of course...

But she had. She had doubted him. Candace's eyes glistened with tears, sniffing and rubbing her lips together as she closed her eyes tightly. Go away, tears. Stop that. Go away. "Ri-right." She laughed quietly at her own foolishness. "I-I won't. Not ever again." Candace kissed him again for good measure. You couldn't kill a monster. You just couldn't. H was definitely a true monster.

He was staring up at her with a look that sent shivers down her spine and made her heart race wildly in her chest. She couldn't breathe. She knew that look, she knew what it meant. Her chest felt too tight. At the nickname Candace's teeth pressed into her lower lip, the eye his lips were pressed against closing. "I...I.." She swallowed hard, both eyes closed now. "This isn't even half of the tears I've shed over you." Candace finally confessed, laughing softly at herself again. She settled down again, rubbing her cheek against the stubble along his jaw. Candace didn't mind it. "I was worried about you."

Foolish, yes. She agreed. Candace was actually quite embarrassed of the behavior she'd displayed those few days, having only recovered from it by the simple announcement that H was not dead as she had feared. The nails surprised her, her grip on his shirt tightening and bunching up the fabric in her fist. The voice made her shiver noticeably against him, goosebumps rising up her arms and along her back. That voice. He..he wanted to know?

That voice. "A-all of it." She blurted it, her voice breathless. Oh god. Oh god his hands. Candace swallowed hard, pressing her body against him. "I...I screamed, I shouted..I demanded tha..that you come back..to me.." The tears escaped then, rolling down her cheeks. It wasn't as bad as when the emotions had been fresh, but it definitely hurt to recall how she had acted. To remember the sight of the doctor being grabbed and dragged down so easily. Candace was still trying desperately to hold back. She didn't want to show the doctor this. He'd seen it before, when Jerry had caught them, and he had already seen how she so desperately worked to show nothing but a strong wall of confidence. "Icouldn't..I...couldn't believe that you could...just..so easily..." Her breath caught in her throat, making her cough. No. Don't do this. Not again.

She cleared her throat, shaking her head and burying her face against his neck. No. Don't make her do this. She didn't want to cry, not in front of him. Not in front of anyone. She couldn't do it. Candace's knuckles paled, her hands shaking. No. No.

"Will you show me?"

"No." She choked out, finally releasing him to try and wipe away the tears before he could stop her.

He could have anything.

He could have her heart, her mind, her body, her very soul...but he couldn't have this. H couldn't have her tears. She would cry for him, but not on command. Candace wasn't weak.

"I don't want you to see that. I don't like it. It's..it's weak." Despite the tears still streaming down her face, Candace tugged at the shirt she had tightly grasped in her first. She was determined now, despite the sniffling and the trembling of her entire body, she refused to look weak for him. "And I'm not ******** weak. I'm not some pathetic little girl who breaks simply on command. Who cries over a skinned knee, or a few mean words."

Candace leaned in again, her mouth claiming his for a heavy kiss. It was quick, short and to the point. "You can have anything you want but that."

Why was Candace looking at the ceiling..? It wasn't an unfamiliar sight to her, H's ceilings, but it was a surprise to suddenly be seeing it right in that moment. Her eyes looked from the ceiling to the man above her, her heart pounding in her chest as she caught the look on his face. He wanted her. She was a mess and he wanted her. Candace's breath left her in a shuddered sigh as she moved her hands to trail her fingers along the top edge of the doctor's trousers, nails dragging against his skin. "Explore away. I'm yours." She whispered, lifting her head to close the gap between them and claim his lips for a gentle kiss. The doctor would never be just hers, she was well aware of that. He was a terrible man, this she also knew very well. He terrified her, he excited her.

H was more of a monster than the monsters they were being trained to take down and eliminate.

She loved it. She craved it. Candace couldn't get enough of it. She wanted more. She wanted all of it. Candace couldn't make the doctor hers, but he had managed to make her his for the time being.