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"You will have a full three-course meal. No! A five-course meal! You haven't been eating right. I've been watching you, and apparently humans can't survive on air, coffee and a couple bagels a day." Came Atropos' voice from the stairwell followed shortly by a sigh from Candace. "Did you just roll your eyes at me, ghoul?"

"Yes~." Candace answered all too sweetly, appearing from around the corner with her arms folded behind her head and her eyes closed, pouting her lips. Atropos appeared just behind her, looking displeased.

"Did you sleep when I left?"

"Yes~." Candace answered again.

"Liar." Atropos was pouting now and looking through Candace's phone. The Hunter blinked and stopped, turning on her heel with her jaw dropped.

"When did you--" Bah. She didn't care. Waving a hand, Candace shook her head with a small smile and continued walking. "You can't make me sleep. You can bring a horse to water but you can't--Molly~!" Candace called out with joy, raising an arm and waving to the girl just up the hall from them. Mollyyyyyyy! Eh? No golem? Maybe she didn't opt for the project. Her poor weapon~.

Candace hurried away from Atropos and practically threw herself at Molly the very same way Molly had done before, hugging the younger woman tightly and nuzzling her face into her soft red curls. "Molllly~ Molly Molly Molly~." She sang happily, swaying from side to side with the girl in her arms. Atropos chuckled and rolled her eyes, walking up behind her Hunter and peeking around her to see Molly.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking~." Atropos looked around in search for sign of the girl's golem. No golem? But she had a cuff! And she was there! Where was he? She was so curious to meet everyone else's weapons.. "Did your golem run away? So many others have..."

"I'm just fine! Ohhh it's been so long! We should hang out a bit before I go back to my--"

"You need to eat, Candace." Atropos interrupted, frowning. Candace pouted.

"I need to get back to work. It's been almost a whole day he's going to think she's dea--"

"Eat." She sounded desperate now, pleading with her Hunter. Atropos' eyes darted from one woman to the other with a look that said help me!

Atropos caught the wince and couldn't help but react the same. She knew how she'd feel if she saw all these golems walking around but Candace wouldn't allow her to do the same, so she could only imagine Molly was suffering through that kind of situation right now. But why not? She had agreed to it! She should keep up with it..huh. Strange. "Poor thing." Atropos said neutrally, making it unclear who she meant. Weapon? Hunter?

..Don't even joke, she means the weapon.

Candace had settled down contently to nuzzle up to Molly again, her face hidden in the girl's soft curls and completely missing the pair's quick look exchange. Their silent conspiracy against her. She blinked and lifted her head as she was squeezed tighter, arching a brow until Molly insisted she get lunch. She frowned. "But I don't have ti--oh.." With Molly? She blinked, looking somewhat surprised by the offer. It had been awhile since she had an actual meal and not just a quick snack. It had also been awhile since she'd seen Molly and spent any time with her...

She sighed and smiled. "Fine. For you~." Candace let go of the girl to just hold her hand instead of draping over her and clinging, giving it an affectionate squeeze and gently swinging their hands between them. "Lead the way, pretty girl."

Atropos looked relieved, rolling her eyes and shaking her head while just trailing behind the two women. Thank Jack.

"It's been awhile since I saw you. What've you been up to lately? Anything fun?" Candace asked conversationally, her smile warm.

That was one of many things Candace adored about Molly. She was always so excitable. She leaned in to leave a kiss against Molly's temple with a delighted little giggle, giving her hand a squeeze as she walked alongside her. Just behind them Atropos chuckled and shook her head, walking quietly behind them with her attention on Candace's phone. Twitter was certainly interesting...

She listened attentively to Molly's explanation. An outpost? That made sense, as did the needing to get her thoughts together thing. Candace still remembered the chat they had while they were all stuck in those bunkers. She squeezed Molly's hand again. "Knitting, huh? That sounds like you." Candace chuckled and shook her head a bit, lifting the hand that was held by Molly's and kissing the back of Molly's hand. "So are you feeling better, then? Last time I saw you, you were very troubled." A faint frown could be seen on Candace's lips until Molly leaned in closer and said...the most adorable thing.

As the kids say nowadays. Molly. Seriously. How old are you. Atropos looked up when the two went quiet and even jumped a little when Molly suddenly shouted.

Candace just stared, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

And then she laughed, stopping in the middle of the hallway to pull Molly into a tight hug. "Oh god you are so cute!" Candace laid a kiss against Molly's hair before releasing her and tugging her out of the dorms and toward the main building for the cafeteria. She friend zoned him, huh? She hadn't realized Molly was even being pursued! Somehow that didn't sit right with her. Candace even felt a pang of possessive jealousy in her chest. Ignore that...

"So you friendzoned him, huh? Good. I like my sweet Molly--" Wait. How did she like her? Pure sounded strange. Untouched? Hm. No. Ehhhh.. "He didn't catch your fancy, pretty lady~? Poor Bix."

"Good, I'm glad." Candace was sincerely pleased by the news. It had pained her to see Molly so upset, and the very thought of her unhappy made Candace uncomfortable. Molly should only ever be smiling and happy in her eyes.

Candace idly swung their hands between them as they walked across the grounds, hanging on to Molly's every word. Bix was a nice guy, he was very helpful and friendly and Candace had noticed that when she made jokes he was always more than happy to play. A dream guy? She chuckled. "I wouldn't consider Bix my dream guy, personally. There's a different kind of man I prefer." One with power and sensuality among many, many other necessary attributes. She let Molly continue on, nodding her head to let Molly know she understood where Molly was coming from with the whole sister and finding herself thing. "A rebound. How scandalous~."

...Butterflies and things?

"Ah..he kissed you?" Candace pouted. "Lucky Bixy. But what do you mean flaked? And...things?"

Atropos peered at Candace and Molly through her bangs without lifting her head. She knew what Candace was getting at.

Candace's smile turned fond as she looked anywhere but Molly. "A man with power, sensuality. Someone who cares about me but doesn't..baby me, or make me feel like a child who needs taking care of. Who believes I can do whatever I set my mind to and encourages me instead of trying to protect me like I'm some kind of fragile doll made of glass. A man who makes me feel wanted, or like I'm the most incredible woman in the world even if only for a moment. And when I say power I don't just mean like...he's strong. Strong is great and all but I prefer him to have power, you know? Sex is important, too. He needs to be good at it or apparently I.." Her smile fell as she recalled the last time she was in a situation where her partner was not good at sex. She cleared her throat and shook her head, sighing quietly and squeezing Molly's hand. "There is a man I wish could be mine, but I know it won't ever happen. But I guess..it's okay for now. As long as I can keep seeing him, keep loving him...I can accept it. I'll be his, and he knows I'm his, but I can still...do whatever I want. That seems to be working out fine for me so far. I tried the monogamous relationship, it wasn't my thing. I..I did something unforgivable because of it, and I don't intend to ever do it again. This works for me." She shrugged and fell quiet after that. Atropos frowned and looked down at Candace's phone again. She had told Candace time and again that this wasn't good for her, that she could do better than the inevitable heartache Candace was setting herself up for. Their arrangement wouldn't last forever, Candace knew this and did her best to convince Atropos she was prepared for whenever that day would come, but Atropos didn't believe her no matter what she said.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Candace told Molly softly after the redhead was finished explaining how the kiss had made her feel. There was a certain amount of glee in hearing that Molly hadn't enjoyed the kiss. Maybe the kiss was bad. Oh god, had it been her first? Poor thing! But she was relieved to hear what 'things' entailed. "Those're nice feelings...I was worried for a minute that 'things' meant something else! Haha!" She shook her head, relaxing again.

They'd arrived in the cafeteria now and it seemed..messier. There had been some obvious cleaning attempts but it looked like the aftermath of a food fight.

The ******** snorted behind them and tried to stifle her laughter. Candace blinked and looked back at her. "What's so funny?"

"I was warned to avoid here and now I see why. Looks like we missed an epic battle." Atropos grinned and stepped up to slip Candace's phone into her pocket again. "Go get something to eat. I'll find somewhere for you two to sit that's clean."

Candace saw the way Molly got flustered on the subject of sex. Honestly she just figured it was because it's Molly and Molly is precious and adorable and needs to be protected. Yes. Candace couldn't help but chuckle and lean in to kiss her temple. "Sorry, I got a little too into detail there. What's your ideal partner, Molly?" Man? Woman? Funny? Smart? What did her sweet Molly want. Candace was dying to know. She did feel better when Molly finally spoke, chuckling at her words and squeezing her hand. "Sometimes I know, sometimes I'm not sure." Molly answered her question quite unexpectedly. Honestly Candace had thought for sure Molly would have some kind of fantasy. A fairy tale romance, someone who worshiped her, had some kind of trait she felt strongly for. Loving everyone did very much sound like Molly though, and it didn't even seem like kind of way for her to say 'I will be a huge slut!' or something when Molly said it. She really did just love everyone. "So do you love me then?" She asked with a grin, a grin that faltered when Molly asked her next question.

"Ah..things like...uh..wow, I've never felt awkward saying this before." Candace was actually blushing. Why was it strange to say these things to Molly? "Like, stirrings..? Ah...sexual attraction, basically. That's what I thought. It's no big deal, I was wrong anyway." She shrugged, following alongside Molly to the serving window while Atropos found a clean table.