Scene #8456: Actually Your Sister Rules and I Suck

Owner	Pose
Candy	<X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Candy sighs. <X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Candy says, "Sorry about 'I'll put you in the ground.'" <X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Nephra Tangent says, "Mean of you to tease me like that." <X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Candy snorts. <X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Candy says, "I wish I hadn't spent so long using 'angry' to stay alive." <X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Nephra Tangent says, "You could always just keel over." <X-Watch-Chatter> [4] Candy says, "Don't wanna. But it sure is fucking frustrating when I feel like I'm in a ditch and I don't know 'up' from my own asshole." Candy stares at the phone on the wall in his kitchen. The lively, saturated orange tone of the wall does little to improve his mood. Lately, this place is feeling less like home, and more like a rut. After years, he finally filled in and painted over the bullet holes in the living room. But--as he'd told Ishirou, it feels like all he'd done was cover a very old mark with a fresh coat of paint. Beneath it, surrounding the spackle, they're still there. The farmer pinches the bridge of his nose, and picks up the phone. The rotary pad clicks as he enters in a familiar combination. It always makes him smile, to hear Cecelia's voice. And he's sure that it makes her smile, or at least makes her relieved to know that (after the requisite small-talk and how-are-yous)-- "No, this ain't about Lilian." It kinda is, but "It's more about me. Can you tell Katrina I'd like to meet with her, when she's not busy? If she don't remember me, just, ah... just tell her I'm the little Mexican guy she was ready to kill." He laughs, despite himself, and says his goodbyes. Some days later, or, otherwise, whenever she'd sent her go-ahead, be it through Cecelia or personally, Candy finds himself on a doorstep that isn't his, hand hovering in front of the door. With a terse sigh, he knocks.
Lilian Rook	"Oh, thank you for saying so, dear! You know, as much as I love talking the ear off the few who'll listen, I think poor Lilian deserves a break from calls being about her, don't you?" Considering that Cecilia had been on perfectly timed mandatory vacation since the day before Matthew entered into all of this, and only just returned, for equally obvious reasons, somehow that sentence, in that woman's warm tones, strikes Candy as worrying in a way he can't quite put a finger to. Kat R.: day aftr 2morro? on :airplane: rn! ttyl! happy_cat_148.jpg Katrina hasn't bothered to direct Candy elsewhere, seeing as he's already been to the house once. She, unlike Lilian, is on (distantly) casual speaking terms with Allison Rook, and can verify which days out of the month she'll come back easily and inconspicuously. Lilian likes her enough to share a schedule barely prompted, can clear intent with Cecilia, and make an educated guess on Matthew's voicemail having caught every message for days. She's so casual about it that it might even take up to the day to realize that she'd made the effort to do this instead of just telling Candy where her apartment is. "Hi! Candy, right? Haha, or should I just stick to Candelario? We only ever spoke a coulpe of times, so I don't want to be too pushy~" One of the upstairs lounges would be more classic, but Katrina apparently feels more comfortable welcoming him to the eastern courtyard, setting out a glass table for two with tea prepared by someone else and a heap of chips and cookies and snack bars that are definitely hers; she's already halfway into a bag of a flavour written in Pashto that smells vaguely like Cumin. Every other fingertip is bandaged, and she's still wearing a trendy green raincoat half-open on her shoulders; the messy state of her hip length ponytail suggests she got home maybe an hour ago and spent that time washing her face and resting her feet. She's the one who walks around in socks, apparently. "Just me, huh? Do you really remember me that fondly? Well, I guess I am good looking, haha~ But isn't Lilian more in your age range? You aren't one of those 'MILF hunter' people, are you?" says a woman who looks twenty five. "Oh, help yourself, by the way!"
Candy	Yeah. She sure does. He manages a smile, if a weak one for Katrina. "No, no, Candy's fine. Push me around as much as you want," he says. Not having some sort of flirtatious quip ready would be--well, it'd be a sign that something's wrong, wouldn't it? But she can probably tell that something's on his mind anyways, because he can't hide the somewhat despondent look in his eyes. "Wow," he says, stepping into the courtyard. He hadn't expected a spread of snacks. Really, he hadn't been sure what to expect at all, given their last encounter--but this is nice and sincere in a way that he'd almost forgotten people could be. "I could ask you the same thing," he says, gesturing to the tea and the snacks. Blinking, the farmer hastily adds, "Uh, about remembering me fondly, I mean, hahaha." Candy takes a seat, pours himself a little tea, and tears open a snack bar. "I'd be, ah... lying, if I said I didn't have a mind to hit on you." He flashes her a shadow of his usual little smirk, then takes a sip of tea. "But--it's more that I need your help, and this is... well, even if Lilian can help with it, she's got too many people lining up with their hands out nowadays, and not enough with their hands on her shoulder." Candy shrugs his shoulders, running a finger along the edge of the table as if appreciating its craftsmanship. "You're some kinda doctor, right? How... often do you see people like me, and Lilian, and all the rest? People that, ah, they're there because they got shot or hit with a sword or something, not 'cause they, you know, got drunk and tripped or whatever." His brown eyes linger on her fingers. "...what happened there?"
Lilian Rook	"Well, obviously it was scary to have all these strangers in our house." says Katrina, before munching on a spicy snack. 'Our', not 'my', for some reason. "But I'm not blind or anything. Something horrible was happening, and a little while after you came here, Lil' Lil was sad, then right back to normal. Of course I'm kind of fond, you know? She's so strong now, but she still needs people looking out for her, ever now and again." Unlike Cecilia, Katrina pronounces that with a little bit of guilt. She frowns, midway into chewing a bite of square something that smells florally chocolate. "Hands out . . ." Katrina repeats after Candy. "Yeah. That's a lot of people these days. Even around the whole 'Phantom Circle' you know. People who do a lot of work that doesn't really help anyone, and think it entitles them to a lot. Like, 'we're one of you, so where's your solidarity'." Munch, much. What a natural pause. "I think 'Elites' must be kind of like that too." Candy's followup question makes her laugh, however. Unlike Lilian, it's an easy, weightless kind of laugh, that's also a little bit weary."I mean, pretty much all of them? I'm not that kind of doctor; not, like, a general practitioner of something. I couldn't possibly settle down into something like that. Not after what I've seen already. Allison doesn't really like my globetrotting and helping whoever, but she still thinks I'm gonna settle down soon." She sticks out the tip of her tongue. "None of the boys I've met have been worth staying for, though~" She stares off at the flowering garden in contemplation. "Sometimes I get a little jealous, haha. Of her. Maybe a girl might have been worth it, if it were like that." She seems like she's thinking of someone in particular. "Huh? Oh, that kinda happens. I mostly treat Antegent casualties, so there's all kinds of rough work you have to do real fast! I don't use magic for myself until after, and I'm completely shattered, haha! Nothing left in the tank today~" "Why do you ask?"
Candy	Candy knows all too well what 'our' means, here. Or at least, he thinks he does. It's far from his first visit. Beyond hope itself, he hopes it won't be his last. She's so strong now, but she still needs people looking out for her, ever now and again. "Yeah," says Candy, with a little guilt of his own, as his eyes fall from Katrina to his own reflection in the tea. He pushes a breath through his lips, reaching up and tucking a lock of hair behind his ear when it falls in front of him. I think 'Elites' must be kind of like that too. "Yeah, you'd be right," he says, taking a bite of his snack bar. None of the boys I've met have been worth staying for, though~ Candy nods sagely. "That's how it is," he commiserates in a facetiously put-upon tone. "You find one that's sorta okay, sand off all the rough edges, and then what does he do? He dies, that's what." It's a joke, but it's not like there isn't a grain of truth there, for him. I don't use magic for myself until after, and I'm completely shattered, haha! Nothing left in the tank today~ "Oh, fuck's sake," Candy says, laughing tiredly, finally managing to look back up at her. "Not you too, ah? That goes around, you know. Using everything in the tank." He finishes the bar and sets the wrapper down, resting his chin on his hand. "Why do I ask. Well... you probably met plenty of people, who... it wasn't just about protecting people, for them. It was about fighting the Antegent. Everybody knows somebody who lost somebody to the Antegent. So there's gotta be people that it's... personal for. And now that those sons of bitches aren't crowding in by the truckload no more, things can kinda, sorta, almost be okay. Almost. For some people." "Did you ever met anybody that managed to put that axe down, and stop grinding?" He asks, almost hopefully. "See..." He looks away, taking in the sights of the courtyard. "Seems to me like that makes you pretty great at being a soldier, or whatever, and pretty shit at everything else. Like, you know..." He lowers his hand, and drums his fingers anxiously on the table. "Looking out for someone important."