Thunder At Midnight [Candice, Ehefra]

It was getting worse.

Things had been easier when Candice was around. Having someone nearby helped her feel more secure. She still had had the nightmares, but they had just woken her up, not nearly as often as they did nowadays. The feeling that something was just outside of her vision. Memories of that stupid fucking forest. The sensation of being stalked and hunted. Were so much harder to keep at bay when she was alone. Tch, and now the damn sternritter were bothering her. Her mind wandered tiredly to the interaction she'd had with Giselle's kid. Liltotto. Not exactly her best moment, but she was too tired to care these days.

But when she heard that knock, she pekred up and promptly made her way over to the door. For just a moment, she hesitated. She knew she looked like shit. Little sleep, and being constantly on edge hadn't done her any favors. She reached up and ran her fingers throug her own hair, it was a bit messier than usual. Well.. too late to fix it now. She opened the door and peeked out, giving a tired smile as she spotted the woman.

"Hey Candy! I thought you weren't gonna be her for a bit, I haven't had a chance to freshen up." She chuckled, stepping outside to move in and pull Candice into a hug, a little...surprised by how energetic and bright Candice looked. The heck had been goin on?

Mph?! Ehefra let out a startled little noise as the taller woman promptly closed in and smothered her in a hug. A little grunt of surprise as she was all but smothered in Candice's arms, clearly overtaken by the other woman's clear advantage of higher energy! She hugged back as best she could and chuckled a little as Candice squeezed her. A brief puase as she looked down at that bag and felt a faint flush cross her features as Candice so playfully mentioned carrying her inside. Immediately, Ehefra's brain processed that little offer and .uh....was pretty fond of the result. Clearing her throat just a little before giving a sheepish smile. "I'm not gonna complain if you wanna. But yea come on in." she noted, nodding to lead Candice inside. Or well, more likely she would get dragged or indeed carried inside.

Inside at least things were about how Candice would remember them. Thankfully Ehefra's loss of sleep hadn't made her more messy than usual. Frankly she wasn't home often enough to make much a mess. Beeps promptly floated in and trilled in greeting to Candice, making its way over to bump her cheek before slipping into the kitchen to get some tea after Ehefra gave it a little tap on the side.

"Jeez, you seem real.....peppy. Been on some kinda new energy drink or somethin?" She ventured, tilting her head a bit to the side. There were a few things scattered around. Honestly she'd been pretty so so these last few days. Nat hadn't really visited in a while and well, aside from the couple cans and containers around her work area, there wasn't much out of place.

Ehefra squeaked as she felt those hands scoop under her butt, only to then pick her up by her thighs! The quincy hurriedly clung to Candice's shoulders as she was promptly swept into the other room, clinging on for dear life before giving a sheepish smile as Candice explained her energy. A little smirk crossing Ehefra's face. "Fuck that sounds nice. I haven't really been sleeping all that great, prrrrrrobably not a great idea to get me drinking. I might just pass out from the fatigue." She chuckled, lightly looping her arms around Candice's shoulders as she rested.

Was it distracting just how close they were? Well, close was an understatement, Candice her her practically all pressed up against her, but it was ... a comfy closeness. And honestly, it took a lot of energy not to just slump forward and rest her face on Candice's shoulder. "So .. how did it go? I heard Giselle got out of the hospital. IS .... she alright?" She asked with a til of her head. Ehefra was USUALLY pretty in the know. But Giselle had straight up resigned from the Vandenreich, and so prettry much all updates on the woman's condition had stopped along with that. She'd heard that the woman was out, but she had no idea well...HOW she was doing.

Ehefra nodded at that, and smiled, relieved as her tired mind frankly was mainly interested because Candice has been a mess over the whole thing, so naturally she would wanna know about what had been bothering Candice for a while. But well, she didn't pick up on the shift of energy. "I'm glad. You were really freaked out, I was a little worried. So ...Giselle is doing okay. But what about you? You seem real...peppy. Is everything going alright with you? You mentioned you were travelling a bit." She added.


Though... as Candice asked about herself she ....looked to the side and avoided eye contact. And went quiet. For a moment, she considered just lying. But .....ugh...that was just too much energy. She hadn't had the energy to go lying to Liltotto, she wasn't gonna lie to Candice. "It's.... been interesting. I haven't been sleeping well since Miami. The .... guy I fought there. I made sure there was nothing left of him but ..... the way he fought ....it fucked me up a little...Been ... having bad dreams." Her voice was....strained and hesitant. She had told people she wasn't sleeping well. But she'd been pretty close to the chest on WHY. And even now it was .... hard to get into that. What, that she was being a baby and having widdwe nightmawres because the big bad spooky man did her a scare? She felt a stab of shame in her chest and she swallowed audibly. But thankfully that kiss from Candice was a nice comfort. A soft gesture of affection to push away those worries and fatigue. It was a small thing, but it definitely made her feel a bit better. A bit ... braver about speaking up.

"That and I've been having some pains in my legs. They're all patched up, I checked with the doctor. They said it's called...phantom pains. Because of how bad I was injured, my body is fine, but the brain still thinks theres a problem. So I've been trying to get some help with that." She explained, giving a little wiggle of her legs as if to emphasize that there was nothing physically wrong with them. Though Cadncie would still be able to see the scarring along the backs of her knees from where they'd had to do some surgical work.

Ehefra smiled a little at Candice's playful little remadks, a soft chuckle escaping her as she sighed and stared a little at Candice. At least until she started trying to turn away. But well...Candice was on that. Moving about and trying to catch her eye, which...startled Ehefra a little, as she wound up with her brows raised and staring up into Candice's eyes as the girl loomed in and got in her face. It always startled her a little the way Candice went IN like this. A sheepish little smile forming as .... well..Candice ....spoke about her issue. And she almost scowled a little as she closed her eyes.

"I don't know. I'm not fuckin afraid. I don't even GET what's going on. He's dead. MORE than dead. He's hella obliterated. That's what happens when a quincy kills you all the way. His soul isn't even in hell. I know he's never gonna bother me. He can't hurt me anymore. But ........these fuckin dreams ....still just ...keep ...comin." She lowered her shoulder, and she allowed the stress and worry to show in her eyes as she sighed and lowered her head. OR well, as much as she could without planting her face in Candice. "The Vandenreich already has me set up. I have a counselor I'm workin with, they're trying to get something to help. I just...I can't sleep soundly. I keep having the same fucked up dreams that kick me awake." She murmured tiredly. Sighing slowly and slowly rubbing her eyelids.

And then Candice seemed to jump on the leg thing. A brief look of surprise, though frankly, she really shouldn't have been surprised at all. But even so, it did bring a little pink color to Ehefra's face. And .... it made her think about all the things Candice was saying. The way they acted around eachother. And she .... was quiet for a few long moments.

"I....have ... a question. You .....you've been helping me like... a lot.... Like a LOT a lot. And these things you say.... being the light of my life and stuff like that. It's a ... a little more than just friendly." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck and ten looking off to the side, not really even avoiding Candice, just ...looking for the words in her head. "We talked about this on that plane ride. We agreed we'd see where things go with being Friends. But well....I've been getting the feeling tat you wanna be somethin more. And ....I admit....I....kinda feel the same way." She smiled, a tired little smile as she rubbed her cheek with bashful idleness.

"Candice I......I'm a fuckin mess." She noted softly, shaking her head. "I'm.... not a good woman. Candy.... The shit I've ...done..." She felt her ears burn as she thought about them. The situation with NAtasha. What she'd done to Ira. Even the way she.....FELT with that situation. It wasn't right. "You do all this siht to help me.... but you don't know the kind of person you're getting involved with." She felt her chest grow a bit tight as that slow, creeping shame snuck up on her. So many other things creeping into her train of thought. She could tell that ...Candice had gone past liking her as just a friend. And .... the worst part was .... she didn't even feel bad.

A good person would feel bad. Would say something about ... the other women in her life. But in this moment she almost felt herself just ...ignoring it. Playing along. And those thoughts freaked her the fuck out. And the guilt stabbed her in the back. Even now, thinking about Ira mad her fucking MAD. That some, piece of shit SHINIGAMI was dating her. IT made her blood boil, even though it had no right to. She didn't own Ira. They hadn't even dated. And yet just thinking about that fucking date, it made her want to pull someone's teeth out. And she was a shamed of that feeling. That and so many others.