you'll come back -- open

[Candice McKaye]

It seemed no one wanted to go to the park any more. No one wanted to just sit outside and admire the beauty of the world. Though Candice could see why, looking around at the not so gorgeous scenery of a post World War III community park. Not that it wasn't a beautiful place, but before the war it had been more beautiful than it was now. And you could have been sure that before the war there was no risk of walking getting radioactive poisoning just walking barefoot through the grass. It might have seemed like a little bit of a stretch but hey, anything was possible. Like a six foot gorgeous blonde, slim woman walking through the park clad in black leggings and a white tank top with a large stereo on her shoulder. Candice's hair was up in a bun to keep it from getting in her way as she choreographed for her next dance. She normally taught a dance a week. She was a very prestigious dance teacher and there was expectation that she work fast. Her class had not been going on for a few weeks because she had Telum business to attend to, no matter how much she hated missing her class.

Candice looked around for a spot she could set up. She had come out to find inspiration for her dance, since for some reason she felt a little too cooped up in the studio. With her she carried her lovely, ancient yet functioning stereo and a large mat that she would dance on. Today she was choreographing for a modern dance. Normally she would have hired a guest choreographer to come and teach her students since she was mainly a ballet choreographer but sometimes she just needed to break away from the normal.

Candice set down the large stereo on the grass and then spread out the mat, which covered about a 10 x 10 area of the grass. It was like a foldable wood floor, something she could move on but wouldn't bend under her feet. One of the advantages of being a dance teacher is a pretty much unlimited budget as long as it was useful to the dance class. And this was useful to her, which was useful for the class. As soon as she was done setting up her stage, she unzipped the sweatshirt that covered her tank top and slipped off her ancient torn up converses, sitting on the floor and leaning over to press play so the music would start up. She started with stretching in butterfly, though it was pretty much useless now because her knees fell to the floor automatically and she could bend over all the way to her feet without feeling anything stretching anywhere.

But she had to stretch before dancing. Besides it being a necessity, she was to precious of a person to have something pulled or torn and then be useless to her class and Telum. To precious to be useless.

[Seamus Drae]

It wasn't often he came out. Not often at all. Usually it was to kill someone, commit some form of extortion, but today, he was checking up on one of his agents. Supposedly quite a promising recruit for certain skills she was reputed to possess, he had to see for himself. Zambi had selected her, so he wasn't familiar with her name, at least, if asked who this person was, he wouldn't be able to tell you. All he had was a photograph, as well as the name tag underneath it.

He'd been looking for her for over an hour now, he was starting to wonder whether her talent was not being found. She was proving rather elusive, until at least, he saw someone stretching in the park, to music of all things. Her face matched the photograph, but he was slightly confused. Why was she stretching off, in the middle of the park, and moreover, why was she stretching in the first place?

He watched her for a moment. She was extremely flexible. Perhaps that was what her special talent was. As well as being six feet tall, slender and blonde. He smirked a little. She was giving them something of a good name. Her certainly wouldn't mind being killed by her. What better way to die than having the last thing you see being a delightfully pretty woman do it?

He stepped out, one hand rested over the hilt of Seizan, watching her stretch. It was somewhat enchanting. He was impressed by her incredible pliability. If it was readily available to her, then she would indeed be something special. He began to clap, slowly, grabbing her attention.

Very nice. Candice I assume? Oh don't let me stop you, I'm just watching.

Irish accenting punctuated every utterance, but his voice was soft, a light note of sincerity, overtones of something not quite admiration, but acknowledgement of her natural flexibility, as he brought his hands down again, one hanging loosely by his side, the other returning to Seizan, his poise relaxed, his head slightly cocked as he looked on expectantly.

[Locke Levington]

Locke hummed as he strolled through the park, gnawing on a peppermint stick in time to the music blasting through his ear buds. It was a nice day, and he didn't have a mission for another several hours, and while usually he would be planning and replanning and mapping out every little detail the sun had been warm on his face and he'd realized that he hadn't really gone outside for almost a week now. For once, the need to be outside overcame his obsession about his work, and he'd yielded to it.

Briefly, he paused the music and looked up at the trees and wondered how this place might've looked like before the war and the radiation and all the poisoning. It was probably beautiful, though his concept of "beauty" was mostly based on old, surviving paintings of forests and landscapes. Not much beauty around in these days, especially in the places that had received the brunt of the war. No flourishing, lush forests of green here. He sighed, pressed play, and then made a small "tch" when the mp3 player died with a pathetic whirr in his hand. So much for a nice walk through what was left of the park.

Locke closed his eyes as the wind blew in his direction and tried not to think of all the radioactive poisoning that might be whirling his way. Today was too good of a day for that, the sun was shining and there was a bird hopping along the wall and music playing in his - wait.

He opened his eyes and blinked once, and then again, as if to confirm that he was actually hearing music. He checked his mp3 player again and no, it was still off, but yes, the music was still there. He transferred the peppermint stick to the other side of his mouth and went to investigate, heading in the direction where the music grew louder.

The source turned out to be a stereo on the grass, and the owner of the stereo was on some wooden mat thing in front of it. She was blonde, probably taller than he was, and extremely flexible, it seemed like. Locke cocked his head and swirled his tongue around the peppermint stick, making it bob up and down in the bottom peripheral of his vision. He wondered what she might have been doing stretching here, and why she was accompanied by a man who didn't look like he had any business being in a park, or nature in general, or outside of an office at all.

The first thing that Locke could tell about this man was that he was probably too serious. The second was that he was probably a douchebag, but that one was more of an assumption based on the first observation and the fact that he carried around a sword with a red leather hilt, which he seemed to constantly have his hand waver over. And it wasn't even so much the presence of the sword (Hell, he himself carried knives in his own jacket) as his apparent dependence on it. Yep, he was either paranoid or a complete dick.

Locke stepped from where he was awkwardly watching on the gravel path to the woman and the stereo, presenting a wide smile regardless of the fact he probably had no business there.

"You've got some nice music," he said as he took the peppermint stick out of his mouth and completely ignored the fact that Mr. Probably-A-Douchebag had just said something. "It sounds really familiar... what song is that?"

[/blockquote]

[Candice McKaye]

At first she hadn't noticed anyone watching her or even in the park. Candice could be like that when she was in her zone, stretching or dancing. Most of the time she was so focused on whatever she was involved in you could have set off a bomb next to her and she wouldn't have done so much as to blink. Sometimes it was a good thing, like when she was trying to get something done for her class or when she was sent out on a mission, she would be focused enough to get the task done without getting distracted by anything. But like almost every gift the creator gives, there was a down side. Sometimes, Candice was completely oblivious to things not related to her target at the time. Which meant she skipped out on minor (and sometimes major) details. Which might have made her a little bit of a bad spy but she would never admit to that in public.

She probably wouldn't need to however. Seeing as how she hadn't noticed one of the most important people in the Telum operation; Seamus Drae. She had unattractively opened up into a full straddle, her legs almost a complete one-hundred eighty degree's open, and bent over flat - nose to knee- on her left leg. But as she realized she was being watched, she quickly, maybe too quickly, brought her left leg in to half straddle and gasped a little too loud.

"Very nice. Candice I assume? Oh don't let me stop you, I'm just watching."

She almost started to hyperventilate. Yeah okay. Let me just show off my unbelievable flexibility along with parts of my body that you probably... want to see but I'm not going to show you. She thought a little too bitterly. "Uhm, yes, Candice McKaye." She resisted the urge to stand up, partly because he had said that he didnt want to disturb her, partly because at that moment another man had walked up who was either a civilian or an Os agent. Either way it would be very confusing for her to stand up and salute Drae so she tensed but she didn't move all that much.

"You've got some nice music,"
"It sounds really familiar... what song is that?"

She looked up at him and then glanced at her stereo quickly, momentarily forgetting what song it was, probably because she was in more than a little bit of shock. "Its, uh," Though its rather difficult to remember trivial things such as songs when your leader is standing right in front of you. "Its The Call by Regina Spektor." She finally said. "Old song. It came out in about 2008 I believe."

[Locke Levington]

It wasn't until she looked up at him with a nervous expression did Locke take into consideration the fact that he might have startled her. Oops, he hadn't meant to do THAT, but he was good at those kinds of things... or terrible, whatever the perspective happened to be. The woman (Candice, he reminded himself, as he'd caught her name earlier) looked at the stereo and stuttered, and only after a moment did she finally respond,

"Its The Call by Regina Spektor. Old song. It came out in about 2008 I believe."

She seemed a bit... tense if nothing else. For a second, he actually felt a little guilty; she must have been concentrating, and Locke knew what it was like to be interrupted while focusing. Though if that initial distraction was his fault or Sir Way-Too-Serious's, he wasn't sure. Regardless, he gave an amicable smile and stuck the peppermint stick back in his mouth, speaking around it.

"Yeah, knew I recognized it - I think it was in an old movie I saw a while ago..." He nibbled on the piece of candy. "Are you a gymnast? You're very flexible."

Right, friendliness, that tended to calm most people down, though there was the occasional oddity who became more suspicious. Locke decided not to advance and placed his hands behind his back, clasping his right wrist with his left arm as played with the peppermint stick. Unintimidating, unobtrusive, innocent of any malicious intent; earn their trust, and if you can't do that then at least get on their good side. His Valentine training had taught him that much, if nothing else.

He should probably tell her his name soon if he wanted to accomplish that - not his real name, of course, but for now he simply bowed his head a little and said,

"Oh, and I hope you'll forgive me for the interruption, miss."

The entire time, though Locke hadn't so much as looked at the man with the sword, he'd been watching him carefully in his peripheral vision. He didn't seem to be intimidating up front, but there was something about him that screamed danger, like a rusty old elevator full of people. It was subtle, but it was there, and it was enough to keep Locke on his toes even as he rocked back on his heels in the splendid, warm sunlight.

[Seamus Drae]

He smiled at her reflexive straightening. He had that effect on people. She had been spread almost indecently, were it not her stretching off, but still, she had indeed corrected herself somewhat. The appearance of this… Other… This was almost unfortunate. He was SUPPOSED to be checking up on her, finding out her talents, possibly assign her something simple to do, debt collection, just to prove she was capable. But he was making things difficult. At least she hadn’t saluted him. THAT would have taken some explaining…

But he, outside of the disruption he was causing to his plans, was arrogant, and discourteous. He’d not spoken a word to him, not one. Not even so much as acknowledged him. He was almost offended, before he realised, he honestly did not care about him, more the idea of ignoring someone as a whole. But he could tell from the way he remained completely ‘oblivious’, that he HAD acknowledged him. Just ‘discreetly’. He smirked as he watched the youth. He was being too obvious in his ignorance of him. Trying too hard to make it look like he wasn’t paying attention to him. Either he was a very slick civilian, or he was no civilian at all. There was something about his natural poise, his composure, his speech, that smacked of something almost rehearsed to perfection. The way the words rolled off his tongue. He never missed a beat. He raised his head, his smirk softening into a half smile.

For someone so complimentary and eloquent, you’re forgetting a common social grace. Acknowledgement of all present. The focussing of your eyes, the way you haven’t spoken to me at all, it’s almost as if you know me already, and are trying to ignore me. I should be surprised if you had though. Few people do. Not anymore

Inwardly, he smirked at the words, his tone soft, but laced with menace. One of those people who indeed did know his name was in this very area, and if he did know his name, he would very quickly have to dispose of him. His mind began to postulate various different possibilities. Several of them involving this other… Well, not exactly a man, more a youth than anything, but a very well versed youth, several of them involving his life being snuffed out. He restrained that murderous urge, allowing him at least the privilege of revealing his name.

Either way, I believe introductions are in order.

He looked over to Candice, his eyes locking with hers for a moment, before looking back at the youth, locking with his, before looking back and forth between them, walking forward a couple of steps, making his person more a part of the start of a conversation.

Aidan O’Leary. If you’re worried about the blades, don’t be, they’re not destined for your throats, I can promise you that. It’s just a wee bit handy to have them. Keeps quite a few undesirables away. Means I can at least get to and from work safely, I’ve known seen too many people killed at a whim.

The real reason undesirables kept away from him was because the way he walked, spoke and acted exuded an aura of confidence that could only come from someone with serious power. Also the fact that he owned most of the undesirables, whether by direct membership, fear of death or owning all of their assets, merely leasing them out to them for a… Modest share of their profits, he single handedly controlled almost all of the underground black market, trafficking, arms dealings, even the nightclubs. Entire districts were directly or indirectly his province. It was amazing what money, fear and strategic, intelligently placed ‘accidents’ could do for ones standing.

As for killing at a whim, he knew this because he was generally the one doing it, ordering it, or not combatting it. Almost anything that went on here came to his ears, or had been done by him personally. Much in the same way that it seemed to invariably end up with Os as well. Which was a major thorn in his side. Things had to be kept under a tightly sealed lid, just to stop them getting their hands on it. But then, that was part of the reason he was so powerful. He was one of the few people who both tolerated and secured the illicit dealings of others. He’d rebuilt the underworld so to speak, and was very much in control of the overwhelming majority of it.

[/size]

[Candice McKaye]

Candice decided that around this time it would be the best desicion to stand up. So she brought both legs in and stood, feeling a little too tall for her own good. Damn her height. She stood pretty much level with both of them and while this gave her an advantage to the other man there, she didn't want to have Seamus mistake her height for some sort of attempt at being superior over him. It was a paranoid thing to think about but she also had to take a few things into consideration. One, he could kill her any time he wanted. He knew where she lived (most likely and if he didn't he could easily find out) and it wasn't like she could run. She was in his organization. The one that he lead. She had good reason to fear and be paranoid.

As she rose, the other man asked her questions and completely ignored Seamus, another blatantly obvious give away that he was not part of Telum. Whether he was an Os agent and just didn't recognize Seamus or he was a civilian (they were all oblivious to the happenings of Os and Telum anyways) she still wasn't sure but it didn't matter much. Candice sighed and remembered again that she was supposed to be an espionage agent for Telum, and it couldn't have just been a coincidence that Seamus had found her. She had to keep her cool and not freak out just because the boss was around.

"Actually no, I dance. I've been dancing ever since I can remember." She informed the man. "And thank you for the apology." She muttered quickly afterward, coming off a little more agitated than she would have liked. 'Crap. If its not one thing its the other.' she scolded herself and patiently listened to Seamus, or Aiden apparently, chastise this new man. Candice fought back a snicker and instead only slightly smirked and looked down towards the ground.

She tried taking a couple silent deep breaths in and out slowly to see if that helped her get back into her sweet, charming demeanor that she used normally to get her through missions. She was able to somewhat grasp normalcy in her brain and hold onto it. Gradually (though still somewhat rushed) she breathed herself into a position that she was comfortable to interact in. A feat she had to learn to do quickly because of her position in Telum.

"If you didn't catch my name before its Candice." She added quickly, giving a hint of a smile to her newly brightened and calm face. "And you are?" She tilted her head slightly as she waited for this man to respond to her. She had noticeably relaxed, her body relaxed, eyes calm and slightly curious. Her hip was cocked slightly to the left as she rested her left hand there and let her right hand hang loosely by her side.

[Locke Levington]

Oh, so she was a dancer after all. Locke tilted his head and tried not to think about how tall she was (especially compared to him but he'd been short for his age all his life) and was about to respond when the man he'd previously been ignoring finally spoke up. He didn't catch all of what he said, something about social grace and acknowledgment and then something that just screamed "I'M ON SUCH A BIG EGO TRIP; AROUND-THE-WORLD CRUISES HAVE NOTHING ON ME", but he did listen in closely enough to catch his name.

Locke almost almost rolled his eyes at the man, but stopped himself from doing so at the last second. That's right, that wasn't how he was supposed to react to anybody, not even Lord Whatever-the-fuck O'Leary with a stick so far up his ass it was probably tickling his brain. He shifted his weight onto his left foot, opening up more to the (Irish? With a name like O'Leary he had to have been) man who'd just stepped forward.

"If you’re worried about the blades, don’t be, they’re not destined for your throats, I can promise you that." He said. Locke shrugged. He wasn't too nervous about the swords, really, not when he had a full kitchen's worth of knives lined in his jacket. The Irishman continued. "It’s just a wee bit handy to have them. Keeps quite a few undesirables away. Means I can at least get to and from work safely, I’ve known seen too many people killed at a whim."

That was more understandable, but it was still no reason to have it out and obvious (a red leather hilt? Really?), like some flashy, flaunting show of power. Really, there was arrogance (which people told him he had a good amount of) and then there was this guy, and despite his soft tone Locke was suddenly even more on guard. There was something about his voice, something so subtle that he was having a hard time picking up on it, but something that whispered that he knew more than he was saying.

Before he had an opportunity to snark back at him, though, the woman shifted beside him and said, "If you didn't catch my name before its Candice. And you are?"

And there his attention went, directly back at her. Christ she was TALL, but at least now she seemed slightly more relaxed - relaxed enough to smile at least, even if he had a suspicion that it was a forced, fake one.

"Llewyn Maier," He said, "It's a pleasure to meet you," He paused for a half beat. "Both." Really, at this point his disinclination towards the O'Leary asshole was clear enough that he could be obvious about it. Yes, there was the trained part of his mind chastising him for his negative reactions, but right now he disregarded it. He was relaxing, strolling through the park meeting new people. It wasn't like this was part of his job or anything. Not like he was dealing with Telum right now.

[/blockquote]

[Seamus Drae]

When she stood up, Seamus suddenly realised just how tall she was. He smiled, looking at how small she seemed to make the other look. She was a little taller than he was, but she knew her place in comparison to his authority. But this, Llewyn, which he assumed was Welsh by origin, he was still being very much disrespectful. His eyes narrowed at his comment. He had to restrain the urge to not simple walk over there and skewer him there and then. He began to mutter under his breath.

One day, you will learn manners...

His face contorted into a sort of grimace, but something inside of him seared, calling out for blood. He licked his lips, wetting them slightly, his hand returning to hover over Seizan, fingers twitching slightly, almost expectantly. His other hand began to tap his temple, trying to calm himself enough to not simply hurl the blade at him, much as the thought appealed to him.

He coughed once, stepping to his right, slowly making his way closer to the other one, circling so he edged closer to Candice as well as to Llewyn. Seizan almost seemed to scream out to claim his life, but he repressed the urge once again. He was too far away for a start.

You really must learn to watch your tongue.

There was little to disguise the loathing that now dripped from his words. He had met someone who not only wasn't afraid of him, but in fact was insulting him. He locked eyes with him, his own steely grey ones dead of feeling, but inwardly he seethed. He stared at him, lips pursed together tightly, his grip tightening on his blade slightly. The last vestiges of control were beginning to ebb, but for the moment, he was in control.

He continued to move closer to him, stopping when he was about as far away as Candice was. Despite the grip on the blade, he had not really changed from his pose, one hand still hanging loosely at his side. His mind raced as he stood there, motionless. Who was this... This youth... Who did he think he was? Who did he think Seamus was?

[Candice McKaye]

Candice could almost feel the tension in the air and inwardly it scared her, but she didn't want to let that show at all on her face. She merely witnessed the witty and rather rude comments flying back and forth between each of the men. And how Seamus had slowly but surely edged closer to both this other man, Llewyn, and herself. She could tell what that almost unnoticeable twitch in his arm meant, and so close to the weapon he carried. She had been trained to notice minor details that could tell her at least a small portion of information and this was a minor detail but not something that told her little information.

Candice went through all the possible scenarios in her mind as quickly as possible before deciding that most, if not all of them would end in her not being able to show her face in public at all thanks to a death or even an injury made by Drae, not that she could complain, but it wasn't a desired result no matter who had caused it. So now that she had concluded the unwanted or needed outcomes, she had to work faster now to figure out what she could do to stop them.

There were a few things that came to mind. Hurting herself (like a fake twisted ankle) or some other sort of self infliction but she had a dance class to teach and she couldn't take the risk of hurting herself for real as opposed to just a distraction. And if it was just a distraction she couldn't take the risk that this Llewyn knew how to check for minor injuries, and thus conclude that something was up because her distraction was just that, only a distraction.

And then her mind landed on what seemed (at the time) like the best if only option. Candice didn't even think all the way through, she just moved swiftly. She turned to Seamus and intertwined her fingers with his hand resting on the hilt of his katana, to distract that hand, while she placed her other hand softly on his cheek. "Darling." She whispered to him, quietly but still loud enough to let the other know that there was something going on. She hoped that the opening awkwardness of the situation would account for why she hadn't been so "affectionate" with Seamus before.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to the apartment?" She asked quietly still. She let her acting skills rip and looked him straight in the eyes, though it scared her completely silly to do so. Her heart beat was racing so fast it was little but impossible to do concentrate on anything but keeping her breathing steady. "I'll be back in a couple minutes I promise. If I would have known you were looking for me I would have come home." She explained like any concerned girlfriend would have.

She didn't dare smile, that might have made Seamus a little crazier than he already was. But Candice did find the need to be unintentionally tenacious enough to go in and kiss him on the cheek. And as he did so, on the cheek that was not visible to Llewyn, she whispered to Seamus ever so quietly: "I will take care of him. We don't want to create a catastrophe."

Candice removed her hand from the side of his face and held on to his other hand just a little longer, squeezing it softly for good measure and fantastic theatrics. She hoped he bought it, she hoped both of them bought it. Because if they hadn't she was in deep shit.

[Locke Levington]

Locke couldn't help but relishing in how agitated the man seemed, nibbling on the peppermint stick so that it bobbed up and down tauntingly. Clearly he'd just pushed a few buttons, which he tended to excel at, and despite the fact that every step the O'Leary psycho took towards him made every hair on his body scream to run, he stood his ground and gazed defiantly back into his eyes. They were empty, which was odd, but it was mostly the fact that they were so empty while the man was so obviously suppressing fury (which the hand gripping the sword really gave away, honestly) that made Locke most nervous. Here was someone used to wearing a mask, probably used to hiding his emotions, so he could only imagine what the man could be feeling now as he twitched and grimaced.

He willed himself not to run out of pure stubbornness, ignored the comment about learning manners, but the next one, about watching his tongue, now that one made him smile. If he always watched his tongue and where it went, well, then, he wouldn't be a very good Valentine, now would he? He snickered and gave in to the urge to run that tongue over his lips, slowly, provokingly, before popping the rest of the candy in his mouth and breaking it with a series of loud crunches.

"Well how about this, then," He replied, tilting his head innocently. "I'll watch my tongue if you're able to pull out that stick up your ass... though it's planted in so deep I'm pretty sure you won't even be able to reach it."

Before he could say anything further, Candice had moved, and suddenly Locke was witnessing what he felt could have been real (the kiss on the cheek, the extended squeeze on the hand) or, from the small things (putting her hand on his that happened to hold the blade, the nervous look in her eyes though her voice was steady and her breathing calm) could have been completely fabricated. He frowned but didn't see enough evidence to completely call it fake; passing judgment would be unfair to her, and all things considered it was only minorly her fault that her boyfriend was some egotistical psychopath.

If he was even her boyfriend, at least. They at least knew each other on some level, Locke knew this much; she seemed to be acquainted with him at least to understand his body language, and plus she was definitely too willing to take this risk with a complete stranger.

[/blockquote]

[Seamus Drae]

Seamus was about ready to draw blade and dismember this upstart, but, to the leader's surprise, and to the benefit of this youth, Candice had entwined her fingers with his. Immediately, he stopped, and looked at Candice blankly. What on earth was she doing? She spoke to him, her voice soft, it in itself calming him somewhat, but the twitching in his hand was still present.

But 'Darling'? He almost burst into fits of laughter. But he managed to repress it, his face remaining stony. Back to the apartment? If it wasn't for the rage coursing through him at the minute, he would have though being in any form of room with her would be an... Interesting escapade to say the least. She was certainly flexible enough, but at the moment, it simply served to keep his hand on the blade, and not round Llewyn's neck.

Her eyes had locked with his. Things started to make sense as the red-haze like effect of his fury subsided somewhat, despite his continued aggravation, which he noted, had stopped as she had begun whatever she was doing. He found this rather entertaining, but again, didn't let it show. Served the cocky upstart right. He nodded when she said she'd be over later.

The whispering in his ear as she kissed him on the cheek made everything make sense somehow, as he smirked at Llewyn, his eyes still cold, unfeeling, despite the relative intimacy of the moment. He turned to face her, kissing her back, lightly on the cheek.

Make him squeal.

He disentangled himself from her grip, before smirking at Llewyn again, turning to walk away, taking a few steps, before he stopped, turned around, raising his voice slightly.

I look forward to our next meeting, Mr Maier.

Spinning on one heel, he walked away again, passing through the foliage of low hanging trees, stopping to turn only when he was convinced he was out of sight, looking through a gap in the greenery, listening intently to the proceedings, watching her, assessing every movemen, as well as watching the other one, still inherently suspicious of him. He was definately something more than he appeared to be...

[Candice McKaye]

She watched Seamus walk away, smiling nervously while beneath the exterior of her acting, her mind was racing around like Alvin and the Chipmunks on crystal meth. Candice waited until he was completely out of sight until she looked back to Llywen, still attempting to think of a way to even possibly "make him squeal."

'Oh yes.' she thought bitterly to herself. 'I can totally fucking make this random guy squeal when a) i have no friggin' idea where to start and b) i have a DANCE class to teach tomorrow where i have to actually TEACH a dance.' She frowned inwardly as she stood there in a few more seconds of silence, still just staring nervously at Llywen.

"Sorry..." She suddenly spoke to him, looking down and shifting positions to portray herself as a meek little thing. Suddenly she shrunk a few inches, or at least it might have looked that way to other people. She tended to do that when acting afraid or nervous. She pushed her bangs out of her face and bit her lip, looking back up. ".. Sorry about my.." She tried again, but the way she had been acting took her over and she literally felt extremely small. ".. my boyfriend." she finally finished her sentence. "He's got some.. anger issues and sometime he can't control them as easily."

There was some sort of look in her eyes that portrayed hurt and hesitation. She had no idea where she was pulling this emotion from, her ass most likely, because she'd never had an experience that she could latch on to, like most acting she had to do. But this was a completely random trail of emotions she was following. Candice looked helplessly into his eyes, sort of like a lost puppy dog. Suddenly her expression shifted, though she was still acting. She swallowed hard and she put on a fake mask of what could only be described as "okay-ness".

"You probably don't want to hear about that though." She feigned a laugh that was "supposed" to come out real and instead resulted in "nervous" again. She swallowed again. "You can... just go if you want to." She sighed and started to pack up her portable floor off the ground. 'please buy it, please buy it, please buy it...' she pleaded to him mentally. She hoped he would react. Something along the lines of reaching out or... or something. 'please buy it.'

[Locke Levington]

That smile - that smile had to be the creepiest thing Locke had ever seen. Granted, a lot of things creeped him out (spiders, insects, things that crawled and probably bit) but nothing had ever sent so many chills racing down his spine as quickly as the Serious Business Bastard's smile. Really, that was the look that felled kingdoms and ended bloodlines, and if there was anything that he regretted about this meeting it was being on the receiving end of that smile.

"I look forward to our next meeting, Mr Maier." The man said, and started walking away. It took Locke a second to realize that, oh right, that's what he'd said his last name was.

"Yeah," He called after him, "Well I'm glad one of us does!" He dropped his voice and muttered, under his breath, "Go blow a hooker," before turning his attention back on Candice.

She was just staring, nervously, and Locke realized how childish and rudely he'd been acting in favour of pissing off the O'Leary dick. Oops, yeah, he WAS being sort of a jerk himself, wasn't he? He opened his mouth, fully intending to apologize but she, for some reason, beat him to it. She apologized for her (she paused) "boyfriend," told him about the anger issues, and though Locke didn't believe a word of the situation, the emotions in her eyes were real enough that he knew there was something connecting her to him, something that was probably hurting her.

No, he wanted to say, Don't apologize, but before the words could come out of his mouth she'd already brushed it off, as if her problem were some minor thing she could just ignore and it'd go away. Except it wouldn't, the problem would only fester and if her only way to deal with it was to send him away and then shrink, well, soon she'd shrink so much that there wouldn't be anything left of her, and that would be a tragedy. O'Leary Anger Issues was a prick, and she didn't deserve having to deal with him. Candice laughed, a clearly fake one, said something about leaving, but at that point that was clearly out of the question.

"You know you don't have to deal with that," He said, walking forward and placing a hand, lightly, on her shoulder. "That's really not fair to you." He paused and considered the situation again and said, sheepishly, "And I'm really sorry for setting him off but, quite honestly, he's a prick."