Snippet #2710036

Candice Hallows

Striding up towards the door of Kane’s apartment, Candice took a moment to correct herself before carefully moving to ring the doorbell. To her immediate surprise, the door opened up just as she moved forward; a young student that she’d never seen before opening it and gesturing her inside. “Miss Hallows I presume? It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am, I’m looking forward to attending my first lecture with you. Your publication on non-humans was a refreshing insight into alternative viewpoints non-humans can hold regarding mankind.” The cheery, blue eyed student certainly seemed on top of the material, and that pleased Candice. She was happy someone appreciated her work, but she did have to wonder who this girl actually was.

“Yes, that’s correct. I’m glad you found value in my work. I take it you’re one of Kane’s classmates?” She asked, receiving a simple nod in response from the girl as she was lead down the hall. “Yes Miss Hallows, I transferred here today. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Erica. Erica Decall.” With a slight tilt of her head and a small smile, Erica stopped briefly for the introductions, shaking hands with her superior. “Please, we’re not in a formal setting call me Candice.” It was impossible for Candice not to respond in kind with her own smile. It was rare to find a student with this level of confidence and genuine friendliness. Withdrawing her hand, Erica continued to lead Candice down the hall. “Kane has been most helpful in showing me around. You must be proud of him.” The pleasant tone and demeanour from the young girl was certainly helping to ease Candice’s earlier panic, and it was also buttering up her ego. Perhaps a little too much, but she did enjoy receiving flattery, and the girl seemed quite nice. “My son is quite special to me. I think I’d be proud of him almost regardless of his actions, but I am happy to hear that he’s been of assistance to you Erica.”

Rounding the corner, the two stepped into the main lounge area, allowing Candice to take in the scene. Rin looked up as Candice walked in, a wide grin sliding across her features- there was a slight bit of deviousness to her grin, but nothing too bad. Typical. Ignoring the feline for the moment, she turned her gaze to look for Kane, finding him strangely absent, before noticing the final guest of the evening. Though she couldn’t hide the raise of her brow at spotting Sister Rianne here, she was thankful that her sunglasses would likely be doing that job for her. “My, I didn’t realise Kane had invited so much company.” Candice stated after a brief pause, watching Erica move around her and head for the kitchen. Likely, that was where Kane was.

“It’s… Nice to see you Sister. And you too Rinne.” Candice continued, wrinkling her nose slightly as she noted the smoke wafting from her cigarette. Though she was technically far older than Rianne, by appearances she was considered the younger of the two. The manner in which one conducts themselves is a far greater indicator of one’s maturity however; and in this case, Candice’s past experiences and general viewpoint on the sister was that although quite talented, she’d proven herself time and time again to be somewhat ignorant, brash and for the most part, just plain rude. Younger individuals she tended to give a free pass as growing up, experimenting and needing guidance. Rianne however, was well old enough to make her own decisions. Candice just didn’t personally approve of them.

“Tell me, what brings you here?” Candice inquired as she eyed Rianne, briefly throwing Rinne a somewhat quizzical look as she took a seat next to her. Looking back to Rianne again, it was clear that she was somewhat disapprovingly noting her disrespectful posture with her feet up on the furniture. She didn’t mention it however. At least, not yet. Rin shrugged, the small smirk on her face not shrinking or vanishing at all. She had no idea who the woman across from them was, and she didn’t know her relationship to Candice, but she had a sneaking suspicious that her favourite uptight snake lady was probably not on good terms with Rianne. ‘Uncouth’ is the word she’d probably use. Honestly, Rin saw a bit of her untrained self in Rianne, although nowadays putting your feet up was, well, not exactly something she’d do. Despite her playfulness, Rin was in a constant state of alert - it came with the job. However, her usually stiff frame was much more relaxed than usual. She wasn’t being shot at, after all. The bag at her feet was in easy reach, and Rinne’s revolvers could be drawn in a second when she’d last timed it. A soft voice echoed in the back of her head, and Rinne clenched her jaw as she willed it away.

She secretly hoped Kane would hurry up and get back. She idly bumped Candice’s shoulder a few seconds after she’d sat down. It occurred to her that she should probably keep it professional unless Candice stated otherwise - didn’t want anyone knowing her.. more intimate relations, after all. Rin idly reached up and scratched just below her scar, not wanting to interrupt Rianne’s response. The voice of the dead girl in the back of her head was being a bit of a pain to ignore.

"I'm not gonna turn down free dinner," Rianne answered, letting out a stifled yawn. "That, and. . . I'd been meaning to clear up some things, but unlucky for me, that's not quite how things turned out. He wants me to be his personal tutor, basically." She leaned forward a bit and with a miffed expression, waved casually around the space in front of her. "As much as I tried to convince him otherwise. I'd ask you to talk some sense into the little twerp, but at this point I don't know if I should be going back on my word."

“I think that would be for the better.” Candice replied bluntly, masking her own surprise at the revelation with her curt rejection of Rianne. Honestly, could she not even follow through on something as simple as that properly? She’d have to speak with Kane and remove any foolish ideas from his head before he made a grave mistake. Who knew what sort of hooligan antics Rianne would teach him if given the opportunity?

Rin sat there, quite happily gazing away from the two.. lovely ladies present. After Candice’s less than proper reply, she elbowed her in the side, not too hard, but hard enough. “So, the weather is nice today, huh?” Rin spoke a bit loudly, her gaze still out the window. She didn’t exactly want to get involved in their tense little.. Whatever. Candice and Rianne’s relationship was none of her business, but she wasn’t going to let them get into anything with Kane having worked so hard to make this dinner happen.

Rianne almost felt herself wincing at the woman's words. Mm. Well, it didn't come as a surprise, and even she herself had acknowledged the potential problems that could arise from this development, but. . . she wasn't sure why she took offense to that. Candice had every right to be worried, and honestly whatever she decided was none of her concern, so Rianne pushed those thoughts and those feelings to the back of her mind.

"Yeah, probably," she finally said, picking at her teeth with her pinky nail. Not setting the greatest example here, but it wasn't strange behavior for someone who never cared about leaving good impressions. Candice withheld her own follow up comment as another voice rang out.

“Alright guys, dinner is ready!” The call came from the kitchen, Kane poking his head through the doorway to see everyone, briefly raising an arm to wave at Candice. “Hey Mom, glad you could make it.” Smiling, Kane gestured the three to follow him, heading over to the dining table to take a seat, Erica putting the finishing bits of cutlery on display. The aroma was enticing, Kane happily gesturing to the small set of banquet trays with a small variety of meats, vegetables and other bits and pieces; the roast meal on full display with utensils readily available at each ‘station’ for self service. “Help yourself guys, there’s plenty there, so take as much as you want. Of course, you can always have seconds too.” Stepping to the side to let everyone else sample what they needed, Kane would take his meal last.

Rin sighed hard when the others moved to the dining table, being the last to stand up. She somewhat eagerly followed Kane to the table, openly licking her lips and grinning. No rations tonight, heck yeah. “Looks good, you two. I might have to eat everything there~” She teased, quite happily grabbing what she needed and heaping her plate fairly high with a mix of everything. It was all in easy reach on the table, after all. After this meal, she’d probably go for a few days on nothing but rations, so she wasn’t going to be skimpy on her meal. Besides, it looked delicious and there was plenty of it, so she definitely wasn’t going to be holding back. She sat directly beside Kane, giving him a grin as she waited. Did people at the WDL say grace, or..? Rinne silently hoped a certain someone would save her the awkwardness of sitting next to someone she’d never met by taking the seat beside her, and she mentally reminded herself to be on her best table manners. Not very good, being a kitty, but she always tried her best. She adjusted the cap on her head.

“Heh, well, I did put in a little something special just for you, seeing as Kane told me so much about his favourite Aunt.” Erica laughed a bit, taking a seat on the far side of the table as she noted Candice move to take her place by Rinne’s side. “I’m certain you’ll enjoy it, so dig right in.” She affirmed again, surprisingly having not too much on her plate, and not making too much move to eat it. She probably had a big meal or something prior. As for Candice, she carefully reached to take a modest helping of the range. At least, compared to her feline compatriot, though it seemed there was no need for extreme formality as she calmly reached for her cutlery and got to work cutting into the beef. Briefly, she gave Kane a bit of a look, flitting her eyes towards Rianne, but the young boy either didn’t notice or didn’t care, leading his mother to simply give in and decide to make the most of the meal. She could speak with him later about his educational decisions. For now, she simply had him pass the gravy.

“Heh, this is great. I’m really glad you all could make it. In fact, I think this is the first time I think I’ve had anyone over since well… Ever!” Kane spoke happily, making a point not to speak with his mouth full. Some formality would be needed around his mother, at the very least. “Did you get all the paperwork done Mom?” Inquiring slightly, it was met with a simple nod from Candice as she finished her first piece of the meal, daintily taking the napkin to brush her mouth before speaking. “Bailey is handling the preparations for tomorrow. He’s quite reliable at this sort of thing. After all, the training for the new recruits is likely to be quite the affair. No doubt there will be adjustments and improvisations to the schedule.” Of course, Candice wasn’t at liberty to discuss the details, particularly with those who were uninvolved with the children. Thankfully, Kane knew better than to inquire further than he already had.

From there, the group enjoyed the rest of the chatter and dinner until later in the night, Rianne being the first to excuse herself, followed by Candice and Rinne, before finally Erica said her parting words and headed off for the night, leaving Kane to relax at home.