One Particular Harbor [Ira, Candice]

The City of Lights wasn't exactly an easy place to get around now, and that was doubly true when Ira had no real reason to be here other than "I know a few people." Sure, he had the old paperwork that said he'd worked with the Vandenreich before, and that got him through customs a little faster than he might've otherwise, but it definitely wasn't as easy as he'd have liked.

"Christ, this is a nightmare."

Bag slung over his shoulder, he was definitely being a bit more rude than he might normally be. That was only to be expected, yeah? Friends got hurt, barely avoided bein' killed. Ira knew this was a rough time, and the last thing he was trying to do was cause problems, so he at least kept from being an outright jackass.

"Hey, lady! You know the way to the hospital?"

Better to see if someone knew their way around than just trying to figure it out himself, right?

Candi tried to keep a low profile in the city after the incident and her subsequent repeated visits to the hospital. For her, though, that was a bit of an impossible feat. It would only be a matter of time before someone recognised her, and then she'd have to go through the whole song and dance of why she was here and what she was doing. Of course, she'd prepared for that eventuality at length. What she hadn't prepared for was to be picked out of a crowd at random.

Looking down at the young woman that had called out to her, Candice could not help but turn her nose upward somewhat. It was a pretty instinctive reaction to getting called out like that by a stranger, or perhaps they weren't a stranger and wanted to take her by surprise.

"Yeah, I suppose I do. I'm on my way there right now."

Effortlessly, she flicked her hair over one shoulder and waited to see if the girl would ask for an autograph or throw her a compliment. Assuming that none came, she would huff just a little and begrudgingly offer an introduction.

"My name is Candice Catnipp, by the way. "

"Ah, perfect, we can go together then, if ya don't mind me taggin' along."

Of course, Ira was pretty much just inviting himself, but he didn't exactly think it was too unreasonable in this circumstance. You didn't tend to go to the hospital for no reason, after all. He couldn't quite help but cock an eyebrow at her name, not entirely sure if she was pulling his leg, but he wasn't gonna press that one.

"That's a cute name, dated a girl named Candice when I was younger. Name's Ira, by the way."

He'd certainly really slipped into old man mode since he'd gotten here, but that was sort of inevitable. Anything else wasn't exactly his natural state.

Candi's eyes rolled as her name went a few miles over Ira's head, a sigh tumbling out of her mouth as she accepted that this was just a random encounter. A girl could dream, right? Still, she looked her new companion up and down before shrugging her shoulders.

"Sure thing, Ira. We can get to know each other a little better on the way over."

An exaggerated smile soon replaced her previously guarded expression as Candi accepted the request to walk together. It was a little ways across town to the hospital and she would have been bored going it alone, at least this might be a little fun distraction. Besides, there was a way to how Ira spoke that had caught her interest. It was a little strange like the mannerisms didn't quite suit her body.

"So was this other Candice also cute then? Wait, actually, I guess that's hard to say as she was probably like a little kid too?"

Ira wasn't sure what threw him more, the roll of the eyes or the smile, but he wasn't entirely sure he liked either one. But he'd already committed to this by now, and she knew where she was going, so he just followed along.

"She was a real pretty girl, yes indeed. Wasn't that young, though, she was probably about your age. I'm just a little older than I look, comin' up on 70 now. Christ, I'm old."

Ugh, he really was coming up on 70. Least, in years. Ira would've been lying if he said he really felt like much of a 70 year old man these days. He'd gotten used to being younger, even if the circumstances weren't...well, ideal.

Ah, that indirect compliment did give Candi just the smallest amount of a buzz. But what Ira said next did cause that twisted smile to falter. A look of genuine surprise descended upon the heiress, emerald eyes alight with confusion and interest.

"You're seventy?!"

What did she mean she was seventy? Seven-zero? Surely she was lying, pulling her leg or whatever, but there was such an earnestness to her response. No, this was too weird of a coincidence. She laughed, a forced little thing but she was trying to be polite about it. It had to be a prank, there was nothing else to it really.

"Well you look pretty good for a girl pushing on into retirement. What's your secret? I could kill for some cosmetics that good."

A hand reached upwards towards Ira, almost like she might prod her with a finger just to make sure she was real. This could all be some sleep-deprived hallucination, right? It wasn't like she'd been sleeping properly lately. Yeah. Maybe she should prod her just to check, better safe than sorry?

"Yes indeed, little lady. Sixty eight, to be exact, but it's all the same after a while."

The question about his secret did certainly sober him up a bit, though, and his smile faltered a bit as he thought about it. Well, it wasn't like it was really a topic that'd get any easier over the years, but if nothing else, Ira'd gotten used to explaining the situation.

"Fraid this body's not the first one I've been in. Thought I'd be savin' a life givin my life to the girl who had it before me, but I guess that's not quite how it worked."

He certainly wasn't going to spill his guts on the full realities of what had happened to a stranger, and not when there was already plenty else going on.

"Hey, I'm not little..."

Her voice trailed off, the little note of irritation already subsiding as she continued to struggle with exactly what Ira was. This was becoming harder and harder to call a prank, so fuck it. If she wanted it to be real then Candice would just deal with that. So now what? She was some kinda bodysnatcher? That was what Giselle was, in the crudest possible way. Surely they weren't like connected or anything? But he was going to the hospital.

There were plenty more questions that she wanted to ask, but what if this was one of Gigi's friends? Ugh. Like. It didn't make sense, but fine, she could hold back from prying about that for the sake of being sure.

"So.. I take it you're visiting someone at the hospital? Me too, obviously, but were they caught up in that terrible attack?"

"Just 'cause you've got a couple inches on me, that doesn't make you any less a little lady."

Ira wasn't exactly all that filled in on the matter of what had actually happened, but even if he had been, he wasn't going to go around just talking about Ehefra's issues. He'd spent a whole lot of his life around hospitals, and he'd gotten pretty used to not just chatting about other people's issues.

"Nah, don't think so. She's been in since before that. Figured I probably ought to come in and make sure she's doin' alright since that happened, though. I'd've liked to get here sooner, but findin' a way in here's kind of a hassle without bein' a citizen, or havin' some money to grease the wheels."

He, unfortunately fit neither category. A poor vagrant who'd only just gotten back to Earth from Soul Society? Hell, he was pretty sure the Vandenreich wouldn't exactly like what he'd even been getting up to lately.

The first time she'd been distracted, and her heart wasn't really in it, but if this girl had something that she really wanted to get off her chest then Candi would hear it. What was this young-old lady's problem with her anyway? If she didn't want to talk then she could have just said or walked off or whatever. Sure, that would have also pissed Candi off, but it was like she wanted a confrontation.

"And just..."

It was abundantly clear that Candice was all but ready to blow her top over a little heckling, and then she stopped. She caught herself. It genuinely surprised her that she had managed it, but she remembered the weary look on those nurses' faces when she'd been shouting at them because she just wanted to see Ehefra. Ira was on her way to the hospital too, so who knew what that other woman was going through for her to have come all this way? If Ira was a little stressed then fair enough, Candi had been a 'little' bit stressed too.

"Ugh. Nevermind."

Candi's preppy, over-interested attitude slowly faded away as she gave Ira just a little more personal space. Not that she'd been all that invasive before, but the option had certainly been there. The last thing she wanted was to cause Gigi or Ehefra any more grief, so, yeah, maybe she was actually not going to be a colossal bitch for a change.

"Anyway, I hope she isn't in for anything too bad. I know what you mean about it being a huge pain in the ass to get here too. I flew in the day after the attack and had to sit in a customs for like six hours."