Somehow, Candace had managed to track down another chair with a nautical theme embroidered onto its back cushion. An old fishing trawler at sea taunted Jack as he took a seat beside Kieran. He glanced over as Kieran sat beside him; no trace of the trepidation and misery from before was present. It wasn't fair.

He tried to distract himself by playing with the different squares of fabric that dangled from the table and onto his lap. Velvet, satin, and sheer were what he encountered. There was also an old shawl with sequins and glitter that he recognized. He remembered getting a hug and finding glitter for more than a week. He dropped the cloth and busied himself with his own coat, already regretting the sparkling mess his jeans had most likely become.

The silence stretched on, and Jack had the sinking feeling he was supposed to make proper introductions. They all knew who was there and why, so why should he have to make the first move? He dragged his gaze up, his stomach lurching at the sight that greeted him.

Candace had a menacing look about her with the way the shadows cast by her electric candles fell across her face. She leaned forward, propping her elbows on her fabric-laiden table and laced her fingers together. She rested her chin on her hands and wiggled her fingers. Her smile was eager and almost predatory as she regarded Kieran. "So. Kieran O'Byrne. Nice to finally meet you. Jack's spoken of you."

"Neither highly nor ill?" Kieran asked with a soft laugh. He glanced at Jack. "I'll take that as a good sign."

"It's a good sign for him," Candace admitted with a sigh.

"Hey!" Jack slouched down as he was easily ignored. He wasn't that predictable.

"Although, I am privy to some of the 'he's an asshole' tirades," she said with a hint of meanness. "My husband also had some choice words for describing you."

Kieran narrowed his eyes in confusion and looked to Jack for an answer.

"Sorry," Jack mumbled. He would have mentioned something if he'd known Kieran didn't know about Sam and Candace. Blaming his memory issues on forgetting was out of the question. This was just him being a flake and taking for granted that his friends already knew of each other. "Sam's married to… Yeah. Shoulda mentioned that, huh?"

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Kieran let out a sigh and nodded. "I see. Well, for the record, I am working on myself."

"Good. Let's begin!" Candace said as she began shuffling her cards. She eyed Kieran with a raised brow, sizing him up as she slowly shuffled.

As much as the rustling of the cards spelled Jack's doom, there was something he found mesmerizing about the action. That, and he thought Candace could have been a dealer at a poker table with how easily she manipulated the stack. He sat up straight when she stopped and turned over the first card, his heart rate kicking up at the familiar artwork.

It was just a coincidence.

"The King of Pentacles. Upright. We're off to a good start," Candance declared, throwing Jack a wink.

He could have done without the wink. Now Kieran would know he'd been subjected to plenty of readings surrounding his love life.

Kieran leaned forward, propping his chin on his knuckles as he looked over the placement of the cards. "Representing my current self, if this is the spread I'm thinking of."

"Exactly," Candace said with an impressed smile. Her smug smile said everything about her quickly rising approval for Kieran. "Next, let's see where you've been."

Eyes flicking from cards to Candace's reaction as each was turned over, Jack took in her growing confusion. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. There was no way Candace would figure out Kieran wasn't human with her self-indulgent card game. Her idea of a nosy shopping extravaganza was looking to have been the better option.

"Um… One sec." Candace flipped the rest of the cards and stared at them in perplexed silence then raised her eyes to Kieran. She ran a finger along the edge of The Hermit before moving to the Nine of Pentacles.

Jack stared at the card, hoping there was nothing significant about the lady holding a bird. Aside from the pentacles surrounding her, he thought he could make out a snail at her feet. Did Kieran need to come out of his shell and face the future? He closed his eyes, so he wouldn't blatantly roll them at the direction his thoughts had taken.

When he looked back up at Candace, she was nibbling on a chunk of hair. The sinking feeling was back. She'd hit a dead end, and wouldn't let herself make a decision. Or it was the old man on the other card that snagged her. The thought struck Jack with a sudden numbness.

"How old are you?" Candace asked.

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]