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Cassiopeia thanked Nic for the sandwich, and is eating while she listens to Nic. It brings a smile to her face to hear him talk about his job.

"Oh, I just feel like it's been about me and my job the last couple of days, and I hardly know anything about yours. When you get those patients in, what do you do to try and convince them to get treatment?" Cass asks curiously, wanting to know if there is some secret way to handle difficult people.

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"That would make a rather interesting grave marker," Avery notes. He watches her struggle to massage the area out. Avery knows from experience that she won't likely get that knot out with an extra pair of hands.

He gives a whistle when she informs him of her age. "Just a young little thing," he teases. Avery shuffles over to the middle of the couch and beckons Kimiko over.

"Here. I think I know what's going on and you're never going to get those muscles to loosen up that way."

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Caden fully laughs this time, especially when the German accent comes out stronger. "You are a little devil, aren't you?" Caden opened his eyes, grinning wickedly and promptly flips Nero over.

Caden sits atop Nero, straddling them with their arms pinned down. [olor=#006400]"How should I punish you, hmm?"[/color]

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Nic finishes making his second sandwich and takes a bite as he marvels over the fact that Cass wanted to hear more about his job. “A lot of the time, I try to approach it from their perspective - take a walk in their shoes to better understand where they’re coming from. It doesn’t always work and those that aren’t a threat to themselves or others are free to walk out if they want to. Except the criminally charged, the usually law enforcement will make sure they can’t leave, not hospital staff.” Nic says before stealing a carrot from Cass and eats it before continuing.

“I try not to let it bother me because it is their choice to receive treatment… it’s the parents who willfully hurt their kids that sticks with me the most. Like…” He cuts himself off and takes another bite of his sandwich. He doesn’t have to go down that road right now.

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Kiki laughs at his comment about the grave marker and when he calls her a ‘young little thing’, she tries to hide the blush that appears on the tips of her ears. “Exactly, I’m no old fox.” She declares. When Avery scoots towards her, she instinctively moves to give him more room and stops when he beckons her towards him.

With a tilt of her head, she realizes he’s right about the muscle… But is he planning to massage her himself? Kimiko scoots over and faces her back to Avery, hoping her ears are just warm and not flushed. “Is this close enough?” She asks, giving Avery a wide berth still but not a whole seat cushion between them at least.

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Nero giggles when Caden calls them a little devil and squeaks at the speed of which Caden easily flips them and pins them down. Nero peers up at Caden with a wicked little smirk of their own and an eyebrow carefully raised. They can’t deny the fact that they secretly love being helpless for Caden. “I think the behavior should be rewarded actually.” Nero says impishly, lifting their chin in a silent challenge.

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Nic steals another carrot from the bag which brings a smile to Cassiopeia's face but she still moves the bag away from him. Both to taunt him but also to conserve the carrots. She tucks the little bag inside the brown bag on the other side of her. If Nic wanted more, he would have to lean over Cassiopeia. Or move her out of the way.

The way Nic explains how he deals with difficult patients makes sense to Cassiopeia. She, herself, had dealt with difficult customers who were dragged into her shop by friends or spouses. It was always interesting to her how these people found each other.

Cassi starts to lean closer to Nic as the conversation shifts to that of children. She can feel Nic's emotions roll off of him. When he cuts himself, Cassiopeia rests her shoulder against Nic and kisses his cheek.

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When Avery sees Kimiko blush and hesitate, he doesn't think much of it. He just assumes it's because of how much he's been teasing her. When she scoots slightly closer to him, he smirks before closing the distance, and rests his hands on her shoulders for a moment before he starts pressing on the soft tissue of her muscles with his thumbs lightly to locate the knot in her shoulders.

"I used to have to do this kind of thing all the time when I first started training Caden and some of the other staff members," he explained to Kimiko while he worked. "The muscles get used to being tensed and working that they forget to relax while we're resting."

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Caden raises his eyebrows at Nero's defiance. "Oh, really? And why do you think that?" Caden shifts his hands from Nero's wrists to their palms, interlocking their fingers, but still applying enough pressure to keep them pinned.

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Nic watches in amusement as Cass hides the carrots from him, but it quickly shifts to anger with the shift in conversation. Cass’ touch grounds him and the kiss softens his brow. “Sorry,” He says, resting his hand over hers and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Sometimes, when I see some poor kid with a cancer diagnosis, I can’t help but think of my Kiki. So when that kid’s parents are trying to eradicate the cancer with bell peppers and not taking the chance that chemo might provide, I get so frustrated. Have any other reason - it’s too expensive, it makes the patient worse, the survival rate is less than 1%, but… just flat out refusing breaks my heart.”

He knows he’s treading close to saying how much he used to hate holistic shops that preyed on families like these, but now that he knows the supernatural world exists, he’s sure there’s well-intentioned people like Cass who truly try to help people. He just doesn’t know how to phrase it properly.

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Kimiko’s skin ends up getting covered in tiny little goosebumps as soon as Avery touches her and she has to remind herself to relax, otherwise she’ll be too tense for the wolf to get rid of her knot. She starts counting her breath, Inhale for 1…2…3…4…5…6… Exhale for 4…3…2…1…, a trick she had long ago learned from a massage therapist to help relax her body.

She listens to Avery speak and feels grateful that he even thought to help her with the soreness. She was convinced he hates touching her. “I think we can blame you trying to kill me via motorcycle for this one.” She teases with a small laugh before she stops Avery for a moment.

“Sorry, let me take the sweatshirt off - I have a tank on underneath and that should work better, right?” She glances over her shoulder to see if Avery has an issue with this before she just pulls the sweatshirt off. She’s wearing a white camisole with spaghetti straps underneath, foregoing a bra since she didn’t think she would be taking the outer layer off. It’s form-fitting but nothing scandalous. She shifts to position herself for Avery again.

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Nero grins widely, holding Caden’s hands back when they interlace theirs. “Because I’ve been a very good kleiner kobold today and deserve to be spoiled.” They chirp with a nod, trying not to giggle.

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Cassi squeezes Nic's hand back. "Don't apologize for how you feel. It's difficult to watch anyone refuse something that you know will help, or even have a better chance of helping than doing nothing at all. There are a lot of people out there who profit off of what I do simply because it sells. I can see how that would be frustrating in the medical field when science works more times than not. I find a healthy mix of science and voodoo helps," Cass said in an effort to lift the mood.

She kisses Nic's cheek again before offering him a strawberry. "Do people really believe eating bell peppers will help cure cancer?"

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Avery chuckles and continues to work on the sizable knot he found. When Kimiko tells him to stop, he immediately pulls back his hands, concerned he hurt her or she changed her mind. However, she simply wants to give him more access. Avery simply nods, not trusting his voice at the moment.

He watches her pull the sweatshirt off, his eyes tracking the way her shoulders move and how her hair falls back down around her. He swallows. You're only staring so you can see where the tight muscles are, he reminds himself.

Avery clears his throat and puts his hands back on Kimiko's shoulders and starts working on the knots right away. He gently squeezes her shoulders to bring more blood flow to the area before he works his thumbs and fingers along her spine and into her neck. He massages the two hollows at the back of her head where the spinal column exits.

"Let me know if I'm hurting you," he manages to say.

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"Oh? Did I not do a good enough job spoiling you earlier in this very room?" Caden asks, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lip. "Tell me how I may make this up to you, mein kleiner Kobold." Caden leans down and places a kiss to the hollow spot between Nero's collarbone and throat.

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Nic nods his head as Cass talks, finding her voice soothing and comforting. He can’t help the chuckle when she asks about the bell peppers and gratefully takes the strawberry she offers him, eating it without the leaf in one bite as he nods. “You bet - now that I know you and have a better understanding of how other methods can help, I’m less inclined to think every person choosing holistic care is getting taken advantage of, but I might start sending you clients.” He returns a kiss on her cheek.

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Kimiko finds her eyelids feeling really heavy as Avery works on her back. While concentrating on her breathing, she’s finding herself able to really relax. When he asks her to let him know if he’s hurting him, she lets out a soft laugh. “On the contrary, this feels really good so far, thank you.” She says. A small moan escapes her, unable to stop it since she was talking. She grimaces, hoping that Avery won’t notice or tease her about it at least.

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Nero unable to keep the giggles in any longer when he reminds them of their earlier escapade. When Caden asks what he can do to make it up to them, Nero starts to answer but is easily distracted by the lips on them. “This is a good start.” They manage to tease, even if their voice was breathless.

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Cassi beams from the compliment and the kiss. "I guess that means I'll have to keep more regular hours," she laughed.

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Avery can feel the knots in Kimiko's back start to melt as he works them out and she relaxes. He smiles to himself when she assures him it feels good. Avery always prided himself on having strong, yet soft hands for this work. Despite the calluses on his fingers and hands from guitar playing and manual work, Avery had the right touch for massaging.

When Kimiko moans, the hair on the back of Avery's neck stands on end. It's a typical reaction, a release in its own but hearing her moan specifically set his skin tingling. Avery attempted to ignore it but he had to admit he wanted to hear her do it again. He slid his fingers away from her neck and worked along her shoulder blades, curious to see how much tension was there, but also to see if she would moan again.

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Caden chuckled, brushing his lips along Nero's skin from the vibrations. "Mmm, that's good. Should I move lower or higher?" He asked Nero with his lips still on their skin.

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“Only if it doesn’t impede on our dating life.” Nic says with a wink before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling Cass into his side so he could kiss her head.

“I’m gonna need a lot of business cards.” He muses out loud.

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Kimiko’s grateful when Avery doesn’t seem to react to her moaning slip. After a moment or so passes, Avery moves to her shoulder blade. She releases the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and another moan slips out. “S-sorry.” She squeaks, face warming up. It’s a normal reaction to a massage! She tells herself, trying to figure out why she’s so embarrassed.

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“Hmm.” Nero pretends to think about it for a moment. “Higher.” They say with a little wiggle. They realized that they misses Caden’s lip on theirs.

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"I don't even have business cards," she said with a laugh. Cassi sets her plate down and shifts her position so her back is against Nic's side. She drapes his arm over her body and holds onto it like one would with a pillow or a cat.

"Will you help me design business cards?" she asks, tipping her head back to look up at Nic.

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The tingling sensation is back when Kimiko moans again. It's just the release, he reminds himself, it has nothing to do with me.

"It's okay," Avery whispers when Kimiko apologizes with her second slip. He loosens his grip and stops kneading her shoulders. "I can stop if you're uncomfortable. I got the major knots loosened anyways."

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Caden obliges Nero's orders and moves his kissing up their throat, to the underside of their jaw, and finally presses his lips against theirs. Caden had plans to wait. To ask Nero where they wanted him to go after kissing their jaw, but Caden was of the same mind as Nero's in that moment. He wanted to feel their lips on his again.

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Nic chuckles, thoroughly enjoying the moment with Cass. “I could certainly try, buuuuut, I might have someone who could do a much better job.” He kisses her head again before continuing. “She’s one of my favorite patients, a frequent flyer, and she is always looking for an excuse to design something.” Kayla was one of the cancer kids he and Jane had ‘adopted’ because of how often they saw her in the ER.

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Kiki swallows, her mouth suddenly feeling dry from the sound of Avery just whispering. “Uh, um, no, I’m not uncomfortable.” She turns to look over her shoulder at Avery. “But if you got everything, you definitely don’t need to keep going.” She doesn’t want to admit that she’s incredibly attracted to him and each moan that slips out make her think of other ways she could moan.

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Nero wants to hold his face in their hands when Caden finally reaches their lips, but they settle for just smiling against his lips for now. A little hum of contentment leaves their throat.

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Cassiopeia smiled and nodded. "That works for me. I don't have an email or a way for people to contact me. I'm a face to face person, so the card design will be rather straightforward," Cassiopeia explains. She picks up her cup of cider and sips it, simply enjoying Nic's arm around her and nature around them.

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Avery hesitates when Kimiko says she's fine. She peeks over her shoulder at him and it nearly undoes him. Avery ends up pulling his hands back and rubs the back of his neck. "Ya, I think it should be okay. Maybe tomorrow after training we'll do some extra stretching to prevent that from happening," Avery said before he stood up from the couch. He walked over to the tray of alcohol and reached underneath to grab a water bottle for Kimiko.

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Caden smiled on Nero's lips, their hum of contentment vibrating through them. Eventually, Caden releases Nero's hands to brush his fingers across their skin.

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“If your shop starts getting more traffic, will I be promoted from part timer?” Nic asks in a teasing tone as he uses his free hand to brush his fingers through Cass’ hair.

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Kimiko grabs her sweatshirt and pulls it back over her head. On one hand, she’s glad he stopped because it meant she wouldn’t embarrass herself again, but on the other, she already misses the feel of his hands. “Y-yeah, extra stretching will probably be a good idea.” She nods, shuffling back to her side of the couch.

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Nero enthusiastically grabs Caden’s face with both hands, deepening their kiss with a little nip on Caden’s bottom lips.

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”From part-timer? You’re an unpaid intern,” Cassiopeia declared. She found herself turning her head to rest it more on Nic’s shoulder, giving him more access to comb his fingers through her hair.

Cass found the action relaxing and rather intimate.

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Avery walked back over to Kimiko and handed her the bottle of water before he took a seat. He didn’t sit quite as far away this time but still left a comfortable distance between the two of them.

Avery picked up the remote and flipped through the sports channels until he found an MMA fight on the TV.

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Nic stops brushing his fingers through Cass’ hair to clutch his heart. “Only worked there one day and I’ve already been demoted.” He says in a woeful tone before laughing and continuing to brush her hair again.

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Grateful, Kiki takes the water bottle and chugs half of it. When she refocuses her attention on the television, she sees that Avery has chosen an MMA fight. Kiki hugs her knees to her chest, captivated by the two fighters in the cage. She hasn’t watched many MMA fights before since she enjoys boxing and football more, but as she watches she sees how skilled the participants are and finds it admirable.

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Cassiopeia laughed and shifted her position again. She moved so she and Nic were side by side again. ”It’s expensive to have a part-timer,” Cass stated in an effort to defend herself.

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As the fight goes on, Avery shifts to the edge of the couch. He is fully engulfed in the fighting on the screen. He always found fighting of any kind to be fascinating and intensive.

The fighters grappled until one tripped up the other and pinned them to the ground. It was a similar move to the one Avery had been practicing this morning. Ground fighting was always challenging, and it was something Avery was hoping to get better at.

”Come on… come on…” He started chanting under his breath until the fighter who was pinned and struggling finally tapped out. ”Yes!” Avery clapped his hands, clearly enjoying the fights.

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Nic clutches his heart once again, doubling over slightly like he’s in pain. “She doesn’t think I’m worth anything.” He says, looking up at the willow trees as if they could help him with this.

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With each minute the fight goes on, Kiki finds herself uncurling from her ball and shifting over as she watches excitedly, almost standing up all the way a few times before returning to the couch. When Avery shouts, she realizes she’s managed to scoot closer to him, making her jump from the sudden sound she wasn’t expecting.

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Cassiopeia shook her head, smiling. ”On the contrary. I find you quite valuable. Far more valuable than I can afford. Unless, of course, you are willing to be paid in other ways,” Cassi said. She cocked her head to the side, looking at Nic rather suggestively.

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Avery feels Kimiko jump beside him, and he looks at her apologetically. ”Ah, sorry. I get pretty involved when I watch these things,” Avery said and tried to settle back into the couch and relax. He rested his arm on the back of the couch again, realizing Kimiko had shifted closer to him, and it would be more comfortable if he had his arm out of the way.

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Nic raises an eyebrow at Cass, his ears burning a little, but he pushes through and smirks at her. “Oh? Is this when I should kneel for you?” He asks, adopting a suggestive tone as well. Purposely giving her a look up and down, Nic tilts his own head and waits for an answer.

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Kiki shakes her head. “No need to apologize, I just didn’t realize I was closer to you is all.” She leans back against the couch, not having noticed Avery putting his arm there.

“So, what are the rules for MMA fighting? And this doesn’t count as one of my questions.” She adds the last part quickly, turning to point a finger at him in warning.

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Cassiopeia pushes through the desire to blush and turn away from Nic when he matches her energy. Of course, it doesn’t help that Nic had been kneeling in front of her earlier that day, albeit for a different reason, but the image was seared in her mind's eye.

”You can kneel, but only if you want to thank me,” Cassi said, her eyes drifting down the front of Nic’s body. She plucks the fabric of his shirt in her fingers, feeling the material before she walks her fingers up the centre of his chest.

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Avery turns his head and has to angle it to look at Kimiko properly. She wasn’t that much shorter than him, but she had sunk further into the couch than he had. ”I think I need to make a tally of how many questions you ask me in a day. Regardless if they are about me or not.” He returned his focus to the screen, watching a new round of fighters enter the cage.

”There are between 3-5 rounds a match, depending on if it is a title fight or not, with a one-minute rest period between each round. The goal is to either win by TKO or omission. Sometimes, fighters will go all three or five rounds, and then it comes down to the judges' score. They are usually looking for form, technique, and how long they have the upper hand over the other fighter. Of course, there are some politics involved, but that’s usually beyond the involvement of the spectator,” he said, roughly explaining the sport to Kimiko.

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Nic can’t help but grin. “There are many ways I could thank you, but first,” He places both hands on Cass’ waist and pull her into his lap. “Much better.” He says before moving one hand to tilt her chin so he can properly kiss her.

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Kiki looks up at him with a glare. “You do that and I’m going to pull apart your bike.” She warns before he starts explaining the basics of MMA. It all seems logical and she turns her attention to the television to watch the next fight, eager to put her new knowledge to the test.

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