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Caden laughed and kissed Nero. ”We have one more stop tonight, then we can go to the hotel.” Caden took Nero’s hand and led them back to the elevators.

It was the same sort of journey back down. Outside, car and driver waited patiently for Caden and Nero’s return. Once they were on the move again, Caden opened the bottle of champagne that was on ice in the car and poured Nero a glass before pouring himself a glass.

”Now, I have the whole weekend planned, but was there something you wanted to do while in New York?” Caden asked curiously. It was possible that he didn’t anticipate all of Nero’s needs and desires while they were here.

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”We could set up in the living room, or there are TVs in the rooms of the guest wing,” Avery said. ”I was going to go change. Do you still have my sweater from last week?”

hr]

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Nero’s smile stays plastered on their face as Caden leads them back down to the street and back into the car. They take the glass of champagne and wiggle as they drink before shaking their head. “I can’t think of anything… Does New York have any supernatural scenes?” They don’t crawl into Caden’s lap this time, but they do swing their legs over him.

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Kiki shakes her head sheepishly. “It got drenched in my sweat from a nightmare so I sent it into the laundry chute.” She chews on her lip briefly before clasping her hands behind her back and asking, “Do you happen to have another one I could borrow?”

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Caden sipped his champagne and rested his free hand on Nero’s leg, massaging little circles into their calves while they rode in the backseat of the car.

”They do have a bit of an underground scene,” Caden said with a nod.

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Avery frowned at the mention of Kimiko having a nightmare. ”What did I tell you about when you have a nightmare? I told you to call me, remember?” Avery had been keeping his phone on at night so that he would hear when she called. He had been staying inside the house for a week just for that reason.

Avery stepped closer to Kimiko. ”Am I really going to have to start sleeping outside your door like an actual dog?” His eyes crickled with amusement, but he was completely serious. He would sleep outside her door if she wasn’t going to tell him when she needed him.

C

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Nero wiggles their toes as they think about it. “I don’t know if I want to go to a club or something similar, but it might be fun going to one here where we both have a little bit more anonymity.” They lean forward and rest their forehead on Caden’s arm.

“But I really have nothing in mind. I’m here to follow your lead.” They pull away to beam up at him.

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Kiki takes a step backward from Avery, feeling like a child caught stealing cookies or something. “I handled it and was able to go back to sleep just fine… I didn’t want to wake you up in the middle of the night.” If Avery does end up sleeping outside her door, she doesn’t think she will get any sleep. She might have been going on dates and kissing him now, but she’s still depraved.

“I’m okay, I promise.”

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Caden nodded and finished his champagne so he could continue massaging Nero’s legs. ”Perhaps tomorrow night… We’ll see where we end up after my plans for us conclude.”

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The frown remains on Avery’s face. For some reason, he can’t get past the fact that she hasn’t been calling him. Does she not realize he barely sleeps, either?

”Why don’t you go to the kitchen and get some snacks or something for the movie. I have to go back to staff housing to get you a new sweater,” he said, turned, and walked away from her.

Avery didn’t know why it bothered him so much that she wasn’t relying on him, but he was. He left Caden’s house, typing on the keypad outside so the door locked, and he marched angrily across the grounds to staff housing. He could still hear music and laughter from those who remained, but he ignored all of them on his way to his room.

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Nero finishes their drink with a nod of their head. “Were you planning this weekend all week?” They ask, curious how Caden had done all this while researching Mundus with Nero on top of everything else he typically does during the day.

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Kimiko watches Avery leave, blinking as she tries to understand what just happened. He seemed upset with her. She chews on the tip of her thumb as she makes her way down to the kitchen. Her brain goes into overdrive as she starts to overanalyze the conversation. She really didn’t want to inconvenience him when he already does so much for her.

She throws some oil and kernels into a pan, adding some sugar so she can make some kettle corn while she looks through the kitchen for anything else they might want.

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Caden looked at Nero and grinned. He looked away and shrugged. ”Maaaybe,” he said.

The car stopped, and Caden patted their legs. ”Last stop,” he said before the car door opened.

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Avery yanked his shirt off as soon as he was in his room. He tosses it onto his bed and goes into the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He feels edgy. His wolf is irritated, telling him to move faster because something could get into the house while Kiki is in there alone. Avery knows that to be impossible, but his wolf is irrational at the moment.

Avery cleaned up a little, moving as fast as he dared. He needed to relax, so as he switched his clothes, he took steady breaths in and out. Avery pulled on white linen pants with a loose, button-up black shirt, but he left it mostly open, knowing Kimiko seemed to like it better when he did that. He pulled out a navy blue hoodie with the Chicago skyline on the front of it and headed back to the house.

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Nero swings their legs off of Caden’s lap and almost hops over his lap to get out the car, excited to see where they are now. Instead, they wait for Caden to get out of the car first. “Where are we now?” They ask.

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Kiki’s managed to load a trolley with lost of snacks and a plethora of non-alcoholic drinks. They pour the freshly made popcorn into a large bowl before making their way to the elevator and taking it up. She still doesn’t quite understand what just happened with Avery, but she’s determined to talk to him about it.

She exits the lift just in time to see him enter. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the nightmares sooner… It’s not easy for me to rely on anyone and I felt like everyone did so much to get me back…” She looks at the floor, clenching her fists for a moment to stop her fidgeting.

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Caden smiled at Nero and took their hand. ”You’ll see,” he said simply. He had them walk a block before stopping and turning to look at Nero. ”Do you trust me?”

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Avery locked the door behind him while Kimiko spoke. He stared at the lock, his back turned to her while she apologized and rambled. Avery did not want her to apologize. He turned to see her looking at the floor.

Avery tossed his sweater on the couch as he passed. He walked up to Kimiko and pulled her into a tight hug, mostly to get her to shut up. Avery held her close for a minute before talking.

”I know you are strong enough to handle this, and I know you don’t need me, but I want you to need me, Kiki…I want you to want me and to rely on me. I want to be there for you. I want to hold you when the nightmares come and wipe the sweat off with a cold towel.” Avery pulled back and made Kimiko look at him. ”You aren’t alone anymore, little fox. Neither of us should have to feel alone again.”

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Nero keeps looking around as they walk, trying to see if they can figure out where they are going based on sight alone. When Caden turns and asks them if they trust them, Nero smiles in bemusement. “Almost exclusively.” They tell him

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Avery pull her into a tight embrace and Kiki blinks, once again thrown off. She takes a second to come to her senses and resists the temptation to ask if this is what it feels like when she holds onto him on the motorcycle. Instead she wraps her arms around him and leans her cheek against his chest, listening to his voice vibrate through.

When she’s forced to look up at him, she doesn’t see any anger or frustration in his expression, just a lot of sincerity to go along with his words. Almost as if they were magically summoned, big tears start rolling down her cheeks, her lips in a real pout for once before she buries her face into the exposed area of his chest. “You’re not going to sleep outside my door.” She declares from the safety of his chest.

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Caden caressed Nero’s cheek, smiling down at them. ”Then close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.”

Once Nero complies, Caden leads Nero down another street. As they get closer to their destination, the sounds of New York get louder and more exciting. People are laughing and shouting. There’s music playing from street performers, and the smell of food fills the air.

Caden pulls Nero into Times Square, taking them further until they stand nearly in the middle. The lights are brilliant and all the stores are still open despite the later hour. Caden moved to stand behind Nero.

”Okay. Open your eyes,” he said, looking up at the flashing billboards, the giant red stairs, and everything else Times Square in New York has to offer at night.

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Avery’s breath catches in his throat when he sees the tears in Kimiko’s eyes. She buried her face in his chest before he could do anything about them. Avery holds the back of Kimiko’s head, letting her cry.

A soft smile spread across Avery’s face when Kimiko announced that Avery wouldn’t be sleeping outside her door. ”Then where will I be sleeping?” he asked her softly.

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Even though they’re very tempted to peek as Caden guides them, Nero keeps their eyes closed shut. When their senses seem to be almost overwhelmed, Caden lets them open their eyes. They knew there had to lots of light coming from somewhere, they aren’t fully prepared for everything that exists at once in Time Square. They spin in a slow circle, ignoring the voice in their head that said doing it is a total cliche, and stare in wonder at the sheer amount of life happening around them. [

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Kiki’s hands twitch from their position on Avery’s back. “Next to me.” She doesn’t care if it’s too forward - she has a feeling that Avery wouldn’t mind. Or at least she hopes he doesn’t. “I was promised a large fluffy alternative to the stuffed animal after all.” She sniffs and pulls her face out of his chest to smile up at him.

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Watching Nero’s reaction to seeing Times Square is like seeing it all over again for Caden. He let them do their turn, smiling while he watched them take it all in. Caden loved Times Square at night because it always seemed to be different. The stores and the billboards were the same, but the people and the energy were always different.

”What do you think?”

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Avery’s heart seemed to restart when Kimiko said he could sleep next to her. The anger and the fear relaxed, knowing Avery could better protect and care for Kimiko if he was in the room with her.

He rubbed her back until she pulled back to look at him. ”I did promise you that, and I always keep my promises.” Avery removed his hand from the back of Kimiko’s head and wiped away what remained of her tears.

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Nero turns to grin at Caden. “I think I can definitely see the appeal of this city - especially to someone like me.” They flash their black eyes at him when no one’s looking before they wink. “Is it always this…” They gesture vaguely. It’s loud, smelly, and blinding, but it’s only kind of overwhelming. They shift their weight from one foot to the other excitedly.

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Kimiko scrunches her nose and eyes as Avery wipes at her face, but her smile remains. Lots of things run through her mind; is she going to move here? Should she look at getting her own place? Should she find a place that Avery might want to live in too? There’s time for that later, Kiki! She reminds herself forcefully. “Okay, let’s find a new favorite movie before I really do just turn into a mess.” She says with a small laugh.

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The flash of black eyes doesn’t deter Caden or frighten him. If anything, it excites him. Caden grinned at Nero before looking around and nodded. ”It’s just as lively during the day but more hectic. At night, though, it’s almost magic.”

Caden reclaimed Nero’s hand and started to lead them down the sidewalks to take in more of Times Square.

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Avery chuckled and looked at the trolly of snacks. ”Okay. You did go to all the trouble of making all these snacks,” he said and released Kimiko to go and investigate what she had found.

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Nero practically skips alongside Caden as he leads them down the sidewalk. “Magic’s a good word for it.” Nero says in agreement, their eyes darting everywhere while they try to take everything in.

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“I truly only made the popcorn.” Kiki corrects him, letting him look at the snacks while she made a run for the couch to pull his sweater on. The way Avery’s smell immediately encompasses her makes her smile and relax. She scurries back over to the trolley to join Avery. “As skilled as I am, I don’t think I could make beef jerky in that short amount of time.”

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Caden led them around the square so they could see every possible angle. He took them down Broadway street where most of the play houses were, to the giant candy and toy stores, then up to the top of the red stairs.

Caden sat down on one of the steps, letting Nero explore on their own.

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Avery popped some of the popcorn into his mouth, and poured himself a glass of water before Kimiko returned.

”Should we watch a new movie?” he asked, not sure what Kimiko was feeling up for.

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Nero happily snacks on some candy they had gotten on the ‘tour’ Caden led them on as they prance along the red stairs to look at the different angles of everything before they plop themselves in Caden’s lap. “There’s so much life here.” They observe with a little smile of wonder.

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“Sure, did you have something in mind?” Kiki asks as she lifts the hood over her head and tightens the strings of it slightly to envelop herself even more in Avery’s scent. She pops some of the popcorn into her mouth.

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Caden rested a hand on Nero’s leg once they rejoined him. ”The first time I came to New York, I sat in Times Square and Central Park for hours. There are so many people from all walks of life here.”

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Avery looked at Kimiko and smirked. He poked her nose, which was nearly the only thing that was showing now that she had put the hood of his sweater up and tightened the strings. ”Would you like me to leave you alone with my sweater and your new stuffed animal?” he teased. Avery piled some snacks onto a plate before he claimed a spot in the middle of the couch.

He flipped the TV on and pulled up the streaming services. ”Mmm, a comedy or action-comedy maybe?” Avery pulled up the movies and looked through the list.

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Nero nods, finding themselves wanting to do the same. “Is that our plan for tomorrow? People watching?” Nero teases before offering some of their candy to the dragon. They would be fine with that, but Nero has a feeling that Caden has more interesting things planned.

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Kiki smiles brightly when he pokes her nose before sticking her tongue out at him. “I prefer the real wolf, thank you.” She says, following him to the couch. Unlike before when they sat on opposite ends, Kiki plops herself right next to Avery with her own plate of food.

“Action-comedy.” She answers with a nod.

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