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Kiki giggles softly to herself, shaking her head. “I’ll convince her of your value, don’t you worry.” She waits for an opportune moment when Avery isn’t by the stove to spray him with a little water from the sink.

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Nic smiles, thinking about visiting there with Cass and visiting his grandparent’s graves, wherever they were. He imagines trying authentic Chinese cuisine and feeding her it.



He smirks as he hits send. It has been a far-off dream to visit China, thinking it would never be possible due to timing and money. He wonders briefly if Caden will let them borrow his jet for something like this. Hopefully he and Cass would have worked through their feelings by then.

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Avery had moved to go to the fridge to reclaim the rabbit he had been marinating when he felt the spray of water. Avery stopped and turned his head to look at Kimiko.

"Oh, really? Do you think that was wise?"

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Cassiopeia laughed and shook her head. She curled in on her side and typed a message back.

Will you teach me?

She would probably have more fun learning from Nic rather than from Caden anyways. She sighed as Caden crossed her mind. Not today. She scrolled through her messages from Nic instead, filling her mind with thoughts of him again.

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Kiki grins innocently at Avery, putting the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and holding her hands behind her back. “Was what wise? What happened?” She doesn’t try to hide the giggle, she knows that when it comes to being around Avery, she can’t lie for shit.

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Nic grins, excited at the prospect of teaching her the language.



Nic records a little audio message of him pronouncing it and sends that along with the text. He can’t help but think about how much fun his dad, Cass, and himself would enjoy having a secret conversation while out shopping or dining.

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Avery broke into a smirk at the sound of Kimiko's giggle. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to walk across the kitchen, put Kimiko on the counter and kiss her because of that grin alone.

"Hmm, alright. I'll remember that," Avery said, and turned to grab the rabbit before heading back to the soup pot.

The smell of broth and potatoes was starting to fill the air in the kitchen. Avery added the rabbit into the pot and mixed it around. He set the heat on medium and went on the search for some chocolate to melt.

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Cassi replayed Nic's voice message over and over again. It sounded even and clear. Perfect for listening to when she missed him.

And how would you say good night?

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Fighting hard against temptation, Kiki doesn’t spray him again, instead focusing on rinsing the sink and wiping down the counters Avery isn’t using. She walks over to him and tries to peer over his shoulder. “You sure you don’t want help?” She asks.

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Nic records himself once again before sending the voice clip and message. Then he smirks.



Nic holds the record button again and says “晚安，我的爱人.” before sending that clip as well. He figures it’ll be harder for Cass to look up what it meant just from audio and grins to himself.

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Avery broke up the chocolate into chunks, setting them into a bowl that sat on top of a pot with water. He turned the heat on medium for the time being.

He was very aware of Kimiko's presence behind him, and smiled as she tried to peer over him. He gave her a chunk of chocolate.

"I'm okay. Do you want to go select a bottle of red wine to go with supper?"

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Cassiopeia once again replays Nic's voice over and over. She tries to wrap her tongue around the proper pronunciation, but she struggles with the second word. She feels more confident with hello for now.

The second voice message sends a tingle through Cassi's body. She doesn't know what he said because he doesn't tell her, but she has a feeling it's more intimate than the other two messages.

I have my work cut out for me. Will you ever tell me what you said in the second voice message?

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Kiki takes the chocolate from him with her mouth and hums in delight as she lets it melt in her mouth a little before chewing. “I can do that.” She says before moving so she can kiss his cheek. She leaves the kitchen and goes down the hallway to find the wine cellar.

Perusing her options, Kiki picks a red wine that should go great with the gamey meats of a rabbit. Now that she’s distracted and had gone on her run, she was feeling infinitely better. She heads back to Avery feeling light.

“Will this do?” She asks him while showing the bottle she picked.

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Nic grins at her response, happy that she didn’t figure it out and already chuckling to himself as he types his next message.



He sends another voice clip with it, his tone full of mirth.

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Avery paused to watch Kimiko take the chocolate from his hand with her mouth. He barely registered that she had spoken before she was gone. He cleared his throat, the kitchen to himself at the moment and his shifted his weight, feeling a growing tension within him.

"Get it together, Zain," he muttered to himself and stirred the stew. He had the vegetables and more spices. The kitchen instantly started to smell like hearty rabbit, herb potatoes, and spiced vegetables. It smelled comforting. It smelled like home.

Avery was back to normal by the time Kimiko returned and he looked up, his sharp eyes reading the label on the bottle of wine clearly. "That'll be perfect. Do you want to pull out bowls and plates? There's also a giant serving dish in that cupboard," Avery pointed before he turned. He walked over to the fridge and pulled the remaining strawberries out.

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That's fine. I'll coax it out of you one day ;)

Cassi replayed that voice message again. The one where he didn't tell her what it meant. Nic's tone was different. She recognized a sound from the other message that was 'good night', so she guessed it was similar to that. Whatever it was, Cassi loved it.

Oidhche mhath, Nic"

Cassi sent her own voice message this time before following up with the English translation from the Scottish Gaelic of good night.

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Kiki nods and then beams when she sees him getting out strawberries. “Everything already smells so good.” She says with a little hum, kissing Avery’s cheek as she passed by him on the way to the cupboard he had pointed out.

“How many do you think we’ll need?” She asks as she squats to get the serving dish out from the bottom cabinet.

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Nic smiles, several thoughts and images coming to mind about how Cass would coax it out of him. Another alert and Nic sees a voice message this time. He turns up his phone’s volume and plays it. His smile turns into a grin.

He says both the Mandarin and the English translation in an audio clip.

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Avery smiled, happy with the small kiss to his cheek. His eyes followed Kimiko before he focused on his task. He turned the heat down on the chocolate and stirred it to see how much longer it had to sit.

"We might just need the one. I put the potatoes in one of those silver pans, so we can just serve out of that directly," Avery explained.

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Cassi laughed from the voice message. She shook her head, replying the message again despite how he teased her. His voice sounded so natural speaking Mandarin and she loved it. It nearly made Cassi want to turn on one of those Asian drama TV shows.

Cassi set her phone aside, deciding she wanted to end the conversation with his voice, and snuggled under the covers. Wayland and Calypso curled up with her while Max sat in the window sill, watching the back garden.

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Kiki nods, pulling out the serving dish and then as many bowls and plates as she could, setting it all on the counter. She closes the cupboards before standing up. “Do we want to put everything on the table or have it served from the counter?” She asks.

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Nic stared at the messages between him and Cass, waiting to see if she would respond. When she doesn’t Nic figures she’d really gone to bed this time. He pulls up her audio message and listens to it several times before he started looking up Gaelic and how to learn it. He falls asleep with his phone still in his hand, an angry green bird yelling at him to finish the lesson.

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"From the table works," Avery said. He set a tray on one side of the stove, the strawberries on the counter and started to coat strawberries with chocolate and transfer them to the tray where they would go into the fridge and cool while they ate supper.

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Kiki’s eyes light up as she watches Avery lay chocolate on the strawberries, putting the dishes on the table before walking over to peek at his work again. “Those are just for us though, right?” She asks with a tiny smirk. She could share if needed, but eating them with just Avery sounds much better.

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Avery chuckled and nodded. "Just for us," he assured her. Avery ran another strawberry through the chocolate, but this time he let his pinkie fall into the chocolate as well. After he set the strawberry aside, Avery turned and swiped Kimiko's cheek with the chocolate. He grinned before finishing the last of the strawberries.

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Kiki’s almost hyperaware of the chocolate on Avery’s finger and when he turns towards her, she starts to open her mouth before he marks her with the chocolate. The look of disappointment and shock on her face is quite adorable before it turns into a pout. She wipes at her cheek, trying to get the chocolate off. “You are the worst.” She declares with a huff.

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”You shouldn’t have sprayed me with water,” Avery countered. He sucked the rest of the chocolate off his finger. He winked at Kimiko before putting chocolate on the last strawberry and picking up the tray to take to the fridge.

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Kiki unconsciously licks her lips, wanting to be the one sucking the chocolate from Avery’s finger. Her ears flame from her own mind’s wording, her mind immediately diving into a gutter. “You could at least tell me if I got it all off my face.” She tells him, sneaking some chocolate onto her own finger while Avery puts away the strawberries, hiding her hand behind her back.

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Avery tried to ignore the way Kimiko looked when he sucked the chocolate off his finger. He tried very hard. The cool breeze of the fridge wrapped around him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He set the strawberries down on a shelf before closing the big, industrial-sized door.

Avery turned back to Kimiko and shut the oven and stove off. He glanced at her face and chuckled. ”Not quite. Want my help?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

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[color=#9B111E][/color]

[color=#9B111E][/color]

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Kiki tilts her head innocently. “I’d very much appreciate that, yes.” She says, stepping closer to him until she swiped his forehead with the chocolate on her finger. “Simba.” She says in a grave voice before laughing.

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Avery gasped and went cross-eyed, trying to look at his forehead. ”You did not.” He dropped his gaze and looked at Kimiko. His eyes shifted, and he smirked. Sticking his finger into the pot of chocolate that was starting to cool. ”You did miss a spot,” Avery said and quickly swiped chocolate on her other cheek.