Kiki’s giggling at this point, still unable to stop herself from teasing Avery further. “I don’t know - you couldn’t teach me how to box, so are you really that much of a champion?” She uses her free hand to lean over the console, supporting herself as she smirks.
“Maybe I should ask Caden to train me.” She bites her lip to stop her laughter, trying to keep her face straight.
“I’ve never been the little spoon before.” Nic says excitedly as he gets comfortable in Cass’ bed. Little electric shivers run up Nic’s spine as he keeps making jokes to stop himself from trying to make another move on his girlfriend.
Avery narrowed his eyes at Kimiko. ”I gave you one lesson. One. And as I recall, you were punching the bag by the end of it,” he said. His eyes dropped to her lips almost instantly when she bit her bottom lip.
”I'm starting to think you're doing that on purpose.”
Cassiopeia laughed and shut her bedroom light off before crawling into bed. She reached up over and kissed Nic's cheek before she settled in behind him, sliding her arm under his right one to rest across his stomach. Wayland hopped onto the bed and curled in front of Nic, purring instantly.
Just when Kiki is about to ask ‘doing what on purpose’, she realizes she’s biting her lip again. She lets is pop back out to its natural position with a sheepish smile. “And I had just promised myself earlier today that I would consciously try to avoid biting my lips around you so you wouldn’t get used to it.” She says with a small chuckle.
“I know we didn’t see each other too much over the past week with how busy everything was, but there’s a reason I have this tiny little scar - I bite my lips a lot.” She reaches up with her free hand, not leaning over the console as much, feeling her bottom lip with her thumb until she finds the slightly raised part. She smiles widely and points to it with her forefinger. “Makes me look more dangerous, right?” Kiki jokes, trying to make sure neither her nor Avery start letting their minds go down that rabbit hole.
Nic smiles happily to himself, even if he’s about to fall asleep in his jeans. He’s got a cat to cuddle and the warm hand of his girlfriend on his stomach. He readjusts his right arm just a little so her can hold Cass’ hand in his before closing his eyes with a happy sigh.
Avery watched her locate the scar, even though he could see it plainly. He chuckled and shifted away from Kimiko to get out of the SUV. ”Dangerous until you tell them that story,” he teased her.
Cassiopeia squeezed Nic’s hand once he took hers. She nuzzled her head in between his shoulder blades before kissing him.
”Oh! Wǎn'ān,” Cassi attempted, hoping she didn’t butcher Nic’s language too much. She didn’t have a gift for language like Caden did, but she did try learning new languages. It wasn’t always easy when she didn’t have someone to talk to. Maybe Chinese would be easier with Nic and his dad.
Kiki follows Avery and gets out of the SUV from her side with a laugh. “Well, only the two of us know the story.” She says as she makes her way around to Avery and tries to make her expression look as intimidating as possible. “And I’ll know who spilt my secret.”
Nic hums a little in content. “Perfect pronunciation, you must have a really good teacher.” He says in a mumble before pointing out a small correction for her to get the right sound when saying the phrase.
Cassi laughed and kissed Nic's shoulder before she settled in for the night. She said good night in Chinese again, using Nic’s correction before falling asleep with him in her arms.
Kiki narrows her eyes at Avery before smacking him. “I’ll tie you up, throw you down an empty well in a basement.” She threatens him, her lips quivering as she tries very hard to stop from laughing.
Avery stared at Kimiko, his lip quivering until he started to laugh. ”What, are you Buffalo Bill?” Avery asked, referencing the serial killer that used to wear the skin of his victims. Avery had seen the movie Silence of the Lambs where Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lector were portrayed. It was a rather good film, and her comment had reminded him of a scene and that movie.
“‘It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.’” Kiki tries her best to imitate Ted Levine’s iconic performance, but as with any other time she tries to put on an American accent, she’s unable to. She loses it then, doubling over with laughter, not able to hold in the giggles any longer.
Kiki lets Avery drag her along a little before she steps in time with him. “Classic cars? Well I have an appreciation for them, they’re gorgeous after all.” She says, glancing at him sidelong as she waits for his reaction. “And I am something of an admirer of beauty.” She looks Avery up and down before looking at his face again. “Why?”
Avery looked at Kimiko and smirked when she looked him up and down. ”Are you calling me beautiful?” He released her hand in favour of resting his arm on her shoulders while they walked.
”Curiousity, I guess,” he said, answering Kimiko's question on why. ”I've had my eye on this classic mustang that desperately needs to be restored but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.”
Kiki doesn’t answer, instead favoring to wink at Avery in answer. When Avery puts his arm around her, she leans into him with a carefree smile. At the mention of restoration, she looks excitedly at Avery. “I can fund that if you want! I’ve always wanted to do something like that, but I have no knowledge of how to.” She gives him an excited, pleading look.
Avery smiled and squeezed Kimiko closer for a brief moment while they walked.
”I couldn't ask you to do that. Besides, I have the money saved up to get the car, I've just been hesitating on it. Would you maybe want to work on it with me?”
“Yeah but I still want to.” Kiki says, squishing into his side as he squeezes her.“And sure, I would love to work on it with you, but fair warning - if I can’t get something perfect on the first try, I tend to throw a pity party for myself.”
”Okay, well, mechanics is often a lot of trial and error. Often things don't work out on the first try, especially with older cars. It could either be wrong parts or sizes, or difficulty finding the right parts because they don't make the part anymore. Honestly, it can be a bit of a headache but when you get everything to line up…” Avery lets out an appreciative whistle. ”It's like magic.”
Avery turned them back around as a jet starts to make its way towards the hanger.
Caden
Location: Jet —> Airstrip – Chicago, IL Skills: Fit
Caden yawned and stretched once the plane landed and they could move again. He finished his water and kissed Nero's cheek.
Kiki smirks to herself, figuring it wasn’t going to be as easy as she wants it to be. “Well, as long as you’re willing to deal with random ears or a tail and little fires.” Kiki teases with a wink. She could handle herself better than that, but the past few days have proven her resolve to not be as strong as she would hope.
Nero hops out of their chair, happily kissing Caden’s cheek before beaming up at him. “Let the chaos and carnage ensue!” They declare as they hold up their hands like mini claws, pretending to chomp at something.
Caden laughed and stood up after them. ”At least wait until the morning after a decent night's sleep and breakfast,” Caden said, pulling on his jacket.