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”Nicholas! I'm standing over a stove,” she reminded him. She shifted her stance so it was wider and could handle the weight he was adding to her, but the digging of his chin into her head was rather unpleasant. She was moments away from jabbing her elbow into his stomach.

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Caden shifted back in his seat as soon as Nero stood. He dropped his leg and wrapped his arms around Nero losely, grinning at his mate. Kimiko drew his attention back and Caden looked down at Nero's red pants. He ran his thumb along the velvet and shrugged.

”The rest of the day, a week, a month. However long you want, Kiki. What he did was reckless and stupid. I knew Avery to be thick headed and rash, but I didn't think he was that stupid. He could have done a lot of damage. As it is he exhausted his mental reserves. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he didn't wake up today, which makes me half tempted to wake him up and make him do a perimeter check for me,” Caden said bitterly.

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Nic laughs and straightens, giving her head another kiss before stepping back. “My most sincere apologies, Cassiopeia.” He teases lightheartedly before leaning back on the island behind him. “Has anyone told you how adorable you are, though?” He says, hoping to make her blush.

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Nero leans against Caden as he sits back, resting their head on his shoulder and picking stray fibers off of his shirt. Maybe it’s better that they just let themselves take it a little easy for a bit. Kiki waves off Caden’s suggestion. “Let the man rest for now - last thing I want is for him to pass out in the middle of apologizing…” Kiki drums her fingers on the table for a moment as she considers her next move.

“I’m not even sure I can kick him out of my room to put him in the ‘doghouse’ - he’s the only reason I’ve been able to sleep the past week.” Now it’s Kiki’s turn to be frustrated as she sighs and puts her face in her hands. “Love is stupid and I’d like a refund.” She mutters.

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Cassiopeia felt quite flustered when Nic used her full first name. He rarely used it if ever, so it sounded lovely coming from him, even if he was teasing her. Then he had to go and call her adorable again.

”You've mentioned it once or twice,” she said, refusing to turn around. She could feel his eyes boring into her back, willing her to turn around, so he could see her flushed face.

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Caden chuckled from Kimiko's frustration. ”I've always enjoyed it,” he teased her. He kissed Nero's forehead, finding the rhythm of them playing with his shirt and tie soothing.

He looked at Kimiko. ”Remember this is both new for you. You two are the same in so many ways, Kiki. Alone most of your lives, resigned to the way things are, and having to look after yourselves. It took a while for Avery to warm-up to me, and we still butt heads from time to time. I believe the two of you care for each other more than you can stand. It's a lot of emotion in a short amount of time. You'll figure it out. Just like Nero and I, and Cass and Nic,” Caden said confidently.

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Nic grins lopsidedly, recognizing that Cassi’s trying to hide her embarrassment from him. “Only once or twice? Man, I’ve been slacking.” He continues relentlessly. “Because you are the most beautiful and cutest person I’ve ever seen.”

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Kiki glances at the little imp curled up in Caden’s lap as he talks, feeling a little annoyed that Avery ruined a chance of the two of them doing that anytime soon. “I’d still like a refund.” She leans back in her own seat and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I just still can’t wrap my head around that getting tossed by Nic caused this reaction in him.”

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Cassiopeia could feel her face flaming. She buried her head in her hands and stamped her feet. ”Niiiccc, stop,” she whined. ”I’m trying to be a good girlfriend and feed you.”

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”It really had nothing to do with Nic and everything to do with seeing someone manhandle you. He would have reacted the same if I had done it. Possibly even Nero,” Caden told her truthfully. ”Remember, he’s never seen you in action. Just that once when you first came to town. Seeing you in that warehouse… It really screwed with his mind. Avery keeps everything pretty close to the vest. Did he tell you in was in the army during World War Two? He was also in the Korean war and Vietnam. He was mostly a grunt and witnessed things most people can’t imagine. Done things most people would never consider. It took him until meeting me to finally work through it all. You really scared him when you were taken. I think he was worried he was going to go backwards if he lost you.”

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Nic has to cover his mouth to stop himself from going ‘awww’ in reaction when she stomps her feet. “You don’t have to try to be a good girlfriend.” He pushes off the counter and hugs her from behind, careful not to push her into the stove as he did so. “You already are one.”

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Kiki frowns. “He mentioned World War Two… but only briefly…” She remembers how she’d asked about his grandma and how quiet he’d gotten afterwards, asking to avoid the subject in the moment. She leans forward again, propping her elbow on the table and chewing on the tip of her thumb. “If I could make everyone forget about that warehouse - including myself.” She mutters in frustration.

Nero looks over at Kiki briefly before sitting up and reaching over to pay her shoulder. “I can understand that feeling, but it’s also important to remember something like that… You can’t change it, as someone recently pointed out to me.” They cast a sidelong glance at Caden.

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”Fine, you win.” Cassi grumbled as she turned around and buried her face into Nic's chest. She huffed a breath before looking up at him, her cheeks still red from all the praise Nic was giving her. ”Do you want tea or something else to drink?”

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Caden smiled and nodded. ”Exactly. Avery just needs to talk about how he's feeling rather than bottle it down to protect you. I bet he will be more willing now.” Caden had a good feeling that the results of today scared Avery worse than the warehouse had. ”It'll be okay, Kiki. We are all going through our own battles right now. Nero with their memories, Nic with his family, Cassi with hers…” Caden sighed.

He rested his head on Nero's shoulder for a moment. He took a couple of breaths in before looking at Kimiko. ”Cass' grandmother made a deal with Mundus. Our children were going to be his, but when Cass and I broke off the engagement, it broke the deal. That was why her entire family was killed. I don't know what Mundus gave Claire in return, but it can't have been worth it.”

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Nic grins as he hugs Cassi close, immensely happy to see her face is still red. “I’m fine with just water.” He says with chuckle, kissing her red cheeks before letting her free from his arms so he can grab his own glass and get himself water.

“What would you like to drink?”

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Nero’s glad Caden explained on their behalf instead of making them do it again. “And that’s what she found out from me today.” Nero goes on to add, scratching Caden’s back. “I’m guessing the look you gave her before they left was for Cassi to tell Nic sooner rather than later?” They ask Caden rather than letting themselves get frustrated all over again for Cassi’s situation.

“Jesus Christ, I think everyone needs a spa day after everything today.”

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”I’ll have tea,” Cassi said and turned back around to tend to the soup.

The simple work helped to relax her. Once the soup was finished, Cassi filled two bowls and brought them to the kitchen table. She then grabbed some buns she had still as well as crackers in case Nic wanted something to dip into his soup. She reclaimed her seat and sat down to enjoy a warm and comforting meal.

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”Yes. Like Avery, she keeps things close to her chest, and with Nic going through his own demon troubles, she would feel like she was taking away from his situation if she told him. But, what happened to Cassi was in the past. She can't go back and fix it, so there is no point in hanging onto it. Besides, Nic will be able to help her process it.”

Caden Squeezed Nero's leg in silent thanks for the way they were rubbing and scratching his back. It was relaxing and was helping to settle his nerves.

”I'm not sure we're allowed spa days,” Caden chuckled in response to Kimiko's statement. It said it only because of how busy they always were.

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Nic kisses her cheek before he opens the cupboard he knows stores Cassi’s teas and starts rummaging through them. “How about a strawberry blend?” He asks, pulling out the container so Cass can see it. A small smirk quirks his lips as he sees all the different containers and types of tea stored away inside. My little drink goblin, He thinks to himself with a chuckle.

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Nero flashes a small smile when Caden squeezes their leg, knowing that he is probably enjoying the attention and touch. It’s been a long day for him too and the day was barely half-way through. “Well now I know what we should renovate.” Nero says with a small chuckle.

“And what’s that?” Kiki asks, looking a little downtrodden that a spa day might not be feasible.

Nero grins with their typical impish expression, their lips curling like a cat’s. “If we can’t go to the spa, we should bring the spa to us!” They chirp. “That, or we use Kiki’s destruction of the training room and add that hot room thing… a sauna?” Kiki looks delighted with the idea.

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”Sure. With lemon. There are cut slices in the fridge,” she said before she took her first sip of the soup. It was a harvest kind of soup, and even though it was still too early in the season, the rainy day told Cassi they needed some warm food with spice. The soup tasted like autumn and home. Cassi wiggled in her seat happily, unconscious of her actions, while she ate.

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Caden looked back and forth between Kimiko and Nero. At their pleading looks in hopes for a sauna, at least. Caden chuckled and nodded. ”Alright. I’ll look into having a sauna installed. We can take out some of the bathroom. It doesn’t need to be that large anyways.”

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Nic gets Cassi’s tea prepared and his water before joining her at the table. He chuckles as she wiggles in her seat. “I can’t believe I have the cutest girlfriend in the world. You’re too adorable.” He musses her head, ruffling the hair a little as he takes a seat and places her drink down.

He tries the soup too and grins. “Your wiggling is on point, this tastes delicious.” He teases before kissing her cheek.

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“Brilliant!” Kiki says with a bright smile before pulling her laptop closer to her. “And just like that, I feel invigorated. Let’s start getting through these books. Also, we should ask the kitchen to whip up some study food.” She starts typing away on her computer, logging into the Men of Letters online library to see if she can find anything for Nic’s monster while she waits for Nero to find something for her to transcribe.

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Cassiopeia blushed from the teasing and compliments. She batted his hand away but didn’t let it distract her from eating a little more. She broke up some bread and dipped it into the soup before eating it.

She ate her soup quietly, enjoying the silence with Nic by her side. There was no need for conversation when in the presence of good food and good company.

Once the meal was concluded, Cassi topped up her tea before she pulled Nic into the living room. She grabbed a wool blanket and tucked it in around the pair of them before she broached the topic of conversation she had been avoiding.

She informed Nic of her need to know more about what happened when Nero killed her family. She explained what they saw and what Mundus had said. That her grandmother had made a deal. That Nero had been enslaved and was exacting the terms of that deal, and that Mundus was very aware of Cassiopeia.

”It was something your father had said that made me suspicious. My mother and grandmother were fighting before we were attacked. I think she found out and was confronting Claire. But… It was already too late. I had made my decision, and that broke the contract. I’m sorry, Nic… I don’t want to take away from what is going on with you and your dad…I just knew something wasn’t right.”

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Caden chuckled. He kissed Nero’s cheek before depositing the imp back into his own chair. He left to make a couple of phone calls, one for food, and another to price out a sauna. He then spoke with the contractors on if they could assist. Once Caden’s separate tasks were complete, he came back to work on decoding the books with Kimiko and Nero.

A few hours later, after all the snacks were gone, and Caden couldn’t stop yawning, the dragon man paused. He quirked his head to the side as if he were listening to something.

”He’s awake,” he stated, looking back at Kimiko.

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Avery was indeed awake and felt like absolute shit. His head was pounding fiercely, and his eyes couldn’t focus on anything. It felt like sandpaper every time he blinked, and his mouth felt chalky. Avery groaned and tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea and dizziness knocked him back down.

Noted. Never block a bond in anger. Avery wished for sleep to claim him again, but a powerful need had him dragging himself to the bathroom to relieve himself. He stuck his hands under the taps after washing his hands to drink some water. He lifted his head to see if he looked as bad as he felt but discovered there was no mirror where there normally was. Did he break that? Avery wouldn’t be surprised if he had.

He stumbled back to his bed, wanting to lay down, but his stomach rumbled in fierce protest. Plus, he kept searching for her. Not only was Avery looking around his room for Kimiko — knowing fully well she wouldn’t be there — but he was also looking for her in his head. He found Caden first, but then started searching for the fire of his mate.

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Nic stays quiet as Cassi tells him everything he’d missed while training this morning. Resting a hand on her knee, he showed her an encouraging smile to keep talking. His brow furrowed to learn that the two of them were in similar positions because of their families and he wished he could say or do something to help his girlfriend through this, just as she was helping him with his father.

As Cassi starts apologizing for ‘upstaging’ Nic’s situation, he plucks her tea out of her hands and sets it down. Swiftly, he wraps his arms around Cassi and pulls her close, hugging her tightly. “I don’t care how big or small something is or if I’m dealing with something; I want to know what’s going on in your life. I want you to rely on me… I want us to rely on each other.” He keeps his tight hold on her for a few moments longer before releasing her, cupping her face now to kiss her forehead.

“I can only understand so much of what you’re going through right now, but I want you to know I am here for you and I love you.” He places another kiss on her forehead before adding, “And you’re entirely too adorable.” With that he hugs her tightly again, pulling her into his lap.

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Nero peeks over the large book they’re in the middle of at Caden’s news, eyebrow raised. The book blocks their excited grin from Kiki, but they’re sure Caden can see it from his perspective. Almost falling into a fit of giggles, Nero bites their lip and ducks their head into the book again. Their wiggling in the seat is impossible to miss though.

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Kiki had just begun diving into some of the angelic and demonic archives available when she felt it - a tug at her consciousness. She’s already starting to perk up and look around when Caden announces Avery’s awake. Having paid attention to the important lesson from this morning regarding mating bonds, Kiki doesn’t even try to block him out, even though the idea is tempting.

“He’ll be able to find us based on me, right?” Kiki asks of Caden before settling back into her seat. “Because I suddenly feel very dedicated to this research.” Try as she might, she still sits straight in her chair like there’s a board attached to her spine. She has to force herself not to get up and run to him; he needs to seek her out if he wants to repair this.

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Cassi looked worried when. Nic took the teacup she had been holding onto tightly. She shifted like she was about to snatch it back to protect herself with it, but Nic pulled her into a hug instead. Cass sat there for a minute, feeling stunned. And then the tears started.

When Nic hugged her a second time she held onto him tightly, barely reacting to when he pulled her onto his lap. She buried her head into his neck, feeling ashamed for having doubted Nic, guilt for wanting him to care for her, and grief for so many lives lost because she had been mad at the wrong people.

Eventually, Cass was able to pull herself back. She sniffed and laughed slightly. ”I’m always crying around you.”

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Caden smirked and shook his head at Nero before looking at Kimiko. The obvious need to go see Avery was apparent in how her body was reacting, but Caden respected her desire to stay put. Avery deserved to feel panicked.

”Yes. He'll be able to find you as long as you keep the connection open.” Caden was curious how long it would take Avery to realize he had make-up on his face. He hoped none of the staff told him.

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Avery sat in his room, knowing exactly where Kimiko was for several minutes. He knew she knew he was awake, and some messed up part of him thought she would come to him first, but of course, she didn’t.

”No shit, Zain. You fucked up,” he cursed himself, muttering under his breath.

Avery sat for a few more minutes until most of the nauseous and dizzy feelings went away. He was dressed in loose clothes, a pair of shorts and a T-shirt because he felt disgustingly warm.

When he left his room, he had to pause in the hallway for a moment. Dizziness overtook him, along with the brightness of the lights in the hallway. He managed to find a window and saw it was rather dark and gloomy outside, which explained on the lights were on. As he walked, he ran into a couple of people but didn’t stop to talk. They stared at him, seemingly in shock, but Avery ignored them all.

Once he was outside, he felt like he could breathe again. The damp, cold air filled him up and soothed his burning skin. As much as he wanted to go to Kimiko, he couldn’t deny the relief he was feeling from being outside. Avery took his time walking across Caden’s backyard, going over what he was going to say to Kimiko while he drank in the cold air.

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Nic chuckles when Cassi pulls back, removing one arm from around her so he can wipe her face. “I’ll take it as a compliment; it just means you feel safe enough around me to share your true feelings.” He leans in and kisses her nose before he picks up one of her hands.

“Now this will be a promise we both need to keep,” Nic says as he intertwines their pinkies. “From this point on, we’re in it together. No more hiding things from each other to ‘protect’ one another, okay?”

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Nero sets the big book down in a way that lets it stand up and hide them as they double over in silent laughter, almost unable to contain it. Kiki is perfectly setting it up so they’ll get both her reaction and Avery’s realization in one go. They start setting their phone up in a way that would capture Avery walking in while also getting Kiki’s face. Lucky for them, the fox is too focused on appearing nonchalant that she doesn’t notice the set-up that Nero is doing.

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Kiki taps her fingers across her keyboard, not pressing the keys hard enough for any keystrokes to be recognized, but in a pattern that releases some of the anxious energy she’s feeling. She can’t help the way her head jerks to look at the entrance to the library anytime she hears a small sound or sees movement in the corner of her eye. At one point she ends up chewing on the tip of her thumb once more, feeling herself become agitated with how long the wolf is taking.

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Cassiopeia’s eyes remained on Nic while he cleaned up her face. She held onto his hand earnestly, not looking away from him. ”I do feel safe with you,” she told him. It surprised her as much as comforted her how true those words were and how much she loved them.

Cass didn’t feel like she had to be the strong one around Nic. She could crumble and fall apart if she needed to. Which made it difficult to keep everything together when she needed to, like earlier.

She broke eye contact with Nic to stare at their pinkies intertwined. It was a juvenile way to make a promise, but it made Cass smile. And he called her adorable. She bit her bottom lip, debating on denying him this simple request.

”But what if it’s like really bad?”

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Caden chuckled to himself as he watched the diverse reactions from the knowledge that Avery was awake. Caden could feel Avery getting closer, so he was certain Kiki could sense the same. He patted her hand at one point because she seemed about ready to bolt. Eventually though, Caden heard the familiar footfalls of Avery walking down the hallway. However, they sounded more sluggish and hesitant than usual.

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It seemed like the closer Avery got, the more nervous he became, which exacerbated his symptoms. At one point, he had walked into Caden’s house, but turned around and quickly walked back out when a wave of nausea hit. After taking a few more minutes outside and finding water from the cooler, he made his way back in and headed down the hallway.

He paused for a minute before he walked into Caden’s study. The three of them were sitting there, Caden gave him a brief smile, his eyes roaming over Avery’s face before looking away. Nero couldn’t seem to sit still, and then there was Kimiko. Avery found that as soon as he saw her, he couldn’t look away from her.

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Nic gives Cassi a pointed look, raising an eyebrow. “You can only keep something from me if knowing about it will put me in imminent danger.” He says, compromising. Despite her trying to argue with him, he smiles.

“Because I don’t know about you, but I was serious - I want to know everything that’s happening in your life; the good, bad, and the ugly. You have to have a really good reason to want to hide something from me.” Nic cocks his head to the side, waiting patiently for her answer with a smile.

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Nero’s able to press record before hiding behind their book again as they catch Avery walking in. They don’t dare peek over the book to greet Avery’s or even look at him, fearing that they’ll give away their prank before it can be fully appreciated. Instead they grab Caden’s free hand and squeeze three times.

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Kiki doesn’t have to turn to see that Avery’s walked into the library, she can feel the pull in her spine. She glances at Caden, her heart beating so quickly she’s afraid it’ll fly out of her chest. Trying to appear as unperturbed as possible, Kiki slowly turns to finally look at Avery, looking down at his feet before making her way up to look at his face.

“What the fuck?” She snorts loudly before throwing her head back in a cackle. “Oh my gods.” She doubles over, holding her stomach as she laughs so hard tears spring in the corners of her eyes.

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Cassi wanted to play hardball with Nic, but it was difficult with him smiling at her like that. Eventually, she caved and heaved a sigh. ”Fiiinnne. But you cheated, with that smile of yours and those eyes,” she declared.

She twisted away from Nic to reclaim her tea. She took a sip of it, savouring the taste.

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Caden coughs into his hand when Kimiko starts to laugh hysterically. He smothers his laugh for a moment, but when Avery looked at him with confusion, Caden couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore.

”Did no one talk to you on your way here?” Caden eventually asked through the laughing.

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Avery frowned when Kimiko started to laugh at him. He didn’t understand what was humorous about this moment. And then Caden started to laugh while Nero tried their best to hide from him. A sinking feeling started to form in the pit of Avery’s stomach because the imp was hiding. Then Caden asked if anyone had said anything to him.

”No…I ignored everyone, but most of them gave me a wide birth or stopped and stared. Why…What did you do?” He looked at the imp who was still hiding behind their book.

Caden laughed and patted Nero’s hand, telling them to tell Avery what was going on.

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Nic laughs, shaking his head as he lets go of Cassi so she can have room to get her tea. “My eyes? What about your eyes?” He argues with her, booping her nose before moves her gently so she can hold her tea with both hands and lean into him.

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Nero can’t hold it in any longer, laughing so hard that they easily fall out of their seat, rolling on the ground with giggles. “That couldn’t have gone any better!” They exclaim with glee before sitting up a bit. They look up when Caden pats their head and stands, grabbing one of their blades that is especially reflective and handing it to Avery.

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Kiki holds her hand tightly over her mouth as she tries to stop laughing. The ‘man-hole’ must have been Caden’s idea. She watches as a prideful Nero makes their way over to Avery. She giggles each time her gaze shifts and she catches his face again.