[IC] Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I chuckle. ”Yes, you can still prank the puppy,” I said. ”Shall we keep waking?” I asked.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”A synthesiser isn't it?” I asked, looking back at Nic. I wasn't well versed with Enya. I just knew her music was played in every human owned mystic shop as well as the holistic care places. It got old really fast. I wonder if Kimiko was involved with Enya’s fame somehow. If she was, I'd have to tell her to drop her as a client.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I grin and hop off Caden’s lap before I dramatically spin to face him, left hand extended. “Let’s go.” I almost didn’t notice that the hand hasn’t healed yet from the cut of Caden’s claw, but once I do I pull it back and examine it, running my other thumb over it.

“Well, that answer’s one question I’ve had.” I mumble, forgetting the world around me for a moment.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I glance over to grin at Cass for a moment. “She uses some synthesizers, but a lot of it is her recording each instrument and each vocal part to layer on each other to create the final piece. My mom would tell me that early Enya would just have recorders in the room and start playing them on top of each other until she found a sound she liked.”

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I stand, watching Nero spin, and I chuckle. A demon with such life in them. It didn’t make sense even though I knew demons not to have a care for life, but Nero seemed to have an appreciation for life despite how they devoured it.

They suddenly stop and look at their hand. I step forward and see they haven’t healed like I have. I take Nero’s hand in mine, examining their palm. ”Answers what question?”

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”That makes sense with how layered it sounds,” I said, nodding in agreement. I tap my fingers on Nic’s leg while I listen to the music play over from his phone through the vehicle’s speakers. ”So I take it you’re a fan of Enya then?”

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Avery Zain

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Location: Caden's House – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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Once I was in my room, I felt like I could finally breathe properly. I stripped out of my leathers, tossed them onto the bed, and walked into my bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror.

”Get a grip, Zain. She was yelling at you earlier because you insulted her. You just need to go out. Blow off some steam with someone else. Someone who isn’t Caden’s ward.” I splashed some cold water on my face before going to check in with my friends.

I knew we had been angry at each other earlier, and Kimiko had this way of absolutely infuriating me so quickly, but I couldn’t get the sensation of her arms around me to go away. I couldn’t get the image of the way she boldly leaned forward to yell in my face out of my head. It was such a turn-on for me. I had a serious problem.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I look up at Caden and tilt my head. “It looks like your dragon trumps my demon - I’ve been wondering which of us is stronger.” I grin, a little thrilled that Caden could cause harm if he ever wanted to. The cut is healing, but more at the rate an average human’s wounds would heal.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I bob my head in time with Cass’ tapping, chuckling. “My mom used her music to teach her after-school dance club… which of course she made me do while I was a student at her school.” I look over and grin at Cass for a moment before focusing back on the road.

“She used them for timing the warm up stretches so she had a routine down pat.”

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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After failing to calm down with yoga, I finally decide to go for a swim. Cold water seemed like a good way to get Avery out of my head. I change into the black two-piece and grab a singular towel from Caden’s office on my way to the pool. I stick the towel into a cabinet to hide it before I dive in.

And of course, the first thing that pops into my mind as I close my eyes is Avery. It’s the image of him from yesterday, when he had been swimming himself and was half naked, his muscles wet with water.

I breach the surface and gasp for air, suddenly feeling like I didn’t have enough air. “You are depraved Kiki.” I mutter angrily to myself.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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As I hold Nero’s hand, I can see it’s healing, just at a much smaller rate. This fact doesn’t ease my worry about branding them. I look up at Nero, worry creasing my brow. I try to smile and laugh with them, but I can’t.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”Ooo, so you can dance?” I ask, growing more and more curious about Nic. I liked these long drives. It meant I had more time to get to know Nic.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Caden's House – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I end up being put to work building more garden boxes. The work is repetitive and mind-numbing, so I’m able to drown out the thoughts and my wolf’s needs. I felt that if I didn’t have a predator sharing half my mind, body, and soul, I would have better control of my emotions. I hated how the wolf enhanced all my human emotions.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I stand on my tiptoes and reach up to rub my thumb over the crease in Caden’s brow with my free hand. “It didn’t hurt when you cut it and it doesn’t hurt right now. We can ask for Cassi’s help as a safety net and I should be able to handle the final part of the ceremony just fine.”

Being overly optimistic is not usually my thing, but I can see how much everything is worrying Caden. I want to crack a joke about how I probably experienced worse in Hell, but with the memory today, I don’t think that it’ll help. If only I could appease his concerns as easily as I can rub away his wrinkled forehead.

“Mit dir ist die Welt schöner. Ich komme schon klar, mein Drache.”

Translations

The world is more beautiful with you. I’ll be okay, my dragon

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“I’m afraid to give you an answer.” I say with a smirk. Well the dance club had taught me the basics of ballet and jazz, my mom’s real specialty was ballroom dancing. If Cass and I manage to make it to one of these modern balls, I want to surprise her.

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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It takes a few more dunks of my head before my mind is finally able to concentrate again. Once that’s dealt with, I start swimming laps in the breast stroke. This and the butterfly were some of my favorite strokes purely for the symmetry of it. The butterfly just took more focus than I think I could give at the moment.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I relaxed my face when Nero smoothed out my wrinkles. I sighed, pulling Nero in close and hugged them tightly. ”I love you so much… I don’t want to be responsible for causing you any pain.”

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I laugh, my eyes dancing with amusement. ”Why? I like dancing. If you know how, that’ll be one less thing I have to teach you,” I tease.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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A small squeak escapes from how tightly Caden hugs me, but I don’t hesitate in hugging him back with as much force. “I love you too, but this will only be like a one-time thing. It’s not like you’re going to repeatably harm me, right?” I run my small hands up and down Caden’s back in a soothing manner.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I grin lopsidedly. “I thought you didn’t want to go to any balls.” I say teasingly before taking the exit into Cary. “So, what will you have to do for restoring the fountain? Or will it show you how like it did yesterday?” Hopefully without the branding this time.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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That brings more of a smile to my face. I turn my head and kiss Nero’s neck. ”Not unless you ask me to,” I say.

Nero’s right. I wouldn’t intentionally hurt them, and this was different. It was a unity mark. My mark. I loosened my hold on Nero and pulled back. I brushed my fingers down their face, and cupped their cheeks.

”I really do love you.”

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I stick my tongue out at Nic. ”Dancing in the kitchen or in the garden is just as good,” I declared. I pulled my hand back from Nic’s leg and rummaged through my bag for my notebook.

”It’s a fun little ceremony, actually. I have to bless the space with some dehydrated jasmine in the water, sand for grounding, and light a few candles for the four corners of the earth, plus a fifth for the direction India is in. Then, I have to say some words while putting the stone in place,” I explain while reading from my notes.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I beam up brightly at Caden, my cheeks slightly squished from how he’s holding my face. “And I really do love you.” I tell him as I place my hands over his to hold them.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Chuckling, I glance over as she rummages through her bag and pulls out a notebook. I don’t know why, but the fact that she takes notes like I do makes her all the more endearing and attractive to me. “Easy as one, two, three.” I say once Cass has gone over the ceremony. Even though I’m new to the supernatural world and don’t have the first clue about these types of things, the steps for it make sense to me.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I smile and close the distance between Nero and me. I kissed them deeply, shifting my hands from their face to wrap my arms around their waist. I picked Nero up and spun them around while I kissed them deeply.

Everything would be okay, I tell myself while we kiss. I wanted Nero, as well as my dragon. After the failed engagement with Cassiopeia, I had been hoping for this moment, but I wasn’t sure it would happen. However, it was happening. Nero chose me. Wanted me as much as I wanted them.

I stopped spinning, setting Nero back onto the ground, and I pulled back from the kiss. ”I love you,” I said again.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Cary, IL
Skills:

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”That’s the theory,” I say, tucking my notebook back into my bag. ”We’ll have to move quickly though. I can’t create an illusion like I did yesterday. It was easy because no one else was in the fountain, but today, I’ll need that whole area. Maybe I can talk to the people who maintain the temple…” I say, trailing off as I think.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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My whole face is flushed by the time Caden sets me back down. I’m reminded of how he had hugged Cassi like this before and I had been jealous of it, so a little bit of pride thrums in my heart at the fact that he’s done it with me now. I grin widely up at Caden when he confesses his love again.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like you do.” I tease with a small giggle before I say, “I love you too.”

It’s a weird sensation, to both feel love and be loved. I doubt I ever felt it in my human life, and I’m fully convinced I never found it as a demon either. I greedily wrap my arms around one of Caden’s and lean my cheek on his arm. “Now, let’s finish this walk - I think our detour has gone on long enough.” I say with a wink.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I nod. “I can try talking to the people I spoke with yesterday. If nothing else, we can see if we can find an ‘under maintenance’ or some similar sign.” There’s a small hardware store on the way that the two of us could stop by and probably find a sign like that easily.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I laughed when they teased me repeatedly. I smile brightly when Nero wraps themselves around my arm, and I glance down at them as we resume our walk. ”So eager to see what is now yours, are you?”

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Cary, IL
Skills:

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”That would be very helpful. I just need ten minutes, fifteen at the most,” I said. Of course, I could move faster if I needed to, but I didn’t want to screw anything up.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I laugh sheepishly, looking around as we walk. “I still keep calling your bedroom ‘Caden’s room’ in my head.” I sigh when I realize I just did it again.

“Our bedroom…” I say in a small voice.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I quickly take the turn to detour towards the hardware store. “We might find a sign here - just in case we need it.” I said as I pulled into the parking lot. I look over at Cass and smile.

“Did you want to come in with me?”

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I nod in understanding. I pat Nero’s hands while we walk. ”It’ll take some getting used to. Once we renovate, it’ll seem more like home for you, too,” I said.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving – Cary, IL
Skills:

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I look around, confused. I was usually pretty good at directions, but when Nic turned I was worried one of us was lost until he pulled into the hardware store. I grinned when he mentioned we could find a sign here. I unbuckle my seatbelt just as he asks if I want to come in.

I smile at Nic. ”Of course,” I said, and hoped out with my bag. I rummaged for my wallet while we walked up to the front door.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I do a little happy wiggle with my head as I think about it. “I hope so. It’ll be weird to have a functioning home instead of a place to hoard things.” My smile fades as I think about dealing with demons to get my things. I can handle a phone call, its not like it’ll be Mundus. I tell myself.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I chuckle and follow her out of the car, leading us to the front doors and opening them for Cass before I follow her in. “I can pay for it.” I say to Cass as we walk through the store. I use my height to keep an eye out for the right aisle.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I kissed Nero’s head briefly when they fell silent. ”We can have your things picked up whenever you are ready. You don’t even have to be there if you don’t want to. All of my people are warded against possession,” I tell Nero.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Driving —> Hardware Store – Cary, IL
Skills:

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I wave off Nic’s offer to pay for the sign. He doesn’t need to do that. I watch him look up and down the aisles. ”Should we just ask someone where it is?” I asked.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I peer up at Caden with a small surprised expression. “Would you be okay having to sort through it all here? It really will be a lot of stuff, like three stories full.” I laugh sheepishly.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hardware Store - Cary, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“Are you telling me to stop and ask for directions?” I ask, craning my neck to look back at her with a chuckle before I face forward again. The next aisle has yard sale signs, house numbers, and similar items, so I grab Cass’ hand and drag her along with me.

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[KazAlkemi]

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Caden

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Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”Well, we might have to put some things in storage while we go through everything,” I said. ”Do you have an idea of where you might want some things to go? That might help us organize things. Once I see everything, I’ll also be able to work on shipping items to our other houses that’ll fit the theme,” I add.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Hardware Store – Cary, IL
Skills:

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I grin, watching Nic crane his head and drag me along with him. ”Men. Always the same no matter the century,” I declare.

[Donut Look Now]

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Nero

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Location: Caden’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I widen my eyes. “Why was I convinced I had to find room for everything here?” I ask, laughing at myself. “That will make it a lot easier actually.” I nuzzle my face into Caden’s arm.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Driving - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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I shoot her a playful glare. “I resent that comment.” I tell her before finding a maintenance floor sign and grabbing it.

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