Donut Look Now

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nic’s ears turn red, Cass’ comment taking him by surprise. “I dunno, I might have to do a taste comparison.” He says, not daring to look at her as he sits down, afraid his warm cheeks will give him away. He starts eating to distract himself from actually following through on his words. Only the thought that his dad might come home and see that stops him.

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Nero

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Location: Retail Store - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nero giggles softly against Caden’s lips, kissing him back before he pulls back this time. His question makes Nero chuckle. “I am.” They say with a smile. “Just don’t make me regret it.” They say with a wink and a cheeky grin before hopping out of the car.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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A grin spreads across Nic’s face and he chuckles with a shake of his head. “If I remember correctly, you already had your dessert.” Nic teases Cass as he goes into the kitchen to divvy up the remainder of food. He lets Cass have most of the shrimp tempura sushi that’s left as well as another mochi, keeping the last one for himself.

“You’re lucky you’re too adorable to say no to.” Nic says with a smile as he places both of their plates down. He’s not actually sad about giving her more of the dessert - he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth anyway.

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Nero

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Location: Retail - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Note blinks owlishly at Caden’s declaration, their cheeks turning red as they stare at Caden. From what Caden had described, a dragon’s horde meant a lot to them. “You never cease to amaze me… How do your proclamations of love keep growing?” They reach over to hold Caden’s cheek, their expression soft.

“Thank you. I know I’ve told you how safe you make me feel but… it always pleasantly surprises me how easily you’re able to calm my nerves.” Nero kisses Caden’s lips softly, their thumb caressing his cheek before they pull back to take off his sweater and hand it to them.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“No promises there.” Nic places his hand over Cass’, turning his face to kiss her palm before letting it rest on his cheek again.

Nic pulls his laptop closer, now that the program has finished rendering the video for them. “Alright, I’m going to grab some more food before we start painstakingly watch this footage.” He rises to his feet, gathering his plate before he reaches down towards Cass. “Would you like another plate?”

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Nero

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Location: Car - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nero fiddles with the sweater they still wear. “I think I have just the piece of clothing we can use for that.” They chirp to Caden. The change of topic is better - Nero can’t spend forever trying to figure out who had a demon spying on them anyway.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“Now who’s defending them?” Nic jokes as he turns his hand to pull Cass’ hand to his lips and kiss it. “You’ll probably find that I hold those I love on a pedestal, so you might want to get used to me blindly hating people who’ve hurt you.”

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Nero

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

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Nero laughs as they roll their eyes and shake their head. “That’s more of the reason I’m offering it. I wouldn’t ask you to cover up for no reason, after all.” They make a show of checking him out before smirking.

“I’ll let you pick out my outfit to make up for not being able to completely destroy my clothes earlier.”

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“When that ‘history’ is something as tragic and traumatizing as what happened to you, I’d rather wait for a pretty good reason to like them.” Nic assures Cass with a gentle squeeze on their thigh, turning in his chair to face her fully. “I can hound you all day about giving Caden a second chance, but Nero is a different story.”

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Nero

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Location: Car - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“I’m part of your horde, right?” Nero teases as they squeeze Caden’s hand in return. “Also thank you for setting me up with a new outfit. Would you like your sweater back, by the way?” To be honest, Nero is still pretty nervous for when they do end up meeting Caden’s family.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nic nods as Cass talks, leaving his hand on her thigh while he eats more of his food. “That makes sense. From what you’ve described to me, I didn’t expect to like Nero at all.” Nic sets his chopsticks down as he finishes his plate.

“Well, not that I do like them - I’m just not as terrified of them as I once was.” Nic stops himself from going into detail about how much Nero and Caden can do in feats of strength during workouts. “But I think being cautious about them is very wise of you. I don’t think they’ve found an explanation for everything that happened to your family, otherwise Caden would’ve brought it up with you, I’m sure.”

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Nero

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Location: Car - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nero smiles at the offer but shakes their head. “Yeah, I’d rather just sell the place anyhow. Although, it helps keep up the facade that I’m still a demon.”

“So, why is that? Is it like every other dragon story where you’re all endangered?”

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“I’ll remember this.” Nic says with a wink before he start eating his food. With his right hand, he starts his laptop up and downloads the video files he’d stolen from the hospital before running them through a program that should allow them to go through them frame by frame.

Nic reaches over and places his hand on Cass’ thigh with a gentle squeeze. “Alright, shall we get into our feelings now? What’s still on your mind after talking with Caden?”

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Nero

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Location: Car - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nero tsks, a little miffed that the mysterious demon had ruined their fun. They move their hand to place over Caden’s. “That’s a wise idea actually - not going home right away, I mean.” They stare out the window again as they run everything through their head again.

“I’m pretty sure the only reason Crowley hasn’t show up on your doorstep is because he doesn’t know where you live or that I’m living with you…” Nero smiles at a memory that comes to mind. “Did I ever tell you that Cassi threatened me that first day you brought me there? Told me specifically not to tell any other demons about it.”

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nic’s tempted to ruffle Cass’ hair when she sticks her tongue out at him, but holds back, turning his attention to his plate. “Not any I ever heard of. Anytime Kiki and I would mention tattoos, she would just say to make sure we were certain of our choices… Since it’s permanent and all.” He chuckles, remembering how the two of them had wanted to get matching Reptar tattoos at one point.

“Moving on, did I just catch you eating dessert before having your dinner?” Nic’s tone is teasing, but he’s also the tiniest bit worried that she’ll steal them all before he finishes his food.

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Nero

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

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“But I’m the one who’s been sending demons to try and figure out where it came from…” At Caden’s question, Nero tilts their head in thought. “Well, if we’re going out, we need to change clothes. Someone made a mess of them.” They flash a smirk at Caden, but there’s still worry behind their expression.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nic breaks down in a laugh, running a hand over his face now. “Tell me why I wanted to ask when I adopted a a teenager just before you said that.” He gratefully takes the plate from Cass, kissing her cheek as he thanks her.

“But yeah, I don’t get it. Everything seemed fine until you brought up your idea for his tattoo…” Nic trails off before he whips his head to look at Cass. “That’s not me blaming you in any way, though, so don’t start thinking that.” He taps his long forefinger on her forehead.

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Nero

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Location: Car - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nero’s frown grows deeper with each word and they stare out the window with a furrowed brow. “But Crowley wouldn’t bother sending just any demon after me. He would have been more clever than that…” They tap their fingers together in thought.

“I can’t help but think this has something to do with the chimera and whoever made it.” Nero says, looking over at Caden and grabbed his hand.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Nic & Ren’s Apartment - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“Good question.” Nic replies, looking around to see if there’s any note as he pulls out his phone.

Went out for drinks with John. Don’t wait up for me.

Nic runs his hand through his hair with a sigh. “Looks like it’s just us for dinner tonight.” He tells Cass as he gets his laptop out of his backpack along with the drive, setting it up on the dinner table but out of the way so they can eat first.

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Nero

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Location: Car - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nero anxiously pulls on their fingers as they wait for Caden, pacing up and down the sidewalk by his car. They release a sigh of relief when a text message comes in from the dragon, but end up pacing again, constantly casting their gaze towards their house for signs of their mate. As if appearing from thin air, Caden stands before them and Nero squeaks from surprise, letting out a string of German curses.

“I’m not the one who went off to play with another demon. Are you okay? Were you able to catch the peeping Tom?” Nero stands on their tiptoes and holds Caden’s face as they look over him in return.