Donut Look Now

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

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Nyx Heir the Wanderer

Grand Bank, Duchess Agustria's Estate

_{Skills: Shift}

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After taking some well-meaning rest, ‘Asteria' and Mene found themselves in a carriage with their bodyguard Deven, headed towards Duchess Agustria's estate. Mene was turned towards his sister, his saucer-like eyes determined.

“We can't afford to mess this up. Her Majesty is counting on us. We can use the same tactic we used at Duke Rhinecliff's estate. You go in first and distract them. I'll sneak in through any other entrance and try to unearth anything. Deven will stay with the carriage.”

Mene racked his fingers through his hair, visibly stressed. ”The Queen, she'll take care of us, right? She'll protect us.”

A pause. ”Do you… really think Duke Rhinecliff did something to us?”

Outside, the carriage came to a stop. They had arrived just outside the gates to Duchess Agustria's estate.

Meanwhile, a secret correspondence had been sent by raven to Duchess Agustria…

@Estylwen

‘Asteria’ chewed lightly on the inside of their bottom lip as she listened to ‘her brother’ prattle on, the distress clear in each word and action. She nodded along to Mene’s plan, not really in the position to say no to it. It wasn’t as if she could really ‘distract’ Duchess Agustria, especially if she had received the raven sent ahead of time. “Surely one of us would have noticed, right?” She asked in the soft voice of Viscountess Skybound. Her gaze was focused outside of the carriage as they were admitted inside the gate.

For the Skybounds, it was immediately obvious that the estate was well-guarded. Guards in Caelin livery patrolled the perimeter of the house, and merely at the gates there were a half-dozen men. Perhaps disconcertingly, moments after the Skybounds’ carriage stopped outside her estate, the gate opened were opened by the guardsmen, as if they had been expected guests. Allowed to enter, the carriage was ushered forwards, the gates closing shut behind them. Although the guards did not move from their posts, they were clearly being tracked.

What met them at the front door were not additional guards, however, but members of the household staff—although as typical of Augustria’s household, and indeed the trend of Caelin gentry, nearly all of her household staff was armed.

They were greeted by Mirie’s steward, Collin Vauxhall, an older tall man with graying hair in a sharp suit and vest, with a dress sword by his side. With him were four household maids in their customary attire, and the five of them bowed to the two children as they alighted from the carriage. They were after all still Viscount and Viscountess. With a smooth voice, he welcomed the duchess’s guests. “Greetings, Viscount and Viscountess Skybound. Milady Agustria welcomes you to her house. She expects to see you in her study.”

One of the maids stepped forward. “Please allow us to escort you to her grace. It wouldn’t do if her esteemed guests were to get lost. It is, after all, a very large house.” The girl had a peppy manner of speaking and a pleasant smile, but between the arming sword at her waist and the undertone of a threat in her words, it was clear this was more of a demand than a request and would brook no argument.

Perhaps this would not be so simple for Mene, after all. For ‘Asteria’, it was just as clear that something was certainly afoot.

@Click This

‘Asteria’ shifted her gaze to look at the other Skybound sidelong with a wide-eyed look that read ‘What do we do now?’ She turned towards the staff and returned the maid’s smile with a nervou one of her own.

“That would be much appreciated, thank you.” She told her with the utmost polite and pleasant tone before turning to Mene to whisper. “We shall find another way, I’m sure of it.” She stepped forward, gesturing for the maid to lead the way. “If possible, could you lead my brother to a lavatory? The journey here was long, after all.”

Nyx had no doubt that this request would be denied or if it was allowed, she was sure that Agustria would not let Mene out of her staff’s sight, but she had to make some show of effort for the sake of her mission. She had no idea if she would keep playing the part of Asteria Skybound after leaving the Grand Bank, but hopefully she would find out soon.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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

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Nic took his time getting dressed after the shower, his gaze kept shifting over to Cassi with a small playful smile on his lips. Once clothed, he gave her forehead a swift kiss before heading downstairs to get started on some tea. He popped some bread into the toaster as well, knowing that the two of them might need some food with their drink, and started rifling through the cupboard that housed the teas Cassi owned.

As much as he felt he should be focusing on what he’d say - or more likely shouldn’t say - to Caden when they finally picked him up, his mind kept drifting back to the most recent memories made in Cassi’s shower. His ears turned a little red as he grinned to himself before he started tidying up the kitchen and getting dishes down for their little snack.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

I’ll think about it

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

The weird desire to want to be part of these shenanigans and simultaneously not wanting Psyker to yell at me…

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Cassi’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:

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Nic could’ve sobbed in that moment, his eyes meeting Cassi’s with a small shocked expression for a moment. As soon as she steps out from the water, Nic wraps both arms around her and pulls her close. “I love you.” He says before he kisses her deeply, one of his hands splayed on the small of her back while the other reaches up to tangle into her hair and hold her head.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Cassi’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:

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Nic pauses to think, pulling away to lather up some soap onto his washcloth before he starts to wash his legs more. He still can’t help but think of the mess back at Cassi’s shop. “Hmm, I guess I haven’t really before… Are you saying we can’t just name them all after you?” He jokes before going to wash the rest of his body.

“If we have more than one daughter, maybe we can name her Katherine or Lì…” He glances away, even if Cassi’s back is turned to him. Talking too much about his Kiki or his mom is still hard to do.

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Cassi’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:

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Nic smiles against her lips, a small chuckle muffled before he kisses her back. He keeps her close, their skin flush against one another before he breaks it. It’s hard to breathe while water is running down his face at the same time. “It was very sweet. Maybe one day I’ll tell you what it means.” He winks, kisses her forehead once again, and then pulls away a little as he helps the water run through her hair. His fingers rake through the strands, working to break through the hairspray still in there.

“Our children are going to have the thickest hair in the world, aren’t they?” He asks with a humorous tone, his eyes crinkling in amusement. He has to keep his concentration on something other than the naked woman before him, else he get distracted and make the wrong move. “At least they’ll be adorable if they’re anything like you.”

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Cassi’s Home - Chicago, IL
Skills:

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Nic can’t help but find Cassi adorable as she blushes and avoids eye contact, his lips quirking up in an amused smirk. “I think I should like to thank my past life then.” He says before wrapping his free arm around her waist and briefly picking her up to pull into the shower.

“Hmmm… Very lucky though.” He hums as he just holds her close for a moment and lets the warm water wash over the two of them. “Wǒ’àinǐ, wǒ de nuwū.” He whispers as he presses his forehead to Cassi’s.

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Translations

我爱你，我的女巫 / I love you, my sorceress
_{A/N: it wouldn’t let me use the correct ‘u’ in the first part of nuwū, which is a combined üǔ}

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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

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Nic’s gotten most of the evening off of himself by the time he hears Cassi finally enter her bedroom. Hearing her knock, he sticks out his head and flashes a grin before his eyes focus on the fact that she’s out of her clothes. It’s a welcome sight and his smile turns soft as he nods. “I would love for you to.” He says gently while reaching out a hand to help.

To be honest, if the image of the dead body from earlier wasn’t fresh in his mind, he might have reacted in a totally different manner. As it is, he still feels a twitch in response to Cassi. “How did I get so lucky to have such a beautiful girlfriend?”

Chicago After Hours

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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

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Nic hums tiredly, kissing her cheek again before finally releasing her. “Don’t leave me waiting too long,” He teases with a wink. Truthfully, he won’t take it personally if she needs a moment to herself before joining him.

“I love you.” He tells her as he heads upstairs to go grab a change of clothes and get in the shower.

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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

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Kiki blinks, the thought not having occurred to her. “Why didn’t I think of that?!” She says as her brows crinkle. She grabs the plate of strawberries and holds her finger a couple of inches above them as it seemingly lights on fire. Careful not to get too close, she goes in a circle around the frozen treats until the chocolate just starts to look like it’ll melt. Blowing her fire out on her finger, she picks up one of the strawberries and happily bobs her head in satisfaction.

“Eet woked!” She tries to tell Avery with the strawberry still in her mouth and a hand blocking his view of seeing her chewing.