KazAlkemi

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Caden

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Location: Airstrip – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Caden grinned, remaining relaxed in his seat while Nero tried to guess where they were going. ”Many places.” Caden had purposely dressed plain to keep Nero in the dark. ”Why don’t you just enjoy the flight with me? Once the plane is in the air, we can go sit in the lounge area and drink champagne. Or watch a movie if you want,” Caden said.

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Avery Zain

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

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”You’ve been here for nearly two weeks now, and the house is always full. Are you telling me you still aren’t used to that?” Avery led Kimiko from the house and to the garage where the bike is waiting for them. He released Kimiko’s hand to pull on his leather jacket.

”Do you want me to tell you or do you want to be surprised?” Avery didn’t mind either way. It just wanted everything to go right on this date.

It had been a long week watching Kimiko heal and get back into training and the gym. It had been a lot of late nights as well, worried she was going to have a nightmare or run off on him. Tonight would be the first night they could be a normal couple. Avery just wanted it to go well.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Nic’s Old Apartment – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Cassiopeia grins proudly at Nic’s reaction. ”It was a team effort,” she assured him. She wasn’t expecting him to pick her up and spin her around.

Cass laughs and clings to Nic, so she doesn’t slip out of his arms even though he is holding on pretty tightly. As usual, she blushes when Nic kisses her in front of everyone.

”I wanted you and your dad to have Sunday to relax. We have one more load to do for your place tonight, then we can move your dad tomorrow. His place is already packed as well.”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Caden

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Location: Airstrip – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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”I don’t need it right now,” Caden said. The plane started to roll forward then and Caden looked out the window. ”We’ll be in the air for about two hours before we land. The sun will be setting then, and it’ll give you a good view of where we are going. Maybe you’ll figure it out when you see the place from the air,” Caden said, turning his head to grin at Nero.

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Avery Zain

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

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”Yes, that would be sad. But then you would be deprived of seeing me in leather again,” Avery said with a wink.

He waited for Kimiko to grab her things before he took her hand and walked with her to the front door. ”It’s weird not having everyone here,” he mumbled while they walked. The house wasn’t always busy, but there was always someone wandering around.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Nic’s Old Apartment – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Cassiopeia sent Nic a winking emoji that moved before she slipped her phone away again. They finished packing the van just as Nic got home. Cassi stood by the SUV, grinning. ”Just in time for us to drive over to the new place,” she said and handed Nic a bottle of water.

Before Nic went back to work, he had nursed Cassiopeia back to health, and had been as attentative as ever. Cassi adored the attention, but she was also grateful when Nic went back to work because it gave her time to remake her own space, and establish a routine. Now that she was fully healed, and things had gotten back to normal, she could repay the favour of Nic looking after her so well by providing for him.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Caden

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Location: Airstrip – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Caden grinned and walked around his chair and sat in the seat across from Nero. ”Nope. But you’ll love it,” Caden assured them. He pulled out his phone and shut it off before tucking it into his travel bag. Caden rested his ankle over his knee, and watched Nero. Thoroughly enjoying their joy as well as their anxiety at not knowing what Caden had planned for them for the weekend.

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Avery Zain

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

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An immediate grin filled Avery’s face when Kimiko opened the door. He laughed at her and shook his head. ”Trying to get out of riding a motorcycle that badly, hmm? You can stay and go to the pool party if you want and I can treat myself to date night,” he teased her back.

Since Avery told Kimiko about the mating bond and that his wolf had connected with her, the teasing hadn’t stopped. Avery was glad because he was worried things would shift or Kiki wouldn’t take kindly to the teasing, but she was just as witty as he was, and could match him blow for blow. Sometimes she even stunned him enough that he had no comeback. It was refreshing, and one of Avery’s favourite things about the relationship so far.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Nic's Old Apartment – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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They had just got the couch into place when Cassi’s phone buzzed in her back pocket. She slipped the phone out of her shorts, and read Nic’s message.

See you soon <3

”Nic’s on his way,” she informed the others before heading back up the stairs to get the side tables and some more boxes. Nic’s house was nearly emptied. Tomorrow they would have all day to tackle Ren’s.

It was one of the reasons Cassiopeia had contacted everyone to come earlier than the originally scheduled time. She wanted to give Nic and Ren plenty of time to get settled, so she thought if they could get Nic moved in one day and Ren the next, that would leave Sunday for them to unpack, organize, and settle in.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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One Week Later

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Caden

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Location: Airstrip – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Caden walked back from the front of the jet and leaned on the top of one of the leather chairs. ”We’ll be leaving in about 15 minutes,” he informed Nero.

The last week had been relatively quiet for Caden and his family. Charles had come out with his mate Anna to talk with Levi and the other wolves. The information he received from Kimiko’s story, as well as the bruising on her body, was enough to anger one of the oldest living werewolves. It was a fairly easy assessment from there.

Caden was glad the Chicago werewolf pack wouldn’t be darkening his doorstep. Now the area was free of wolves and Bran was fine to leave it that way for now as long as Caden and Avery protected the state.

Avery had turned down the idea of being an alpha and starting his own pack. He didn’t want to be tied down to anything, and with the start of a new relationship, Caden didn’t blame him.

Researching into Mundus had hit a bit of dead end, and Caden proposed the idea of a break. So here he was, leaning on a chair in his private jet with Nero, ready to whisk them away for the weekend. Caden struggled to keep the location of where they were going from them, but so far he had managed it.

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery parked the SUV in the garage and locked it before he made his way into Caden’s house. He had just dropped Nero and Caden off at the airport.

It would be the first time Avery had the place to himself. Caden had dismissed his entire staff for the weekend, telling them they all deserved some R'n'R after the werewolf incident. Everyone was thrilled. Some people decided to go away, go on shopping trips, or just stay in and binge watch the latest TV shows.

Avery heard a splash from someone jumping in the pool, followed by laughter and the sound of music starting. Those who didn’t have houses off Caden’s property, or went away for the weekend, had decided to have a pool party. Avery and Kimiko were both invited, but Kimiko was finally healed up, so Avery was taking her on a date. Their first date. And he was completely nervous.

He planned something fun for them to do, as well as supper, but Avery was rusty when it came to dating these days.

Avery walked into Caden’s house and made his way to Kimiko’s room to see if she was ready to brave the motorcycle again. He stopped outside her room and knocked on her door before shaking out the nerves.

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Nic's Old House – Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Cassiopeia jogged down the stairs with a box in her hands to add to the moving van. All week she had been helping Nic pack up his apartment, and Ren pack up his house. She had managed to help them get rid of a lot of things, but moving two households into one was no easy task. Thankfully, they had a whole little moving team.

Kat, Jane, Cassi, and a couple of Caden’s staff were moving everything down into the van while Ren sort of organized and directed where things should go. They had already taken one load to the new house, and were almost done filling the moving van up with a second load. Caden offered to get Nic something bigger with movers but there was something fun about doing it yourself.

”I think we could get the couch in here now,” Cassi said to Jane. Cassi stopped to fix her messy bun and pulled the scrunchie tighter to avoid her hair getting loose again.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery chuckled from the motorcycle comment and kissed the top of Kimiko's head. He rested his arm behind her, not applying too much pressure to her back.

”Oh, I think I'll get you to come around on motorcycles.”

Avery knew he shouldn't blame himself, but it was difficult. However, when Kimiko chose to curl into him like this, chose him to look after her, it was easier not to blame himself.

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Caden

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

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Caden kissed Nero's nose before shifting to face the table again. ”It's never easy facing our own demons, but you're willing to go through your personal Hell again to get answers for you and others. If that doesn't tell you or Cass what kind of person you are I'm not sure what will.“

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery lets Kimiko lead him, happy to just follow her. ”I suppose that means I should let you all me more questions then, huh?”

They reached the bed, and Avery stretched out along the outside, so Kimiko could have the middle.

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Caden

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

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”I understand,” Caden said, nodding. ”but I don't think you should be punishing yourself, either. There are other ways to atone, and I think fighting today and doing this research are steps towards that atonement.”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Her words rang hollow in his ears, but Avery also knew she was right. He brushed his thumb along Kimiko’s cheek, watching the simple action until his eyes returned to normal.

”The emotions of the bond were worse when I didn’t understand what was happening. It’s better now that I’ve accepted them. It’s just hard for me to see you like this. I can only imagine what you are feeling. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be making this about myself,” Avery said. He moved his hand from Kimiko’s cheek and brushed his thumb lightly along her cut lip. He sighed and stepped in to kiss Kimiko’s forehead.

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Caden

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

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Caden sighed through his nose, his jaw clenching as he took a moment. He rested a hand on Nero’s cheek but let them continue to look away.

”The old you wouldn’t feel guilty. They wouldn’t even bat an eye, but this you? They do care. That’s important, Nero. Don’t keep punishing yourself for something you had no control over. Cassi’s built a new family. She took the loss of her family hard, understandably so, but it runs deeper than most. She’s always blamed herself because she and I decided to end our engagement and leave. Even though she is mad at you, I think she is still blaming herself. Just right now, she has someone else to blame.”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery takes a deep breath in and shakily lets it out. He lifts one of his hands to rest on Kimiko’s before opening his eyes to look at her. His eyes are still yellow but they are less intense and starting to fade. She’s wearing his sweater again and that helps to soothe him.

”It’s…everything. It’s letting you go last night and not coming after you sooner. It’s not finding you sooner and making Terrance suffer more. But more than anything, it’s me not being able to touch you without hurting you. I can’t fix this, and I don’t know what to do.”

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Caden

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

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Caden smiled and leaned forward. He closed the laptop and turned in his seat to face Nero. ”We are learning more. We don’t need you to unlock every single repressed memory right now. The facts and this research is more than enough. Are you still feeling guilty about what happened to Cassi’s family?”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery looked at himself in the mirror when he heard Kimiko knock on the door to check in on him. His eyes were glowing yellow, and he could feel how unsteady he was.

When Avery had been unstable before Caden took him in, there were weeks that Avery remained a wolf. He felt like that right now. Like he couldn’t get out of his head or this mindset of needing to rip everything in sight.

Avery shut his eyes and hunched his shoulders, trying to think of something else. ”It’s open,” he told Kimiko simply. He couldn’t tell her anything else beyond that at the moment, but if he had said she could be vulnerable with him, then that was a two-way street, right?

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Caden

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

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”Are you sure you want to unlock more memories in that way? It was really intense for you,” Caden reminded them, worried what unlocking memories that powerful might do to Nero.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery excused himself to go and wash his hands. He didn’t look at Kimiko while she put his sweater back on, and he was glad she was busy doing that anyway. He walked into the bathroom and washed his hands off in the sink. He stood there scrubbing and scrubbing until the water was near scalding, and then he soaked his hands in the cold water before splashing his face.

Avery was not okay.

He saw red again as he stared into the sink, replaying the image of ripping into Terrance over and over and over again. He was gone, but he left his mark and that angered Avery to no end.

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Caden

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

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Caden breathed finally when Nero came back to him. Caden rubbed Nero’s back while they spoke. ”It would make sense that you knew Abaddon if they were a knight of hell as well. From the details of the notes, she was rather high ranking,” Caden added.