Donut Look Now

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Nero

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

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Nero narrows their eyes at the gangly thing, an eyebrow raised before they run a hand down their face with a loud sigh. “Look, I’m trying really hard not to kill, so if I were you, I’d spill the beans before my knife slips out of my hand.”

With a tilt of their head, they lazily stare at the kid as they spin and flip their knife between their fingers. Even though they seem relatively relaxed and unbothered, the hair on the back of their neck stands on end. Even though they don’t recognize the person in their room, he feels fairly familiar.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hospital Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: Scrubs

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Taking his last break, Nic grabs the last snack left from Cass. He takes a picture of the empty lunchbox and a selfie of him pouting, sending both to Cass. He knows that if she was with Caden, that she was plenty safe, but he can’t help but worry a little with no messages from her.

I think I’ll need you to make me more lunchboxes full of snacks 🥺 They’ve been life savers these couple of days, thank you again 🧡

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Nero

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

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Nero hears the door open again and straightens, their expression furrowed in confusion as they stop their organization of items. “Was soll der Scheiß?” They mutter under their breath as they pull one of their flat knives out again. Their demons weren’t supposed to come back to the house today until the sun had set, and there is still sunlight outside.

“Okay, wer zum Teufel sind Sie und wie sind Sie hier reingekommen?” Nero says as a gangly human enters the room yelling ‘Mister Nero!’ before sighing as they realize they’re speaking German to someone who probably doesn’t understand.

“Kid, where the fuck are your parents?”

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Translations

What the fuck? // Okay, who the fuck are you and how did you get in here?

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hospital Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: Scrubs

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What felt like years later, Nic has finally found all the footage of the operating room occurrences; three in total in the last week. What if there’s more? Whenever he has a free moment, he’s combing through hospital records to see if any other patients have recently disappeared from the hospital and then cross-referencing with friends from other hospitals.

It’s nowhere near as illegal and dangerous as when he had gotten information regarding the chimera attacks. It seemed the police haven’t noticed the pattern yet, so the files aren’t being watched for now. Nic takes notes in his pocket notepad that he had ‘borrowed’ from one of the doctors, trying to keep track of the information he’s finding on top of doing his work.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Nero

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

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Nero starts working through the rest of their collection rather easily, able to use the peons for some of the more weird but not valuable things. Every so often, one of them would go to Hell and bring back another valuable artificial to leave in Nero’s office. It’s a slow process as Nero is trying to avoid detection - they don’t need anyone to take notice that they’re emptying their vault of goodies.

By the time Nero finishes with the collection that’s already inside the house, they send the demons away with tasks to keep them busy. They had successfully brought most of the daemonic books that Nero had stashed away in Hell. Once the house is empty of other demons, Nero snaps a picture of the stacks of books on their desk and sends a message to Caden with the image attached.

I gave myself a homework assignment 😅

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hospital Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: Scrubs

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I bet, but I want you to know I’m proud of you for even just giving him a chance. We can definitely talk when I finish work tonight <3 I love you

Nic grabs one of the snacks Cass had packed for him the day before from the fridge, glad that no one had stolen it. There’s some downtime in the emergency room and he takes advantage but going through the surveillance footage some more, wondering if he can find the other patient who just vanished.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden & Nero’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: T-Shirt

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Kiki watches Avery with curiosity, not sure what he had meant, as he grabs his phone. When he grins again, Kiki perks up before grinning back at this update. “And I don’t have to punch-” His hands run down her sides and she squirms as her face flushes again. “What are you-” She isn’t able to finish her sentence as Avery starts tickling her instead.

“Ach! Hey!” Kiki peals with laughter as she squirms even more, flailing her arms in an effort to grab Avery’s wrists.

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Nero

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

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Nero lets themselves smile for a moment before they take a deep breath and shoves their phone back into their pockets. It’s good timing since the demon that speaks German just entered the office with a thick book in his hands. “Did you have any issues?” The imp asks as the book is set down on their desk.

“No one’s noticing with us sneaking these things out one by one.” Ryan answers with a bored tone.

Nero pats his cheek, having to stand on their tip toes to reach the gangly fellow. “Excellent work Bryan. Keep it up until my office in Hell is empty, please. If Crowley asks, tell him to take it up with me.”

“My name’s not… yeah okay.” The demon sighs loudly before leaving the office.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hospital Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nic phone buzzes again just as he finds the footage of one of the missing patients. The camera for the operating rooms is in a corner high up and not the best quality. They’re mostly a safety measure to prevent unseemly behavior. There are some people who love to take advantage of someone at their most vulnerable…

The footage shows the team working hard to save the patients life, lot of hands trying to stop bleeding a find the bullet lodged in the ribcage, then the patient’s just vanishes. Nic pauses the video, going back a few frames to make sure he didn’t blink and miss something, but it’s the same. Nic grabs one of his random flash drives and downloads the video onto it, careful to keep an eye out for Jane or anyone else who would ask him questions. Once done, he shoves the drive in his shirt pocket and stands up to walk around and check on patients before he finally checks the message from Cass. Eyebrows raised, he grins and excitedly types out a replay.

Oh my gosh! That’s a lot to take in! How are you feeling? Do you still feel upset by any of it? And tell him thanks from me for helping you.

Yeah, he’s going to keep this to himself for now. A doctor grabs his attention and he slips the phone back in his pocket before rushing over to help.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden & Nero’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: T-Shirt

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“Are you complaining?” Kiki counters, smirking against Avery’s lips kissing him for a few moments longer before releasing his face and laying her head back on the bed. Now properly flushed, she still can’t help but bite her lip as she looks up at Avery again. “Can you stop being so bloody attractive? You’re making this hard.”

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👀

_{dont say i never did anything for you avery ;)}

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Nero

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

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Nero glances at the door as another demon passes by. “Ich schaffe das schon, die Krähe ist weg und ich kann das schnell erledigen. Ich möchte es heute beenden, ohne dass die Kinder nach einem Werwolf fragen.” Nero sighs and pinches the bridge of their nose, recognizing that they’re letting themselves get irritated because of one conversation.

“Ich verspreche, dass ich vorsichtig sein werde und mich bei Bedarf an einen von euch wenden werde. Ich liebe dich.” Nero says the last part softly.

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Translations

I’ll be okay, the crow is gone and I can get this done quickly. I want to finish it today without the kids asking about a werewolf. // I promise I’ll be careful and contact one of you if I need to. I love you.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hospital Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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Nic starts combing through the surveillance footage from the operating rooms for the dates of the disappearances when he feels his phone buzz. The message gets a chuckle out of him and he smiles, pausing the footage.

If I met one, you would be the first to know, don’t worry. <3 What are you up to today?

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden & Nero’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: T-Shirt

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Surprised, Kiki can’t hide her blush in Avery’s chest this time as she looks up at him. Her eyes easily dart to his grin and she bites her lip, a little lost in thought as she admired how handsome her wolf is. Her blush deepens. Her wolf? She swallows before licking her dry lips as she tries to think of something clever to say.

“Damn you.” Kiki mutters with a small pout. “You’re the worst.” She reaches up to grab his face and kisses him fully on his lips.

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Nero

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

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“Was auch immer es ist, ich will damit nichts zu tun haben.” Nero say simply with a pit forming in their stomach from the stress of not knowing. They glance at the closed door of their office as they hear their front door open, followed by footsteps.

Nero goes to the further corner of the room, making the phone and the hand holding it face the wall, out of sight from anyone walking by. “Meine kleinen Dämonen kommen langsam von den Besorgungen zurück, auf die ich sie geschickt habe. Es wäre zu auffällig, wenn Avery auf mich warten würde, um zu gehen. Ich kann ihn einfach anrufen, wenn ich fertig bin.” They say softly into the phone, looking sidelong to keep an eye on the door.

“Oder wenn Sie bis dahin fertig sind, können wir das Mittagessen mit dem Abendessen nachholen.” Nero lets out a little sigh of relief when one of the demons who doesn’t speak German walks by the door, carrying something to another room.

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Translations

Whatever it is, I want nothing to do with it. // My little demons are starting to return from the errands I sent them on. Having Avery wait for me to leave might be too conspicuous. I can just call him when I finish up. // Or if you’re finished by that time, we could make up lunch with dinner.

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Hospital Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“People don’t just disappear Jane.” Nic says offhandedly before pausing as realization sets in. Since he was only skimming the patient charts to pass a little time, he stops and finally looks his best friend in the eye. “What’s the operating team saying? That the patient vanished into thin air?” He tries to keep his tone light, as if he believes this is just a prank, but the hair on the back of his neck stands on end.

Jane doesn’t hesitate to start telling Nic more details, visibly confused how two different teams had a patient disappear in the middle of a surgery. The more information she gave to Nic, the more sure he became that this is something supernatural. When Jane gets distracted by one of the new residents, Nic pulls out his phone and sends a quick text to Cass. He keeps it light, not wanting to distract her from her redcaps.

How is my favorite sorceress in existence doing?

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden & Nero’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: T-Shirt

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A smile slowly appears on Kiki’s face, growing more with each kiss. “You’re making it more difficult to get out of bed.” She points out, rolling her eyes at his ‘dark and mysterious’ comment. He’s not wrong, but lord, this man’s ego.

“Nero’s place isn’t very far from here, by the way.” Kiki tells Avery, remembering when she had taken the demon by the miniature mansion to pick up their cats. She captures Avery’s lips this time.

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Nero

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

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Nero chuckles, shaking their head even though Caden can’t see them. “Der Dämon kam, um mich auf die ärgerlichste Art und Weise zu warnen, dass wir bei der Suche nach dem Ursprung der Chimäre ziemlich viele Leichen zu beklagen haben.” They sigh and run a hand through their hair. Just thinking of how long it took for Crowley to finally reveal that.

“Er wollte nicht näher darauf eingehen. Ich habe allerdings erst die Hälfte des Materials hier durch, also müssen Sie Avery nicht hierher schicken, zumindest nicht sofort.” Nero picks up the ledger they’d been working on and reads it closely, making sure that there are no mistakes in it so far. “Außerdem muss ich sowieso nicht zu Mittag essen.”

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Translations

The demon came to warn me in the most annoying way possible that trying to find where that chimera came from is leaving us with quite the body count. // He chose not to elaborate. I’ve only gotten through half of the stuff here though, so you don’t have to send Avery here, at least not right away. // Plus, I don’t need to eat lunch anyway

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Nicholas “Nic” Wu

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Location: Emergency Room - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit

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“Nic? It happened again…”

The head nurse’s head whips up to look at Jane, his brows knitting together. “… What exactly happened ‘again’?” Nic stands up from his stool and stretches before hitting the submit button on the computer, having just finished up the shift schedule for the next month. Since coming back to work this week, he’d gotten quite the number of compliments on his new accessory; the sleeve tattoo impressing most of the staff.

Jane returns his look with a flat expression, clearly ready to be done with the day already and not at all amused by Nic’s lack of knowledge. “The trauma team somehow ‘lost’ another patient.”

Nic doesn’t look up as he starts double checking some of the patient charts through the computer, making sure his nurses were using correct procedures. “It’s not like they can save everyone.” The hospital had seen it’s fair share of assault victims the past couple of weeks and not all of them could be saved.

“Jesus, Nic, I mean they literally lost the patient. Like poof, the dude’s gone.”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden & Nero’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: T-Shirt

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A warm blush dusts Kiki’s cheeks as Avery’s arm touches her butt and she keeps her face hiding in his chest so he doesn’t see. When had she taken her shorts off?? “I don’t wanna.” She mumbles but she takes a deep, calming breath before lifting her face to look at Avery. Hopefully she’s not still flushed.

“Why do you have to wear a uniform? Do I need to dress in all black too?” Kiki asks, starting to go through possible outfits in her head.

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Nero

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

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Nero almost immediately relaxes at the sound of Caden’s voice, audibly letting out a sigh of relief. “Es ist alles in Ordnung. Es tut mir leid, ich weiß, Sie sagten, nur im Notfall, aber ich wollte wirklich Ihre Stimme hören. Ich habe The Crow unter meine Haut gehen lassen.” The demon shakes their head, letting their hair whip around as if it will get rid of the irritation Crowley left in his wake.

“Ich bin froh, dass du und das Kätzchen euch versöhnt habt.” Nero says, a small smile lifting the corners of their lips.

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Translations

Everything’s okay. I’m sorry, I know you said only in case of emergency, but I really wanted to hear your voice. I let The Crow get under my skin // I’m glad you and the kitten made up

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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Location: Caden & Nero’s House - Chicago, IL
Skills:
Fit: T-Shirt

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Kiki easily snuggles into Avery again, feeling rather content until he mentions Cassi and Caden. She whips her head out of his chest, her face splitting into a wide grin. “Wait, really? I thought it would take ages!” No longer feeling tired, Kiki untangles herself from Avery and scrambles off the bed in search of her phone. Once she finds it, she frowns - it’s dead since she didn’t let it charge overnight.

“Oh, damn it all.” Kiki glares at her phone as if it’s the objects fault for being dead right now. She trudges back to the bed, placing it on the charging plate on her nightstand before crawling back into the bed. She reclaims her previous position.

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Nero

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

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The phone in Nero’s pants pocket vibrates again, but they ignore it for now, keeping their eyes fixed on Crowley and his smug, stupid face. “Well, I can’t say I’m not disappointed - here I was hoping for something juicier than who I choose to sleep with.”

“That was just to see how you’d react.” This time Nero doesn’t hide their annoyance, letting the crossroads demon see their eyes roll. He chuckles heartily at the reaction before leaning back into the chair and resting his ankle on his knee. “Who else is here today?”

Nero looks at the King of Hell with rising irritation. “For fuck’s sake, just tell me why you’re here before I decide to take your throne for myself.” It’s an empty threat, but this is the first time Nero has ever threatened to de-throne anyone, something that Crowley takes notice of.

“Fine, ruin my fun.” He says as all humor leaves his face and his tone growing serious. “Your kittens weren’t finding anything on the chimera, so I took over-”

“Don’t insult cats by calling my demons ‘kittens’.” Nero interrupts as they hop onto their desk to sit.

Crowley bows his head in silent acknowledgment before continuing. “Anyways, they weren’t finding shit so I start assigning my own demons to find out more.” The raspy, Scottish accent pauses and locks eyes with Nero. “I’ve lost some of my favorite toys to this investigation.”

“I would offer condolences but I know you didn’t actually care for them that much.” They were starting to grow not only impatient with the King of Hell, but also just bored with the amount of showboating they were being forced to sit through when they could be wrapping up their business here and finally start the process of leaving demons behind them.

“If you interrupt me again, cait-sith, I will make it my personal mission to ensure you never enjoy another day up here.” As much as Nero wants to interrupt to be annoying and also find out what the fuck Crowley keeps calling them, they know Crowley could make good on the threat. Nero will rather deal with the showboating, instead waving their hand to prompt the other demon to continue.

“Wherever this beastie came from, someone is doing everything they can in order to keep the trail cold. I’d start watching your back if I were you.” Crowley leans forward, holding the armrests of the chair as he stares into Nero’s eyes. “And that’s not me threatening you.”

Before Nero has the chance to reply, the insufferable demon snaps his fingers and disappears. Nero hops off of the desk and chews on their thumb in worry as they begin pacing. What the fuck did this mean? Their phone buzzes again and Nero pulls it out quickly, worried that Caden is threatening to fight Crowley, but it’s just a notification from something.

I need to figure out how to get rid of these… The imp thinks to themselves before they open their phone to see if Caden had responded. They start to type out a reply before loudly sighing and just hitting the call button.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Kimiko “Kiki” Voss

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

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A grumbling mumble tumbles out of Kiki’s mouth before she remembers how to use words again. “Tell Caden to fuck off.” Having let go of Avery at some point in her sleep, she tangles her limbs around him again. “Mine.” After she practically growls this, she buries her head in his sweatshirt and inhales deeply

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Nero

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

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The wide grin remains on Nero’s face, their eye twitch the only thing that gives away their alarm at Crowley’s announcement. “And? Are they at least funny?” Nero asks lazily with a tilt of their head. They feel their phone vibrate in their pocket and turn their back to Crowley as they pull it out, dropping the fake smile. Their eyebrows knit together when they see Caden’s text but they do let out a small sigh of relief that everything seems to be sorted between Caden and Cassi now.

“I wouldn’t call them funny, my pet.” Crowely’s voice has an amused tone to it. ”At least, not funny to a cait-sith.”

Playing games with a Crow right now.

The other demon clears his throat impatiently, not appreciative of Nero’s divided attention. Rolling their eyes and sighing softly, they slip their phone back in their pocket before turning around to face Crowley with a smile again. “Alright Lucky,you can stop beating around the bush. I’m on vacation still, so I hope for your sake that this is important.” They pull one of their knives out of their secret hiding place and toss it up in the air before deftly catching it.

Crowley’s brow raises, not expecting the threatening aura from Nero. Sure, the tiny thing is always up to something and can be an annoying thorn in his side, but it was usually through clever pranks. “Well, darling, there’s been whispers of a lover-”

“Give me a moment to find some pearls to clutch for this scandal.” Nero says this with a flat expression and tone, but there’s a cold prickle on the back of their neck. Did someone see me with Caden?