KazAlkemi

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I don't respond. I just hold onto him until the door dings, announcing another customer. I pull back from Nic.

”I'm sure I've monopolized enough of your time. Your dad is probably worried,” I say. In the front, I can hear the customer greeting the cats. Another reason I have cats. To keep my customers busy while I'm preoccupied.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
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I barely have time to respond to being blindsided by Nero. They jump into my arms, crushing me by wrapping their arms and legs around me and I laugh.

”Hast du mich vermisst, kleiner Kobold?”

Avery slips away and makes his way back to the bar, mission complete for tonight.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I reach the bar at the same time Kimiko does. I internally sigh, but order two more drinks. ”How much longer are you staying?” My tone is normal but I try to make my body language look like I'm still interested for anyone watching us. I figured it would be good to maintain Kimiko's cover even though we are done here.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I curl back into Nic when he asks about necromancy. I lay my head across his beating heart. It’s not beating at its typical rhythm, but It’s alive and well. I let my eyes close. ”I could if I wanted to, but it takes something from me if I do. I’d lose my tie to the land if I dove into dark magic that fully,” I inform him. Instead of creating life, I would kill it wherever I went. Ironic since I would be bringing a human back to life.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
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”Hmm, looks like we have some research to do. If you see them again, call me. I sent the picture to my phone so you have my number now. Avery, we should get going.”

Avery eyed the vampire before he nodded. I thanked Mage before we left the bathroom, and I went in search of Nero and Kiki.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I don’t even register that Nic takes my tea cup. I just know it's gone one minute, and then I’m surrounded by him the next. I wrap my arms around him, my hands splaying to hold onto him more. I'll never understand how he makes me feel so small and safe, but I appreciate it now. It reminds me that my worries are just my anxieties.

I nod, my face in his chest, as I selfishly inhale his scent to calm me. I turn my head for a moment to breathe normally and respond. ”I know.” I hold onto him for a bit longer before I wiggle and look up at him. ”If you get killed on my watch. I’m going to bring you back and kill you again,” I partially joke.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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The woman looks between us, fear plain on their face, but recognition also forms when they see me. “You work with the police. The ones that know about us.”

”I do. Kimiko, can you go check on Nero? Keep the act up a bit and pretend you want to go home with them,” I suggest. My eyes never leave the vampire’s eyes. ”My name is Caden, and this is Avery. Can you tell us who or what you think is doing this? You have a pure silver knife. Do you think it’s a shifter or a werewolf?”

The vampire shakes and lowers the knife. “Mage. And no, not a shifter and not a werewolf. Of course, I can see how everyone thinks it’s a wolf.” She glances at Avery, and he huffs, crossing his arms. “I work in the supernatural district. A new girl moved in and was taking over some of my turf. She was taking some of my more regular clients, and then soon, they stopped coming altogether. I even had a few out-of-towners. Anyway, I didn’t think much of it other than losing business, but the other day, one of them was found dead, and then the others were reported missing. I think it’s her, but I don’t know what she is.” She pulled out her phone and showed me a picture. It’s blurred and not the greatest, but I text it to myself.

”Did you see anything? Fangs, claws, flashing eyes? Something that would change?”

“They can shift but not like other shifters. They only have one form, and it’s animalistic. They have claws but nothing that I’ve seen before.”

I open the photo album on my phone and search for the claw picture. ”Did it look like this?”

The vamp nods. ”Exactly like that.”

”Have they been on your street since the news dropped?”

“No, that’s why I came here. To see if she was lying low. When I smelt your friend, I thought I had her or someone like her.”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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Nic's gentle touch and voice almost undo me. I shut my eyes to keep from crying and I take a shaky breath in. ”I know… I'm just worried,” I say again.

It's not so difficult for me or Caden to run head first into trouble. We do it all the time and we've gotten hurt but we recover. However, some of the things that hurt us, a human would not always recover from.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket and I pull it out. I put the phone to my ear and hear Kiki talking then another woman's voice. Thankfully I hear Kiki announce they are in the washroom. I point to Avery and then to the back. The two of us make our way to the bathrooms. I keep listening on the phone as we go.

The woman frowns at Kimiko when they walk out of the stall. They hold a silver knife in their hand and have it aimed at Kimiko. “You're hunting them? Then what's with the perfume?”

”It was used to draw someone out who may know who or what we are looking for,” I say. I walk into the bathroom, holding my hands out.

The woman jumps and looks frightened as she points the knife between us all. Her fangs drop and she hisses at us. So vampires are getting involved, great.

”We want to get to the bottom of this, just like you. Can you tell us anything?”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”Yes, no… Yes. But only because I'm worried you'll get bored of me, or annoyed, or afraid. I'm worried about what others might say when they find out you're dating a psychic. I'm worried my world is going to hurt you more than it already has. You're the first human I've dated,” I inform him.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I smile and set the drinks down. I hand out shots to Avery and Nero before clinking and taking it. I lean down and whisper into Nero's ear. ”We've found something. I'll be back.” I kiss Nero's neck before I leave with Avery.

I follow his lead while we make our way through the crowd, but then the crowd stops moving. The three wolves from earlier stand in our way. Of course. Now we're doing this.

I smile and nod to the boys, taking a slight step ahead from Avery. ”Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?”

“You and the pup you brought. I thought it was clear for you that wolves had to be vetted before being brought in.”

”Aye. And I have an agreement with your alpha. Has the freedom to hunt on my lands not been sufficient enough for you?”

The wolves glance at each other and I take another step forward. ”I'd watch yourself. I have more power here than you think. Besides, the entire Chicago police force already has a hate on for your pack. Or have you not been called into the precinct? Ah, you have,” I say when recognition crosses their faces. ”Now then, let me get back to helping Avery land this girl he has his eyes on. That way, we'll keep helping you to live.” They look ready to hesitate and I shift my weight. A shadow seems to wrap itself around me to make me look taller. The pack cowers before dispersing.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”I lost her,” I say in annoyance. I ball my hands into fists and Caden looks at me. His alpha is still strong and I back down, staring at our feet. I feel the magic dispel and Caden squeezes my arm. I look up and he's Caden again.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Kimiko is no longer alone. The girl she noticed from before is there. The bathroom door locks and the woman speaks.

“Get out here, murderer. I know it's you killing all those men.”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
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I laugh and shake my head. ”No, it's not that. It's… well, your medical and I'm,” I wave my hand around the shop and gesture to me. ”Not. At least, not to the same degree. We both help people but by different means. My people were burned, hung, and drowned for what we tried to do because medicine of the day and the church decreed we were the spawn of Satan. Which for the record, I am not. My magic comes naturally — from the earth. I do know other magiks, and I do dabble in the ether but inherently, my ability is natural. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, we're opposites.” I sip my tea again to keep from rambling more.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
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I find myself slowing our dancing. Others keep moving around us but everything is silent. I look at Nero, shocked, confused, and a little in awe.

I nod in agreement with them, coming back to reality. ”Yes, yes of course. How about a couple rounds of shots?” I ask and lead Nero back to our table.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
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I naturally wrap my arm around Kimiko. She lounges into me, making it look like she's all over me. A few people became disgruntled but another just stares us down. A woman surprisingly. They sound like how Kimiko described.

I don't let my eyes linger long on the woman, pretending to be enthralled with what Kimiko is telling me. She pulls away and a lean back against the bar. I give her the once over and grin shamelessly. ”Oh, I'll come find you,” I promise.

Caden walks over just as Kimiko leaves. ”Let me buy you a drink, boss. I think I'm going to head out early.” Caden raises his eyebrows and grins.

”Ah, brother! I knew you would. Yes, let's get some shots and a couple more drinks.” We place the order and walk back to the table with our haul.

My eyes drift and I squeeze Caden's arm before disappearing.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Antoinette McCarthy

Location: Outside – X-Mansion
Skills: Running

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Antoinette beamed when Guin met Antoinette's eccentric vibe. Antoinette rerouted her focus, and looked at the path behind and ahead of her. There were a couple of different loops that they could take. "Well, I've done the long loop once. We can take a turn about again, or do the half loop," I suggest. That would take up into the woods some before it wrapped back around the lake once. It was much easier then trying to run the whole perimeter.

Antoinette knew Guin was easing her way back into establishing a routine. Antoinette didn't want to scare the girl on their first run together.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I take Nic's hand and lead him into the back to retrieve our tea. ”There's honey in the jar, sugar beside, and a little milk in the fridge there if you want it.” I pick my cup up and take a small sip.

”I know your work is important to you. You just made all that up front look easy, like it's second nature for you. I guess it's just nice to see someone like that.”

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I smile and lean closer. I rest my forehead on Nero's. ”Du bringst mich dazu, perfekt zu sein,” I whisper to them.

After I say it, I find it completely true. I want to show everything I am to them. I want to show them everything I have. I want to experience life with them.

Translations

You make me want to be perfect.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
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Kimiko finds me and I plaster on a happy smile. I turn around and lean on the bar, signalling the bartender to get us two more drinks. My eyebrows raise when she says she found what she was looking for.

”Really? Let me guess, it was your perfume that did it for them?”

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
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”The full moon is coming, so something to help us prepare for it,” I say and pour the hot water over the herbs and into the cups. I cover the cups so the tea can steep for a minute.

The door dings and I grab Nic's hand, bringing him back to the front. I greet my customer with a traditional goddess blessing and ask how we can help them today. They reveal that they are looking for some cleansing herbs, also preparing for the full moon but they've never done this before. I smile and walk them through some of the products. I make Nic my impromptu assistant and point to the wall of herbs and other products behind me. He makes it look a lot easier to get things off the top shelves. I get him to add a few things while I do others. I add in a few things that are more helpful for men than women during the moon cycle and added notes for them to read up on in private. I look at Nic after they leave and smile.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing. I tilt their chin up to look up at me. [color=#006400][I]”Konzentrier dich auf mich,”[/color] I say. I put my hand on their hip and apply pressure where I want them to move. Putting pressure on the hip will need them to move their foot in the right direction to keep their balance. I keep doing this over and over, making sure their eyes stay on mine. Soon enough we are dancing. It's not very fast, but it's intimate and that's all I wanted with them.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
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I make two more rounds of the place. It's starting to get busier which makes me anxious. I go back to the bar and get myself a drink. I lean on the edge of it, and get a few more interested looks. I try to play off of them but my attention is divided.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Mystic Dreams – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I laugh with him and squeeze his arms before I attempt to pull away from his hold, so I can finish our tea.

”Fine, guess I'll have to come up with a better one,” I declare, accepting the challenge.

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Caden

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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I laugh, Nero's reaction being far more extreme than I anticipated. I go to finish my drink but they yank on my hand. ”Whoa! Okay okay,” I laugh and follow them out onto the dance floor. A Latin number starts to play and I pull Nero in close to take them through the proper moves.

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Avery Zain

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Location: Osiris Oasis – Chicago, IL
Skills:

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”Yes, this place is difficult to find anyone worth most peoples time.” I look up when the other wolf comes back. I step forward and place a hand on Kimiko's hip, lower than it should respectably be. ”Let me know when you're done playing with the other dog,” I say it just loud enough to be heard by the wolf. I let my eyes flash yellow before I walk away from Kimiko and head onto the dance floor to slip away from them.

As soon as I'm far away I let the mask fall and shutter. I hate acting.