KazAlkemi

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Cassiopeia laughed and shifted her position again. She moved so she and Nic were side by side again. ”It’s expensive to have a part-timer,” Cass stated in an effort to defend herself.

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Avery Zain

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

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As the fight goes on, Avery shifts to the edge of the couch. He is fully engulfed in the fighting on the screen. He always found fighting of any kind to be fascinating and intensive.

The fighters grappled until one tripped up the other and pinned them to the ground. It was a similar move to the one Avery had been practicing this morning. Ground fighting was always challenging, and it was something Avery was hoping to get better at.

”Come on… come on…” He started chanting under his breath until the fighter who was pinned and struggling finally tapped out. ”Yes!” Avery clapped his hands, clearly enjoying the fights.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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”From part-timer? You’re an unpaid intern,” Cassiopeia declared. She found herself turning her head to rest it more on Nic’s shoulder, giving him more access to comb his fingers through her hair.

Cass found the action relaxing and rather intimate.

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery walked back over to Kimiko and handed her the bottle of water before he took a seat. He didn’t sit quite as far away this time but still left a comfortable distance between the two of them.

Avery picked up the remote and flipped through the sports channels until he found an MMA fight on the TV.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Cassiopeia smiled and nodded. "That works for me. I don't have an email or a way for people to contact me. I'm a face to face person, so the card design will be rather straightforward," Cassiopeia explains. She picks up her cup of cider and sips it, simply enjoying Nic's arm around her and nature around them.

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery hesitates when Kimiko says she's fine. She peeks over her shoulder at him and it nearly undoes him. Avery ends up pulling his hands back and rubs the back of his neck. "Ya, I think it should be okay. Maybe tomorrow after training we'll do some extra stretching to prevent that from happening," Avery said before he stood up from the couch. He walked over to the tray of alcohol and reached underneath to grab a water bottle for Kimiko.

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Caden

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

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Caden smiled on Nero's lips, their hum of contentment vibrating through them. Eventually, Caden releases Nero's hands to brush his fingers across their skin.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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"I don't even have business cards," she said with a laugh. Cassi sets her plate down and shifts her position so her back is against Nic's side. She drapes his arm over her body and holds onto it like one would with a pillow or a cat.

"Will you help me design business cards?" she asks, tipping her head back to look up at Nic.

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Avery Zain

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

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The tingling sensation is back when Kimiko moans again. It's just the release, he reminds himself, it has nothing to do with me.

"It's okay," Avery whispers when Kimiko apologizes with her second slip. He loosens his grip and stops kneading her shoulders. "I can stop if you're uncomfortable. I got the major knots loosened anyways."

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Caden

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

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Caden obliges Nero's orders and moves his kissing up their throat, to the underside of their jaw, and finally presses his lips against theirs. Caden had plans to wait. To ask Nero where they wanted him to go after kissing their jaw, but Caden was of the same mind as Nero's in that moment. He wanted to feel their lips on his again.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Cassi beams from the compliment and the kiss. "I guess that means I'll have to keep more regular hours," she laughed.

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery can feel the knots in Kimiko's back start to melt as he works them out and she relaxes. He smiles to himself when she assures him it feels good. Avery always prided himself on having strong, yet soft hands for this work. Despite the calluses on his fingers and hands from guitar playing and manual work, Avery had the right touch for massaging.

When Kimiko moans, the hair on the back of Avery's neck stands on end. It's a typical reaction, a release in its own but hearing her moan specifically set his skin tingling. Avery attempted to ignore it but he had to admit he wanted to hear her do it again. He slid his fingers away from her neck and worked along her shoulder blades, curious to see how much tension was there, but also to see if she would moan again.

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Caden

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

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Caden chuckled, brushing his lips along Nero's skin from the vibrations. "Mmm, that's good. Should I move lower or higher?" He asked Nero with his lips still on their skin.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Cassi squeezes Nic's hand back. "Don't apologize for how you feel. It's difficult to watch anyone refuse something that you know will help, or even have a better chance of helping than doing nothing at all. There are a lot of people out there who profit off of what I do simply because it sells. I can see how that would be frustrating in the medical field when science works more times than not. I find a healthy mix of science and voodoo helps," Cass said in an effort to lift the mood.

She kisses Nic's cheek again before offering him a strawberry. "Do people really believe eating bell peppers will help cure cancer?"

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery chuckles and continues to work on the sizable knot he found. When Kimiko tells him to stop, he immediately pulls back his hands, concerned he hurt her or she changed her mind. However, she simply wants to give him more access. Avery simply nods, not trusting his voice at the moment.

He watches her pull the sweatshirt off, his eyes tracking the way her shoulders move and how her hair falls back down around her. He swallows. You're only staring so you can see where the tight muscles are, he reminds himself.

Avery clears his throat and puts his hands back on Kimiko's shoulders and starts working on the knots right away. He gently squeezes her shoulders to bring more blood flow to the area before he works his thumbs and fingers along her spine and into her neck. He massages the two hollows at the back of her head where the spinal column exits.

"Let me know if I'm hurting you," he manages to say.

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Caden

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

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"Oh? Did I not do a good enough job spoiling you earlier in this very room?" Caden asks, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lip. "Tell me how I may make this up to you, mein kleiner Kobold." Caden leans down and places a kiss to the hollow spot between Nero's collarbone and throat.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Nic steals another carrot from the bag which brings a smile to Cassiopeia's face but she still moves the bag away from him. Both to taunt him but also to conserve the carrots. She tucks the little bag inside the brown bag on the other side of her. If Nic wanted more, he would have to lean over Cassiopeia. Or move her out of the way.

The way Nic explains how he deals with difficult patients makes sense to Cassiopeia. She, herself, had dealt with difficult customers who were dragged into her shop by friends or spouses. It was always interesting to her how these people found each other.

Cassi starts to lean closer to Nic as the conversation shifts to that of children. She can feel Nic's emotions roll off of him. When he cuts himself, Cassiopeia rests her shoulder against Nic and kisses his cheek.

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Avery Zain

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

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When Avery sees Kimiko blush and hesitate, he doesn't think much of it. He just assumes it's because of how much he's been teasing her. When she scoots slightly closer to him, he smirks before closing the distance, and rests his hands on her shoulders for a moment before he starts pressing on the soft tissue of her muscles with his thumbs lightly to locate the knot in her shoulders.

"I used to have to do this kind of thing all the time when I first started training Caden and some of the other staff members," he explained to Kimiko while he worked. "The muscles get used to being tensed and working that they forget to relax while we're resting."

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Caden

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

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Caden raises his eyebrows at Nero's defiance. "Oh, really? And why do you think that?" Caden shifts his hands from Nero's wrists to their palms, interlocking their fingers, but still applying enough pressure to keep them pinned.

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Cassiopeia thanked Nic for the sandwich, and is eating while she listens to Nic. It brings a smile to her face to hear him talk about his job.

"Oh, I just feel like it's been about me and my job the last couple of days, and I hardly know anything about yours. When you get those patients in, what do you do to try and convince them to get treatment?" Cass asks curiously, wanting to know if there is some secret way to handle difficult people.

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Avery Zain

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

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"That would make a rather interesting grave marker," Avery notes. He watches her struggle to massage the area out. Avery knows from experience that she won't likely get that knot out with an extra pair of hands.

He gives a whistle when she informs him of her age. "Just a young little thing," he teases. Avery shuffles over to the middle of the couch and beckons Kimiko over.

"Here. I think I know what's going on and you're never going to get those muscles to loosen up that way."

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Caden

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

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Caden fully laughs this time, especially when the German accent comes out stronger. "You are a little devil, aren't you?" Caden opened his eyes, grinning wickedly and promptly flips Nero over.

Caden sits atop Nero, straddling them with their arms pinned down. [olor=#006400]"How should I punish you, hmm?"[/color]

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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Cassiopeia happily complies and rummages through the paper bag until she finds Nic's weird drink. She reads the label while he makes her sandwich. "Have you ever had a patient come into the ER who didn't want to be there?" she asks randomly.

Cassi felt like so much of their conversation and dates had been wrapped around her and her life. Plus, the beginning of their relationship started on something tragic in Nic's life. She hardly knew anything about him or his job. She did know he liked being outside like she did, which Cassi was grateful for. There was no way she'd ever be able to be with someone who didn't like the outdoors.

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm fairly certain Caden would be fine if you attacked him with a pillow. Nero might even join in," he added.

Avery glanced at the TV to watch the football game for a minute. When he looked back at Kimiko he noticed she was massaging a spot on her neck. Avery smirked, resting his arm on the back of the couch.

"Pillow fight too much for you, little fox? Or should I call you old fox instead?"

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Caden

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

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Caden's eyes stay closed as he grins and chuckles. He tightens his hold on Nero briefly to pull them in closer and kiss the top of the head. "And how will grabbing the eyes with my claws make any less of a mess, my dear one?"

Chicago After Hours -- Paused (indefinitely)

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Cassiopeia Claire Alistair

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Location: Fox River – Cary, IL
Skills:

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"Yes, please. I can't make an accurate assessment if I don't have one with normal cheese," Cassiopeia decides. Cass has to admit she likes when Nic calls her darling better than when he calls her tomato. She knows that it's all in good fun, but it makes her blush more when Nic calls her his tomato.

She finishes her own cup of cider and decides to pour herself more. She likes the bubbles and the fact that its raspberry. Cassiopeia was impressed with how quickly Nic seemed to pick up on things that she liked.

"Do you want something else to drink?" Cass asked, seeing Nic finish his own cup.

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Avery Zain

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

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Avery grins at the request. "Only if you don't use your new found skills against me," he countered.

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Caden

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

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Caden grins at Nero before closing his eyes and settles more into the pillows. "Good, because then I would have to pluck their eyes out and that's such a mess."