KazAlkemi

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.

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 breath himself to prepare before he tries his best to rub the cream into Kimiko's neck and shoulders. He tries not to run too much and just lets the cream sit and soak in on its own.

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Caden

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

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Caden hits pause on the video as soon as Nero slumps forward. He rested a hand on their leg and the other on the back of their neck, ready to pull Nero out of it if something happened.

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 got up and grabbed the tin of cream from the table. He walked back and sat on the bed, and got Kimiko to turn around. He grabbed some with his fingers and rubbed it into his hands.

”Try to breathe deeply. I'll be as light as I can but let me know if it hurts too much, okay?”

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Caden

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

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Cadwn pressed play on the video and the person who was Abbadon started talking right away. She was a tall red head who was going undercover as a nun. As the video played and went one, Caden glanced at Nero to see how they were doing.

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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It isn't hard for Avery to get drawn in by Kimiko's eyes, especially when they are as vibrant as they are now. They look like green grass after a rainfall. Bright, full, and refreshing.

”I can lay with you. After a shift and a fight like today, food is consumed more for fuel rather than enjoyment,” he assured her. ”Do you want me to rub that cream into your shoulders and neck before you settle in?”

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Caden

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

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Caden kissed Nero's cheek, and rested his hand on Nero's leg. ”Your brain works fine. Let's keep researching. That might jog your memory,” Caden said, and pushed the laptop in between them so they could both read.

”Let's watch the videos. Maybe seeing her will help.”

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 cocked his head to the side when Kimiko threatened him. He lifted his hand from her hip and brushed away her tears with his thumb like he had with the blood on her lip. "I won't, but no one would blame you after today."

Avery cupped Kimiko's cheek once he wiped some of her tears away. "You can be vulnerable around me," he assured her.

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Caden

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

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Caden glanced at the spelling of the name before he opened up an online catalog that only Men of Letters members had access to. He typed in the name and it brought up several files, including audio and videos.

"Wow. There is a lot. Seems she was part of the Men of Letters American chapter." Caden kept reading and scanning through the files, and he let out a whistle of appreciation. "She became possessed and was one if Lucifer's Knights of Hell. She's dead now." Caden looked over at Nero with that revelation.