Cross Effects 3.0 - October 21, 2015—June 23, 2016

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Despite her dull look, Vanguard scuffed at the poor Julius.

"What kind of ruler ought knock at the doors of his own domain?" He said mockingly.

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth was about to follow along with Ron when Oren spoke up, seemingly whining now. The Hunter's frown wasn't lightened at all by Oren's words, Anne feeling far too much suspicion at this point towards this curious creature to be entirely sure.

...Even so...

The Hunter sighed, getting the feeling she'd regret this.

"Very well," Annabeth said, "The least we can do is help you find somewhere to heal up, I suppose. But after that, we'll be parting ways."

The Hunter turned to the massive wolf beside her, offering him a momentarily contemplative look.

"One moment," she said, her Ren flaring up anew. With that, the Hunter moved with all haste, grabbing another set of the clothes he'd been about to try on and leaving the appropriate payment at the counter before returning to him, still staying within the needed distance from Oren if the need arose.

"Okay, we can go now," the Hunter said simply.

[Aiden]

Ron

The rational corner of Ron's mind took in Oren's words, then peeked its metaphorical head up long enough to process it. Wait, what? Kiss? That... but she... what? That was a close enough summary to the thought process. Then Annabeth moved, collected, and paid, and he was left watching the entire process.

red lady fast, not too fast, eyes follow easy

Ron's head shook from side to side, as if he were trying to deal with an itch. Or if he were more human looking, to shake a thought out of his head.

what's happening to me?

The cashiers were, fortunately, far enough away from the changing room that Annabeth didn't have any trouble finding one that wasn't positively terrified and running away from the sight of Ron. Something about him seemed to set them off.

When she returned, she, and Oren who had never quite moved, were treated to the sight of Ron trying to look back at his tail and whimpering in rumbling confusion. He turned back to Annabeth when his mind registered the word 'go', and his eyes went to the bag of clothing.

What went through his head in the next moment?

He leaned forward and licked Annabeth's face in gratitude.

it would be kinda funny

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider followed them out of the door, still feeling down about ruining Sakura's good mood with her picture. She watched as Shirou took Sakura into a hug, her mood lifting somewhat as she saw Sakura smile genuinely at him as he asked her why they were waiting. Then, she heard Sakura's reply.

Just get rid of it, we can figure out what to change it to later, please, Sakura said, begging her. That picture is unfair.

Rider frowned once more. She wondered what was "unfair" about it, but she didn't want to ruin Sakura's mood again. Instead, she thought for a moment, before coming up with an idea.

Hmm, Sakura, could you and Shirou turn this way, and smile? she asked, putting her phone into camera mode.

It wasn't perfect, but any photo of Sakura with her beloved would be better than a dreary blank background, and she could always find something better later.

[SINIB]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura turned Shirou and her around to face Rider obidiently, attempting to give her a smile, while ending up with a sort of half smile in reality. Shirou, on the other hand, after seeing what Rider was trying to do, lifted Sakura up and smiled happily, surprising Sakura before she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled again, this time in a far more genuine manner.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Sakura followed Rider's request, turning around to look at her, trying her hardest to look happy but largely failing. Somewhat disappointed at Sakura's continued low mood, Rider nevertheless half-heartedly took the picture, figuring it was better than nothing. However, just as she had done so, Shirou grabbed hold of Sakura and lifted her up off the floor, a genuine smile on his face. Rider, understanding what he was trying to do, quickly pointed the camera back at them, waiting for the perfect moment before taking a beautiful picture of the two of them in a happy pose, hoping sincerely that she would be able to add many more happy photos in the future.

"Thank you", she said, a smile on her face, as she began to fiddle with her phone's settings, changing the background as Sakura had asked, moving to stand by Sakura's side now that she felt less guilty about upsetting her master.

[Kat]

Mordred

She went to the Chinese restaurant first of the trio. That was also the first time she visited one, and surroundings were clearly unfamiliar to her. Well, always something new.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Oren

The Fae laughed in delight at the wolf's action and placed a kiss on Annabeth's other cheek. It's best to keep such things even after all. Then she placed one hand on her waist before pointing at that beast that seemed to have come from a wilder world. "You need to turn back. You're too slow. We can get anywhere much faster on my back than yours. I can prove it too."

[SINIB]

Sakura Matou and Shirou Emiya

Sakura let out a little laugh at Rider and Shirou as her beloved put her down on the ground. They stood around quietly, making small talk about inane things like the weather and temperature before the “taxi” arrived. It was clearly not your standard, run of the mill, taxi. It was a fancy black car with leather heated seats. Shirou was surprised. Sakura had never been... this free with her money. He wasn’t sure he really liked it, either. He’d always been fairly frugal, and she’d been the same, so he wasn’t sure what had changed her.

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth was taken completely off guard by the sudden lick, sputtering a bit out of surprise as she stared at the wolf. Of course, Oren soon followed suit, her lips pressing against the side of her face untouched by Ron. Wiping her cheek off on reflex, the Hunter couldn't help a slight blush dusting her cheeks as she looked between them with her best attempt at a stern expression before giving up on it with an exasperated look.

"It's not a matter of speed here, Oren," Annabeth said, "If I may be perfectly honest, I can't trust you right now. So letting you be in control of our getting to the nearest warehouse is not something I'm particularly okay with. That aside, do you actually know the location of any warehouses?"

"For that matter," she continued, turning to Ron, "Would you happen to know about any?"

[Aiden]

Ron

tasty red lady skin like sweet meat over iron grill

Ron came out of his reverie from licking the cowgirl, a contented growl rumbling in his throat. Annabeth's response just made it better, and he was about to do the wolf equivalent of laugh. Then his eyes cut toward Oren as soon as he realized what she had done. He heard what she said, and tried to give a rebuttal. It sounded like little more than rumbling and abortive barking and slips of... what language was that even? Nevermind, he clearly couldn't answer properly there. How dare she think he was slow?! He didn't even know if she was right or wrong, but that was one hell of an assumption!

faster than you

He heard the question about warehouses, thought about it a moment with a tilt of the head as it got through to the rest of his brain, did his best to nod his head affirmatively. Then he licked Annabeth's face again. Right cross the nose with that long, moist, canine tongue.

mmm

Ron barked, and turned in the direction of the exit like 'come on!'

[Elf]

Corbin

Corbin watched as Shinobu checked out film collection as she asked about the Elites.   "Why are you so curious about the Elites?" Corbin asked as he picked up his clothing and started to dress again.  "Looking for a job?"

Honestly, he would not have minded having a a vampire on the payroll for a lot of reasons.  Like having a constant food source . . . And a vampire's abilities would be useful for what they did.  In fact he'd been half-hardheartedly been investigating rumors of a gun-slinging vampire vigilante to try to recruit them into their ranks, like his predecessor had recruited him before horribly dying. 


Forest

Forest blinked at Greyskull's timid response and tilted her head.  She forced a smile and said, "I tried to be nice, but I'm near Riyuko for any longer I'm going to put her brain in knots.  So, let's go.  I wanna get my car anyway."

She tilted her head towards the path that would take them away from that insanity.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Count George Greyskull

Count George Greyskull VIII the First nodded understandingly and followed the lead. His blank sockets observed his whole surroundings, from the citizens to the roads and sidewalks to the many buildings. The clear sky and cityscape was even more beautiful than in the stories, he couldn't help but be amazed at how far humans had come.

Automobiles... they had such speed and power. In his day, there used to be only horses and carriages. He had read stories of such creations, but he never once dreamt he would ever see one. If he still had a heart, it would be throbbing with excitement. Perhaps, that Forest girl... would she let him ride one?

And then, the two found themselves before a colossal castle of glass and metal, greater than any he had seen thus far. Many swarmed the halls of the castle, likely paying homage to the master of these lands. Perhaps it would be appropriate to investigate further.

Suddenly, the skeleton noticed two particular folk standing out from the crowd. Splitting from Forest for a moment, he called out to them and falked forth to greet them properly.

"HOWDY! SALUTATIONS!! ERM, COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT THIS PLACE EXACTLY IS!?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Oren

The only response from Oren was dissolving into a swirling liquid. In a few moments a magnificent, white Great Stag burst from it, albeit missing an antler. It snorted at the wolf and caused grass to grow beneath its hooves as it paced in a circle. Every movement was filled with the grace of the wild and arrogance of the Fae. She was more than willing to show him how very slow he was.

[Kat]

Petra

The saint turned her head in the direction of whatever loony shouted at them. "Oi, Lumen, someone weirdo is yelling at us..." No doubt her companion would notice him too, but she felt like pointing out that. He looked like someone straight out of Saturday morning cartoon (she did spend the little free time she had on watching TV). Accompanied by some figure cloaked in darkness. If he was a fictional character then his creator would be a tryhard. She sighed, as she was a bit embarassed about bystanders staring at them now.

"Uhh, hello. We're only tourists, we are in dark as much as you." She answered with her arms crossed. She was too nice of a person to just shoo them down, but she's a bit weirded out herself.