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

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura smiled politely at the man as he spoke, informing them that he too was a guest of Irisviel's, and asking if his companion could also be granted entry. Not wanting to leave the woman standing outside in the cold, and figuring that a kind woman like Irisviel would feel the same way, Sakura decided to accept his request, paying little attention to the shock the woman had seemingly shown when she had first opened the door.

However, before Sakura could offer her acceptance, the woman spoke up, greeting them politely but emotionlessly, her gaze cold and expressionless. Both Sakura and Shirou could tell that she was clearly uncomfortable for some reason, her hand clenching and, somehow, crushing the suit of armour she was carrying, which in itself seemed odd.

Despite the woman's odd behaviour, however, Sakura felt it would be impolite to deny her entry. At first, Shirou agreed with this assessment, intending to leave the judgement up to his wife, who knew Irisviel slightly better. However, then he realised something.

That helmet, I've seen it before, he realised, a look of surprise and worry coming over his face. The armour-man at the other Sakura's house was wearing it.

Possible scenarios flashed through his mind. Had the woman attacked the man? If so, had he also harmed the other Sakura? And, worst of all, was he going to harm them?

Stepping forward protectively, Shirou addressed the newcomers.

"Excuse me, where did you get that armour?" he said to the woman, tensing up.

"Shirou?" Sakura asked, questioningly. "What's going on?"

Shirou turned around to her, holding his mouth to her ear.

"That suit of armour, I saw it being worn by someone in the other Sakura's house", he whispered. "I want to know how she has it."

Sakura frowned.

"I see...", she said, stepping forward also and quietly summoning up some of her shadow tendrils in case she needed them.

"I'm sorry", she said, politely to the man, "but my husband is worried about how your friend came to be in possession of that armour."

Then, she turned to the woman.

"Could you please answer my husband's question?" she asked, politely. "If you will not, then I am afraid I cannot allow you in."

[Kat]

Darcy Hugh

The priest smiled and rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment while following the girl in.

« Oh, well, my gut told me there would be a cute girl somewhere around here. Looks like my instincts weren’t wrong eh? » He joked. Well, he didn't lie.

Mitsuba

"My, my, I'm not a girl you know, I'm an adult." She feigned mild embarassment in response to his attempts at flattery. He could have been one of those men who were so easy to read because they followed what they had between their legs rather then brain. "Come on, you must have also some business here, right? Would you tell me the other reason why you are her?"

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider smiled at her master's mental response to her, before following the chatting couple into the mall, smiling all the way as she listened to Sakura chatting happily with her beloved. She continued to follow the two of them around as they picked out some clothes for Shirou, watching silently as they choose, before he left to try them on, leaving Rider and Sakura alone.

"So do you want anything?" Sakura asked, enthusiastically, a bright smile on her face.

"Hmm...", Rider said, wondering.

She was, honestly, perfectly satisfied with the outfit she currently had. It fitted her fine, was comfortable and looked good. At the same time, though, she could tell that Sakura was very keen to pick out some outfits for her, and Rider certainly had no objection to having some extra outfits to wear if she needed them.

"Yes, sure, why not?" Rider said with a smile matching that of her master.

[Panda]

Annabeth

As the drinks passed by, the Hunter could feel that warm buzz thrumming stronger and stronger, as her grip on the world around her loosened further, until she finally heard Ron vaguely mention something about...going home? That the barkeeper thought she'd had too much? She wasn't entirely sure, but that's what it had sounded like, and she most certainly had something to say about that. With that in mind, the cowgirl did what she could to prop herself up, forcing herself through the dizziness as the world pitched and turned around her. All for the sake of saying this one thing.

"Well he can g-" the Hunter managed to get out before the lights promptly went out, Annabeth slumping against Ron, out cold even before impact.

[Aiden]

Ron

"... can have a very nice evening!" Ron finished for Annabeth, directing a toothy grin at the barkeeper which made the man take a step back from the counter. "You heard the lady then. Out we go!"

Then came the difficult process of maneuvering the bounty hunter's body in such a way that he could pick her up without, say, causing her head to smack into the doorway on the way out. Her hat came off in the process, so he plopped it down on his head to avoid the need to engage in complicated tricks to keep it on her head instead.

Ron settled for a bridal carry, if only because this way he could support her neck while keeping it to the side so she didn't choke on her own vomit if it came to that. Or vomit on him. That would be the worst.

From there it was off to his little alcove studio apartment down the street and above the bakery. He did his best to ignore the smell of late-night pastries, impossible as that was even from here with how his nose was going off, and attempted to hide from the smell in Annabeth's hair.

Big mistake - dizzy drink and hair - better off with the pastries.

Careful now, especially going up those steps... wow, the neighbors are really going to think he's creepy if they see this. At least his apartment was clean, if you didn't count the airplane made of carved up beer cans on the table.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Vanguard looked at both with the dull look of a dead fish and spoke with the utmost lack of care, as if he was asked to speak of a turd he found lying on the street last wednesday.

"I don't know. I noticed it somewhere battered and lying around like trash so I decided to take it and carry it around. It's too big for me to wear it you see? I hope this answer will suffice."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Lumen

A bit surprised by the unexpected compliment Lumen gave a reticent nod. After catching sight of a smaller shop that was a bit out of the way she began to direct them towards it while saying, "I think it would be best to go somewhere a bit more secluded. We would all look a bit less conspicuous over there,"


Urthemiel

The Old God smiled and it was almost strangely understanding. "I know that you have not been very comfortable here and it must be difficult for you to place any trust in me and I appreciate that. Trust is a difficult thing for me as well. If you ever feel distressed or uncomfortable in my presence then tell me. I will do whatever I can to help if I am able."

With that said Urthemiel put on a beautiful white, fur coat with a ritual dagger sheathed within one of the pockets before leaving the building with Emily. This was going to be an interesting day, but before she considered that maybe they could find a hot spring here? Or perhaps they could run into something distracting. Either would be fine. She just needed to have her attention waver for a little while and relax.

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth found herself drifting awake from a dreamless sleep some time later, moaning as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. The Hunter tried sitting up, managing to get herself to a sitting position with some effort, still feeling rather bleary. Looking around hazily, Annabeth noted that it was surprisingly dark in the room, her eyes soon adjusting to find that she seemed to be in what looked like a rather simple bedroom. Realizing the rather soft something she was resting on was a bed, the Hunter took quick stock of her possessions.

Soon deciding that her tools were all in place, Annabeth slowly eased herself off the bed onto unsteady feet. The first few steps were a bit on the wobbly side, but Annabeth soon managed to compensate. Slowly making her way out of the room, the Hunter looked for her host, wondering where he'd gone off to.

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

The vampire took in what he said before responding. "Ah I see, The union of such contradicting being like vampires and humans, one that lives in the light and on that can't. It spawned a creature which very own existence is at odds with itself. I am not sure you have fully realized all the implications of this." She stopped there a moment and continued with a cheerful voice as if she han't just said something really mysterious and vague. "So what were you thinking when you thretened two vampires at the same time?"


Archer

"Not as far as I know but I saw some in the fridge" archer said while gesturing towards it.

[Aiden]

Ron

Annabeth didn't have to look far to find him. There wasn't much space in the apartment, just a single room for most things plus a kitchen and a bathroom. There was, however, an open door. From the sound of running water her host was certainly there.

Ron was currently shirtless, and staring at the bathroom mirror. He noticed her approach from the mirror. "Well, look who's up," he said quietly, to avoid provoking any head pains she might have. He was talking to her reflection. "You feeling okay?"

He certainly was feeling odd. Like, he had this tremendous anxiety about going too close to his windows right now and the only explanation he had for it was the sense that he would wake up with a full belly if he went there. What were those stories about wolf monsters again...? Full moon? Was it full right now? He didn't want to risk it.

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth allowed a moment to give Ron a quick once-over, telling herself it was for the sake of checking for injuries. Shaking her head to distract herself, the Hunter did what she could to ignore the light blush dusting her cheeks as she did what she could to regain her bearings.

"I'm fine," Annabeth said, "A bit woozy, but I guess I slept the worst of it off. You handled the drink pretty well, it seems...or maybe I just drank too fast..."

[Aiden]

Ron

"Heh. No, I should have been right there with you," Ron admitted, shaking his head with a self-deprecating smile. "For some reason I just... didn't get drunk. At most, I got a little buzzed. That's new for me."

Unfortunately for Annabeth red was a color he seemed to spot quite easily lately. He may or may not have tensed his back muscles for a moment to see if it made her blush even more. Still, the thought of not being able to get drunk made his smile fade.

"And now I'm here, hiding in the bathroom. I'm ah, how to say this... worried I'll go nuts and eat someone again like last night."

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter nodded along with Ron's explanation, trying not to think about how the rippling of his back muscles ended up causing her blush to deepen slightly. Pouting a little as she realized he'd probably done that on purpose, the Hunter's indignation broke upon hearing the rest of what he had to say.

"Hmm...well, if that happens, I suppose I might be able to help you out," Annabeth noted, wondering if tonight wound be the night that the Lasso's limits would be tested.

[Aiden]

Ron

He snapped around to face her properly then, an intense look in his eyes for a moment, before he caught himself and some of the tension flowed away. Ron shook his head to clear it, ran a hand past his eyes, and leaned back against the sink.

"I take it you have something in mind for ah, that, then?" he asked, hands at his sides and pressing down on the sides of the sink. "I'm all ears."

[Elf]

Corbin

"I've got mates, others like me, that went around the bend because they couldn't handle the dichotomy of their natures.  So they turned and they met the Gallows.  Who is a person, she's a scary vampire who literally goes around hunting dhampirs who went rabid," Corbin said before slurping his milk.

He smirked at his question and said, "I was hoping I could get those crazy bitches from out of the open or at least draw less attention to themselves."


Rin

Rin opened the freezer and smirked when she saw the base for an ice cream maker chilling towards the back.  She then looked through the cabinets and saw the machine.  Color drained from her face as she saw the electric ice cream maker.

"Of course it would be electric," she said to herself as she got it out with a shake of her head. 

Turning towards Archer, she asked, "Can I use the stove to make the custard base for the ice cream?"