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

[Aiden]

Ron

It only took him pulling on the back strap, feeling at it for a moment, and letting it snap back against the bounty hunter's sensitive skin to realize that he wouldn't get anywhere that way. He pulled on and let it snap back again a second time, just because. Then Ron moved his arm between them, his hand up to the front, and felt for the clasp.

Click.

He helped it fall aside, and then covered one of her breasts with his hand just after the cool air in the apartment had a chance to reach it. His palm rubbed against the skin there, his fingernails into it, and gave a little squeeze. He came up for breath out of the kiss, tilted his head sharply to the side to discard Annabeth's hat, and then lowered his mouth to the uncovered side of her chest. His beard scratched against it along the way, tickling his face a little, and hot air from his nose blew against her in contrast to the room's chill.

[Kat]

Petra

The shadow covered person now revealed her real looks. She looked if a bit pale, a young adult with fair hair. Visibly relieved, she proposed to the girl. "You can go shopping with us in women clothes department if you feel like it. I'm gonna help my friend pick something nice looking." she said, referring to Lumen.

[Panda]

Michael

As expected, not all of the lightning was redirected through the impromptu lightning rod, some of it coursing through Michael's body. The pain was easy enough to ignore, but Rikuyo took advantage of the opening to toss what looked like a crescent shaped wave of raw energy at him. Fortunately, while the remnants of the lightning had certainly hurt, the immortal was no stranger to pain. In fact, he could in some ways say it was more of an old friend to him, one that didn't hinder him in the slightest, he grabbed hold of the staff, shortening it back down to quarterstaff length, before tearing it from the ground, sending up a cloud of dirt as he launched another barrage of those waves from the staff, managing to sunder the chi wave just before it struck him.

He didn't stop there, however, continuing to fire more of those waves to at least force Rikuyo back on the defensive.

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth might have sighed had she not been otherwise occupied as he went for the back strap, when the sensation of it snapping back against her skin had her yelping into the kiss as she arched her back up. Then he did it again, drawing an indignant look from her as she yelped into the kiss again. At last, the Hunter felt the bra falling aside as he found the clasp, moaning aloud as he broke off the kiss, moving his hand to palm the now sensitive swells. The feeling of mouth attending to the other swell didn't help matters in the slightest, his beard tickling the skin along there just as warm air blew over it, Annabeth relaxing in his grasp with groan, the indignant expression replaced with a pleasured one.

[Aiden]

Ron

Ron's teeth bit lightly down on one of her sensitive nipples, while his fingers pinched the other. He nibbled and tugged before releasing them, and rubbed his face against the skin to brush it with his scratchy hair. He spared them one last lick of his warm, wet tongue before going lower. Those pants were in the way, so he was just going to have to pull them down to at least her ankles. The free hand went down to her waist to test how difficult this would be, while the hand holding her arms behind her gave them a little yank.

Annabeth didn't get much time to react to that, because his tongue was tasting her bellybutton.

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth cried out as she felt his teeth coming down on one of her nipples, the other left to the mercy of his hands as he toyed with them for a bit before releasing them. Of course, the Hunter was barely aware of that, thanks to the distraction provided as he rubbed his beard against the soft swell before laving at it one last time before starting to move lower. Annabeth gasped as he started to work at her pants before the odd tickling sensation of his tongue working at her bellybutton registered, the cowgirl unable to help a sound that was halfway between a giggle and a moan as he worked. Soon enough, however, she felt the cool air against her thighs, chilling the dampness between her legs slightly as she squirmed under him, hoping against all hope that it wasn't already visible.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider followed Sakura around as she picked out several items of clothing, including a swimsuit, all of which Rider considered to be to her taste. It seemed to her that Sakura was well aware of what she did and did not like and, so, she was perfectly fine with allowing Sakura to pick out whatever she thought was best. After all, she had no wish to unnecessarily upset her master or damage her confidence.

Finally, though, they made their way towards an area full of formal dresses, the sort Rider was pretty sure she would never wear. Looking around for a moment, Sakura spotted a beautiful black dress. She looked at it for a while, before turning to Rider.

"What do you think of this, Rider?" she said to the slightly-confused servant.

"Hmm...", Rider said, a frown on her face, wondering how best to respond.

It was a beautiful dress, definitely, but not one Rider saw herself ever wearing. She was simply not someone who saw much need for formal wear. So, why was Sakura suggesting it?

Then, suddenly, it came to her. That dress, she could remember wearing something like it before. At her former master's wedding, when she had been a bridesmaid. She had expected Sakura to wait a little longer after the proposal, but she realised now that it made a lot of sense for her to get things moving quickly.

Oh, I see, she thought, her frown suddenly changing into a bright smile as she realised why Sakura had picked out the dress for her.

"It looks beautiful!" she said, enthusiastically, the feeling of happiness overwhelming her as she thought of what it would mean for Sakura.

[Lycodrake]

Lycodrake Aptera

After Fiona had tied the bright alfalfa to one of his shoulder spikes, she had departed from his company and all he could really say was a halted "Oh, thanks...oh."

Fiona had decided to part ways and he wasn't going to disrespect her wishes on that, even if she was just an acquaintance - she was still nice. And rather adorably awkward, in the way a wolf pup, dire or not, is. Well, what was he going to do now? It was snowing so he didn't want to stay out in the open. Either he'd get cold and his mood would sour considerably or he'd stay active and thereby stay warm.

Unlike Fiona, he wasn't hungry so that left continuing to wander around until he found something to do. At least he got to meet someone knew.

[Aiden]

Ron

He let out a snicker against her bellybutton from her response, ending it in a soft growl as her scent grew stronger without anything to get in the way. His hand stopped when he got Annabeth's pants down to her ankles, then slid back up her now bared legs. Ron felt the muscle poorly hidden under her flesh, the way it tensed with her squirming, and squeezed with his fingers. His other arm pulled her arms again until he could make her bend back enough that he could let go of her coat and press down with that arm on her belly to keep her there. Then Ron dove in to rub his nose between her thighs, sniffing at them and breathing warm air against them. His tongue followed.

[The Man With All The Cute Boats]

Noel

As Noel was scanning the menu, she happened to glance up, and nearly fell out of her chair as she saw someone she recognized also in the store.

Why is Ragna here?

She buried her face into her menu, hoping he wouldn't notice them. She didn't really know why, but she had a feeling Alpha and Ragna would cause a huge scene if they ever met each other.

ALPHA

Alpha looked through the menu attentively, but her attention was torn away when she saw Noel flinch and then immediately hide her face in a menu. She'd seen that kind of reaction before, when Jin would enter a room she was in.

"Noel?" She asked in a whisper, since she was obviously trying to keep a low profile. "Are you okay?"

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Shirou frowned once more. The woman's explanation was bizarre, and her cold, dismissive attitude really did not fit with what she was saying and doing. Why would she go to the effort of dragging the armour around if she had no use for it? And, even if she was somehow telling the truth, the story was still rather concerning. Had something happened to the other Sakura, or to Rider?

Certainly, the answer given was not close to acceptable to him. Worried that things might get out of hand, he turned to whisper to Sakura.

"I don't trust her. We need to prepare ourselves", he said, careful not to be overheard. "This castle is well-defended, right?"

Understanding what Shirou intended for her to do, Sakura allowed a couple of her shadow tendrils to warp to create several small shadow familiars, one of which she ordered to run off into the depths of the castle, the other to remain just behind the door. Then, she stepped forward, Shirou following her lead as soon as he realised her intentions. Grasping the handle to the door, they pulled it towards them, leaving the door only slightly open, easy for them to pull closed if necessary.

"Sorry", Sakura finally responded, "but that explanation seems odd to me. Why are you dragging around a suit of armour you have no use for?"

"Yes, sorry, but I do not trust your explanation", Shirou added. "However, if you are indeed telling the truth, then that also worries me. I knew the person who wore that armour, and if he has been harmed, then others we care for are also in danger. Please, explain yourself further."

[NinjaQ]

The crunch of snow beneath his feet drifted out into the air as William walked in this unfamiliar world, unsure of where he was going as the cold air bit against his exposed arm and face. The flakes of snow landing in his black hair stayed, suspended briefly before melting away. His eyes drifted from building to building, searching for someone or something to ask. The young man stopped cold in his tracks, spotting a rather large being unlike any he had seen before.
“Excuse me.” He called, raising his bare right arm up in hopes that whatever it was would acknowledge him.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Good grief. Speak up a little louder, boy.

The woman shrugged impassively and kept staring at both with a bored look. The only thing duller than his impression of them was his response. However, his voice had changed. It was not the womanly tone of earlier, but a deep and imposing voice, the one that the boy may be familiar with.

"Don't be a fool. Whatever answer I give you would be nothing more than baseless empty rubbish. Is there such thing as a completely trustworthy person, as a trustworthy answer. No. In that case, what is correct to believe? Nothing more than your own selfish ideal of how you want someone to be. You've simply imposed your own truth on me. Perhaps the armour belonged to an old friend, or perhaps I simply took a liking to it. Either way, I have neither the proof nor enough trust to make you believe any of my words. There is no meaning to such things."

The poor girl rubbed her temple and sighed, taking a moment to catch his breath. There was really no point in wasting his breath for such things, but he'd grace him with an answer, for now.

"Okay, what about this. I used to be a great and grand hero who lived selflessly and tried to save as many people as possible. But in the end, I lost pathetically to something far greater, and lost everything. For an eternity, my soul was bound to that shell until I happened to have found someone who managed to contain me. Then, I met this wonderful gentleman and, you know the rest. Is this really any more believable?"

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter giggled as he laughed against her toned stomach, only to find herself shivering a little as his hands traced up her now bared legs. Then he took a moment to squeeze them, drawing a yelp from Annabeth as she jolted in his grip. His tugging on her coat, however, soon had her leaning back, only to be pinned by a hand on her stomach. To her frustration, Ron moved his head between her thighs, teasing ever closer to her folds, but only teasing along her inner thighs.

"Oh come on," she moaned, squirming under him, "T-that's not...fair..."

[Aiden]

Ron

"Who said anything about being fair?" Ron asked her with deceptive softness, looking up at Annabeth and grinning widely enough to show his teeth to her. He nipped at her thigh with them, then again, watching her reactions from below, and licked over the stinging spots firmly. When she squirmed inevitably harder he just pressed her down with the weight of his body, and 'stabbed' at her panties and the folds covered by them with his tongue.