Cross Effects 3.0 - June 23, 2016—April 02, 2018

[Panda]

Annabeth

In spite of herself, the Hunter couldn't help but lean into his touch a little with a sigh, eyes half-lidded as she relaxed a bit more than the drink had already managed.

"Suppose you wouldn't mind showing what aspects those might be?" Anne said after a moment, glancing over him one last time.

[Elf]

Gabriel

Gabriel smiled as Annabeth leaned closer to him, her eyes fluttering closed.

"I would be willing to do so if you want me to," Gabriel said, "And can deal with the aftermath."

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter frowned as he went on again about being sure and all that, finding herself wondering why he kept on bringing that up. At this point, Annabeth decided that she might as well make a point of it, forming a small tendril of Nen with a moment of concentration before moving it to retrieve her glass from the strangely attractive man's grasp, the hunter catching it fairly easily before downing the rest. That pleasant burning warmth brought a sigh from the cowgirl as it trickled down her throat.

"Figured I could count on you to take the initiative," Annabeth said, "And I thought we went over that already."

[Elf]

Gabriel

Gabriel grinned as she took her glass from him with some sort of psionic ability.  He said, "Well, then we are agreed.  So, you want me to be the aggressor then?"

He leaned forward as he traced his fingertips over the rim of the glass.

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter's flush deepened at the particular term he used.

"Sounds like a decent way of putting it," Annabeth said, glancing away, pushing aside the niggling feeling in her head she couldn't quite place, "Didn't think I'd need to spell it out for you, though."

[Elf]

Gabriel

"No, I get your meaning quite clear," Gabriel said with a smile.

It wasn't unusual for a strong person like Annabeth to want to give up control to someone else.  "So, shall we leave?"

[Panda]

Annabeth

At this point, conscious thinking was taking a bit of a backseat, or at least was taking a break from the controls. The Hunter eased herself out of her seat before stretching her arms up over her head with a little groan.

"Didn't you say you could take the initiative here?" Annabeth remarked, "Suppose you have some place in mind."

[Kat]

Mitsuba

"The answer is no. If that's the real reason you got me here, then consider negotiations broken." Mitsuba sternly warned the masked man. There was absolutely no reason she could think of to allow for such "quick examination".

[Thedoctor]

Neptune

"Only the greatest of all games of course! Video Games. These jewels of all kinds, both fast or complex. There is nothing the great goddess of Planeptune can't clear!" as if merely boasting of her prowess wasn't enough the purple haired began bouncing on his lap and waving her arms around wildly, clearly not able tto contain her own excitement.

Calming down after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a second. Yeah hopefully it was a second. It was definitely a second okay, no need to be so doubtful. After that one eternal second the self proclaimed goddess turned her attention back to him. and leaned in closer while looking at his face...very intently. "That can't be true, I don't see any wrinkles here, you sure you're actually old?"

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Really? thought Shirou as the girl explained the concept.

He'd expected that her use of "level" would be some kind of jargon borrowed from computer games the girl had played in the past, but it seemed like, somehow, the Pokemon he could buy would really "level up" through experience, just like an RPG character might. And, if it reached a certain level, it could change into a new and, presumably, more powerful form.

Before he could clarify things with her, though, her phone began to ring, and she turned to walk away. At the same time, he noticed a small dog-like creature on the floor where he had thrown the ball, just as the girl had said. There he saw a nervous-looking dog-like creature. As he approached it, holding his hand out to let it sniff, the dog began to bark. Shirou reflexively jumped for a minute, but did not back away, continuing to hold his hand out and let the dog sniff cautiously at it, before reaching out to stroke it.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Meti

There was a terrific groan resonating through the building as another support column was cut down. However, Meti quickly began to realize how there was one building that the flying whirly thing didn't shoot even when she left past it.

So with a small smile she dashed over, her blade flashing out and cutting a stream of rounds into perfect halves, before taking her blade to the building. Stone and steel could not even scream as the blade slashed across the building, and her quick movements and precise cuts gave her the space to avoid the heat and burning explosions. Then she sheathed her blade and slammed into an especially weak part of the wall, landing right into that previously untouched room.

[Aiden]

Retro-Active Forest

Forest followed Liam down the hall.  Something about this felt off with her; she didn't like it and it wasn't the apathy she'd been feeling of late.  She watched the . . . Morally ambiguous wasn't the word.  Hawk was morally ambiguous, but he would have grimaced at the display her little Jedi Mind Trick caused.

Liam shrugged it off and used it as an opportunity. 

So morally opportunistic was probably a better term, and one that Fore wasn't comfortable with. 

She grimaced at the body in the gutter, and the not-so-pleasant smell that it was emitting.  "Now that's sanitary," she whispered as Liam "opened" the door with some supernatural force.   She cracked her knuckles as she let Liam take the lead.

Liam

They heard the dogs before they saw them. They were large ones, the archetypal guard hound you'd expect from some movie or television show with triangles for ears who barked and growled from the stairs leading up and down the first floor corridor. The one on the stairs was a clever fellow, staying there where he could pounce at their faces and bite them off if they started going up.

The one on the ground floor? Not so smart. That one charged right in, howling. They heard people shuffling about upstairs in response, readying themselves. Liam didn't look worried. He just knelt down and held a hand out, and said, "Easy, girl. Heel."

And then the dog did, as if the vampire were her master, whimpering apology to him. He turned an eye up to the other one, snapped his fingers, and pointed his finger around back up the stairs. That dog went right back where he came from.

He stood again, dog by his feet, and looked over his shoulder at Forest. "Alright, that takes care of the pooches. Ya think you can soften up the locals up there before we get there?"

[Elf]

Retro Forest

Forest winched as the dogs appeared and prepared herself to literally kick a dog.  She wasn't an animal person, not by choice actually, it was a side effect of being a vampire.  She didn't dislike animals, but for the most part they disliked her.

Even though she loved crows.

Before she could kick, Liam was getting his Doctor Dolittle on and making friends with the puppies.  She blinked as the attack dog as it made friends with Liam as the other went back upstairs.  She sighed at his words and nodded.

"Oh, they'll be softened," Forest said before cracking her knuckles and jogging up the stairs.


Gabriel

Gabriel smiled and said, "Not exactly, but I'm sure I can find a place rather easily."

He stepped down from his perch on his stool, enjoying the sight of her stretching.  "Unless you're into public displays."


Current Forest

Dwarven Ale?  Sounds like something straight up Tolkin.  Now, what the hell do I have on tap that Gimli would approve of?  Probably everything but the PBR . . . Forest thought to herself while thinking where the hell this girl came from.  Or she just might be really into LARPing.

She scanned the taps, Gabriel had helped with the beer selection and Forest had read up on how to mix drinks and use taps after making the decision.  She also got a crash course in beer.  Between the internet and Gabriel she knew the difference between a lager and an IPA, and what IBU meant.

So she picked up a traditional beer glass and filled it full of Arrogant Bastard Ale before sliding it to the tall girl.  Then she pulled out a wine cooler from the fridge and set it in front of the little guy.  "This looks to be your speed," she said with a smile before putting some white bar napkins before them.

[Aiden]

Neptune

"Only the greatest of all games of course! Video Games. These jewels of all kinds, both fast or complex. There is nothing the great goddess of Planeptune can't clear!" as if merely boasting of her prowess wasn't enough the purple haired began bouncing on his lap and waving her arms around wildly, clearly not able tto contain her own excitement.

Calming down after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a second. Yeah hopefully it was a second. It was definitely a second okay, no need to be so doubtful. After that one eternal second the self proclaimed goddess turned her attention back to him. and leaned in closer while looking at his face...very intently. "That can't be true, I don't see any wrinkles here, you sure you're actually old?"

Gadreel

So she claimed to be some form of goddess? She was combining the words 'planet' and 'Neptune' as if they were a single location to which she belonged. Was it named for her, or had the domain given her the name? Regardless of the providence of her alleged divinity and her name, her bouncing and excitement was in some ways endearing. Contagious, if nothing else, because Gadreel caught himself smiling. "You must have placed a great deal of effort into this to be so proud." He said this once she calmed to a reasonable degree.

They could practically feel one another's breathing from this close proximity here. His eyes crossed for just a moment looking at the girl, before he straightened them out. "Appearances can be deceiving, Neptune. But then, surely a goddess such as yourself knows this."

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

Relius frowned.  He could just take the weapon, but that was not why he brought her here.  "Very well," he retorted.  Despite his face, his tone of voice remained polite, if not over dramatically so. "Yes, in the near future, I will require youe  However, for now, I must know what else you are capable of aside from killing.  I require the services of an assassin with a somewhat... diverse skill set, one who is proficient not only in the art of killing but in deception.  My targets require more than mere strength to eradicate."

He took another sip of his tea, testing its taste with his tongue.

Joe

Joe raised an eyebrow at the kid.  "Aye aye captain?"