un; emiyashirou

[hero_of_her]

[The young man that appears on the video looks extremely nervous and uncomfortable.]

Listen, with everything going on lately I haven't been able to...

[He sighs, starts over. He hates this. Asking for help is so hard, but he isn't the only one at risk if here.]

I noticed a while back that the more Chroma I have the easier it is to deal with... well... A particular situation that I have at hand. [Oh man, that terrible pun wasn't on purpose and he looks even more uncomfortable realizing that he did it.]

But I'm not very good at collecting Chroma. I have someone back home and I don't want to betray her. I was thinking, though, that for the brief time she was here she was pretty clear that she didn't want me to suffer.

I don't want to either, I guess. [That part is up for debate.]

This is me asking for people willing to help me out.

[He looks frustrated at the whole idea as soon as he says it.]

You know what, nevermind. This is stupid.

Comments

audio;

[dereban]

You do realize that hand holding is a thing, right?

[ Just answering him blandly, although she sounds sympathetic because. Yeah. She gets it. ]

[hero_of_her]

Sure. I could do that.

video

[battlefrenzy]

I wouldn't mind helping you out, even if you'd just lean against my back.

[But, since timelines are difficult...]

For the record, in my timeline we were allies for a while, so I know you a bit better.

[hero_of_her]

Wh--

We were?

[Because in his timeline you stabbed him and then got eaten by the Shadow disappeared.]

voice;

[bailian]

[ Hello, here's your self-appointed chroma guide, here to correct all the wild assumptions and foolish notions he himself had taken to heart upon arriving. Don't make his mistakes, young man! Set your heart at ease! ]

Platonic Moonlacing generates chroma like anything else.

Handholding, clasping shoulders, sparring or hugging someone all work. As long as you're touching someone who's okay with it, chroma is made.

[ What's said resonates enough with him that Binghe tries to get the point across. ]

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, or things that feel like a betrayal of someone you love.

[hero_of_her]

I guess I know that. My um, mom? [He sounds unsure if that's the right thing to call her.] helped me a bit by giving me a hug and there was nothing weird about that.

I should just focus on that. Yeah! Thanks for the tip.

action;

[anti_altruisms]

[ Archer doesn't even bother to respond to the network. He just materializes wherever Shirou happens to be.

Surprise? ]

[hero_of_her]

[Shriou jerks, surprised by the sudden appearance, and nearly falls out of his chair.]

Oh, hey... You.

action ... or more like sorry, this got way too much into tldr thinking.

[greedyvixen]

[So, Kiritsugu invited Rin to live in the Emiya house about as soon as she arrived. But also Rin has been spending so much time with Archer and sometimes with Lancer too, that sometimes it almost looks more like a place to return to whenever she's NOT getting along with Archer. Or between whatever complicated mess they have going on at times. But that means living in the same house with Shirou comes with some... things like passing by his room often. This just happens to be one of those times and he also happens to be making that network post at the same time. Good. Rin mostly ignores the network, mages and technology and whatever else her reasons for that may be -- but she's curious, so she stays outside of his room and listens to what he says.

... That is a really terrible pun.

Also guess she's mentally getting a punch for the not betraying someone part because of where she's from with Archer now when she knows who he is, ahahah. What else is nothing new?

So, Sakura has been here? Rin assumes he's talking about her anyway but what has been talking with him about .... anything really? Not like it's Shirou's fault, that Rin is bad at talking if she doesn't have to... or good at avoiding things including talking about things if she can avoid it... It's been a lot to take in either way with future stuff from Lancer along with everything else.

Either way, what's most important is that Sakura and him are apparently together. That's how it should be! Rin can't even be disappointed about that when she wants Sakura to be happy. Him too but she's got her priorities -- as surprising as that may be from her version of events back home. Glad to know she's not going to fuck it up for them in their timeline too, those two should be happily together... Also glad that she's here from before they take a serious turn into that direction in her time, she's way more interested in getting her Archer back where she's from. Aaaand besides hearing that Shirou is from another time sure made her back off from anything anyway, different experiences with him and all, still allies and friends and now apparently housemates but that's it. At least some things in this timeline mess work well for this neon city world, huh.

Hey.

Hey, Shirou, you know what's also stupid? A stupid girl forgetting that she's technically eavesdropping outside his bedroom while she's also thinking way too much. So, he might find her there once he's done with that post, ooops.]

l loooove tl.dr

[hero_of_her]

[He finishes the post by wanting to just forget the whole thing and get some water to clear his head. He can deal with the responses after he has a moment to himself.

He opens his bedroom door to get that water and is surprised by seeing her standing there]


Tohsaka?!

un: assassin

[painalty]

You just provided your own answer. She won't want to see you like this.

[Sakura is very understanding, from what he knew of her during his time as her Servant here. She surely can't begrudge Shirou for trying to survive.]

Ask your friends and family for help.

[hero_of_her]

Thanks. I guess I gotta focus on that. If it die here, I can't help her back home.

video; un: 1stQadrMargaFan

[wearingguess]

I am not sure I understand what the problem is...

[hero_of_her]

Don't worry about it.

[satanslash]

Dude. C'mon. You already got the green light. Why would you wanna torture yourself more? Askin' for help ain't stupid. Actin' like you are right now is.

[hero_of_her]

[Acting stupid is his specialty though.]

Probably, yeah. I've gotten a few pointers on how to be better about it, so that helps.

un: roseoftheriverbank

[saigawa]

Asking for help isn't stupid at all. If you need it, just go for it.

[He could ignore this post, but... okay, Kashuu is still soft inside.]

But if it makes you feel better, I can help you! I could always use more chroma.

[Sure, adding on his selfish reason for it. Even if it's ultimately because he's a damn softie.]

[hero_of_her]

Thank you.

Would you, uh, like to meet up somewhere?

action;

[originbullets]

( Shirou's been walling himself off, again. Not surprising for him, but certainly concerning. And judging by his network post, he's likely more drained than he's even letting on.

He'll take a seat beside Shirou on whatever couch he's slumped against, drawing him into his arms. )

You're cold. ( Shirou, pls don't give him this terror. ) Would you prefer to lay down?

( He hopes the suggestion doesn't sound too weird for him. He's not five, after all. But napping with him would be a way to restore his chroma effectively, as Shirou rests. )

[hero_of_her]

[He's not a child anymore, but there's always going to be that part of him that wants to be a child again with his mysterious and strong father - the man who saved him - there to help comfort him.

As much as he wants to handle everything himself, having Kiritsugu around always brings that part of him out.]

A nap does sound nice. [He slowly leans against Kiritsugu and can already feel the way that the Chroma flows between them.]

Video

[forcecaptainorientation]

[There's some shuffling and then there's a slightly tilted image of a grinning woman. Parts of the screen seem to be obscured by red somethings.]

Hey there. You know, I was kinda feeling the same way, except Catra is here now but we still haven't done anything like....uh....

[Her eyes go wide as she realizes she's saying too much.]

Uh, look! The point is you can get chroma through hugging and I give The Best Hugs. And I'm happy to give them to anyone who wants them!

[hero_of_her]

Well, if it's the best hug I can't help but be a little curious.

[Also, he kind of wants to know about whatever is going on with Scorpia's body... She's not exactly human after all.]

Action

[homomculous]

[Much like Kiritsugu, Iri has no qualms about simply going up to Shirou and dealing with this problem directly as soon as she sees the message.

Knocking on his door, she waits for him to open it for her... and promptly draws him into one of those all-consuming mom hugs the second he does.]

You could have asked any of us at any time, you silly boy.

[hero_of_her]

[Shirou still isn't used to having a mom around, even after all of these months living with her. He kind of leans into the hug and then slowly puts his arms around her.]

Yeah. I guess I should have thought of that.

un: nanpa_hunter

[offshoots]

Eating helps too, kid.

[hero_of_her]

Cooking too, because it gets my mind off things.

un: gwenhwyfar

[gwenhwyfar]

[ Gwenhwyfar may think she's far from a prude and is confident enough to talk about these matters.

But no, not really. She thinks about this for a moment and, of course, she of all people says: ]

Does it really matter that they're not here?

[hero_of_her]

How do you mean?

text; un: aphrodite

[wingstosee]

oh hey
i don't really know much about your situation?
but you don't seem like a jerk or anything, so. if you ever need to moonlace i'm down

also there are definitely ways to moonlace without it being. you know. cheating?
i think.
actually i guess it kind of depends on what you and her would consider cheating??
did you and her ever talk about this kind of thing or

[hero_of_her]

We didn't have time before she disappeared, but I think hugs and maybe even hand-holding should be all right. A lot of people have suggested I do that.

Also, thanks for thinking I'm not a jerk.