Crossroads plopped down on one of the couches in the living room
thankful to finally end another day at work. She had been staying late
at the cafe rather often these days, burying herself in whatever busy
work she could find. But now even keeping her mind occupied on other
things didn't seem to be helping her much. She was getting more easily
frustrated with things and not able to think very clearly. Today alone
she had lashed out at one of her co-workers and gotten into a
pointless argument with one of the customers--a regular even!--And he
probably wouldn't be coming back.

With a small sigh the young woman withdrew her soul gem from under her
shirt and frowned at his darkened state, not sure what she should do
about it. Tyr usually held on to the soul gems but Crossroads' had
remained uncleansed for a long time and she wasn't exactly sure why.
Did they not have enough grief seeds? It was possible that he had used
them all on Lorastine and Mollianne after Kyrk’s death. It was also
possible that he hadn't picked up the one from the last witch. Another
possibility was that he had just simply given up on her. Crossroads
realized that she corrupted more than anyone else. The gigantos might
have even decided let nature take its course and stop wasting them on
her.

Crossroads stood up, wrapped her fingers around her gem and held it
tightly. She didn't want to become a witch but if she didn't do
something about her gem soon it looked like she probably would.

Tyrranis stepped into the house from the front door, stretching
mightily. In one hand he carried his bat, as normal, and in the other
he carried a small collection of fish. "Crossroads? I am back." He
left that as his introduction, moving into the kitchen to begin
preparing the fish. There was already plenty in the freezer as much of
his free time had been devoted to resting and fishing, but it was
still nice to have some fresh, in case Crossroads wanted fish tonight.

Crossroads turned her head towards the door as Tyrranis entered and
announced his return home. She tucked her gem back under her shirt and
made her way towards the kitchen. "Welcome home Tyr!" She said with a
smile. Smiles were starting to feel a little forced these days. Many
of the things Tyrranis did would normally make her happy, and she knew
that she should be happy (especially since her eye caught a glimpse of
what he was making for dinner tonight) but she wasn't. She approached
him and slid her arms around his waist, hugging him lightly regardless
of what he was in the middle of doing at the moment.

Tyrranis smiled as Crossroads hugged him, and put down the dish he was
working on to embrace her tightly. "It is good to be home Crossroads.
How are you doing today?" He grinned at her and nodded to the sink. "I
got some more fish today, a different type than normal. With any luck
they may taste better than the normal fish."

Crossroads rested her forehead against his chest, "Same as yesterday.
Had a long day at work but I have the day off tomorrow." Though it was
only because Raynie had told her she needed it after Cross's argument
with her. "I think I'll be gone for most of the day though."

Tyrranis raised an eyebrow. "Gone? Where are you going?" He sounded a
little disappointed, at the mention of a day off, he has an idea to
spend the day with her, just relaxing around the house. But if she was
going off somewhere, then that means they couldn't. "Is it for
something important?"

Crossroads nodded in response to his question and stepped out of his
embrace to find the spices off the spice rack Tyrranis would need for
the fish. "I am going to...be looking around." She muttered under her
breath after a long awkward moment. If she told him she was going to
be hunting witches or yoma he might end up worrying. Or even coming
with her, which probably wouldn't be a good thing if they were short
of grief seeds to cleanse themselves with. And if she ended up turning
while fighting one, then maybe it would be best if he didn't know.

Tyrranis hummed at Crossroads' statement, and then turned back to the
fish he was preparing, scaling it with rough efficiency. "If you are
going out, we should clean up your gem. I forget how long it has been
since we did so last, and I do not want anything bad happening to
you."

Crossroads' shoulders sagged a little at the giganto's words, "Y-you
mean you've had a grief seed this whole time?" Her voice held an odd
mixture of hope, frustration, and anger within it. Hope that she
wouldn't have to go out looking for a fight, and frustration and anger
in that she had gone without for so long without when she could have
had it cleansed this whole time. "Why...?" She stopped and shook her
head slowly, realizing that she was probably at fault for this as well
considering all this time she didn't ask. He had probably just assumed
that everything was fine.

Tyrranis frowned at the tone in Crossroads' voice, and turned around
again, looking at her. "Is something wrong? Yes I have had a seed.
Come, give me your gem and I will cleanse it for you. Then you can go
out and do what you wanted to do." Tyrranis backed this up, uncorking
his bat and pulling both grief seeds from inside of it.

Crossroads looked at him, feeling a little hurt. She sets the spices
down on the counter and reached for the chain at her neck, withdrawing
her soul gem again. "I was... just going to try to find a grief seed
myself tomorrow so... you don't need to..." Voice cracked a little as
she spoke, Crossroads then looked down towards the floor. "...I'm
fine." She added, weakly.

Tyrranis frowned as he saw her gem, and pressed both grief seeds into
it, making sure it was cleared fully. After that was done, the giganto
pulled Crossroads into a tight hug. "You should not let yourself
become that corrupted again Crossroads. You know I have problems
remembering things. If you and turned it would have been terrible."
After that, Tyrranis pulled away a bit and looks her in the eyes.
"Never do that again, okay?"
Feeling tears welling up in her eyes, Crossroads reached up to wipe
them away. "I'm sorry." She said softly. She sniffed, and then looked
up to meet his gaze but she couldn't say anything but repeat those
same words again and again to him.

Tyrranis embraced Crossroads again, softly rubbing her back and making
soothing sounds. "It is fine Crossroads, it did not become a problem.
Just be more careful in the future." He continued to hold her,
attempting to sooth her and stop the tears.

Crossroads wrapped her arms around Tyrranis as he pulled her close to
him again, clinging to him tightly and closing her eyes as he tried to
calm her. "Tyrranis, I'm sorry." She apologized again when her tears
started to subside a little, "I didn't want to worry you."

Tyrranis shook his head, just focusing on providing a stable presence
for Crossroads. "When it comes to corruption, do not take that chance.
I will be fine with helping you out at any time Crossroads, because I
care for you. You should know that."
.
"I care about you too." Crossroads said, squeezing him tightly. "More
than care, actually. I love you, Tyr. So I promise I'll come to you
next time."

Tyrranis smiled at Crossroads, and squeezed her before letting go.
"Well then, shall we get back to making food?" He motioned to the
partially prepared fish and spices that were set out before this all
went down.

Crossroads nodded to him. Thinking back, she remembered that Tyrranis
had said that this was a different kind of fish than the ones he
usually caught so they might taste better than the usual (if that was
even possible). "Yeah, lets get back to making dinner." She said
smiling at him with a genuine smile, "Did I grab the right
seasonings?"