Day 4 Chapter 3
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan Madoka Gets Some New Bling (Asking Kirika Edition)
An embarrassed "Eep!" escapes Madoka's throat as Sayaka pushes her towards you, encouraging her to "Come on, Madoka, out with it. I'm sure she'll understand," as she gives you a sly wink. Oh yes, Sayaka is definitely up to something troublesome.
"Um, Homura-chan I... I was wondering..." Madoka stumbles over her own words, until another encouraging push from Sayaka prompts the words to come to her. "I was wondering if you'd let me wear your Soul Gem for a little bit," Madoka says. "Sayaka-chan says Kyouko sometimes lets her wear hers when it's just the two of them, and I kind of wanted to know what it felt like, so..."
"Of course I'll let you wear it," you say to Madoka. You made your wish for her sake, after all; why wouldn't you trust her with all of yourself? While Madoka smiles, you remove the silver ring from your left hand, carefully passing it over to her. "Archer, I'm about to do something that's either really romantic, or really stupid. Can you please watch over Madoka for me, in case the Saints try to do something?"
"What's stopping it from being both?"
You don't have an answer to give to Archer, so your silence will have to do. Gently, Madoka slides the ring over her finger. The result is instantaneous. As soon as your Soul Gem is seated on Madoka's finger, your entire body is enveloped in a radiant warmth. If you didn't know any better, you might have thought you had come down with a fever. "It's so warm," she says, holding her hand out so you and she can admire how your Soul Gem sits on her finger. You have to force your mind to calm itself as you see the silver band on Madoka's finger. It's not hers. She isn't a puella magi in this timeline. Madoka is safe. "What does it feel like for you, Homura-chan?"
"Warm," doesn't begin to describe how it feels for you. "It's... A very intimate sensation, almost like you're hugging my soul." You wonder if this is how Kyouko feels when she lets Sayaka wear her Soul Gem. You're sure Oriko and Kirika are already intimately familiar with the same sensation.
Madoka nods her head, saying "You look a little flushed, actually. Do you feel alright?"
"I feel fine."
You must not look fine. In fact, you must look worse than Madoka made you out to be. "You're looking rather flushed today, Akemi. Maybe this time you've finally come down with something serious enough to warrant being in my office?" As always, Nurse Ortensia's words to you as you enter her office take their typical form. This time, at least, her words have more merit than most.
"Actually, I feel fine." A little warmer than usual, sure; you feel like you could conjure the full might of your Isa rune in the nude, and be completely unaffected. But aside from that you feel fine.
"You don't look fine." A turning page directs your eye to the corner, where you see Assassin reading an equestrian magazine, but a different one from the one she was reading yesterday. "It's the best I could do to keep her from getting bored and making a scene," Nurse Ortensia says as she hands you your pill and a cup of water. "If a handful of horse rags and a couple of monthly subscriptions keep her from making me waste Command Seals, then it's money well spent."
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why equestrian magazines?"
"In life, my horse and chariot were my most prized possessions," Assassin replies, not bothering to look up from her magazine as she responds to you. "Were I summoned in the Rider class, they would have been my strongest Noble Phantasm, but that one-" Assassin, not deigning to respect her master with even a courtesy glance her way, points to Nurse Ortensia with her foot. "-decided to force me into this worthless class vessel instead. If I cannot have my horse, I can at least admire the horses which are beloved by others."
You nod. You aren't much of a horse person yourself, but you know how it feels to be denied the thing you love most dearly. Returning to Nurse Ortensia, you say to her "I was actually hoping you might be able to tell me about homunculi. You were surprised to hear that Hijiri Kanna was one, but not surprised that such a thing was possible, leading me to believe you've at least heard of them before. How much do you know about them?"
"Only what the Church has given me. They're not uncommon; any decent mage can make one, even if it takes real talent to make one worth talking about. Most have pretty simple personalities; kind of like the one Tomoe is keeping, no? She doesn't seem to know much, and doesn't seem capable of much beyond answering some basic questions. Whoever created her must not have been very skilled when it came to crafting a personality." Nurse Ortensia shrugs, adding "If you want to know more, why not ask Tohsaka? She probably knows more than I do."
You weren't planning on asking. You care more about knowing what the deal is with Hijiri Kanna specifically. Hitomi is the one on whose behalf you were asking. "Well, thank you for what you were able to tell me," you say.
With your body turned towards the door, Nurse Ortensia doesn't see you tug at your shirt collar as you exit. But Madoka does. "Are you feeling okay, Homura-chan? You're still pretty red, and-" Madoka places a hand on your forehead. "You're so warm, too. Do you think you have a fever?"
"I'm fine, Madoka. You're just... Very warming to my soul, that's all."
"Well, if you think you're okay..."
"Are you sure you're feeling alright Homura?" Sayaka asks as you sit down at the cafeteria table with the others. "You've been, like, really red all day."
You want to sigh. Your classmates have been asking you how you were feeling all morning. But you don't sigh, because you know Sayaka - just like all of them - are just concerned for you. "Yes, Sayaka, I really am feeling fine."
"Alright, just checking." Sayaka, despite your protests, continues to look on you with concern. "It's just, Kyouko usually doesn't get as red as you." As Madoka did when you exited Nurse Ortensia's office, Sayaka touches her hand to your forehead. "Or as hot. Seriously, you're like, burning up."
You do your best to put Sayaka's worries to rest, but you know they'll probably return later in the day. As Madoka sits down beside you, you ask her "So, what did Amy send you this morning?"
"Oh!" Madoka takes out her phone, showing you the gibberish Amy's absentminded batting of your phone had sent to her. "I thought you were having a stroke or something, but once you told me Amy was texting me instead I thought it was kind of cute." You don't see it. Then again, you can't make heads or tails of Amy's gibberish. "Do you think she'd like to text me again some time?"
"Maybe." You force yourself to swallow; Madoka's lips look so soft, so kissable, but you don't want to cause a scene by kissing her in public. Not that you could cause a scene in private, either, seeing as you're still unable to bring yourself to kiss Madoka with any more passion than usual. But maybe there's someone who can help you with that. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"I'd prefer you didn't, since I'm trying to have lunch with Oriko, but fine, ask away."
"Sorry." You knew Kirika doesn't have much time to spend with Oriko, between her after-school job and her abundance of homework. You should hav eknown she wouldn't like being disturbed during one of the few moments she has with her girlfriend. "It's just, you've got more relationship experience than anyone else I know, and I was hoping you could help me."
You can almost see Kirika's eyes roll, but to her credit she says "Okay, I'll share my secrets with you. Come on, tell Big Sis what's wrong. You and Pinkie have a fight, or something?"
"No, nothing like that. I, um, lately I've been wanting to..." This was a terrible idea. Kirika was the one who traumatised you in the first place, after what she said to you that day in the cafeteria. Why are you going to her for advice, when you know she'll just do the same to you again? "... Move our relationship to the next level. I know you and Oriko are... Much further ahead than we are, so I was wondering if you could share some relationship insights with me."
"Well, that kind of depends on what 'the next level' is for you two. Are you thinking you want to go all the way or something? I need to know what I'm working with."
"Well, I..." Oh gods above, why is this so embarrassing for you to just come out and say it? "I want to use my tongue when we're kissing. What was it like the first time you and Oriko did that?"
Several long moments pass before Kirika is able to respond, with a single word. "What." It's not a question. "Are you freaking serious? You and Pinkie have been together for eighteen months now and you two still haven't made out yet? Gods above, Homura, are you a lesbian or a dying sloth? Because at the rate you're going, you're slow enough to be the latter."
"I've just been trying to respect Madoka's boundaries. She hasn't brought it up, so I haven't tried to press things with her."
The exasperated sigh Kirika unleashes on your mind is loud enough to break glass. "Listen Homura, you... You're going about this all wrong." Well, that was the reason you went to Kirika for advice in the first place. "You're trying to overthink something you don't need to overthink. The first time me and Oriko made out, we just kinda... Did it. We didn't sit around and talk about wanting to kiss, we didn't wait until the other person was comfortable with it, we just read what our bodies wanted to do and let it happen naturally. That's what you're missing. You're overthinking this stuff. You don't have to talk to Pinkie about wanting to kiss her or anything like that. Just read the mood and wait for the right moment."
Part of you wants to protest. Back then, you had tried to read the mood, but every time it looked like you and Madoka would kiss, her skittishness at giving away her first kiss got the better of her. What proof do you have that more passionate kissing would be any different? "Maybe that kind of thing is just easier for you, given how well your Element and Origin are attuned to love-related stuff."
"Maybe you just need to not be afraid of intimacy." You aren't afraid of intimacy. You're just traumatised by the things Kirika has told you about adult relationships, and by your own experience having to hear your parents' adult relationships in the room across from yours. Right? "Look, take my advice and start learning to read the mood. Or don't, it's up to you. I'm just been dating the same girl for over two years, what do I know?"
Do you
[ ] Accept Kirika's advice
[ ] Reject Kirika's advice
Do you bother telling Hitomi what you learned from Nurse Ortensia?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
You've been feeling warm all morning. Are you sure you're alright?
[ ] It's probably nothing; keep doing what you're doing
[ ] Maybe you should take your Soul Gem back from Madoka now
[ ] Maybe you should go rest in the nurse's office
An embarrassed "Eep!" escapes Madoka's throat as Sayaka pushes her towards you, encouraging her to "Come on, Madoka, out with it. I'm sure she'll understand," as she gives you a sly wink. Oh yes, Sayaka is definitely up to something troublesome.
"Um, Homura-chan I... I was wondering..." Madoka stumbles over her own words, until another encouraging push from Sayaka prompts the words to come to her. "I was wondering if you'd let me wear your Soul Gem for a little bit," Madoka says. "Sayaka-chan says Kyouko sometimes lets her wear hers when it's just the two of them, and I kind of wanted to know what it felt like, so..."
"Of course I'll let you wear it," you say to Madoka. You made your wish for her sake, after all; why wouldn't you trust her with all of yourself? While Madoka smiles, you remove the silver ring from your left hand, carefully passing it over to her. "Archer, I'm about to do something that's either really romantic, or really stupid. Can you please watch over Madoka for me, in case the Saints try to do something?"
"What's stopping it from being both?"
You don't have an answer to give to Archer, so your silence will have to do. Gently, Madoka slides the ring over her finger. The result is instantaneous. As soon as your Soul Gem is seated on Madoka's finger, your entire body is enveloped in a radiant warmth. If you didn't know any better, you might have thought you had come down with a fever. "It's so warm," she says, holding her hand out so you and she can admire how your Soul Gem sits on her finger. You have to force your mind to calm itself as you see the silver band on Madoka's finger. It's not hers. She isn't a puella magi in this timeline. Madoka is safe. "What does it feel like for you, Homura-chan?"
"Warm," doesn't begin to describe how it feels for you. "It's... A very intimate sensation, almost like you're hugging my soul." You wonder if this is how Kyouko feels when she lets Sayaka wear her Soul Gem. You're sure Oriko and Kirika are already intimately familiar with the same sensation.
Madoka nods her head, saying "You look a little flushed, actually. Do you feel alright?"
"I feel fine."
You must not look fine. In fact, you must look worse than Madoka made you out to be. "You're looking rather flushed today, Akemi. Maybe this time you've finally come down with something serious enough to warrant being in my office?" As always, Nurse Ortensia's words to you as you enter her office take their typical form. This time, at least, her words have more merit than most.
"Actually, I feel fine." A little warmer than usual, sure; you feel like you could conjure the full might of your Isa rune in the nude, and be completely unaffected. But aside from that you feel fine.
"You don't look fine." A turning page directs your eye to the corner, where you see Assassin reading an equestrian magazine, but a different one from the one she was reading yesterday. "It's the best I could do to keep her from getting bored and making a scene," Nurse Ortensia says as she hands you your pill and a cup of water. "If a handful of horse rags and a couple of monthly subscriptions keep her from making me waste Command Seals, then it's money well spent."
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why equestrian magazines?"
"In life, my horse and chariot were my most prized possessions," Assassin replies, not bothering to look up from her magazine as she responds to you. "Were I summoned in the Rider class, they would have been my strongest Noble Phantasm, but that one-" Assassin, not deigning to respect her master with even a courtesy glance her way, points to Nurse Ortensia with her foot. "-decided to force me into this worthless class vessel instead. If I cannot have my horse, I can at least admire the horses which are beloved by others."
You nod. You aren't much of a horse person yourself, but you know how it feels to be denied the thing you love most dearly. Returning to Nurse Ortensia, you say to her "I was actually hoping you might be able to tell me about homunculi. You were surprised to hear that Hijiri Kanna was one, but not surprised that such a thing was possible, leading me to believe you've at least heard of them before. How much do you know about them?"
"Only what the Church has given me. They're not uncommon; any decent mage can make one, even if it takes real talent to make one worth talking about. Most have pretty simple personalities; kind of like the one Tomoe is keeping, no? She doesn't seem to know much, and doesn't seem capable of much beyond answering some basic questions. Whoever created her must not have been very skilled when it came to crafting a personality." Nurse Ortensia shrugs, adding "If you want to know more, why not ask Tohsaka? She probably knows more than I do."
You weren't planning on asking. You care more about knowing what the deal is with Hijiri Kanna specifically. Hitomi is the one on whose behalf you were asking. "Well, thank you for what you were able to tell me," you say.
With your body turned towards the door, Nurse Ortensia doesn't see you tug at your shirt collar as you exit. But Madoka does. "Are you feeling okay, Homura-chan? You're still pretty red, and-" Madoka places a hand on your forehead. "You're so warm, too. Do you think you have a fever?"
"I'm fine, Madoka. You're just... Very warming to my soul, that's all."
"Well, if you think you're okay..."
"Are you sure you're feeling alright Homura?" Sayaka asks as you sit down at the cafeteria table with the others. "You've been, like, really red all day."
You want to sigh. Your classmates have been asking you how you were feeling all morning. But you don't sigh, because you know Sayaka - just like all of them - are just concerned for you. "Yes, Sayaka, I really am feeling fine."
"Alright, just checking." Sayaka, despite your protests, continues to look on you with concern. "It's just, Kyouko usually doesn't get as red as you." As Madoka did when you exited Nurse Ortensia's office, Sayaka touches her hand to your forehead. "Or as hot. Seriously, you're like, burning up."
You do your best to put Sayaka's worries to rest, but you know they'll probably return later in the day. As Madoka sits down beside you, you ask her "So, what did Amy send you this morning?"
"Oh!" Madoka takes out her phone, showing you the gibberish Amy's absentminded batting of your phone had sent to her. "I thought you were having a stroke or something, but once you told me Amy was texting me instead I thought it was kind of cute." You don't see it. Then again, you can't make heads or tails of Amy's gibberish. "Do you think she'd like to text me again some time?"
"Maybe." You force yourself to swallow; Madoka's lips look so soft, so kissable, but you don't want to cause a scene by kissing her in public. Not that you could cause a scene in private, either, seeing as you're still unable to bring yourself to kiss Madoka with any more passion than usual. But maybe there's someone who can help you with that. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"I'd prefer you didn't, since I'm trying to have lunch with Oriko, but fine, ask away."
"Sorry." You knew Kirika doesn't have much time to spend with Oriko, between her after-school job and her abundance of homework. You should hav eknown she wouldn't like being disturbed during one of the few moments she has with her girlfriend. "It's just, you've got more relationship experience than anyone else I know, and I was hoping you could help me."
You can almost see Kirika's eyes roll, but to her credit she says "Okay, I'll share my secrets with you. Come on, tell Big Sis what's wrong. You and Pinkie have a fight, or something?"
"No, nothing like that. I, um, lately I've been wanting to..." This was a terrible idea. Kirika was the one who traumatised you in the first place, after what she said to you that day in the cafeteria. Why are you going to her for advice, when you know she'll just do the same to you again? "... Move our relationship to the next level. I know you and Oriko are... Much further ahead than we are, so I was wondering if you could share some relationship insights with me."
"Well, that kind of depends on what 'the next level' is for you two. Are you thinking you want to go all the way or something? I need to know what I'm working with."
"Well, I..." Oh gods above, why is this so embarrassing for you to just come out and say it? "I want to use my tongue when we're kissing. What was it like the first time you and Oriko did that?"
Several long moments pass before Kirika is able to respond, with a single word. "What." It's not a question. "Are you freaking serious? You and Pinkie have been together for eighteen months now and you two still haven't made out yet? Gods above, Homura, are you a lesbian or a dying sloth? Because at the rate you're going, you're slow enough to be the latter."
"I've just been trying to respect Madoka's boundaries. She hasn't brought it up, so I haven't tried to press things with her."
The exasperated sigh Kirika unleashes on your mind is loud enough to break glass. "Listen Homura, you... You're going about this all wrong." Well, that was the reason you went to Kirika for advice in the first place. "You're trying to overthink something you don't need to overthink. The first time me and Oriko made out, we just kinda... Did it. We didn't sit around and talk about wanting to kiss, we didn't wait until the other person was comfortable with it, we just read what our bodies wanted to do and let it happen naturally. That's what you're missing. You're overthinking this stuff. You don't have to talk to Pinkie about wanting to kiss her or anything like that. Just read the mood and wait for the right moment."
Part of you wants to protest. Back then, you had tried to read the mood, but every time it looked like you and Madoka would kiss, her skittishness at giving away her first kiss got the better of her. What proof do you have that more passionate kissing would be any different? "Maybe that kind of thing is just easier for you, given how well your Element and Origin are attuned to love-related stuff."
"Maybe you just need to not be afraid of intimacy." You aren't afraid of intimacy. You're just traumatised by the things Kirika has told you about adult relationships, and by your own experience having to hear your parents' adult relationships in the room across from yours. Right? "Look, take my advice and start learning to read the mood. Or don't, it's up to you. I'm just been dating the same girl for over two years, what do I know?"
Do you
[ ] Accept Kirika's advice
[ ] Reject Kirika's advice
Do you bother telling Hitomi what you learned from Nurse Ortensia?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
You've been feeling warm all morning. Are you sure you're alright?
[ ] It's probably nothing; keep doing what you're doing
[ ] Maybe you should take your Soul Gem back from Madoka now
[ ] Maybe you should go rest in the nurse's office
