[X] Talk
You press your lips together. First thing's first...since you
are looking for food. "So, anything catch your eye? Do you want to make bread, or...?"
"I like making pastries, yes. I prefer making my own mixes. That way I can adjust the recipe as needed, depending on who's having what." She puts some flour in the cart. She pauses. "Does anyone have an allergy that I should know about?"
You shrug. "I don't think so."
"No peanut or...?"
You smile. "Nah. Not gluten, nor peanut. Nothing that I know of."
"That makes it easier." She puts a bag each of brown and raw sugar in the cart with some molasses and a little bit of cinnamon. "Tonight I'm simply going to make some crepe batter; tomorrow I'll try my hand at cheesecake, maybe some spongecake..."
"Oh, I remember that." You look up at the ceiling. "You did that with Madoka and I when we were over..."
"Mmm." Mami nods. "Oh, is...I never asked, but is she..."
"She's alive, yes. Alive and well."
"Oh. Good." Mami sighs in relief. "Is Homura alive?"
"Yes," you say. It's curt and sharp and it makes Mami wince.
"I thought the two of you were friends."
"It's complicated. And she didn't make it easy, that's for fucking sure."
Mami opens her mouth to ask more questions, then realizes a second later that she might not want to ask them, instead bringing her hands to a full chicken. She puts it in the cart, followed by wine and cranberries. She keeps moving through, grabbing food of all kinds before finally coming to a stop.
"Not going to get any marinade?"
"I can just make some." She raises the wine and a jug of vinegar. She puts it back in the cart before you both hit the stairwell. The cart hits the elevator as you and Mami walk up towards the top floor. As she hits the top floor, she glances back at you. "So, how did the world change?"
"Quietly." You both emerge to the rooftop greenhouse as the plants on top are gently misted. "If you were hoping for flying cars, sorry to disappoint."
"Mm." Mami picks through several plants. "I wasn't, really. And I heard that gay people could get...?"
You blink. "What? Oh, you mean same-sex marriage." You raise your right hand. Right next to your soul gem, on your finger, is a big, beautiful ruby ring. It shimmers, a bright red on a golden band. "This is a fake ruby but the marriage is definitely real."
She stares at your finger, eyes tracing that gem on your hand before you bring it down. "Were..."
"We've been married for fifteen years. The year after, we had Minako." You smile. "It was legalized just after Walpurgisnacht. You'd think it wouldn't be a concern during the rebuilding process, but..." You smile again. "July 2011."
"Ah." Mami nods. Her eyes dart to the side. "And...well, you did beat Walpurgisnacht." She looks to the grief seed in the distance, towering over the buildings as she picks a potato out of some artificial soil. "It does explain why the city feels so...different."
"Yeah, well, it's been twenty years and a near total-razing." You nod. "We're lucky that we survived."
"Mm..." She nods. "Oh, and printing...?"
"Yeah that's just a thing." You keep forgetting how quickly these things came into being, and how
easily they got integrated. "You still need to provide materials but there are a number of printers around town, or you can get a toy design from online and then they can just print that off. It takes a while and we pay for service, but it gets the job done."
Mami seems to be visibly chewing over your words as she grabs a number of radishes and some carrots and beans. She puts them all into the cart as she looks them over, then up to you. "I'm sorry, this must be terribly boring to explain-"
"It's fine." You put your hands behind your back. "It's just...well...you're stuck here now. We might as well help you."
She's dead quiet as she lets the cart move towards the elevator, and it's another reminder that she's...well, she's still a fifteen-year-old girl. She's a
child and she looks completely lost, two things you've never associated with Mami up until the moment that
Charlotte-
You hate that the more you thought about her death the more that name stuck in your mind. You knew Mami for just over a couple of weeks, but it was enough time for you to
know her. To miss her after the witch descended. And the more you thought about that witch, the more that grief stuck with you, the clearer the name got.
You didn't even know that was a thing that could happen, up until both you and Kyouko remembered the name of Skadi, as well.
You keep up with her on the stairway, just a few steps behind as the both of you descend down to the ground floor. As you hit the floor, she turns. "When...when did you know that you liked women?"
You pause. "That's a bit of a sudden question to ask. I just...kind of did? I mean, I decided to give it a shot with Kyouko after she asked me out and...that was that? Maybe there was a little bit of 'maybe I don't actually like girls' but that kind of went away after the first month."
Mami nods and stares ahead. She pauses again. "If...is your daugh...child gay?"
You snort. "I mean, I guess? They exclusively like girls, if that's what you mean."
Mami turns back away as you go back through another stairwell and down to the bottom floor. The cart follows you before stopping against a checkout counter. The entire cart tilts upwards with a faint, quiet
whiiirrr as several conveyors in the checkout counter quickly scan items and sort them with a soft shifting of a multi-directional track. Mami peeks down, watching with rapt attention as different items are immediately sorted.
You giggle. The fact that she's so wrapped up in that is honestly really, really cute. "Hey, so, if you think you're a lesbia-"
"I'm not sure yet!" Mami stands straight, straighter than a pole as soon as you ask.
You take a step back and raise your hands. "Okay,
okay!" You laugh again. "I wasn't saying you had to be sure!"
She visibly relaxes. "I...was wondering, though."
"Well, think of it this way," you say as you point in the direction of the apartment complex, "you're in
very good company. There's me, there's my wife, there's Minako. You're not alone."
She opens her mouth to retort before you press your hand into her coat shoulder as gently as you can.
"And you don't have to know just yet. Nobody knows immediately. So don't feel bad about it." Honestly, Kyouko would probably be a better fit for helping Mami out, given her general mood, but at the same time...
Kyouko still thinks about those last words. And Mami probably feels just as bad, if not worse. You're not sure that's a good idea quite yet.
The monitor beeps at you before Mami can answer. You quickly press a button that reads "Paper", and the food rolls from the sorting chamber and into a plastic bin full of paper and plastic bags. The bags are shot out of a hole on the floor before they wrap around the food and sort themselves with a quick
sizzle from a printing laser.
As that's happening, you quickly pull out a card from your purse, press it against a terminal, and scan your fingers. The counter
beeps, the top of the sorting chamber popping open to let you reach your food.
You honestly don't like how the chambers hold your food hostage before you pay for them, but Mami is so
fascinated by the process that you don't really care that much. You carry half of the bags, Mami carrying the others right behind you. It's not that much of a struggle; really, the sticking point is making sure the bags don't break as you carry it all to Mami's apartment.
Halfway there, though, you remember something else. You turn around with the bags still in your arms. "Oh, Mami, there's something else I need to ask."
"Mm?" She moves her head.
"If it makes you uncomfortable, just let me know." You take a breath. "I need to know about the magi in the Gl-"
"I am uncomfortable," she says quickly. "Please, Sayaka, I don't...I really, really do not wish to talk about that."
You grimace. "Right. Sorry."
Mami walks past you with her bags in her arms. "I'm sorry, but I do not...it would be best for me not to
think about what that monster
did to me." She spits the words. "I just...it...I feel...!"
"You feel like how you did after you learned about witches?" You finish it for her.
She stares at you down the street, takes another breath. "Let...just let me take my food home, Sayaka." She starts walking back. "I am sorry."
"Don't be." You glance away. "I'm sorry for asking."
The rest of the walk to her apartment is quiet. Neither of you are in the mood for conversation anymore.
[=]
Your name is Minako. And currently you're frustrated, and bored, and miserable. Takane is with her dads, your mom is with Mami, and your mama is...
Well, she's staving off boredom by doing a few quick exercises by the water.
The Glow's witch transportation has slowed significantly over the past week. And while you
were risking your life in those fights, it still gave you something to fucking
do. You're sitting with your legs tucked together, a pair of earbuds in your ear playing an abrasive, obnoxious piece of music.
The water washes up against the boat dock, up a ramp leading to a number of trucks all filled with gear. Nobody's seen you, but you wonder if that's your Mama's doing.
Speaking of, she's currently dancing on the pier; her shoes are next to you as she does a few weird,
weird kicks in the water. A speaker blares with some intense postpunk as she punches the air, shouts nonsense and kicks at the water.
She turns to you. "Hey! Hey Mina!"
"Whaaaaaat." You press your fingers against your temple. "I'm not gonna do that weird shadowboxing thing if that's what you're asking-"
"Magi are still
human!" your mama shouts. "You gotta limber up! Keep yourself
active!"
"I like sparring
more," you whine, and you
know it's whining.
"We can spar tomorrow! Mami's still settling in!" Your mama rolls her shoulders before she pulls up a wave from the water around her. She
punches it five times in midair, opening holes in the water before it falls right back down into the bay. "You can train with her!"
You lean backwards and stare at the clouds passing overhead. You take a looooong breath, and just think. You think about how you were able to dive into the heart of Mami's problems. You think about how you were able to shatter the Glow's control, memory wipe included. You also wonder what
else your powers could do.
You briefly think about trying to read a witch again.
You glance at your mama. Her emotionscape is...well, the burning candle-cross is doing a dance.
That's...that's not helpful. But every so often, you see it flash with yellow flowers, a burst of color and vines that shimmers in and out of existence. You take a look at the bridge just south of the pier you're on, wondering if that squad that your parents sent out is coming back yet.
Your mama, for her part, finally stops doing those workout dances. She presses the button on top of her speaker as she walks right back towards you. "Sense anything?"
"Nah." You fall onto your back. "I can't sense
shit." You stare at the clouds again. "Noooo witches, no magi. Nothing."
She leans back. "Pfeh. Guess Rin took a break."
"You don't think she fucked off?"
"She's too much of an egomaniac. People like that don't fuck off, they chew themselves up until they get killed."
"Mmm."
Kyouko looks over at you. "You seem kinda distracted. Like more than usual, Mina."
You sigh. Of
course you weren't gonna be able to hide that. Your mama knows way,
way better than that. "Well...I mean..."
PICK ONE.
[] "...The Glow's silence makes me really nervous.
[] "...I'm still thinking about Mami.
[] "...did Takane run into the Glow before?"
[] "...what else can my powers do? Do you think there's more?"
[] "...I'm bored and sad and I wanna hug my girlfriend."
[] "...it's fine. I'm fine." (DIFFICULTY 3 - Who the fuck are you trying to fool?)
