You briefly contemplate the news, feeling vaguely disappointed that anybody
did die. Then again... if you hadn't interfered, far
more people would have died, wouldn't they? What with the tsunami that Oriko had predicted. You take a moment to wonder about that. Akiko had water powers, and there was that girl, Inoue Yuuna, with the earthbending... You set the thought aside.
You glance at Mami as you grab a few more dumplings, but she doesn't seem to have noticed the news, for better or worse.
"So," you say, searching for another topic. "Have you guys got any plans for the next few days? Any ideas what we could do?"
Madoka shakes her head, setting her chopsticks down and looking at you. "Ah... Not really."
Sayaka sighs, fiddling with a slice of okonomiyaki. "I'm... probably going to visit Kyousuke tomorrow."
You briefly consider teasing her about that, before quickly discarding that thought. You're not
that brain damaged, you'd like to think. Not that you are, of course.
"Oh, I'll come along," Madoka offers.
"Sure," Sayaka says, looking up. "You're all welcome. Even..." she bites her lip, before grudgingly adding, "Even you, transfer student. If you want. Though I don't know why you'd want to come along."
Homura blinks slowly, looking at Sayaka.
The bluenette looks away. "Look, I'm not apologising again. Just... I guess you had reasons for being creepy," she grunts. "And you're still creepy as heck!"
Homura blinks again, looking vaguely nonplussed.
"Hmm..." you hum thoughtfully. "Is there an amusement park in town we could go to? Maybe bring Nagisa along?" You pause on the thought - Nagisa. Hopefully Kyuubey hasn't called on her, though you
did remind her to let you know if it did, so.
"There is!" Madoka says, brightening. "I haven't been there in a while."
"Maybe..." Mami slows down, and stops speaking.
You look at her, and smile. "Hmm, Mami?"
"Well... maybe we could go on a picnic sometime?" Mami says, and quickly adds, "It's just a thought."
"Oh, that's an idea," you say. "Not sure when's good, though...?" You look around at the others, receiving some shrugs in response. "We'll settle these as they come, eh?"
Nods all round. The silence is a little more comfortable now, and you find your mind, spurred by earlier thoughts of Kyuubey, wandering to what'd happen if you drove the Incubator insane and it managed to get a Wish.
... Huh.
You wince, discarding the thought as you stretch your arm out for the last dumpling, finding another pair of chopsticks reaching for it - Homura. You cede the gyoza to her with a smile.
Homura nods slightly, the barest dip of her head towards you, and takes the offered dumpling, popping it into her mouth.
You sit back with a contented, happy sigh. There's nothing
quite like Mami's cooking. A warm weight presses on your shoulder - Mami leaning her head against you.
"That was delicious, Mami, Sabrina!" Madoka says happily.
"Yeah. I ate too much," Sayaka agrees, patting her stomach.
Homura nods. "It was delicious," she says softly, leaning back slightly, her stomach slightly rounded.
"Thank you, everyone!" Mami says. "Thought Sabrina did a lot of the work, too!"
"Nonsense," you say gently.
Mami shakes her head, smiling.
The five laze about for a while in varying states of bloated contentment, Sayaka in particular flopping over backwards to lie on the floor.
You find yourself fiddling with a chopstick, sketching out a few coupled differential equations in the leftover juices of your meal, Mami a warm, soft presence at your side.
"What are you doing, Sabrina?" she asks curiously, lifting her head slightly to look.
"Eh, nothing, really," you say, scrubbing the equations away. You're not sure that the assumptions are quite sound, anyway. "Just some random thoughts."
"Mm," Mami says, not pressing any further and cuddling back into your side. You smile down at her, forcibly discarding the thoughts of math. Instead... Pets.
Maybe a puppy, but that's too high maintenance. Or a cat, but cats are... cats, and prone to wander. Hmm, maybe a bunny. On the other hand, an Eevee would be
perfect for Mami. Too bad pokemon aren't real.
Hmmm... A Diancie for Madoka, of course. And... A Vaporeon for Sayaka. You're not sure what Homura should have. Dialga, perhaps, or was it Palkia?
Bah.
"I should go h-" Sayaka hesitates for the barest heartbeat, "-home now. But I don't wanna get uuuuupppp," she moans.
Madoka pushes herself to her feet. "Ah! I'll help clean up," she offers.
"That won't be necessary," Homura says, herself standing. She immediately begins collecting dishes, and Mami reluctantly sits up straight to help. You reach out too, stacking them up.
Between the five of you -Madoka insisted, and Sayaka finally peeled herself off the floor-, you stack up the dishes in the kitchen in short order.
"
Hey, Homura?" you ask telepathically.
"
Yes?" the time traveller glances at you as she follows Madoka back into the living room.
"
Do you want to talk later?" you ask carefully, picking up a tablecloth. You're not sure whether you'd upset her or not, what with your... sending Madoka into a minor breakdown, though really, was that much of a breakdown? More of shock and horror on behalf of you, Mami, and Homura herself.
She hestitates, and answers with another question. "
Will we be going hunting tonight?"
'We'. Huh.
"
Maybe," you say. Mami follows you out into the living room with a tablecloth of her own. "
I'm... not sure Mami's up to it. But you'll be walking Madoka home, right?"
"
Yes," she says.
"
I'll let you know, then," you say as you and Mami wipe the table clean. "
And Homura. You should talk to her." You don't need to specify who 'her' might be.
Homura pauses.
"
Just talk to her," you coax. "
It doesn't have to be about magical girls, or protecting her, or anything. Just... talk. About who Miss Saotome's next boyfriend might be, schoolwork, that kind of thing."
Homura sighs fractionally as you and Mami return to the kitchen. "
I'll... try."
"
That's all I ask," you say, satisfied.
Finally, you see Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura off at the door.
"Thank you for having us over!" Madoka says brightly, glossing over the whole... lichbomb thing.
You smile at her, simultaneously opening a telepathic channel. "
Hey, Madoka?"
"
Sabrina?" Madoka asks as Sayaka says, with considerably more energy than she'd had earlier, "Yeah, and dinner was delicious, too!"
"
Talk to Homura, would you?" you ask. "
Just... It helps more than you know, just being our friend. Talk to her?"
"
I will," Madoka promises, looking at the girl in question.
"Thank you for inviting me," Homura says, voice quiet.
"It was good to have you all here," Mami says, standing by your side. There's a smile on her face, perhaps a little sadder than it would be had it not been for your revelations, but a smile nevertheless. "See you tomorrow!"
"Yeah, it was," you say, smiling. "See you all tomorrow."
Goodbyes said, the trio depart, Madoka walking as always between Homura and Sayaka.
You turn to Mami, smiling. She smiles at you as she closes the door, golden eyes holding yours for a moment.
"We should go do the dishes," she murmurs, eventually.
"Yeah, let's," you say.
The two of your move over to the kitchen, Mami close by our side, and start in on the stack of dishes, Mami brushing against you as the two of you work at the tiny sink.
Hmm... tomorrow. Not that many days to go until Walpurgisnight, though... really, what
is it that Oriko's so worried about? And speaking of Oriko, there's the Soujos, due to come through in two weeks. That's unusual in and of itself, since they're supposed to
die in Asunaro. Bah, Asunaro. You can hardly decide what to
do with the place, though maybe...
You giggle briefly, drawing a curious look from Mami.
Trying to stifle your giggles, you explain. "No, see, I was just thinking, if I needed to pick up someone, I can
swoop in-" you demonstrate with your hand and a plate, "-and
grab them and then go flying off again."
Mami giggles, too, shaking her head. "Oh, Sabrina," she says.
Your giggles turn into a full laugh. "What? It's perfectly sound!" you say, passing her the plate.
"It sounds a little uncomfortable, though," Mami says.
"Bah, details," you say airily, soaping another plate.
Mami just shakes her head fondly. "Oh, Sabrina."
[] Are you going hunting?
[] Write-in
=====
... so I tend to compile a short string of words for Sabrina's thoughts, right, to be sprinkled into the update. The one for this update was
fascinating.
incubators math discard math pets fuzzys Asunaro caw caw
.
me thinks sleep is in order for everyone.
