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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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On a Rail pt. 33
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    • "Well, I was going to ask you that," you say with a smile. You lean your head against Mami's. The soft fragrance of the rosebushes mingles with the scent of Mami's shampoo. Technically you use the same shampoo, but it's different, somehow. "Don't tell me you're happy to do whatever I want, Mami, I'd like to do something you want to do."

    "I am happy to do whatever you want to do," Mami says, shifting away to look up at you.

    "I know," you say, giving her a gentle smile. "Mami, I... I care about you. I don't just want you to... turn yourself into a doormat for me, you know?"

    "I- I know," Mami says, her breath hitching. "I... truthfully, I... didn't have many hobbies... before. I'd spend my weekends hunting for Witches, or cooking or shopping, or playing video games. Mostly hunting. I..." She looks away, eyes distant.

    She didn't have anyone to spend time with.

    You tighten your hug around her, pulling her snug against yourself. "I... do recall you had homework to do?" you ask. Change the topic.

    Mami blinks at you in surprise, eyes refocusing. And then she smiles brilliantly at you, the expression lighting her face up. "Yes, but... We do have time tomorrow. And... as long as you're here with me, I'm sure it won't take long to do, either."

    You pat her on the shoulder. "Of course I'll help you with your homework, Mami," you say with a grin.

    She flushes, still smiling at you. "That's not what I meant!"

    "I know," you say, sticking your tongue out at her. In the corner of your mind, you sense motion -presence- in your Grief senses.

    Mami laughs. You can't help but smile at her, happy that her mood seems to have brightened a little.

    "So... what do you have in mind?" Mami asks, leaning her head against your shoulder once more.

    "What makes you think I do?" you tease, tugging lightly on her hair drill with the arm you have around her.

    "You always do," Mami answers.

    "Weeeelllll, I was considering seeing if Madoka would like to hang out, but I don't know if you want to," you admit. "And I want to see if I can persuade Homura to come along, too."

    "I would like that," Mami says with a smile. "Very much. But, um, it is a bit late, isn't it?"

    "Well, it's only about seven. And we'll check in first," you say with a smile. "Though I do want to see if Homura wants to come along."

    Mami's smile widens, and she nods.

    "Homura?" You raise your voice, calling towards the rather large tree overlooking the Mikuni mansion - the presence you'd sensed a few minutes earlier.

    It's far away enough that you can't hear the presumed sigh, but Homura drops out of the tree with a faint rustle of leaves and stalks over. Mami doesn't seem any more surprised than you are, greeting Homura with a nod and a quiet, "Homura."

    She blinks slowly at you. "How did it go?"

    You smile. "Just fine, really," you say. "Um... could you use your power? I wanna talk privately a bit - nothing serious, I just want to chat!"

    Mami's already unspooling ribbon between her fingers, giving Homura an inquisitive look. The time traveller offers her left hand wordlessly, golden ribbon looping gently around her wrist. Time judders to a halt once again with a familiar ratcheting of gears.

    Lifeless grey consumes the world, leaching away the distant sounds of the city.

    Homura hooks a chair with her foot, pulling it over to face you. She sits, crossing her legs primly, and raises her eyebrows at you.

    "Alright... to answer your question more fully," you say. "I think I may have helped Oriko a bit? And that's a good thing, because the sooner she gets over herself, the sooner she stops being so- so her."

    Homura's stare intensifies, somehow, flickering over to Mami for a second.

    Mami leans forward a little. "I know you don't trust Oriko," she says. "I..." She glances at you, a touch of worry in her eyes. "I- I'm sorry, Sabrina, but I don't trust her either. Not... not fully."

    You squeeze her lightly with the arm around her waist. "That's fine, Mami. Go on?"

    Mami nods, the tension easing out of her. "But... Homura, I think... I think Sabrina is getting through to her," she says.

    Homura's expression remains completely blank, gaze unchanging.

    You sigh, loud in the lifeless silence of the time stop. It... might be a little rude, but this is something you do disagree with Homura on. Oriko is worth saving - or at the very least, she's worth you trying. "Anyway, Homura..." you say. "How are you?"

    She grimaces. "I'm fine."

    "Right," you say. It's... very hard to hold a conversation with Homura without some kind of plan. You let out a quiet breath, stretching your senses out - it's not like you can turn them off, but it's not like you're paying complete attention all the time, either. You can feel the half-filled Grief... Seed somewhere in her costume. Singular.

    Which is, you suppose, a mildly interesting point. You only feel one other Grief Seed beyond that one. You check their names.

    Gertrud, and... Ann.

    Hm.

    You... you sort of expect her to have more Grief Seeds than that. You'd kinda wondered about it before, but now that you're actually looking...

    Something to mull over later, because Homura's still staring at you.

    "Alright," you say again. "Uh... two things, first, cleansing? And second, I don't know if you heard, but Mami and I are thinking of asking if Madoka was free to hang out a bit. Would you like to come along?"

    Homura's mouth flattens into a grimace. "Oriko needs to be watched," she says as she withdraws the Grief Seed from her pocket.

    You'd expected that, of course. "Yeah," you say, refreshing the Grief Seed with a thought and a wave of your hand. You briefly debate making her a Clear Seed there and then, but it'd take time. It's definitely an offer to make to her sometime, though. "But hey-"

    You freeze. Your best argument had been to appeal to the fact that if you're all guarding Madoka, then Oriko couldn't harm her. But you can't say that around Mami without explaining why Madoka specifically needed guarding.

    "How-" you say, picking your words very carefully even as the necessity of talking around Mami burns in the pit of your stomach. "-much trouble can Oriko really get up to while we're at Madoka's?"

    Homura frowns, opening her mouth to counter - but then her attention snaps up fully to you.

    Come on, Homura, listen to what's not being said-

    "Certainly not more than what she could have already done most of the day," Mami offers with a slightly amused smile. "Come on, Homura, you don't have to sit in a tree all night, surely."

    Homura blinks very slowly, stiffening almost imperceptibly. And then she nods at Mami. "Very well," she says. "Let's go."

    Huh. Well, you're not complaining. Mami breaks out into a smile, which she turns on you. "Though... You're sure Madoka won't think it a bit odd? At this time of the night?"

    "Hey, I'm the weird foreigner who doesn't know better, right?" you say, winking at her.

    Mami huffs. "Well, if you're so sure..."

    "Worth a try," you say, and grin at Homura. "I think we're good, then."

    Homura sighs and reaches for her shield, cranking it across with a thoughtless, practiced motion.

    The sound of the city comes rushing back in. The low rumble of cars on the road, the distant horns... even the few insects still buzzing among the rose bushes.

    You inhale, and stand, one hand slipping into a pocket to withdraw your phone. "Gimme a minute," you say, smiling at Mami, then Homura.

    You dial Madoka's number, wandering between the bushes. They're startlingly well-manicured still, but then, there hasn't been much time since Senator Mikuni's passing. Oriko probably cancelled the gardener's contract almost immediately, if there was even one. Probably was.

    Madoka picks up a few moments later. "Hello?"

    "Hey, Madoka!" you say. "Hey, I was just wondering - would you like to hang out? You, Homura, Mami, myself?"

    "Eh?" Madoka says. "Right now? It's... kind of late, is something wrong?"

    [] Write-in
    [x] On the way there, telepathy Yuma and ask for the play-by-play of Sayaka training with Kyouko.
    -[x] Confirm that bigsis is indeed being tsundere.

    =====​

    Be convincing. :V
     
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    • [X]Nothings wrong per se, just not quite right yet...
    ---[X] We should spoil Madoka. Late night ice cream is sure to help Homura too.
     
    What was this about again..?
    Was it the whole, "You contracting means everyone suffers and dies in the end, Madoka" Talk?

    Hmm...
    Well, lying to her isn't going to go very well...
    But outright saying it...

    []Well, there's two reasons why actually..
    -[]You're the only person we know, who knows a thing or two about furniture, and our table back home broke, so...
    We need to get a new one..so I'd like to ask for your help?
    -[]And there's something very important I need to tell you.

    Now if why we're talking go Madoka's wrong...
    Then I got nothing.
     
    Firnagzen said:
    Be convincing. :V
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    [X] Casually explain that nothing's wrong, that we just weren't tired yet and time is better wasted with friends.
    -[x] Also joke in deliberately old-fashioned slang that we are "hip young people" and don't have to "play by the rules".
    -[x] If she still sounds dubious, also explain that if she doesn't let us come over, Homura's very likely to spend the night in a tree, and she'll have to let us come over if she wants to know why.
    [x] On the way there, telepathy Yuma and ask for the play-by-play of Sayaka's encounter with Kyouko.
    -[x] Confirm that bigsis is indeed being tsundere.
    [X] Pick up ice cream or some other dessert type thing on the way. Yes we haven't had dinner yet (though Madoka probably has) but why not? (Unsaid: Homura still needs to gain a few pounds anyway).
    [X] Also on the way, suggest to Mami and Homura that we do want to keep Madoka up to date on what happened at Oriko's house tonight, but maybe keep things light to begin with.

    Man I can't remember, did we ever meet Madoka's family/see her house in PMAS? My Quests are starting to blend together.
     
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    Well this is a right clusterfuck. I thought it was only 6 PM and I think everybody else thought that too.

    Given that Mami and Homura both objected, I'd have really preferred if that vote aborted before calling Madoka. Goddamnit.

    So I guess it's back to writing megavotes with chained conditionals.

    I guess I'm going to start pushing super hard for plan Everybody Goes On Vacation In Timestop. 'Cause we're pretty well committed to this visit now, and might as well get something out of it.
     
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    Firnagzen said:
    it's only about eight.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    It is rather later than we thought. Eh.

    Firnagzen said:
    It's... very hard to hold a conversation with Homura without some kind of plan.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    QM hint detected.

    Firnagzen said:
    "Certainly not more than what she could have already done most of the day," Mami offers with a slightly amused smile. "Come on, Homura, you don't have to sit in a tree all night, surely."

    Homura blinks very slowly, stiffening almost imperceptibly.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Of course she did sit there all night. Of course.


    Also, wrt vote: Madoka seems to want to be of use. Sayaka needs support of a close friend. So, it may be reasonable to tell her about this recent revelation and talk between them?
     
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