Indeed. However, I do wonder what would happen if someone were to threaten to witchbomb Mami if we didn't obey....

That's really not hard. Witchbombing Mami is bad and we'd like to put it off but it's really not that terrible. I'm pretty unphased by the thought.

now you guys are making me sad for the inevitable use of Mami against us via her being held as a hostage / or the whole she dies and we break. :(

This is why our GF is hypercompetent, lol.
 
ok that should prevent her leaving her gem in her bedroom when using the restroom which would be an ideal time for someone to nick it then.
I can't see her ever doing that even before the lichbomb. Even when she didn't know it was her soul, she still thought it was the transformation trinket that allowed her to use her magic and too important to leave sitting around. Plus, it can turn into a ring, so it's easy to keep on her person at all times.
 
More to the point, even if the lichbomb hadn't truly sunk in just by us saying so (and Kyubey confirming), we rather vividly demonstrated how important soul gems are against the University girls by putting them all in gem-comas during the big fight last week, after they started getting all collateral damage-y.
 
On a Rail pt. 39
You grin at Mami and mirror her expression - eyes wide and questioning, lips pouting just so.

Mami pouts a little harder, indicating Tomohisa with a little flick of her chin.

Yes, you know that she wants you to choose, and you're asking her to choose. So you poke her lightly in her side instead.

She huffs, looking put out.

You glare playfully at her, the tiny hint of a smile curling your lips taking the sting out of it.

Mami huffs again, and turns to smile at Tomohisa. "That would be lovely, Mr. Kaname, but only if it isn't too much trouble."

You dip your head in agreement. "Yes, that would be wonderful."

Tomohisa laughs it off. "Oh, not at all," he says. "Ah... Homura, will you be staying too?"

"I will, if it's OK," Homura says quietly.

"Great!" Tomohisa says. "I'm sure Junko will be thrilled to finally meet all of you."

"Ah, papa!" Madoka says, scrambling off the sofa and beckoning Tomohisa down. The man has to bend nearly in half to bring his ear down to appropriate whispering distance for Madoka. He nods with a smile, and straightens.

Madoka looks pleased as she scampers back to her sofa, beaming at her father, who nods and retreats to the kitchen. She rebuffs your curious look with a happy smile and a wink.

Well then.

You've apparently been invited for an early supper, which is just fine with you as you settle in to chat with your friends. Tomohisa vanishes into the kitchen to start cooking. Admittedly, you have to repeat your earlier mantra: You're glad you're a magical girl and thus don't actually have to gain weight if you don't want to.

You beam at Mami. "To be honest, I love the idea of cooking dinner at home with you too," you say by way of explanation. "But, well, we have plenty of time for that. Like tomorrow."

"Oh, were we going to eat again?" Mami asks, sticking her tongue out at you.

You tug gently on Mami's hair drill, letting it stretch out and then snap back against her face. She pouts and blows the hair out of her face. "Well, maybe supper," you concede. "We did eat a lot at the picnic."

"I'm still so fuuuullll," Madoka adds, patting her stomach. "I should probably exercise." She makes a face. "I don't like exercise."

You should probably not extol the virtues of being a puella magi. Even waxing lyrical about the convenience is... probably not the best idea.

... Speaking of bad ideas, that reminds you that you need to check in on Oriko, too. It's probably unfair to associate Oriko with bad ideas, but there you go.

You hug Mami as she commiserates with Madoka, and reach out mentally. "Oriko? Kirika?"

"Mmmwhat?" Kirika's mental voice sharpens from a satisfied purr to annoyance.

"Hey, Kirika," you say. "Oriko OK? You?"

"Oh, we're just fine," Kirika says. "Just fine. Later!"

Right. They're fine too, then.

"Maybe intervals?" you suggest, re-entering the conversation. "They're not exactly fun, either, but you don't have to run as long."

Madoka pulls another face. "Intervals are..." she makes an inarticulate noise, flailing with her hands to express her general discontentment with the concept. That gets her a wordless nod from Homura.

You're about to continue when you're interrupted by the sound of the door unlocking. Madoka bounces off the sofa. "Mama!"

A tired-looking woman pushes the door open, already smiling. She doesn't have to bend down much to give Madoka a hug. She's dressed in a formal suit with a skirt, purplish-pink hair cut short and held neatly in place with a simple hairclip. She separates from the hug, faded pink eyes looking around with surprise.

Tomohisa emerges from the kitchen, shedding his apron and folding it over his arm as he strides over to give his wife a kiss. "Junko," he says warmly. "How was dinner?"

Junko rolls her eyes. "My 'promotion' dinner, but it was boring and stuffy," she complains, and smiles at Tomohisa. "I preferred our celebration a lot better."

Tomohisa smiles back.

"Who are these?" Junko asks, looking around at all of you. "Ah... wait, you're Madoka's classmates?"

"Ah, yes!" Madoka says. "Uh, Mama, this is Homura, Mami, and Sabrina. Homura's my classmate, and Mami's our sempai. Um, Sabrina's our friend." She indicates all of you in turn.

"Oho!" Junko says. "I see!" She pauses for a second, frowning as she looks at you. "Wait. You... Shin mentioned you, I think?"

"Oh, yeah," you say, tucking away a stray strand of hair. "I met... well, I ran into his niece at the hospital."

Junko puts it together in seconds, and nods. "I see," she says. "Well, nice to meet you! Are you all staying for the night?"

Madoka blinks, and clasps her hands together pleadingly. "Can they?"

Junko exchanges a look with Tomohisa. "I don't see why not?" he offers.

Madoka beams, clapping and practically bouncing on her feet. "Homura? Mami, Sabrina?"

"I can stay," Homura murmurs. There's corded tension in her neck, tightly leashed emotion lining her eyes you're not sure anyone else notices. "If it isn't too troublesome."

Junko snorts in amusement. "Not at all," she says. "But you must tell me how you take care of your hair!"

Homura blinks at Junko. "I just use shampoo?"

You snort in amusement, raising an eyebrow at Mami. She beams at you, and answers. "We'd love to," she answers.

"Then it's settled!" Junko says. "Now, I'm starving. Husband mine, feed me!"

Tomohisa chuckles. "Tuna teriyaki," he answers. "It's just about ready, actually!" He disappears back into the kitchen. You stand, offering Mami a hand, and hurry after Tomohisa to offer your help. Junko goes upstairs to shower, leaving Homura and Madoka alone to chat in the living room.

You sniff surreptiously as you pass Junko, out of some half-formed idea to see if Junko has been drinking. You have a vague impression of her drinking a lot, though to be fair, you can't actually smell any alcohol at all. Then again, you really only remember her drinking with Saotome, you think.

Supper is tuna steaks, marinated and lightly grilled with deliciously savoury teriyaki sauce. Each of you gets a plate, though Madoka seizes the smallest portion, and Mami takes the next smallest. You huff in amusement as Junko claims the largest piece.

"Here," Tomohisa says, taking the next largest serving and putting it down in front of Homura. "Do you live alone, Homura?"

"I do," Homura says, looking down at her plate.

"You should eat more, then," Tomohisa says. "Just say if you want seconds, alright?"

... You didn't even have to do anything. Tomohisa's dad instincts just... locked on and got there before you did.

Oh well.

You all dig in enthusiastically. Tomohisa's a great cook. Not as good as Mami, though you're probably biased there. Junko holds court over the meal, declaiming and bemoaning her work. Apparently she works at some financial company -you miss what, exactly- and Shin isn't her direct boss, but somewhere even further up the food chain.

Eventually, supper's finished. Tomohisa gently but firmly ushers you out of the kitchen despite you wanting to help with the dishes, and shoos you upstairs. Junko volunteers old shirts of hers for Mami and Homura to sleep in, and you get one of Tomohisa's.

... it's loose, but not by that much.

Madoka shows you where the spare mattresses are kept, and the four of you drag them over to her room, pushing aside the chairs to make room. You give said chairs a long, long look, but decide not to ask. It's probably better for everyone; you have enough brain damage already.

You flop happily on the mattress. You haven't changed yet, but that can come later. For now, you get to relax, and maybe get a few things done before sleeping. The mattress depresses next to you with Mami's weight, who lies down beside you with a happy sigh.

Homura, on the other hand, sits primly on one of the chairs, eyeing the shelf of soft toys over Madoka's bed with a slightly suspicious look.

[] Write-in

=====​

They're playing Scrabble, and Oriko's frustrated that Kirika's winning because she got a better draw.

The next update will run you guys through to morning, so please specify what you want to do!
 
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now you guys are making me sad for the inevitable use of Mami against us via her being held as a hostage / or the whole she dies and we break. :(
Mami is a vertern but please don't think she cant mess up, I mean she doesn't even know her soul gem, has her soul in it (or have we told her?).
Speck, please learn to read the tone. You frequently post with passive aggressive comments that are not strictly speaking offensive, but frequently lead to derails. This isn't the kind of story where bad things happen for no good reason, either.
 
Homura blinks at Junko. "I just use shampoo?"
You forgot the invisitext "and magic" :V
You give said chairs a long, long look, but decide not to ask. It's probably better for everyone; you have enough brain damage already.
:rofl:
Homura, on the other hand, sits primly on one of the chairs, eyeing the shelf of soft toys over Madoka's bed with a slightly suspicious look.
Homura, we'd know if Kyubey was hiding among the stuffed animals.
 
... Speaking of bad ideas, that reminds me that you need to check in on Oriko, too.

Ah, great, we reminded Firnagzen to mess with Oriko. :V

Junko puts it together in seconds, and nods. "I see," she says. "Well, nice to meet you! Are you all staying for the night?"

Madoka blinks, and clasps her hands together pleadingly. "Can they?"

Junko exchanges a look with Tomohisa. "I don't see why not?" he offers.

Well that was easy.

... You didn't even have to do anything. Tomohisa's dad instincts just... locked on and got there before you did.

This fucking family, oh my god.
 
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You give said chairs a long, long look, but decide not to ask. It's probably better for everyone; you have enough brain damage already.

As long as we don't think too hard about Mami's apartment, everything is fine.

"You should eat more, then," Tomohisa says. "Just say if you want seconds, alright?"

Good job being dad, Tomohisa!


You hug Mami as she commiserates with Madoka, and reach out mentally. "Oriko? Kirika?"

"Mmmwhat?" Kirika's mental voice sharpens from a satisfied purr to annoyance.

"Hey, Kirika," you say. "Oriko OK? You?"

"Oh, we're just fine," Kirika says. "Just fine. Later!"

Well...that's a bit awkward.
They're playing Scrabble, and Oriko's frustrated that Kirika's winning because she got a better draw.
Let's go with that.
Homura, on the other hand, sits primly on one of the chairs, eyeing the shelf of soft toys over Madoka's bed with a slightly suspicious look.
What? Why?
"I can stay," Homura murmurs. There's corded tension in her neck, tightly leashed emotion lining her eyes you're not sure anyone else notices. "If it isn't too troublesome."
We probably should talk to Homura about it.
Also, we need to give her damn Clear Seed at last.
 
So much for the Maid!Brina breakfast-in-bed plan. Maybe we can do it on Monday morning?

This will be the first time that somebody else witnesses Sabrina and Mami's habit of sleeping in each others' arms. That should be interesting.


Spitballing ideas:

[ ] What's on your mind, Homura?
[ ] Talk through Homura's concerns. If they're too sensitive to discuss here, then do so the privacy of timestop.
[ ] Step outside for a couple minutes to make her a Clear Seed.
 
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