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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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A Red Letter Day pt. 1
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    • There is a penguin on the shelf. Or there was a penguin on the shelf. Now the irritated-looking bunny has been knocked askew, and you have a penguin plush to cuddle in addition to Mami.

    "Penguin," you offer by way of explanation. Madoka nods in understanding.

    Mami giggles faintly, leaning into you.

    You flop over into one of the many chairs scattered about the room, this one a cheerful, sunshine yellow affair of wood. There's room enough to kick your feet out comfortably, a scrape of wood signalling Mami moving a chair up beside you.

    "We have great friends, don't we," you murmur to her.

    "We do," Mami breathes back, watching as Homura is provisioned a white seal plushy. Despite her look at the shelf earlier, she's more than ready to accept the soft toy and clutch it to her chest with a little more force than is strictly necessary. Mami, on the other hand, declines a plushy.

    Madoka sits on her bed, bouncing a little as she beams at everyone. "Sabrina, ah..." she twists her face into a grimace that's more adorable than it is upset. "Do you think Sayaka would like to join us? It's a bit late, but she's going to be disappointed about missing out."

    You purse your lips in consideration. "... Why not ask her?" you suggest, mindful of Homura's not-a-scowl. "I... She seemed to be cooling off earlier."

    "Ah, of course!" Madoka says, grabbing her phone off the bedside table. She taps out a rapid-fire message, kicking her legs against the side of the bed.

    Mami looks around the room curiously, visibly deciding not to ask about the chairs, either. You sort of want to ask, but at the same time, you sort of don't, either. It's good to be interested in your friend's hobby, and you can't deny that you aren't interested, but... chairs.

    Madoka's phone buzzes, once, then twice. She checks through the messages, and brightens. "Sayaka's coming!" she declares. "Hitomi can't, though."

    "Oh, that's great!" you say, smiling.

    "I'll go and let my parents know," Madoka says with a firm nod. "Ah... Um, does someone want to come with me to help grab some games?"

    "I'll go," Homura murmurs, rising with a quiet swish of hair.

    "OK!" Madoka says, and heads out with Homura in tow.

    You giggle. "I don't even have to do anything," you say, and slide bonelessly from the chair onto the mattress, keeping a hold of both Mami and the penguin.

    Mami huffs, amused and more than willing to flop onto the mattress too.

    "Matchmaking our friends?" she asks.

    "As if you don't think they're cute together," you counter.

    "They are!" Mami agrees, and sobers a little. "But..."

    "Homura," you agree. "She's... broken. Mami? Trust me?"

    "Always," Mami says without hesitation.

    "I know about Homura's circumstances, but... It's her story to tell, if she chooses to," you say. "But... yeah. Not now. Absolutely not now. It's going to be a long, long road before Homura's mindset is... anything like stable enough."

    Mami nods, absorbing that as she curls up on your arm. "I see," she says at last. "So..."

    "Continue as planned," you say, flashing Mami a bright grin. "Gently and subtly. Also, they're coming."

    Your Grief sense is so convenient.

    And precisely on cue, you hear Madoka's voice echoing through the open door. "-maybe Sayaka will bring her figurines for that game?"

    If there's any response from Homura, you don't hear it, but the two of them arrive seconds later, Homura carrying a box in her arms.

    "Would everyone like to play String Railway?" Madoka asks. "Um... I also have, um, Uno?"

    You blink. "Hm... I don't think I've played it before," you say. "But that sounds fun!"

    "OK!" Madoka says, taking the box from Homura and opening it to show you the contents: various little pieces of board and multicoloured tangles of string.

    "Huh, how does this work?" you ask, curiosity piqued. Mami pokes her head over your shoulder, equally interested.

    "Ah... We set up a game area with the big string loop," Madoka says. "Um..."

    You each grab one corner, and between the four of you, stretch the loop out into a square area. A ring of grey string in the middle makes Mount Fuji, and Madoka adds a little station card in each corner, explaining. The game is apparently about using the strings and more station cards drawn from a deck to make subway networks.

    You settle cross-legged at one corner of the square, Mami settling on the one adjacent. Homura and Madoka sit across you. You get the white set of strings, Mami gets the yellow ones, and... Well, it's pretty predictable who gets what colours, Madoka grinning unrepentantly at you when you give her a look.

    You're tempted to switch Madoka and Homura's sets of strings so that they have each other's colours, but that wouldn't be subtle.

    The game starts with happy chatter, Mami laying the first station in your direction. You grin at her, and when your turn rolls around, you extend yours in her direction, too. Homura, on the other hand, makes for the center of the play area. Madoka, too.

    It's relaxing. Something silly and fun to enjoy and not... think too much. You don't win - that honour goes to Madoka. You'd gimped yourself a little in the beginning, heading for Mami, but not so badly that you wouldn't have done quite so badly. Homura's interference, on the other hand, certainly didn't help at all. Also, she managed to build a hub ring.

    You're just about to start the second round when you feel a magical girl entering the edge of your detection range. The doorbell goes off minutes later - Sayaka. Madoka springs to her feet and heads out, Homura ghosting after her like an overprotective shadow. You could have pointed out that you knew who it was, but then again, eh.

    Who are you to speak when Homura's actually spending more time with Madoka?

    You hear Sayaka's voice, boisterous and cheerful, for a brief second before she's shushed by Madoka. They head upstairs.

    The wide smile on Sayaka's face falters for a second when she spots you, but returns full force. She blows out a harsh breath, and plops down next to you, looking a little awkward as she fusses with the toolbox and backpack she's carrying at her side.

    "Hey, Sabrina," she mumbles. "Hey, Mami."

    "Hey, Sayaka," you respond, smiling at her.

    Mami shifts a little, squeezing up to your side.

    Madoka claps happily, glancing from you to Sayaka. "Shall we make it five player?" she asks, indicating the String Railway setup.

    Sayaka hesitates for a second. "Ah, heck, why not," she says. "Card me in."

    A little knot of tension undoes itself in your chest. There's still an air of awkwardness between the two of you, but... you're fine. You knew that, but you didn't... know that.

    The rest of the night flies by quickly, and before long, you're all yawning and taking quick showers and preparing to turn in for the night. You pull Homura aside, down the corridor a ways.

    "Hey, Homura?" you murmur. "I... can I ask you to get some actual sleep tonight? I know you're wary of being attacked, I know and I understand."

    Her hair's damp from the shower, and she's dressed in a shirt a touch too large for her that leaves her looking like a kid playing dressup despite the hard lines on her face. "I want to keep watch."

    "Would it help if I were to make an enchantment that detects danger?" you offer. "Or... could I make you a Clear Seed, and you can sleep in timestop?"

    Homura hesitates for a second. "I- I'd appreciate the Clear Seed."

    "Alright," you say, with a smile. You clasp her shoulder. "Homura, I know I've said this a lot, but I care about you. OK?"

    She nods, and hands you a Grief Seed from her pocket. Just as well, really, you're down to Hildegarde, that one oil derrick Witch, and Elsa Maria, yourself. You should probably take a look at that one Seed to check her name at some point. Later. You step to the end of the corridor where there's an open window. You're pretty sure Tomohisa and Junko have retired to their room, but you keep a sharp ear out. Mami joins you a minute later, just as you start extracting Grief from the Seed.

    You spare her attention and a smile as Grief starts billowing forth in great, swirling clouds. You crush it down as fast as you can, sending Grief spheres soaring away to join your main mass - it's starting to become unwieldy now, more than enough to fill up one of those big shipping containers. Probably two.

    "I'm making a Clear Seed for Homura," you tell Mami. "So that she can actually spare the, ahem, time to sleep."

    Mami nods in understanding, wrapping her arms around your waist and watching as the seed empties. You take a while longer to finish the Seed, and then hand it back to Homura. She accepts it with a grateful, "Thank you." Her tone almost wavers, but... she is sincerely grateful. You can tell.

    And then it's time to sleep. You opt for the mattress next to Mami's, of course, and after the lights go out and people start to fall asleep, you wiggle over to Mami's.

    She isn't asleep either, judging from her expression and the way her eyes flicker open instantly to blink at you. Her troubled frown melts into a soft smile, and she rolls over to cuddle into your side.

    Yeah. You're not really sure you could have slept, either. This, on the other hand... this is fine.


    Morning rolls around at some point, you suppose. There's someone trying to shake you awake. Sayaka, boisterously cheerful and far too loud. You mumble in sleepy annoyance and cling tighter to the warm, soft form in front of you, which clings right back. Which was going to happen anyway. You don't need to be up early.

    There's some giggling that you register sleepily.

    "GOOD MORNING, SABRINA!"

    That has you nearly levitating out of the mattress, blanket going flying as you flail upright. Sayaka howls with laughter and topples over, clutching her stomach. Beside you, Mami stirs with golden eyes wide and startled and hair jutting at odd angles. Madoka and Homura are nowhere to be seen.

    [] Write-in

    =====​

    Apropos nothing, Warhammer is oddly popular in Japan. Oh, and I forgot to note the end of the chapter. So, here ends On a Rail, and here begins Book 2, Chapter 7: A Red Letter Day.
     
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    • Firnagzen said:
    =====​

    Morning rolls around at some point, you suppose. There's someone trying to shake you awake. Sayaka, boisterously cheerful and far too loud. You mumble in sleepy annoyance and cling tighter to the warm, soft form in front of you, which clings right back. Which was going to happen anyway. You don't need to be up early.

    There's some giggling that you register sleepily.

    "GOOD MORNING, SABRINA!"

    That has you nearly levitating out of the mattress, blanket going flying as you flail upright. Sayaka howls with laughter and topples over, clutching her stomach. Beside you, Mami stirs with golden eyes wide and startled and hair jutting at odd angles. Madoka and Homura are nowhere to be seen.
    ​
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ​
    We have been bamboozled by the blueberry. Alas, we are bested.
     
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