It's warm.
It's warm and comfortable under the covers. You can feel Mami's arms around you, holding you tight, and you can feel her breath tickling your nose. The smile on your face is probably rather goofy as you look at Mami's sleeping face, peaceful and
happy.
Just a few minutes until the alarm goes off, you think - it's behind you, and you don't want to disturb Mami. Instead, you snuggle a little closer, and-
"Sabrina?" Mami's eyes flicker open a crack, unfocused and full of drowsiness and contentment. She catches sight of you, and smiles.
"Hi," you say, giving her a warm, adoring smile.
"Hi," she says. "What time is it?"
"Just before th-" You're interrupted by absolutely impeccable timing and the blaring of the alarm clock. "... yeah, that."
Mami giggles, and yawns hugely, covering her mouth. "Mmm."
"You seem... awake," you venture, smiling. A sliver of your attention silences the blaring alarm with a sliver of Grief and a smack of the snooze button.
"No," she mumbles, and buries her face against the hollow of your neck.
"Oh, alright then," you say. "Guess I'll go make breakfast myself, then." You sniff theatrically.
"Nuh-uh," Mami says, wrapping her arms around you.
"Ah. Guess I'm stuck here foreeeeeeever then," you say, laughing.
"Mmmhm," Mami agrees.
There are worse fates, really. You savour the closeness, nestling down into Mami's arms. You can spare a few more minutes.
"I slept well," Mami mumbles into your collarbone.
"Hm?" you say, blinking at the non-sequitur.
"So I'm awake," she mumbles.
"No, you're asleep, remember?" you say, and press a kiss to the soft, golden hair in front of you.
"Ah, yes, my mistake," Mami says, and promptly starts snoring. Loudly, and obnoxiously.
You laugh, and when the snoring doesn't abate, you squirm upright on the bed, pushing the covers back. Mami whines and curls around your waist, clinging on tightly. You run your hand through her hair, an adoring smile rising unbidden to your face.
"I actually
do need to get up," you murmur, faintly embarrassed. Nature calls.
"Ah?" Mami peers up at you and smiles, releasing you. "Alright."
"Won't be a moment," you say cheerfully, and hop out of bed, glancing at the clock as you head to the bathroom. Thursday.
When you return to the bedroom, morning ablutions complete, Mami's sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, her hair a messy, golden halo around her face. She lights up with a warm smile as she catches sight of you.
"Good morning," you say, returning the smile.
"It is," she says.
"Your turn. I'll get started on breakfast?" you say, beaming at her and heading over to the closet to gather up a change of clothes.
"Thank you," she says, and heads off to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, you're changed into a nice, pale green blouse and black slacks, ready to face the day. But only after cooking breakfast, which for today, you think is going to be something more traditionally Japanese. You load up the rice cooker and start it, humming cheerfully.
That said, since Mami's in the bathroom, you have a moment to yourself, and it occurs to you that there's one person you haven't informed about Rionna yet, that you really should.
"
Niko? Are you up?" you murmur.
"
Woke up a couple hours ago," Niko grumbles back after a moment. "
What is it?"
"
Well, some stuff happened here in Mitakihara, thought you ought to know," you say, and fill her in on Rionna. You keep it brief and to the point, since Mami won't take that long, but you have the time to elucidate on her powers and what she claims she's done with them.
There's a long, long pause before Niko says anything. "
Shit."
"
Yeah," you agree.
"
Did your friend... Sayaka? Did she copy Rionna's magic?" Niko asks.
"
She did as a backup, but she also kind of wants nothing to do with it," you say. "
So, yeah."
"
A pity," Niko sighs. "
Ah, well. There'll be better ways. I'll update you if anything interesting comes up on my end?"
"
Yeah, and I'll update you too," you say, and pause thoughtfully. "
You know, it would be nice to have a way to talk more privately, at range. Rionna demonstrated it was possible, which I suppose is the one good thing that came out of that mess."
"
It would," Niko says, her voice suddenly preoccupied. "
Knowing that it's possible, maybe if I..."
She trails off into unintelligible muttering and hangs up the mental call.
... you'll take it that she'll call if she needs help, then.
You hear footsteps behind you as you start chopping up vegetables to make a salad, and set the knife down in time for Mami's arms to close around your waist. She goes up on tiptoes to press a kiss to your cheek, igniting an instant, crimson blush on your face.
"H-hi," you manage, nuzzling back against Mami.
"Hi!" she says, tucking her chin on your shoulder. "What are you making, Sabrina?"
"Ah, well, nothing too special," you say. "I was thinking just rice, teriyaki chicken, salad for lunch, maybe with some sausages?"
"That sounds good," Mami says, releasing you and padding over to the fridge to retrieve ingredients.
"I..." You beam at Mami, and can't help a bit of a blush. "I have to admit, I... really like it when you're being confident. It's attractive."
And it is. It's emblematic of Mami
overcoming her traumas, and that's
good. It's
great. But it's also Mami at her
best. It's who Mami wants to be. And...
You
like it.
Mami smiles right back as she sets ingredients on the table, a blush creeping up her face.
"Then... then I'll have to keep it up," she says.
"I look forward to it," you say, walking over to grab ingredients from the cupboard - and giving Mami a quick kiss on the cheek as you pass.
Mami smiles at you, and joins you at the counter. You work in a companionable silence for a few minutes, humming cheerfully. Credens Justitiam,
Mami's tune, and Mami harmonizes with you a few moments later, swaying beside you.
Breakfast is something more traditionally Japanese, rice, pickles, some grilled fish, and a nice, warm bowl of miso soup each to round it out. Lunch simmers away nicely on the stove, just behind the table, and it'll be ready by the time you finish eating. Mami beams at you as she settles in on the opposite seat to you.
"It looks good," Mami says happily. "Itadakimasu!"
"Itadakimasu," you echo. "Your doing, not mine."
"
Our doing," Mami says, shaking her head and smiling. "Your cooking is as good as mine, Sabrina." She winks. "Have some more confidence in yourself!"
You huff, amused.
"I deserved that," you agree. "Our doing, then."
Mami nods firmly, and starts eating, as do you. And, of course, the traditional morning call.
"
Goooooooooooooooooood morning Mitakihara!" you call, grin splitting your face as your telepathy reaches out for your friends. You'd include Asunaro, but you're pretty sure they're all asleep right now, apart from Niko.
Mami beams at you from across the table.
"
Good morning, Sabrina." Hitomi is the first to respond, calm and unruffled.
"
Nearly dropped my toast," Sayaka grumbles at you. "
Good morning."
"
Ah... good morning!" Madoka says. "
How is everyone?"
"
Good morning," Homura murmurs.
You exchange pleasantries over telepathy - everyone's well, Sayaka slept well, and Homura
slept. Hitomi seems mildly affronted at the implication that Homura doesn't usually, launching into a short, annoyed lecture on the importance of sleep. Homura, in turn, makes noncommittal noises in response, and you can't help but grin across the table at Mami.
"Homura really
does need to take better care of herself," Mami murmurs to you as the chatter continues. "I know she's... driven, but that's no excuse."
"Yeah," you say. "All the more reason for us to feed her more, among other things." You grin easily at Mami.
"Oh, yes," Mami agrees.
The chatter is light and easy-going, but eventually, everyone has to finish preparing for school, and you all sign off for now. And you'd missed the opportunity to ask Sayaka about whether she'd made a decision... but you're really trying not to pressure her over the whole issue of Witches, anyway. Leaving it off for now is probably for the best. Instead, you stand, heading over to check the teriyaki, only for Mami to grab your wrist.
"Let me finish up with lunch?" she asks, smiling warmly. "I... want to do something."
"Oh?" you ask.
"It's a secret," Mami says, smile widening a little. "You mustn't look! You'll find out at lunch."
"Ah," you say, and pull her into a proper hug. "Well... I look forward to it, then! But- in return,
I'm doing the dishes."
Mami huffs, and leans up to kiss you on the cheek.
"I think I can accept that trade," she says, tone grave and serious despite the crimson blush staining her cheeks.
You blush furiously and grin at her for a moment. You have a vague impulse to crow about this -especially to Kirika- but you tamp down on it for now, grabbing the dishes instead.
And while you do that, you can make a call to someone you haven't spoken to in too long. You grab your phone from your bag, out in the living room, and Grief ferries it over to you.
"Nagisa," you say in response to Mami's curious look.
"Ah!" Mami says, smiling. "It
has been a few days."
"Yeah," you say, scrolling through your rather short list of contacts to her uncle's number and dialing. Rather than hold it up to your ear with your hands -which are currently occupied by plates- you raise it aloft with Grief. It rings a few times before connecting.
"Good morning, Sabrina," Shin says. "How are you?"
"I'm doing well, thank you! How are you, and how is Nagisa?" you say, smiling as you start soaping the dishes. "Is she free to come to the phone?"
"Ah-" you hear footsteps approaching rapidly in the background, and excited yelling. "Yes, she is, but we
do need to finish preparing her for school, if you don't mind? Nagisa, don't run indoors..."
"Big sis!" a bright, cheerful voice pipes up.
"Hi, Nagisa!" you say. Really, you
could just use Grief to clean the dishes, like you did last night, but it feels nice to wash them by hand. Grounded. "I'm sorry I haven't called recently - how are you doing?"
"It's OK, you're calling now!" Nagisa says brightly. "Oh! I shared the cake you gave me with Uncle Shin! He enjoyed it lots."
"That's good!" you say. The cake from the picnic, which feels so long ago. "Have you been behaving for Uncle Shin?"
"I have!" she says proudly. "I'm going back to school now."
"Good girl," you say, smiling. "Are you enjoying school?"
"I am," Nagisa says. "Everyone was really nice!"
"I'm glad!" you say. Good people, then. You're fairly sure the school would have kept her mother's passing quiet, but still. "Do you enjoy your classes?"
"Mmhm!" Nagisa says. "And... it's good to keep busy! Uncle Shin is always busy, too. Ah... do you go to school, big sis?"
"Ah, no, actually," you say. "I'm a bit of a strange case there."
"You're not strange!" Nagisa protests.
"Yes I am," you say gravely. "Big sis Sabrina is a very strange person, Nagisa."
Mami giggles, shooting you a warm, amused look from the counter. You beam right back at her.
"Is that big sis Mami?" Nagisa chirps. "I like her!"
"Yes, it is, and so do I," you say. You can't help the smile on your face. "Very much so."
"Uh-huh!" Nagisa says. You hear a male voice muttering. "Oh... Uncle Shin says I have to go get ready for school now."
"I see!" you say, starting to dry off the dishes. "OK, I won't keep you, then, but I'll try to talk to you more often, alright? If there's an opportunity, you can come over again."
"OK!" Nagisa says, brightening. "Bye-bye!"
"See you around!" you say. "Be a good girl, alright?"
"I will!" Nagisa says, and hangs up the call.
You hum quietly as you set the dried plates out on the rack. Homura hasn't brought up the... shopping trip, either, but you're sure she hasn't forgotten. Perhaps when you meet up on the way to school? It
does rather make sense to do it that way, anyway, it means Homura won't be making a trek back and forth across Mitakihara twice.
Ah, well. Still, you're almost done, and by the looks of it, so is Mami.
[] Head out to school
- [] Something to do before that?
[] Prompt Sayaka about her decision
[] Homura will ask you about the raid
- [] Any particular things you want to hit?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
I will
try to update again around Thursday or so. I really want to try getting back to at least two updates a week, and I'm making this declaration publicly in hopes that it'll help me stay on track.
Also, because I
again forgot to say last update - with that update ended
Point Insertion. With this update, I begin
Nova Prospekt.
