One day, we're going to have a long chat about Sabrina's sense of time and the reactions to her oversped internal chronometer will be hilarious.
"...so, um, yeah." Sabrina coughs. "I know I tend to be weirdly familiar with everyone I've ever met. Even the ones I don't mysteriously know of. And that's why."
"That's not that weird," Sayaka says. "I mean, I feel like I've known you all for forever. Literally forever! Or at least for a non-measurable and indefinable amount of time-"
"No comment," Homura says.
Mami folds her arms across her body, hugging herself closely. She looks disbelieving, or maybe worried, or maybe just both.
"Mami? Are you okay?"
"How long?" she asks. "How long has it been for you?"
"Well, um... let's see..." Sabrina starts mumbling under her breath, running the strange numbers through her head. "Discussion started May 19th, 2014... given today's date... carry the one... okay, I've experienced four years, five months, and twenty-four days of subjective time since I first woke up in that alley. And it's been four years, five months, and twenty-two days since I first met you, Mami. And it's been one year, seven months, and twenty-one days since I first kissed you. And it's been one year, three months, and thirteen days since we first went on a proper date..."
"And-" Mami's voice hitches. "You're not bored, or, or impatient-?"
"Oh, Mami,
no." Sabrina tries to pull Mami into a hug, but Mami beats her to the punch, glomping onto her for dear life. "I'm, hrk-! I'm not even sure I
can, to be honest. I don't know if my brain works that way... hey, don't cry! You don't need to cry-!"
"I CAN'T HELP IT," Mami wails, bawling into Sabrina's shoulder. But she's not just crying like she's sad; she's crying like she's happy. Really happy. "I'M HAVING FEELINGS!"
"Are they good feelings or bad feelings?"
"MIXED FEELINGS, MOSTLY POSITIVE!"
"Didn't I tell you I'm with you for the long haul?"
"I thought you meant that you were looking forward to a long time, not that it had already
been a long time-! And, and, and, I'm jealous! You've had a girlfriend for over a year! I've only had a girlfriend for a week!"
"Aww." Sabrina cranes her head to kiss Mami on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be sticking with you until you've had a girlfriend for over a year, too!"
"But then
you'll have had a girlfriend for -- for fifty years!"
"And then I'll stick with you until you've had a girlfriend for over fifty years, too."
"But then, then-" the thought of decades with Sabrina properly settles into Mami's brain, along with all the implications therein, and she lets out a little
eep.
"Psst, Homura," Sayaka says. "I think I hear Madoka calling us."
"What-? Where!?"
"In the other room, where we won't be eavesdropping on a private moment."
Homura leaps up, grabbing Sayaka by the arm and yanking her away. Mami and Sabrina still only have eyes for each other, oblivious to the byplay.
"H-How long does this feel like?" Mami bites her lip.
"It feels normal. The... time skips? Time dilations? They happen when I'm not paying attention, sort of. When I need to think hard and make the most important decisions. In-between everything else."
"And you're paying attention right now?"
"Oh, Mami, of course." Sabrina grins. "I always pay attention to you."
"And you don't have to choose? Or think hard?"
"Trust me, Mami." Sabrina kisses Mami again, and for a moment, the two of them are busy, as Mami returns the favor. "Nothing could be easier or more obvious than caring about you."
Further confirmation! We have to save Warehouse-kun!
