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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

Reader mode
Well, in honor of the new year, have some holiday fluffy.

There was a warmth in the air that had nothing to do with the temperature of the snow outside and little to do with the dinner cooking in the next room. Mami smiled as she opened the door to allow a heavily-bundled Madoka to be gently pushed into the apartment by Homura. "Did you have a safe trip?" Mami asked as she closed the door and allowed the two to shuck coats and gloves.

"Homura slipped on a-" "We made it just fine, thank you." Homura's face was a shade of pink that had nothing to do with the weather, and she turned to help the pink haired girl with her scarf, completely by accident covering Madoka's mouth with the thick wool. Mami smiled as Madoka giggled and started pulling at Homura's scarf, returning the favor.

"Everyone else is here, just come to the table when you're both ready~" Mami couldn't help but tease a little as she turned her back on the pair and made her way around the decorations littering the room. Sabrina had insisted that they 'do Christmas the right way' and had gone out of her way to get a tree and lights. Mami suspected that the tree had actually come from a forest instead of a store, but Sabrina was so happy with finding a good looking pine somewhere that Mami had to relent. Still, it filled the place with a fragrant scent, and filled out the main room festively.

A timer beeped atop the oven, and Mami hurried forward to retrieve the last pieces of the evening's meal. A third apple pie joined the two others cooling on the stovetop. And... Mami sighed, shaking her head and smiling. A large slice of one of the pies had gone missing. She poked her head out of the doorway. "Kyouko, you're going to spoil your appetite." she admonished the redhead trying her hardest not to look at a plate set in front of her covered in crumbs.

"Oh come on, it's not the end of the wor- I mean, I didn't do it!" Kyouko's plate was suddenly hidden under her napkin. Mami just looked at her, smiling, one eyebrow raised. Kyouko wilted under that look. "Err, that is, it was Yuma's fault! She wanted some and I had to make sure it was good first." Mami continued to stare at her, and the green haired girl sitting next to Kyouko gave her a betrayed pout. A few crumbs littered her plate, too.

Sabrina cracked her knuckles from the head of the table. "Pie theft deserves a harsh punishment, don't you think so?" She turned to the white haired girl sitting next to her. Nagisa nodded enthusiastically.

"Off with her head!" she proclaimed gaily, waving a fork in Kyouko's direction.

Sabrina blinked, then facepalmed. "I should never have read you Alice in Wonderland for a bedtime story."

"Well, we won't be taking any heads off today." Mami's voice floated out of the kitchen again as she fetched this and that. "However, Kyouko only gets one small slice of pie after dinner, since she already ate so much. And she has to help wash dishes." Kyouko groaned.

"Serves you right!" the blue haired girl next to Kyouko said while poking her in the ribs. "With as much as you eat, if you were anyone else you'd have blown up like a ball and we'd have to roll you home!" Kyouko squirmed away from Sayaka's jabs, then turned to return the favor, teeth bared.

"If you spoil this dinner, I will be very upset." Homura's voice from directly behind them froze both girls as they were about to upset a few glasses, and both blue and red carefully disengaged to place their hands in their laps and eyes on the table. "Thank you." Homura continued in a less frosty tone "Madoka, would you care to sit by me?"

Sabrina smirked. "There's only two places left at the table, since this one-" she patted the chair on the opposite side of her chair from Nagisa's "-is Mami's. She wanted the one closest to the kitchen so she could get things more quickly." And also closest to Sabrina, she did not say. "Those two together at the other side are for you two." She nodded resolutely. The two 'chairs' were actually a piano bench taken from somewhere 'because the apartment didn't have enough chairs', according to her partner in crime. That black haired girl sat on the other side of Nagisa, fussing with Oriko's napkin. At Sabrina's words, Kirika looked over.

"Yep! Only places left!" The grin Sabrina had termed Kirika's 'shipping grin' spread across the berzerker's face. She glanced at Homura, oblivious to the lingering resentment Homura bore both her and her partner. Her hands dropped away from making the napkin into an origami... something or other, leaving it on Oriko's plate. Oriko, in contrast, simply dipped her head to Homura, then began working on turning the mass of non-Euclidean cloth into something resembling a napkin again.

The smell of baking meat wafted out from the kitchen as Mami emerged with the final touch, a baked slab of ham large enough to feed two Kyoukos. All conversation stopped, while Madoka and Homura hurried to take their seats. A flash of razor sharp ribbon had the meat carved into thin slices, and plates began moving, food began to disappear.

"It will go well." Oriko suddenly announced as she took her turn at the small stack of rolls. She turned to Sabrina. "Do not fear." Sabrina gave her a Look. "A few minutes after the last person has left would be ideal." She placed her attention back to her plate as if nothing had happened. Sabrina groaned and shook her head, taking her own turn at the basket.

"This is so good!" Madoka sighed. "Homura, try this!" She held out a morsel of meat on her fork. Homura blinked rapidly, turning to face the pinkette. She looked down at the fork, then at Madoka. Then, she opened her mouth, allowing Madoka to place the food inside. The black haired girl murmured thanks, and Madoka turned back to her own plate with a happy smile.

Across the table, Kirika watched the exchange with wide eyes, then looked at her own plate, considering. A hand on her elbow stopped her, and Oriko simply shook her head. Kirika's lower lip trembled as she turned her sorrowful eyes on the seer, but Oriko held firm. "I can't fit a whole baked potato into my mouth at once anyways." she said, taking a sip of water.

Sayaka smirked. "I bet I know who could~" she started to turn to the redhead beside her, only to realize that Kyouko wasn't listening. In fact, she was almost face-deep in her plate and eating fast enough that it looked like she was simply inhaling everything in front of her. Yuma's attentions to her own smaller plate were no less apocalyptic, and both simply tuned out the conversations and laughter from the rest of the guests.

~

The evening turned to night, the snow yielded to a starry sky, and with dinner finished and conversations made, the guests gave their thanks to the hosts and went their own ways. A snowball fight erupted as Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, and Kirika made their way down the street, packed snow flying every which way. Oriko walked nearby serenely, stopping and sidestepping to dodge stray shots before they could even be thrown. Homura bundled Madoka securely into her coat, then the two of them walked off together, hand in hand. Nagisa's uncle was forced to pry her sleepy hands off of Sabrina's arm before he could place her into his car, where she gave a tired wave then visibly drooped into sleep. Mami stood by the door, watching the last of the guests leave.

"Mami?" Sabrina's voice came from behind Mami, and she turned to see Sabrina looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I, uh, well, wanted to get you something for the holiday, so, well, here it is." She handed Mami a box neatly wrapped in red and white paper.

"You didn't need to, Sabrina." Mami said gently, making Sabrina look down in embarrassment. "You're always working so hard for me and all the other Magical Girls." Mami shifted the box, and something inside made a soft clinking sound. She looked down at it. Was that magic she felt inside?

"No, I really wanted to get you something nice. I mean, there's times when I can't be around and I know you don't like that. I don't like it either, but it's necessary, y'know?" Sabrina tapped one foot on the floor. "So, I got you this, and did my best with it. Come on, open it, I want to see if you like it!" Sabrina pulled Mami to the tree and sat her down on a cushion, then claimed one for herself.

Mami pulled away at the paper gently, revealing a thin box. The logo of a local jewelry company made her gasp and look at Sabrina, who was bouncing slightly in a very Kirika-like fashion. "I know you don't have time to hold a job with all your traveling, so how did you get the money for this?"

Sabrina's nervous motion stopped for a moment. "Well, it was easy, really. You gave me the money, after all." Sabrina looked pleased with her cryptic statement, and at Mami's confused look, explained. "Er, you kept giving me money for lunch every day, right? I wanted to do something for this holiday, so I planned ahead for this." She patted her stomach. "It was hard saving money up over a few months, but cutting down my lunches sometimes meant that I could save a few hundred yen here and there."

The box fell open in Mami's hand as she searched for what to say about that, some disapproval for her roommate's recklessness or foolishness- but she lost her train of thought as the contents of the box were revealed. A silver chain held a round locket inside, and she brushed her fingers across it, hardly believing what she was seeing. Sabrina reached past her fingers, and held the locket up for her inspection. "Now, you can probably feel my magic on it, right?" Mami nodded wordlessly, still stunned. "Well, I finally got the hang of enchantment after blowing up a few dozen soda cans, and this-" she waved the bauble "-is the result. Here, let's open it."

Sabrina's finger flicked at the side, and the front swung away to reveal a small empty space where a picture would fit neatly. Sabrina let Mami examine the inside for a moment, then swung the lid shut. "Now," she said, voice full of pride "let's open it again." She touched the hidden button, and the locket opened - to reveal a small photo of Homura desperately trying to avoid having her picture taken. Sabrina grimaced at the sight, then closed and opened the locket again. A photo of Homura and Madoka now rested inside, with Homura half-hidden behind Madoka's hair. "I really couldn't get a good shot of her-" Sabrina shook her head, then smiled. "-but I got good ones of everyone else." The locket opened again and again, Madoka and Sayaka sitting together in their school uniforms, Oriko dressed and posed as if for a portrait with Kirika looking startled and blurry beside her, Kyouko feeding Yuma a stick of pocky, Nagisa completely covered in ribbons and bows and a huge smile, Mami herself in full Magical Girl costume atop a building, and on and on...

A question began to nag the back of Mami's mind. Dozens of pictures, but where was- she looked up at Sabrina, who nodded once in understanding. "Try putting your own magic into it, just a little. I know what your magic feels like, so I could make a function in the enchantment that's keyed to it." She grinned as Mami reached out, placing her finger onto the lid of the locket, nudging her magic into the metal. Under her touch, the metal began to warp and bend, and Mami hurriedly pulled her finger away in time to see the locket transform into a four inch square picture frame. As the metal across the top drew away, a new picture was revealed. Sabrina, in full costume, stood with her hammer planted in the dirt, one hand resting atop of the handle, the other reaching up to help Mami down from a pile of broken rubble. Both were framed in a delicate tracery of purple from Sabrina's wings. Mami's hand covered her mouth, and she felt tears welling up.

"Kirika took this one." Sabrina coughed into one hand, cheeks slightly pink. "Oriko apparently told her that if she brought a camera to the Walpurgis fight, she could get some really good pictures. As it turns out, she spent half the time keeping familiars off Oriko, and the rest of the fight trying to get a good shot of everyone who went near her, meaning she got distracted. That's how she ended up getting knocked unconscious at the base of that destroyed building where we found her." Sabrina glowered at an invisible Oriko. "And of course, that's exactly where she needed to be to take this as soon as she woke up."

Sabrina tugged gently at the chain in Mami's hand. "If you pull on the chain when it's like this, it comes off and locks the shape. If you put the chain back on" she demonstrated, looping the necklace back into the frame "then it goes back to the way it was." The frame shrank down to a circular locket again, covering the image. She pressed the gift into Mami's hand, then placed her own on top and squeezed.

"I can't be around as much as I know we'd both like... so I got you something that can remind you of the good times we all had should you feel lonely again." Sabrina's pink cheeks were now fully red. "I just wanted to say, I guess, for the first time of many times," She looked at Mami full on. Mami's eyes were filled with tears, but she could still see Sabrina's face, hopeful and happy.

"Merry Christmas, Mami."
 
Last edited:
Loops said:
Well, in honor of the new year, have some holiday fluffy.

There was a warmth in the air that had nothing to do with the temperature of the snow outside and little to do with the dinner cooking in the next room. Mami smiled as she opened the door to allow a heavily-bundled Madoka to be gently pushed into the apartment by Homura. "Did you have a safe trip?" Mami asked as she closed the door and allowed the two to shuck coats and gloves.

"Homura slipped on a-" "We made it just fine, thank you." Homura's face was a shade of pink that had nothing to do with the weather, and she turned to help the pink haired girl with her scarf, completely by accident covering Madoka's mouth with the thick wool. Mami smiled as Madoka giggled and started pulling at Homura's scarf, returning the favor.

"Everyone else is here, just come to the table when you're both ready~" Mami couldn't help but tease a little as she turned her back on the pair and made her way around the decorations littering the room. Sabrina had insisted that they 'do Christmas the right way' and had gone out of her way to get a tree and lights. Mami suspected that the tree had actually come from a forest instead of a store, but Sabrina was so happy with finding a good looking pine somewhere that Mami had to relent. Still, it filled the place with a fragrant scent, and filled out the main room festively.

A timer beeped atop the oven, and Mami hurried forward to retrieve the last pieces of the evening's meal. A third apple pie joined the two others cooling on the stovetop. And... Mami sighed, shaking her head and smiling. A large slice of one of the pies had gone missing. She poked her head out of the doorway. "Kyouko, you're going to spoil your appetite." she admonished the redhead trying her hardest not to look at a plate set in front of her covered in crumbs.

"Oh come on, it's not the end of the wor- I mean, I didn't do it!" Kyouko's plate was suddenly hidden under her napkin. Mami just looked at her, smiling, one eyebrow raised. Kyouko wilted under that look. "Err, that is, it was Yuma's fault! She wanted some and I had to make sure it was good first." Mami continued to stare at her, and the green haired girl sitting next to Kyouko gave her a betrayed pout. A few crumbs littered her plate, too.

Sabrina cracked her knuckles from the head of the table. "Pie theft deserves a harsh punishment, don't you think so?" She turned to the white haired girl sitting next to her. Nagisa nodded enthusiastically.

"Off with her head!" she proclaimed gaily, waving a fork in Kyouko's direction.

Sabrina blinked, then facepalmed. "I should never have read you Alice in Wonderland for a bedtime story."

"Well, we won't be taking any heads off today." Mami's voice floated out of the kitchen again as she fetched this and that. "However, Kyouko only gets one small slice of pie after dinner, since she already ate so much. And she has to help wash dishes." Kyouko groaned.

"Serves you right!" the blue haired girl next to Kyouko said while poking her in the ribs. "With as much as you eat, if you were anyone else you'd have blown up like a ball and we'd have to roll you home!" Kyouko squirmed away from Sayaka's jabs, then turned to return the favor, teeth bared.

"If you spoil this dinner, I will be very upset." Homura's voice from directly behind them froze both girls as they were about to upset a few glasses, and both blue and red carefully disengaged to place their hands in their laps and eyes on the table. "Thank you." Homura continued in a less frosty tone "Madoka, would you care to sit by me?"

Sabrina smirked. "There's only two places left at the table, since this one-" she patted the chair on the opposite side of her chair from Nagisa's "-is Mami's. She wanted the one closest to the kitchen so she could get things more quickly." And also closest to Sabrina, she did not say. "Those two together at the other side are for you two." She nodded resolutely. The two 'chairs' were actually a piano bench taken from somewhere 'because the apartment didn't have enough chairs', according to her partner in crime. That black haired girl sat on the other side of Nagisa, fussing with Oriko's napkin. At Sabrina's words, Kirika looked over.

"Yep! Only places left!" The grin Sabrina had termed Kirika's 'shipping grin' spread across the berzerker's face. She glanced at Homura, oblivious to the lingering resentment Homura bore both her and her partner. Her hands dropped away from making the napkin into an origami... something or other, leaving it on Oriko's plate. Oriko, in contrast, simply dipped her head to Homura, then began working on turning the mass of non-Euclidean cloth into something resembling a napkin again.

The smell of baking meat wafted out from the kitchen as Mami emerged with the final touch, a baked slab of ham large enough to feed two Kyoukos. All conversation stopped, while Madoka and Homura hurried to take their seats. A flash of razor sharp ribbon had the meat carved into thin slices, and plates began moving, food began to disappear.

"It will go well." Oriko suddenly announced as she took her turn at the small stack of rolls. She turned to Sabrina. "Do not fear." Sabrina gave her a Look. "A few minutes after the last person has left would be ideal." She placed her attention back to her plate as if nothing had happened. Sabrina groaned and shook her head, taking her own turn at the basket.

"This is so good!" Madoka sighed. "Homura, try this!" She held out a morsel of meat on her fork. Homura blinked rapidly, turning to face the pinkette. She looked down at the fork, then at Madoka. Then, she opened her mouth, allowing Madoka to place the food inside. The black haired girl murmured thanks, and Madoka turned back to her own plate with a happy smile.

Across the table, Kirika watched the exchange with wide eyes, then looked at her own plate, considering. A hand on her elbow stopped her, and Oriko simply shook her head. Kirika's lower lip trembled as she turned her sorrowful eyes on the seer, but Oriko held firm. "I can't fit a whole baked potato into my mouth at once anyways." she said, taking a sip of water.

Sayaka smirked. "I bet I know who could~" she started to turn to the redhead beside her, only to realize that Kyouko wasn't listening. In fact, she was almost face-deep in her plate and eating fast enough that it looked like she was simply inhaling everything in front of her. Yuma's attentions to her own smaller plate were no less apocalyptic, and both simply tuned out the conversations and laughter from the rest of the guests.

~

The evening turned to night, the snow yielded to a starry sky, and with dinner finished and conversations made, the guests gave their thanks to the hosts and went their own ways. A snowball fight erupted as Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, and Kirika made their way down the street, packed snow flying every which way. Oriko walked nearby serenely, stopping and sidestepping to dodge stray shots before they could even be thrown. Homura bundled Madoka securely into her coat, then the two of them walked off together, hand in hand. Nagisa's uncle was forced to pry her sleepy hands off of Sabrina's arm before he could place her into his car, where she gave a tired wave then visibly drooped into sleep. Mami stood by the door, watching the last of the guests leave.

"Mami?" Sabrina's voice came from behind Mami, and she turned to see Sabrina looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I, uh, well, wanted to get you something for the holiday, so, well, here it is." She handed Mami a box neatly wrapped in red and white paper.

"You didn't need to, Sabrina." Mami said gently, making Sabrina look down in embarrassment. "You're always working so hard for me and all the other Magical Girls." Mami shifted the box, and something inside made a soft clinking sound. She looked down at it. Was that magic she felt inside?

"No, I really wanted to get you something nice. I mean, there's times when I can't be around and I know you don't like that. I don't like it either, but it's necessary, y'know?" Sabrina tapped one foot on the floor. "So, I got you this, and did my best with it. Come on, open it, I want to see if you like it!" Sabrina pulled Mami to the tree and sat her down on a cushion, then claimed one for herself.

Mami pulled away at the paper gently, revealing a thin box. The logo of a local jewelry company made her gasp and look at Sabrina, who was bouncing slightly in a very Kirika-like fashion. "I know you don't have time to hold a job with all your traveling, so how did you get the money for this?"

Sabrina's nervous motion stopped for a moment. "Well, it was easy, really. You gave me the money, after all." Sabrina looked pleased with her cryptic statement, and at Mami's confused look, explained. "Er, you kept giving me money for lunch every day, right? I wanted to do something for this holiday, so I planned ahead for this." She patted her stomach. "It was hard saving money up over a few months, but cutting down my lunches sometimes meant that I could save a few hundred yen here and there."

The box fell open in Mami's hand as she searched for what to say about that, some disapproval for her roommate's recklessness or foolishness- but she lost her train of thought as the contents of the box were revealed. A silver chain held a round locket inside, and she brushed her fingers across it, hardly believing what she was seeing. Sabrina reached past her fingers, and held the locket up for her inspection. "Now, you can probably feel my magic on it, right?" Mami nodded wordlessly, still stunned. "Well, I finally got the hang of enchantment after blowing up a few dozen soda cans, and this-" she waved the bauble "-is the result. Here, let's open it."

Sabrina's finger flicked at the side, and the front swung away to reveal a small empty space where a picture would fit neatly. Sabrina let Mami examine the inside for a moment, then swung the lid shut. "Now," she said, voice full of pride "let's open it again." She touched the hidden button, and the locket opened - to reveal a small photo of Homura desperately trying to avoid having her picture taken. Sabrina grimaced at the sight, then closed and opened the locket again. A photo of Homura and Madoka now rested inside, with Homura half-hidden behind Madoka's hair. "I really couldn't get a good shot of her-" Sabrina grimaced, then smiled. "-but I got good ones of everyone else." The locket opened again and again, Madoka and Sayaka sitting together in their school uniforms, Oriko dressed and posed as if for a portrait with Kirika looking startled and blurry beside her, Kyouko feeding Yuma a stick of pocky, Nagisa completely covered in ribbons and bows and a huge smile, Mami herself in full Magical Girl costume atop a building, and on and on...

A question began to nag the back of Mami's mind. Dozens of pictures, but where was- she looked up at Sabrina, who nodded once in understanding. "Try putting your own magic into it, just a little. I know what your magic feels like, so I could make a function in the enchantment that's keyed to it." She grinned as Mami reached out, placing her finger onto the lid of the locket, nudging her magic into the metal. Under her touch, the metal began to warp and bend, and Mami hurriedly pulled her finger away in time to see the locket transform into a four inch square picture frame. As the metal across the top drew away, a new picture was revealed. Sabrina, in full costume, stood with her hammer planted in the dirt, one hand resting atop of the handle, the other reaching up to help Mami down from a pile of broken rubble. Both were framed in a delicate tracery of purple from Sabrina's wings. Mami's hand covered her mouth, and she felt tears welling up.

"Kirika took this one." Sabrina coughed into one hand, cheeks slightly pink. "Oriko apparently told her that if she brought a camera to the Walpurgis fight, she could get some really good pictures. As it turns out, she spent half the time keeping familiars off Oriko, and the rest of the fight trying to get a good shot of everyone who went near her, meaning she got distracted. That's how she ended up getting knocked unconscious at the base of that destroyed building where we found her." Sabrina glowered at an invisible Oriko. "And of course, that's exactly where she needed to be to take this as soon as she woke up."

Sabrina tugged gently at the chain in Mami's hand. "If you pull on the chain when it's like this, it comes off and locks the shape. If you put the chain back on" she demonstrated, looping the necklace back into the frame "then it goes back to the way it was." The frame shrank down to a circular locket again, covering the image. She pressed the gift into Mami's hand, then placed her own on top and squeezed.

"I can't be around as much as I know we'd both like... so I got you something that can remind you of the good times we all had should you feel lonely again." Sabrina's pink cheeks were now fully red. "I just wanted to say, I guess, for the first time of many times," She looked at Mami full on. Mami's eyes were filled with tears, but she could still see Sabrina's face, hopeful and happy.

"Merry Christmas, Mami."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Annnnd more diabeetus.
 
Loops said:
Well, in honor of the new year, have some holiday fluffy.

There was a warmth in the air that had nothing to do with the temperature of the snow outside and little to do with the dinner cooking in the next room. Mami smiled as she opened the door to allow a heavily-bundled Madoka to be gently pushed into the apartment by Homura. "Did you have a safe trip?" Mami asked as she closed the door and allowed the two to shuck coats and gloves.

"Homura slipped on a-" "We made it just fine, thank you." Homura's face was a shade of pink that had nothing to do with the weather, and she turned to help the pink haired girl with her scarf, completely by accident covering Madoka's mouth with the thick wool. Mami smiled as Madoka giggled and started pulling at Homura's scarf, returning the favor.

"Everyone else is here, just come to the table when you're both ready~" Mami couldn't help but tease a little as she turned her back on the pair and made her way around the decorations littering the room. Sabrina had insisted that they 'do Christmas the right way' and had gone out of her way to get a tree and lights. Mami suspected that the tree had actually come from a forest instead of a store, but Sabrina was so happy with finding a good looking pine somewhere that Mami had to relent. Still, it filled the place with a fragrant scent, and filled out the main room festively.

A timer beeped atop the oven, and Mami hurried forward to retrieve the last pieces of the evening's meal. A third apple pie joined the two others cooling on the stovetop. And... Mami sighed, shaking her head and smiling. A large slice of one of the pies had gone missing. She poked her head out of the doorway. "Kyouko, you're going to spoil your appetite." she admonished the redhead trying her hardest not to look at a plate set in front of her covered in crumbs.

"Oh come on, it's not the end of the wor- I mean, I didn't do it!" Kyouko's plate was suddenly hidden under her napkin. Mami just looked at her, smiling, one eyebrow raised. Kyouko wilted under that look. "Err, that is, it was Yuma's fault! She wanted some and I had to make sure it was good first." Mami continued to stare at her, and the green haired girl sitting next to Kyouko gave her a betrayed pout. A few crumbs littered her plate, too.

Sabrina cracked her knuckles from the head of the table. "Pie theft deserves a harsh punishment, don't you think so?" She turned to the white haired girl sitting next to her. Nagisa nodded enthusiastically.

"Off with her head!" she proclaimed gaily, waving a fork in Kyouko's direction.

Sabrina blinked, then facepalmed. "I should never have read you Alice in Wonderland for a bedtime story."

"Well, we won't be taking any heads off today." Mami's voice floated out of the kitchen again as she fetched this and that. "However, Kyouko only gets one small slice of pie after dinner, since she already ate so much. And she has to help wash dishes." Kyouko groaned.

"Serves you right!" the blue haired girl next to Kyouko said while poking her in the ribs. "With as much as you eat, if you were anyone else you'd have blown up like a ball and we'd have to roll you home!" Kyouko squirmed away from Sayaka's jabs, then turned to return the favor, teeth bared.

"If you spoil this dinner, I will be very upset." Homura's voice from directly behind them froze both girls as they were about to upset a few glasses, and both blue and red carefully disengaged to place their hands in their laps and eyes on the table. "Thank you." Homura continued in a less frosty tone "Madoka, would you care to sit by me?"

Sabrina smirked. "There's only two places left at the table, since this one-" she patted the chair on the opposite side of her chair from Nagisa's "-is Mami's. She wanted the one closest to the kitchen so she could get things more quickly." And also closest to Sabrina, she did not say. "Those two together at the other side are for you two." She nodded resolutely. The two 'chairs' were actually a piano bench taken from somewhere 'because the apartment didn't have enough chairs', according to her partner in crime. That black haired girl sat on the other side of Nagisa, fussing with Oriko's napkin. At Sabrina's words, Kirika looked over.

"Yep! Only places left!" The grin Sabrina had termed Kirika's 'shipping grin' spread across the berzerker's face. She glanced at Homura, oblivious to the lingering resentment Homura bore both her and her partner. Her hands dropped away from making the napkin into an origami... something or other, leaving it on Oriko's plate. Oriko, in contrast, simply dipped her head to Homura, then began working on turning the mass of non-Euclidean cloth into something resembling a napkin again.

The smell of baking meat wafted out from the kitchen as Mami emerged with the final touch, a baked slab of ham large enough to feed two Kyoukos. All conversation stopped, while Madoka and Homura hurried to take their seats. A flash of razor sharp ribbon had the meat carved into thin slices, and plates began moving, food began to disappear.

"It will go well." Oriko suddenly announced as she took her turn at the small stack of rolls. She turned to Sabrina. "Do not fear." Sabrina gave her a Look. "A few minutes after the last person has left would be ideal." She placed her attention back to her plate as if nothing had happened. Sabrina groaned and shook her head, taking her own turn at the basket.

"This is so good!" Madoka sighed. "Homura, try this!" She held out a morsel of meat on her fork. Homura blinked rapidly, turning to face the pinkette. She looked down at the fork, then at Madoka. Then, she opened her mouth, allowing Madoka to place the food inside. The black haired girl murmured thanks, and Madoka turned back to her own plate with a happy smile.

Across the table, Kirika watched the exchange with wide eyes, then looked at her own plate, considering. A hand on her elbow stopped her, and Oriko simply shook her head. Kirika's lower lip trembled as she turned her sorrowful eyes on the seer, but Oriko held firm. "I can't fit a whole baked potato into my mouth at once anyways." she said, taking a sip of water.

Sayaka smirked. "I bet I know who could~" she started to turn to the redhead beside her, only to realize that Kyouko wasn't listening. In fact, she was almost face-deep in her plate and eating fast enough that it looked like she was simply inhaling everything in front of her. Yuma's attentions to her own smaller plate were no less apocalyptic, and both simply tuned out the conversations and laughter from the rest of the guests.

~

The evening turned to night, the snow yielded to a starry sky, and with dinner finished and conversations made, the guests gave their thanks to the hosts and went their own ways. A snowball fight erupted as Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, and Kirika made their way down the street, packed snow flying every which way. Oriko walked nearby serenely, stopping and sidestepping to dodge stray shots before they could even be thrown. Homura bundled Madoka securely into her coat, then the two of them walked off together, hand in hand. Nagisa's uncle was forced to pry her sleepy hands off of Sabrina's arm before he could place her into his car, where she gave a tired wave then visibly drooped into sleep. Mami stood by the door, watching the last of the guests leave.

"Mami?" Sabrina's voice came from behind Mami, and she turned to see Sabrina looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I, uh, well, wanted to get you something for the holiday, so, well, here it is." She handed Mami a box neatly wrapped in red and white paper.

"You didn't need to, Sabrina." Mami said gently, making Sabrina look down in embarrassment. "You're always working so hard for me and all the other Magical Girls." Mami shifted the box, and something inside made a soft clinking sound. She looked down at it. Was that magic she felt inside?

"No, I really wanted to get you something nice. I mean, there's times when I can't be around and I know you don't like that. I don't like it either, but it's necessary, y'know?" Sabrina tapped one foot on the floor. "So, I got you this, and did my best with it. Come on, open it, I want to see if you like it!" Sabrina pulled Mami to the tree and sat her down on a cushion, then claimed one for herself.

Mami pulled away at the paper gently, revealing a thin box. The logo of a local jewelry company made her gasp and look at Sabrina, who was bouncing slightly in a very Kirika-like fashion. "I know you don't have time to hold a job with all your traveling, so how did you get the money for this?"

Sabrina's nervous motion stopped for a moment. "Well, it was easy, really. You gave me the money, after all." Sabrina looked pleased with her cryptic statement, and at Mami's confused look, explained. "Er, you kept giving me money for lunch every day, right? I wanted to do something for this holiday, so I planned ahead for this." She patted her stomach. "It was hard saving money up over a few months, but cutting down my lunches sometimes meant that I could save a few hundred yen here and there."

The box fell open in Mami's hand as she searched for what to say about that, some disapproval for her roommate's recklessness or foolishness- but she lost her train of thought as the contents of the box were revealed. A silver chain held a round locket inside, and she brushed her fingers across it, hardly believing what she was seeing. Sabrina reached past her fingers, and held the locket up for her inspection. "Now, you can probably feel my magic on it, right?" Mami nodded wordlessly, still stunned. "Well, I finally got the hang of enchantment after blowing up a few dozen soda cans, and this-" she waved the bauble "-is the result. Here, let's open it."

Sabrina's finger flicked at the side, and the front swung away to reveal a small empty space where a picture would fit neatly. Sabrina let Mami examine the inside for a moment, then swung the lid shut. "Now," she said, voice full of pride "let's open it again." She touched the hidden button, and the locket opened - to reveal a small photo of Homura desperately trying to avoid having her picture taken. Sabrina grimaced at the sight, then closed and opened the locket again. A photo of Homura and Madoka now rested inside, with Homura half-hidden behind Madoka's hair. "I really couldn't get a good shot of her-" Sabrina grimaced, then smiled. "-but I got good ones of everyone else." The locket opened again and again, Madoka and Sayaka sitting together in their school uniforms, Oriko dressed and posed as if for a portrait with Kirika looking startled and blurry beside her, Kyouko feeding Yuma a stick of pocky, Nagisa completely covered in ribbons and bows and a huge smile, Mami herself in full Magical Girl costume atop a building, and on and on...

A question began to nag the back of Mami's mind. Dozens of pictures, but where was- she looked up at Sabrina, who nodded once in understanding. "Try putting your own magic into it, just a little. I know what your magic feels like, so I could make a function in the enchantment that's keyed to it." She grinned as Mami reached out, placing her finger onto the lid of the locket, nudging her magic into the metal. Under her touch, the metal began to warp and bend, and Mami hurriedly pulled her finger away in time to see the locket transform into a four inch square picture frame. As the metal across the top drew away, a new picture was revealed. Sabrina, in full costume, stood with her hammer planted in the dirt, one hand resting atop of the handle, the other reaching up to help Mami down from a pile of broken rubble. Both were framed in a delicate tracery of purple from Sabrina's wings. Mami's hand covered her mouth, and she felt tears welling up.

"Kirika took this one." Sabrina coughed into one hand, cheeks slightly pink. "Oriko apparently told her that if she brought a camera to the Walpurgis fight, she could get some really good pictures. As it turns out, she spent half the time keeping familiars off Oriko, and the rest of the fight trying to get a good shot of everyone who went near her, meaning she got distracted. That's how she ended up getting knocked unconscious at the base of that destroyed building where we found her." Sabrina glowered at an invisible Oriko. "And of course, that's exactly where she needed to be to take this as soon as she woke up."

Sabrina tugged gently at the chain in Mami's hand. "If you pull on the chain when it's like this, it comes off and locks the shape. If you put the chain back on" she demonstrated, looping the necklace back into the frame "then it goes back to the way it was." The frame shrank down to a circular locket again, covering the image. She pressed the gift into Mami's hand, then placed her own on top and squeezed.

"I can't be around as much as I know we'd both like... so I got you something that can remind you of the good times we all had should you feel lonely again." Sabrina's pink cheeks were now fully red. "I just wanted to say, I guess, for the first time of many times," She looked at Mami full on. Mami's eyes were filled with tears, but she could still see Sabrina's face, hopeful and happy.

"Merry Christmas, Mami."
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Oh god the diabetes.
 
Loops said:
Sabrina cracked her knuckles from the head of the table. "Pie theft deserves a harsh punishment, don't you think so?" She turned to the white haired girl sitting next to her. Nagisa nodded enthusiastically.

"Off with her head!" she proclaimed gaily, waving a fork in Kyouko's direction.
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...Why would you do that? :(


Other than that line, though, fantastic job! :D
 
Loops said:
Well, in honor of the new year, have some holiday fluffy.

There was a warmth in the air that had nothing to do with the temperature of the snow outside and little to do with the dinner cooking in the next room. Mami smiled as she opened the door to allow a heavily-bundled Madoka to be gently pushed into the apartment by Homura. "Did you have a safe trip?" Mami asked as she closed the door and allowed the two to shuck coats and gloves.

"Homura slipped on a-" "We made it just fine, thank you." Homura's face was a shade of pink that had nothing to do with the weather, and she turned to help the pink haired girl with her scarf, completely by accident covering Madoka's mouth with the thick wool. Mami smiled as Madoka giggled and started pulling at Homura's scarf, returning the favor.

"Everyone else is here, just come to the table when you're both ready~" Mami couldn't help but tease a little as she turned her back on the pair and made her way around the decorations littering the room. Sabrina had insisted that they 'do Christmas the right way' and had gone out of her way to get a tree and lights. Mami suspected that the tree had actually come from a forest instead of a store, but Sabrina was so happy with finding a good looking pine somewhere that Mami had to relent. Still, it filled the place with a fragrant scent, and filled out the main room festively.

A timer beeped atop the oven, and Mami hurried forward to retrieve the last pieces of the evening's meal. A third apple pie joined the two others cooling on the stovetop. And... Mami sighed, shaking her head and smiling. A large slice of one of the pies had gone missing. She poked her head out of the doorway. "Kyouko, you're going to spoil your appetite." she admonished the redhead trying her hardest not to look at a plate set in front of her covered in crumbs.

"Oh come on, it's not the end of the wor- I mean, I didn't do it!" Kyouko's plate was suddenly hidden under her napkin. Mami just looked at her, smiling, one eyebrow raised. Kyouko wilted under that look. "Err, that is, it was Yuma's fault! She wanted some and I had to make sure it was good first." Mami continued to stare at her, and the green haired girl sitting next to Kyouko gave her a betrayed pout. A few crumbs littered her plate, too.

Sabrina cracked her knuckles from the head of the table. "Pie theft deserves a harsh punishment, don't you think so?" She turned to the white haired girl sitting next to her. Nagisa nodded enthusiastically.

"Off with her head!" she proclaimed gaily, waving a fork in Kyouko's direction.

Sabrina blinked, then facepalmed. "I should never have read you Alice in Wonderland for a bedtime story."

"Well, we won't be taking any heads off today." Mami's voice floated out of the kitchen again as she fetched this and that. "However, Kyouko only gets one small slice of pie after dinner, since she already ate so much. And she has to help wash dishes." Kyouko groaned.

"Serves you right!" the blue haired girl next to Kyouko said while poking her in the ribs. "With as much as you eat, if you were anyone else you'd have blown up like a ball and we'd have to roll you home!" Kyouko squirmed away from Sayaka's jabs, then turned to return the favor, teeth bared.

"If you spoil this dinner, I will be very upset." Homura's voice from directly behind them froze both girls as they were about to upset a few glasses, and both blue and red carefully disengaged to place their hands in their laps and eyes on the table. "Thank you." Homura continued in a less frosty tone "Madoka, would you care to sit by me?"

Sabrina smirked. "There's only two places left at the table, since this one-" she patted the chair on the opposite side of her chair from Nagisa's "-is Mami's. She wanted the one closest to the kitchen so she could get things more quickly." And also closest to Sabrina, she did not say. "Those two together at the other side are for you two." She nodded resolutely. The two 'chairs' were actually a piano bench taken from somewhere 'because the apartment didn't have enough chairs', according to her partner in crime. That black haired girl sat on the other side of Nagisa, fussing with Oriko's napkin. At Sabrina's words, Kirika looked over.

"Yep! Only places left!" The grin Sabrina had termed Kirika's 'shipping grin' spread across the berzerker's face. She glanced at Homura, oblivious to the lingering resentment Homura bore both her and her partner. Her hands dropped away from making the napkin into an origami... something or other, leaving it on Oriko's plate. Oriko, in contrast, simply dipped her head to Homura, then began working on turning the mass of non-Euclidean cloth into something resembling a napkin again.

The smell of baking meat wafted out from the kitchen as Mami emerged with the final touch, a baked slab of ham large enough to feed two Kyoukos. All conversation stopped, while Madoka and Homura hurried to take their seats. A flash of razor sharp ribbon had the meat carved into thin slices, and plates began moving, food began to disappear.

"It will go well." Oriko suddenly announced as she took her turn at the small stack of rolls. She turned to Sabrina. "Do not fear." Sabrina gave her a Look. "A few minutes after the last person has left would be ideal." She placed her attention back to her plate as if nothing had happened. Sabrina groaned and shook her head, taking her own turn at the basket.

"This is so good!" Madoka sighed. "Homura, try this!" She held out a morsel of meat on her fork. Homura blinked rapidly, turning to face the pinkette. She looked down at the fork, then at Madoka. Then, she opened her mouth, allowing Madoka to place the food inside. The black haired girl murmured thanks, and Madoka turned back to her own plate with a happy smile.

Across the table, Kirika watched the exchange with wide eyes, then looked at her own plate, considering. A hand on her elbow stopped her, and Oriko simply shook her head. Kirika's lower lip trembled as she turned her sorrowful eyes on the seer, but Oriko held firm. "I can't fit a whole baked potato into my mouth at once anyways." she said, taking a sip of water.

Sayaka smirked. "I bet I know who could~" she started to turn to the redhead beside her, only to realize that Kyouko wasn't listening. In fact, she was almost face-deep in her plate and eating fast enough that it looked like she was simply inhaling everything in front of her. Yuma's attentions to her own smaller plate were no less apocalyptic, and both simply tuned out the conversations and laughter from the rest of the guests.

~

The evening turned to night, the snow yielded to a starry sky, and with dinner finished and conversations made, the guests gave their thanks to the hosts and went their own ways. A snowball fight erupted as Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, and Kirika made their way down the street, packed snow flying every which way. Oriko walked nearby serenely, stopping and sidestepping to dodge stray shots before they could even be thrown. Homura bundled Madoka securely into her coat, then the two of them walked off together, hand in hand. Nagisa's uncle was forced to pry her sleepy hands off of Sabrina's arm before he could place her into his car, where she gave a tired wave then visibly drooped into sleep. Mami stood by the door, watching the last of the guests leave.

"Mami?" Sabrina's voice came from behind Mami, and she turned to see Sabrina looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I, uh, well, wanted to get you something for the holiday, so, well, here it is." She handed Mami a box neatly wrapped in red and white paper.

"You didn't need to, Sabrina." Mami said gently, making Sabrina look down in embarrassment. "You're always working so hard for me and all the other Magical Girls." Mami shifted the box, and something inside made a soft clinking sound. She looked down at it. Was that magic she felt inside?

"No, I really wanted to get you something nice. I mean, there's times when I can't be around and I know you don't like that. I don't like it either, but it's necessary, y'know?" Sabrina tapped one foot on the floor. "So, I got you this, and did my best with it. Come on, open it, I want to see if you like it!" Sabrina pulled Mami to the tree and sat her down on a cushion, then claimed one for herself.

Mami pulled away at the paper gently, revealing a thin box. The logo of a local jewelry company made her gasp and look at Sabrina, who was bouncing slightly in a very Kirika-like fashion. "I know you don't have time to hold a job with all your traveling, so how did you get the money for this?"

Sabrina's nervous motion stopped for a moment. "Well, it was easy, really. You gave me the money, after all." Sabrina looked pleased with her cryptic statement, and at Mami's confused look, explained. "Er, you kept giving me money for lunch every day, right? I wanted to do something for this holiday, so I planned ahead for this." She patted her stomach. "It was hard saving money up over a few months, but cutting down my lunches sometimes meant that I could save a few hundred yen here and there."

The box fell open in Mami's hand as she searched for what to say about that, some disapproval for her roommate's recklessness or foolishness- but she lost her train of thought as the contents of the box were revealed. A silver chain held a round locket inside, and she brushed her fingers across it, hardly believing what she was seeing. Sabrina reached past her fingers, and held the locket up for her inspection. "Now, you can probably feel my magic on it, right?" Mami nodded wordlessly, still stunned. "Well, I finally got the hang of enchantment after blowing up a few dozen soda cans, and this-" she waved the bauble "-is the result. Here, let's open it."

Sabrina's finger flicked at the side, and the front swung away to reveal a small empty space where a picture would fit neatly. Sabrina let Mami examine the inside for a moment, then swung the lid shut. "Now," she said, voice full of pride "let's open it again." She touched the hidden button, and the locket opened - to reveal a small photo of Homura desperately trying to avoid having her picture taken. Sabrina grimaced at the sight, then closed and opened the locket again. A photo of Homura and Madoka now rested inside, with Homura half-hidden behind Madoka's hair. "I really couldn't get a good shot of her-" Sabrina shook her head, then smiled. "-but I got good ones of everyone else." The locket opened again and again, Madoka and Sayaka sitting together in their school uniforms, Oriko dressed and posed as if for a portrait with Kirika looking startled and blurry beside her, Kyouko feeding Yuma a stick of pocky, Nagisa completely covered in ribbons and bows and a huge smile, Mami herself in full Magical Girl costume atop a building, and on and on...

A question began to nag the back of Mami's mind. Dozens of pictures, but where was- she looked up at Sabrina, who nodded once in understanding. "Try putting your own magic into it, just a little. I know what your magic feels like, so I could make a function in the enchantment that's keyed to it." She grinned as Mami reached out, placing her finger onto the lid of the locket, nudging her magic into the metal. Under her touch, the metal began to warp and bend, and Mami hurriedly pulled her finger away in time to see the locket transform into a four inch square picture frame. As the metal across the top drew away, a new picture was revealed. Sabrina, in full costume, stood with her hammer planted in the dirt, one hand resting atop of the handle, the other reaching up to help Mami down from a pile of broken rubble. Both were framed in a delicate tracery of purple from Sabrina's wings. Mami's hand covered her mouth, and she felt tears welling up.

"Kirika took this one." Sabrina coughed into one hand, cheeks slightly pink. "Oriko apparently told her that if she brought a camera to the Walpurgis fight, she could get some really good pictures. As it turns out, she spent half the time keeping familiars off Oriko, and the rest of the fight trying to get a good shot of everyone who went near her, meaning she got distracted. That's how she ended up getting knocked unconscious at the base of that destroyed building where we found her." Sabrina glowered at an invisible Oriko. "And of course, that's exactly where she needed to be to take this as soon as she woke up."

Sabrina tugged gently at the chain in Mami's hand. "If you pull on the chain when it's like this, it comes off and locks the shape. If you put the chain back on" she demonstrated, looping the necklace back into the frame "then it goes back to the way it was." The frame shrank down to a circular locket again, covering the image. She pressed the gift into Mami's hand, then placed her own on top and squeezed.

"I can't be around as much as I know we'd both like... so I got you something that can remind you of the good times we all had should you feel lonely again." Sabrina's pink cheeks were now fully red. "I just wanted to say, I guess, for the first time of many times," She looked at Mami full on. Mami's eyes were filled with tears, but she could still see Sabrina's face, hopeful and happy.

"Merry Christmas, Mami."
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Oh God so much diabetes aaaaaaaa *isded*
 
It also strikes me as unhealthy and a little creepy. Once Mami's a little less psychologically fragile and dependent on us, then it will be... well, no longer creepy, but still not interesting to me.
That, and I'm the sort of person who never finishes the romance sidequests in video games anyway.

Edit: Thank you, Cannon. It's much better now.
 
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Eh, I can see where you and Aranfan are coming from- but I don't think anyone's advocating shipping except with a stable, happy Mami who isn't dependent on Sabrina as a condition for it happening. Leaping to it right now would be, as you said, unhealthy and a bit creepy.

That doesn't mean it not happening, just not before then. :p

EDIT: I suspect what'll end up happening is the Nanoha-style scenario of THEY'RE GOOD FRIENDS that's been brought up before.
 
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Sometimes I wonder why I'm here with you people- my values are conservative enough that I blanche* at the "undertones" of Puella Magi.
Really, can't these young girls be platonic?

Whatever, I enjoy the story Firn weaves.


EDIT: Dangit, what's the word? I can't find or remember it.
 
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TheSlayers said:
Sometimes I wonder why I'm here with you people- my values are conservative enough that I blanche at the "undertones" of Puella Magi.
Really, can't these young girls be platonic?

Whatever, I enjoy the story Firn weaves.
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As far as I'm aware there has been precisely one (1) quest where SV was a female character and were in a romantic relationship with a male character.
 
Ugolino said:
Eh, I can see where you and Aranfan are coming from- but I don't think anyone's advocating shipping except with a stable, happy Mami who isn't dependent on Sabrina as a condition for it happening. Leaping to it right now would be, as you said, unhealthy and a bit creepy.

That doesn't mean it not happening, just not before then. :p
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And I'm actually very happy that no one's advocating that, and this goes a long way to making the probably-inevitable Mami/Sabrina OTP something I won't mind too much. I mean, compare this to players shipping in, say, Noir Quest. Oh, the humanity....
 
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