775/Cleaning Pains

Cleaning Pains
Date of Scene:	16 November 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Sayaka, Madoka, Amy and Norie answer to a request for a quick cleaning online. Their moods aren't as pure clean as the house by the end of it.
Cast of Characters:	Sayaka Miki, Madoka Kaname, Amanda Faust, Norie Okana

---

Sayaka Miki has posed:
What do you do when you have money to throw out and a problem suddenly hits out of nowhere? You throw that money out apparently. This is at least what a respectable businessman has decided upon being informed the visit of a friend mandated the house being cleaned asap, offering the equivalent of 500 euros in whatever currency is preferred to any who show up. He isn't even monitoring people, just checking that the end result is as he expects it to be.

To that end, he spread the word on any site possible, trying to reach as many people as can be in the hope that at least some would turn up. Alas, his fears were founded, because many dismissed it as a prank, so he didn't have nobody to start working for him.

That is going to change soon though. There may be others, but one is certainly heading there: Sayaka, who could certainly use the money if she wants that pricy helmet with intercom for Hinoiri. So she is there, at the entrance of the guy's garden, having rung the doorbell and waiting for someone to answer.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka Kaname had been spending every moment of her life since gaining magic training and hunting and training more. By this point, several people have told her to slow down. At first she rejected that notion, because what could they possibly know what she was up against? Then, eventually, she saw the point of it.

    So what does she do in order to pace herself? She couldn't simply relax even if she wanted to. The nightmares that haunted her prevented that entirely. She could, however, do something else.

    Madoka, coming from a well-to-do family, isn't necessarily impressed by the pay. It's a bit more than her allowance, but nothing that she couldn't save up for. Maybe she could use it for something that would help her train, or maybe it'd be helpful to have money that her parents wouldn't know about in case she has to buy something they would question. Or maybe she just wants a sense of independence.

    Either way, she shows up just after Sayaka, and after a moment she jogs up to meet her. "Saya-chan! Are you here for the job, too?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That's a LOT for a single fraction-of-a-day's work. More than Amy ever made as an IT guy in the same number of hours, for sure. And now that she's free from that actual job, she is free to see if this advertisement was real and she can actually collect a paycheck (because she is also free from her old salary.) Amy is, historically, far too lazy for cleaning, but... maybe she can try it once? Maybe it won't really be so bad.

    Of course, when you have costume powers, and you're going to do cleaning, especially if you're going to get paid for cleaning, and you have a certain complicated relationship with femininity, these three things can, they must, combine: So it is that Amy's in a cute maid uniform, moderately elaborate but not at all 'sexy', with a long skirt and a modest neckline.

    Amaid... Maidmy? Walks up to the door with her eyes on the ground and only then notices there are others here, lifting her head to see... OH GOD IT'S PEOPLE SHE KNOWS. Her face reddens and she looks away embarassed, anime-sweating while wringing her hands. "I-i-i-i had to try it just once, you know? I have magic that makes cute costumes, after all... maybe it's like that Chara Change?" What that makes no sense what are you even saying Amy.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Madoka-chan!" Sayaka smiles widely when she sees the pinkette come up to her. "That's right, I have a gift to buy", she mentions somewhat more quietly than her earlier exclamation. "Something I had planned for Hinoiri, you see", she reveals not quite looking at Madoka. Why is it so hard to talk about? "What about you?"

Then Amy comes up and she certainly doesn't have to ask what the redhead is here for, dressed as she is. "Wow, Amy-senpai, that's pretty bold", Sayaka replies, unsure whether to tease the redhead over it or suffer from secondhand embarrassment. The second wins out in the end, but luckily for her the owner of the place chooses just that moment to come up.

"Welcome, welcome, thankfully somebody has come, I was at my wits' end", he exclaims upon seeing her trio. Though, Amy's getup does make him raise an eyebrow. "Come in, come in", he says, choosing to ignore her and leading the trio inside.

"The critical areas are the living room, the guest bedroom, the kitchen and the bathroom", he explains, placing a table a handy map of his house. A closet is even marked as "CLEANING PRODUCTS" in big large red letters, as if the owner really didn't want them to miss it. "If you need me, I will be in my studio, but try to bother me as little as possible." That's all he has to say before leaving the three girls to his own devices.

"Ok, so I will take the right side of the living room", Sayaka says after having made a quick dive for the closet, coming back with everything the trio could ask for as more. Slowly, because things are basically 1 second away from falling off her arms.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka blinks at Amy, whom she has seen both in and out of henshin, and whose history she has very few clues into. The Chara Bearer gives her a soft smile. "No one will blame you for using your magic to actually cosplay, Amy-san."

    Then Madoka headtilts at Sayaka's mention of Hinoiri, and the pinkette blurts out loud, "Oh! I spoke to her the other day. She seemed like she really cares about you." There is no teasing from Madoka. Then again, she's usually the teasee rather than the teaser.

    When the guy comes, Madoka is all politeness and smiles, but she doesn't say anything in particular. Not wanting to be bothered makes sense, as you don't usually throw around money like that unless you are busy, and whatever he's doing is probably none of her business.

    Madoka considers the four main rooms, and then decides, "Maybe I'll tackle the kitchen. At the very least, I know how to keep that clean." She takes some cleaning supplies off of Sayaka's hands, just to make things easier for her. Madoka also grabs some towels and a few other things, about as much as she thinks she'll need and then carries an armful with her into the kitchen. Once there, she sets things down on the nearest counter and starts examining the area.

    Brai and Medo seem to be absent today.

Amanda Faust has posed:
Bold?! Shoot. And then the employer raises his eyebrow at her. Shit! Maybe this was a mistake. Just tell yourself: At least it does not count as crossdressing! It totally doesn't! You are just an eccentric teenage girl who showed up to a cleaning job in a maid uniform--wait, that sounds pretty messed up too! You're not the wacky spacy one who's *always* weird, this is like if, if, if one of the girls from your high school class showed up to a job like this dressed like this *yeah that would be pretty weird why did you do this*

    Calm down. They're teenagers too; they're more focused on what everyone thinks of them than on what they think of you. This won't matter. You've fought Witches together, you're not going to become a pariah in your social circle for cosplaying at an awkward time. And Madoka's words bring a happier blush to her cheeks. No one could blame her for wanting to cosplay! Yeah!

    "Oh, a gift? For Hinoiri? I'm glad she's made a friend... thinking ahead to Christmas already too..." Wait. Shit. She has a bunch of friends now. WHAT WILL SHE GET THEM FOR CHRISTMAS?! Oh no.

    Okay. Deal with that later. Right now they're divvying up the cleaning job pay attention. Amy pulls a pen out of a pocket -- it's a magic costume, it has pockets if she wants them! -- and draws a line across the living room on the map, writing Sayaka's name on one side. "I think I'm gonna... survey the damage and see what we're dealing with?" She takes a minute to walk through the listed rooms and see just what kind of mess we're dealing with, on a scale of 'heavens, Jeeves, there's dust on the credenza!' to 'typical bachelor pad where clothes and other things are not put away' to 'anime hikki NEET room with actual garbage'. Certainly she's going to do basic recon before declaring she's tackling an area!

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is fashionably late. the owner knows she's doing so.

Arriving in a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, nothing fancy for cleaning. The t-shirt has an open box of donuts on it with angry eyes and teeth, it says 'Donut touch!' in comical lettering and the o's are more donuts.

She looks around as Amy plans a map and is dressed in...a maid's outfit?

She blinks a little as she looks down at her clothes and looks at the others in the room. She squints and says. "Hey. Sorry I'm late. Owner knows. Uhm. What's the damage look like. So far."

Norie may be planning to cheat and use dark energy to clean.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Amy's recon of the area doesn't turn up anything disastrous of the third kind. It doesn't quite reach the second kind either, though it does seem like he is about to get there with a bit more of a push. She only finds layers of dust and shirts everywhere. That's pretty much it. Well, as Madoka would soon find out, there is a pretty big pile of dirty dishes to greet her in lieu of the shirts.

"Oh, you did?" Sayaka asks curiously when Madoka reveals she talked with Hinoiri. "She really does", the bluenette says with a wide smile. "She always tries to surprise me with things. She is doing basically all the shows of affections, which is why I hope to give something back with this. I don't want our relationship to be one-sided like that, you know?" She blushes slightly at that statement.

"What did you talk about, anyway?" she tries not to linger too much on that, and besides the fact Hinoiri had approached her is quite peculiar, so much so Sayaka's tone has a tinge of perplexity.

Madoka goes away on her own to tackle the kitchen, relieving Sayaka of some of her burden, which allows her to set down the cleaning products. Though, it looks like she will have to change her organisation and start taking care of both halves unless Amy decides to talk the other half.

Amy however has completely misunderstood the purpose of the gift, so Sayaka has to correct her. Well... She has never actually done that. This is her first relationship. Saying it to Madoka is one thing, but she doesn't have anywhere near the same level of confidence with Amy. "Actually... Hinoiri and I are going out. She is my girlfriend", she states plainly after a bit of hesitation.

Norie comes along then, leaving Sayaka to jump up slightly. How much did she hear!? Her only interaction with her was breaking her phone in an accident. That's even worse than her level of confidence with Amy. "According to what Amy-senpai said, looks like it's pretty much dust and shirts everywhere like it's here, Norie-san. The kitchen has dishes to clear though."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Oh... stuff and things." Madoka has to think. What was that conversation about? She was confused the whole time. That and terrified of Hinoiri's driving. "I think somehow she got the impression that I knew more about her than I did? I'm actually not sure what all of that was about. She also seemed to dislike Hematite, but... I really don't know much about him, either."

    When she later arrives in the kitchen, the first thing she notices is the dirty dishes. "Oh geeze," she quietly whines, and then immediately she starts running warm water into the sink. While it runs, she wanders around gathering any stray dishes and brings then back to the sink, organizing them into roughly stackable piles after scooping excess food into the trash. That will have to be emptied later.

    When the sink is two thirds full, she squirts some dish soap in and waits for the bubbles to rise a little before turning the water off. Then she starts to whistle a tune while picking up the first plate, dumping it into the water, wiping it down, rinsing it off, checking to see if it squeaks when she rubs her thumb against it and rewashes the places where it doesn't.

    Very meticulous. Very thorough. Very patient. She repeats the process with the next dish, and the next, and the next. All the while, whistling as she works.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is surprised! Maybe once she would have been surprised to see a teenager admit a same-gender courtship but she has been among Radiant Heart's students for almost five months now and frankly this seems to be rather more common than the alternative? In fact it's kind of heard to think of any straight couples besides Usagi and Darien. She's sure she's heard girls admire Adrien at some point. And who knows what's going on with the male students here, she barely interacts with most of them outside of clubs. They may be mostly dating eachother too for all she knows, and good for them! It's wonderful how accepting this generation is sorry what were we talking about again?

    Amy is surprised! Specifically, she is surprised that the antisocial Hinoiri has not only gained a friend but a girlfriend! She smiles earnestly, "Congratulations!"

    She relays the look of things to Norie. "I guess I'll... put things away. Could you look for any um... unkemptness that doesn't bother me? Actually you should probably take a look around too, I'm likely to miss things." Rather than taking an *area* and neatening it, she is identifying things that are not where they are supposed to be, as long as there is an identifiable place they are *supposed* to be. Clothes, clean and dirty, washable or dry-clean, are sorted appropriately (a neat-ish pile by the office or bedroom door, or racked in a closet, or she'll start a load of laundry if applicable). Books returned to bookshelves. VHS tapes-- err, DVDs-- err... *media* of the physical sort returned to the appropriate media library, that sort of thing.

Norie Okana has posed:
Sayaka looks shocked because she jumped. She didn't hear a whole lot. But she apparently has a fixed phone now. "Oh. Right. thanks for. Paying for. phone parts." she says softly. "But congratulations on a...." she bites her tongue. "Congratulations. on. the. girlfriend." she has to force out. Nicely.

Better to keep her opinions on that particular person to herself. She then looks over to Madoka and blinks. "Hinoiri knows Hematite?" she says bluntly. "How?"

Then Madoka goes off to do dishes and she looks around the messy front room and stares at Amy. "Alright. I can do all that." she says as she walks away a moment into the confines of the house.

This should be easy for her to do.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka would like to ask Madoka what exactly she knows about Hematite, but that will have to wait for after she has finished cleaning her part and Sayaka hers. Speaking of which, it looks like she has been promoted to dust cleaner while Amy and Norie take care of stray objects. Alright, she can do that.

Spraying a dust removal product on a rag, the bluenette starts putting all her vigour into it. No corner shall escape the reach of the long arm of justice! Ok, her arm certainly isn't that long, which does mean she has to shift her position a fair bit every once in a while, but that's nothing!

She dedicates as much focus as she can to her task, though she can't help but be nervously happy about the congratulations she receives from the two girls. And it looks like Norie doesn't have it out for her too much. Victory all around! "Thanks", she smiles happily to Amy and Norie. "Hinoiri is kind, earnest, fun and a great listener, I am lucky to be close to someone like her." And to think it all started half because of an experiment, half because Hinoiri wanted to do something for the fact she saved her life. Well, she did something indeed!

"She does, it's that guy on the video, don't you know him too?" Sayaka says, trying to pass it off like that. Hinoiri got annoyed over Sayaka's concerns being too private, so it's time to show her she can at least distract other people. Not that Hinoiri is here to see it. "It's the guy that is seeking that Phantom Silver Crystal. Even Nounamu sweets did a promotion based on it. Those Phantom Silver Crystal sweets were really good, it's sad they are limited time."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    To Norie's question, all Madoka can do is shrug. She's met the guy maybe twice, so she can't consider herself an expert on whatever his life is.

    "U-um, yeah! The guy from the video." Madoka laughs awkwardly about that. Oh god. What if they found out that she filmed that? This is so weird.

    Later, as she works in the kitchen, whistling away, Brai suddenly returns to her side via mysterious Chara magic. Medo also appears, and when the two of them notice what their Bearer is doing they start whistling backup to Madoka's tune while helping her with parts of the job that tiny Chara can do, like drying off the clean dishes and making sure they're stacked right. After a moment Madoka feels like a disney princess with little fairy helpers, which lets her enter a mental flow state.

    She's off in her own little magical world right now. Don't worry about it. A part of her is tempted to henshin for the full magic experience, but that might draw too much attention to her.

    With the addition of her two tiny helpers, she starts making a lot more progress than she otherwise would by herself, and she seems pretty happy as she's doing it.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Hematite -- Sailor Moon's boyfriend -- is 'that guy on the video'.

    *recordscratch*

    "What?"

    This line of inquiry leads to confessing she doesn't watch Clock App and if someone else doesn't show her the video first Amy's got her phone out and searching for it.

    It's *Hematite*. It's not Darien, it's *Hematite*, in a public video on the internet that non-veiled people are seeing. Talking about silver crystals which sure do sound like a plot macguffin for *someone's* magical girl stuff, although she's not sure who's. And yet there was also a promotion with an actual-factual candy company? What the *hell*? Also yes, while the video of a pretty boy provides another piece of evidence that she is not allosexual, her senses of the tropes of the society she lives in can detect the flowery border, the shoujo sparkles, that this-is-a-thing-using-attraction-to-move-people-to-action.

    "...That's *clearly* a magic thing, right? He's using... *prettiness* to try and get people to find this 'silver crystal', which is obviously a plot macguffin for a probably-evil scheme? ...Are they allowed to do that? Like, I can't just make a video warning everybody about Witches because..."

    because...

    "...Is that a thing we should do?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is off in a messy room. It's a little more messy than Amy can probably handle. So she throws her hand forward and spins the room into a torrent, darkness creeping across from the doorframe, across the walls, over the floors, the ceiling and scrubs the walls with darrkkknesss and black tendrils coming out and push shirts into a basket and books on the floor being shoved into the bookcases. In order.

She then looks to the right as she cleans the room with dark energy and horrible tendrils as she says.

"If you see that in Hinoiri then there's not much I can say in turn." she says bluntly.

She also looks over to Amy as she blinks a little.

"I want the miracle crystal." she admits.

"Then everything will be alright." she says quietly. She pulls back her hand and the darkness retracts, and she walks into the room, disappearing into it and picks up the single sock on the ground. "Done." she says.

"With this room." she says.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Apparently, Sayaka discovers, Madoka can in fact reply to them just fine from the kitchen, so she can actually ask her that question. "So, Madoka-chan, what is it you know exactly about Hematite?" she asks, almost finished with the original half of the living room. Now onto the other half, but no particle of dust survived her so far. With a trusty new rag that absorbed its own dose of spray, she is ready to turn everything spotless like (probably) never before!

"Apparently they are, but I don't think warning people about Witches is going to help, Amy-senpai", she shakes her head. "They see them anyway, so you would only cause panic." She passes the rag above the tv and on all sides of the tv. "And if it turns against us with officers that drive people away?" she points out.

"I am not sure he is doing anything special", the bluenette comments as she brings out her phone and looks again at the video too. Yes, nothing she can see, so maybe it's just the lighting. Or maybe Amy just has... 'No!' she thinks, squashing that thought before it gets hold in her.

Sayaka doesn't like that comment on Hinoiri very much. What does she mean by that? "Norie-san, please, you clearly have a negative opinion of what I just said. I don't know what you intend to accomplish with comments like that. Either you actually say nothing, or you tell me what the problem is."

"You aroe done already?" Who is your mentor here exacty?" Really how did she know? "Nounamo Sweets is was great with that. There was even a cardboard of Hematite. You could make photos even." Then Norie talks about wanting it, and the question is obvious. "What would you do with that crystal?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    As Madoka finishes washing one dish, she hands it over to Brai for drying. Then, she finishes a bowl and hands it off to Medo, who has her own towel. Madoka then finishes a cup, and hands it to a weird looking angel not-Familiar thing. Another plate dried, and then she hands it off to another angelic not-Familiar, and then... wait... what?

    Madoka double takes. She sees Gretchen waiting in line for the next dish. The tiny X-Chara notices her Bearer's reaction and suddenly gets embarrassed. "U-um... it looked like you were having fun, so..."

    Madoka blinks at Gretchen, and then at her two Familiars. "Is it... okay for them to touch food surfaces?"

    Gretchen blinks, looks back at them, and then back at her Bearer. "I mean, they're not really Familiars. It should be fine. Magic constructs don't tend to stick around long enough to get dirty."

    'Should be?' Really? Madoka raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms at her dark fairy.

    "I mean that other girl is using darkness to clean!" defends Gretchen.

    Madoka blinks and looks out the kitchen door and towards the other rooms. Then she looks down at the dishes and, after careful inspection, decides they're clean enough. After a sigh, she says, "Okay, fine.."

    A little while later she's returned all of the dishes to where she thinks they go (read: Wherever in the cupboards she found similar kinds of dishes) and then moves on to wipe down the counter, change the towels, and do various other things. Her Chara, and her X-Chara's Familiars, do likewise. At some point, the pair of tiny eldritch biblically accurate angel Familiars can be seen carrying the old dirty towels away and tossing them onto a laundry hamper in the living room.

    Calling back to Sayaka, she says, "Not a whole lot, actually! I've only met him twice. He was pretty polite to me both times."

    Gretchen gives her Bearer a weird look and then shouts back to Sayaka. "Him?! He made an emu youma. There were feathers everywhere. You can't trust that guy for anything!"

    Madoka, feeling embarrassed, whines, "You never told me about the emu youma."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy slumps a bit at the thought of MyuTube Witch PSA backfiring. (Edit: Fix the fake youtube name when this is uploaded, I couldn't find the list of fake software.) "I mean, he's not, but like... This just *seems* like the sort of thing straight girls are supposed to be moved by, in media, right? I guess we can just ask..." Beat. "...Shit, are we *all* gay? Usagi can't check because he's *her* boyfriend, we'd have to ask another straight girl..." She looks over at Norie. "Hey Norie, are you--"

    DARKNESS SCOURS ALL. ONLY CLEAN REMAINS. Norie is just using darkness to make sure the room is more empty of dirt and dirtyness than Amy's last sentence is of acknowledgement that some of them could be bi. Oops.

    Her mouth hangs open. "What... what was that?!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana looks at Amy and blinks. "Dark energy nonsense." she says bluntly, as she walks back out of the room and past Amy, like she didn't just do that. "What's the next room you want me cleaning?" she asks as she looks down at nothing in particular before Sayaka asks a question and confronts her.

"Hinoiri. Bullies me. Alright. So I don't like her much. If you see something different in her, great. But she's not my first choice, that's for sure." she says bluntly.

"Anyways, what we're you gonna ask, Amy?" she mutters... before answering the question about the Silver Crystal. "I'd like my feelings back." she says quietly. "And not be such a mess." she says. "And have my sense of right and wrong fully back." she says with a sigh. "Lots of things. Really." she says.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Come on, Madoka-chan, you can't just say 'I met him two times and he was polite' and leave it at that!", Sayaka grins with an enthusiastic tone. "What did he do? When was this? What were you doing? How things change, now you are hiding adventurous stories with tall sparkling men", Sayaka teases with a wide smile.

Gretchen intervenes and the jovial tones from Sayaka disappears with a face that pretty much shouts Oh, she's here. Still, a veener of interest can be heard in her voice when she asks what she means. "A Emu Youma? Was everything all right? What happened there?" And Madoka doesn't know about it either, does Gretchen really tell her nothing. So uncooperative!

Amy's investigation over the dynamics of sexuality and whether one could be open to having a boyfriend or a girlfriend make Sayaka freeze, the rag still over a cupboard. Her thoughts instantly go to Kyousuke, which leaves her to frantically resume cleaning the surface. Why has she thought of him at that moment? She has no feelings for him! That makes no sense.

"What was that what?" the still agitated bluenette turns towards Amy, not having seen anything of what was going on. Norie answers for her though, when she admits to using Dark Energy. "Well, you say Hinoiri was bullying you, but what do you use Dark Energy for?" Her usage of dark energy certainly doesn't contribute to Norie's credibility in Sayaka's eyes.

Then she starts talking about her lack of feelings and that energy drain back there when she touched her. That's what it was, right? She is pretty much just like... "You are La Crima, aren't you, Norie-san? That's why you have been so agitated when I touched you back then." Her mood has soured a bit while remembering how she almost lost her soul to her, but it's Madoka's past words and presence that stop her from acting on it. "Are you sure that crystal would help you?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen fusses, "No it was terrible! Everyone was yelling, nothing made any sense, and my Familiars were slacking off and I hated it the whole time!"

    Madoka clarifies what Sayaka meant, or at least what she thinks she meant, "Well... yeah but... did anyone get hurt?"

    Gretchen thinks back. "I mean... other than the Emu youma, no. One of my Familiars did but I think it was faking it." One of the eldritch angel things hears its Chara Witch and hides under the laundry, embarrassed.

    After a moment, Madoka overhears something else and... what?!

    The Chara Bearer rushes into the room where Sayaka is and says, "Norie is La Crima?!" Her hand is over her mouth, and she's suddenly worried. Her eyes are darting between Sayaka and Norie, concerned that something might happen here. After a moment or two of what seems to be no fighting, Brai flies around Madoka's head flailing and says, "Hey! Don't you start slacking, too!"

    Madoka gives a concerned look in Sayaka's direction and then says, "Okay... okay..." before walking back to the kitchen.

    Madoka is feeling increasingly awkward here. Geeze. So much drama.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Dark energy nonsense.

    Hinoiri. Bullies me.

    I'd like my feelings back.

    And have my sense of right and wrong fully back.



    Amy has gotten pretty good at working within the framework that she's a gender-bent magical girl who has to manage civilian life and can even readily orient herself on any *additional* story she suddenly has to deal with, like someone turning most of her class into dolls! Okay, maybe that one's a freebie, but 'Witches don't run on physics' was hastily-assembled under even intense pressure!

    But Norie just dumps like. Too many additional narratives on her at once.

    Amy closes her mouth and just stands there, her head slightly inclined, staring at nothing.

    Did she really just hear all that? Did Norie really just *say* all that?!

    Amy's brain just does not know where to begin. Whenever she starts to focus on one of these things another cries out for attention. She leans her back against a nearby wall and sliiiiiides down to a sitting position, wordlessly.

    Sometimes she starts to turn her head towards one of them and opens her mouth, but whatever she's about to say is trampled by one of the other threads and she stares into space again.

    She just feels overwhelmed, and she can't even voice *that*.


    You are La Crima, aren't you, Norie-san?


    What.

    Like, it makes sense. And Amy should be alarmed, Norie tried to steal so many soul crystals and Amy stopped her so many times, they might be in danger...

    But that realization is on top of trying to comprehend everything that's happened to Norie, like really imagine all of that happening to a person, so it's a little more distant now, and when she reaches deep inside for the willpower to move, to take action, to be ready to hero, her hands come up empty. She's just too overwhelmed.

    Which is alarming in its own way. What is *wrong* with her?! One more thing on the pile.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana frowns. "Are you implying that just because I use dark energy, that I deserve a bullying at school over crocheted yearbook covers?" she says angrily. "Something that has nothing to do with a magical life?" she says still angry.

Then Sayaka outs her and she frowns hard. Wait. Why does Sayaka know that name? That doesn't make any sense.

"-and if I am? I'm not here to cause problems. Which is why I've tried to keep my mouth shut on these things." she says. "But so far all you've done is imply I deserve some mundane bullying and out my identity." she says.

"So if you'd like to leave me alone over these things I'd like to go onto cleaning the next room." she says. "Because I'm here to get donut money." she says quietly.

She turns her head over to Amy.

"What was that next room, again?" she asks.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Madoka rushes worried when she hears the name La Crima. "It's all right, Madoka-chan, everything is under control." Is she referring to the worry her best friend holds towards her own reaction, or an assumption Madoka is acting like that due to La Crima possibly doing something?

But then Brai calls Madoka back, to Sayaka's relief and worry both. She is glad if something happens Madoka isn't in the room, but at the same time she would feel so much better if she had someone she trusts more than herself at her side.

Amy starts acting overwhelmed, not even like she saw her when La Crima was actually attacking. What is with her, it couldn't have been something due to that dark energy she had mentioned, right? "What's wrong, Amy-senpai, do you need to be carried back to the infirmary?" 'Or does it have to do with your Soul Gem?', she doesn't say, not wanting to speak that fear outwardly.

"No I am implying that I asked a question", Sayaka replies. Seriously what's with her, does she have to put words in her mouth. "How would I be supposed to know what you used it for back then, and how would you know irresponsibly using it to clean someone's house won't have adverse effects we won't be there for later? You should be more careful with it, and maybe do things the normal way, like everybody", she scoffs.

"If you are worried anyone here would hurt you, well, don't worry, nobody will. So me talking about your identity has no consequences for you. But it is important to know if that crystal can help you, because it's important of you have found a method that doesn't hurt anybody. And in that case you would appreciate more help than just yourself", she shoots her an exhasperated glare. Then she mentions donut money.

"If that's what you want, I will have plenty of mine leftover after I have used it for what I needed, and it's yours, it's you stay back here and don't presume everyone is out to get you like on the rooftop." 'She is just like everyone, everyone needs help, and in this occasion it's her', Sayaka keeps repeating herself mentally.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is very much listening in on the conversation as she finishes up cleaning the kitchen. There's a possibility that Sayaka might try something, but she trusts her childhood friend to keep cool if she says that she will. There's also a possibility that Norie will do something, because it's hard to tell how much of her reaction is real and how much of it is a darkness-inspired.

    Would Hinoiri bully people? Madoka couldn't actually say. The Bearer didn't know her that well. Hinoiri was being nice to Sayaka, but isn't it kinda normal to be nice to someone you're dating?

    Then again sometimes people are depressed because something is happening to them.

    Madoka sighs, and eventually decides that it's not really her place to judge anyone.

    Medo and Brai report back to her. Brai says, "I've finished my inspection."

    Medo salutes, "Ready for the next room, captain!"

    Gretchen, apparently, has used her Labyrinth to chase after her Familiars who, again, have wandered off somewhere.

    Madoka nods and returns to the living room. Meekly, she says, "Um... I think my Chara and I are gonna inspect all the rooms, just make sure that nothing was overlooked..." and then she wanders to the guest room to look things over.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    ...

    Do you need to be carried back to the infirmary?

    That jolts something inside Amy. She's not supposed to show weakness or need help, at least, when not in imminent supernatural danger! She starts to shake her head slowly, and grunts as she slowly stands up--

Are you implying that just because I use dark energy, that I deserve a bullying at school

    That cuts through to the core of Amy, everything else is unimportant, this requires immediate action!

    "No one deserves to be bullied." She speaks, standing up quickly. Were she a cat her tail would bristle at the accusation that Norie is negligently using her dark powers to sow trouble here. Her voice grows colder as she turns to Sayaka, "And you don't know that it does. Not everyone can be 'normal' all the time."

    The mention of interest in how the silver crystal will heal Norie seems to calm her down. She turns back towards Norie. "Bathroom's next."

    "...So what is the silver crystal and how can it be used to help you?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie winches at the words Sayaka says, and she sputters. "N..nevermind......" she says as she turns around and looks towards Amy. "D..don't bother. On my account.." she says softer. "I'll just. go this..this was a bad idea.. I..." she'll just. Leave, through the door. But if anyone tries to catch her, she's already gone most likely just letting herself duskport away.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Are you forgetting that she shot me, Amy-senpai?" Sayaka glares back with a gaze just as cold. "I think checking whether she actually did something that caused whatever response she got isn't out of this world!"

"And I never said she deserves to be bullied! But if I had attacked her in response after she shot me, would you have called it bullying?" she stares at Amy just daring her to say 'yes'. "I am not in her head, I can't know what happened, and the Hinoiri I know wouldn't have done that!"

"I had that question too, but she chose to run away from her problems again. I have said nothing about her needing to be normal, but there is no illness about shooting people or covering a room in harmful energy. And don't tell me you trust dark energy."

She shakes her head. "Nevermind. I will go deal with the bathroom."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Oh geeze. Madoka feels so useless fretting about this, but what can she do? It's not as if La Crima didn't shoot Sayaka with a Heartstealer gun. Madoka was even there for that. By all counts, if push came to shove, she'd have to take Sayaka's side in this but...

    A part of her hopes that an already bad situation doesn't escalate.

    "I mean... by her own admission, her feelings are all messed up. Maybe on some level she knows she's being unfair?" suggests Madoka. "Not that it justifies or excuses what she's done, but..."

    Herein lies the difficulty with always trying to see the best parts of people.

    She scratches the back of her head. Norie is already gone. "I mean... she's not here anymore, so I guess it doesn't matter. I still think that my Chara should go look over the rooms she worked on just to make sure there are no residual effects. I... I'll be around."

    She then goes and wanders around to do just that. Gretchen comes in shortly after her she leaves, looks around for her Bearer, and zooms into the room that she senses her in.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy flinches slightly at Sayaka's justified anger. She socially fucked up and doesn't know how to fix it. Hannah isn't here to run to. Should she just leave? It's a lot of money, but not getting it isn't the end of the world. Sayaka ends the confrontation for her, and Madoka goes to check the rooms.

    Since Madoka already cleaned the kitchen, Amy goes there to find a corner to sit and curl up in and... and she's not sure what, but anything is less painful than social interaction with people who are mad at her, especially when they're at least partially justified.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Just as all room have finished cleaning the employer comes down to make an inspection, and having found them all to his satisfaction, gratifies the three girls with a smile.

"That was a job very well done, you saved my evening", he gives out a compliment. His studio must be soundproofed if he didn't hear anything about the argument that occurred.

"Hmm, weren't there 4 of you?" he asks, passing over each of them once.

"Yes", Sayaka replies relunctantly. "But she felt ill and had to leave."

"Oh, what a pity, and when she put it all that work. Hey, do you go to the same school by any chance?" At Sayaka's nods, he extracts two stacks of money.

"There, I trust you to give her the part she earnt." His tone is much more austere now, and he observes Sayaka intently as she takes the money and places it in her bag.

A smile back on his face, he turns to Amy and Madoka. "Well done to you two too, you have more than earned your pay. Here, take it", he says, giving out an identical stack of money to both of them.

"Thank you for the money", Sayaka says, bowing her head and heading outside. "Let's go, Madoka-chan, Amy-senpai", she calls out, already heading to the school.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka receives the money, looks at it, and then smiles up at the man. "Thank you, sir. We'll be on our way."

    Madoka puts most of the money in her bag, and her Chara (and X-Chara) start to follow her out. Once she's out of the view of any non-magicals she pulls out one fourth of it and hands it to Gretchen. "Here. You helped. Maybe you can go buy some ice cream with it?"

    Gretchen looks at the money, which is... more than the X-Chara has seen in her life, to be fair, and grabs it. "Well... okay... if you insist." She doesn't have the heart to tell her Bearer that it's kinda hard for an invisible person to buy ice cream. Not unless she finds a vending machine that dispenses it.

    Or uses a faux Witch Mark to make someone hallucinate into thinking they have a customer, but there's no way Gretchen would ever admit to doing that.

    Madoka also splits her money between her other two Chara, not wanting them to feel left out. It doesn't mean as much to her, but in this case it gave her an excuse to do something for her Chara.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stands when she hears the owner's heavier footsteps. She counts the money and pockets it, uttering a "Thank you" and quickly leaving. Not confident in being able to talk to Sayaka right now without just making things worse.