1519/There Was a Lot

There Was a Lot
Date of Scene:	11 May 2024
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	While eating So Much Chocolate, Madoka and Mamoru talk about the portal and apocalypses in general, and then Usagi arrives and lightens the mood a bit.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Madoka Kaname, Usagi Tsukino

---

(PHONE) Mamoru Chiba texts: Hey I have chocolate for you! Oh my god I have so much chocolate. And also prying are-you-all-right questions. Are you up for a combination? Or just chocolate?

(PHONE) Madoka Kaname texts: Huh? Oh. Well, I'm sure my Chara would love chocolate. I guess we should probably talk about what happened, huh? There was a whole lot.

(PHONE) Mamoru Chiba texts: There is plenty. There is so much. This guy Sugata Shindo? Bought hundreds of dollars of the stuff x.x I'll bring it. You want to meet at the Shed? It should be pretty quiet.

(PHONE) Mamoru Chiba texts: Oh I mean a whole lot of awful too, but also chocolate.

(PHONE) Madoka Kaname texts: Shed sounds fine. I'll be there in a bit.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
When they convene at the Shed, Mamoru's already there -- with a box of scarf-them-down normal chocolate bars, a really good fair trade dark chocolate bar with a salted caramel filling, and a really good fair trade milk chocolate bar with almonds. Oh and a box of assorted specialty artisan chocolates with nougat, ganache, fruit filling, assorted nuts, topped with flaky salt, leaf gold, and more. He also has his phone in hand and is scrolling through texts...

...he looks just like he's looked as long as Madoka's known him, a too-tall Japanese high-schooler with fluffy hair, in his school uniform, formerly a Dark General, definitely Usagi's boyfriend. Then he glances up and it's so easy to see Endymion in his blue eyes and in his easy smile of greeting.

He gets up and takes a bow, gesturing at the table with the chocolate, and he says, "This is a fraction of the stuff that's been offloaded into my dorm room. Poor Koji. I've had to store some of it in Kazuo's room, there's no space otherwise-- so please, help yourselves."

He helps himself to a ganache truffle because he's not sick of chocolate yet.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The moment Gretchen peeked over Madoka's shoulder and noticed the mention of chocolate, there was no keeping her out of this. Sio is also tagging along, since she was there. When Madoka enters the Shed, she greets Mamoru with a smile and then looks, wide eyed, at the cocoa bounty. "I... wow. You weren't kidding when you said it was a lot, were you?"

    She's in her school uniform. Her hair is, of course, pink and fluffy as usual with lacey black ribbons tying it into pink pigtails. Sio and Gretchen, hovering over a shoulder each, are dressed as they usually are. Sio in a pink business suit and Gretchen in her Witch-like ribbon dress.

    The Witch Chara's eyes dart towards the chocolate, but it's actually Mamoru she approaches first. "We met you. The other you, from the past," she says. "You were nice back then, too."

    Madoka gives the X-Chara a small smile before looking back at Mamoru. Gretchen goes off to help herself to some of the chocolates, because hey... why wouldn't she? That tiny little fairy is downing entire truffles in one gulp.

    Sio says, "Hey, I want some too!" and goes to join her.

    Madoka steps closer to Mamo and leans forward. "I'm gonna have to ask you where you got these, since it seems like Gretchen might really like them."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The easy smile doesn't fade, but something in his eyes softens and he looks apologetic at Gretchen. "Well, thank you. I wish I could remember having met you, but from what the others have said to me, it wasn't the real past? Or I'm sure I would!"

When Madoka leans in and says what she does, he laughs. "I'll take pictures of the gift receipts for you. It was all a ridiculous gift from Shindo-san for having healed someone he fought with. Confusing situation, but I told him I wouldn't say no to chocolate. I want to say my mistake, but I do get to share, so..."

With an expansive eyebrows-up shrug and another smile, Mamoru glances over at Gretchen and Sio and almost cracks up laughing at this tiny fairy shoving whole truffles in her mouth. "Gretchen-san, careful! You'll make yourself sick, won't you?"

Then he takes a seat again and sits a little forward, propping his head in his hand. "It's not so immediate for me as for you -- I remember my whole life, back then, but I remembered fully five months ago. And I don't know what you saw. All I know is what happened to and around me. But if there's anything I can help explain, or if there's anything you need someone to listen to, I'm happy to."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen turns around to say, "You underestimate my tummy!" before grabbing another bit of chocolate and scarfing it down. Of course, even though she says that, there's so much chocolate here, and even the seemingly bottomless stomach of a Chara has limits. Sio is taking her sweet time, but Gretchen seems to be speedrunning bellyache percent.

    Madoka smiles at her Chara and says, "Make sure to leave room for ice cream later," and that actually works at getting Gretchen to slow down. Then she turns to Mamoru and says, "Yeah, we figured it wouldn't be the same. We saw your past self, and your relationship with Serenity-chan, and how Beryl came and ruined everything. I guess to me it felt like going through a museum exhibit or something, but... more than that. We ate the food. We spoke to people."

    Madoka scratches the back of her head, then gazes off to her fairies. "Some of them even threw rocks at us, but... overall it was sad to see all of that get washed away in a moment." Her eyes and overall demeanor get a bit more wistful as she notes, "It really can all get stripped away. Just like that. It feels like forever until it doesn't."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The smile flickers back from purely serious for a moment at 'Serenity-chan' -- but Mamoru nods. He crosses his arms loosely on the desk, leaning on his elbows as he listens. "So it really felt real," he murmurs. "I'm so very glad you didn't get stuck there. At least..." He chuffs out a little sound that's almost a laugh, and shakes his head. "At least... at least I hope the food was good."

He looks at the desk surface for a moment, old as it is, etched with the marks from a thousand pens and pencils, and he unfolds his arms a little bit -- just enough to run his hand over the pitted wood. "Not everything gets stripped away," he says quietly. "There will always be echoes as long as there are people, and the Earth remembers what we cannot."

Mamoru glances up again, rueful. "I'm sorry you had to deal with the rocks, though. I never had them thrown at me, not until the very end when everything had gone mad for the last time." A brief exhalation. "What specifically felt like forever, though? That you're mourning."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    What exactly is Madoka mourning? She frowns a little bit. The pink girl actually decides to take a seat and stares down at the desk for a moment. Gretchen, not wanting to see her Bearer get left out of the goodies, floats over with a chocolate bar and sets it down in front of Madoka. The Chara Bearer pats her fairy on the head and says, "Thank you, Gretchen-chan." before breaking off a piece of it to eat.

    She gives Mamoru a sideways glance, a bit sheepish and with a little bit of hesitation. It's not that she doesn't trust him, and it's certainly not that she doesn't think she can handle it. It's just... there's a lot to say.

    "I'm mourning a lot, really. A lot of things that people don't know about. You were there with Oktavia, so you know what happens to Puella Magi, right? I'm... mourning them, and other magical girls who fall without anyone else knowing, but... actually, that's not really what's on my mind."

    Madoka glances off into the distance, looking past the wall rather than at it. She takes another bite and slowly chews, letting the delay give her a moment to consider her words. When she swallows, she says, "It's... just... what we saw back then? It's... it's not the first apocalypse I've ever seen. So I guess it hits a little different knowing that I'm not the only one around who's seen something like that."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Right before Madoka gets into it, Mamoru's about to apologize -- but he'd warned he had prying are-you-all-right questions, so--? In the end, hesitant sideways look of Madoka's and all, he's glad he didn't. His hands fold in front of him, hands that aren't callused from swordplay but from holding pens and pencils in an idiosyncratic way, hands that don't yet have metaphorical blood on them.

"I do," the tall boy says, of what happens to Puella Magi.

Their words are all quiet in the space, in the light from the windows, where dust motes drift. The wooden floor and white-painted walls don't bounce them back, don't make of the room a place where sounds travel too far. There's mourning, but it's a constant background thing--

"Ah," he says at the last, and it's small, hesitant itself. "You have company, now."

Then, "Maybe not in seeing more than one end of everything, but-- in knowing that real endings happen, and sometimes when all hope is lost, it's because it is, everywhere."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka tenses up a bit as she awaits Mamoru's response, only releasing her breath when she hears his words. With a slight nod she affirms, "That's about right. I'm not alone in that. I mean... I was never completely alone I guess... just..."

    Her hands go into her lap, and her shoulders scrunch together. "It's different now. It's real now. Before I was like... inheriting memories from other timelines. I was seeing all these different ways things could go wrong. I saw Tokyo get torn apart by a giant Witch. I saw the world get turned into a desert. I... honestly can't really keep track of it all in my head. It's like... I remember one hundred different birthdays, each of them my 14th, and each of them turned out differently, but they were all kept separate from the things I saw in this reality, in this timeline. Now..."

    She trails off, then after a moment she waves her hand in the air. "There's a saying among Puella Magi, especially ones who learn the Witch secret. 'Nothing's really changed, you just know something that you didn't before'. I guess that's how I feel right now."

    Sio, who has been notably quiet during this whole affair, says, "I don't know if you can really say that nothing's changed. Beryl has made her threat pretty clear, and she has every intent of making good on it. It's not just about what has already happened, but what might happen in the future."

    Madoka frowns, looks over to Sio, and then back to Mamoru. "Yeah... I guess that's kind of the thing. There are... common 'endpoints'. Pivotal events that can make or break things one way or another. Times when if something goes wrong, it goes irrevocably wrong, and I guess I worry whenever something like that crops up."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
'Those who learn the Witch secret' -- Mamoru's eyes stray towards Gretchen, and he thinks, he thinks, he should ask if he can call her Gretchen-chan, really. But he's listening, so he doesn't look at her for long. "It's this time now, this time that you're in, living your life, not inherited," he paraphrases, of 'it's real now', understanding it.

One hundred different fourteenth birthdays. He shakes his head a little, but keeps watching, listening-- and then Sio pipes up, and he looks to her and nods, then back to Madoka.

"Inai-sensei feels that near-apocalypses are old hat, that she can't be alarmed by them because she's lived through so many, has stopped so many. I didn't live through my last one, and I'd rather not have to start over again in another fourteen thousand years," he says, rubbing at the base of his thumb with the other. His phone buzzes on the desk, but he doesn't pick it up. "To be fair, I already almost didn't, and it's only because Usagi can work miracles that I'm still here. And that wasn't even an almost-apocalypse."

He looks down at his hands again, turning them over. "And I guess-- dying early is the easy way out. Seeing it through to the end, you have to watch everyone else..."

Once more, he shakes his head, but this time he blinks himself back to the actual conversation. "It's a reasonable worry. And... every one of those other times, you must have felt like it was the real time, the only time. And even if you know it might circle round again, you won't be this you."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    It's a grim topic, and yet... the fairies, no matter how childish they usually behave, don't really seem all that shocked. It's not that they're blowing it off or ignoring it. They're just used to it. Especially Gretchen.

    The Witch Chara, holding her stomach, slowly floats over to Madoka's desk and plops herself down. The pink girl scoops her fairy up into her hands and holds her for a bit. "Did you eat too much?" she asks.

    "N-no... I just... need a break..."

    Sio, who has eaten a bit more slowly, is still going. Sadly, the combined efforts of two fairies is not nearly enough to make the storage situation better for Mamoru.

    Madoka considers Mamoru's words for a moment before responding. "I mean, yeah. That's about the size of it. I guess in the back of my mind I wanted to act like this timeline was different, but... it's not." She frowns and looks towards the door. "Maybe I should ask Inai-sensei how she copes with this, because honestly... the reason why I push myself so hard, the reason why I can't ever stop working, it's all because of things like this. I don't want to lose everything just because I didn't prepare enough. I don't want to lose friends because one loss today can mean five tomorrow, and I don't want to... let down the people who need me."

    She sighs, and then looks over at Mamoru. "Sorry... this was probably a bit more than you were expecting to hear from me."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No-- it was only a little sideways from what I was expecting," Mamoru says, a little rueful and a lot sympathetic. He watches Gretchen with a crooked half-smile and shakes his head, because he warned her about too much chocolate too fast.

Then he finally sits up, sits back, in his seat; he leans over to get another piece of chocolate and puts it down on his desk. "You should talk to Inai-sensei. She's a terrible regular guidance counselor, but that-- that is what she's really, really good at. She has all this knowledge that we otherwise don't get access to, and it helps."

A pause. "She can be kind of tough love, too, though, so maybe tell her not to just go 'them's the breaks, kid' about living and losing people."

Then he eats the piece of chocolate. Mmm, nougat.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka blinks. "Them's the breaks?" She winces, visibly. Try telling that to Homura Akemi. "I mean... I also volunteer at a hospital, so I've seen some things already, just..." After a moment or two of looking queasy, she lets out a sigh. "Well, we all have to cope in our own way, don't we? I can't really judge her for that. She's in the same boat as the rest of us. She's just been in it longer."

    Gretchen has summoned the bottom half of her X-Egg, and tries to crawl into it to take a nap. Madoka helps her in and slowly fingerstrokes her while the Witch chara sleeps.

    "Honestly, it's weird. I spent so much time thinking I'm alone in my trouble, but that's not really true at all, is it? I was just... underestimating what magicals go through." With a heavy sigh, she absentmindedly brushes her fingernail through the sleeping Gretchen's hair.

    Sio, carrying a piece of chocolate, floats over to Mamoru. "Do you miss it? All that stuff from back then I mean. Do you ever wish you could bring it all back?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The door of the Shed swings open, just after Sio's question, and Usagi Tsukino walks in, carrying a few sticks of incense, her bookbag, and a bento box. The incense is carried right over to the very large mirror, hidden behind an undying Christmas tree and a pink sheet, where a small incense burner rests. She lights it, dips her head for a second, turns around - and jumps, dropping the textbook (but not the bento!) when she finally takes note of the other people around.

"Were you guys here the whole time?" She eeps, looking at Mamoru, Madoka, Sio, and the mound of chocolate, familiar with each and everyone of them but definitely not having expected this combination of entities. "Um - sorry? If I was interrrupting something?" She's assuming she isn't, working very hard to not be even slightly jealous, because expressions look very serious.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm probably overestimating how callous she can be, I've always had a hilariously contentious relationship with her," Mamoru admits a little sheepishly, about Kyouka Inai. "I used to make her really mad, when I was Hematite. Oh man, I made her so mad sometimes, it was really funny." She also pissed him off plenty, but he's not about to go into that.

He watches Gretchen crawl into half an eggshell curiously, but not curiously enough to ask -- just interested, as ever, that it can be summoned and hidden in and all sorts of things. There's a little smile when Madoka pets her hair, and then he looks back up to Madoka herself and nods. "I don't think anybody is truly alone in their trouble. Maybe sometimes it's different trouble, but we're all people, and there's a reason psychology textbooks exist..."

Glancing to Sio, Mamoru's eyebrows go up. "Do I miss it?" he repeats--

--just after Usagi comes in the door.

Suddenly it's just like watching Endymion look at Serenity. His face is wreathed in smiles, transforming it into an almost radiant expression, and he gets up. "The whole time!" he confirms, and then answers, "Not interrupting anything, we were just talking about the portal and apocalypses."

Because that's normal. Well, for them...

He comes over and just casually kisses Usagi in passing as he reaches and bends to pick up her textbook, and then he looks back to Sio. "Yeah, I do miss it. There are people I miss, and places, and things, and ways of doing things and ways of being that I miss... and it's an awfully big change I'm still getting used to, and there are people I didn't even have a chance to mourn, but I don't want to bring it all back. For one thing, I'm glad I'm not a prince anymore. For another, I'm so happy everyone is on Earth, and that Usako is Sailor Moon~~"

And then he leans over and stage-whispers, "And I'm also really happy about texting."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Any woman who'd feel threatened by Madoka being close to her boyfriend is clearly unaware of just how gay she is. They are most certainly not flirting or even remotely looking like it. The smile she gives Usagi is perfectly and sincerely innocent, because it really is the furthest thing from her mind. "We have been! Mamoru-kun invited me over to talk about things."

    Madoka glances over to what Usagi brought and asks, "You're burning incense? For her?"

    When Mamoru walks over to kiss Usagi, the pinkette gets jealous for different reasons. Mostly, 'I wish Homura were here' reasons. She decides to keep those comments to herself, though.

    Sio considers with crossed arms, "I see. Well, I can't say that I disagree with that mindset. No point in clinging to what you don't have anymore, and today has its upsides, too."

    With a giggle, Madoka adds, "At the very least, you haven't left all of your loved ones behind. You get to keep the ones closest to you."

    There are other questions that Madoka could ask, about how Endymion felt back then, and what he went through... A lot of those things can probably wait, though. Turning to Usagi, she asks, "So what brings you here?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi's not really worried about Mamoru cheating, really. It's just that when she already shares her boyfriend with two other people and has reasonable suspicions about a third... She's always on the look out for people weak to his handsome charms and dorkish good looks.

But the smile she offers Madoka is warm and honest, especially after that casual kiss. Talking about the portal - is definitely a good idea, all things said and done. So much happened, so much could still happen...

"Yes," she says first, answering Madoka's question. "I was coming into study, since Ami-chan insists on me studying more, but whenever I come in, I try to burn incense for her. Just, you know, so she feels less lonely, and to like, purify the space a little... and maybe, if the Buddha is watching, he'll do something for her."

Just... a little hope. Hopefully, this poor girl doesn't feel anything at all, isn't even awake, but just in case...

"I'm happy everyone is here too. It's... nice, that we're all together, in one place, instead of spread out all over... Were you guys worrying about the usual apocalypse, or is there another few to think on?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"There's also more chocolate," Mamoru says, hand taking a moment to trail away from Usagi as he lets go instead of just dropping. "But you have real food first, and besides there will be chocolate for years. Gretchen-san ate too much too fast."

Then he grins at Sio. "Today has a lot of upsides--" and he nods firmly to Madoka, then pauses, looking a little conflicted, but shakes his head. "I do get to. The ones who were close that we don't get to keep-- they'd be happy we're happy here."

Then Usagi wants to know which apocalypses, and he suddenly has chocolate in his mouth and can't answer. He gives Madoka an eyebrows-up look like 'it's your story, you get to decide how much you want to say'.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's eyes go towards the mirror, and she thinks about the girl within. Closing her eyes for a moment, she breaks off a piece of chocolate, but she doesn't eat it yet. "I've seen people do similar for people in comas. I don't know how much that applies to her case, but... if she's aware, I'm sure she'll appreciate the kindness."

    Gretchen, resting in the bottom half of her X-Egg, raises up her tiny hand. "I already saved the world once! I'm an expert."

    Madoka's eyebrow twitches. "Gretchen-chan, that's a technicality."

    Gretchen smugly responds, "Doesn't matter! I beat Kyubey. I won!"

    The Chara Bearer rolls her eyes at her X-Chara's antics, still petting her. The world's tiniest Witch goes back to sleep, arms wrapped around her little tummy.

    "Oh, I mean... there's always something. Always something trying to end everything for some reason. I was telling your boyfriend about other timelines I've seen, and how badly they went, and how a lot of them ended up in disaster and I guess I just... seeing what was in that echo kinda stirred up a lot of feelings for me."

    Sio, after munching a bit of chocolate, says, "Thanks for sharing your snacks with us. Gretchen appreciates it too, even if she forgets to say it."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I hope so. I figure... even if it doesn't do anything for her, it's something respectful, I guess? She's our guest, until we can fix what happened to her, so... just trying to help keep her comfortable." And then she pauses, and levels a glance at Mamoru, looking honestly respectful, and maybe even fearful, "Mamochan, even I'm starting to wonder if we can eat all that chocolate."

She has eaten so much chocolate and there is still more chocolate and she's not sick of it at all but she's starting to feel such a significant amount of respect for the sheer quantity of the stuff that still exists...

"You saved the world, Gretchen-chan? That's awesome! Even if it was a technicality, you know, that's one more solid win for the counter. You go!"

Praise! Praise for the littlest hero, and the littlest Witch.

But then she grows more serious, a little more solemn. "Did Mamochan already tell you to talk to Inai-sensei about it? She's like, not the best with getting you out of detention, but she's amazing as a counselor for like, this stuff... she's seen a lot. So have we. Sometimes it's kind of nice to see someone who got to like, be older doing it?" She is carefully not calling Inai-sensei old, because even if she's practically as old as the dinosaurs, old enough to drink and then plenty more, she's also not like, that old. "But I'm... sorry you saw all that stuff. It's a lot, to have in your head, and still have math and normal life stuff, you know?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"We should all get world-saving lessons from you," Mamoru says seriously to Gretchen after Usagi praises her, and then he gives Sio a little smile, tilting his head for it-- "You're truly welcome. It's absurd how much chocolate there is, you're definitely doing us a favor."

He nods woefully to Usagi. "I need to slow down on it too. And also share more of it." A pause, and he looks delighted with himself. "You should take some chocolate with you to Inai-sensei!" he tells Madoka. "I haven't pushed any of it on her yet and I know she'll want some. I'm definitely not taking any of this back with me."

He's quiet for the more serious talk, though, and he doesn't bring up how much else Madoka already had in her head. He's still coming to terms with what she told him, herself. Imagine having all these past lives in your head, but they're the same one...

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka waves her hands in the air. "One of the potential apocalypses was a super-Witch. Her name was Kriemhild Gretchen, and no it's not a coincidence." Madoka doesn't want to say it out loud, but... these two can probably put those pieces together. "Gretchen-chan's existence means that I can't make a contract with Kyubey. So my Witch will never exist here. That's what she's bragging about."

    Is Madoka a little bit annoyed? Maybe. She's a bit mad that she had to explain to people that she herself was a potential apocalypse. Even if she actually isn't.

    "I guess it does point out one thing, though. Winning isn't always about brute force. Sometimes it's just about making sure that the ingredients for disaster simply don't exist."

    Madoka glances over to the chocolate pile, since Mamoru seems so insistent that she take some. "Maybe I will take some to her, if it's okay with you. Normally I'd be worried about taking too much, but..." She glances over at the pile. "... I feel like maybe that's not a concern."

    The pink girl pulls her hands back from Gretchen and wraps them around her stomach, looking down at the desk. "So... anyways... you wanted to know if I was okay. I guess that's my answer. I was in crisis mode long before Beryl threw us into a portal, and will probably continue to be in one long after she's gone. If we're even in a timeline which she loses, which is not something that I get to take for granted."

    Sio chimes in. "Again, it's nothing new, though that doesn't always make it better."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I've got to admit, defeating an enemy just by existing is... pretty cool. I'm still going to give it to her," Usagi says the words almost flippantly, but the concerned look she gives Madoka makes it clear that her concern is genuine. Remembering that you became a Witch? A Super-Witch, even? That was a lot - because Witches are dangerous, and terrifying, and knowing that you didn't just... die, but that you became something terrible, in death?

It must weigh on the soul.

"But I get why maybe you don't want to talk about that, either, or brag about how you've stopped an apocalypse, just because some jerk can't use you."

Because that's what Kyubey is and what he does, isn't it? Takes advantage of people, hurts them, benefits from their destruction....

"Oh, it's definitely not a concern! Mamochan has so much more chocolate left, and I took some home to my Mama and Papa already."

And she considers Madoka, and she nods, slowly, because she does get it. They've been running from crisis after crisis, and she knows that it's worn her down - knows that the fact that she and Mamoru had their most successful date in a dream while she was trapped in an echo of the past is a terrible sign for the world they're in....

"I get that. We've been kind of doing the same thing, running around after crises... but if you ever need to talk or anything, we're here. I definitely haven't seen all the timelines you have, but... I get what it's like to have more than one life in your head."

Beryl needs to die. But Usagi can understand the chance that they won't succeed.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's funny -- Mamoru almost never touches people who aren't in a very specific subset. Never initiates, except with those few. He'll take hugs with warning, but he doesn't touch people for the most part...

...but here, Madoka with her arms around her stomach, looking at the desk, and Sio saying it's nothing new? When Mamoru stands up, it's to lean and put a warm, solid hand on Madoka's shoulder, squeeze it lightly, and let go. "We'll both be here, yeah," he echoes Usagi, and then smiles a little. "I'm going to go find a bag for the chocolate and probably get some more chocolate, I'll be back soon."

And this time the kiss for Usagi is on top of her odango'd head, and then he goes and slips out the Shed door.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Beryl will die, and Madoka knows this, because it's either her or everyone else. If this is a timeline where she doesn't die? Then it'll get discarded and they'll keep doing this over and over until she does. If Beryl didn't want to be doomed to that kind of fate, then she should have been a different kind of person.

    "I guess that's part of why I felt like opening up about that," admits Madoka. "I mean... we've both seen similar stuff before. I don't know... a part of it feels like I'm oversharing."

    When Mamoru walks up to squeeze her shoulder, she looks up at him with a faint smile. Then after he leaves, her attention is all on Usagi.

    "You know... I don't know if I ever said this before, but back when I started becoming aware of magic I kinda started looking up to all the mahou who were fighting so hard. You were... one of them, actually. I think you actually saved me at least once or twice. I don't think I ever expected to go on an actual adventure with you, back then."

    Then Madoka glances away before adding, "Sorry if that sounds weird."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's not oversharing," Usagi says gently, honestly, "And even if it was, Beryl kind of overshared like sixty percent of our life traumas, so you've got plenty of room to do the same."

And maybe she's feeling better about that time, the memories not packed away, but integrated. It had not been pleasant, to witness the end once more, to see for the first time her friends' deaths, their responses to her death, but they're alive. They're all here, even the exceptionally irritating ones.

This is a new chance, and it's precious, and she holds it as close as she can.

And then Madoka shares with her that she'd looked up to Usagi, and it's surprising, and flattering, and -

"It's not weird! I... remember that, you know? You were at one of my first ever fights, actually, when Mamochan was still Darien, and he totally stole my Dippin' Dots. I mean, they were an evil dark energy plot, but still!"

She smiles, and her tone was joking, but her eyes are earnest.

"You're amazing, Madoka-chan. You're probably inspiring a ton of people... and I'm glad that we fight together, now."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka laughs a little awkwardly. "Beryl, of all people, should learn to keep things to herself. I used to think that I hated Sunbreaker, because she made me feel irritated in ways that no one else could, but no... Sunbreaker is just a little excessive sometimes. Beryl is... a whole new level of awful." Glancing off to the side, she says, "I'm probably not the first one to tell you something this, but... if you ever need a place to hide a body, I have a method that's pretty foolproof. N-not that I've ever used it for that, just... you know..."

    Clearing her throat, she actually blushes a little bit. "Me? Amazing? Inspiring people? I mean... Gosh, I can't imagine myself like that. I guess it's what I always wanted, just... eheh. Well, you too, Usagi-chan! I'm glad we're on the same side. I'm always happy to fight next to you and your friends!"

    Getting praise from one of her heroes isn't something she expected today, but she'll take it. Though... now that she thinks back. "Honestly, the Dippin Dots I barely remembered, probably because of the Veil. I actually had to be told about that afterwards, but... now that you mention it... I do kinda remember him stealing your Dippin Dots." She taps her chin for a moment, then says, "He was kindof a troll about it, but... maybe it was for the best. Wait..."

    Madoka squints and looks at the door where Mamoru just left. "Doesn't that mean he drained my energy?"

    Well, it was a long time ago, and the pinkette isn't that mad about it, but she's a little too emotionally honest to hide the fact that she's pouting a little bit.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I've had a lot of people offer, but your method might be the most interesting, honest. But I don't know if your Labyrinth is a place you'd want a body, wouldn't it smell?"

Assuming the Labyrinth is the place to hide the body, anyway -

"Sunbreaker is annoying, excessive, overly aggressive, a real pain in the flank, as she'd put it... but I really like her. I feel - bad for her, and proud of her, and disappointed in her, all the time? She'd probably enjoy being able to cause so much annoyance without really trying, honestly."

A little quirk of the lips, sympathy for Madoka, because boy does she know what it's like to be so annoyed by and frustrated with Sunbreaker, of all people.

"Yes, you! You've got some really great attacks, and you've got two really great henshins, but most importantly, you're really cool under pressure, and you're really determined. Even when everything was terrible, in the portal - you kept a cool head, as best as anyone could. And just so you know - you're definitely my friend too. I'm telling you, because I've known too many people who didn't realize they'd been befriended."

There is no choice, you are part of the friendship!

"It does! Aha, you could definitely get more chocolate out of him as an apology for that - Mamochan wasn't his best self, that's for sure, when he was with Obsidian. He was uh, stuck in Beryl's department." Which really, isn't that the worst kind of punishment possible, for that?

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka shakes her head at the notion of a smelling body. "Nah, because bodies, discarded weapons, bullets, dropped candy... anything that's not attached to a living person will disappear when the Labyrinth closes. I'm not really sure where it goes, but as far as anyone can tell it just doesn't exist anymore."

    Then, waving a hand in front of her nose, she adds, "Besides, if that didn't work and it did smell up the place, I could always lock it away in folded space until we get a chance to try someone else's idea."

    Glancing away for a moment, Madoka admits, "That sounds like her alright. I do think she tries her best, and there are things to admire about her, but... ugh, she really rubs me the wrong way sometimes. There's a limit to how mad I can really get at her though, because I'm pretty she's not the type to take things too far."

    More positivity from someone who is, frankly, kind of her hero. It's flattering in ways she wasn't expecting, but she's all smiles and giggles upon hearing it. "You're my friend too, Usagi-chan. I'm glad I got to meet you, and if I had to go through all of that then I'm grateful you're one of the people I could rely on. You aren't just good in a fight, but also really sweet too."

    Madoka looks a bit mortified as Usagi confirms something that she had more or less already kinda suspected. "Yeah I... ugh... that had to be so bad for him. I'm glad she didn't seem to realize who he was. Otherwise it probably would've been so much worse. Of all the things I hate her for, that one is the grossest." She makes a face of pure disgust; eyes scrunched, mouth half open and tongue sticking out.

    At the thought of grabbing more chocolate as an apology Madoka glances over. "I'm going to before I leave. He stole your ice cream so it all balances out, right?"

    Sio, meanwhile, has also hit her limit. She has her own personal egg that she could totally be resting in all by herself, but instead of that she chooses to nap on top of Gretchen for whatever reason.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, that's so useful! Your powers are really amazing... honestly, that would have been way more useful than the acid idea I had, when I thought I might have to get rid of a body," but Ikuto got the chance to live, even if he absolutely deserved to lose his shins... "Discarded weapons and bullets, huh? From... Puella Homura-chan, maybe? She's the only one I've ever seen use bullets, but I guess I shouldn't assume you two know each other?"

She taps her chin, trying to think of literally anyone else... Pirate-chan used energy bullets....

"I think that's fair. I mean, I like her, but she's also really annoying, and sometimes you just want to smack her, you know? So I think if you haven't broken your hand on her face, you're doing great, and you shouldn't feel bad at all."

Is this another person encouraging the power of violence? Yes.

"I know! She's just - sick, but, when he was Hematite, we tried to even it out as best as we could by learning to embezzle. I helped him steal a lot of money from her department to use on wonderful, and sometimes, stupid stuff."

She deserved it, and Hematite had deserved more, and the fact that their friendship is returned is the only thing keeping her calm.

"That goes for you too; you're one of the nicest people I know, Mado-chan - is it okay if I call you that? Sometimes I nickname people without thinking about it!" Whoops, the friendship move.... "And he did! He stole all kinds of things from me, back then, he was such a jerk."

A ring she would have bought, ice cream, he just - took things! What a scamp. What a jerk. She loves him.

"It's super fair - and those two are super cute. You've got other little fairy friends, right? Your chara? I think these are the two I've seen the most though."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Despite having spoken to him earlier, Madoka remains blissfully unaware of Ikuto's crimes. Aside from the fact that she should be cautious mentioning his name around Chiyo, in any case.

    When asked if she knows Homura, Madoka sheepishly looks off to the side. "I mean, she's kinda my girlfriend, so... well it's complicated. She's been really busy lately and I don't always know what she's up to, but..." She scratches the back of her head and gets shy. "... I don't know really know how to explain our relationship. It's one of those things where it's better if I keep things secret, you know?"

    The idea of breaking her hand on Sunbreaker... "I mean, we did get into a slap fight the other day. Honestly, of all the fights that I've been in over the last half a year, that was the one I almost got in trouble over."

    "Embezzling funds... I mean, at this point that's just guerilla warfare. They were just gonna use it for evil things anyways.

    With a bright smile, Madoka says, "I'm okay with you calling me Madoka-chan if I can call you Usagi-chan! I'm generally okay with things like that.

    Looking down at her sleeping fairies, she says, "I have these two, and three others: Brai, Medo and Lydian. Most of them let me use Hope Blossom. Gretchen's the only one who lets me use Hope Witch. I adore them all. Even if Gretchen sasses me all the time."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Kind of your girlfriend?" Usagi is making a face - a face that humans really weren't usually able to, a :3 face of genuine interest and affectionate teasing. "If there's one thing I get, it's relationships that are hard to explain and best kept secret. I'll root for you, okay Madoka-chan? For the day when things don't have to be a secret."

And for this girl, who was once a princess named Serenity, with the world's largest secret - this is a very gentle commiseration, and a genuine well-wish.

"You did? You must have done it out of henshin, huh? That's the only way I can imagine her not using her fire. Good on you! ...But if you did, that means she was probably really mean, so... try not to take the things she says to heart? She's got a good heart, really deep down, but I swear, I've been to movies that didn't do as much projection as she does."

It's not the nicest thing to say about a friend, but most friends haven't tried to set you on fire, so she thinks she's in the clear.

"Exactly. They were just going to use it for something dumb, so why not use it to go on fancy dates, and eat nice steaks?" Two teenagers with an evil platinum card - they had made choices.

A little nod, and Usagi commits the names to memory - "Okay, so Madoka-chan's team is Brai-chan, Medo-chan, Lydian-chan, Sio-chan,and Gretchen-chan, got it! And Gretchen-chan, she can let you use Hope Witch because of her special nature? Talk about turning your pain into power..."

She's impressed. Madoka's got a nice crew of supporters behind her!

There's a buzz, from her phone, and Usagi grimaces - "Uh oh, I think that's my study alarm. Ami-chan's going to be after me to see if I actually did my studying... ah, I should get back to that. I'm sorry, Madoka-chan, I hope you don't mind? I promised to get a C on my math test and Ami-chan's holding me to it."

Woe, woe is her.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka blushes a little bit. She thinks about Homura pretty often, but she doesn't usually talk about her out loud that much. When Usagi says that she'll root for her, she smiles brightly. "Thank you, Usa-chan. I'm rooting for you, too! I hope you and Mamoru-kun can find happiness together."

    Yes, coming from the soul who was once Princess Serenity, those words of encouragement carry a certain special weight.

    "Well.. yeah. It was out of henshin. I was afraid that if I went into henshin, she would also, and then things would escalate. It's funny but... it's because of the way she responded to that, the fact that she could have taken it further but didn't, that kinda made me start to respect her a bit." At the projection comment, Madoka is at first surprised, and then she laughs a little shyly. "I mean... you're not wrong. I get the feeling that there's something about me that sets her off, but I don't really know what."

    Gretchen has apparently drifted slightly awake, and is raising a hand again. She's not moving that much because Sio is on top of her, but she's letting her voice be heard! "Yeah! They were just gonna use it for dummy things. Way better to use it for fun things like food and dates!"

    Madoka nods as Usagi lists off the names. "Yeah. That's right. Hope Witch is based off of Gretchen, who herself is based on a real Witch. So that's why she knows what she knows."

    As she hears Usagi's phone buzz, she tilts her head. "Oh! Ah, well, a princess can't neglect her education! Good luck on your math test." Madoka is all smiles as she picks up Gretchen's egg, cupping it in both hands as she gets up to leave with her two fairies. Then she remembers what she said earlier and walks over to grab some extra 'apology chocolates'. She doubts that Mamo would really mind, after all.

    As Madoka starts to leave, she cheerfully says, "Have a great day, Usagi!"