655/Wanting It To Be A Good Idea

Wanting It To Be A Good Idea
Date of Scene:	27 October 2023
Location:	Plot Room 5
Synopsis:	Mami and Takashi go on a date. There is tiny food and teas and walks home. And a continued lack of reasonable decision making skills.
Cast of Characters:	Mami Tomoe, Takashi Agera

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Mami Tomoe has posed:
With only three hours to get home, get ready, and get to the restaurant early enough to scope out the neighborhood, Mami flew through her afternoon. But she did it. There wasn't even a faint trace of a familiar near the restaurant, let alone a witch. So, she was confident this was actually just a date.

He certainly picked well. There was no way she was going to turn down an invitation to a restaurant with one of the most expansive tea selections in the city. She had dreamed of going to this place, but could never even imagine being able to afford it. It's not easy being an orphan magical girl. So, either Takashi did some research on her, or he is just showing off the size of his expense account. Either way, he's off to a good start with her.

As Mami approaches the entrance to the restaurant from down the street--having completed one final little walk around the neighborhood--she has a smile on her face. She wants this to turn out well. She just hopes that boy doesn't mess it up.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    The answer, naturally, is both - Takashi asked around school about her (and in a not-always-subtle way that might come back to haunt him at some point - but tea parties came up constantly) and also wanting to show off his bank account. But it's easier when you maintain a department but can pay a lot of your employees in ice cream sundaes and attention their parents don't give them.

    Of course he's in a suit and tie, both a blue so dark it is almost, but not quite black. He's pretty sure even if it doesn't say it anywhere, they're not gonna let him in without a suit. At least gone are the days when he had to borrow clothes from Mamoru and now he can afford to have something tailored well to him.

    He walks up and sees her and he's smiling too - a little more the closer he gets. "Darn, I guess someone must have put it down already, I don't sense anything." he says, in the -most- clear tone of 'it was totally just an excuse, yes this is a date' she could hear from him.

    "Sorry if it's a little much for a first date." he says. "I just wanted something that would be as hard for you to forget as I've found you to be."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami dressed appropriately in a cute little yellow cocktail dress with lace petticoats that floof out like a flower that just goes down to her knees. She has on thigh-high stockings and some comfortable, brown leather mary janes. She was walking around, after all. It's missing the hat, and the corset, but Mami really does have one look she leans into.

"I didn't sense anything, either," she says, holding back some giggles. "I guess we'll just have to have dinner, then. Maybe there'll be some fun to get up to after we eat," she says with a wink.

She slips her arm into his as he steps up to the door, ready to accompany him into the restaurant. "It's way too much for a first date, Takashi-kun," she says, the giggles not quite contained this time. "It just means you're setting the bar very high for any future dates."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiles and walks with her inside. "Well that's gonna be tough, there aren't many nicer places than this, and they aren't known for their tea selections." he says as he waits. The doorman looks at the two of them skeptically, looking slightly more like a time displaced prom date than any of the usual clientele, but Agera, party of two is the reservation, and after checking his card against the registration, they are brought to a back corner table.

    Whether Takashi asked for something more out-of-the-way or it's just luck, the two of them are tucked in rather nice, and he just keeps looking at her. He folds his hands and opens his mouth, but it actually takes him a few times to figure out what to say. Finally, he settles on "...thanks for agreeing to spend an evening with me, Mami-san." he says. "I know this was very sudden." He doesn't just mean the date, he means the whole witch -> cellphone thing too.

    "I... actually had forgotten we'd met before." he says, and considering she'd shot at him and bashed his ankle, this was somewhat of an improvement - but despite the nature of those meetings, he's not mad or anything. Just sort of... a relaxed happy.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe smiles. On the outside, it's a contained smile. Clearly she's pleased, but she's keeping a lid on her feelings, and projecting a calm demeanor. On the inside, though, she is squeeing. He did do research to find out what she liked! He did pick this place out for the tea selection! The boy is certainly earning points in his favor.

She follows to the table and takes her seat, and just watches as Takashi searches for words. She has a smile on her face, and a glint in her eyes. Oh she's enjoying this. "How could I say no to Narisawa?" She asks, and it's just so matter-of-fact. How could she? She couldn't. "So, thank you for the invitation."

There's a pause then, as she considers the rest. She gets a little mischievous smirk and she glances down through the table at roughly where his legs are, before drawing her eyes up to meet his, and then she feigns offense. Her hand brought up to her chest. "I can't believe you'd forget me, Takashi-kun."

She shakes her head. "Shoot a man, and he'll still forget you," she mutters under her breath.

But she can't keep it up, and bursts out giggling.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi is confused for just a moment, and then he giggles along with her. If this was somewhere like France or Italy they might be the only ones making any noise, but Japan isn't as big on silence while eating, so it's not as out of place - there's a few other tables making their own noise and talking.

    "I mean, that was the idea. Even if you're not fond of me you'll probably be fond of the tea, and maybe I can get you to wrap the two up." he says, teasingly. Speaking of, they do bring out a chilled green tea serveed on a red plate on top of a white mat - set up to look like the Japanese flag. It's the start to a series of small but delicious courses that will be brought out around their talking.

    "Anyways, I get shot all the time." he says. "Usually with less... bullet-y things, but, I'm kinda used to it." he says, and he's teasing, but not exactly -joking-. "I do not, however, feel as drawn to someone... ever, honestly." he says, before taking a drink of the second flavor of tea that they'd brought out with the second course.

    "What do you do for fun... outside of... work?" he asks. Work here being 'magical girl stuff'. "I mean, food was a pretty safe bet but I think I'm supposed to take you to other things too, and I'm not sure where to start." he admits, frankly. "Well, I know there's tea parties, but this one's hard to top. We have delicious tea and delicious tiny food, so it clearly counts."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami's listening to what Takashi is saying, she really is, but it really is an effort to pay attention when there's tea she could be experiencing. Still she manages to sip the chilled green tea, a palette cleanser, and with such delightful presentation. They set down the second course, but then he asks his question.

She picks up her tea and takes a sip. Looking thoughtful. "I'm not sure what you mean 'outside of work'," she finally says, her eyes focusing back on his. "When I'm not in class, I'm usually working. There are people to protect," she says. Besides, she thinks, it's not easy keeping a soul gem clean. She needs the grief seeds just as much as the next Puella.

"But, I do love to bake, though," she says before drinking some more of that second cup of tea. She inhales deeply, really gathering up the scent, and then sets it down. "What about you?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi pauses. He pauses a long time. Eventually, he breaks the ice with "...I love to eat baked goods?" he says. and then sighs. "No, I don't do much other than work either. Otherwise I would have invited you to do that. Sometimes I play games on my phone or something, but it's only while I'm waiting on an experiment to finish but I don't think I can really leave it unattended. So it's not really a hobby."

    "Then the rest of the time, I'm replying to magical things happening or taking care of one of my little sisters." he says. Then promptly puts some very tasty, small, and incredibly expensive food in his face. It's quite good and occupies him from not talking a lot more, and he can see how she does enjoy the experience, at least. One point for Agera. Many more left to go.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe also eats the food in front of them. It saves her from making any comments on how they're both workaholics, which is what first pops into her mind. She even manages not to giggle about it. They are such an unlikely couple. Why does she like him so much? It's a mystery, but she does.

Instead, after she drinks the last of the tea with the course, she asks about the most interesting detail he shared. "You have little sisters?"

He probably mentioned them on purpose to seem more sympathetic. He is a villain after all. They do those kinds of manipulative things. But she was not above admitting it worked. He has little sisters! Awww.

Takashi Agera has posed:
The slow but constant trickle of courses of food and new tea probably keeps them from saying a lot of things that might prevent them from otherwise making this less nice, and also served to give them awkward silences that really weren't awkward.

    "I... Kind of. They're kind of... unoficially adopted?" he says. "I've always thought about them as my little sisters because part of my job is to look out for them." he says. "And I try to keep their spirits up. All of their parents are... very distant, at best. I know what it's like when everybody else's parents come to some kind of function and you don't have any to show up." he notes, poking his food with a fork. "But at least they have a reliable kinda big brother!"

    "...That's why I couldn't call you Tomoe-san or Tomoe-chan. One of the girls I take care of is Tomoe-chan, to me, and it would be more than a little off in my head." he admits.

    "It started out as just a work thing, but they're all incredibly sweet, hard-working, and talented girls in their own ways. I'm terribly fond of them."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
The food and tea certainly serve to keep Mami from saying things she'd rather not. It's all so good, and deserves her attention. She may be a lovestruck teenager, but she can still pay proper respect to the work that went into her meal by truly being present with it.

Then he says one of his little sisters is a Tomoe, and Mami immediately remembers the young girl she met at the shrine some time ago. She thinks really hard, and looks up with a smile. "Wait, is your little sister Hotaru Tomoe?" It is a small world if that's the case. A very small world.

Regardless of what he says in reply, she's smiling. It's clear to her that he actually does care about these girls, whether they're his work charges or not. And she can relate to that.

"I know how it is, connecting with your kohai," she says, quietly, and then her voice gets just a little bitter. "I'm glad it's turned out so well for you."

Time for some tea. Where is the next course? She's all caught up. Awkward.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi isn't the most perceptive person, but he's offsetting that by being very focused on Mami, and so he picks up that bitterness in her voice. Whether he attributes it to the right thing is another matter entirely. He's pauses, and knows he's stepped on something.

    This time the food is slightly delayed - meaning it doesn't quite save the silence. Of course, right when he does go to speak, and gets out a singular "I" - there comes the waiter with the food and distractions abound.

    So by the time he's ready to talk again, they've both had a little more tea and it's been a while. "One way or another I think we'll have to find something to do that isn't eating." he says, smiling. "Assuming you don't mind continuing to see me when I haven't found a witch."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami is grateful when the food arrives. Something to distract her from thinking about how she's a terrible senpai, and how she's thinking about that instead of the food and the tea and the boy that are all right there in the present moment with her.

She takes a sip of tea and seems to consider his question. It's as if she's really weighing the pros and cons of seeing him again. "Well, I'd suggest a walk in the park, but I don't want our relationship to be just about work," she says with a giggle. She drinks the rest of that cup of tea and sets it down.

After another bite of food, she says, "What is it that normal teenagers do on dates? Maybe we could do that. Movies? Long walks along the beach at sunset?" Somebody reads romance novels.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi considers it, considers her. He does occasionally re-evaluate the sanity of continuing with this periodically, although he's got slightly more invested in her when he evaluates it due to having shown her who he was on both sides of the henshin wall, and keeping that more of a secret. But it always gets balanced out by 'but look how pretty she is'.

    "Long walks on the beach might end up about the same way as the walk in the park, really. Either we'll find trouble or I'm liable to start it." There's a smile there, but it's a mischevious one this time. Takashi does know a thing or two about starting trouble. Also being in trouble. Also being trouble.

    "But a movie has potential, if there's something you want to see at some point, just let me know. I'm busy but... for important things I can make time."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
He has a good point. There's not much difference between a beach and a park when it comes to magical girl business. Everywhere is fair game. It's walks that are risky. And then he goes and says the quiet part out loud. Or I'm liable to start it. That's a red flag. As if the dark energy wasn't. As if stealing soul gems wasn't. As if working for Obsidian wasn't.

Mami gets a mental image of Takashi being made of red flags just like she might make a figure out of ribbons, layered one over another until they became the cute, clever, clearly thoughtful boy sitting just across the table from her. She giggles, and gives him a similarly mischievous grin. "As if you wouldn't cause trouble at the movies."

She shakes her head and laughs, looking down at her hands for a moment. Then she looks up at him and says, "I'm interested in you, Takashi-kun. How we spend the time together isn't so important as the spending time together." Because if she thinks too hard about spending time with a villain, well, she might not do it. And she wants this.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    It's not something that he could probably articulate, whether he let the 'start trouble' line out fully consciously or unconsciously. Probably somewhere in between. It was a very him line, but it was also probing. In effect, letting her remember he was the bad guy and seeing what she did. Suffice it to say her giggle and playing along response was considered a success by him.

    "I mean, I'll be honest, I liked hearing that better than I liked any of the food here." he says with a grin that is half silly half serious. "And the food is honestly, really good, so you can gauge it by that."

    They didn't have too many courses now, but there was something to be said for a meal that occupied them for this long, and felt a bit elegant and delectable. Intentionally so. Takashi wants this too, and he is not even remotely subtle about it, no. "So, a little bit of hunting, a little bit of walking, a little bit of playing around, and if you end up on the other side of me in a fight, don't shoot me in the face?" he says, laughing. "Or you know, you could switch teams, but I'm starting more reasonable."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
At this point in the meal, they've sampled several teas. All of them amazing. The food, too, has been top-notch. There's a reason the restaurant has a Michelin star, after all. This bucket list experience is absolutely influencing Mami's decision making, just like saving her life and giving her a grief seed did.

She looks at him for a moment, really looks at him. One might even call it gazing. He really is nice to look at. But then he starts talking. She watches his mouth as it moves, and while she's paying attention to the words, she's also imagining what it would be like to kiss him. She does hear what he says, most of it, enough of it to respond.

"I don't have a team, remember?" She says, though surely she knew he meant something different. "But, I wouldn't want to damage that handsome face," she says. She reaches out to pick up the tea in front of her and takes a sip, her eyes lidding, and her lungs filling with the scent of the tea.

She looks up at Takashi, then, and smiles, "So don't find yourself downrange."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    It's not like Mami was the only one at this table who was thinking about kissing the other, but Takashi mostly keeps it to when she's drinking tea, rather than during her conversational points. Mostly. He mostly hears what she says. He mostly keeps his eyes on hers.

    "Yeah I meant the more general, side of the fence team." he says, taking in his tea and kind of... he obviously doesn't enjoy it as -much- as Mami does, but he can at least kind of appreciate it. It's just way more for her than him. The beef in front of him on the other hand? That pretty much vanishes after the tea.

    "You know... I can appreciate that response." he says to being downrange. "One of the things that draws me to you, really..." he says, returning to the tea to take a sip. "is that you're a beautiful, elegant girl - but you have an edge there, too."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami takes another sip of tea, and then sets down the cup. The beef on her plate looks delicious. It's already cut into bites, so she just eats it one piece at a time. She remains mostly focused on the boy across from her. Indeed, she's so focused she definitely notices the extent of the effort he's making to maintain eye contact. She smiles.

Then she laughs. "Oh. Ha. That is not going to happen," she says, with such certainty. "I have this magic, and I'm meant to use it to fight Witches. I'm meant to protect people." There's a pause as she looks at him. She knows that this is just a justification, but as she says it, she makes herself believe it. "So, as long as you're helping me with that, I feel like you're on my team."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi nods. "I'll take it. Really, I don't wish ill upon anybody who's first intinct is to protect others. I just would go about it a different way, and would see better success if they'd stay out of my way." he says, shrugging a bit before returning to the food. "And yes, I know how that sounds." he admits.

    "But regardless, we share the same opinion about the end disposition of witches, don't we?" he says. "No longer threatening people, and their grief seeds with you." he adds. "And then the two of us celebrating another creature that would threaten humans no longer walking this earth." he adds.

    "There are no witches, in the Dusk Zone. Dark Energy isn't responsible for them. So I always wonder, from where do they come? Do you know? I'd like to find the source..." he asks. Oh, now he's shifted to talk something like business, and he pauses. "Sorry, you don't have to answer right now, I'm spoiling the meal." he says. "Plenty of time to discuss such things in less refined settings."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami shrugs. "I may as well answer right now. I don't know where they come from," she says. She's never been able to get a clear answer out of Kyubey about it, on the few occasions she's tried. He knows frustratingly little about things, or at least it seems that way at times. "All I know is that they always keep coming, and it's my duty to kill them."

She eats the rest of her beef, and finishes the tea, and sits back as she waits for the next course to be brought. They do not have very many left. Maybe this will be dessert! Oh how Mami loves dessert.

She leans back in her seat and just looks across the table a Takashi and smiles. The way he talks is always so self-important. Like he's so mature He's a professional. She wonders, though, if that 'team' he said he had is actually his little sisters that he watches after. That's just cute. She smiles, thinking about Takashi and that young girl Hotaru she met at the shrine. They must be precious together.

That's the kind of stuff she fights to protect, right there. Even if it is just in her imagination. He is a villain, after all, maybe he's not actually a good big brother at all. She just suspects he probably is.

He wouldn't be so cute if he wasn't, right?

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi is... a little sad that desert isn't a cake. Tea and cakes, it was kind of a thing. But it was -time- for desert, rather than just both of them looking at the other as though the candy they sought was all eye candy.

    Two small wafer shells put in front of each of them - full of smaller bite-sized Japanese sweets - wwith the wafer itself emblazaoned with the restraunt's logo. Takashi tells the waiter to pass on his compliments to the kitchen - everything was delicious, he sees why the place has the reputation it does, the food and drink and service made the date a magical night. He is effusive with his praise of the staff. And he really did enjoy the food, it was all truthful, but he's also the type to be praiseful.

    And he eats the little candies while stealing the most unsubtle glances at her that anyone probably ever had. Once everything is over, he smiles. "It's late. Shall I walk you home? I know you can take care of yourself, of course. But I wanted to offer anyways."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
It would have been perfect if they had been cakes, but that's just the patissier in Mami talking. The candies are delicious all the same, and absolutely satisfy her sweet tooth. While she's eating the dessert, she does not pay nearly as much attention to Takashi as he does to her, so she misses all his not-so-subtle glances. But she knows in her heart that he's making them.

He makes the offer, and she wants to say yes, but it's a bit too early in the relationship for him to know where she lives. She lives alone, after all. So she smiles. "How about you walk me to campus. It's about halfway," she says. A nice compromise that extends their date, gives them some time to maybe hold hands and just be teenagers together.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi can't help but laugh as they push in their chairs and head outside. "That's funny, then it means you'll be walking -me- home." he says. "How very modern of us." he continues, just kind of snickering. "But yeah, I live on campus. So one way or another, that's where I'm headed anyways."

    It's not too long after they leave that Mami will at least feel the back of his hand brushing the back of hers. If she lets him entangle his hand with hers, after a moment, he'll grip her's tightly and pull her a little closer to himself, before his grip relaxes - she's not being pulled down the street or anything, and not in any way held against her will. The realization, from his perspective, does mean that he's trying to search for the next thing to say, the words that offset the action.

    "I enjoy talking with you, and being around you." is what he settles on. Imperfect but highly accurate.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
It's funny. Mami laughs too. "Well, then I'll be sure to walk you right to your door, Takashi-kun," she says with a smile as they walk toward the door. "Got to make sure you get home safe," she says. And doesn't cause any trouble, she doesn't say.

She doesn't take his hand right away, because she doesn't want to seem too eager, but when his hand brushes against hers she eagerly accepts it. Her fingers lacing with his. She steps in closer, her shoulder bumping against him. They're as close as can be and still walk.

She looks up at him for a moment and smiles, then looks back down at the path before them. "That feeling is mutual," she says, some color rising up in her cheeks. It's a good thing it's dark out. "I keep thinking about you," she adds.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    They probably both know that Takashi causing trouble is inevitable. One day they'll probably have to look across battle lines at each other. Or, maybe not. Maybe Takashi can keep his word about grief seeds and Mami will keep her ribbon-created guns out of all of the other situations. A Puella Magi's life is a different kind than the other magical girls, after all - every little non-witch intervention comes with a cost.

    "I wanted to text you every evening since I got your number." he admits. "I just couldn't find any witches to be an excuse. Today I just gave up and took the chance." he laughs. "Glad I did - Not that I won't keep looking for em'."

    "I didn't think I'd find anybody I could... like, and talk to." he admits. "I mean, even you shot me." he says, laughing. "One of my friends, he's got this girl that he's gone all crazy for. I didn't really get it when he first started talking to her. Now I do."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"I was beginning to worry you were actually only interested in me professionally," Mami admits, before glancing up at him. "I was worried I'd misread everything." There's a moment where her lips press together and then she smiles. "I'm glad I didn't."

They walk along for a few moments, a silence hanging in the air after Takashi's comment about his friend. "Is he a work friend?" She already knows the answer to this one, or at least she can guess it. Takashi's such a workaholic, he probably doesn't have any other kind. It's true for her, isn't it? They have so much in common.

"I didn't think I'd find anybody I could be myself with," she says. "It's not like I can just tell any random boy at school. And it's not like I have time to bother with people who can't help me. Mitakihara doesn't protect itself."

She said a word, though, and it gets her thinking. There's a moment as a smile spreads across her face and her blush rises to her cheeks. "What do we want to tell people at school?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Honestly... as long as they don't know I'm Riventon? You having a person who you're sweet on shouldn't be a big deal, right?" He says. "I haven't woken up with anybody angrily outside my door so I'm assuming you've kept my secret. And as long as that's the case it shouldn't be a thing. There's a few people who know me on both sides, but all of them work for the same company and have their own secrets to keep, so worst we'll get is some teasing." he says.

    "My work friends and my non-work friends kind of bleed over." So that means yes, he doesn't have any other kind. "I actually knew him before all of the 'work' stuff kicked off though." he continues. "We grew up together, same orphanages, stayed together, took him a lot longer to develop any... abilities... though. Pretty much my closest family, my brother. Even if his girl means we talk less now..." He snickers, and almost mentions how he thinks Hematite is looking to jump the fence, but doesn't because he doesn't want to deal with that on a happy day, and doubly doesn't want her to get the idea he might do it.

    "As far as what we tell them... I think that's up to you. We're together, if you want to be. Or dating, if that's a step too far for you. I don't know how you want to term it, but I'll follow your lead. This one time." he squeezes her hand on the last line, and his tone is still teasing, joking.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"Of course I haven't said anything," Mami says, like it's obvious she wouldn't. "If you set aside the fact that I said I wouldn't. I don't want anybody knowing I'm dating Riventon. Nobody would come to my tea parties." Nobody usually comes to her tea parties now, but she doesn't imagine any of the girls she met the other day would approve. Well, maybe Sayaka would. Kyubey doesn't like him, so she might approve on principle.

She listens as her suspicions are confirmed. He only has work friends. She's basically a work friend even. More or less. She listens to him talk about his friend. His brother. And then it hits her. "Wait. Is this the guy that rescued you from me and Kyouko? With the black rose?" She took that rose home with her from that fight. Kyouko gave it to her.

She scoots just a little bit closer, drawing his hand across her body so that she can take hold of it with both. She's practically hugging his whole arm to her. She leans her head against it and then lets out a happy sigh. "I know all of this is so sudden. Unexpected. This is only just our first date," she says softly. "But I like the way together sounds."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "I mean, I would come to your tea parties." he points out, with a smirk. "But I get it, right? Awkward, probably. I wish it wasn't." he admits, "But that's the way it is. You're bound to end up with some of my really close friends - my found family - knowing, but they won't tell anybody about me and thus make it difficult."

    And then he pauses. "Oh man, yeah that's him... he knows you're a sparkleskirt... and like, he knows you shot me, I am never gonna hear the end of this." he whines. Mostly joking. But there's a little annoyance there for sure. Or perhaps, dread of infinite teasing.

    "I mean, maybe it's moving so sudden because it's so right." That's a very hoped statement. "I like the way together feels, too." he says as she snuggles against her arm. "It is the answer I was hoping you'd go with."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"This is a terrible idea, and we both know it," Mami says, but she doesn't sound upset it about it at all. Indeed. The way she says it, she sounds delighted. "But maybe that's why it feels so right." They're teenagers. They do not need a lot of justification to be into one another. "But I just had the best meal of my entire life at a restaurant I've dreamed about going to since I was a little girl. So, whether it's right or not, I'm in."

She does not let go of his hand with either of hers, continuing to walk with his arm held tightly to her. She's always struggled to keep friends. Ever since she became a Puella Magi. Nobody can relate. Nobody can understand. But now, not only is she making friends, but she has a boyfriend? Maybe she's dreaming. She bites the inside of her lip just hard enough that it hurts. Ouch. She's not dreaming. This really is happening. If his friend Hematite can make it work with his girl, maybe they can too.

And then it hits her. That word he said. "Sparkleskirt? Is that what you call us?" She bursts out laughing. Not giggling. Laughing.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi laughs. "Okay look, if you keep calling it a terrible idea out loud, Cosmic Destiny is gonna hear us or something. We're both magical people, our emotions can literally affect the world in ways that are, quite frankly bullshit, and break the laws of known science. You gotta want it to be a good idea or you're ensuring its a bad one. Put the right energy out into our universe!" He is teasing... mostly. There's some truth to it, too.

    He does not want her to let go of his hand. Not now, not ever. Of course she'll have to, but it doesn't mean he'll like it that way. It's nice, feeling her be almost possessive of him. Or, loathe to risk him going away.

    And then she's giggling about the word. "It started as kind of a term of derision, but it spread and now it just is internal shorthand. It's a lot easier than saying 'magical boys and girls that aren't dark energy'." he explains.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Not giggling. Laughing.

"Of course, you needed a word," she says, before taking a breath. She was laughing. She forgot to breathe, so it's a deep one. "And there's so many different kinds of us. So you could call me a Puella Magi, but what good does that do for some other magical girl?" She has sympathy for his taxonomic plight. "It's just that it sounds a bit ridiculous compared to the rest of the language you use."

But then she makes this stupid grin. "But I guess we all are a bit ridiculous." She pauses a beat and then tugs on his hand just a little as she asks, "So if I am a sparkleskirt, what does that make you?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Yeah, she was laughing. And he couldn't blame her. Once removed from the day to day, the word was ridiculous. "You're not wrong." Takashi says, bluntly. "It's a ridiculous word but magic is ridiculous, too. You pull a number of what are as far as I can tell, matchlock rifles, out of nowhere and fire them. I can float and fly. I could pick you up and fly while princess carrying you, right now. And it's probably more ridiculous to you than it is to me because I've always had some wierd stuff going on with me but most people don't even have that. Just one day they're creating medieval weapons out of energy and slapping things that look like they were made out of paper mache and sewing thread to save the world. Fighting in the shadows, meeting up with literal monsters and stuff out of imagination. There is an actual six-foot-tall wolf-man that works at my job, Mami-san." he says. "When that's my day-to-day, the word sparkleskirt is one more ridiculous thing in a ridiculous life."

    "Part of my job is to make sense of it but that's kind of a hopeless task, best I can do is catalog stuff and try and figure out where there's a cause and effect but the mechanisms of that are totally out of my reach." he says, and the whole thing is... either very amusing to him or very troubling or both.

    Then Takashi shrugs. "I don't know, you'd be the one that knows more about what you girls call us. All I ever hear us called is 'jerks' honestly."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami rolls her eyes, and he's lucky that's all she did. "No, what do you call you? Is it something boring like dark energy users? If I'm a sparkleskirt, what are you? In your words, not ours? I just call you Takashi-kun."

She doesn't wait for him to answer, but instead goes on to address what he said. "You're right. Just so long as you're aware that you, too, are ridiculous, we're good here." She giggles and squeezes his hand again, tugging his arm a little as she leans in close.

They've been walking for a little while, so it should come as no surprise when they arrive at campus. At the dorms. When they stop, she lets go of his hand, but only so that she can wrap her arms around him in a hug, her head pressed to his chest. "Tonight was magical. And I do want this to be good." She turns her head up then, to gaze at him, with slightly parted lips, and a hopeful look in her eyes.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    He actually has to stop and think about what he would call them. "I... am not sure." he admits. And while he has more to say, Mami is moving on, so he is as well.

    "We're all rather ridiculous here." he agrees. "Ridiculous and yet really serious, you know?" he says, and then they're at the dorm and she's hugging him and he doesn't really care much about ridiculous words or ridiculous physics-breaking situations. In that moment all he actually cares about is the girl in front of him...

    It's clear what she wants. He's not -that- daft. The question he's asking is whether to kiss her now, or make her wait for it until next time. But it's a kiss, right? Not worth taunting her with. Save tthat for later.

    But it has the effect of him pulling away for a moment, before turning around to press his lips against hers prior to heading to his dorm room.