707/Tea Time at Mami's Episode 707: Tiny Family Hugs

Tea Time at Mami's Episode 707: Tiny Family Hugs
Date of Scene:	05 November 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Mami invites Norie over with intent to hug her! Ribbons should be safe for Norie to touch, right? Right. After an emotional embrace, Norie brings up Mami's joining Obsidian, and the tiny little family that's Takashi's team. The tiny little family Mami's already insinuating herself into. Having a team would be nice.
Cast of Characters:	Mami Tomoe, Norie Okana

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Mami Tomoe has posed:
For as long as she could remember, Mami Tomoe had wanted to be a big sister. Life had other plans for her, but now she's got the chance. Her heart broke when she learned Norie's story, and she had to do something about it. She had formulated a plan, and step one was luring Norie over with tea and cake. She prepared the cake the day before: a two layer lemon cake, with lemon curd between, and lemon icing. She left it in the fridge to set overnight.

Her apartment is easy to find. It's in Mitakihara, not that far from Obsidian Tower. There is a sign that reads "Tomoe" outside the door. Inside the apartment is rather spacious. It's a large open floorplan. There is a well-equipped, modern kitchen with an island set into one corner of the main space, and opposite that is a seating area with a futon, a chair, and a low triangular table. Big, floor-to-ceiling windows look out over the city. A hallway leads off toward the bathroom and bedroom.

They didn't have classes today, and so Mami just texted Norie her address along with the invitation. Now, while she waited, she mils about the apartment, tidying it up. It is already tidy.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana arrives via a short walk. Sometimes, you walked, even if you could teleport vast distances. She would take the elevator up and find the door marked 'Tomoe' and knock. When let in, she'd bow. "Mami-senpai." she said, in monotone. She seemed ashamed she couldn't sound...elated. Monotone was the most she could get to.

"I smell. Cake." she says. She blinked however, at the spaciousness of the apartment. "-this is a big place..." she trailed off, looking out the big window, reminding her of the windows in Obsidian's nicer offices.

"That's a nice view..." she trailed off, again before 'ahing' and looking at the other older girl. "Apologies." she said. "I was just looking around." she said, more bashfully.

"I like it." she surmised.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"Norie-chan!" Mami exclaimed with a big smile after throwing open the door. She's got enough enthusiasm for them both. "I'm so glad you could come over, come in," she said, stepping aside so the young girl could enter the apartment, shutting the door behind her.

"Yes! I remembered you liked the lemon cake, so I made something a little more special," she says with a grin, watching as Norie looks around the apartment. Mami heads over to the kitchen and puts on water in the electric kettle and sets it to boiling before getting out a teapot and preparing it with green tea leaves.

"It's one of the only thing that keeps me connected to my parents," she says, softly, a sad sort of smile on her face. "Even now, years later, it feels a little like they're watching over me."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana nods. "I did like the lemon cake." she says softy, looking around still, before she follows you to the kitchen and lets you fill up the electric kettle. She looks to the cake and walks over to it, examining it a bit as she head tilts a little at it, as she looks back.

"I'm sorry." she says quietly. "But if you find solace in it... I can't judge you." she says quietly.

"I.."

"Thank you for..."

"Not...pushing me. Sayaka... Amy... lots of others try to. Get me to smile. Demand I smile. When I can't..." she says quietly.

"And even that. Is a lie. Mami-senpai." she says quietly. "I can laugh. I can smile just. Inappropriately. Things. Like. Pain in... others is... funny and..." she trails off.

"Sorry. I shouldn't had admitted that. But. It's just. Everything. Is twisted about me."

"Do you think of your parents often, Mami-senpai...?" she asks quietly.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
There's a few minutes while the kettle is heating up for them to just stand there and talk. Mami looks at Norie, her eyes wide and just a little sad, but she's smiling.

"I do, though less now than before. Their memory is a little more distant, and I'm making so many new ones," Mami answers easily. She does not seem bothered by the topic at all. "I try to visit their graves at least once a month, and tell them about what's up in my life." She laughs just a little, a sad sort of laugh. "I probably tell them more now than I would have if they were alive." There's more to her life now than there would have been if they were still alive.

The kettle starts to steam and then it beeps. It's just the right temperature for green tea: not quite boiling. Mami grabs it and pours it over the leaves in the teapot, and then sets the pot on a tray with a couple of cups on it.

"There's nothing twisted about you, Norie-chan," she says, as she gets a knife and slices into the cake. "It clearly bothers you that you feel these things, but deep down you don't want to, even if you do on the surface. It's that amulet, and Takashi-kun is working on figuring that out." Eventually. It's 'on his list'.

The tray is laden with cake and tea, and she carries it over to the table. "I don't want to push you, but, you seem so lonely," she says as she sits down along the shorter side of the triangular table. "If you could get hugged without draining anybody, would you want to?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is happy to sit down as she listens. "Ah. So. Taka-senpai has told you a little. That's okay. Yes. It's the amulet that's done all this to me. The necklace. I know he's looking for ways to fix it's influence. I'd just. Settle for having my feelings back." she admits. "It would make everything else bearable." she says quietly.

She acquires a slice of cake and tea and starts eating quietly for a bit as she listens softly. "I'm sorry. I'm glad you have ways of dealing with it. I. Have issues with my parents now. But it didn't used to be that way." she says quietly.

"Huh?" she asks on the issues of hugs. "I mean. I guess. Casual touching... I.. have gloves but. Squeezing... stuff like that. Coaxes a drain anyway even through clothing." she says quietly.

"So I guess, It wouldn't hurt to try a way to hug without draining." she says as she nibbles the cake and closes her eyes.

"This is better than last time. Thank you." she says.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe takes her slice of cake and tastes it. Her eyes lid and she lets out a happy sigh. The curd set perfectly. The cake is just what she wanted it to be. It's always so good when a bake turns out just right. "It's really a love letter to lemons," she says, and then opens her eyes and smiles at Norie. "Next time you come over, I'll bake something different. I can do all sorts of things." She kills witches because she has to, but she bakes for the love of it.

She reaches then for the teapot and pours tea into both cups before setting it down and reaching to set one cup down in front of Norie before taking the other and setting it down in front of herself. "I'm sorry you have issues with your parents. It's never easy, being magical, but I imagine your particular circumstance makes it really hard with family."

She takes a sip of her tea and listens as Norie thinks thru her answer to Mami's question. And then she smiles. "Excellent!"

She sets her teacup down, and her ring shimmers and turns into her Soul Gem, which immediately envelops her in a yellow light and then fades away as she henshins on the spot. All it does is make her look more appropriate for a tea party with her little hat and it's poof of feathers, her yellow dress and brown corset. Her absolutely perfect hair drills, but that wasn't a change.

"So first I want to do a test," she says, and she holds out her hand. A bunch of ribbon shoots out from her sleeve and coils around until it's shaped like a little plushie doll version of Mami in the same outfit she's wearing and a little plush musket in her hands. It's a cute little plushie. She sets it down on the table, then, and says, "Give Mami-chan here a squeeze, and let's see what happens." Hopefully Takashi's worry will be set to rest.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana looks down. "My attitude has changed with. All this. When I couldn't smile or laugh anymore, and couldn't... They sent me to... to a therapist. Of course that can't fix my problem. Even if I wanted it to." she says quietly.

Then Mami transforms and she blinks a little. "D..do I transform too?" she asks hesitantly, but then Mami makes a tiny ribbon doll of her self and she blinks a little. And she looks down to it and she should probably be smiling at the tiny thing, but she can't. She does reach out and touch it without gloves, heistantly, before picking it up and trying to give it a tiny squeeze.

This feels ridicolous. She still goes through with it. Because it might make Mami-senpai happy to at least try.

"Let me know if... you feel energy draining. It'll hurt so. You'll know." she says quietly.

So that's the question. Is Mami safe?

Mami Tomoe has posed:
The theory in Mami's mind was that the ribbons weren't living, and they weren't even touching her any more. The worst that could happen was that the magic was drained from cute little Mami-chan and she fell apart. Right?

Mami still braced for any pain, but it didn't come. Maybe it was because she wasn't touching it, or maybe there was just no draining at all. Either way, it's what she was hoping for. She claps her hands together excitedly. "I don't feel a thing!"

The next question, then, is, does the doll fall apart?

Norie Okana has posed:
Mami doesn't feel anything. That's promising! The doll isn't living. It has no life energy to give like a living person, animal, or plant. It just sits there in her hands. Doesn't get drained and doesn't fall apart. Norie is awkwardly just sitting there, blinking at Mami. As she holds a Mami doll.

She blinks a little. "Well uh." she says. "I think it's okay." she says softly. "The doll seems fine. And you seem fine. and I'm not. Feeling like I'm feeding from the doll..." she trails off.

She gives it another squeeze. Just to make sure. Okay. No other reason just. Making sure. ~.~

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Before Mami goes on to enact the rest of her plan, she has a bite of cake. It's right there, after all. Then she has a sip of tea. She looks so proper in her Puella outfit, holding a teacup with her pinky stuck out. A real lady.

Without even setting the teacup down, she gestures with her other hand and coils of ribbon shoot out from her sleeve and up into the air. They arc over and spiral down into a form, a girl. Indeed, they come together and don't look like ribbons at all. There's an entire second Mami next to Norie.

And she's there to give that poor girl a hug. While Mami takes another sip of her tea, her ribbon clone leans in and throws her arms around her gloomy kohai.

She's all ribbon, though, really. That's not living, right?

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana puts down Mami-chan after a bit because she feels it's getting embarrassing. "Ah--s-sorry." she says as she puts it down on the table. She wants more cake. And Mami looking so prim and proper is enticing her to transform to be all fancy too.

Except Mami sweeps her hand up and more ribbons shoot out and there's an entire second Mami? That's... that's a neat trick. So she can. Clone herself? Like that? She's about to ask a question about this, before there's a hug.

And there's no energy drain. Nope. She's squeezed and she winces, because she's used to the crackle of dark energy, the feeling of a drain when this happens.

She relaxes when these things don't happen, and she just returns the hug...carefully. Like someone who's never hugged before. Arms around and just buries herself in the Mami clone's arms and there's still no energy drain.

Then she starts to cry. Lightly. Not a full on cry, but it's obvious enough as she just squeezes. Yeah...yeah. It's been a while. Alright?

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami takes another sip of her tea and sets her cup down. She has a very satisfied smile on her face. It's nice when a plan comes together.

Meanwhile, her ribbon clone squeezes her arms tightly around Norie, holding the younger girl close once she leans into the hug. One hand comes up to gently, and soothingly pet Norie's hair as she cries. "I'm so happy I could do this for you, Norie-chan," she says, gently.

In this moment, Mami feels like a great senpai. She just takes a long moment to bask in the feeling.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is just basking in the hug, softly crying still. She doesn't know why she's crying, but she is. When she's had enough... when she starts feeling awkward about how long the hug has gone one, because boy is she letting it go on.. she carefully lets go and wipes her eyes. "S..sorry for. the crying. I don't know why I did. But it's been a whole since I could. Hug without. Energy draining." she says quietly. "T..thank you." she says as she sniffs and finally returns to the table for cake and tea. She settles and looks like she's freshly cried.

She sniffs and takes a big sip of her tea and comes on down and takes a deep breath.

"It's been. a long time." she says quietly.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami dehenshins, and her ribbon clone unravels as the ribbon disappears. Once again, it's just the pair of them sitting there. Mami smiles. She just sits there for a moment and looks at Norie as she takes her sip of tea. "You're welcome," she says with a little bobble of her head.

"Those are available whenever you need them," she says softly. "Anything to make it just a little bit better until Takashi-kun can figure out how to undo the magic." She gets a different look in her eyes when she says his name. She feels so good about this. It feels so good. Not only did she get a boyfriend, but little sisters too! There's definitely nothing at all wrong with the Dark Energy they all use. It's definitely not a bad idea at all. She wants it to be good.

She takes another bite of her cake, and lets the lemony flavor linger in her mouth for a moment before draining the last of the tea in her cup. "Mm. Maybe I'll do chocolate next time."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana doesn't smile, but her tone grows incredibly neutral fast. A good sign. "Ah..." she says softly. "I'd like that. I like. Chocolate donuts the best. The lemon cake is really good but... I'd like to try your chocolate cakes too." she says.

"I..I'll remember that. I'll ask. I promise." she says softly, as she looks down at her cake and takes another nibble of it before she probably asks something she figured Takashi-senpai would had thought about by now.

"Have you... considered joining Obsidian?" she asks quietly.

"It could mean help and support for you too, you know. And I'm sure. Takashi would be thrilled if you asked to join his team..." she said softly.

"We're like. A tiny family in a way. Not. All of us. But. Most of us." she says softly.

"I mean. I'm not. Going to be upset if you say no, but. If Taka-senpai hasn't asked you by now. I figured. I would." she says quietly.

"It did make it better." she says in her monotone. "This right here? Is the closest I get to happy." she says with a nod. "So I can promise you. I feel. 'better'. Better is just...relative here. To others."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami certainly had considered joining Obsidian. She'd considered it before Riventon even dehenshined. Before Takashi took her on a bucket list date. Before he kissed her. She had considered it for the very reasons Norie mentioned just now. She had considered it because working with a team makes all the odds better, and if she's the only one who needs grief seeds, then the math is really simple.

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't. Though Takashi-kun has been rather insistent that I need not do so," Mami says, and then she lets out a happy sigh. "It's one of the things I really love about him. He's willing to meet me where I am, wherever that is." Then she giggles. "And he knows not to be downrange."

This is a question that needs more tea, though. Mami reaches for the pot and refills her cup. She offers more to Norie as well before setting it down. She takes a sip. It's not quite as hot as before, but still quite warm. Her eyes lid and she lets the aroma surround her, taking a deep breath.

"Whether or not I join Obsidian," Mami says, finally, opening her eyes and looking up to Norie. "I'm still Takashi-kun's girlfriend, and Hotaru-chan's big sister, and yours too." She pauses and laughs lightly. "Honestly, when you call it a 'tiny family' it practically sounds like I've joined already."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana sips tea as she nods, respectfully a little. "I'll accept that answer. Not that. I wouldn't." she says softly as she looks down into her tea cup. "I'm glad. It's important to meet us where we are. That's why I like Taka-senpai so much. He's like you. He doesn't...push me to smile. Just content when I am. Like this." she says softly. "Doesn't...push me to smile or laugh." she says.

"I'm glad you're considering it. And know you won't loose your connections like that if you don't." she nods. "At least. Not me." she says.

She does, finally manage to blush when you call her a little sister, indirectly. "Ah...t..thank you." she says lightly. "You've met Hotaru-chan. That's good. She's an absolute sweetheart. She doesn't push me either. Most of. Of my real friends don't push me emotionally. Understand... where I am at. And I need a new family anyways." she admits.

"Even if I we're fixed I caused damage I don't know if I can fix..."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami sips her tea and smiles. "She is an absolute sweetheart. I met her at the Hikawa Shrine some time ago. It's so unusual to meet someone with my family name."

Another sip of tea as she listens, and she gets a sad look in her eyes. "Maybe not," she says, her voice gentle, "but that's a problem for future Norie. A future Norie we'll work hard to give a chance to solve it, if she wants to."

She slurps the last of her tea and sets the cup down. "In the meantime. You can come over for tea and cake whenever you want to. Just let me know, and I'll make something ahead of time."