Madoka is in a good mood! It's kind of hard not to be when school is no longer worrying her as much as it was last year, she just hosted a successful beach party, and she's getting to spend so much time with her girlfriend. Oh, there are certainly things to worry about and she does worry about them, but for now their Grief Seed situation is effectively stable so long as they don't go using a bunch of magic in fights against non-Witches. Though her magic use isn't as flatlined as Kyouko's was when her Soul Gem cracked the most she's used has been to transform a few times without doing much more than moving around.
Right now that isn't very much on her mind, however, because she's downstairs at home wearing a light and strappy white summer dress and waiting for Homura to come over. So far as she knew there wasn't anything special about this visit, but she enjoys spending time with her so much it really doesn't have to be. Her mom is staying out late with coworkers as usual, and Tomohisa has Tatsuya on the couch and is reading a book to him, helping teach him how to read, and Madoka is sitting near them following along. As soon as any indication of door knocking or doorbell ringing is heard she'll pop right up and try not to run as she goes to the door.
Failure never felt so good.
There's a knock on the door, simple and polite, and then a ringing of the doorbell after the visitor remembers that it's there. The door opens, and Homura is standing there in a purple summer dress, smiling mysteriously as if she knows some wonderful secret that world doesn't. The hems of her dress are lined with darker purple lace, and she's holding a bright white gift bag in her hands.
"Madoka-chan!" she greets, cheerfully. Homura takes a step forward, giving Madoka a soft peck on the lips, lingering close to give her a slightly more drawn out kiss. A hand releases the gift bag, and the opposite arm wraps around Madoka's back, holding her close and holding the gift behind her.
"No sunburn, I hope? You don't look too burnt."
The black-haired girl is halfway tempted to just hang out here and hold Madoka, but she also knows it'd be a bit more fun if they went inside. She takes Madoka's hand in hers, holding as if they're dancing, and gently leads Madoka inside to an unheard rhythm. Her foot hooks around the corner of the door and pushes it closed, almost silently.
When she spots Tomohisa and Tatsuya in the living room, she wiggling her fingers at them in greeting, but not speaking as to not interrupt the story.
Stocking feet can be heard quickly making their way to the door after Homura knocks. The door isn't pulled open with aggression, but rather at a normal pace. "Homura-chan!" the pink-haired girl exclaims happily, taking a step back so Homura can walk through, smiling at the kiss and leaning into it, making a soft happy sound as it lingers. "Mmm..."
Gift bags are interesting and provoke curiosity, but kisses and hugs are always to be treasured.
"Nope, no sunburn! Though I think I am going to get a bit of a tan." It wasn't enough time in the sun to start bleaching her hair though, she thinks to herself. Her hands reach up and squeeze Homura's gently, meeting the other girl's half way when one of them is reached for. She turns afterwards, eyes lingering for a moment on Homura's, and walks into the living room where her father and little brother sit together on the couch, smiling happily. Tomohisa returns Homura's wave with one of his own, looking up to her over for a moment before returning his eyes to the book, not missing a beat as he recounts some tale about bunnies raiding vegetable gardens.
The newcomer is of course very curious to the young boy, however, who starts paying more attention to the two girls than the book being read. Madoka giggles, taking the lead for a moment to swing closer to the couch and give a ruffle to her brother's hair. "Pay attention to the story, Tatsuya. You're just about to get to the good part!" Since she's close she leans down and gives her dad a kiss on the cheek; it's not something she'd normally do but having Homura with her makes her feel especially affectionate towards those she loves. She's certainly learned a lot about not taking those she cares about for granted, over the last year or so.
Afterwards she relinquishes control, peeking up towards the stairs to her bedroom and then back to Homura. Is that where they're headed? Her eyes also peek to the gift bag! Whatever could be inside?
Homura giggles softly at the impromptu dance. When Madoka reports the absence of sunburn she whispers, "Good! All the better to cuddle you with my dear."
Tatsuya is just too cute, and as many issues as Homura has had, an aversion to children isn't one of them. She smiles at him as Madoka passes by, but stays quiet so as not to interrupt the family moment too much. Her eyes glance towards the book, noting that she remembers it from her own childhood. It really is a heartwarming scene, Madoka's family together like this.
For an instant, Homura is taken back in time to when she had to wonder whether or not Madoka would even have more moments like this. She hasn't thought about it often, and Madoka took all of of those negative feelings away, but for right now she is grateful, so grateful, that Madoka is even alive. Everything that Homura fought for wasn't for nothing.
She holds onto Madoka tight. The gift bag betrays no secrets, the black tissue dutifully covering whatever is inside. One thing that Madoka can tell is that, either the gift itself is big, or there is a lot of tissue inside, because the bag seems to be full.
Madoka glances to her room, and Homura nods. She gives Tatsuya a short pat on the head before leading Madoka up the stairs and away. Dancing the whole way would be a little awkward, but she does take Madoka by the hand and walk, eager to get going but not wanting to run too fast.
Halfway up the stairs, Homura gets nostalgic again, remembering when she came here after Walpurgisnacht, alone with Madoka. She then looks into Madoka's eyes. "You know... you promised me you would give me many happy memories. You've done that. Even coming here makes me happy, just thinking of all the fun we had."
On the subject of the gift bag, Homura is mercilessly and teasingly silent, though there's a glint in her eyes when Madoka tries to peek.
All the better to cuddle her with? Madoka quickly covers her mouth so her giggling doesn't get too loud as they head in to where the book is being read, leaning in to nuzzle her cheek against Homura's for brief moment instead of giving a verbal response. Her smile is extra warm and bright as they go deeper into the house.
It's safe to say that without Homura's help there would be no more moments like this for Madoka and her family. It's impossible to say what all would have happened, but sweet moments like this one between father and daughter, brother and sister simply wouldn't have been possible. She smiles as Homura holds onto her, leaning against her after she leans back up after the cheek kiss given to her father.
Tatsuya, naughty boy that he is, is easily distracted by the hair ruffling and head pat from Madoka and Homura, and as they move past he twists in his fathers lap to watch them go, only to have his attention brought back to the book by skilful intonations and pointing to colorful illustrations.
Up the stairs Madoka follows, peeking upwards at her girlfriend from behind, admiring her, her dress, and her long black hair. It's hard not to grin, when such a beautiful sight is before her, and doubly so when that beautiful sight is her girlfriend and many close hugs and snuggles are anticipated. "Mmm, it's been almost five months since then, hasn't it? If I'm setting an even pace that's a little over three of your trips," odd wording because Papa might be able to hear, "if that's the case I have to keep you happy for thirty times as long as I already have- at least!" She giggles a little- it sounds like such a very long time. And yet...
"To be honest, I think even that isn't enough. That's a lot of compound interest!"
They reach the top of the stairs and Madoka walks past Homura, turning around and drawing her towards her rooms with both hands, reaching to her and resting a hand on her waist but holding a very light grip both there and on her hand, trying to draw her forward with the force of attraction between them as much as physical guidance. The door to her room is open and she makes that turn, hand slipping past to Homura's back as she draws her into a hug even as she pushes her door closed with her toe.
She takes in a deep breath and lets it out as a long sigh, pressing up very close to Homura as she hugs her, so much anticipation for it built up even over this short walk through the house. "I love being close to you so much," she says at normal speaking volume, though her voices wavers a little by the depth of emotion.
She doesn't ask about the giftbag directly just yet. It isn't that she doesn't want to know- it's just that right now is hug time.
Five months. Five months of hugging and cuddling and kissing and affection and... and...
Homura sighs happily. Five months of love and bliss. She waits until she's sure she's out of earshot of Madoka's dad and brother, because she starts going into details, and she speaks in a low voice, almost thinking out loud more than stating it. "It was twelve years. If I calculate it out... The first trip wasn't stressful until the end, so I'll only count the last day. There were 46 days per loop." Yes, she has memorized that factoid. "And if I don't count the first loop there was only 98 loops. So that comes out to... 4,508 plus one, 4,509 days. If I count a year as 365.25 days, to account for leap years, that comes out to 12 years, a 30-day month, and 4 days... plus a few hours. Not counting any days in this timeloop."
"Let's see... we've been dating for five months, but you've been giving me happy memories long before then. If we're going to be fair, I'll have to count at least the first 10 or so timeloops, and several months of this time loop, but even if we only count when we've been dating, it would be... It was the night of the 25th of January, possibly close to midnight. So that's 6 days of January, 29 of Feburary, 31 of March, April, and May, then 22 days of June.... so roughly 2.6 timeloops. We'd still need 17 to finish a third."
Someone's been doing a lot of math lately if she can hold all of that in her head. Either that or she's modified her brain to better handle it in the same way she modifies the rest of her. Or maybe she's just been listening to the same math lectures for nearly half her lifetime. After a moment, she catches herself, and kindof laughs. "Sorry! I'm being nerdy. Maybe that's not romantic."
Still, she can't help but think, lured as she is by the sight of her beloved going into her room. "I wonder where we'd be, in another 12 years. We might have already graduated from college by then." She closes her eyes, and then opens them to smile at Madoka. "If we're this happy now, just imagine how it will be then. I'm looking forward to finding out, Madoka-chan, and I'll take every good memory that you want to share with me."
Hug time happens, and Homura holds her girlfriend close. She stays there, nuzzling against Madoka for a good amount of time. Then, sneakily, Homura reaches into her bag, the faint rustling of tissue and shopping bag possibly giving her actions away. "I love being close to you, Madoka-chan. I love every moment, but... what's that?" When she pulls her hand out, something amazingly soft and comfortable begins to bounce it's way up Madoka's back. If it makes it to her head, soft grey octopus arms will fall over her face.
If Madoka happens to see it, it's a black and grey octopus plushie, and it's very nicely made. The fabric is soft to the touch, seeming to be fleese, the filling is firm enough to be a pillow but soft enough to be highly squeezable. And, as a nice touch, the plushie octopus has a little pirate captain's hat and an eyepatch.
Homura gasps, then speaks in a silly, faux frightened voice. "Oh no! We're being attacked by pirates! Batten down the hatches!"
If Madoka looks into the gift bag, she might see there's something in it, albeit smaller. A tiny black tail sticks out, looking like the same kind of fleese.
Homura goes into Math Mode and Madoka does her best to follow along. This is where actually being caught up on her Infinity University education helps a lot. When Homura calculates it was about 2.6 timeloops worth of time since they started dating Madoka hums, "My guess wasn't very close." A tiny, slightly playful pout. "I'm okay with that though, since it means I have more makeup hugs to give you!"
At the mention of it being nerdy and not romantic Madoka giggles and shakes her head, "It isn't unromantic. You're cute when your nerdy, and it reminds me that you're as smart as you are beautiful. I'm so lucky~!"
Where will they be in 12 years? Wow, that's a heck of a question. A part of Madoka's mind instantly responds 'Married', because the odds they will be if they make it that long is approaching divide by zero error territory. A world where the two of them date so long and don't engage in that social ritual? Undefined! Even Junko would probably wonder why not.
"Together," she instead says firmly, "and hopefully with a busy and successful business! Salamander Salvage should be huge by then; I wonder if it'll be any harder going to college and doing everything we do now. A lot of Infinity's courses are college level, anyway." In the end she can't help but nod in agreement, "I want to see it too, Homura-chan. I want to see you happy and I want to be in love with you and snuggling with you every day twelve years from now."
Madoka is more than happy to hug and nuzzle Homura as long as she likes. Her arms wrap around the other girl and squeeze her close, rubbing her back warmly up and down as she enjoys the contact, both from the physical touch and the emotional effect of being so close to the one she loves. She smiles happily when Homura starts to speak, only to make a quiet, "Hm?" at the 'what's that?'
Something soft is teasing up her back! Madoka giggles, squirming into Homura as the plushy softness teases over her bare neck. She doesn't stop this climb, gigging more and smiling when the plushy sits atop her head and the octopus arms fall down over her face. "Oh, Homura-chan, I love it! It's so fuzzy-wuzzy soft, and it has eight little arms to hug me with~!" Yes, that is exactly where her mind goes once she realizes it's an octopus.
Homura's squeaky voice results in her laughing playfully, the dark haired girl able to feel her shaking against her in her arms. "Not the pirates!" she says in a shocked little voice, playing right along. "Don't worry, Captain, I'll keep you safe with me!" She reaches up and tries to take the plushie from her head, nestling it into the crook of her neck and nuzzling against it, which has the added effect of brushing it against Homura's cheek as well, and one of Madoka's pigtails and her head brushing on her as well. "Don't be afraid, Madoka will protect you~"
She catches sight of the bag, blinking a little and giggling when she sees there's more to come.
Madoka says that it isn't unromantic, and Homura is happy to hear that. Her smile doesn't change much, but it can be seen in her eyes. "Thank you. It's still close if you round up!"
Homura doesn't wonder whether or not they'd be married by then. If they graduate college and haven't been married by then, she's decided that she'd propose. She's willing to wait as long as is reasonable, but she doesn't want to wait forever, or to keep Madoka waiting forever. She does wonder, though. What would their last name be? Homura Kaname is a nice name, though Madoka Akemi also has a nice ring to it. Maybe some mix of the two, such as Akemi-Kaname or Kaname-Akemi. Or something.
Well they can figure it out. They have time, and Homura finds herself more pleased about the implications of the names rather than how they sound.
She likes the answer of 'Together'. Regardless of what else may happen, as long as she gets to be with her Madoka-chan, then she can't imagine it being an unhappy future. "That's right." She glances off to the side at the mention of Salamander. "That's a learning experience. Dealing with employees all the time. I'm used to saving people when I fight monsters, but being depended upon for a paycheck is something else entirely."
"I guess I don't really know what that's like, to have a family to look after or people relying on me like that, but I do want to keep things going. Not just for our sake or the Contractor's sake, but we owe it to the people who support us to do our best."
Kind of an optimistic view for Homura, or maybe it's just dutiful. She has never not done everything she could, regardless of whether or not it was good enough, or whether or not it was too much for her to handle.
Are college classes harder than Infinity Middle courses? Homura... actually took her college courses elsewhere. Infinity didn't exist in timelines where she studied on a college level. "I think if we can manage this, we can manage a college level workload. Even if we can't, we can take college at part time. It will just take longer to get our degrees, but it won't be impossible. I'm sure our parents would prefer us to have that level of education no matter how loaded we are."
Realistically speaking, with the way they've been going it'd be easy to guess that they'd still be cuddling all the time. Especially if they were married... cuddling every day. Every night they went to bed and every morning when they woke up. Homura thinks about it, and her cheek gets more and more flush. Oh geeze. She's never going to get that image out of her head now.
"I'd like that," whispers Homura. Presumably to the topic of being in love and snuggling every day.
The playful revealing of the gift is well-received, maybe even a bit better than Homura anticipated. Good! Madoka is happy. Mission complete. She giggles as Madoka says she'll protect her, holding the plushie between them. "Oh thank you, my First Mate! I'll always feel safe in your arms~."
Homura holds Madoka close, hair falling over the plushie and Madoka's shoulders. She speaks softly, "I still think you're the huggily-est, but I tried to find the most snuggly plushies I could!" Yeah, more than one.
Homura reaches into the bag and produces the second, smaller plushie. It's a small black kitten, looking vaguely reminiscent of Amy but with a big red bow behind the neck. She brushes it against Madoka's neck and makes soft 'nyan' noises.
"I just had to get you these. It's hard to see a plushie and not think of you."
Madoka smiles when Homura mentions rounding up, liking that she's trying to make her feel good about herself. Compliments instead of put downs! Not that she'd ever expect Homura to put her down.
It's funny. They have talked a little bit about how now was definitely not the right time to act on such thoughts, but it's very tempting to think about marriage and setting in a firm social contract that they're committed to each other for life. To really live together and have a home together, to be able to spend every night and morning in each other's arms, and to wear each other's rings. To be partners in all things.
It's a trope that all little girls dream of the day of their wedding and of getting married. Madoka isn't sure how true that is; it isn't a thing she'd ever really focused heavily on before she met someone she seriously felt spending forever with. But ever since she tried Homura's Soul Gem ring on her finger she's thought of these things.
Salamander is a learning experience? Madoka's head tilts lightly. It makes sense. "They really respect you, you know," she comments. "Everybody knows you're trying to do what's best for the company and everyone's security, that you want Salamander to be great, and you're not cutting corners just to make a little bit more money for yourself." Her eyes turn upwards and her head tilts in the other direction, "It is true that they depend on you to run the company well so they can get paid, but we also depend on them to do their jobs well." She blushes a little, feeling slightly silly, "It makes me happy to see people working so well together. It might be stressful, but when it works it's a beautiful thing, everybody coming together for a common goal." Even when that goal is to run a profitable company!
Homura talks about wanting to do good for the people that rely on them, and Madoka giggles quietly before giving her a warm squeeze in their embrace, "And that's why everyone respects you so much; you really do care about them."
Madoka mostly nods along with Homura as she talks about their ability to handle college level classes, though when their parents wanting them to actually attain a college education is brought up she looks mildly distressed, "Your right, they really will, won't they? I guess I thought it was a little silly, since we're going to be busy fighting Witches and running a business. If we're already successful I didn't really think extra school would be more than a novelty, but Mama and Papa will probably think it's a very big deal." A sigh.
She fidgets a little, "To be honest, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to go to college. I'm already a magical girl. I'm already doing what I know in my heart I was meant to do." Another sigh, "But Mama would probably be very upset with me if I didn't, especially when I'd be in automatically at Infinity."
Luckily there are very fun things to distract her and keep her from fretting about additional years of very difficult schooling! She nuzzles heavily against Homura as she says she feels safe in her arms, cooing in a soothing manner, as if that's somehow necessary with the pirate threat. She giggles afterwards squeezing Homura tight when she calls her the 'huggily-est', "You did a very good job!" The kitten plushy is produced, and Madoka can't quite help herself, leaning her head against it and nuzzling against it as it's brushed against her. "It's so soft! And it's so, so cute!" She squeals playfully, twisting back and forth from side to side, taking Homura along for the ride. "Thank you. I love them!" she states cheerfully.
'It's hard to see a plushie and not think of you.'
A soft blush settles firmly upon Madoka's cheeks, and she reaches past Homura to the now empty bag, which she sets on her desk by the door. Then she turns slightly, drawing Homura along with her as she moves over to her bed, untangling her arms from around Homura so she can climb up on it, scooting over near the window and laying down on her back, picking up the black and grey octopus plushie and setting it down on her chest, turning it a little so she can get a comfortable grip on it from behind.
Just in case she isn't following automatically Madoka pats the bed next to her, and wiggles the plushie she to the side, it's little legs bouncing around from the motion to give it a very silly walk. "Arrr!" she growls in a very silly, high pitched voice, "I'm Inky th' pirate, and you better listen to my demands or you'll be walkin' the plank!" She wiggles it closer, 'walking' it over to the black kitten, "I'll be takin' all your hugs now, and don't you dare think about holding back on me! I've got eight strong huggin' arms and I know when I'm bein' stiffed!"
Homura smirks. "If I wanted to cut corners I'd cut the whole company and live off the money. I could support myself, you, maybe even a few kids with that, but I don't want to just slack off. I want to actually live my life. You've given so much just so I can still be here. I'm not going to waste it."
What Madoka says about her employees gets her thinking. "I'm glad to hear that they respect me. I wonder about that sometimes, being so much younger than many of them, but I suppose if they had a problem with that then they wouldn't take the job to begin with. I do care, I won't deny that."
A common goal. Yeah, profit is one way of looking at it, but those aren't the words that come out of Homura's mouth. "We're creating homes for people, and soon we may be making schools, places of business, and maybe even those cute little corner coffee stores. These are worthy goals to pursue. Sure, we get money for it, but that's a means to an end. Everyone has to eat, but more than that... Non-magically, we're building a future, and magically, we're securing it."
She holds Madoka tight. "You help a lot with that. It lifts everyone's spirits when you're around. You really are an asset, Madoka-chan, and you know how to get people to get along smoothly. I'm really glad you're doing this with me." She chuckles. "I suppose it's easier to get people to listen to your hopefulness when you outrank them."
Homura Akemi tries to imagine Junko hearing that her daughter might not go through college. She... really doesn't want to be the one to deliver that kind of news. "They probably would. Even if we had a lot on our plate, your parents don't know about the Witches. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something that will help with being a magical girl. Psychology, maybe, or medicine."
She doesn't push the issue beyond that if Madoka would rather talk about fun and cute things, since fun and cute is exactly what she came here for. Madoka is appreciating her gifts, and it causes Homura's heart to flutter. Seeing her beloved in so much joy, and swinging back and forth with Madoka... "I'm glad. I'm really glad."
Homura watches as Madoka lays on the bed, and her feet move almost instinctually, yet slowly, drawn like a moth to her flame. Then Madoka introduces 'inky the pirate' and Homura's heart just melts. She drops to her knees in giggles, and covers her mouth to not be too loud. "Oh my god... hahaha... that's so cute... hahahaha..."
She crawls towards the bed, because Madoka and cuddles await her, and climbs in. She scoots closer, wrapping her arms around Madoka and the freshly-named Inky. She snuggles up close, closing her eyes. The kitten also gets squished between them, caught up in the hug. "If that's how it is, then I have no choice but to pay the cuddly ransom~."