2014-01-17 - Sisters of Same Height Hospital
| Sisters of Same Height Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Madoka and Usagi, perhaps the shortest girls in their grade, are in the hospital together. Sayaka visits them and keeps a smile on her face. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Mitakihara General Hospital | |
| OOC - IC Date: 01/16/2014 - 11/~12/2013 | |
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Usagi Tsukino does not exercise. She has acted out the idea of exercising before, as best as she could reconstruct them from television: sitting on a stationary bike with headphones blaring, lacing up cute tennis shoes and stretching in the park, buying a yoga mat and prominently displaying it in a corner of her room.
She has never run miles. She has never lifted her body weight. Usagi Tsukino has never gotten that far.
Sailor Moon leaps the last fence in the alley. She pauses, red-faced and puffing, and then locates the way out. Readjust Madoka. Press your fingers against your eyes to smudge away the tears. That causes wrinkles, but it's faster than blinking. Keep running.
Luna's voice is her heart. Her real one is beating too fast. Faster than she feels comfortable thinking about. Luna's rhythm is safer, coming in steady pulses over her phone's speaker. "Three minutes. Take a right. Almost there. You're doing so well!"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sailor Moon's is beating too fast, and Madoka's is beating too slow. Much too slow. She's freezing cold to the touch; the hospital will diagnose her with some combination of spontaneous hypothermia and severe shock, and then write it off to a liquid nitrogen explosion, or some such, instead of the usual 'gas leak'.
Kyubey, pressed up against Usagi's cheek, is more comfortingly warm, fuzzy, soft, and fabulous. She can't quite feel a heartbeat from him either, though it could simply be because he's so small. His voice in her head is both like and unlike a communicator contact; he might as well be just talking to her, given their proximity, though his mouth never moves.
<< You are a powerful magical girl! >> he compliments, encouragingly. << Have you ever fought a Witch? >>
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
A soft, living thing on her shoulder is not a strange sensation anymore. Kyubey rests there as easily as a cat. Maybe easier.
Sailor Moon does not immediately answer. She crosses a street first, darting out of the way of a car. Late night drivers. Irresponsible children. Normal things.
"I don't know," Usagi says. She whines, but doesn't mean to. Her lungs need all the air and won't let her throat have any. "I don't--" she gulps a breath and falls into an even pace again. "--Madoka will be alright! We're almost there!"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Kyubey seems surprised by the answer, but he doesn't press. Instead, he says, << Madoka will be alright, yes. Because of you. >> He wants magical girls to care about Madoka; he wants them drawing her further into supernatural culture (not to mention supernatural danger). He figures, the further down the rabbit hole she goes, the more likely it is she'll make a Contract.
He has no idea how badly this will eventually backfire.
Mitakihara General Hospital looms ahead, virtually an archology in magnitude. Madoka has been here a lot lately, accompanying Sayaka, holding her hands in waiting rooms, walking her home at night. She doesn't go nearly as often, of course. But she goes enough to be a familiar face.
Kyubey lightly scampers across her shoulders, taking a perch on the right, now, instead of the left. << Who is that on the other line? >> he asks, curiously, presumably referring to whoever is communicating with Usagi via, well, communicator!
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Even when she feels like she is calm, she isn't. She's running ragged. The light of the hospital is transformative. In its silver-white glow, Sailor Moon is a soldier again.
"Luna," Usagi explains, the syllables coming out between breaths. In, out, in, out, closer to the light. "She's a cat."
A cat of the Silver Millennium's court. A cat of planet Mau. A cat who whispered in Queen Serenity's ear. A cat who may not know that Mau is gone.
"She's like you," Usagi continues. "She's a--" --a what? An advisor? A leader? A fairy godmother? What is Kyubey? She runs harder. You don't need to talk when you're busy running.
Another street. "Why do you hang around Madoka?"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Kyubey's ears perk, which Usagi cannot see; but his tail also lifts, which she can feel like the ghost of a fairy's touch on the back of her neck. << I would like to meet Luna someday. It is always good to hear of others fighting the fight. >>
He's all too happy to explain their relationship, going on, as cheerfully as his subtly flat voice can explain, << Madoka has great Potential to become a magical girl! >> The capital P is somehow audible; though he doesn't explain the word, as such. << I recruit magical girls to help fight the Witches! In exchange for giving them power, I can make any one wish come true. >>
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"But she isn't one yet," Usagi finishes, the flatness in her voice entirely without guile. She shifts Madoka's weight again. You would want to help if you were given the chance, wouldn't you, Madoka? What's bad about being a magical girl?
'They have a terrible balance to strike,' a princess once told her. That night, she had laid awake in bed, staring at her transformation broach. She was looking for some light she had missed. Maybe that meant it was close to going out.
Sailor Moon digs her fingers into Madoka's arm, grasping her so tightly that she can't possibly slip away. "Of course you can meet Luna sometime," she murmurs, stopping before the sliding glass doors of the hospital.
They take forever to open.
Nine hours, five specialists, and one act of disguise pen subterfuge later, the world has not ended. Madoka is safe in an overnight room and only a little bruised. She does not have all the space owed to her. Usagi Tsukino crowds out her feet near the end of the bed, partially slumped onto the mattress with the rest of her in a precariously tipped-forward chair.
She's sleeping deeply enough to drool. It's not a good look.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka wants to be a magical girl desperately, with an intensity that has only risen with each epic act of love and justice she's borne witness to. As far as she can tell, nothing's bad about being a magical girl; you get to be strong, and more importantly get to be there for others.
Magical girls aren't burdens, like Madoka was tonight.
As warmth gradually flows back into her, she becomes more and more restless; no sleeping beauty is this, but someone having what seems like an endless series of bad, or at least strange, dreams. Madoka would agree, but she always has trouble remembering them when she wakes up.
As now.
Slowly opening her eyes, her lids feeling as though they rise through honey, the same way they fell, only now, without the awful pain of Dark Amber's artificially slowed time, she's momentarily disoriented. She almost sits straight up, electrified by an awful thought, but doesn't have the strength; instead she kind of flops, rising a couple of inches, then falling again. This causes the bed to bounce. It also displaces Kyubey, who had been sleeping on her chest all this time, very like a cat might, even if he's too pink to be one.
It's only then that she sees... "Usagi-chan?" Even as the syllables pass her lips, she realizes the other girl is sleeping, in danger of tipping over, no less, and claps her hands over her mouth, hoping she didn't wake her up. That would be so inconsiderate!
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Squeak. Squeak. The bed moves. Usagi does not wake. Madoka calls her name. Nope. Nothing.
BBBRRRRRRRRRRING goes the phone alarm.
Usagi is all claws and gasping and flailing. The chair goes clattering out from underneath her, but luckily she's managed to grab the bed covers. She slides toward the floor with slothful certainty. It is just enough time to mouth 'hi' at Madoka.
The abyss isn't that deep. Usagi bounds to her feet. Her shoes squeak on the floor as she leaps up, then crouches down again to gather the blanket she stole. "Madoka, you, um, were in... an accident."
She shuffles from foot to foot. "They said they called your parents."
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
"Is everyone all right?" The question bursts out of Madoka at full force, even as she lunges upwards to try to catch Usagi before she falls. She almost asks it before Usagi explains what happens -- clearly she remembers something about the events of yesterday, it hasn't been lost to shadowy memory the way that persistently strange dream has been.
She's too slow to help her friend, of course, but really her major concern right now isn't falling off a bed, it's a terrible presence, a soft, dark voice full of dread, someone she never even saw directly, as he came up from behind her. "I was-- they were--"
Her pink eyes fill with panic as the moment comes flooding back. All the fear she had, that someone was going to get hurt because she was fool enough to even be in the room. Even Kyubey had gotten...
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Usagi piles the blanket back onto the bed. She attempts to straighten it out, but that is a tragically complex task. As Madoka trails off into horrific realization, the blonde girl smoothly transitions into holding the other's hand. She clasps it between both of her own, warm and uncallused.
"Everyone is fine," Usagi says. "Everyone is fine and--and it's /breakfast time/ now, and there's no school."
There is a pair of huge, plastic glasses on the bedside table. No lenses. Just white frames. Mystery glasses.
"--and I don't my phone charger but I think I can borrow one, and I have this game on it that's called--"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka shudders from the top of her crown to the base of her spine, as the terror works its way skin-crawlingly out of her; the grief, too, short-lived as it had been, as her eyes overflow, tears making swift tracks down her cheeks, onto the blanket.
She holds onto Usagi's hand for dear life, adding her other hand to the pile, atop the other three, and struggles to just breathe, breathe and process the gratitude that warms her. "I'm so glad," she whimpers, over and over, "So glad."
Now she weeps tears of joy, not dissimilar to the hastily aborted revelation of Kyubey's apparent resurrection. The transformation is less swift, this time, but radiant all the same.
More softly, she murmurs, "Thank you for, for being here, for staying with me... thank you so much, Usagi-chan." To her, such heroism is no less meaningful than dramatic lovebeams or feats of derring-do -- except when the acts are her own, of course. Those are beneath notice. "You were at the concert, too?"
She hasn't noticed the glasses yet, her focus, laser-like, upon the girl with her.
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Madoka is tiny. Usagi knows how it feels. She knows the sudden chills, the forceful shudders, and the tears that won't stop until you're exhausted. Their hands are the same size.
It's their faces that are different. Madoka is in a terror that is already behind Usagi. She knows how that feels, too. It was almost too much. Just wasn't quite, though, and she knows exactly why. It doesn't require much to be like Luna, here. Holding her hands is enough.
Three minutes. Take a right. Almost there. You're doing so well!
"I was at the concert," Usagi admits shyly, demurring from saying more. "You don't have to thank me. Isn't it what anyone would do?"'
She purses her lips. Like Madoka, Usagi does not look away. It makes the silences intense. Awkward is maybe not the word. "They said you'll have to be here for a few days," she offers. "To make sure you're strong enough."
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka would like to think so, yes. She tends to believe in the goodness of others, in the idea that everyone is doing what they feel is right, and that no problem cannot be overcome through communication, understanding, the compassion of the human spirit. Not that she could articulate any of that, or at least, not that she would. She simply nods, her twintails, bedraggled from a very long night, swinging limply around her neck. She does not thank Usagi again, at least not verbally, but it's in her eyes, as they gaze at each other.
"I feel so weak," she admits shamefacedly, when Usagi mentions having to stay. She leans back, slowly, against the pillows, still sitting up but now resting more of her weight on the wall. Disentangling her hands from Usagi's with a final fond, gentle squeeze, it's only then that she sees the glasses.
Reaching out for them with infinite care, she cradles them in her hands like they're an incredibly precious thing -- which they are. "Sailor Moon... she saved me," she explains, now mixing shyness with shame. "She was amazing... so strong, and brave, and beautiful."
There's no envy here, only pure admiration. The memories of yesterday are mostly scary, but there was wonder there, too.
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
squeaksqueakthumpthump--Usagi kicks off her shoes with too much enthusiasm. With Madoka huddled up at once side of the bed, Usagi can safely sprawl out on the other. This is the secret ability of the Adorable Same-Height Sisters.
The blonde girl rolls onto her side, looking Madoka-ward. She parts her lips, but thinks better of it--how can she be so rude as to contest who is the weakest? Finding her own thoughts inappropriate, Usagi searches for someone else's: "Everyone is weak sometimes, but that just means they're saving their strength for when someone else needs it."
Usagi smiles for her own sake. Madoka's busy with the glasses. That sounded like something Sailor Moon would say right after a commercial break. Then, the finisher! Ultimate Rolling V Kick--or, Moon Kick? The special effects would be all wrong.
"She is amazing, and brave, and--ehheh, ha, hahahaaha!" Usagi sits up, covering her mouth and failing spectacularly at hiding her pleased giggling and red cheeks. F.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka blinks, finding that statement shooting straight to her heart, somewhat more effectively than most attempts to assuage her bitterly low self-esteem. That may be because, in the moment, she meant she felt drained. Which, of course, she has been, to an unreasonable, dangerous degree. They're right to keep her in the hospital for a couple of days; right now, she could contract pneumonia, or another disease, with hilarious ease.
She doesn't twig to any unusual enthusiasm on Usagi's part; the pleased giggling and red cheeks might well be shared fandom, and that's the assumption she makes. "I should get a shirt. Eri-chan wears one with Sailor V a lot, now, but I like Sailor Moon better... I wonder if they even sell them..."
Her eyes brighten with sudden enthusiasm, though she doesn't have the energy to express it more than that. "Maybe I'll make one!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sayaka had slept soundly. No cell phone calls interrupted her this time, telling her she had to go to the hospital. When she drowsed her way over to her phone and clicked its screen on, however, she found that it, too, had been sleeping soundly, its battery drained. She let it charge while she morosely brushed her teeth, longing for even one more hour of succulent slumber. Toothbrush still in mouth, she turned it on and stared uncomprehending at the text message from her parents. It was too long to display in full.
...admitted last night. They tried to call you, then called us. The injuries aren't life-threatening. Remember not to push yourself too hard, Sayaka-chan.
Sayaka burst out the door within the minute, her hand getting stuck in her jacket repeatedly. Miki... how could he be back in surgery already? Was he going to lose that hand entirely? How many times could they cut it open? She sprinted for the train, for the revolving door, and asked, panting, at the desk, after Miki Kaoru.
The confused receptionist deflected her long enough to get her on her phone, to check the full content of the text message. Boggled, Sayaka limped back to the receptionist to ask after Madoka Kaname instead.
Slightly winded, she now enters the room, catching a random comment from Usagi. "Amazing and brave, huh? You two shouldn't talk about me behind my back." She slings her ankle into the leg of one of the chairs and drags it close to Madoka's bed, planting both her hands on its back to lean over. Her smile, her careless attitude, both fragile constructs. "I'm Sayaka Miki," she greets the strange girl, then regards Madoka. "You didn't wake me up for school," she sighs, "so I missed it, and now I'm stuck with you instead."
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"A shirt?" Usagi leans forward, only barely balancing herself with both hands pressed into the bed. "A Sailor Moon shirt."
Because she likes her. Likes her better than V! Likes her enough to make one. The only person who Usagi knows to make clothes is Makoto, who may well be a perfect human being.
"Madoka, I," the blonde girl says, the words already threatening to jumble together. She grasps her broach, forcing herself to focus on talking with poise. This requires closing her eyes. "I have to admit that I'm actually--"
SAYAKA MIKI
"--hhhffwwwwwwww." Usagi drops her hand like she's been caught. "Hi," she squeaks, just between 'I'm Sayaka Miki' and 'time to talk to Madoka'.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka has no idea how to make T-shirts out of needle and thread, but decals and irons are not beyond her -- and she's sure the internet can provide the last piece of the puzzle, which is to say, how to turn pictures into decals. Though, given a moment to doubt herself, she wonders if she really wants to wear a piece of her own art. Maybe not. Maybe she can find someone else's art. But Usagi quickly distracts her from these thoughts, before her smile even fades; she's paying full attention, hanging on every word, given how much it's taking Usagi to spit it out.
And so Sayaka bursting in makes her jump, or would, if she had the energy to do so. Propped up by some pillows in the hospital bed, she's got a few machines hooked to her and is white as a sheet, though seemingly unbruised and unbloodied. "S-sayaka-chan, you startled me," she whines, but her smile gives the lie to the idea that she's anything but happy and relieved to have another friend in this awful place. "Ah-- sorry, sorry, I hope Saotome-sensei isn't too mad..."
She looks between the two of them, weakly -- it takes her real effort, and it's wobbly -- gesturing from one to the other. "Sayaka-chan, this is Usagi Tsukino. Eri-chan was really depressed, so I took her to a concert, and Usagi-chan was there too. There was an... accident," blatantly, from its tone, a code word for 'supernatural awfulness', but perhaps implying that Usagi is not In The Know -- an odd reversal, for two non-magical-girls to be talking around magical girldom to someone who is one, "And she helped get me to the hospital."
As requested, she doesn't say thank you again, but the thankfulness is palpable.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sayaka's dismissive smile closes her eyes and shrugs her shoulders airly, all from its own buoyancy. "She's sent me into the hall so many times now that it's like my second home. I miss those buckets when I don't see them for too long. I'd be a little disappointed if she wasn't mad at me."
She tilts her chair onto just one leg and twirls it like her dance partner, letting it clop down as she straddles it in reverse, arms resting on its back. "An accident, huh? You'll have to tell me all about it later." A meaningful glance. Worried. A Witch? Something else? She smiles at Usagi.
"You took care of her, huh?" She offers a hand warmly. "Thank you." She's bound by no restrictions on that phrase. "I owe--I guess /she/ owes you one," Sayaka corrects, but just like on tests at school, when she corrects something she more often than not changes it from the right answer. "Was this that Dark-Eyed Bois concert?" Sayaka has started visiting CD stores thoughtfully, so she sees a lot of posters. "You two are fans, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
While Ohtorichat is happening, Usagi wiggles her way over to the edge of the bed and hops off. She crosses the room to find her errant shoes, who have rudely gone missing after being kicked off.
Her name snaps her attention back. She looks up, hopping on one foot as she tries to wedge her second shoe on. The hopping makes it easier to keep her balance, but that was without distractions. Now that Madoka and Sayaka are smiling at her, Usagi has to smile back, which means that she begins to list off to the right.
"Hi," she repeats. She bounces a few more feet, but is more interested in squinting hard at Sayaka. "Hey, you're--" a wall threatens her. Usagi jams her shoe on, hurriedly letting her foot go so she can adopt a wide-legged stance. She spreads her arms out, too, just in case falling becomes a concern. It isn't, so she's free to look up and smile again. This time, with triumph. "--you're really cool! Did you know that? Do you have plans to buy a motorcycle when you're older?"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
"Eheheh, you know me, enka's my favorite. But ... I thought maybe it would cheer Eri-chan up." And so it did, at least, until DISASTER STRUCK. Madoka looks happy, but tired. Her other hand, the one she didn't lift, is holding onto something red and plasticy, something wider than a face but not bigger than a breadbox.
Watching Usagi flail with mild concern, she's relieved to see her right herself. It occurs to her that Sayaka's rather fragile smile -- something she recognizes from years of experience -- could use some reassurance. "I'll be out of here in a day or two," she promises, and seems to really mean it. "The doctors said I had, um, spontaneous hypothermia and severe shock. As far as /I/ can tell, I'm just really cold, and really tired."
Cracking a tiny grin at Usagi's compliment, she enjoys it as though it was directed at her; she's always been better at compliments for her friends, than for herself. "If you do, you'll have to take me on the back," she suggests. "No sidecars for me, they look so silly..." Not that she isn't a silly girl.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sayaka's hand retreats to its compliment-location at the back of her neck, and she blushes, faintly. "Hey, I'm not cool!" she objects. "I'm just bad at school. And that's not cool at all. Stay in school, kids, right?" She laughs self-consciously.
Her heels push out and her toes pull in, though, as she tilts back on her chair (dangerous, when it's reversed), subconsciously pretending it's a motorcycle. Combined with Usagi's difficulty with footwear, and suddenly Madoka's the only one in the room who /doesn't/ seem to be in danger."But I might want one someday, or a scooter anyway. Especially if Madoka-chan wants me to get one, too." She winks tightly at Madoka. "But I might rather have you ride in front of me. You're so small, I could see over your shoulder and have you all protected." She looks at Usagi, as if considering something seriously. "Ne, Tsukino-chan. Can you tie cans to the back of a scooter, or is that too dangerous?"
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
With a final hop, Usagi lands with her feet planted together, once again at her imposing full height. She looks between Madoka and Sayaka with an undisguisedly sly look. Ah. She knows what's going on. This is a true friendship. How wonderful!
"Well, you're /acting/ cool, at least," Usagi insists, hands on her hips. "However!" She strikes a pose, pointing at Sayaka. "I would almost not forgive anyone who teases adorably short girls about their height, but wanting to protect them while on a motorcycle balances it out!"
The blonde girl lets her arms drop and shrugs. "Why would cans be dangerous? You're not tying them to the front of the scooter. That's where the driving happens." She claims her phone from the bedside table and briefly glances at the screen. The second look is with genuine terror.
MISSED CALL FROM MOM53 MISSED CALLS
Usagi screams just a little bit. It all runs together. "--AAAAAMADOKA will you be alright with Sayaka my mom is going to be so mad at every choice I've made in the past twelve hours!" She stares off into space, and then grows more pale. "...no, past /twenty four hours./"
She begins edging toward the door, and eagerly bids her farewells if given the chance.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka just hangs out and enjoys other people than her talking -- she returns the wink, when it prompts her, but that's all. She actually manages to pale further when she sees Usagi's distress, though, and is quick to assure her. "You've done so much more than enough! Please take care, Usagi-chan. I'll have my parents talk to your parents, okay?"
There's nothing like high-level parental negotiation to smooth over such a situation.
Once Usagi has gone, she looks over at Sayaka, and teases, very, very lightly, "Are you going to stop by Kaoru-kun's room while you're here?" Given that Sayaka didn't have much to say about her condition, she figures quickly keeping the subject away from herself will make her happy -- and it's rare for her to get an opening to do a little nose-tweaking back.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sayaka blinks once, then, a few seconds later, twice more, as she endures Usagi's judgment and comes away safely. She laughs, afterwards. "Wow, you are kind of tiny," she says, measuring her visually. "No wonder you and Madoka-chan get along."
'Where the driving happens.' Sayaka falls a little quieter, as if this were some insight. "Huh. That's true, isn't it?" she muses. Maybe she can marry Madoka on a scooter.
Usagi's alarm alarms Sayaka, who holds her hands up as if showing she's unarmed as Usagi panicks. "Um, hey, nice to meet you!" she calls after her, once Madoka gives her permission to go.
She turns back to Madoka a little wearier than when she'd turned away, eyes askance. Without Usagi here to enforce hiding her emotions, it's harder, and she tries to press on with her jocular mood forcibly. "Hey, why not? Maybe Hitomi-chan will get hit by a bus, that would be extra-convenient. I could see you all in one trip!" It comes out less jocular and more tight, sarcastic. Sayaka can hear it, too, and her head droops, until her chin comes to rest on the back of the chair, her eyes refusing to turn back to Madoka despite her commands to that effect.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Madoka's reaction is immediate -- she tries to get up and hug Sayaka, because in moments like these, that's what she does. But she can't; she can barely raise her head, so thoroughly has her energy been stripped from her by dark magicks. There's a moment of struggle, another moment of strain to even maintain the struggle, and then she's off the bed and on the floor, in a sprawl of blankets and pillows and white hospital gown and tousled pink hair.
She looks up at Sayaka through a curtain of said hair, which fails to hide her eyes. They shine with worry for her friend. "Sayaka," she says, in a tiny voice, plaintitively, "Can I maybe have a hug?"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sayaka can't tell, at first, what's got Madoka rustling around, because she's avoiding looking at her. When she tilts off the bed, Sayaka finally looks over, mouth agape, hand reaching out belatedly. She looks shocked, at first, worried, but Madoka's request freezes her as she stands, and suddenly a laugh bubbles out.
"You were--that was to--/Madoka/," she remonstrates, still laughing. "You little hug fiend." Hooking the chair with her ankle again to move it out of her way, she slides an arm under Madoka's armpit and around her back, plants a knee on the ground, and scoops under Madoka's knees. "Huup!" she announces her intentions wordlessly, and lifts Madoka, swaddled with blankets and even a pillow atop her stomach.
"You really are little," she chides. Pausing over the bed, she considers. "Hey. You're cold, right? Hang on a sec." Setting Madoka down on her side on the mattress, Sayaka knocks the pillow off her, then rolls her over, using her hand to briefly tuck the blanket so it rolls with her, creating a Madoka tube. With her friend now swaddled like E.T., she steps out of her shoes and sits on the bed with her, sliding an arm behind her shoulders to hug her like a big stuffed animal. "Is that better?"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.Sayaka can feel how unnaturally cold Madoka is when she lifts her. She's is warmed by the blankets, but infinitely moreso by the melting of Sayaka's worry and shock into laughter. A dimple appears in her right cheek as she smiles, then giggles all the way over and over into the Madotube. "Yeah," she affirms with a happy sigh, leaning her head against Sayaka's shoulder. "All better."
