Mahou Madness!

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"W...well I wasn't planning to change on the train... Maybe like back at the base? There's probably a private space there somewhere..."
He seemed a little embarrassed by the thought of changing on the train... Then again Lucas was almost perpetually embarrassed since becoming a magical girl, he simply wasn't very difficult to get flustered.
"Well... I mean... I wouldn't want to be a bother... And I can move really well in the skirt, besides... If I am wearing it and transform back... A skirt would help umm, disguise me more?"

He was clearly pulling at straws there... And it seems from his words that Lucas had worn the uniform before, and liked it enough to pack the thing back up into his bag!

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko raised her eyebrows at his explanation. If there was one thing that a magical girl needed least it was a disguise. They weren't easily seen, and everything that would be able to see them wouldn't be fooled in the first place. "If you say so," she said. "I'm glad you like it." She smiled.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Well... It's just really well made... And comfortable..."
He mumbled, not even trying to refute that he liked it, that was progress! Maybe? It depended exactly on what you might think progress meant in Lucas's situation.

Eventually the train came to a stop, school would be over by now, so it was only the afternoon, still though it felt much later than it was, something about the naps, and the leftover gloom from the storm clouds that hadn't quite faded gave everything a somewhat sleepy feel.
"Okay... So on to the HQ?"
Lucas asked, stepping off the train and heading in what he thought was the correct direction... It was of course the opposite direction to where the HQ actually was.

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko nodded, and began walking towards the HQ, comforted in the knowledge that Lucas was behind her. Which wasn't wrong, exactly. But she realized her true error when she noticed that his footsteps were growing fainter, and when she wheeled around to find him sauntering confidently in the opposite direction, probably comforted in the knowledge that Namiko was behind him. "Hey! Lucas!" she shouted frantically, waving her arms. "Wrong way! WRONG way!"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas had been obliviously walking... When he heard Namiko call out and turned around, not stopping his walking, mostly because his body seemed to take a while to wind down that day, likely nerves from the fight earlier.
Of course him moving while not looking ended with him walking right into a sleepy looking girl as she walked around a corner, falling back on his ass with a noticeable ripping of fabric...

"Oh! Are you alright?... Wait... I don't know you..."
The girl declared, before looking up at Namiko with a faint smile, or was it a smirk? Hard to tell with Marin sometimes! Of course Namiko knew this girl, she was the one always sleeping in the back, the deceptively powerful witch type magical girl, Marin.
"Are you two heading to HQ?..."

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko rushed to help Lucas up. "Lucas..." she said scoldingly as she hoisted him up by his pits. "You have to pay attention. What if you ran into a chimera or something alone?" Her eyes drifted over to the sleepy girl he bumped into, who was looking at her with a faint look of amusement. "Oh? Marin?" she asked. "Yes, we are. Things to report. What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be...asleep?" The last part she said teasingly, a little spice on the tip of her tongue.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Uwahh... Sorry... I wasn't thinking... I'll be more careful in the future though I swear!"
Lucas declared as he was hoisted up, he was quite light so it wasn't hard to do, Namiko could probably carry him with ease and from his face it appeared Lucas was thinking about that, he didn't seem embarrassed for once... What exactly did go on in that young mind?

"That had been my intention... I just finished fighting a weak chimera not far from here... So I intend to turn in it's crystal and sleep... Though now that i see the new kid... That would be the male magical girl correct?"
She seemed to not be offended by the little tease, and looked over Lucas for a moment, before noticing his discomfort and pulling back.
"He is cute..."
She said simply before starting to walk towards the HQ.

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko began to walk, this time holding Lucas by his shoulder to ensure no more gaffes would occur. She didn't reply to Marin's declaration, but she did agree. It was surprising how many girls Lucas could give a run for their money in terms of cuteness. She began to contemplate their charm points. Kana's boisterousness and cute blue hair, Marin's aloofness, her own long brown hair and green eyes. Was there an equation for cuteness? A theorem? A proof? Some axiomatic approach? If so, they must have found the cuteness equivalent of Euler's Identity in Lucas, a perfect mixture - save for that thing between his legs. What were they supposed to make of it? Was it an ignorable vestige, a fault in their reasoning? Did God plug in some variable wrong? A negative for a positive? Vice versa?

Namiko contemplated this all the way to the HQ. The train of thought made her mildly uncomfortable. But was there any other way to approach difficult questions than with mathematics? She didn't know the answer; and unfortunately there was no equation in the world that would help her find it.

Eventually they made it to HQ. Namiko stepped back to let Marin input the code. Numbers, numbers, more numbers.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

It became apparent as they neared the HQ that the tearing sound had come from Lucas... Specifically his pants, there was a rather large tear from crotch to ass... It was a good thing he was wearing underwear... Even if they WERE pink for some reason, Marin at least seemed to be ignoring it, either because she wasn't paying attention or simply didn't care to stare at people's underwear.

Once they entered the code they were greeted as usual by Pharah! Who seemed quite pleased to see three visitors!
"Oh! Hello you girls... Uhh, and boy... Oh dear that's quite a hole... And I am sorry to say those pants haven't been made yet..."
She told Lucas before turning to Namiko.
"So what's up? You don't look like you came here for a leisurely visit..."

 

[twinkletide]

As they walked inside Namiko looked down to find melon-colored underwear staring her down. She did not know the owner until she looked back up to see that the owner was in fact Lucas, who had fell earlier and apparently ripped his pants. It reminded Namiko rather uncomfortably of her own underwear, which, today, was also pink. She blushed and averted her eyes. "Uh...Lucas...you should probably change. Good thing you're fine with the uniform," she said.

Matters of undergarments aside, she cleared her throat and addressed Pharah. "Yes. Yesterday and today we ran into a pair of humanoid chimera. By humanoid, mind you, we mean sapient - they hid in crowds, retreated, even spoke, a couple of times. Clipped but comprehensible speech." She coughed. "Has there been any reports of that sort? This is the first I've heard about this," she muttered, clearly displeased with her ignorance.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas gave one of his usual confused looks, slowly looking down before going incredibly pale... And running into the sleeping area, likely to change into the uniform, Marin had been headed to that room but seeing as it was occupied she instead sat down in the lobby area, waiting for Namiko to finish up so she could trade in her crystal.

"I... Sapient?... Umm... Let me check..."
She looked through some files, going slowly pale.
"There... There was a sapient chimera reported near the end of the war... And one sighting of an unnaturally intelligent one in France... But this is the first time any have retreated! And hiding rather than attacking people is madness... I... I am going to call Fen back from Germany... Just in case..."
She seemed to have already concluded that Namiko and Lucas failed to defeat them.

Speaking of Lucas he emerged with an embarrassed smile, donning the uniform from his bag, it was a tiny bit wrinkled but otherwise looked fine.
"So uhh... How do I look?"

 

[twinkletide]

The sight of Pharah's worry made Namiko grimace. So it was something new. It was a miracle they weren't steamrolled. "Yeah, that's what I thought. If it weren't for Lucas awakening we would've died." She paused. "He's a Knight class, by the way. In case anyone was placing bets." She was unsure of Orphan's traditions, but when she was in the AAD the girls often made bets on new magical girls. Some didn't bet on a class, however - they bet on whether or not they'd live or die in the first few months. It was about fifty-fifty.

Speaking of Lucas, there he was in the Orphan uniform, smiling bashfully in the doorway. Namiko smiled. "You look great." Geez, she almost wanted to tackle him in a hug right then and there.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Oh! A knight, that's good... We were low on front line fire power, I mean... Kana is a brawler of course but she fights better alone..."
That was a fancy way of saying she didn't really watch her team's back and preferred to run off alone anyway, but you had to show respect to such a powerful girl when you were just a normal human soldier... Albeit one not affection by the perception filter.
She did also give a small amount of money to Marin, it seemed there HAD been a bet, and Marin voted Paladin.

Lucas looked incredibly happy at being told he looked great... Like more than usual, something about it had touched some sad inner core of his emotions.
"Thanks... I was worried I would look weird but I'm glad you like it..."
He declared, smiling at her.

 

[twinkletide]

Something about Lucas's smile made Namiko avert her eyes a bit. What was with this kid? Why was he so darn innocent, so pure? Was there anyone who deserved this less?

Instead, she said "So Pharah, what do we do about this? Kana might be able to handle them, but she's...busy. And frankly both me and Lucas aren't enough unless we can catch them off-guard, which I highly doubt. We had them in an open area, little to no cover, two versus two - a statistical gloryhole - and they steamrolled us." Her fist clenched.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Hmm... Well there is a protocol for high power chimera... A kill squad is likely the most effective practice... For now... I need you to avoid those chimera... When Fen gets back we will set up patrols, if someone finds the chimera they call the others and follow at a distance, you said those chimera are not killing indiscriminately yet so we may have some time to wait..."
Pharah was right into establishing a basic plan.
"But for now... There really isn't much we can do..."

Lucas took a seat to wait, he didn't really get most of what was being said other than waiting for backup, and idly scuffed the ground with a shoe... Also a more feminine one from the uniform it seemed, and waited for her to finish.

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko sighed. She expected that answer. She'd ask what they'd do if they ran into them again, but she already knew the answer. Pharah was always one step ahead. "Okay." Her shoulders loosed. The tension seemed to drip out of her. "Okay. Well, thank you. And remember to alert the others."

She stood for a moment, almost unsure, before turning to Lucas. "Let's go, Lucas."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas jumped up as he was called, Marin stepping past to trade in the crystal as he did.
"Hahh... So that didn't sound good... I'm gonna take a guess and say those chimera are kinda bad?"
Lucas asked as they headed out of the building, it was still light out, though wouldn't be for long.

"Hey..."
Lucas suddenly piped up, thinking of something possibly fun.
"Wanna come over to my place? I have those games I was gonna lend you... And I could maybe cook something for you too!"
He offered, straight up resorting to bribery.

 

[twinkletide]

When Lucas offered to bring her to his house, Namiko paused. She was about to say no, just offhand, the obvious choice. She was comfortable in her own home, her own bed, her own cheap food, her own cheap apartment. Her own little space. But when she looked at Lucas, into those eyes glimmering with earnest expectation, something in her gave out with a great groaning sigh.

"O...okay," she said with a smile. "Sure. It sounds...fun." She straightened herself out. "Lead the way, Lucas."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

The pause made Lucas nervous, had he accidentally done something offensive? Did she not want to go to his house?... Those and many other thoughts ran through the boy's head, while it may have seemed otherwise, Lucas was actually a very anxious kid, constantly worrying about one thing or another, the reason he tended to be so happy around Namiko is because she was good at putting anxieties to rest! She was strong and capable and very kind!

Of course he had worried about nothing and gave another glowing grin when she accepted, actually taking her hand without thinking to lead the way in a sort of half skip, half walk.... He had been so desperate to have a friend over! And now he had pretty much the coolest friend ever coming over!
His house was a fair distance away, not quite in the rich district, but between there and the middle class, his house was a two story building that was reasonably large and had a very secure looking door, which he soon opened.
"Welcome to my home!~"

 

[twinkletide]

What am I doing? Namiko thought as Lucas led her along by the hand like a child. Since when was she the type to come over to a friend's house? There must've been something special about Lucas, but even then it was tough figuring out their relationship. Whether they were friends by occupational necessity or had a genuine chemistry, a lightning-in-a-bottle quality.

After a lengthy winding walk that made Namiko's legs sore, they finally arrived to a large two-story house, upper-middle class, with all the accoutrements thereof, including a secure and imposing door that stood between them and the inside. Lucas opened it and welcomed her inside. She looked around. Open, spacious, but with tons of furniture blocking the way. Lots of glass decorations, too; dangerous for anyone taking cover. Plenty of entry points from the windows and such. Not an ideal place for a fight.

She shook her head. Wait, what was she thinking? This wasn't a battleground. She smiled at Lucas. "This is a nice house," she said, and meant it - at least from a design standpoint. "Where's your room?"