Mahou Madness!

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Ahh! Thanks... It's kinda boring though... All this space makes me feel kinda lonely and cold... I think I'd prefer a cozy place like yours if I could choose!"
Lucas declared, taking his shoes off at the door, the floor was covered in very soft looking plush carpet, that sank a little with every step, heaven to walk on, but probably dangerous to run about, since the sinking could easily cause a misstep.
"Oh! it's just up here!"
Lucas declared, running up the stairs and entering a door just out of sight.

His room... Was kind of full, there was a whole messy pile of consoles in one corner near a large flat screen TV, with a mess of cables scarier than any chimera could ever hope to be sitting behind them.
The bed had a very interesting color scheme... Which is to say it was pink, looked very soft though and was covered in plush toys! Animals, little dolls and even a few recognizable magical girls from anime, it seemed he like to share his bed!
There was also a dress hanging on a wall with a slightly torn skirt, vaguely recognizable as the one Lucas had been wearing the day he became a magical girl, looks like he hadn't fixed and returned it yet.
"So uhh... You hungry? Or... Wanna play some games?"

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko observed Lucas's room. It was a hodgepodge of everythings - plushies, gnarled tangles of cords and brutalist pyramids of consoles, pink bedsheets, plushies, dresses. It was...exactly how she expected. She went into it expecting nothing, really, but it was exactly how she expected.

It was adorable.

"Wow..." Namiko said, actually in awe. It was the kind of room she might have wanted as a very young child, a room to aspire to.

"Er...we can eat some light snacks, I guess. In the meantime, what do you wanna play?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Ehh... Is it really that weird? I don't know what boys usually have in their rooms so I just got stuff that I like, but mama and papa didn't seem very happy about it so I was kinda worried..."
Lucas admitted, having apparently misunderstood Namiko's response, likely out of nerves.

"Okay! I'll be right back!"
Lucas ran downstairs, and returned a few minutes later a tray of different biscuits and cookies as well as a carton of milk and two glasses.
"If you want I can cook something later... We just went shopping so I can make anything you like! Mama and papa said they would probably not be home tonight so it will be just me here..."
He seemed visibly saddened by that, Lucas always hated when he was left alone... He was a social creature!

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko looked at Lucas with pity. She hated to say it to him, but she wasn't planning on staying. A simple courtesy visit, that's all this was. Right?

"Uhh...sure!" she said with a small smile. We'll see." She stared at the game consoles, seeming to think, then poured herself a glass of milk. "Why are your parents gone so late?" she asked as the glass filled. "What jobs do they have?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Yay! I promise it will blow you away! Well... Not like literally... But I'm a good cook! Even my parents say so and they eat at fancy restaurants and stuff!"
Lucas seemed proud of that, like with his sewing.
"Oh! I can't wait... I wanted to cook you food really badly and the bento was super limited and kinda rushed..."
He admitted.

Lucas started digging out games as he pondered the question.
"My papa works as like a manager for some big medical company... And he always has to travel and check on things... He says it's cause the other managers are super useless and lazy..."
Lucas said with a sigh.
"And mama is a doctor! She's always getting called away for surgery and stuff".

 

[twinkletide]

"I see." Namiko nodded solemnly. "No wonder you guys have so much money." She thought briefly about her own parents. About what they were doing, now, years after she ran away. It made her somewhat melancholy. How easy it was to just forget about them, even though they'd loved and cared for her for ten years.

The train of thought threatened to become a mood-killer, so she quickly clamped down on it with a bite of a cookie and a gulp of milk. It was good stuff. Namiko scooted up to Lucas on her knees, rather closely, and peeked down at the games. "So what are we thinking of playing?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"You like the cookies? I uhh, I made them yesterday cause I planned to ask you over today..."
Lucas asked as he dipped and ate one himself, the excess milk running down his chin and between his breasts... Well if he had any breasts, that is, though with the way he was sitting it kinda looked like he did, or rather his knees looked like small breasts...
"Hmm... I was thinking of playing an rpg... It has local co op! And like, character customization..."
He put in a game titled Divinity: Original Sin 2 and soon they were in character creation, where Lucas instantly began making the prettiest female mage that the game allowed, not even seeming to need to think about it.

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko lit up at the mention of RPGs. She didn't know this particular RPG, but for someone like her it was like heaven, the perfect place to flex her math skills in a controlled environment. They were second only to shmups as her favorite genre.

However, this could be a good or bad thing depending on the patience of those playing with her. Lucas would find this out immediately. Namiko looked at Lucas with a dead-serious expression. "What class is best for an evasion build? What traits?" etc. She shot probing question after probing question to Lucas, demanding answers on how to min-max her character for her ideal agility build, which for her would be the height of wish-fulfillment.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas seemed quite well versed in the game, he hadn't played it yet but had studied every letter of the manual preparing for the day when he would be able to play with someone... And answered her questions with little hesitation, sure they would end up a slightly squishy party, but the pure synergy that a good rogue and mage build could achieve more than made up for it! Not to mention they quickly recruited a warrior.

It seemed they both had some wish fulfillment happening... As Lucas had a pretty, charismatic mage that looked a lot like he did... But with large breasts, she was decently covered though in her mage robes rather than having some typical skimpy fantasy armor.
Lucas would be happy to play for hours without interruption.

 

[twinkletide]

As their party marauded the land, Namiko couldn't help noticing how pleased he looked with his voluptuous female character, how mortified he was when she was hurt. He stared at her on the screen with great interest. She noted this duly. Such details simply nonplussed her now; she was pretty sure she figured Lucas out, figured out what he wanted. She wondered briefly what to do about it, whether she should encourage it, how she'd encourage it if she decided to. But did he really need more hardships? More pain? A tough life made tougher?

Dodging, weaving, threading.

Eventually the cookies were reduced to shambles of crumbs, little mineralish chunks, and the milk was but a crater in the center of each glass. Somehow, however, Namiko found herself still hungry, which her stomach confirmed with a loud murmur. It occurred to her that she hadn't eaten anything after that bento box, the energy from which was promptly wasted after their fight. She looked blushingly at Lucas. "Um," she said, "I suppose I can take you up on your offer to cook. I'm...not all that good at cooking." Not that she needed it.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

It was around the time the cookies ran out that they finished up a big quest, it was clearly time for a break now anyway, so it seemed the universe was on their side for once!
It was incredible how the already happy kid lit up even brighter as Namiko decided to let him cook for her, and he jumped right up, skirt almost causing an embarrassing flash from the sudden movement.
"Okay! I'll knock your socks off!"
He assured, running down to the kitchen with all it's modern looking, well cleaned equipment.

"So... You got anything you wanted to eat? A favorite food or something?"
Lucas asked, pulling on an apron covered in kitten faces and tying his now long hair back into a passable ponytail.

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko chuckled as she followed him down the stairs, though she moved with significantly more grace and care. He sure was excited. Honestly, she had no doubt that he could knock her socks off; he nearly did so earlier. She gazed at all the unfamiliar chrome instruments in a stupor.

"Uhh..." She almost wanted to say pasta, or even blondies, both of which would have been the truth. But mac and cheese wasn't exactly a main course meal, especially not with someone like Lucas, and this definitely wasn't the right time and place for a doughey pan of a million calories. So, instead, she asked Lucas to "Surprise me. I can eat anything, honestly. Tell you what; what's your best dish?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Oh! Hmm... Pasta!"
He declared as if he had read her mind, that goody bright smile appearing again, he did that a lot now, clearly Namiko had had a good effect on him since they met, you know, other than literally saving him from a chimera.
"It seems simple but I have a lot of practice and you can do so much with it! I would have brought some but it's gross when it gets cold..."
He declared.

Lucas quickly set about getting out equipment, preparing ingredients and setting up the stove to cook everything... As well as the oven? He moved like a practiced chef and would take less than an hour to produce an absolutely mouth watering meal of pasta, having used the oven to melt the sauce into the actual pasta noodles.
"Tada!~ Don't be afraid to ask for seconds!"
He told her, quickly serving up two heaped bowls.

 

[twinkletide]

Wow. Spot on. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so surprised—pasta wasn't exactly a rarity, nor an arcane dish, after all—but still it was richly surprising, one of the great coincidences of daily life. She seated herself at the table, watching Lucas at work, watering, straining, stirring, baking. He moved with a practiced, confident grace, so different from his normal demeanor. For a second he looked like a genuine wife, a beauty in a ponytail and pink apron.

Before long he produced two steaming bowls of fettuccine, slathered with a rich red sauce. After saying her thanks, both to Lucas and to the God she didn't believe in but thanked anyways when faced with good food, she lifted her fork, swirled a beehive of noodles, and stuffed them into her mouth. Instantly an indescribable flavor burst into her mouth, and her hand was compelled almost involuntarily back into the bowl. When it was finished she asked for seconds. Before long that second bowl was emptied, and Namiko leaned back into her chair, satisfied. "That was wonderful," she said in all earnestness, even a tinge of reverence, a newfound respect. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas ate a fair bit slower, he was still getting used to eating lunch so didn't have the usual massive appetite that he had cooked for... But still managed to finish one by the time Namiko finished her second, he had intended to slow down and talk with Namiko... Maybe try and convince her to stay over... He didn't know why but Lucas felt strange... Different, and didn't want to be left alone, it was a primal thought... But right now, with Namiko he felt safe and secure... And was even wearing a dress with no issues!

"Hahh~ I like pasta... So filling..."
He declared, looking at his empty bowl but deciding that forcing more down from the leftovers might end up quite horrifically, he had trouble feeling full and mostly used common sense... And sometimes feelings of pain.
"Well... I kinda learned myself... Mama and Papa always gives me money for fast food... But I got kinda fat and it made me feel weird for some reason so I learned to cook my own meals!"
He declared proudly before deciding to move to the matter at hand.
"Umm... So I wanted to ask... Do you think you could stay over... I umm... I really don't want to be alone tonight... It's so lonely and I feel weird and I'll make you breakfast and a lunch!"

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko winced. She expected the question to be asked, but...well, her own apartment, her own home, her own bed...and look at this house, nice and clean and large, full. This wasn't the place for her. Certainly not the place to stay the night.

"Well...you see...that is..." Namiko said softly, trying to think of a way to let him down easy. The thought of him disappointed rent her heart, but...she couldn't.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas could see that Namiko was about tor refuse... And that almost desperate desire to keep her there, to not be alone, reared up inside him and he ended up placing a hand on her arm and looking her in the eye, his own eyes bright and shining with moisture, as if he was about to cry.
"I... You want to go home don't you?... That's okay i guess... I just didn't want to be alone... It's kinda childish of me but I thought a sleepover might make me feel less... Alone..."
She admitted, sniffling a little.

 

[twinkletide]

"L-Lucas..." Namiko said as she looked into his glistening eyes. She tried to look away, but those eyes left an indelible image in her, something that wouldn't go away. She didn't want to stay here. She didn't want to stay in this house that was so much like her parent's house, she didn't want to eat more rich and tasty food. She wanted to go back to her shitty apartment and lie in the slough of bedsheets on her mattress, listen to the traffic babble underneath her open window, and wake up and eat microwavable alfredo with a plastic fork.

But...

But she didn't want Lucas to be alone, just as she didn't want to be alone. And...and what's one night? Just one night, for a friend? Wouldn't it make her feel worse to leave her new companion alone for the night, soneone going through struggles of their own? Wouldn't it be mutually detrimental to leave tonight?

It was a full minute before Namiko finally spoke, still looking away. "I...guess. I can stay. Just for tonight." Wearily, she smiled at Lucas. "It'll be like...two girls. Having a sleepover. Right? Like normal kids."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas lit up with joy as Namiko agreed to stay, looking as if he had just been given some spectacular gift out of the blue... He even looked like he might hug her if not for the table separating them... Though did stand off to show his excitement, how lonely WAS Lucas normally? That the thought of having someone stay the night was such spectacular news?

"Yeah! Just tonight... And I'll make you the best breakfast ever in the morning... Oh! And I uhh, I already made you a bento for school! So you don't need to worry about that... But if you wanna wash your uniform I'll try and lend you something..."
He started to babble excitedly before realizing what else she had said.
"L...Like two girls?... In what way?..."
He was red now, and seemed nervous.

 

[twinkletide]

"Well," she said, "that's what two girls normally do, right? Have sleepovers? If a man and a girl sleep together that's...something else." Namiko blushed and looked away. Clearing her throat, she continued, "Anyways, if I'm going to be staying here tonight, we may as well make the most of our time. Do you have an extra toothbrush?" It seemed to be a normal thing for people to brush their teeth together during sleepovers, and maybe make funny faces in the mirror. She had a whole mythos of girly rendezvous in her head, only exacerbated by the fact that she'd never experienced most of the stereotypically 'girly' activities. She'd felt more than her fair share of comraderie, but it was subsumed in the feeling of war, which wasn't exactly 'normal' by any standards.