"Alright, is that it?" Madoka's dad asks as they're about to head out the door. Madoka is carrying a tote bag filled with god knows what, but it's fairly bulky. Also dressed incredibly casually, with just a pink hoodie and shorts.

"Yup!" she answers.

"Have your toothbrush?"

"Yeah."

"Sure you're not forgetting anything?"

"Yes, papa."

"Want to double-check?"

She rolls her eyes, but he just laughs it off, "Alright, I guess it's time to go. Until Sunday, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's go." he says, then looks down at Tatsuya, "Ready, little guy?"

The kid blabbers nonsensically at him. He takes it as a yes. They all go and get into his car, separate from Junko's, but look exactly the same aside form the paint: navy blue. The ride to the apartment complex that Homura lives in is quiet, anticipatory, with only the ambient sounds of the car and Madoka bouncing in her seat to accompany them. By the time they arrive, she's already about to just jump out of the car. But she waits, patiently. Her dad gets out first, then she does; he waves goodbye and tells her, "Have fun!"

She waves back and dashes for the entrance without a care in the world. He waits until she's out of sight before getting back in and leaving.

The doorbell rings. Homura answers the door, dressed contrastingly in her dollish mourning dress. She doesn't leap for joy, nor shout, nor even immediately respond to Madoka's greeting. Instead, she just gently smiles and takes her hand, leading her inside.

There are a million different ways Madoka had thought Homura's apartment would look like. Warm and cozy? Sure, she likes that little cafe after all. Maybe it would have a jazzy vibe. Cutesy, like hers? Maybe, given she enjoyed being there so much. Some goth/punk thing? Very her style. She wouldn't have been surprised if she turned out to be a massive otaku. Hell, maybe it would just look like a normal apartment, like Sayaka's. The thought of it being regal like Mami's wouldn't have been a stretch either. But this?

This is just depressing. She shows as much on her face the moment she gets a good look at the cold, blue and white-tinted surroundings that look sterile enough to fit comfortably in a hospital. The lack of lighting just exacerbates its bleakness. She tries to hide her opinion with a forced smile and saying, "It's...clean!" but Homura sees right through that. Not that it's difficult.

The only even remotely non-depressing things in the room are her game console and the stuffed rabbit thing Madoka got her. She grins at it for a second.

"So..." Homura tries to coax her into talking more.

"...Oh!" Madoka suddenly snaps out of her daze. "Right. How uh...was your day?"

Homura giggles quietly, "You were talking to me all day at school."

Madoka swings from side to side with both hands behind her back, "Ah, well... Uh..."

Homura smiles, brushes her hair back, then stretches her arms out, "Come here."

Madoka doesn't hesitate. She tackles Homura into a hug, which is quickly and easily returned. They both sigh and linger for a few minutes, just holding each other, savoring the feeling.

"That's really pretty." Madoka comments.

"And that's really cute." Homura compliments back "So what do you want to do first? We still have a little while before dinner."

Madoka hums, "Mmm... What are we having?"

Homura kisses her on the forehead, "Anything your heart desires."

Madoka hums again, this time in deep thought. For a while, really. She can't decide between delivery and homemade. Nor who should cook if they choose the latter. On one hand, having food delivered during a sleepover is the pinnacle of cool and good times. On the other, homemade is much more romantic, and as far as she's concerned, this is a date.

"Madoka?"

She remembers they were talking, "Mm? Oh. I'll think about it. Let's just sit down for now."

Homura nods and takes her hand, leading her to the couch where she suddenly pulls out a blanket from seemingly nowhere and wraps it around the both of them while they sit down and curl up to each other. "Like this?" Homura asks.

"Yeah. This is nice." she responds, pushing her cheek against Homura's. She grins and nuzzles her back, and they repeat once more before giggling to each other.

Homura sighs, "You know, I never thought I would be able to do something like this. Especially not with y— someone like you."

Madoka hums, "Homura, you're really a good person, aren't you?"

Homura bites her lip, "I...don't know about that."

Madoka shakes her head just barely, "I know you are. When we first met, I was kind of scared at first. But I still wanted to know more about you because it seemed like you were holding something in. I know everyone thinks you're scary and unapproachable; it must have been really lonely to just live like that. But now I know you're good."

"I'm not." Homura murmurs off to the side.

"You are." Madoka insists. "That's one of the reasons I love you. You're kind. I can tell you're always thinking about other people, even if you neglect yourself."

"Neglect?"

Madoka clings to her tightly, "You always look so tired and stressed, but you act like you have it all together. I can't help but worry. I used to not know why, but when you smile, I can't help but do it too. It feels like I just grew wings and started flying. It used to be so rare. But now you do it a lot more."

"I do?"

"Yeah. Even if you don't realize it, it seems like whenever you look at me, you just automatically smile. I can't help but feel overjoyed when that happens. ...You're the kindest person I know, even if you don't believe that. I can tell you're really strong, but you always act humble. And there's more I can't really describe right now, but I love you because of all of that and more."

Homura can't help but go red from all of the compliments, and has to retort, "But that's you."

Madoka looks confused.

"You're talking about yourself. Those are all of the things I love you for."

Madoka goes red to her ears while retaining that look of befuddlement, while they look each other in the eyes. Moments later, she buries her face into Homura's shoulder and gets a tight hug in turn.

They silently sit there and bask in each other for a time, until Homura eventually breaks the silence after they share a lingering kiss, "...I've been wondering."

"Hm?" Madoka hums as she curls into her lap.

"Is this too fast? It's only been a month, but we're already dating. I always thought it would be a slower buildup."

Madoka giggles unintentionally, "It's fine, Homura. I would rather we start as soon as possible if it's going to happen anyways. And the way I felt about you, and what I know now..." she trails off a bit "...but even though it's only been a month, it feels like I've known you forever. It's weird, but I don't mind."

Homura tenses up and remains silent for fear of triggering something. Instead, she just gently squeezes Madoka's hand, interlocking their fingers.

"So..." Madoka continues slowly "I don't know. Maybe it would have been nice to just keep things normal for a while. But I think I would just end up worrying all of the time about whether you felt the same or not. When that guy told me to give you that letter a while back, I was panicking and didn't know why. I guess in hindsight it makes sense, but I don't want to feel like that all of the time. I think what I'm trying to say is..." she pauses for a moment "...It might be a bit quick, but I think that's a good thing. Now if we really do stay together forever, it'll just be forever and a little longer."

Homura can feel her face beginning to heat up and her eyes water from that whole speech of sorts. Madoka catches on and wipes away what little there is before it starts up more, then silently kisses her on the cheek and buries herself deeper into the blanket.

Of course, that only works for a second. Homura ends up crying anyways. Not a lot, just enough to be noticeable. To get her mind off of it, Madoka comments, "...Being in this blanket makes me feel like a little kid again!"

Homura breaks out of her tearful trance, "Huh?"

"Do you have a bigger one?"

"What?"

"A blanket."

Homura shakes her head to clear out her lingering thoughts, "Oh. Oh, yes, hold on."

She gets up, leaving Madoka to roll herself up in the blanket like a fluffy pink burrito. Homura then goes over to her bed, reaches under, and pulls an enormous blanket out that Madoka swears wasn't there before.

She also pulls out one of the clara dolls, who is clinging to the blanket. A tall one with blonde hair and a tiny hat. She looks around at the two. Homura tries to shake her off, but she doesn't let go. "Namake." she says. "Let go."

Namake does not let go. Instead, she just frowns at her.

"Let go!" Homura shouts, grabbing two corners of the blanket and trying to shake her off again, to no avail.

Madoka stares at them curiously, "...Is that one of your cousins?"

Homura jumps a bit, then looks back at her, "Uh. Er, sure. Yes, one of them."

Namake then looks over at Madoka, literally turns its frown upside down, lets go, and prances out of the apartment while laughing and making fun of Homura. She ignores it, of course.

Silently, Homura shows off the blanket and flaps it about with a grin on her face. Madoka giggles, "Yeah, that's good. What about some chairs?"

"Of course." Homura says, setting the blanket down on her bed and going into the kitchen where she pulls out four chairs that Madoka swears weren't there before.

"Uh..." Madoka stops to think about for a second, but just gives up and dismisses the oddity. "That's good. Pillows?"

Homura chuckles, "Of course. Anything else, princess?"

Madoka blushes slightly and chuckles back, "Ah, another blanket? I think that's it."

Homura rolls her eyes fondly, still smiling, and pulls all of the requested items out from the dark space under her bed, then puts them on top of it. By the time she's done, Madoka has unfurled herself from the blanket on the couch and gotten up to grab her by the shoulders. "Okay! Now...go in the bathroom for a bit."

"What?"

"Just gooooo!" Madoka whines.

Homura sighs and decides to just go along with it, "Okay, okay. Just tell me when to come out."

Madoka smiles at her reassuringly. That's somehow enough to put her at ease. Of course, she then proceeds to spend the next maybe ten minutes just waiting in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror and correcting a few blemishes. Just touching up a little. Decides it would be a good time to take a breath mint just in case. A little bit later, Madoka finally calls her out.

"Alright, what did you do?" Homura asks as she comes out only to find Madoka standing in front of some massive blanket fort she set up across the room, stretching from the edge of Homura's bed, over the TV, and all the way to the furthest chair. Homura starts to wonder how big she actually made that blanket. Didn't intend for it to be THIS big, but whatever.

As Madoka stands there with her arms up, looking utterly elated at her accomplishment, Homura can't help but sigh and close in to hug her, "Madoka, that's adorable." Madoka hugs back eagerly, then pecks her on the cheek and gets a slow, gentle kiss as a reward. "So what do you want to do in here?" Homura asks.

"Mmm..." Madoka hums shyly as she starts climbing under and into the tent, trying to drag Homura with her.

Homura can't quite help but follow. Her apartment was initially dark, but this just adds a whole new layer to it. It's also not quite claustrophobic despite being cramped, but somehow cozy. As if being wrapped in an enormous hug. Madoka's strung a bunch of pillows and that other blanket onto the floor to act as padding, making it surprisingly comfortable with the addition of the carpet underneath. Homura takes a minute to adjust to the feeling and just soak it all in, fumbling about in the slight darkness to locate everything. The only thing she can truly feel, however, is Madoka.

"Isn't it nice?" she asks.

Homura pauses for a second before she answers, "Yes, it's nice. This is very...comfortable."

Madoka giggles and pounces on top of her for an enthusiastic bear hug, which Homura readily accepts. However, she then comments, "...But it's a bit dark. Could you wait here for a second?"

Madoka jumps off of her, "O-Oh! Yeah!"

Silently, Homura crawls out and goes to retrieve something. She's hardly gone long enough to even give the idea of what she's getting some thought. And when she dives back under, she asks, "Ready?"

"For what?"

Pseudo-dramatically, Homura narrates, "And God said, 'Let there be light!'" Just then, a little disco ball sat between them lights up and douses the inside of their fort with myriad colors.

Madoka clearly gasps upon seeing it, even looking taken aback by its existence. "That's...!" she tries to speak, but gets interrupted by a sudden meow.

Homura looks to the side, "Amy? Where have you been?"

The black cat meows again, its body sparsely illuminated by the glowing ball as it rubs up against Homura's thigh and then Madoka's. They both giggle and run their hands along its back.

"I didn't know you had a cat!" Madoka says.

"I just adopted her a couple of days ago."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

Madoka looks down at the cat as she pets it. She can't help but ponder how unexplainably cute that is. Eventually, their hands meet and slowly interlock. They look at each other over the glowing ball, just sort of staring, taking in the atmosphere as they come closer. Their other hands meet as if by fate, and come within an inch of each other before realizing what they're doing. For a moment, Homura gets shy and stops, but only long enough to pull out her phone and put some nice, quiet, low-fidelity music on. Then they're right back to it, quickly going in for another long, lingering kiss which is tragically broken short of one losing breath by the cat intervening because it's greedy for more affection. They break away for a moment to accommodate it, but then quickly go back to staring longingly at each other.

Without thinking, Madoka whispers, "You're so beautiful..."

Homura averts her gaze and flips her hair back, "You... You too..."

Madoka only just then realizes she said it, as usual, but just goes with it, "...This is nice."

"Yeah." Homura says as she grips her arm. "So have you decided yet?"

Madoka cocks her head, "Hm?"

Homura chuckles, "Food. Want me to make something?"

"Oh!" Madoka suddenly remembers. She had totally forgotten to even think about it. That said, the answer seems awfully obvious now. "Uh... Let's just get pizza."

"What kind?"

She waves it off, "Oh, whatever you want."

"It's okay, Madoka. I'll be fine with what you like."

"No, no, just get something you like."

Homura starts to stutter, "I-I mean, I'm not actually that hungry. So it would be better if we got something you want."

"Well, uh..." Madoka suddenly has trouble answering "...But, you already don't eat a lot, so I want to get something you will eat." A moment later, she apologizes, "N-Not that I don't like your figure, I'm just a little worried about your health."

Homura grins, "I'm glad. But really, it's okay. And...I guess it's just more of me for you to love, right?"

Madoka finally relents as she curls up into a ball and blushes, "Just...something basic."

"Basic?" Homura asks as she draws closer.

"Just cheese..." Madoka whispers, trying to not look at her.

Homura crawls over and hugs her while pecking her cheek, "Okay. Come here..."

Despite her act, Madoka still eagerly leans into her and lets herself be embraced. Homura pauses the music for a bit to order. It doesn't take long, and she goes right back to the cuddling afterwards. A minute or so later, she asks, "So what do you want to do?"

"Hm?" Madoka looks up to her.

"We've got all day. There's plenty here."

"What about..." Madoka thinks for a minute "...games? What do you have?"

Homura was hoping she wouldn't say that, "Ah, that's... I don't have many."

"How many?"

Homura looks away, "Three."

"Any we can play together?"

"Just one." Homura pauses. Madoka smiles in response, which makes her hesitate, but she adds nonetheless, "But...I'm not really feeling like it."

Despite Homura's self-guilting, Madoka doesn't seem all too bothered by it. "Oh, that's okay." she says "What about...oh!" she suddenly jolts up "A movie! We can cuddle and eat pizza and watch a movie in here!"

Homura smiles, "That sounds nice. What kind?"

"Uh..." Madoka stops in her tracks. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't really know about anything they could watch. Maybe a romance movie would be fitting, but there aren't really any that have two women. And she might think it's weird if they watch some kind of anime together, and those aren't great on that point either. And then...how would they watch it in the tent? Just drag the TV under there? She doesn't want to trouble Homura with that. This was already a lot, even if she likes it.

"Madoka?" Homura cocks her head sideways.

"One second..." Madoka insists, continuing to ponder. Maybe they could just watch videos on the internet? That could be nice, but it's a bit of a pain to constantly hold up a phone like that. Then she gets an idea. "...Is there any way we can play videos on the TV? Like, from a phone?"

Homura thinks for a moment. She doesn't actually have anything like that, but she remembers a commercial she saw for something like that, a week ago. "Yes, actually." she says anyways. "Just...let me go do something first."

"Eh? Okay..." Madoka says reluctantly. Homura then runs out the door in a hurry, with a couple of those kids following from behind. They came out of the bathroom, now that she thinks about it. Out of curiosity, she inspects it to make sure there aren't any still hiding in there.

Luckily, none show themselves. In all honesty, they're still a bit creepy to just be hiding around like that. Also luckily, she isn't left alone for more than a minute. She didn't hear Homura actually come in, but she was also spacing out in the tent, so that kind of makes sense. But regardless, she's back and says in a sing-songy tone, "Ma-do-ka, I'm back. Move back a bit."

"O-Oh." Madoka says, jumping slightly at her sudden appearance. As soon as she moves back, Homura comes crawling in with the entire television, setting it up near the entrance with some tiny device attached to the bottom. "Is that...?" Madoka starts to ask, but doesn't know what to call it.

"This will let us play videos. Let me see your phone, I'll..." she trails off as Madoka automatically hands it over. After fiddling with it for a second, she hands it right back. It takes a little while to get the device working, but they eventually get it and settle on watching videos of cats acting weird while they curl up in a blanket together and wait for their food to come. The entire time, Homura only giggles a few times, and is otherwise just sitting and gently smiling, leaning on Madoka. At some point, Amy decides to take a nap in their shared laps.

It doesn't take long before their peaceful purgatory is interrupted by a ring of the doorbell. Homura perks up quickly and says she'll get it. Cue her trying to figure out how to set things up so that the pillows and blankets don't get covered in grease, suddenly realizing that it may not have been a great idea to go with pizza after all. They end up clearing a larger spot in front of the TV and getting some plates, as well as copiously using napkins.

Homura manages to somehow get lost among the vibe, not even noticing when Madoka just stops watching the videos they put on and instead staring at her. At the end of one compilation, she pauses it and tells her, "This is nice."

"I'm glad. As long as you like it." Homura responds. She doesn't look away initially, but when she does, she gets caught off-guard by the mildly sultry look Madoka is giving her and turns a rosy red.

"I used to work hard to just get you to smile. But now, you're even laughing." she speaks softly, slowly sitting up. "All I wanted was to see you happy. I never thought I would get to experience these sorts of things."

Homura pats and rubs her back softly, "That's all I want for you, too."

Madoka then grins, "And...your laugh is really cute."

Homura's face contorts into a mostly indescribable expression from sheer embarrassment, but it still manages to be "cute" to Madoka, who chuckles when it happens. She then notices Amy stealing a slice of pizza and barely reacts to it. Not like they could eat all of that alone, anyways. She gets the idea for another comment, "...I also didn't expect you to be a cat person."

As if she knows she's being talked about, Amy meows. Homura, who is still reeling from the previous compliment, is barely able to parse what she was just told, "Uh...what?"

That doesn't stop Madoka from continuing, "Now that I think about it, you kind of act like one. Always acting really cool and distant...until that one person comes along, and then it's belly up." She smirks and caresses Homura's stomach, which causes her to shiver. "You're moody sometimes and don't like to be touched unless it's me. You're always doing what you want, but not in a bad way. And if I look closely, you kind of look like one too."

She breezes her hand across Homura's cheek and makes her flinch slightly, then takes it into her grasp. "...Hold on..." she says as she stares right at her for a minute, imagining what she would look like with cat ears. The thought makes her go from that serious, seductive type look to childish giggling. "You would look really cute with those on!" she says.

Homura is utterly baffled, but goes along with it, "Uh...yeah. Maybe sometime." She tries to look away but ends up darting her eyes back to Madoka every couple of seconds.

Madoka's hand begins to wander, going from Homura's cheek down to her shoulder, then along her arm, and finally along her sides when she suddenly spasms and giggles. Their cheeks both turn bright red at the same time.

"W-Wait..." Homura tries to stop her, but it's too late. Madoka wordlessly attacks her sides and starts tickling her in every place she can get away with for the next minute, with Homura trying her best to not start yelping and laughing aloud, but doing a piss poor job at it.

"So you're weak here?" she teases, getting at her waist.

Homura twists and turns, "No! Wait, Madoka!" But with all of the hysterics, it doesn't sound particularly genuine.

"What about here?" Madoka asks, trying her feet and getting a positive response. Then she repeats under her arms, and that works too. "Geez, you're so ticklish! How come I never knew about this?" She starts kissing her on the side of her neck and tries to avoid getting accidentally hit by the girl flailing around in her grasp right now.

And out of curiosity, she lets up a bit and starts to hover her hand around Homura's thighs. She's still trying to catch her breath. But the reaction Madoka gets from just gently rubbing her leg is only half that same ticklish fit. The other half is what she could swear was a very suggestive gasp. She retracts her hand in shock only after Homura suddenly locks her entire body up and shivers.

The atmosphere quickly becomes awkward. Homura doesn't exactly look upset, more tired, but Madoka can't help but be anxious. So she prods, "Uh... Homura?"

Homura practically jumps up to excuse herself, "...I need to use the bathroom."

"Okay." Madoka says as she watches her climb out in a hurry. She wanted to say more, but figured it could wait. "Did I do something wrong? Was that too much?" she wonders. The reaction leaves her in such an anxious state that she's unable to even continue watching videos for a while, and ends up just figuratively sitting on her hands for at least half an hour before she realizes how much time has passed. By then, Homura still hasn't come out.

So she approaches the door and gently knocks on it, "Uh, Homura? You've been in there for a while. You okay?"

It takes a second for Homura to answer, "Ah— Yes, I'm fine. One second."

And a second it takes. More or less. She comes out smelling of rosy soap and carrying a bit of a glow. Madoka tries to say something, but Homura interrupts, "Sorry about that. What were we doing, again?"

Madoka somehow just forgets what she was about to say. And what she wanted to do in the first place. Or everything, really. Her entire mind just gets absorbed by Homura's presence. In the end, she just says, "...I think I just want to cuddle for a while."

Homura nods and gently holds her, "Alright. Maybe we can play a little game, later. I also have some cheesecake in the fridge for dessert."

Madoka rests her head on Homura's shoulder, "That sounds nice. But let's just...you know."

Homura doesn't need to say anything else. They just go back into their makeshift tent and curl up like two caterpillars trying to fit into the same chrysalis. They spend the rest of the day until nightfall just sharing their favorite songs, making small-talk, and lazing about. They did eventually have dessert, but only after they realized they had forgotten about it completely, and by then it was almost midnight. At some point, they changed into their nightgowns.

But after all of that, Madoka is left lying down in the relative darkness saying, "Wow, it's already almost time for bed, isn't it? We just spent all day lying around."

"Didn't you like it?" Homura asks.

"Of course!" Madoka jumps up. "Of course. I love every second I spend with you. I just feel like I forgot to do something. Or that we kind of wasted our time."

Homura sits up and pets her, "You were worried about rushing things, right?"

"Well..."

"Now you don't want to take them too slow. Don't worry about it. Madoka, we have years and years to do whatever you want."

"We."

"We?"

Madoka smiles, "Whatever we want. I want to do things you like too, Homura."

Homura shakes her head, "And I like doing whatever you like doing."

Madoka pouts, "Homura... Nobody is that perfect together. Don't be shy; you don't have to like everything I do."

Homura giggles, "Ah, that's so you."

"What?" Madoka looks puzzled.

Homura just lunges forward and hugs her tightly, "It's okay. Just forget I said anything. Just know that I love you. Besides, we should be going to bed."

Madoka chuckles, "We've been in bed all day."

Homura nuzzles her neck, "And now we're going to sleep. Today is a lazy day, so let's embrace it and be lazy."

"Well..." Madoka sighs "...alright." And then she suddenly remembers, "Oh! I almost forgot!"

"Hm?" Homura prepares to ask what but gets cut off by Madoka rushing out of the tent.

When she comes back in, she's carrying not just the big, blue stuffed animal that she got Homura a while back, but also hers which is pink. The exact same one, just in different colors. "Surprise!" she says, holding them both together as if they're hugging.

Homura is speechless. Madoka can't see it, but a dribble of tears start to seep down her cheek. She takes her own when Madoka shoves it into her grasp, then watches as Madoka curls up with hers under the (additional) blanket. So many blankets. Homura silently does the same. They both lie there for a minute, just staring into each others' eyes, hugging their plushes until Madoka finally can't take the tension anymore. She slides hers down a bit, then pushes Homura's down so the two of them can hold each other while they finally lock lips. It almost seems like it doesn't happen, or that it passes in a second and not over a minute like it actually lasted for. This close to each other, they don't really need the plushes anymore, and let those things stay between their legs.

Homura is surprisingly the first one of them to fall asleep. And in the middle of their make-out session no less. Madoka can't quite understand how that happens, but just accepts it as a Homura thing. For a moment, she entertains some dirty thoughts that enter her mind on a whim, but she resists her urges long enough to fall asleep with the thought of "Oh god, what's wrong with me? Stop it, brain!" But all's well that ends well. They would get there eventually.