Ryuko winced as she walked, leaning on Mako as she helped her through the streets of the city. While she'd recovered enough energy that she was no longer in danger of literally falling apart, she could no longer absorb energy directly from liquid magic as she had been. Even so, she was only at about 15% energy reserves at most, and her body was still incredibly weak. Even so, she refused to sit still like an invalid...even if she needed help just to walk. "Thanks for helping me, Mako-chan," she said softly.
"I'm always here for you to lean on, Ryuko-chan!" Mako responded happily with a wide smile. "You know that!"
Ryuko chuckled softly. "Yeah, I just never expected it to be literal..." She looked away, and found her eyes drawn in the direction of the distant church...that Mako was under strict instructions from Satsuki and Rias not to take Ryuko anywhere near.
Fingers pulled on her ear, and she found it actually hurt. "You're not running off on a half-baked rescue when you're this weak, Ryuko-chan!" Mako scolded, an irritated scowl on her face.
"OwowowOW!" Ryuko gasped out with a wince. "Okay, okay! No half-baked rescue attempts!" As Mako released her ear, she reached up to rub it. "Any chance you'll help me fully bake one?"
"...Ry-u-ko-chan..." Mako growled dangerously.
Ryuko winced back from Mako's angry tone, then sighed sadly as they kept walking. "I can't help it, Mako-chan. I'm just...really worried about her. She's so helpless...I feel like I need to save her..." Feeling the start of coldness around Mako, she turned to face her girlfriend. "And no, not the way I would if you were in danger," she assured her. "That's different...even if I was drawn to her for the same reasons I was originally drawn to you."
"The same reasons?" Mako asked in surprise.
"A clumsy, helpless stray who needs me to take care of her," Ryuko teased playfully, managing to give Mako a playful noogie. "Even if in the long run you took more care of me."
"Heh heh," Mako giggled happily as she leaned in and nuzzled Ryuko. "But...you aren't going to end up feeling the same way about her, are you?"
"Nah," Ryuko replied. "You're more like a playful kitty now, and Asia's more of a puppy."
"...so we should take up the carpet?" Mako asked in confusion.
"Not like that!" Ryuko replied with a laugh.
"Ryuko-chan?" a quiet voice asked in surprise.
Both girls spun towards the voice, and Ryuko was stunned to see Asia standing there, looking none the worse for wear as she stared at them in surprise. "...Asia..." she offered in relief. "You're-"
"So cute!" Mako squealed out as she dashed over, Ryuko barely grabbing hold of nearby playground equipment to steady herself. Mako, for her part, briefly glomped onto Asia before spinning her around, followed by playfully squishing her cheeks. "Ryuko-chan! Can we keep her?"
"Ueh?" Asia asked in surprise, her eyes wide.
Ryuko struggled not to laugh. That was more or less how she expected someone to react to a full blown Mako assault when unprepared. "She's a person, not a pet!" she managed to say, though the chiding was lost in her amusement.
"But I thought you said she was a puppy?" Mako asked in confusion as she continued to squish Asia's cheeks.
"It was a metaphor."
"...is that like a croquet?"
"...well, it is stuffed full of random things without meaning to create something worthwhile, so I guess?"
"Oh, okay!" Mako declared happily as she turned to hug Asia again...only to dash back to hold Ryuko up instead.
"Umm..." Asia began awkwardly as she pushed her index fingers together. "I'm not very...e-experienced, but I wouldn't mind if you kept me, Ryuko-san..."
Ryuko found herself performing a spit take despite the fact she wasn't drinking anything, though that moment truly deserved one. "I don't think Mako-chan meant it like that-" she started to say.
"I can try and be flexible if you want me to, Ryuko-chan!" Mako interrupted happily.
Off in the distance, Ryuko heard the unmistakable sound of Gamagoori spit-taking more than a mile away. "W-what?" Ryuko managed to get out. "Where was this with how you reacted to Rias?"
"She wasn't a stray, or this cute!" Mako replied happily. "So can we keep her?"
"W-will you keep me?" Asia asked, her stammer showing just how nervous she was about offering this, while also just how much she apparently needed it.
Ryuko struggled not to laugh or to find something reasonable to say, but both Mako and Asia were now giving her cute pleading puppy-dog eyes. She was not up to resisting that. Rolling her eyes, she chuckled. "Looks like you just got adopted, Asia-chan," she offered jokingly, lifting her arm.
Mako quickly pulled Asia in for the three-way embrace so Ryuko didn't have to work so hard to reach.