--

There are decades where nothing happens, and some weeks where decades happen. And Max knows, from the bottom of her gut, that this week?

This is gonna be one of those weeks.

"Okay, so, you seriously don't remember what happened to you?" Max groans, massaging her temples as she stares down at Mia. Who's currently lying in a freakin' clinic, because she got dropped out of the sky after one of her experiments 'had unforseen results.'

Which, when translated from Mia-speak into something regular people can understand means, 'I blew up my own tower because I'm a archmage with a dummy-thicc brain who dumped all her points in INT and made her dumpstat WIS; and I do stupid things thinking I'm oh-so clever.'

"Steele, you have some modicum of intelligence. You don't need me to tell you again," Mia huffs, having the gall, the chutzpah to look affronted that Max is pissed off at her right now. She flops over in her bed, pulling the covers over her shoulder. "I explained everything the first time."

Max feels her eyebrow twitch. A familiar throbbing sensation twinges through her temples, and she closes her eyes wearily.

"… Mia. Your library blew up. You asked me to visit it, and I did, and-"

"Did my test subject survive?" Mia asks, a gleam of interest entering her eyes.

"Test subject?" Max blinks, momentarily thrown off by the non-sequitur. "What test subject?"

"…" Mia looks off to the side, studiously avoiding Max's gaze. "… Nothing. It doesn't matter. Please, continue your petty tirade."

"Oh sweet baby Jesus, Mia, tell me you weren't trying to 'experiment' on people again," Max says in a strangled voice as she suppresses the urge to scream. Loudly.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Mia, you set your library on fire, everything about this is my business."

God, this week. This motherfucking week. First, some lunatic drops an Air Hauler on top of a building and shoots it up with goddamn autocannons then raids the fucking place with ninjas or something. And then, of course, that penthouse suite just happens to have been the meeting place for the Jade Tiger underbosses, so, that was a fun thing to deal with.

Sarcasm fully intentional.

The panic attack Max felt upon realizing that she might have to deal with a goddamn gang war was… Well, it was an experience. One Max couldn't even self-medicate for since she swore off all the drugs.

Of course, that crisis was only compounded by the fact that all the junior Magical Girls in the city, Max's adorable kohai, stopped showing up for patrol. And they all sent Max notices that they were taking leave at the same time.

Simultaneously, Terminus City's Corporate Council became the biggest shits, constantly hounding Max and demanding she start producing weapons for Mendesdyn Security's forces again in the wake of this 'unprecedented threat to Terminus City's security' to quote that asshole Dorian Black. Well, Dorian and Yumeko were insisting, and Max was happy enough to give them the finger in that case, but it still ate up way too much of Max's preciously scheduled time.

And now, now Mia decided to blow herself up for some reason. Why? Max doesn't have the foggiest clue. Maybe she was trying to eat an energy field bigger than her head, maybe she was trying to poke something which definitely shouldn't be poked. Who knows?

Who cares? No, Max has had it up to here with all of this – this nonsense.

Thank god for Kaina. At least Kaina stuck around to help Max during this… This blatant fuckery. Gorgeous, beautiful, reliable Kaina. So dashing and dependable and available…

… Except she isn't, anymore. Available, that is, in the romantic sense.

And that thought makes Max's stomach flop out of sheer nervousness. Almost like a whole flock of butterflies are frolicking in Max's guts, smothering her insides with a vicious cocktail of desire and guilt. Or maybe that's just because Max has been up for a full 48 hours now and the lack of sleep is making her extremely groggy and highly irritable, which might be influencing how she wants to reply to Mia, just a bit.

"Mia Cabalis. I have been in crisis meetings for the last three days because the city looked like it was going to hell in a handbasket. Because some witless asshole decided to try to start a gang war by taking out the underbosses of the Jade Tigers, which meant that all the other low-ranking scum decided to crawl out of the woodwork to try their luck. I have had to do that shit while on patrol because we were ridiculously short-staffed on account of the fact that all three of our trainees took leave. And in the middle of that, you blew yourself up," Max says, doing her level best to keep her tone calm and even. And threatening.

Judging by the way Mia's begun to shrink back in her hospital bed, Max's speech seems to be having the desired effect. Good. It's about time someone knocked some sense into Mia's head. Max loves her teammate, she does, but how can someone be so smart and so dumb at the same time?!

"You holed yourself up in your tower for three weeks then exploded, landed yourself in this clinic, didn't call us for an entire day, and the first time you even talked to me after all that time you tried to get me to pay your medical bills. You know, instead of explaining what the hell happened to you," Max enunciates carefully. "So, now that I've laid it out like that, do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"…" Mia's throat bobs as she swallows. She nods once.

"Good. Now, your library's… Kind of a mess. I don't know what the hell you were doing but it was, actually, still on fire when I got there," Max says, taking a bit more of a conciliatory tone. "I tried to save what I could but…"

"It's of no consequence. I can reconstruct burnt tomes," Mia waves her hand dismissively. She takes on a bit more of a contemplative look. "… I suppose I should thank you for that."

It's a pathetic, limp olive branch, but fuck it. Max'll seize that peace offering by the throat.

"Sure. But thank me by using that big brain of yours to remember what the hell happened to you, so you don't do this again. And give me one of those dreamless sleep arrays again, I have literally been on my feet for the last 48 hours and I need a break," Max states flatly, feeling her mana reactor pulse. "If I weren't channeling mana into my cybernetics to stimulate my pain receptors I'd have passed out two hours ago."

"… I didn't realize things had gotten that bad," Mia shifts, guiltily. As she damn well should. God, what was she thinking? Max was so worried about her…!

"You know how it is. Most of the time it's slow, but then some weeks are like this one," Max says. "We're past the worst of it now, so just focus on resting up. Kaina and I can take care of the city for now assuming nothing else burns down."

Of course it'd be a lot easier if the trainees started pulling their weight again. Max doesn't know what the actual heck is up with them. She's probably going to have to kick down their doors at some point to check in and make sure they're alright. Ugh.

"… How is our other crazy antisocial workaholic doing anyways?" Mia comments idly.

"Good, actually," Max says, shaking her head slowly. "She had to take overtime again this week, but I had to as w- Wait, what did you just say?"

"You heard me, Steele," Mia rolls her eyes. "You're just as bad as Kaina is, you know. All focused on… Work. Boring work too. I don't know why you haven't been delegating more, you clearly need to."

"First of all, I don't want to hear this from someone who just spent three weeks doing nothing but hunching over her desk again and conducting weird experiments. Second, maybe I could if you showed up more. Food for thought, eh?" Max jabs back.

"Steele, all I'm saying is that you don't have to run a corporation and an entire Magical Girl team at the same time," Mia says.

"And I don't want to hear this from someone who got so wrapped up in her research she landed herself in the hospital. Again," Max ripostes. "Hello, Mrs. Pot. How are you? I'm Missus Kettle. Nice to meet you-"

"Oh stop, you're hardly funny," Mia huffs, turning her nose up imperiously.

The door quietly slides open, and a slender girl steps through. Max perks up at the mere sight of Kaina in her… Her…

Huh, Kaina isn't wearing the horrible, baggy clothes that make up 99% of her wardrobe. Instead, she's got actual clothes on. Tight pants that hug her legs and waist, a snazzy black jacket, a fresh white top…

Max turns away, feeling a spike of guilt stab at her heart. No. Bad Max. No checking out your best friend, who's got a girlfriend and in a happy committed relationship. Bad Max. Very bad.

"… Is it a bad time?" Kaina asks quietly. "I was told to come now, so…"

"Nah, now's as good a time as any," Max waves, clamping down on her nervous tension. It wouldn't do to make Kaina worry, after all. "Hey Kaina."

"Steele," Kaina favors Max with a nod, before turning to eye Mia. "… Cabalis. You've injured yourself again."

"Shikinami, you really have a talent for stating the obvious," Mia replies drolly. "I'll be fine. Thanks for asking."

"I see. That's good," Kaina nods once, then goes silent. The silence lingers for a second, then two, then five, before it's broken by one of Mia's snorts.

"That's all you have to say, Shikinami?" Mia asks.

"Yes? I…" Kaina shuffles, looking very awkward. "… I apologize. I realize that I should be offering words of comfort and encouragement here, but I'm struggling to find the appropriate words, and..."

"Oh stop apologizing and just get over here," Mia demands, and Kaina shuffles over. The blonde girl blinks as Mia raises her arm and lightly taps her shoulder.

"Thank you for coming to see me Kaina," Mia says. "I know it must've been difficult. I can only assume you were very busy these last few days."

"I have logged 120 hours of contiguous patrol in the last six days," Kaina replies, and Mia winces.

"Very busy indeed," Mia says, fixing her glare on… Hey! Why's Mia glaring at Max? It's not like any of this was Max's fault! Sure, she'd like it if Kaina worked less, but it literally couldn't be helped in this situation! It was an act of god; all hands on deck needed sort of deal! And there were no hands on deck!

Which is something that could have been remedied if Mia stopped being Mia and started pulling her weight-

"It will pass. Things have already begun to quiet down. At this rate, I anticipate that I will, indeed, be able to spend time with my girlfriend this week," Kaina smiles, and Max grins wryly as Mia does a double-take at the gentle expression on Kaina's face.

Ugh, Kaina's so cute already, but when she smiles…!

"She's actually coming to see me now. It's part of the reason why I came to visit. We have a date planned later this week, but I… I wanted to see her earlier, so…" Kaina trails off.

"Oh? Am I finally going to meet this girlfriend you've talked about for so long?" Mia drawls.

"You should have already met her. She owns this clinic," Kaina mentions.

Mia frowns, her eyelashes fluttering as she blinks. Once, twice. "Wait, what?"

"Hey, hey~!" Max exhales through her nose as Alice Takanashi shoulder-checks the door open and flounces into the room. Kaina's girlfriend is in fine form, as usual. And exceedingly bouncy, dressed in… In…

Oh god. Max hastily averts her eyes, doing her best not to focus on the creamy tops of Alice's breasts. Or the sheer amount of skin she's got on display, considering how skimpy her tight, black sexy nurse's uniform is. The headband's a nice touch though…

Ugh. Max was not prepared for this meeting, not in the slightest. A surprise Alice Takanashi on top of the rest of the bullshit Max's having to deal with? Nope, nuh-uh. Max pastes a placid smile on her face and immediately starts eyeing the door. Maybe if she hurries she can escape before-

"It's your cute, sexy CEO moonlighting as a nurse! Alice Takanashi~! How's my number one patient doing? And my favorite fellow CEO? And – Ooh~!" Alice giggles, putting her tray down and rushing over to Kaina. "Kaina! Kaina, my love, my darling~! Kaina, I missed you… Ooh. Kyah~!"

Nope, never mind. Dang it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Max watches Mia's jaw drop as Kaina moves in and kisses her forcibly. Heat blooms in Max's cheek as Kaina's hands go up to… To molest Alice. One hand drops below Alice's waist to squeeze one of her full buttocks, the other goes up to fondle one of Alice's plump breasts…!

"Mwah~! Mmh…" Alice moans into Kaina's mouth as the two engage in an impromptu, passionate makeout session. "Nnh~!"

"… Steele, what the hell," Mia mutters.

… Honestly, a part of Max is wondering the same thing. Kaina, of all people, playing grab-ass with her girlfriend? That's… New.

The rest of Max that's been up for 48 hours? Well, she's just over all of this at this point. Ugh, Max just wants to lie down and go to sleep...

"Don't question it, just-" Max begins to say.

"My nurse is Kaina's girlfriend? Kaina's dating her?!" Mia grumbles, and Max switches her gaze sharply over to Mia. The brainy girl's fingers are clenched in fists, and… Is that jealousy Max is detecting in her gaze? "… That's… Why does this irritate me more than it should?"

"Okay I have a lot of questions here, but for now? Shut up and let it go, Mia," Max grumbles, feeling her migraine intensify. Idly, she channels some mana into her implants. An electric tingle jolts her back into some semblance of wakefulness.

"Steele-" Mia protests, but Max has had enough of her bullshit for one day.

"Let it go, Mia."

--

Alice has all of her loves in the same room as her. And Kaina's decided to take the initiative and k-kiss Alice in front of her other two loves! Gosh, this is just the best…! (109/210 essence, 75 regen)