[ Voice ]

[bydesign]

[ Madoka's voice comes over the journal singing!! ]

Happy birthday to me~! Happy birthday to me~!

Happy birthday [ ........ nope too shy to go on. She cuts herself off with giggles at and is almost audibly covering her face. She still sounds pretty pleased though; ] Ah, never mind, forget that! It's too embarrassing!

But, back when everyone was still at Isla Empieza, did anyone see somewhere that might have cake? Just a small one would be fine...

Comments

[bydesign]

Anything else would be such a waste.

[infinitime_loop]

Honestly... I'm still surprised that it worked. That there was enough power for it to work.

[ She remembers how Madoka destroyed Walpurgis Night in one shot, using so much power that she burned herself out immediately afterward, but for that to be enough to rewrite the universe... ]

[ Homura blinks, brought back to the present by a more pressing matter: cake. ]

Madoka, could you show me the instructions Hajime wrote for you?

[bydesign]

Me too, to be honest...

Ah, right. Here. [ Madoka has to flip through a couple pages in her journal before she finds the right page. She sets the journal on the counter so they can see it easily. ]

[infinitime_loop]

[ Homura leans over, frowning thoughtfully at the page. ]

One and a half cups of flour... that seems like a small amount for a normal-sized cake.

[ Dutifully measuring it out anyway! ]

[bydesign]

I didn't mention to her how many people it would be for, but... Well, if it's not enough we can just make another, right?

[ Madoka works on measuring out the sugar, in the meantime. ]

[infinitime_loop]

[ She pours in the flour and starts cracking the first egg into the bowl. ]

We might have to do that anyway, if everyone on the ship wants some- ah.

[ Homura looks a little embarrassed as she fishes out a few pieces of eggshell. She can't help but think about what Madoka said earlier about crafting explosives and baking cakes... ]

If this was a bomb, we'd be in a lot of trouble right now.

[bydesign]

I still believe in you. [ even if you just got eggshells in the mix IT'S FINE!! a-okay!! honestly there's only so much for her to be doing so she can't complain much while Homura does all the work. ]

I want to share with everyone, for sure.

[infinitime_loop]

[ NO, EVERYTHING MUST BE PERFEEEECT- well ]

... thank you.

But I wonder if I'm going soft.

[ This is probably the longest she's gone without fighting anything, really. ]

[bydesign]

I'd kind of like it if we had the opportunity to go soft.

But... If you'd like, we could practice fighting together. There's no real need to conserve your energy with me around, after all.

[infinitime_loop]

I'd like that opportunity, too. But there's still too much we don't know about this world.

[ Like the Dog's casual mention of monsters, for one thing. Homura blinks at Madoka's offer, though. ]

I appreciate the offer, but- how would we practice? I only brought so much ammo...

[bydesign]

That's true.

Ah, that's right, you still use guns... I hadn't thought of that.

[infinitime_loop]

[ Homura momentarily forgets about cake-baking as she focuses on "still uses guns." ]

Do I use something else... afterward?

[bydesign]

Ehehe~

Should I tell you? Hmm...!

[infinitime_loop]

It's- it's not that important.

[ Madoka can probably see right through Homura's cool & calm facade by now, so she relents after a moment, looking a little flustered. ]

I'm just... curious, that's all.