The sound of pstic scraping against delivery boxes was incessant and unending, the incredibly small and emaciated girl shoveling food into her face at an arming rate, box after box of cheap noodles and chicken and egg rolls pouring in one after another like coal being shoveled into a train’s open furnace.

  Both the others present attempted to focus solely on their own meals, but understandably could only avoid acknowledging the ravenous animal sharing a table with them for so long.

  “…I expected you to be hungry after yesterday but… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone enjoy Chinese takeout that much, kid.”

  “I-If I need to go get more I can, it’s not all that far of a walk!”

  “No, no, I’m-- omf --I’m fine, just never been-- snarf --never been this fucking hungry before, feels like I’m completely hollowed out.”

  “That would be due to the side effects of your excessive usage of your magic in the st 24 hours. Not only is the particur usage of your abilities extremely energy intensive, you also used them an egregious amount before I was given time to even begin your internal circuitry’s realignment, making it significantly more of a strain on you than it had any right to be to begin with.”

  “Not my fault that you-- raughf --didn’t feel like sharing that part till now.”

  “That’s because you were either busy or unconscious or ignoring me entirely until now…! And please talk less while you’re eating, I don’t want to feel you choking to…”

  “…to death? Sounds like a nicer way to die than the st way I tried.”

  Sclera sighed, not having silenced their thought fast enough.

  “Just because it can’t kill you doesn’t mean you should abandon all of your manners at once.”

  Alice swallowed a particurly massive mouthful of food, smming her fist against her chest to help encourage it to pass down her esophagus, letting out a huge exhation of air as she paused her feasting to catch her breath.

  “Am I gonna be this fucking hungry every time I do all the… y’know, meat stuff?”

  “Only if you insist on the needless overuse of it. But now that I’m done with aligning everything internally, it should take significantly more than even you’ve managed to do to get you to this point from now on.”

  “Thank god, I can’t afford to eat like this every day… actually, shit, I might not be able to afford eating anything. Forgot my truck is totaled, right…”

  She leaned backwards into her chair, sliding down it a ways as she recalled the newfound complexities of her current situation.

  “…don’t think I’m gonna have a lotta luck finding a new job either… that fucker I worked for was already a vindictive little shit, probably already gave my name to the hiring agency and told em to bcklist me after I didn’t turn everything back in after my shift. Asshole.”

  “Um, don’t you already get paid by the Library…?”

  “Library? I haven’t worked at a library in years, and they barely wanted to pay me when I did.”

  “N-No, I meant the Library Magus, like me. Since, like, y-you were already a magical girl, ma’am!”

  “…wait, they pay people to be magical girls?”

  “Well, not that much, but… how long have you been doing this without knowing about the Library? They were pretty quick about meeting with me as soon as I made my pact… oh, w-were you just trying to work solo instead? Or, y-you’re working for another organization from another area?”

  Lonnie did her best to stifle her own quiet snickering, slowly realizing why Gwyn had been trying to stay so polite this whole time.

  “Please don’t tell me you’ve been looking up to Ms. Ground Beef this whole time, kid.”

  “Huh? But why wouldn’t I? S-She’s the first of my seniors I’ve had a chance to work with directly, so…”

  She couldn’t hold back a snort at ‘senior’, the older woman barely holding herself together in front of the increasingly confused Gwyn and the increasingly irritated Alice.

  “Who the hell are you calling ‘ground beef’, you little… uh… crazy… portal dy.”

  “Oh you can do better than that Ms. Senior, c’mon now.”

  Gwyn’s head pivoted between the two of them, looking increasingly like a lost and confused puppy as they bickered in front of her

  “U-Um… Alice, how long have you been doing this all…?”

  “Eh? You mean dealing with this hag, or…?”

  “No no, I mean the m-magical girl… stuff.”

  “Uh… what time is it?”

  “…it’s a bit after 2, why?”

  “Oh, so just over a day then.”

  There was a full, enveloping silence, only occasionally broken by Lonnie still fighting to stop giggling to herself, Gwyn’s eyelids working overtime as they blinked overly quickly, the brain behind them struggling to work.

  “A… A day?”

  “Yeah, you were even there for the first time.”

  “That was… you weren’t even…”

  She stared bnkly forwards, mouth agape, every previously held bit of understanding melting away under this newest revetion.

  “…uh, Gwyn? I didn’t mean to hide anything, I tried to tell you before but, uh… we did kinda get interrupted the st few times we talked.”

  The silence remained, unaffected, the two girls currently both lost for words.

  “Ok, well, maybe it’s a bit much to try and apologize now, so if you’re upset, feel free to-- guh!”

  Alice was startled and silenced both in one swift motion, Gwyn in one rapid movement pushing her seat back, rushing forwards, and scooping her up into another crushing embrace.

  “You poor thing! I-I should’ve noticed sooner, I knew I’d never heard of you before now!”

  “Please-- looser--”

  She gargled and gasped as she was hugged painfully tightly, fighting for air, feet barely even reaching the floor below as the much taller girl held her aloft.

  “Having to do all of that, a-all on your own like that… I’m so, so sorry I didn’t realize sooner…!”

  “Gwyn-- let go--”

  Her grip finally loosened somewhat, allowing Alice’s poor lungs to finally reinfte, sputtering breaths and coughs trying to stabilize the food-stuffed woman’s squished internal organs as she remained held up like someone’s pet cat.

  “As your senior, it’s on me to take responsibility and ensure you’re properly taken care of now that you’re a magical girl!”

  “Cough, cough-- ...ugh, you really don’t need to do anything, really… and for the st time, I’m not a mag--”

  “I do need to do something, and that something is making sure you aren’t having to do everything yourself again! So we’re taking you to the Library to get you properly inducted, pronto!”

  Lonnie merely watched from the sideline as the two girls partook in the purely one-sided decision-making process, perfectly content in puffing on her weathered cigarette in silence until the st few embers finally crawled down the final length of the stump, forcing her to finally snuff it out in an ashtray that had seen plenty of better days before speaking up.

  “Y’know, if it’s money you’re worried about, you really should go with her on this, kid. The Library does pay, after all.”

  Her feet finally returning to the ground below, Alice took one st, long inhale to clear her head some, looking back and forth between the mildly interested older woman and the definitely overly-engaged younger one, both sides pushing her further into the corner she’d been trying to push herself away and out from since this all began.

  “But… look, really, the whole ‘protector of love and peace’ shtick really is not my thing, I promise, and I don’t need someone telling me when and where to go get myself gored every day either.”

  “That’s okay! They don’t put any real restrictions on their members, a-and they aren’t assigning people to incidents either, so you won’t need to push yourself any more than you’d like!”

  “Eh…? The hell do they even do then, just pay people to have tea parties and do dress-up in public?”

  “No, i-it’s more like… it’ll be easier when I just show you in person, you’ll see!”

  “Look, really, I don’t need to--”

  “Kid, may I remind you that you’re currently without a car, without a job, and most likely being pursued by at least one insane idiot who loves making big scary robots and is very pissed about whoever broke two of them in one day? You don’t exactly have the luxury of having a lot of choices, here.”

  She grumbled in annoyance, still searching for any excuse left to deflect the multitude of very reasonable arguments being hurled directly at her, coming up entirely bnk as she felt her resistance to entire idea being beaten down.

  “…mmmmgh. I… fine, I guess I’ll at least meet with the pce, whatever. But I’m not getting in the fucking magic princess getup. And I’m still not a goddamn magical girl.”

  Gwyn’s eyes sparkled like blinding starlight, threatening to melt away Alice’s detached, gloomy exterior away entirely the longer she looked at her, like bright sunlight burning through freshly-fallen snow.

  “I-It’s settled!! I’ll take you straight there as soon as you’re ready then, and we’ll get you p-properly registered and licensed and everything!”

  “Yeah, yeah, just lemme get… right, yeah, this ain’t my pce.”

  She looked down at the oversized sweater and sweatpants she was currently draped in, her own outfit currently a torn, bloody piles of rags and tatters unfit for even being called clothes anymore.

  “I should probably go get changed there first, unless they insist on people coming in there straight out of bed like this.”

  “Way ahead of you, kid. Already got you some clothes in the other room, along with a few other odds and ends you’ll probably wanna take with you.”

  “Eh…?”

  Alice peeked her head into the living room adjacent to them, the rest of her body snaking along behind her as she looked.

  Laying thrown over the back of a dusty recliner were several articles of newly-purchased attire, all still bearing their tags and stickers, stacked neatly atop one another, with a small shoebox sitting in the chair below them all.

  “…did you… did you buy this all just now…?”

  “Got tired of seeing that shit you were wearing before, I’m not letting people get ideas about some girl walking out of my house all the time looking like she got mauled by a bear while she was here.”

  “…thanks, Lonnie.”

  “Hmph. It’s all supposed to be some kinda outdoorsy, sportswear stuff or something. Easier to clean so I don’t gotta keep scrubbing your blood and whatever else you track in here outta everything.”

  She gingerly rifled through the piles of clothes, finding that everything was, in fact, exactly her correct size. Satisfied with the knowledge she wasn’t going to be running around in more oversized garments like the ones she was currently engulfed by, she turned her attention to the shoebox below, peeling the lid off and peeking at the contents within.

  “What about all this stuff, then?”

  “Like I said, other bits and bobs you’ll probably need. And it’s all stuff I don’t want or need, so they’re all your problem to keep up with now.”

  The first thing she pulled out seemed like some kind of headset, though it was smaller and more rugged than just about any other earpiece she’d held before, tossing it up and catching it a few times to test the weight of it.

  “Personal communication device. Basically a phone, but just for other people holding onto one of their own, and only if they got their own magic to turn it on to begin with. Beats paying for cell service, and it’s easier to keep track of too.”

  Lonnie waved a hand over her right ear, a nearly identical device appearing as if it had always been there. And with another wave it vanished again seamlessly.

  She slipped hers onto her own ear snugly, taking a few adjustments to get it nice and secure, testingly flicking the notably heavy item a few times before the weight vanished entirely, leaving only the faintest sensation of something clinging to her ear to remind her it was there at all.

  Second out of the box was an item she’d seen before. A small, square, palm-sized book, just rge enough to still fit comfortably in a pocket.

  “Oh yeah, didn’t you have one of these Gwyn?”

  “Hmm? Oh, a Focus? Yeah, t-they’re standard issue for everyone at the Library, just convenient little doohickeys for transforming with and whatnot. But… why’d you have a spare one Miss Lo--”

  “Just Lonnie.”

  “A-Ah, right, s-sorry.”

  “Anyways, it’s not a spare one, it’s the only one I’ve got. Just don’t really have much need for it anymore, so I may as well toss it at someone who probably can, that’s all.”

  “Great, does it come with your used outfit too? I’m sure strutting around like some 80’s gm star can’t be worse than some of the shit I’ve seen magical girls wearing around town already.”

  Gwyn looked back at the small tome as Alice slipped it back into the box, eyes darting back to Lonnie with a look of confused concern.

  “B-But… won’t you need that still…?”

  “Not at all, and I’m happy to see the thing get out of my sight. I’m retired and don’t feel like getting back to work with it any time soon.”

  “Mmm… i-if you’re really sure, I guess…”

  While Gwyn’s thoughts wandered off, Alice reached into the box for the st of its contents, curiosity welling up as she pulled it out slowly. A pad of soft, semi-thick cloth, secured at opposite sides with both ends of paired lengths of bck cord.

  “The hell’s this one supposed to do? Magic armor or something…?”

  “…it’s an eyepatch, kid. From some old hospital surplus.”

  “An eyepatch…? Oh. Right.”

  She resisted the overwhelming urge to poke at Sclera’s hole as she was reminded of her eye situation, feeling a fleeting thought of gratitude for her incredibly minor restraint fsh through their shared mind.

  “You go walking around with that thing yapping at people, no kinda stealth and subtlety routine is gonna keep people from running off screaming. And if it’s hospital-issue stuff like that, people’ll just shrug and assume you had a nasty fall or something and leave you alone about it.”

  Alice slipped the patch on, the cords tight but mostly snug as they settled into pce, the cloth square fully concealing the teeth-lined orifice occupying that socket.

  “Hmph. Not exactly the finest of treatments, but I suppose I can suffer it for the sake of avoiding needless conflict.”

  “You’ll get used to it, get over yourself. Your problem for picking a shit pce to stick yourself in.”

  Sclera huffed at her but remained outwardly silent, their side of the conversation remaining purely internal as they kept their own minimal speech silenced underneath their new disguise.

  “So all that’s yours now, so do whatever you want with it. In exchange for it and all the free housing I’ve been offering you two though, I’m asking both of you for exactly one little favor before you leave.”

  “Of course, h-happy to help!”

  “Eh? If I can, sure, I guess.”

  “Good. When you both get to the Library, don’t mention anything about me. Not where I am, not what I did, not even my name if you can help it.”

  “…h-huh? Why?”

  Lonnie didn’t immediately answer, attention focused entirely on a songbird perched outside her front window.

  “…just promise.”

  “But… B-But you helped so much, we can’t just ignore--”

  “Consider it done, not a single old hag was involved with anything that happened in the st 24 hours.”

  “Alice…!”

  “…thanks, kid.”

  “No problem. If I get my ass beat bloody again though, I’m coming back to fuck up your kiddie pool and your carpet some more.”

  She chuckled, still not looking at the pair as she lost herself in her own thoughts.

  “Guess I’ll have to leave it ready for you then, huh? Demanding little shit.”

  “But…!”

  “C’mon, let’s leave the old bat in peace. We got some librarians or something to meet, yeah?”

  “I-I suppose, but…”

  “You’re welcome back anytime too, Gwyn. And I’ll handle the meal next time.”

  “…o-okay, Miss… um, just Lonnie. I-I’ll definitely be back some time!”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  She threw a single hand up over the back of her chair, waving the two of them off, doing her best to seem indifferent about it all.

  Alice hurriedly pulled on her new threads, everything fitting nice and snug on her thin frame, pocketing her hand-me-down Focus as well before the duo walked out the front door, leaving Lonnie alone with her muddied thoughts and the crystal-clear birdsong right outside.