voidtreckerexpress

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Who: Madoka, her new kitty (Maru/Sleepy Ash) and you!
When: Day 2 of Fiddlesticks
Where: Everywhere on the train
What: Madoka is very excited about her new cat. And also likely making very bad life decisions for herself here by making a contract with a vampire.
Warnings: Likely mentions of vampirism.

(note: threads will mostly be between madoka and your character, maru might randomly jump in to pipe up on some threads, you'll know if/when it happens!)

( a: dining carriage )

If you've seen Madoka going anywhere on the train since yesterday, you may have noticed something new about her. Namely the fact that she's dragging a tiny black cat with her everywhere she goes.

Right now she can be found with it in the dining carriage, where she's seated at the table not to eat, but to instead draw in her notebook. She keeps sneaking glances over at the cat as it's sleeping on the table next to her notebook though, and after a while Madoka can't take it and giggles as she gently boops his face with the not-sharp end of her pencil.

"So cute.. Who's the most adorable kitty around? It really is you..!" She's staring at the cat with so much endearment in her eyes, but that's the exact moment where she looks up and only then seems to notice you being there too. Madoka's face immediately grows pink with a blush.

"A--Ah, I'm sorry!" Because apparently she feels the need to apologize for gushing over her cat publically..

( b: near the on board shop )

Or you may spot Madoka near the on board train shop. Apparently she's been using it, since the girl's arms are loaded with way too many chips for one tiny teenage girl to eat. There's six different bags in her arms, and the tiny black cat is precariously balanced on top of her head. It seems to be going well.. until one of the bags of chips slips out of her hands, falling onto the ground.

"Ah..!"

The girl is trying to pick it up, but it's a difficult process with her arms this full and her not wanting to disturb the sleeping cat on top of her head.. Someone please help the poor girl instead of watching her attempt to bend down and pick it up only to fail.

( c: anywhere in the train! open to madoka's close cr! )
(if you're wondering if you're close cr, then the answer is probably yes.. but feel free to check with me on plurk or discord!)

After a while she figures though that she should probably at least tell some people about the true nature of her kitty. It's going to be really awkward if someone sees him transform and freaks out about it in the middle of battle.. So while carrying the cat in her arms, Madoka makes her way through the train to try and look for people she's close to.

When she finds one of them, she'll offer a small smile and say: "Um.. Sorry, but do you maybe have a moment for me..?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"By letting him drink her blood? You're okay with that?" He challenged. "He made our daughter his source of blood. His only source. I don't care what he can do for her, that fact alone is damning. How could she agree to that?"

He ran a hand along his beard irritably. "She's too young to protect people like that! You don't give a child a gun even if it can be used to protect the ones she loves. That would be irresponsible. You don't give a knife to a toddler. Do you know how many safety features I have built into Peter's suit? Dozens! And the suit I built, didn't take away his ability to back out of what he was doing and go back to a normal life should he ever want one."

"I would rather see with my own eyes than imagine whatever it is." Ignis countered swiftly, shaking his head. "And no I'm not okay with it, but what is the alternative? Do you plan on forcing her to give up a source of comfort? What if you take it away? Then what?" And that's where he stopped, realizing he was going to say words he couldn't take back with logic was way too sharp for this or any conversation.

So he lowered his head and spoke more conversationally. He had made a vow he wouldn't argue with Tony anymore after all. "She's too young to see her friends die too, but she's already seen that. So what about how she feels and seeing it from her point of view? And tell me what would you do regardless of your age in her shoes? What if it was you? Would you be content to just stand back helplessly and wring your hands, hoping they'll come back to life? Or would you want to go after those bastards whatever it took and make them pay for what they've done?"

Edited 2020-05-22 04:04 (UTC)

Tony huffed annoyed that he couldn't argue against that particular logic. He was the type to want all the information he could have before making a decision. Here he was functioning without the main puzzle piece because of what it would require. "How can he be that important to her already? She just found him only a few days ago." Although he knew better than that. Morgan could get attached to things so quickly too.

He sighed and tried to calm down. "Yes, but she and I are very different. That pack she makes back home is going to destroy her. Mami says there's another who can fight in her place. Plus, I'm not letting her leave here without me." He didn't know how he was going to do that, but dammit, he was!

"You can't decide who bonds with who and how fast." And considering how tender hearted Madoka was, Ignis wasn't surprised at all. She made friends easily on the train and on missions. People flocked to the girl and were protective of her. The girl simply had her own kind of magic.

The ring then felt really heavy on his hand at Tony's pronouncement that he wouldn't let Madoka go without him. Realistically the advisor knew there wasn't a way for the other to follow through on his statement but it hurt all the same and Ignis said nothing. There was only a nod of acknowledgement as the sobering logic set in.

Tony scowled and looked down. He knew how sweet Madoka was too and of course she would bond that fast. He wanted to say otherwise, but Ignis was right and they both knew it. In fact, he was likely right about this whole thing. They'd walked away prematurely and should see how this bond worked. He'd hoped Ignis would be more on his side, but then they'd both be wrong.

He glanced up at Ignis when the other man was so quiet and rolled his eyes. "You're coming too. We're going to take Romeo and Joss to Italy, saving Madoka's world, going and saving your king, and then going on a cruise. Haven't we talked about this already?" His lip curled upward on the side.

Ignis understood only too well about bonds and fighting and wanting to save the world even at the cost of one's life. Even if his world was different from their daughter's, the theme seemed to run the same and there was no escaping it. It was the same thing no matter what, but the fact that Madoka would choose to turn and fight made him nothing but proud of her. That was their little girl and no matter what happened, that's who she was. Paths may be different in different worlds, but it was all the same in the end.

Tony's glance wasn't heated anymore and had they continued to be at odds, the advisor would have walked away. His heart already felt torn that he couldn't travel back with Madoka and fight at her side, and fighting with Tony about it would push him over the edge. He listened to Tony's nonsense and just smiled a little sadly, clenching his ringed hand into a fist. Fantasy land could wait. "If this is settled, I do believe our daughter is waiting on us. And it isn't good manners to keep a lady waiting."

Tony was frustrated that Ignis wasn't putting as much weight behind Madoka's lack of experience and young age as he was, but that was how it was. He knew it came from Ignis' own youth, most likely but it didn't make it easier to accept.

Ignis' reaction seemed stiff and perhaps a bit cold, but he didn't say anything about it. The long and short of this situation was the decision had already been made by their daughter. He decided he'd talk to her later alone. For now, he was going to go see what this.. whatever it was, looked like.

"After you."

At least Madoka is listening well now. She's not going anywhere, still waiting in the same spot for the two of them to return. The only thing she's taken to is trying to soothe Maru a little, since she figures it can't have been easy for him to have had to listen to all of that. It's not that she blames either of her dads, but she still wants to make sure poor little Maru doesn't take it too personally.

Which is why she's put the cat on her lap and is gently patting his head.

"It's okay, Maru.. They don't mean it that way, you know? They're just worried about me.." Which, okay, she can't really blame them for. The situation probably does sound really weird to any third parties. But it seems that Madoka's trust in him hasn't been shaken. "I'm sure they'll come to understand that you're a good kitty."

Maru's ears lay flat against his head, a head that was lowered, eyes closed. The two men walked away to talk and he knew his fate was in their hands...

"I'm sorry..." He whispered quietly. Madoka was sweet, but he had no doubts that if they decided what they did was wrong they would hurt him. And he knew he would be powerless to stop them. Unless Madoka told him to, Maru wouldn't rise a hand to defend himself.

Was he a good kitty though? Inside he knew he was a monster. But something had made him hope... just a little bit... that maybe Madoka would change that. It didn't look like that would be possible though. He knew what he had to do now...

He had to put duty first here. If it were up to him personally other things would be going on. However, due to timing and not wanting to drag this out Ignis hid his feelings behind the duty of what needed to be done. It was an old trick in his book, to put duty first and focus on that above everything else. At times it was all he felt he had as he did now. Ignis had simply put his armour on so to speak and shoved his feelings aside. Old habits.

The advisor refused to show anymore sadness in front of his daughter too, as he'd deal with that later too by himself as he always did. So for now he silently stepped aside and let Tony lead while remaining quiet and observing.

Tony had no idea what was going on with Ignis. The whole point of stepping away to talk was so they'd come back as a united front and have their feelings heard. Obviously something had gone wrong here, but he didn't know what exactly that was. He knew he Ignis had been right about Maru and Madoka. He would've done the same thing she had to protect others. He just didn't want anyone, particularly his sweet daughter, to have to do anything to protect him.

Still, they had a situation to defuse. Going into the room, he saw how dejected Maru seemed and upset Mady was. This was his fault, he knew. Coming further into the dining room, he sat down next to them. He thought for a minute about what to say.

"I didn't mean what I said as we were leaving. I'm not- I wouldn't ever actually do that." He glanced back at Ignis, hoping this was helping. "Back home my wife and I built this house in the foothills of a national park in New York. It was a beautiful thing with one of those wrap around porches. Anyway, we would take hikes through the woods and one morning Morgan- my daughter- and I found a nest of abandoned baby birds. Have you ever held a baby bird? They are so fragile and tiny. You'd swear if you looked at them too hard they'd get hurt. Well, we took those birds home and gave them a nest out of a shoe box and did the best we could. Long story short, we managed to not kill them and they were able to fly away eventually.'

"My point is, sometimes it feels like people I care about are like those birds. They're fragile. They're precious. I have a hard time seeing others as strong because I know how easy it is for them to get hurt." He looked at Mady and put an arm around her. "You want to be strong and protect those you love. That's admirable, but what kind of father would I be if my first priority wasn't keeping you safe? I wouldn't be a very good one and I wouldn't be doing my job. Do you understand?"

With how sad and fragile Maru seems right now, Madoka can't help but hold the cat closer to her when the two men come back. Not that she really thinks they'll just fly off the handle and hurt him, but she can't help but instinctively be protective of Maru all the same while he's like this.

But as Tony sits down next to them, Madoka quietly listens to what he has to say, glancing between both of her dads as she does. And although she still doesn't look really happy by the end, she nods a little. "I understand.."

She really does, it's not just a lie to placate him. It's why his anger - although kind of scary - is something where she can see where it's coming from. Madoka knows he worries about her, which is why she kept the truth of what she's going to do when she's back home secret to begin with. It'd just worry her fathers if they knew.

"But.. Maru is here exactly for that. He can protect me." Even at times when Ignis or Tony can't be there for some reason. "I know you still don't trust him, dad, but please give him a chance.. Even if he was bad, there's no way he could do anything with how many people are always around." But he's not! He's a good kitty. The best kitty! She squeezes Maru gently as she says it. "And even though I'll be able to fight too because of him, I promise I'm not going to put myself into some really big danger here. I'll be really careful. And I'll always have him with me."

The situation back home is a much bigger mess to untangle. And it's much harder to make promises about any of that. But this, at least, is something she can promise and intend to keep herself to.

"Can you please trust me this one time, dad..? You know I'd never want to break a promise with you and let you down."

The two men returned and without quite meaning to he tensed up and pressed himself closer to Madoka. He knew it should have been he who was protecting her, but in this instance he was pretty helpless against the two men. Madoka's fathers. He couldn't defend himself against their words. He knew what he was. He knew he was a monster and they had every right to treat him as such. He just hated how much it was hurting Madoka...

Slowly he lifted his head to look up at his Eve. He hadn't yet spoken, and didn't feel it was right to do so, but he would protect her. At the cost of his own life he would, though since he was tough to kill, he felt he would be together for a long while.

She pulled him close and his eyes closed, a soft purr rumbling within his chest. He tried to help her feel better and lifted his head more to bump his head under her chin. "Always." He finally spoke in a soft voice.

Tony sighed. He'd lost the argument downstairs and he knew he had to give in here too. "Alright." He then pulled Madoka closer to kiss to side of her brow. "And I do know that, sweetheart. I trust you."

He reached over slowly and very gently rubbed the top of Maru's head. "Okay, Maru, you say she's your master, right? Your master is the most valuable person on this train and in every single world we visit. Keep her safe." Pause. "And no being in boy form if you sleep in her bed. And turn around if she does anything you shouldn't be seeing. Got it?" No staring at his daughter when she pees! That's just weird.

Eve, he wanted to correct him. Madoka hadn't seemed to like the 'slave/master' aspect of their bond so he thought it was probably better to call her what she was. His Eve.

And he could have pointed out that the man automatically thinking those things showed more about the guys state of mind than Maru's, since it had never occurred to Maru that he could or should peek at Madoka.

But it was the hand that reached out for him that gave him the most pause. He froze, for a heartstopping second fully expecting the man to grab him by the neck and strangle him. But the hand landed on his head. And he didn't know what to do about that. So he remained very still, barely breathing, afraid if he moved the man might actually try and hurt him. And while he didn't care if he got hurt, he'd heal, he knew Madoka would hate it.

"Okay..." He said softly, not bothering to argue.

If Maru trying to comfort her wasn't already enough, then she sure starts to feel a lot more relaxed once she hears Tony's answer. It's just such a relief. It's like so much tension immediately drops off her shoulders just hearing those words. Madoka really was worried she wouldn't be able to convince her dad, and then she'd really be stuck between a rock and a hard place...

But like this it's fine. She even loosens her grip on Maru a little bit so Tony can properly pet him - Madoka trusts him enough to know he won't hurt her kitty like this.

His conditions make Madoka blush just the tiniest bit, with a half-whiny "Daaad..." Don't embarrass her in front of her kitty! But that's all the protest that's coming from her. Once the embarrassment fades a little, she instead slightly smiles. ".. Thank you though. It means a lot that you trust me.. I'm sure you'll be able to see soon that Maru's a really good kitty too."

It's true. A dad's mind always went to the worst things and biggest fears. Was there anything more horrible in life than an innocent being abused, particularly one you loved with all your heart? But yes, to a teenage boy, Tony's words likely sounded extreme and that was okay. It wasn't a bad thing that these thoughts hadn't gone anywhere near Maru's mind.

Tony had to laugh a little at Madoka's whine. He gave her a smile and pressed another kiss to the side of her brow. "I look forward to that. In the meantime, Papa? How about we make this silly cat some chips before Madoka blows all of her points on junk food." He glanced back at the cat. "Do you have a favorite flavor?"

Ignis smiled and let Tony handle this. He had been on Madoka's side from the beginning and simply watched the scene unfold. The advisor knew this was hard on Tony too..and he wondered if this would've been hard on him back home had he been around to see Morgan grow up and become more independent. So in a way he got to see something Pepper never would, watching Tony having to admit his little girl was growing up and all he could do was be there. Even he who just got a chance at parenthood had to already let go. And that's when a line from a book he'd read here hit him.

'We raise our children to leave us.'

He wanted to hold Tony close to him and comfort him but that was for later. Seeing his hero struggle now with trying to shake this off was just endearing. His green eyes met brown and he nodded.

"One one condition."

When he sufficiently had everyone's attention his gaze looked right at Madoka. "I require a hug from our daughter for my services."

Edited 2020-05-25 03:37 (UTC)

Maru was quiet until he was directly addressed. He turned his head to look at the one who spoke to him. Angry Man. He didn't look so angry now and he could see that he was trying to make an effort, but all he could do was give a small shrug. "Any..." Which was true enough. he didn't think they would be able to make complex flavours like consommé flavor so he didn't bother to say it. He was happy with anything.

Though then Pompadour spoke and Maru frowned. He wasn't interested in being squished again so he wriggled from out of Madoka's hands and jumped from them to land nimbly upon the table where he lay down with his head upon his paws.

"I only spent 18 points so far!" She protests, and in doing so exactly proves Tony's point. If left unchecked, Madoka will most definitely spend all of her points on snacks for the cat. Mostly just since she can't help but spoil such a cute thing, even if he wouldn't ask for it. "B.. But I'm sure anything you could make is better than what the shop has."

If there's anyone that eats their food a lot, it's Madoka, after all. She's very well aware that she's blessed with two fathers who are good at cooking.

But before she can say anything else, there's what Ignis says - and of course Madoka instantly gets nervous in anticipation of what the condition could possibly be.. until she hears he just wants a hug.

Well, that's easy. Even if it cost her her precious kitty cuddles for the moment. Madoka leans into Tony's sideways hold for a moment before slipping out of it to instead move over to Ignis and give him a hug.

"Papa, you know you can get hugs even when it's not in exchange for something else, right?"

There was a slight smile as Tony had called out Madoka on her point spending. But those points had gotten Noct his Carbuncle so he had no problem with that. Besides, it would teach her responsibility and that wasn't a bad thing. Secretly though her Papa would help her out with those if needed because it was only fair. His eyes had noted the cat leaving the girl's arms which was just as well because he would get squished.

And as Madoka comes over, Ignis kneels down and hugs his daughter for a moment. With the hug it really felt like he was letting her go but he wouldn't show it. So he pulled back and looked into her eyes, speaking low enough so that only she could hear him.

"I'm proud of you for talking to your Dad and taking responsibility for your actions regarding your cat, that was quite brave of you. But for now, take your cat and go meet us in the kitchen, I need to talk to Tony privately for a moment before we rejoin you, alright?"

Tony laughed when he was proven right- because of course he was- over the points and her spending them on snacks. He ruffled her hair affectionately but didn't push the subject further. It was about then Ignis was demanding his hug in an amusing way. After Mady's quick hug, he easily let her go to get spoiled by her Papa.

He glanced at the kitty and found himself very tempted to reach over and pet him. Maybe the cat shirt was accurate..

"Huh?" He looked up suddenly, catching the last bit of that. "What? I was being good!" Why was he in trouble still?

Maru just lay where he was, eyes closed, and wondering why these two men seemed to enjoy arguing. It seemed so tiresome to him. What was the point? One looked like he was sad with everything and the other angry. How did they manage to have a kid as nice and even tempered as Madoka? It was all very strange to him.

Eventually he sighed and pushed himself to his feet and walked off of the edge of the table to drop to the floor. If they were going to argue more, he was out. He didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

He quietly padded out of the dinning carriage.

Madoka more than happily leans into her papa hug, although the words Ignis says to her make her blush lightly, looking faintly embarrassed.

"I don't know about the brave part.." She just did what she knew she had to do! It's not like she could have kept Maru's deal a secret for long, considering everyone would find out the moment they'd be on a mission and would have to fight.. But she smiles all the same, glad for the compliment.

.. except then she hears Tony, looks back at him, and that's the exact moment she notices her cat opting to olly out of this situation.

"Ah-- Maru! Wait up!" She moves away from Ignis, also heading towards the door, but then spins back around to face her dads at the last moment, realising she can't just run out like that without saying a thing. "Um.. D-dad is right though! He is being good. I know he was just angry earlier because he was worried.. And he's trying his best now! So it's okay, I get it!" She still looks a bit nervous (mostly since she's worried about catching up with her kitty!) but gives a small smile all the same. "Papa, dad, please don't take too long, okay..?"

And with that she turns to follow her cat.

"He is, don't worry, we won't be long." His eyes had caught sight of the cat leaving and Madoka was following right behind which worked. He had to laugh when she sounded like a little advisor before leaving the room, she was definitely his daughter. But once the two were out of sight and had closed the door, Ignis stood up and looked at Tony. There was a smile on his face because he'd heard his hero worry so his head shook.

"You're not in trouble. I merely wanted to see how you truly are holding up." A fond look was on his face when he spoke next and there was a warm smile. "That wasn't easy on you, and I know you want to protect her." A few steps were taken and the advisor was in front of Tony, simply waiting for feedback.

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