Sable smiles tenderly and squeezes it close, petting it tenderly and sighing fondly.

"Gladly, sweetie. Gladly. You never have to leave. You can just be my cute, unreasonably clever da—foster daughter, for as long as you like."

She'll keep petting and snuggling Mae for a good while.

Okay, it didn't notice it the first time, but it definitely notices this time when she nearly calls it her daughter.

It looks up at her.

"…You know, you can just say 'daughter' if you want. It's… early, but that doesn't mean there's a point in holding off. You're a new person, and it's gonna take time to get used to eachother, but that doesn't mean you can't be my mom now."

She blushes a bit. "Guess I got caught. Well, you're right. No point resisting, I'm already pretty absurdly fond of you. I've just got the best daughter, clearly."

Mae grins.

"Exactly! No point avoiding getting attached if you already are~!"

It giggles for a moment.

"So! Food and a movie?"

"We did go to all that trouble making delicious burritos. I'll go grab yours. You remember how to find the movie library on the media center?"

Mae looks over at the TV.

"Mmm, I think I saw it when I was looking at the music."

It grabs the remote from the coffee table and begins navigating menus as Sable gets up.

Off she goes to get Mae's burrito plate, and then back she comes, sitting down next to it and setting the plate on the coffee table.

She leans over and squeezes it close as soon as her hands are free.

"So, adorable daughter mine, what kind of movie do you want to watch? I have a kind of ridiculous library, because storage is cheap."

Mae giggles.

"Gosh, not as cheap as it's gonna be."

Then it hums.

"Mmm… what's new? I don't really remember what movies are around now."

"Well, if you hit that option," she replies, pointing at an icon in the corner, "you can sort by release date and browse the whole list. What sort of movies do you like?"

Gosh, well that's a good question, isn't it? It begins scrolling through the list.

"Hmm… I don't generally like action movies unless they have something else going on… anything with a time loop is excellent, except Groundhog Day which I kinda hate… I don't usually like horror movies, but like the Alien movies are good… I—"

It pauses mid-sentence and stops scrolling.

"—Oh wait, you have Hot Fuzz? Ooooooh, can we watch Hot Fuzz?"

It looks hopefully up at Sable.

"Yes, sweetie, we can watch Hot Fuzz."

She squeezes it close with a smile.

Mae bounces happily, then clicks the movie open and snuggles up.

They begin watching the movie, Mae consuming her burrito in surprisingly short time, making and eating another, then snuggling up to Sable again, finally falling asleep in her lap near the end of the movie.

Sable giggles along with the movie while she eats, making another burrito for herself when they pause the movie for Mae to make itself one, and then smiles softly when it finally falls asleep.

She waits out the end of the movie, then runs her hands through its hair softly.

As much as she doesn't want to disturb her daughter when it's sleeping so cutely, she does need it to get ready for bed.

…

"Mrrhh?"

Mae moans out a soft, quizzical sound, only stirring slightly.

"Movie's over, li'l bit," she murmurs, stroking its hair some more. "Time to get ready for bed, sweetie."

Mae grumbles for a moment, then lightly shakes its head, looking up at Sable.

"…Bedtime?"

She pets it some more and nods. "Bedtime, Mae. Time to go brush your teeth and get ready for bed."

Mae rubs its eyes, then yawns and rolls off of the couch, landing softly on its hands and knees and standing from there.

"Mmmmokay."

It takes Sable's hand and lets her lead it up to the bathroom, where it dutifully brushes its teeth and washes its face.

Sable brushes her teeth and washes her face as well, at the other sink in the bathroom, occasionally shooting small smiles at Mae like she's still a little shocked to have such a clever and fascinating daughter.

Then she leads the way to what was the guest bedroom, and is now Mae's room. The walls are a soft, pale grey, while the pillows and blankets and dresser are a lighter violet and the metal fittings and handles and knobs are all silvery. There is not yet a desk, but there's room to put one. The walls are bare at the moment, ready for Mae to pick out decorations it likes. And the closet and dresser are all full of the clothes they bought today.

"So I'll just step out to let you change into your—"