"That's cute," says Betty.

"I wouldn't write in code. I wouldn't learn a code," says Pam.

“I’m sure that’s working out for you,” she says, to Pam.

"So why do you?"

“It’s less of a code and more of an invented language, like you could find in a fantasy novel. I write in it for the same reason someone might write their notes in a dead language - it keeps you in practice, and even if the language isn’t useful it’s interesting and you don’t want to lose the skill. Sometimes I write notes in Spanish for the same reason.”

Pam doesn't follow up on that. Betty asks Lauren how her girlfriend's doing and Lauren provides an elaborate status report on her Rockies Paladin girlfriend.

Good for Lauren. 

Jaime reads! She picked out a fashion dictionary, this time, so she’s doing less reading qua reading and more ‘looking at pretty handflowers’, but it’s enough to kill time. 

They get a call, but on their way to check it out they get a report that it was somebody's baby chicks escaping and tripping an automated swarm detector.

"Those things are useless," grouses Lauren.

"I think they're more useful at night, when nobody would notice for hours otherwise," says Betty.

“Has anyone ever gathered data on their false positive rate?”

"I'm sure somebody has, but we're day squad," says Betty. "Night squad would have a different story."

"I used to do nights," says Lauren. "They're not much better then. Maybe better than nothing. In the day I think they're worse."

“It’s a pity. On an unrelated note, would anyone mind if I fidgeted with a ball of darkness.”

"Just don't throw it in anybody's face," says Betty.

"Or anybody's phone," says Pam, who has her phone out.

“Can do.”

She starts fidgeting with a ball of darkness, and moves on to the chapter on earrings. The darkness wiggles obligingly. 

(She has her phone on her, and periodically peers at it to keep track of the time.)

Time proceeds at its normal pace. At eleven forty-eight they get another call and the driver turns on the siren and speeds toward the address.

Jaime puts away her book, and shoos her blob of darkness.

"You just watch for now," Lauren tells her, readying a stardarter in each arm.

“I will. Good luck.”

"Thanks," says Betty.

When they arrive at the address, there is definitively a swarm inside; they can all sense it. Lauren tries the knob on the front door; it turns out to be locked, and she sticks an arm through it to unlock it from the far side. Her arm comes back with swarm bites on it but the door swings free; she skedaddles back to replace her arm while Betty and Pam start shooting with bolts and darts respectively. "Birdbath!" Lauren yells, and Pam looks where she's pointing with her newly healed arm and grabs the water out of it. Lauren puts her bracelets back on her arm and starts shooting through the wall of the house to cover angles that for Pam and Betty are obscured by the walls around the door.

Jaime hasn’t actually ever sensed a swarm before: the sensation is novel and unnerving. She watches.

The water - crushes the swarm bugs, maybe, or at least whenever Pam catches some bugs in the water they're dead afterwards even though bugs can swim.

Presently there is no live swarm left to sense and they pile back into the truck.

Jaime claps, politely.

Lauren snorts. The driver gets them back on their patrol route.

And then she can kill another thirty minutes or so, and then -

“I have to go to a photo shoot. See you next week?”

"See you!" says Betty

She flaps off.

After some time in flight, she reaches the location of the photo shoot.

The studio is busy; there are a bunch of people all ready for her. Apparently they've booked another magical girl at the same time in case one of them doesn't work out due to being a novice model; she doesn't introduce herself. Jaime is handed a spec sheet with the mods and outfit they want described on it.