Friday evening, after dinner:

'Can I come in?'

She startles a bit, and looks up.  Kyubey is sitting patiently just outside her window.

'Sure.'  She opens the window.  'Is everything okay?'

He hops in through the open window and alights on her bed.  'There's no emergency, don't worry.'

She sits down beside him.  'What's up?'

'I don't think Lianne trusts me.  Do you know why that is?'

She hesitates.

'...why do you say that?'

'It's an impression I've gotten.  She just doesn't always seem completely comfortable with me.  I don't always understand humans as well as you understand each other, so I'd like your take on why.'

She locks up for a moment.  If Kyubey's not trustworthy then she should be trying to cover for Lianne, but if he is then she should be helping him show it so they can work together fighting witches - if she helps him figure out why Lianne doesn't trust him will he be able to lie to her better?  If she's evasive will he be able to tell and decide she doesn't trust him either?  If he is trustworthy and she evades - but if he isn't and she comes clean - he can probably tell she's hesitating - she's no good at this - 

'I - sometimes you come across a bit cagey,' she says finally.  'I don't think you mean to be.  But - it can feel like you're withholding things, sometimes.'

'I answer the questions she asks me.'

'Yeah, but - you didn't tell us that magical girls die if they use up all their magic, which is a really important detail.  If I were pitching it to someone I'd mention that kind of thing up front, so they know what they're getting into.  When you don't mention things like that right away, it makes it seem like you don't want us to know.'

Maybe if she only gives him advice that amounts to "tell more of the truth" he won't be able to use it to lie to Lianne better.  Maybe.

'But how do you know what details people want to know if they don't ask?'

'Well... if you're asking them to do something for you, and they could get hurt, they should know about that.  People like to know if they're in danger, or whether doing something would put them in danger.'

'Do you always assume everything's safe unless someone warns you it's dangerous?'

'Well, no, but - it's different if the person you're talking to knows a specific way that it's dangerous.'

He looks down.  'I guess I'm not always as good at interacting with humans as you are at interacting with each other,' he says.  'I didn't mean to make her suspicious.  Is she mad at me?'

He sounds... actually pretty sad about it.  Maybe he is just bad at humans.

'I... wouldn't exactly say that.  She doesn't know whether to trust you.'

He looks up hopefully.  'But I can get her to trust me by telling her things she wants to know, without waiting for her to ask?'

'By being honest with her.  With us.  By - warning us about dangerous things you know about, even if we don't ask.'

'Okay,' he says, 'I think I understand.  I'll do the best I can at getting her to trust me.   ...The best I can might not be very good, though.  Like I said, I'm not exactly the best person in the world at interacting with humans.'

'...I can help you, sometimes, probably.'

'Thank you, Kaylee!'

She smiles.  Maybe Kyubey isn't so bad?

'...would it be all right if I pet you, or would that be too weird?'

'I don't mind.  I've never been pet before.'

'Aww.'  She scratches him behind the ears.

He purrs.

'Awwwww!  I didn't know you could purr!'

Purr purr purr!  He hops into her lap.

She giggles.  Pet pet.

'Have you given any more thought to becoming a magical girl yourself?  The world always needs more people to fight back against witches.'

'I'm... not sure,' she says.  '...You mentioned it would be hard to wish for a vaccine?'

'It would.  A wish has to be something you feel strongly about.  It's about hope.  It needs to be something you dream of, deep inside, that you don't think you could ever get on your own.  Most girls wish for something really personal.'

'I do care a lot about helping people and curing diseases, though.'

'I believe you!  But it's not exactly about how much you care, it's about how strongly you feel.  They're different things.  People usually feel more strongly about people and things closer to them.  It's human nature, and it's nothing to be ashamed of, but it does limit the kinds of things it's possible to wish for.'

'Hmm,' she hmms.  '...So to get a good malaria vaccine, you'd go to somewhere where lots of people have lost family and friends to malaria, and ask someone there to wish on that.  Have you ever done anything like that?  Or - other creatures like you?  Is there a name for the kind of creature you are?'

'We're Kyubeys!' he says.  'That's a good idea, and I don't know if any of us have tried it.  But if we went around implementing every idea that good we wouldn't have any time to help magical girls, and then there'd be no one who knew how to fight witches.  One person can't do everything it's worthwhile to do.'

'I guess,' Kaylee says.  'How does wishes getting granted work, anyway?'

'I don't know exactly,' Kyubey says apologetically.  'It's not my job to explain things like that, so I'm not really equipped to do so.'

'Aww, that's okay.'  Scritch scritch.

'Thanks,' he says.  'Is there anything you've thought about wishing for that's more personal than a vaccine?'

She hesitates.

'You can tell me.  I promise I won't laugh.'

She giggles.  'Well, I...'

He waits, politely.

'I was kind of thinking about wishing to be braver,' she says.  'I'm... not sure I'd be brave enough to properly fight witches just on my own.'

'That would be a great wish!'

'Really?  It seems like the sort of thing that would go wrong, somehow.'

'I don't think it would go badly at all!' Kyubey says.  'I don't think you should worry about it.  I wish every magical girl I work with would make a wish like that one.  Wishing to be the kind of person who would make a good magical girl would be perfect.  Do you want to make the contract now?'

'Right now?  I don't know...'

'Sure!  If you wait you might lose your nerve.  You wouldn't want that, would you?'

'I guess not, but... I mean, I'd want to think it over a bit.'

'You said you'd already been thinking it over,' Kyubey said.  'There's no reason to be nervous!'

'...you don't trust me either, do you?'

'It's not that!' Kaylee says hurriedly.  'I just - I don't think this is something to rush into.  Let me sleep on it, okay?  And I'll have a decision by - by lunchtime tomorrow.'

Kyubey brightens instantly.  'Okay!  I should probably go.  There's other magical girls who need my help.  I'll see you tomorrow!'

' - Okay.  Bye, Kyubey!'

'Bye, Kaylee!'

He hops onto her windowsill, then glances back.

'You're gonna make a great magical girl.'

And away.